Oil prices are a little firmer at present with WTI at $52.10 on a weaker USD and capped on concerns that the time to roll out vaccinations will weigh on global economic performance. However what has changed radically in the past year is the amount of oil that was being stored in tankers -in January 2021 the number of crude carriers being used for oil storage rather than transportation stood at 95 versus almost 300 in May 2020. That has meant that the daily charter rate for VLCC’s or Very large Crude Carriers has fallen from $240,000 to $7,000.
Results came out yesterday showing that global sales were slightly slower than forecast at USD 5.31 billion in Q4. Not so shabby despite sales being down internationally and especially in Europe but up in the USA. Drive Thru outlets have been especially good in the USA and sales of the McRib sandwich served in a bun at $3.69 have been a bestseller. The McRib reintroduced in the UK at the end of 2020 for the first time since 2012 comes in at £2.69. The SGM-FX team are missing their McMuffin Mondays in these days of lockdown but plan on reinstating them as soon as possible. £1.89 in the UK if you are interested or USD 2.79 in the USA. Readers will spot immediately that the McRib has an implied exchange rate GBP/USD of 1.37 whereas the McMuffin is 1.47…..
McArbitrage?!
Not surprisingly the Paris race has been cancelled but at present the April 10 race in Rome and April 24 race in Valencia are both still on. Marrakesh on May 22 and Santiago,Chile on June 5/6 are also planned. There are 12 teams and the average wage for the drivers is EUR 750,000 with the top ones making up to EUR 2 million. There is something particularly exciting about races held in city centres as F1 fans will concur, viz the huge success of Monaco each year. It’s just a question of whether petrolheads can be persuaded about the attraction of near silent electric vehicles.
Back in 1977 Rose Royce, went to Number One with their hit, Car Wash. R&B band Rose Royce have been active since 1973 and are still going strong. Hands up all those who have met an Indian Chief at the car wash…here in East London, it’s a struggle to find any car washes that are still open:
Oh, I need everybody to stand up
Come on, I need some energy
Come on! Get up, get up, get up, get up, get up, get up, hey
Come on now!
Come on, get your hands together (one, two…)
The car wash is open!
You might not ever get rich
But let me tell you, it’s better than digging a ditch
There ain’t no telling who you might meet
A movie star or maybe even an Indian chief
At the car wash
Talking about the car wash, yeah
Come on y’all and sing it with me, car wash
Sing it with feeling now, car wash, yeah
Come summer, the work gets kinda hard
This ain’t no place to be if you planned on bein’ a star, no, no
Let me tell you, it’s always cool
And the boss don’t mind sometimes if you’re at the pool
At the car wash
I wanna hear you singing it now
Car wash, yeah
Come on…
Have a Great Weekend!
Discussion and Analysis by Humphrey Percy, Chairman and Founder
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