February 14th, 2008: A side-note blurb by Kris.
I find it interesting that the price of platinum has SURGED 35% in the last 3 weeks. Ever since S. Africa started having energy issues, it has been nothing short of a moonshot for Pt! The spot price of platinum per troy oz. on January 21st, 2008 was ~$1500 and it broke $2000 today! This is a testament to how very sensitive commodity prices can be to unexpected interruptions in production. Maybe the energy situation will be fixed and the Pt price will undergo a major correction, or maybe the trend will continue for 3 more weeks...
Reuters: "U.S. platinum firmly breaches $2,000, gold higher"
Speaking of South Africa, one international company that I have followed for a while now is Sasol (NYSE: SSL), which is located 80 mi. south of Johannesburg. As a chemical engineer, I like that Sasol is developing coal to liquid fuel technology, which may be very important in the coming years. As global political and corporate leaders are forced to deal with the implications of an energy crunch due to the inability to increase oil production (audio link), this technology seems a likely candidate as an alternative for liquid hydrocarbon generation. Anyway, I wonder if SSL is being pressed because of the current SA energy situation?
I find it interesting that the price of platinum has SURGED 35% in the last 3 weeks. Ever since S. Africa started having energy issues, it has been nothing short of a moonshot for Pt! The spot price of platinum per troy oz. on January 21st, 2008 was ~$1500 and it broke $2000 today! This is a testament to how very sensitive commodity prices can be to unexpected interruptions in production. Maybe the energy situation will be fixed and the Pt price will undergo a major correction, or maybe the trend will continue for 3 more weeks...
Reuters: "U.S. platinum firmly breaches $2,000, gold higher"
Speaking of South Africa, one international company that I have followed for a while now is Sasol (NYSE: SSL), which is located 80 mi. south of Johannesburg. As a chemical engineer, I like that Sasol is developing coal to liquid fuel technology, which may be very important in the coming years. As global political and corporate leaders are forced to deal with the implications of an energy crunch due to the inability to increase oil production (audio link), this technology seems a likely candidate as an alternative for liquid hydrocarbon generation. Anyway, I wonder if SSL is being pressed because of the current SA energy situation?
posted by Kris at 11:44 PM
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