John Faraclas
The BDI@664: Capes continue to spoil the broth; Wets dive amid perplexed geopolitics…
The BDI (Baltic Dry Index) clinched six points earlier on today and now stands at 664; it could have been better if the Capes’ followed the other indices rise but Brazil makes the big difference… The Wets… and the Geopolitics more than perplexed; John Faraclas’ daily and weekly recap:
The BDI could have been now just above the 700 points mark but the Capes did it again. So on a daily basis the six points are significant as the 30 plus since last week when the BDI stood at 634 gives some breathing space!
The Capes’ BCI was down 76 points at 383 – losing the 400 points threshold; on a weekly basis the loss was 162 points – down from 545. CAUTION!
On the antipode the Panamaxes with the BPI gaining 50 points – now at 863 an encouraging development. The weekly gains also were good: 197 points plus since last week’s 666 points!
Ten points plus for the Supras’ BSI now at 759 and 52 points plus since last week’s 707 points!
Minimal but positive developments for the Handies’ BHSI now at 393 – plus five points and approaching the 400 points threshold! On a weekly basis the 34 plus points from last Friday’s the 22nd of February level of 359 points was another welcomed development!
So all in all we are still far apart from the end of December 2013 level when the BDI stood at 2,247 points; 1,583 points is still a big gap!
The Wets on a falling mode; the last published BDTI (Dirties) and BCTI (Cleans) stood at 781 – minus 15 and 576 – minus four points respectively. On a weekly basis the Dirties lost 47 points – down from 828 and losing the 800 points threshold. The Cleans were down 18 points from 594…
The WTI stood at US$ 55.80; last week (22 Feb 2019) same stood at US$ 57.02… Interesting fall!
The Geopolitical situation continues to be more than perplexed; CAUTION as we might soon witness and experience despicable situations…
The MIGRANTS remain on top of all issues and same must be tackled hee and now. It is important ot maitain the social cohesion in Europe!!! It is about time as with nearly the ISIS defeat certain we are already going to “receive” back those culprits, men and women “MIGRANTS” so to speak who went on to fight. They now pose one of the greatest dangers for all, particularly in European countries. Terror remains high; it’s real as they might try for a revenge following the defeat of the Islamic State. Caution! On top of everything else we have Bin Laden Jr., Hamza …and Washington has put up US$1 million for him; he’s looking for revenge. Finally we have some young mothers and mothers to be who went on to fight and now demand leniency from our society… and come back and live with us in Europe… Terrible. What do we do? What’s the best course to tackle these issues? Now you can see why every night we warn you all to be on guard from Pirates, Terrorists, Criminals and Business Hooligans; hope you get the message. We MUST show ZERO Tolerance; end of the story.-
The Syrian and Iraqi saga is not yet over. Still many unresolved issues and with Turkey in an aggressive mood expect whatever… The Kurdish issue MUST be resolved; the permanent members of the UN’s Security Council must act swiftly to avoid another humanitarian catastrophe!
Turkey stirs up not only the East Med region but also the Balkans; in the East Med following the findings in Oil and Gas in the Cypriot EEZ – a situation that “upsets” Turkey and president Erdogan might act in an unprecedented way. The West in particular must become serious as he might act on an out of the blue way… His alliance with Russia is dangerous for Western geopolitical and energy interests.
Greece and Cyprus are closely watching the developments and provocations in the Balkans, the Aegean and Eastern Med. Hopefully Israel and Egypt by joining the Greek/Greek Cypriot Energy Alliance can collectively put off the Turkish threats… A very dangerous situation. Ultra-CAUTION should be observed… The continuation of provocative flights and violations by the Turkish Airforce in Greece’s and Europe’s airspace as well as Turkish Navy’s and Coast Guard’s behaviour might lead to a conflagration not only between Greece and Turkey but beyond with the “participation” of many other nations and blocks…
Greece lives in a state of limbo with three elections looming in the background and its economy still in tatters. Whether the rating agencies improve the image of Greece or not this is secondary given that Greece is under the “patronage” of its debtors who have devastated this small EU nation on purpose. Whatever the media say about the Greek people – that continue to be strangulated by Brussels, is pure nonsense as they could have stopped all this mess 20 years ago in 1999 – that was the latest point when nobody intervened and borrowing as well as lending become an addiction and in 2010 the mess couldn’t be hidden! As you read these news on Greece the Delphi Forum is in progress 28 Feb to 3rd of March and everybody will tell the Greeks of what is needed to get Greece out of this mess; ONLY ONE THING GREECE NEEDS RIGHT NOW: A L E A D E R!!
