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Did you know? The World Trade Organization latest Goods Trade Barometer shows the volume of world merchandise trade has plateaued. Year-on-year growth for Q1 slowed to 3.2%, down from 5.7% in the final quarter of 2021. Shipping rates are falling too and the shipping crisis fueled by excess demand and COVID lockdowns appears to be largely over. Lower shipping costs combined with a super-strong dollar could bring down the cost of imports. (CNBC)
Did you know? The U.S. is the largest producer of natural gas in the world, and it happened almost by accident. Natural gas is a byproduct of oil production. When U.S. companies started using techniques to extract oil from shale formations, those activities also unlocked enormous supplies of natural gas. Producers have a limited capacity to export that gas to other countries as liquefied natural gas (LNG). Doing so is expensive and involves sophisticated equipment that transports freezes, and liquefies the gas. The U.S. exports only about 20% of its gas, but exports about as much oil as it imports, leaving the country much more exposed to the gyrations of the global oil market. The price of natural gas in Europe is about 10X more!
Did you know? Is Starbucks a coffee shop or a power company? Now Starbucks will be adding battery charging stations not just for people and their smart-phones, but also their cars. Remember how the gas station morphed into a grocery store/refueling station….?
Did you know? A 4-acre waterfront estate with two large properties totalling 25,000sf in Miami’s Coconut Grove area has sold for $106.875 million, setting a record for Miami-Dade County and becoming the first Miami home to cross the nine-figure price threshold. All the proceeds from this sale will be donated to charity. (WSJ)
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