Dry Bits Week 18

Ahoy There!
Top & Bottom 5 Day: PRGN @3.05 +3.04%, NM @5.43 +2.64%, FREE @2.63 +1.54%, >>> BALT @7.33 -8.48%, SHIP @0.47 -12.96%, OCNF @0.48 -14.28%. The Equities had 6 gainers and 10 losers for the again short report week. We only have 3 days of fixtures for analysis compared to a normal 5 day report.

The Baltics: BDI @1340 +5.59%, BCI @1566 +0.12%, BPI @1769 +22.0 %, BSI @1386 -0.28%, BHSI @792 -0.62%. The Panasisters again benefitting from ECSA > Cont. and should be supported thru next week as the coal burners step up to the fixture table. We had thought the Handies would have seen more work down South supporting another shot at the 800 mark. Not!

The Fixtures: Ore =10, Coal =2, Bauxite =2, Sugar =1, T/C =89, Period =17, Total =121. The ore chores fall a long way from last weeks 25. I think we will see a bounce next week in coal runs as they have been sub par 2 weeks running. The flooding in the Midwest has forced the Corp to close parts of the Miss River killing the USG. Btw as pointed out earlier in Dry Bits this year’s corn planting is way behind last years. $$$ Corn could get really tight, especially if a lot of acreage resorts to soy. Boomer James reports the local fields are way too wet with more rain coming next few days. The tractors would sink to China!

Top Period rates achieved this week vs. spot rate.
Capes: Trinity Star 11 – 13 MOS $13,500 $6,342.
Pmax: Glyfada 1 3 – 4 MOS $21,500 $13,825.
Smax: Toxotis 4 – 6 MOS $15,000 $14,334.

The Vessels: VLOC =0, Capes =21, Post P =4, Kmax =7, Pmax =56, Smax =22, Hmax =7, Hsize =3, Bulker <30 =1, Total =121.

Ski Notes: The following familiar vessels populated the fixture reports this week. Kronos, Emerald, Golden Trader, Golden Strength, Mineral Star, Torm Trader, Navios Titan, Golden Eclipse, Genco Vigour, Corona, Trinity Star, Star Breeze. The crew at Eagle has chartered the Clymene for USD13,000 daily running Ghent > UKC. Good luck to those at home trying to keep track of the shipper’s revenue streams. During the week I read a discussion between a trader and a long, wherein the long concluded the trader’s strategy of hitting the equities for small gains was cheap or amateurish compared to the logical buy and hold strategy. In my opinion it is more fun playing the momentum game, and more importantly, in my portfolio the money tied up holding some Bulker shares has been outperformed by the money made from trading in and out of various shippers. That does not give me the attitude that my strategy is superior! Just plain more fun. At Dry Bits we maintain the bulker equities are currently better suited for attentive momentum investors compared to traditional longs of a year or more.
Good Fortunes
Ski@TonMileTrader