Yesterday’s big bid by British Gas for Origin Energy puts coal seam methane (firmly in the spotlight). Recently we published a map showing Queensland’s coal properties, including the location of coal seam methane projects in the Surat Basin.
There’s nothing like starting your week with a kick to the guts. The Aussie market was doomed before trading began today with Friday’s shock result by GE in New York. But it’s the collapse of yet another Australian broker, Lift Capital and its 1,600 clients, which threatens to swamp the Aussie market this week.
In the beginning of the resource bull market, all commodities were created equal. They all rose together, with the exception of a few products like aluminium and rubber, which lagged the rest of the group. Now, things are different. Call it the great energy sorting.
Every American who lived through the 1970s remembers that energy price controls lead to inefficient use patterns and large losses to industry. Unfortunately, the Chinese have not learned this American lesson despite large amounts of industrial espionnage within the U.S. over the past 20 years or so.
Gee a lot can change in a day. Before we get to the energy, Australia’s manufacturing future, and just where the biggest mob of drongos is, a quick word about the BHP, Rio Tinto, China love triangle.
After a long search yesterday, your editor in chief found the No. 1 way to lose money in stocks right now: betting against oil. The past few years have seen the rise of ETFs that allow speculators to make bets against sectors like energy, technology, and financials.
What a strange economy Australia has. A country in the midst of a record boom still manages to run a trade deficit. Yesterday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that the February trade deficit blew out by 30%, from a revised $2.59 billion in January to $3.29 billion in February.
The global wise men of asset prices and capital flows have weighed in on Aussie house prices. They have been found overvalued. Crikey. Hey, you can’t say we’re being knee-jerk bears on this one.
J.P. Morgan bashes the boom…huh? J.P. Morgan has come out with a bewildering note to clients on commodities. Among other things, the note argues, “That the sector’s safe haven status has, ironically, increased its risk profile by making its relative performance a derivative of financial market conditions.”
