April Challenger Job-Cuts At 40,559
Challenger’s count of layoff announcements was reported at 40,559 in April vs. 37,880 in March.
Author Archive
ADP Employment Rose 119,000 In April
ADP Employment rose 119,000 in April vs. revised (down 8,000) gain of 201,000 in March.
FOMC Statement – April 25, 2012
As expected, a non-event.
Statement wording mostly unchanged, federal funds rates at exceptionally low levels at least through late 2014.
A full statement with changes tracked bellow.
Tanker Weekly – April 21, 2012
Baltic Dirty Tanker Index fell 5.4%; Baltic Clean Tanker Index fell 0.6%.
Same as with dry bulk…nothing changed.
April HSBC/Markit China PMI At 49.1
HSBC/Markit PMI rose from 48.3 to 49.1.
Large discrepancy between HSBC/Markit and “official” PMI. Looks like a slight overreaction by the markets (if we view this in isolation).
Dry Bulk Weekly – April 23, 2012
Baltic dry index rose 9.8% last week; Capesize Index was down 2.5%; Panamax Index rose 28.4%; Supramax Index was up 9.0%; Handysize Index rose 4.1%.
Iron ore inventory at Chinese ports fell in the recent weeks; price pretty much unchanged. Steel stockpiles fell from all time-high, but remained at elevated levels while price remained flat. Thermal coal inventory fell further, price moved a bit higher lower.
I didn’t post for a while, but nothing material happened in the shipping markets during that time.
March HSBC/Markit China PMI At 48.1
HSBC/Markit PMI fell from 49.6 to 48.1.
Tanker Weekly – March 12, 2012
Baltic Dirty Tanker Index rose 3.5%; Baltic Clean Tanker Index fell 3.1%.
Dry Bulk Weekly – March 12, 2012
Baltic dry index rose 6.9% last week; Capesize Index was down 1.4%; Panamax Index rose 5.3%; Supramax Index was up 16.0%; Handysize Index rose 7.3%.
Iron ore inventory at Chinese ports close to all-time high; price pretty much unchanged. Steel stockpiles spiked upwards while price remained flat. Thermal coal inventory fell from a all-time high reached this year, price moved lower.
February Nonfarm Payrolls Rose 227.000; Private Payrolls Up 233.000; Unemployment Rate At 8.3%
Nonfarm payrolls rose 227.000 in February; Consensus was at 210.000; January reading was an increase of 284.000 (revised up 41.000). Unemployment was reported at 8.3% vs. prior reading and consensus of also 8.3%.
Private payrolls were up 233.000 vs. 225.000 consensus and 285.000 reading in January (revised up 28.000).
Strong set of figures.
U.S. GDP Growth in Q4 2011 Revised To 3.0%
U.S. GDP growth for Q4 was revised yesterday from 2.8% to 3.0%; consensus was at 2.8%. Q3 2011 reading was at 1.8%.
China Official PMI For February At 51.0
Official (China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing and National Bureau of Statistics) China PMI rose form 50.5 to 51.0. Consensus was at 50.9.
HSBC/Markit PMI was reported earlier at 49.6 rising from January reading 48.8.
Dry Bulk Weekly – February 20, 2012
Baltic dry index rose 0.3% last week; Capesize Index was also up 0.3%; Panamax Index fell 1.9%; Supramax Index was down 0.6%; Handysize Index rose 3.6%.
Iron ore inventory at Chinese ports close to all-time high; price pretty much unchanged. Steel stockpiles spiked upwards while price remained flat. Thermal coal inventory moved to all-time high, price moved lower.
Dry Bulk Weekly – February 6, 2012
Baltic dry index fell 10.9% last week and has reaching all-time low; Capesize Index was down 2.0%; Panamax Index fell 15.0%; Supramax Index was down 12.5%; Handysize Index fell 10.3%.
Daily Reading – Thursday, February 2, 2012
FT Alphaville: US unemployment “progress”
FT Alphaville: That Eurozone repo contraction, charted
FT Alphaville: The word from Zug – Xstrata confirms Glencore approach
Sober Look: Copper inventories shift from LME to SHFE
Tech Crunch: You Know What’s Cool? $1 Billion In Profits
FT BeyondBRICs: IMF to Argentina: so close, yet so far
FT BeyondBRICs: Brazil’s Vale: no more “no comment”?
Calculated Risk: U.S. Light Vehicle Sales at 14.18 million annual rate in January
