'Nothing Is Moving,' Baltic Dry Crashes As Insiders Warn 'Commerce Has Come To A Halt'

Zero Hedge ^ | 01/11/2016 | Tyler Durden

[Gritty]

The continued collapse of The Baltic Dry Index remains ignored by most - besides we still have Netflix, right? But, as Dollar Vigilante's Jeff Berwick details, it appears the worldwide 'real' economy has ground to a halt!!

Last week, I received news from a contact who is friends with one of the biggest billionaire shipping families in the world. He told me they had no ships at sea right now, because operating them meant running at a loss.

This weekend, reports are circulating saying much the same thing: The North Atlantic has little or no cargo ships traveling in its waters. Instead, they are anchored. Unmoving. Empty.

You can see one such report here. According to it,

Commerce between Europe and North America has literally come to a halt. For the first time in known history, not one cargo ship is in-transit in the North Atlantic between Europe and North America. All of them (hundreds) are either anchored offshore or in-port. NOTHING is moving.

This has never happened before. It is a horrific economic sign; proof that commerce is literally stopped.

We checked VesselFinder.com and it appears to show no ships in transit anywhere in the world. We aren't experts on shipping, however, so if you have a better site or source to track this apparent phenomenon, please let us know.

We also checked MarineTraffic.com, and it seemed to show the same thing. Not a ship in transit...

If true, this would be catastrophic for world trade. Even if it's not true, shipping is still nearly dead in the water according to other indices. The Baltic Dry Index, an assessment of the price of moving major raw materials by sea, was already at record all-time lows a month ago... and in the last month it has dropped even more, especially in the last week. Today BDIY hit 415...

Factories aren't buying and retailers aren't stocking. The ratio of inventory to sales in the US is an indicator of this. The last time that ratio was this high was during the "great recession" in 2008...

...(Edit) *snip*

[pabianice]

In other news, no turtles have been spotted crossing roads in northern North America in December. Not one! Just coincidence, you say? Perhaps...

[Buckeye McFrog]

I thought Baltic Dry was some trendy new beer from Latvia.

[ctdonath2]

For those who don’t know: the name “Tyler Durden” is the sociopathic anarchist anti- (un-?) hero of the movie “Fight Club”, a brilliant motivating insightful leader he11-bent on saving the world thru base violence.

That a socioeconomic commentator uses that name as a pseudonym is ... curious.

[Hot Tabasco]

In totally ignored news, Punxsutawney Phil stuck his head out of his hole last Thursday and was immediately snatched up by a starving homeless man who lost his job on Wallstreet...........I'm not making it up, it's true....(well sorta)

When confronted with the skinned carcass of Phil, the homeless Hedge Fund man asked if anyone had any wine recommendations for bar-b-q groundhog..........

[GOPJ]

Over production?

[Vigilanteman]

Ever been up to Punxsutawney and spoken with the nice folks there? They will tell you that Phil has at least six alternates (the exact number is a trade secret) to stand in for him if necessary.

It is remarkable that such a small town can pull off such a large event year after year . . . parking lots, shuttle busses, concession stands, portable johns and lots of stuff in town going on after the event is over.

Oh, and did I mention the contingent of drunk students from IUP and other area colleges who get isolated on their own little patch of ground away from the families with kids?

[PAR35]

Since I don’t read ‘ZeroHedge’, I have a question. Do they update the story when they recycle it, or do they just reprint it every month or so?

Baltic Dry Crashes To New Record Low As China “Demand Is Collapsing” (Again)
12/16/2015 10:26:47 AM PST · by blam · 18 replies
Zero Hedge ^ | 12-16-2015 | Tyler Durden

China’s COSCO Dis-Assembles 8 Ships Amid Glut As Baltic Dry Hits Another Record Low
02/16/2015 2:47:44 PM PST · by blam · 13 replies
Zero Hedge ^ | 2-16-2015 | Tyler Durden

On This Day In History, The Baltic Dry Index Has Never Been Lower
01/08/2015 9:10:52 PM PST · by blam · 20 replies
Zero Hedge ^ | 1-8-2015 | Tyler Durden

On the other hand:

New Highs For The Baltic Dry Index
07/22/2015 11:32:32 AM PDT · by blam · 3 replies
Seeking Alpha ^ | 7-21-2015 | Clark Schultz

[Idaho_Cowboy]

In other news, no turtles have been spotted crossing roads in northern North America in December. Not one! Just coincidence, you say? Perhaps...

---

Better check Jeb Bush's pockets.

[oldasrocks]

I ordered a new blow up doll 8 weeks ago and still not here. Things must have slowed down in china production.

And as for Sears, forget it. I have ordered 3 times and all they send me is the swim suits!

[eddie willers]

In other news, no turtles have been spotted crossing roads

Dry Tortugas?

[Hot Tabasco]

Oh, and did I mention the contingent of drunk students from IUP and other area colleges who get isolated on their own little patch of ground away from the families with kids?

Thinking back a long way, I don't ever recall you mentioning them.........

[Sawdring]

I’ll raise your stink bugs with 8 frozen Asian Beetles that managed to crawl through the corners of my windows.

[SamAdams76]

Jebbie called. His poll numbers aren't moving either. He thinks Trump is behind this.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

I really wish they would get an editor that would make them stick to facts, not speculation, and eliminate the drama and bad punctuation.

[BobL]

Doesn’t matter, my local Sam’s Club is TOTALLY LOADED with stuff - they could go months.