after-the-quake

Oil Prices Fall After Japan Earthquake

by Ryan McCarthy on March 11, 2011

Huffington Post…

LONDON: Brent crude futures fell below $114 on Friday as a massive earthquake rocked Japan, creating a 10-meter tsunami and shutting down dozens of plants in the world’s third-largest oil consumer. The oil market was also watching out for a planned day of demonstrations in Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, and violence in Libya which has disrupted its oil exports. ICE Brent crude fell $1.71 cents to $113.77 a barrel by 0903 GMT. It has fallen from a 2-1/2-year high of $119.79 a barrel on February 24. U.S. crude for April delivery fell 83 cents to $101.87. Japan was hit by a magnitude 8.8 earthquake, which was the largest since observation began in the late 19th century. “This natural disaster could result in another sharp rise in risk aversion on markets and a continuation of yesterday’s correction on commodity markets,” said Commerzbank. “After China and the U.S., Japan is the world’s third biggest consumer of commodities and is dependent on imports for virtually all commodities,” it added. The biggest earthquake to hit Japan in 140 years struck the northeast coast on Friday, triggering a 10-meter tsunami that swept away everything in its path, including houses, cars and farm buildings on fire. European shares fell at the opening to a 3-month low with market sentiment worsening further after the quake in Japan and on growing unrest in the Arab world. Saudi Arabia’s capital was quiet ahead of a planned day of demonstrations that will test whether activists calling for political reform online will succeed in taking their protests to the streets. A loose coalition of liberals, rights activists, moderate Sunni Islamists and Shi’ite Muslims has called for reform and a Facebook page urging protests, strictly forbidden in the conservative kingdom, attracted more than 30,000 supporters. “It is impossible to know what the outcome will be in the Middle East, but while support for .. protests could prove to be a short-term oil market inflection point, looking further forward it would be optimistic to expect Libyan oil production to return to normal levels this year,” Lawrence Eagles with J.P. Morgan said in its research note. In Libya, forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi have entered the oil port of Ras Lanuf in the east of the country and are fighting for control of the town, rebels said on Friday. The unrest in the oil rich North Africa and Middle East has so far taken precedence over economic woes. Friday protests are also planned in other Gulf countries such as Yemen, Kuwait and Bahrain, after the day’s religious prayers, inspired by upheavals in Tunisia and Egypt. (Reporting by Ikuko Kurahone, additional reporting by Alejandro Barbajosa; editing by Jason Neely) Copyright 2010 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions .

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Damien Hoffman: Is the US Underclass Busting at the Seams?

by Damien Hoffman on August 19, 2010

The Great Recession continues to take a tragic toll on the US middle class. Although credit markets are unfrozen and economic activity has drastically improved since the SP 500 hit 666 in March of 2009, the tsunami after the quake is still in full force. Non-Business Bankruptcies are Up 21% Since Last Year Yesterday, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts announced non-business bankruptcies leaped 21% in the past 12-months . That’s a lot more people who won’t be busting down doors during either the back-to-school or holiday season. Here is a more detailed breakdown of where debtors are folding: This trend is particularly scary when considering that ” quarterly filings surpassed 400,000 for the first time since a record 667,431 bankruptcies were begun in the fourth quarter of 2005, when Congress overhauled federal bankruptcy laws and made it harder for people and businesses to file.” Apparently, the new laws haven’t made it too hard to file if you are genuinely broke. Riots Over Public Housing Last week in Atlanta, 30,000 people showed up to apply for Section-8 public housing . However, the Housing Authority had only 13,000 applications to distribute. You can guess what happened next when the stakes were as high as shelter: riots. Yup. The under-class is rising so fast, the government can’t supply enough basic necessities to meet skyrocketing demand. All-Time Record Number of Food Stamp Recipients There may be riots over housing, but to date the government has prevented all hell from breaking loose by distributing all-time record numbers of food stamps every month. The total monthly amount of food stamps has already more than doubled since the end of 2007. Juxtapose that with the lines for Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone 4, and you’re staring right into the soul of the emerging Two-Class America . Don’t Miss: 4 More Pieces of Evidence the Under-Class is Growing >

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Damien Hoffman: Is the US Underclass Busting at the Seams?

