The World For Sale
Javier Blas
Summary
The history of commodity traders, some of the most interesting and private humans on the planet
Rating: 4/5
Notes
Underpinning almost all of our consumption is trade of natural resources and underpinning that trade are commodity traders
Glencore is the largest metals trader, top 3 oil trader and world’s largest wheat trader and public
Leading Oil trader is Vitol, who are closely tied to the British political establishment
In agriculture, Cargill is king
4 big developments shapred the global economy for traders: oil opening up in the Middle east, collapse of the Soviet Union in ‘91, rise of China and financialization of the economy in the 80s
Bribery was rampant in the industry
The focus of personal connection became an obsession of the industry, even with the email and Zoom world
The culture of all trading houses is that of hard work, loyalty and partnership
After OPEC’s creation in the 60s and 70s, commodity traders became essential to move their product which also made them more powerful
Marc Rich became the most important oil trader in the world
The Suez canal is massive for global oil to get oil from the Middle East to US/EU
After the Yom Kippur War in ‘75, oil became the most important commodity for the world’s health
The centre of the oil market shifted from boardrooms in London and NYC to Rotterdam
Decades of global economic growth spurred massive investments in commodity production around the world
Resource multinationalism swept the world in the 70s and 80s
Marc Rich and Co saved Jamaica in the 80s by bailing them out in exchange for access to bauxite for aluminum
The oil traders helped prolong the apartheid by supplying South Africa with oil even after sanctions were placed on them
The Gulf Ear was another major oil shock in 90/91 where futures/options led the way
The soviet collapse was a seismic event for commodity traders as they were one of the largest producers of oil, metals and grain
The commodity traders were connecting the old communists with banks in London and NYC
China’s rise was a massive boom to the commodity traders in the 2000s
The amount of commodities a country consumes is based on the number of people in their country and income, usually after a per capitre increase of $4000
Glencore is the world’s largest shipper of coal in 2000 owning a lot of plants
There was a massive commodity supercycle in the 2000s, primarily due to China
2 big oil trading companies of the 2000s were Meruria and Guvnor
Glencore owns a lot of African natural resources through mines
Congo is very rich in resources like uranium, copper and cobalt
By 2008, all the best information was in the hands of the commodity traders
From their comfortable offices, commodity traders are shaping geopolitics and history around the world
Trading companies became so big they had the power to finance nations. They were no longer just traders of commodities but merchants of power
The case against BNP Paribas and Trifigura with a 9B fine showed the US government’s willingness to punish those who are against their foreign policy interests and its main weapon is the US dollar
Challenges to the business include less preferred access to info, deglobalization and climate change
***
Buy the book here
Free E-book download here
Make Something Wonderful
Steve Jobs
Summary
The life of Steve Jobs in his own words
Rating: 5/5
Notes
Make something wonderful and put it out there
‘You appear, have a chance to blaze in the sky, then you disappear’
When you’re a stranger in a place, you notice thing you don’t otherwise (Jobs after India trip)
Whenever you start with nothing, always shoot for the moon. You have nothing to lose.
You never achieve what you want without falling on your face a few times
Never be afraid to fail. You never achieve what you want without falling flat on your face a few times
We are never taught to listen to our intuitions, to develop and nurture them. But if you do pay attention to these subtle insights, you can make them come true
Creativity equals connecting previously unrelated experiences and insights others don’t see
Believe that some of what you follow with your heart will come back and make your life richer. And it will. And you will gain even firmer trust on your instincts and intuitions
Make your avocation your vocation. Make what you love your work.
The journey is the reward. The reward isn’t in the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, it’s in crossing the rainbow
To find A+ talent, if experienced, look at their track record and results
The world we know is a human creation and we can push it forward
The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do (read whole ad ‘here’s to the crazy ones)
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act but a habit - Aristotle
Hire people better than you are
You can’t plan to meet the people who will change your life
It’s impossible to connect the dots looking forward, but they make sense looking backwards so you have to trust the dots will somehow connect in your future
Everything around you that you call life was made up by people no smarter than you
***
Buy the book here
Free E-book download here
