Am in London now, and its all about the world cup. Evreryone here wants England. It was refreshing to watch Ghana and Korea show up for the underdogs. As much as I like Brazil from childhood, I would love to see Ghana make it to the quarters or even semis...will only heighten the case for more "world" representations at the world cup.
Otherwise, no surprises, expect more draws, extra time and penalties as groups tighten their grip as the cost of loss rises. Must atmit the it is refreshing to watch an exciting Germany - one of the most attacking minded German teams I have the pleasure of witnessing since 1978... plus the tournament itself seems to have been well run with German efficiency leading the way to a pleasing spectacle.
No surprises...the usual names of Germany, Brazil, Argentina, Italy, France as well as the Dutch (best team never to have won) still in the competition...
Had an interesting event in Marseille, focused on rice, with a closer look at African demand, European issues, as well as the push for greater free-trade...most importantly with some very nice people, and exciting social program, and more friends who have made both business and leisure a pleasure. People make life, and my life is blessed with people, people I can call friends!
Monday, June 26, 2006
Am in London now, and its all about the world cup. Evreryone here wants England. It was refreshing to watch Ghana and Korea show up for the underdogs. As much as I like Brazil from childhood, I would love to see Ghana make it to the quarters or even semis...will only heighten the case for more "world" representations at the world cup.
Otherwise, no surprises, expect more draws, extra time and penalties as groups tighten their grip as the cost of loss rises. Must atmit the it is refreshing to watch an exciting Germany - one of the most attacking minded German teams I have the pleasure of witnessing since 1978... plus the tournament itself seems to have been well run with German efficiency leading the way to a pleasing spectacle.
No surprises...the usual names of Germany, Brazil, Argentina, Italy, France as well as the Dutch (best team never to have won) still in the competition...
Had an interesting event in Marseille, focused non rice, with some very nice people, and exciting social program, and more friends who have made both business and leisure a pleasure.
Otherwise, no surprises, expect more draws, extra time and penalties as groups tighten their grip as the cost of loss rises. Must atmit the it is refreshing to watch an exciting Germany - one of the most attacking minded German teams I have the pleasure of witnessing since 1978... plus the tournament itself seems to have been well run with German efficiency leading the way to a pleasing spectacle.
No surprises...the usual names of Germany, Brazil, Argentina, Italy, France as well as the Dutch (best team never to have won) still in the competition...
Had an interesting event in Marseille, focused non rice, with some very nice people, and exciting social program, and more friends who have made both business and leisure a pleasure.
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Commodities...Boom, Bust...where are they heading?
Been too busy to update the site, but have some interesting thoughts now on rubber industry, coffee...also visited blackgoldmovie.com...my interest is more in Asia...and the mother of all commodities RICE.
Was in Vietnam last week, talking coffee and rice...and I must say, having visited blackgoldmovie.com there is also a case for the farmers in Vietnam...often missed by NGOs and others...my only guess is that the situation in Africa could be significantly worse.
On a business note, please do visit www.ibc-asia.com and take a look at some of our work in Rubber, Sugar, Rice, Coffee and all the hard commodities coal, iron ore, steel...the world is certainly revolving around Asia - commodity prices look good, but the big question seems to loom on the future of funds, as well as the whole sentiment factor...yes...sentiment factor that has driven equity markets down in the last couple of weeks...interesting to watch...everything is tied in with oil these days...even sugar..up on the possibility of ethanol (like in Brazil) making a viable option to oil...to replace imports...but this is where the true test lies...will commodity value as human feed (energy to people) eventually mean that products like corn, palm oil, sugar etc...all start feeling a difference when the consumer starts to feel the pinch.
Just look at the dominance of Asia:
- rising middle class (India, China...even SE Asian tigers are back)
- demand for coal, iron ore, steel...all very GDP...building blocks of economies
- food; we do have a rising population, with middle class growth, demand for options and quality..even a more US styled fast approach to everything
- all of above have benefitted shipping...tankers, dry bulk, liner shipping...yesnthey are all donw now, but that not because of a lack of demand...as shipping cycles have it, seems like noone's prepared to learn from past ...
anyway...having done this for more than 10 years now, I feel we're experiencing some of the world's most exciting times...on my part, the investment is in a grossly undervalued product .. FOOD... like to see more value reach the very poor placed that supply a large chunk of the world's food needs. Everything seems connected.
will come back with more specifics on some of the work...need time for that.
Was in Vietnam last week, talking coffee and rice...and I must say, having visited blackgoldmovie.com there is also a case for the farmers in Vietnam...often missed by NGOs and others...my only guess is that the situation in Africa could be significantly worse.
On a business note, please do visit www.ibc-asia.com and take a look at some of our work in Rubber, Sugar, Rice, Coffee and all the hard commodities coal, iron ore, steel...the world is certainly revolving around Asia - commodity prices look good, but the big question seems to loom on the future of funds, as well as the whole sentiment factor...yes...sentiment factor that has driven equity markets down in the last couple of weeks...interesting to watch...everything is tied in with oil these days...even sugar..up on the possibility of ethanol (like in Brazil) making a viable option to oil...to replace imports...but this is where the true test lies...will commodity value as human feed (energy to people) eventually mean that products like corn, palm oil, sugar etc...all start feeling a difference when the consumer starts to feel the pinch.
Just look at the dominance of Asia:
- rising middle class (India, China...even SE Asian tigers are back)
- demand for coal, iron ore, steel...all very GDP...building blocks of economies
- food; we do have a rising population, with middle class growth, demand for options and quality..even a more US styled fast approach to everything
- all of above have benefitted shipping...tankers, dry bulk, liner shipping...yesnthey are all donw now, but that not because of a lack of demand...as shipping cycles have it, seems like noone's prepared to learn from past ...
anyway...having done this for more than 10 years now, I feel we're experiencing some of the world's most exciting times...on my part, the investment is in a grossly undervalued product .. FOOD... like to see more value reach the very poor placed that supply a large chunk of the world's food needs. Everything seems connected.
will come back with more specifics on some of the work...need time for that.
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