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`Cinderella’ Wine Valley Razed by Chile Quake Signals Bankrupt Vineyards

March 9, 2010

By Matt Craze and Rodrigo Orihuela March 9 (Bloomberg) — Chile’s strongest earthquake in 50 years may bankrupt smaller winemakers after vines collapsed, casks broke apart and millions of liters were spilled, a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker-turned-winemaker said. The O. Fournier winery , located in the south-central Maule Valley region about 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the quake’s epicenter, lost 35 feet (10.7 meters) of vines to the Loncomilla River, owner Jose Manuel Ortega said. While O. Fournier is set to recover and the industry “will bounce back quickly,” Ortega said, some wineries are likely to fold as the quake’s damage compounds a slump in sales caused by the global economic crisis. “One-hundred and fifty years of history and it’s gone,” Ortega said March 5 as he surveyed the ruins of the main house on the Valley’s Gillmore estate, toppled by the 8.8-magnitude temblor that struck Feb. 27. “We are coming from a financial earthquake to a real one. Some wineries will disappear.” Wine is the fifth-largest export product for Chile, the world’s 10th biggest producer, according to the California-based Wine Institute. In 2008, the most recent year with official data, exports rose 9.6 percent to $1.4 billion, according to the nation’s export promotion agency ProChile . Unlike most Maule Valley producers, Ortega says he uses centuries-old vines instead of planting new ones. Partly because of this, he calls his farms there “My Cinderella Valley.” “We moved those grapes that everyone thought was the cleaning lady, and turned them into a princess,” he said. 125 Million Liters Lost Damage from the earthquake to wine vats caused losses of 125 million liters (33 million gallons), or an estimated $250 million, Chile’s association of winemakers said March 3. Concha y Toro SA, the nation’s largest producer, suspended harvesting and bottling operations after the temblor struck, the company said in a March 3 statement filed with the securities regulator. At the Balduzzi winery in San Javier, 275 kilometers (171 miles) south of Santiago, four 15-foot high stainless-steel tanks lay on their sides, crumpled like beer cans. Full of wine when the quake hit, they burst and sent a river of wine, some waiting since 2005 to be bottled, cascading into the streets. The company, founded in 1906, lost about 600,000 bottles that day, or more than half its annual production. “All of it is gone,” operations manager Jorge Eduardo Balduzzi said. Spain’s Miguel Torres SA, which has made wine for 140 years, said 300 of its casks, a 100,000-liter stainless steel tank, machinery and bottles were damaged at its Curico vineyard. Began Production Ortega, originally from Spain, started producing wine in Chile in 2007, seven years after he founded O. Fournier in Spain’s Ribera del Duero region. The company also bottles wine in Argentina and Portugal. The risk of not supplying wine after the quake is that foreign clients will turn elsewhere for supplies, according to Ortega. “Your importers will say: ‘See you later,’” he said. Before becoming a winemaker, Ortega worked for Goldman Sachs in London from 1990 to 1995, first in the mergers-and- acquisition office and later in corporate finance. He then moved to Banco Santander SA, whose private-equity fund he started. “We are certain that in the short-term, shipments and meeting orders will return to normal without major problems,” Rene Merino, president of the Wines of Chile, an industry association, said at a March 3 press conference in Santiago. Normal Harvest The wine harvest, which traditionally begins March 1, will proceed normally, Eduardo Silva, vice president of Chile’s Wine Corporation, another industry association, said at the same conference. A bad year for Chilean wine producers won’t affect world markets, Jon Fredrikson , a wine researcher at San Francisco- based Gomberg, Fredrikson & Associates, said in a March 5 telephone interview. “Fifty percent of Chile’s exports are bulk wine, which is relatively easy to replace because there’s so much wine out there this year,” Fredrikson said. To contact the reporters on this story: Matthew Craze in Talca at mcraze@bloomberg.net and Rodrigo Orihuela in Buenos Aires at rorihuela@bloomberg.net

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Chile Peso Traders Rush Home Early as Quake Concerns Grind Market to Halt

March 1, 2010

By Andrea Jaramillo and Ye Xie March 1 (Bloomberg) — Chile peso trading grinded to a near halt at noon as many traders and support staff at the country’s banks and brokerages left early to check on their families two days after the country’s worst earthquake in 50 years. Trading in the peso, which closed the day little changed at 524.7 per dollar, was down more than 50 percent and ended two hours before its normal 2 p.m. close in Santiago (noon New York time), according to brokerage BCI Corredor de Bolsa SA and Banco Santander SA’s local unit. BCI employees spent much of the day swapping personal accounts of the 8.8 magnitude quake that killed at least 700 people, toppled homes and severed highways and roads, said Luis Morales , a currency trader at BCI. He said the support staff that helps clear transactions urged traders to limit their volumes to allow them to leave early and check on family after the quake cut off water and electricity to their homes. “The truth is that there’s not a whole lot of interest in trading,” Morales, 35, said in a telephone interview from Santiago. He estimated trading fell about 80 percent and said it will take at least a week for volumes to return to normal. “It’s traumatic,” he said. “You think the world’s going to end.” The peso pared an initial loss of as much as 1 percent to end the day down 0.03 percent on speculation the government will repatriate savings held overseas to finance reconstruction of highways, bridges and homes. ‘Scary Experience’ Chile’s benchmark IPSA stock market index slid 1.7 percent after earlier falling as much as 2.9 percent, the biggest intraday drop since December 2008. The stock market is slated to close at its normal hour of 3 p.m. New York time. Trading was also “quiet” in the Chilean bond market, said Diego Echenique , a trader with brokerage Larrain Vial SA in Santiago. He said while the firm’s computers and phone lines were working normally, traders weren’t focused on the market. “We called a couple of clients but it seemed nobody is interested doing any trades at all,” Echenique said in a telephone interview. “Everyone is talking about their own story. It’s a scary experience.” To contact the reporter on this story: Ye Xie in New York at yxie6@bloomberg.net Andrea Jaramillo in Bogota at ajaramillo1@bloomberg.net

