12/21
As 2023 draws to a close, decided to start the last month early. Lots going on with the shipping sector.
a. Problems in the Red Sea leading to traffic being re-routed.
b. Initially, liner companies (ZIM, Maersk, Hapag Lloyd, etc), but it now has spread to tankers (BP, LNG tanker companies, clean tanker owners)
c. Continuation of Ukraine-Russian war. Huge increase in tonne-miles, especially for the tanker segment
d. Water levels of Panama Canal
e. First year of IMO standards
f. Dry bulk shipping’s late bounce
I am sure there are more factors - but I will stop there.
Though I did really well with a couple of BDRY trades, there is some regret with the last BDRY sale. Yes, I realized a wonderful gain ( ~49%) in two months. But, BDRY has quickly reversed, and if I held, I would have an unrealized gain of > 88% This is a very, very bouncy ETF.
Trimmed other dry bulk ideas around the same time. While those names have bounced also, it is nowhere near the type of rebound that BDRY has seen. Hopefully, it serves as the data-point for the future - when the sector rolls, the index MIGHT perform a lot better (or worse, in the opposite direction). That’s the takeaway.
Realized SFL gains today. Mentioned in another thread, I am attributing this to “logical mind games”, or, short term decision making based on logic. Can SFL run another 10%? Perhaps. Will it? My current thinking says “low likelihood”
Most significant shipping addition has been INSW, multiple nibbles. Small addition to TRMD and FLNG.
2024 has to be the year I include option trading into the mix.