Now on another tone and note and without any prejudice whatsoever the response of the BBC towards the Greek Ambassador’s letter – by not publishing same immy in full, replying to BBC’s article on “Greece’s invisible minority – the Macedonian Slavs” last week (24th of February 2019) is in our humble view totally uncharacteristic. An …“update” today in the way same is being uploaded shows that somebody has a strong saying and the BBC is not stating in a clear and straight way – as it always does in these cases, where the Greek Ambassador’s letter is and not just tell us in para four under the parenthetic section: “Greece’s position” saying …. “as the Greek government emphasises”…links you to the letter of the Greek Ambassador…
Just to hint out please note that my great grandfathers’ bones crackle; this message goes to many recipients who have deprived the truth, our family and Greece. My great grandfather from my mothers’ mother side in the second half of the 18th Century named his eldest daughter Rodopi and just after the Great War (WWI) he bought a vessel and named her “Mount Rodopi” – you can guess the reason and purpose!
Those of you in Shipping knowing our shipping and seafaring roots can get the message. You can also get the message on how some people have sold their soul and conscience, but… time will tell… One day every single perpetrator will surface as well as all the accomplices; SHAME as they have conned the BBC and its unbiased reporting! I am sure the BBC will come up with a just position and I do have trust in the BBC despite some people co-operating with the BBC are trying to distort things.
The European Union continues to be in financial disarray:
Italy has a Herculean task to put its finances in order otherwise there would be an economic collapse which will lead to an Italian freeze of its relations with the EU. It’s not ITALEXIT to be worried off, it’s even more at stake!
France too has issues, too many; amongst them the gilets jaunes (yellow vests) who are now spreading and provoke president Macron that he will loose his sleep in March! A cloud of uncertainty covers Europe’s skies and with BREXIT still unresolved no one really knows what will happen.
BREXIT remains a big issue with deep divisions everywhere! Take for example the Eurotunnel issue threatening Chris Grayling’s position given the £ 33 million to be payed…Many call it the Seaborne Ferries fiasco… Meantime will the EU give a concession on the Irish backstop? All three possibilities are open: Deal, No deal with a Crash–Out and a slim possibility with an extension leading to a mutual deal or cancellation of everything and Britain remaining in the EU…/ Second Referendum! Ah! You might even see a better deal for the UK but also for the disappointed EU members! As Andy Warhol said: “They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.” The British people have to act accordingly!
In Estonia a weekend of a general election is on; it will be a tight one; can Juri Ratas do it again and keep the four party coalition in power? We shall see as former MEP Kaja Kallas might do the surprise…
At the other side of the Atlantic president Trump did his best with the North Korea leader but no deal yet. Meantime he faces a mountainous … pile of issues back home…
In South America and in Venezuela first and foremost: situ might get off hand… All functions there will clash to the detriment of the Venezuelan public. Nicolas Maduro remains stubborn as ever… Things might spill over… CAUTION…
In the subcontinent let’s hope tensions ease and India and Pakistan avoid the confrontation as nukes might play a deadly role; you never ever know. Kashmir is a very complicated and sensitive issue and might draw others in the conflict including China…
In Brazil we expect to see the head of VALE resign; it’s a must. There are rumours that the Brumadinho dam had known problems…. 184 lost their lives!
In the Far East the Trade War between the USA and China continues…
In Africa mind the Algerian protests with respect the running for the presidency of current president Bouteflika seeking a fifth term in office…
l to r: the Greek Consul Athanassios Rizos, Zamora Patel, Tamara Flanagan, Dr. Kiki Sonidou, Michael Arapis and John Faraclas
Finally, at Europe House in London’s Smith Square we attended an excellent but above all informative event on BREXIT and the Greek Community on “EU Citizens’ Rights and Settled Status” organised by the New Europeans and co-hosted by the Hellenic Medical Society in the United Kingdom! A very well construed slides presentation by Zamora Patel, good points by Tamara Flanagan OBE as well as Dr. Kiki Sonidou and Michael Arapis who also moderated the panel. Good organisation and skills by Tamsin Koumis. Ten interesting questions after the presentation and points/statements by the panel and afterwards at the drinks reception! Excellent as delegates were from other European Union countries.
Have a nice evening, Happy St. David’s Day and enjoy the weekend but in the meantime remain alerted from actions emanating by Pirates, Terrorists, Criminals and Business Hooligans whatsoever wherever you are on Planet Ocean!
