The China Factor
In recent weeks, we have examined various aspects of Chinese shipping developments and we make no apology for reporting a recent New York conference at which China was again the key focus. The country is, after all, the principal factor that is fueling the dry and liquid bulk markets and the container trades. Only a few tanker owners can remember super-profits on today’s scale and bulk carrier owners have only ever dreamt of the rates prevailing today. Shipbuilding capacity in China, meanwhile, is expanding at an exponential rate and, in the long term, it is the shipbuilders’ strategy to be building half of the world’s ships by 2050. They could be doing that long before then, some already believe.
General Dynamics Sets High for the Year on Pentagon Spending Approvals
Shares in military contractor General Dynamics Corp. rose to a fresh 52-week high Monday after Congress approved on Friday a supplemental spending bill with money earmarked for the company's main products. Two analysts reiterated bullish forecasts on Monday, citing the budget approvals, helping General Dynamics shares rise $1.75, or 2.4 percent, to $73.42 in recent trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock reached as high as $73.59 earlier in the session, eclipsing its pervious year high of $72.92. On Friday, Congress passed an additional $70 billion spending for Iraq and Afghanistan as part of a record Pentagon budget of $448 billion, which included new funding for General Dynamics' M-1 Abrams tank and Stryker armored vehicle programs.
