Miner got this from the Commodities thread (thanks blowy)
"" Baltic Dry
The Baltic Dry Index of bulk shipping rates has dropped 53% since the start of January. A few years ago this would have been a cause for alarm and despondency on the sharemarket, as investors were watching the BDI closely as a proxy for the health of the global economy. But as the BDI has fallen this month, global shares have been rallying.
The thing is that the Baltic Dry is no longer the indicator it once was. It's true that the global economy and trade has deteriorated, as manifested in lower forecasts from the IMF and World Bank and Japan's first trade deficit since 1980.
But while there used to be a shortage of the Capesize vessels on which the BDI is based, the soaring freight rates that followed resulted in a big building program, not only of those ships but also the gargantuan Valemax ships, which are the size of several football fields and can hold an entire mountain of iron ore in one go. As a result there is now a glut of bulk shipping capacity and the BDI is falling for reasons other than weaker trade volumes."
As for selling BHP because 'it's the highest it's been for ages' maybe it will get 'higher' and not to forget that fat dividend coming. Plenty of downs ands ups to come. Markets don't seem to know where they're going.
Bloomberg's ration today was totally confusing.
So for me just now, I tend to disregard the market news as a direct guide. The technicals are giving quite adequate information now. But if Greece doesn't come up with the goods by next week there could be real hell to pay. Greece cannot control it's deficit and refuses to let the troika run the country's financials.
Greece seems to feel it's a very capable money manager!!
