The Dog Days of Summer

Ancient Egyptians and Romans believed that the dog star, Sirius, was responsible for the hottest time of the year. Sirius is the brightest star in the sky, and during the summer months it is in conjunction with the sun. They argued that Sirius was responsible for the hot summer weather because it was adding its heat to the heat of the sun. The last 20 days of the conjunction became known as the "dog days of summer" because of the dog star, and coincidentally they are the hottest days of the year for the Norther Hemisphere.

The world economy will expand 4.9% this year...this will be the first time since the 1970's that the world economy had grown by more than 4% annually for five consecutive years. There are shortages of ships now at sea...steel alone accounts for 50% of dry bulk ship cargo globally. New building in ship yards around the world are cancelling new cargo ships and instead building LNG and new double-hulled crude oil vessels instead. This growth will become inflationary...the trends all over the world are for higher interest rates to try to stem this growth (China again raised rates last Friday) it is important to know what you own here so higher prices can be translated into higher earnings...not the other way around!

Growth is expected to continue around the world for next year as well.... 86,000,000 barrels of oil per day (consumed) @ $77 times 365 days per year equals more than $2.4 trillion petrol dollars are being spent on everything from food to paintings.....also the stock market as it moves ever higher....the public sitting on their cash, another $7 trillion dollars is just starting to go to work!

Danny Boy seen here is staying cool in the summer heat and humidity.