The Morning Vibe

Posted by Nogger - a legend in his own mind at 10:50 | Categorized as

23/05/12 -- For once it really does look like this out there today. MrsN#3 may or may not have picked a good day to go to the Chelsea Flower Show depending on which way you look at it. Still that leaves me all day to lie here in a deckchair supping beer and doing the occasional blog. If only. Getting my goat today is Orange wanting to charge me £25 for a new SIM for my new phone (the old one is too big, I now need a Micro SIM) as I didn't buy the phone from them. The cheeky buggers! Do one Orange. Amusingly moments after I was told this they sent me a text to enquire how, on a scale of 0-10 I would rate their customer service and how likely I was to recommend them to a friend, and did I have any other comments on how their service could have been improved upon.

Anyway back to the markets. Looks like we've had a pretty hefty shake-up these past few sessions as Greek jitters turn into Greek electroshock therapy.

If and when they do opt out it will be swift and sudden, with Bloomberg reporting yesterday that they "may have only a 46-hour window of opportunity" to make such a move, after New York closes on a Friday and before markets open again on a Monday morning in Wellington, New Zealand.

The 38 year old leader of Greece's left-wing Syriza bloc, Alexis Tsipras, who has only been an MP for three years looks like a smarmy second hand car salesman who could only be trusted as far as you could throw him. Yet his party, which finished second in the recent elections, is now considered to be the favourite to win next month's re-run. Lord knows what will happen if they do.

Meanwhile, Dow Jones are reporting this morning that Chinese crushers have cancelled soybean purchases scheduled for delivery in the next few months after recent price falls wiped out their crush margins.

The sell-off continues in the overnight markets, at least for wheat and soy products. Beans are at their lowest since late March, with soyoil below 50c for the first time this year.

Nov 12 London wheat is currently GBP2.80/tonne lower, with Nov 12 Paris wheat down EUR4.75/tonne.

The FTSE100, Dax and CAC 40 are all around 1.75% lower.

Decent rain is in the forecast for eastern Australia, although WA remains dry. Southern Ukraine and Russia are also finally getting some welcome moisture. Kansas may also get some rain in the coming week.