TOP 100 TRANSPORTATION AND LOGISTICS SITES
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| A Natural Gas Centric Strategic Long-Term Comprehensive Energy Policy Michael Fitzsimmons submits: Despite current low oil prices, mankind faces its biggest challenge to date: a future in which worldwide oil supply will not keep pace with worldwide oil demand. An excellent summary of peak oil can be read here. A peak oil future will be characterized by economic contractions of increasing severity. Each economic contraction will lead to sharply reduced oil demand and subsequently reduced short-term oil prices; both are being experienced today. Each economic recovery will see increasingly higher peak oil prices until economic growth is stifled. The world is now on an economic yo-yo which is tightly dependent on oil supply/demand fundamentals and therefore the price of oil. If the planet is indeed entering an era in which worldwide oil supply cannot keep pace with worldwide demand; and if the world economy is indeed dependent on oil to grow; logically these two hypotheses taken together cannot bode well for future worldwide economic prosperity. In this context, it is important to examine the petroleum supply/demand fundamentals of the world’s largest consumer of oil - the United States: Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Who Will Replace GM in the Dow? Felix Salmon submits: What’s going to happen to the Dow once GM files for bankruptcy? Matthew Hougan has a few ideas:If I were a betting man, I’d say that the good folks at Dow Jones do a bit of a clean-up of the index, replacing not just GM but Citigroup (NYSE: C), too. If that happens, the smart money says that Wells Fargo will enter the index as a new financial representative, with Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) a distant second bet.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Automakers: Forget America, Think China and India Ryan Avent submits: There is no denying that America constitutes a massive market for vehicles. Of the 650 million or so cars and trucks registered around the world, over a third of them can be found in the garages of American households. The need to slowly replace that fleet, and the wealth of American buyers, make the North American market one of the juiciest in the world.But it's also a fairly stagnant market. Vehicle registrations per capita aren't rising by as much as they used to and average vehicle ages are rising, and the combination of high oil prices and deep recession gutted automobile sales over the past two years. They're beginning to recover, but it's not clear that the market will ever be as it once was. Americans have long owned vehicles at rates well above those for other developed nations. Expensive petrol and a difficult economy may lead to some convergence of developed nation rates.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Shipping Shows Economic Recovery Disappearing into the Sunset Michael Panzner submits: Given how big a role the transportation industry plays in the global economy, many marketwatchers have been keying in on indicators that gauge activity in the sector to try and get a handle on which way the economic winds are blowing. Among the most widely watched measures is the Baltic Dry Index, a daily barometer published by The Baltic Exchange that tracks shipping rates on a number of key international dry bulk routes.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Lithium Ion Batteries and GEVs: False Gods for the New Millennium John Petersen submits:Last Tuesday a reader sent me a copy of "Ending the ICE Age," a new industry overview from Bank of America Merrill Lynch analyst Steven Milunovich on the future of plug-in vehicles, which the newly organized Electrification Coalition has christened grid enabled vehicles, or GEVs. After spending several hours studying the report I concluded that Mr. Milunovich has found the true religion of the new millennium while I'm still an unwashed pagan, or worse yet a heretic. The grim reality is that when you look at American energy policy as a faith-based initiative, a new religion with its own rigid doctrine, dogma and ritual, it begins to make sense. It explains why our Secretary of Energy feels comfortable with a public comment that he's agnostic about natural gas. It also explains why the coastal waters of California and Florida together with huge swaths of Alaska have been forever consecrated as holy ground. It even explains why climatologists, eco-clerics and the fanatic faithful feel justified suppressing facts and ostracizing skeptics that call their world-view into question. Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |