Ino.com reports
The trade deficit plunged to the lowest level in five years in November as a deepening recession slashed demand for oil by a record amount. Imports from China also fell by the largest amount on record.
The median forecast was for a trade deficit of approximately $51 Billion. The trade deficit for November, 2007 was reported as $59.8 Billion. Quite achange. To borrow from Sen. Clinton, “It takes a recession!”
Here’s the trade deficit for October: -$57,190 vs -$-56,333. We are still running almost $2 Billion a day in the hole, regardless of a weak dollar and oil dropping over $100.
| 2006 |
| Jan.- Dec. -753,283 |
| Jan.- Oct. -636,12 |
| January -65,538 |
| February -62,298 |
| March -61,251 |
| April -62,690 |
| May -65,166 |
| June -63,986 |
| July -66,965 |
| August -66,720 |
| September -63,786 |
| October -57,726 |
| November -56,850 |
| December -60,310 |
| 2007 |
| Jan.- Dec. -700,258 |
| Jan.- Oct. -582,808 |
| January -58,411 |
| February -58,810 |
| March -62,322 |
| April -60,259 |
| May -59,435 |
| June -59,125 |
| July -57,317 |
| August -55,333 |
| September -55,464 |
| October -56,333 |
| November -59,871 |
| December -57,579 |
| 2008 |
| Jan.- Oct. -590,917 |
| January R-58,711 (-57,856) |
| February R-61,435 (-60,573) |
| March R-56,964 (-56,491) |
| April (R) -61,372 VS -61,508 |
| May (R) -60,019 vs -60,208 |
| June (R) -58,689vs -58,835 |
| July (R) -61,118 vs -61,305 |
| Aug. (R) -58,858 vs -59,076 |
| Sept. (R) -56,559 vs -56,470 |
| Oct. -57,190 |
The AP reports that pirates living in Somalia are living the good life.
Somalia’s increasingly brazen pirates are building sprawling stone houses, cruising in luxury cars, marrying beautiful women — even hiring caterers to prepare Western-style food for their hostages.
When you hijack a tanker filled with oil worth over $110 million, you can get some serious change for ransom. In fact “the owners of an oil-laden Saudi Arabian supertanker hijacked off the coast of Somalia are in talks with pirates” right now.
What’s wrong with this concept: take from the rich and give it to the poor. We’ve been practicing this concept in the U.S. for years.
ABC 13 reports
A major Norwegian shipping group has decided to duck the danger altogether. It’s ordered its tankers to sail around Africa rather than risk going by Somalia when using the Suez Canal.
Insurance payouts for ransoms and longer routes will only add to our shipping costs!
Abdul Hassan, 39, is nicknamed “the one who never sleeps”
Photograph: Veronique de Viguerie/Getty Images
In February of 1998, Richard Maybury warned of Loose Cannons, His concern was over the trade routes in Indonesia. He wrote,
For centuries, piracy was a deadly obstacle to world trade, until the U.S. and British navies undertook a massive effort to wipe it out. By 1950, the task was nearly complete. The main exception was and still is the waters around Indonesia where poverty, contempt for western governments and a maze of thousands of islands have foiled all efforts.
Foreign Affairs in May/June 2007 wrote,
Oil bound for China, Japan, and the West Coast of the United States from the Middle East must also transit the Strait of Malacca and the Strait of Singapore, both of which carried 11.7 million barrels per day in 2004. These passageways are the chokepoints where the potential for the disruption of tanker traffic by terrorist attacks or naval blockades is greatest.
Now these latest acts of piracy were off Kenya and Somalia, have prompted this defeatist attitude:
Roger Middleton, a Horn of Africa specialist at the Chatham House think-tank, said that the capture was a crucial escalation. “Now that they have shown they are able to seize an enormous ship like this, it is beyond a military solution. You won’t fix this without a political solution.”
The WSJ reported in Pirates Exploit Confusion About International Law
The key problem is that America’s NATO allies have effectively abandoned the historical legal rules permitting irregular fighters to be tried in special military courts (or, in the case of pirates, admiralty courts) in favor of a straightforward criminal-justice model. Although piracy is certainly a criminal offense, treating it like bank robbery or an ordinary murder case presents certain problems for Western states.
To begin with, common criminals cannot be targeted with military force. There are other issues as well. Last April the British Foreign Office reportedly warned the Royal Navy not to detain pirates, since this might violate their “human rights” and could even lead to claims of asylum in Britain. Turning the captives over to Somali authorities is also problematic — since they might face the head- and hand-chopping rigors of Shariah law. Similar considerations have confounded U.S. government officials in their discussions of how to confront this new problem of an old terror at sea.
Here’s to another lovely little war!
Back in April, I posted about the seizure of Le Ponant by pirates. The news today is filled with stories of pirates and one article. THis video comes from Breitbart.com
So far this year 70 ships have been hijacked and this latest is the largest.
The story line from the Washington Times was “A record decline in the price of crude oil helped to push the U.S. trade deficit down to the lowest level in nearly a year even though the deficit with China shot up to an all-time high.”
But, what did the record decline do for us? Comparing September, 2008 -56,470 with last year September -55,464, doesn’t show any improvement at all, but an increase over last year and a look at the first nine months versus last year, shows an increase. Please note the previous announcements in 2008 and the Revised (R) numbers. Only one month was revised lower and that was July.
| 2006 |
| Jan.- Dec. -753,283 |
| Jan.- Sept. -578,401 |
| January -65,538 |
| February -62,298 |
| March -61,251 |
| April -62,690 |
| May -65,166 |
| June -63,986 |
| July -66,965 |
| August -66,720 |
| September -63,786 |
| October -57,726 |
| November -56,850 |
| December -60,310 |
| 2007 |
| Jan.- Dec. -700,258 |
| Jan.- Sept, -526,476 |
| January -58,411 |
| February -58,810 |
| March -62,322 |
| April -60,259 |
| May -59,435 |
| June -59,125 |
| July -57,317 |
| August -55,333 |
| September -55,464 |
| October -56,333 |
| November -59,871 |
| December -57,579 |
| 2008 |
| Jan.- Sept. -534,511 |
| January R-58,711 (-57,856) |
| February R-61,435 (-60,573) |
| March R-56,964 (-56,491) |
| April R-61,508 (-60,901) |
| May R-60,208 (-59,204) |
| June R-58,835 (-56,772) |
| July R-61,305 (-62,198) |
| Aug -59,076 |
| Sept -56,470 |
The latest trade deficit numbers have been released from the U.S. Department of Commerce. The trade deficit rose by 8.52% from July, 2007 and the highest since March of 2007. While it is down in the first seven months versus 2006, by 6.26%, it is now up for the first time this year vs 2007 by 0.93%.
The Wall Street Journal reports
The trade data Thursday showed crude oil imports in July increased, in dollars. The value of imports totaled $42.64 billion, up from $34.85 billion in June. The average price per barrel surged by $7.53 to an all-time high of $124.66 from $117.13. To show how much oil has gone up in the past year, the July 2007 price was $65.57, according to the Commerce Department numbers.
Even with the higher prices for oil and the high gasoline prices cutting miles driven, the Commerce Dept. says
Crude oil import volume jumped to 342.02 million barrels in July from 297.53 million in June, despite soaring oil prices and economic weakness in the U.S.
We paid $52.81 Billion for all types of energy imports in just the month of July. We must get a handle on our energy resources. We cannot continue to export $600+ Billion to oil producing countries, many of whom, are hostile to our interests.
| 2006 |
| Jan.- Dec. -753,283 |
| Jan.- July -447,894 |
| January -65,538 |
| February -62,298 |
| March -61,251 |
| April -62,690 |
| May -65,166 |
| June -63,986 |
| July -66,965 |
| August -66,720 |
| September -63,786 |
| October -57,726 |
| November -56,850 |
| December -60,310 |
| 2007 |
| Jan.- Dec. -700,258 |
| Jan.- July -415,679 |
| January -58,411 |
| February -58,810 |
| March -62,322 |
| April -60,259 |
| May -59,435 |
| June -59,125 |
| July -57,317 |
| August -55,333 |
| September -55,464 |
| October -56,333 |
| November -59,871 |
| December -57,579 |
| 2008 |
| Jan.- July. -419,860 |
| January -57,856 |
| February -60,573 |
| March -56,491 |
| April -60,901 |
| May -59,204 |
| June -56,772 |
| July -62,198 |
The latest trade deficit numbers have been released from the U.S. Department of Commerce. The trade deficit fell 3.98% from June, 2007. While it is down in the first six months versus 2006, by 7.75%, it only fell by 1.94% from the first six months in 2007.
It would seem the 12.3% drop in the USD has been offset by the rise in the price of oil. Did the drop in the USD cause the rise in oil? Will a rise in the USD, which we’ve seen lately hurt exports, but be offset by the fall of oil? Good Questions!
| 2006 |
| Jan.- Dec. -753,283 |
| Jan.- June -380,929 |
| January -65,538 |
| February -62,298 |
| March -61,251 |
| April -62,690 |
| May -65,166 |
| June -63,986 |
| July -66,965 |
| August -66,720 |
| September -63,786 |
| October -57,726 |
| November -56,850 |
| December -60,310 |
| 2007 |
| Jan.- Dec. -700,258 |
| Jan.- June -358,361 |
| January -58,411 |
| February -58,810 |
| March -62,322 |
| April -60,259 |
| May -59,435 |
| June -59,125 |
| July -57,317 |
| August -55,333 |
| September -55,464 |
| October -56,333 |
| November -59,871 |
| December -57,579 |
| 2008 |
| Jan.- June. -351,394 |
| January -57,856 |
| February -60,573 |
| March -56,491 |
| April -60,901 |
| May -59,204 |
| June -56,772 |
I wrote on July 6th and published it on July 10, that the May Trade Deficit Disappoints! quoting a story from News.com.au. The article dated July 11, 2008 appeared in breaking news and said
A SURGE in imports and skyrocketing oil prices offset the impact of a weak dollar and pushed the US trade deficit in April up to $US60.9 billion ($64.21 billion), new data shows.
Even though it appeared in breaking news and was the correct date, I failed to see that the article was writing about April, not May.
Here’s the REAL story: The trade deficit for May was lower than expected!
The U.S. Commerce Dept reported a seasonally adjusted $59.8 billion deficit, Analysts were looking for a deficit of 62,901 versus May, 2007 -59.435