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Ken Sternad: Disaster Relief: Why Corporations Need to Give More Than Cash

February 6, 2010

The earthquake in Haiti has sparked a remarkable global outpouring of generosity. But the relief effort’s success depends on more than donations of cash and goods; it hinges on the consistent and efficient distribution and management of food, medicine, shelter and other life-saving supplies. Relief agencies, the United Nations, the military and local organizations have put together a basic supply chain to deliver materials to newly established food distribution stations and camps. But their resources are stretched thin as the need for help is so great, and the nation’s infrastructure is so broken. As the global community continues to respond to Haiti and prepare for potential future disasters, it’s critical for the private sector to step up to the plate in ways that far exceed financial donations. There’s a compelling need for corporations to match their dollars with expertise and skilled volunteers to help save lives and rebuild communities after disaster strikes. Companies bring a lot to the table in terms of management expertise, technology, financial acumen and other business skills. At UPS, we apply the same supply chain management skills we use for multinationals every day to help NGOs establish efficient relief operations. In the early days of a catastrophe, NGOs must activate a global supply chain within hours. Needs must be assessed, goods must be located, collected and shipped from around the world. Tents must be built, and feeding stations must be assembled and manned. But as we’ve all seen on television, the journey of donated goods to earthquake victims is a circuitous one — fraught with bottlenecks, delays, paperwork, theft and chronic inefficiency. Piles of supplies (both wanted and unwanted) sit in warehouses and on airport tarmacs, waiting for people to pick them up or transport them those last few miles to the people of Haiti. Over the last few years, UPS has been working to bring our logistics expertise to bear in the wake of a disaster. We have assigned logistics experts to study the disaster relief supply chain and have sent UPSers to Indonesia, Chad, Honduras, Haiti, Thailand and China. It’s part of our $9 million pledge to help relief organizations respond better to global emergencies. That pledge – which we just boosted by another $1 million specifically for Haiti relief – also includes in-kind transportation and support for the American Red Cross, CARE, UNICEF and the World Food Programme. But beyond dollars and expertise, a company’s best contribution to a relief effort can be the human spirit of its people. For us, volunteers like UPSer Craig Arnold embody this spirit. Craig was volunteering on the ground in Haiti soon after the quake hit, using his logistics knowledge to establish food distribution centers for the Salvation Army, which currently serves more than 10,000 people. He and others like him have made a meaningful difference by providing on-the-ground help during actual disasters. So before the next disaster strikes, companies should consider matching financial contributions with their business expertise and the skills and passions of their people. The world will thank them.

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Earthquake Rocks Japan, Injuring 43 People, as Tropical Storm Approaches

August 10, 2009

By Aaron Sheldrick Aug. 11 (Bloomberg) — A magnitude-6.6 earthquake struck Japan about 170 kilometers southwest of Tokyo at 5:07 a.m. local time, the country’s weather agency said. There were no immediate reports of serious damage. A tsunami warning was issued. The earthquake hit 20 kilometers (12 miles) below the seabed in Tsuruga Bay, near the Izu peninsula, the Japan Meteorological Agency said on its Web site. A tsunami wave 30 centimeters (1 foot) high hit the coast at 5:26 a.m. near the town of Yaizu, 28 kilometers west of the epicenter of the quake, national broadcaster NHK said. Yaizu experienced a reading of 6 on the Japanese scale of earthquake intensity, which runs from 1 to 7, the weather agency said. NHK television showed images of supermarket stores with goods fallen on their floors. The train line connecting Tokyo and Osaka was shut this morning because of the quake, Central Japan Railway Co., the nation’s largest bullet-train operator, said in a statement on its Web site. It didn’t say how long the track could be closed. Part of the main highway connecting Tokyo and Nagoya was also shut. In Tokyo, the Chiyoda metro line stopped briefly. Two nuclear reactors in Omaezaki City shut down automatically after the quake, Chubu Electric Power Co. spokesman Atsuo Sawaki said by telephone. The company was checking for damage, he said. Japan, which experiences about one-fifth of the world’s earthquakes annually, lies in a zone where four tectonic plates meet and occasionally shift, sometimes producing earthquakes and tsunamis. For Related News and Information: Top North Asia Stories: TOP NAS Top worldwide news: TOP

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