It's time to step out from my 'normal' role as the 'energy expert' and make a comment or two on the markets in general, just as a professional trader who's seen quite a bit in his almost 3 decades of daily experience with capital markets and the way they act. Patterns emerge that aren't foolproof, but they've served well over the years and they are making some very visceral noises to me, even observing the action at longer range on vacation.
International tourist arrivals grew by 5% during the first half of 2013 compared to the same period of 2012, reaching almost 500 million, according to data just released by the United Nations World Tourism Organization. Growth was above the projection made at the beginning of the year (+3% to +4%) and is also exceeding the trend of the UNWTO long-term outlook Tourism Towards 2030 (+3.8% a year).
Paraguayan president Horacio Cartes will be making a round of visits to neighbouring countries beginning with Argentina, which will be followed by Brazil, Uruguay and Chile before the end of the year, revealed foreign ministry sources.
Brussels will determine whether the 70 cement blocks dumped in the Gibraltar bay are legal or not, according to the European Union spokesperson Olivier Bailly who anticipated an EC fact finding mission can be expected next month to visit the controversy area.
South Atlantic patrol HMS Argyll is coming to the end of her seven month deployment and next month is expected back in Davenport. Last week the Type 23 frigate crossed the 80 kilometre Panama Caal sailing two seas in one day, after finishing an intense period of counter-narcotics operation in the Eastern Pacific.
Falkland Islands lawmakers, MLA Roger Edwards and MLA Barry Elsby are travelling to South Africa to attend the 59th Commonwealth Parliamentary conference and associated events to be held between 28 August and 6 September
Spain will only discuss about fisheries with the UK after the blocks dumped into the Gibraltar bay have been removed, said foreign minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo in a Sunday interview with the right wing newspaper La Razon.
Argentine Economy minister Hernán Lorenzino said that the New York appeals court ruling supporting Judge Thomas Griesa decision in favour of paying the hedge funds the 1.3bn dollars they are demanding, was an attempt to take the country back to 2001.
Official figures show Germany's budget surplus rose to 0.6% of GDP in the first half of the year, boosted by higher tax income. The government pulled in 321.4bn Euros in taxes, 3.8% more than a year ago thanks to its steady employment rate. The German Federal Statistical Office, Destatis, said the surplus was 8.5bn Euros in the period between January and June.
The first gay couple to register to marry in Uruguay when a new equal marriage law took effect on 5 August, have married as gay rights activists celebrate in the country. Sergio Miranda and Rodrigo Borda married in Montevideo last Thursday accompanied by 30 friends and family, US Ambassador Julissa Reynoso and around a hundred members of the media.