SHIPPING RECOVERY

US markets have recovered! That is good for economic & consumer recovery....And in turn that will be good for world trade = shipping business.... NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--A surge in IBM stock on Wednesday helped lead the Dow Jones Industrial Average erase the losses brought on by last week\'s market plunge. The Dow was recently up 140 points, or 1.3%, to 10887, climbing above 10868, where it closed on May 5, and erasing the losses brought on by Thursday\'s plunge. IBM gained 3.6% after its chief executive said the technology giant would double its earnings to at least $20 a share by 2015 as it more aggressively pursues business in software and high-growth emerging markets. Other technology components benefited from the rosier outlook for the sector. Intel climbed 3.3%, while Cisco Systems gained 2.6% and Hewlett-Packard rose 2.4%. Meanwhile, financial components weakened as the Senate debated financial overhaul legislation, adopting new mortgage underwriting rules and an amendment to retain the Federal Reserve\'s oversight of community banks. J.P. Morgan Chase fell 0.8%, while Bank of America slipped 0.3%. The Nasdaq Composite surged 1.6%, led by gains in Microsoft, up 4% and Apple, up 2.1%. American Depositary Shares of China-based search engine Baidu rose 8.3%.

GM89, your hot pick, Mercator, is riding the waves this morning! NOL also up. Courage Marine also up...

STX PO (the dry bulk blue chip) returned back to profitability in Q1. With the BDI stabilizing at around 3000 - 3500, we will see more and more dry bulkers reporting stable earnings. Naturally, the shipping sector isn\'t out of the woods yet so don\'t neglect to keep a close watch on your own companies.

Courage Marine reported an excellent set of 1Q results with earnings exceeding US$3 million and fleet utilization increasing to over 90%. This clearly shows that as long as the BDI remains at around 3500, the dry bulkers listed in SGX will continue to remain profitable (though nowhere near 2007 levels). With the slow recovery evident in the dry bulker sector, I anticipate the container sector will be the next to move up since they are the transporters of finished goods. As a shareholder of a shipping trust, I daresay, a slow recovery of the shipping sector will boost vessel valuation thereby reducing the LTV issues faced by them.

I have compiled a list of companies which own and operate vessels. I excluded ship builders since they do not operate any fleet. Container Shipping Lines 1) NOL 2) Samudera 3) STX PO 4) Pan United Shipping Trust 1) PST - container shipping trust 2) Rickmers - container shipping trust 3) FSL Trust - container, dry bulk and tanker shipping trust Tankers 1) Berlian Laju 2) Sky Petrol 3) Omega Navigation Dry Bulk Shipping Lines 1) STX PO 2) Mercator Lines 3) Courage Marine 4) Cosco 5) Marco Polo (focused in Indonesia) 6) Golden Ocean Barges 1) ASL Marine 2) Aztech O&G/Subsea/Offshore 1) Mermaid Maritime 2) Otto Marine 3) Jaya Holdings 4) Penguin (also deals with Ferry) 5) CH Offshore (AHTS) 6) Federal Offshore Car Carriers 1) Singapore Shipping Corp Feel free to choose one to ride the recovery wave haha !!!

Thanks Grandmaster89. Courage Marine has posted a good 1Q2010 set of results. Together with their 4Q2009 results, this is already the 2nd consecutive quarter of good profitability. I believe 2010 would see them achieving around USD 15-17m profit and would see them returning good dividends to shareholders. Continue to stay vested.