Last year, with little coverage from major media or notice by many analysts, the world shipping industry entered dire straits and slipped into a dangerous and unprecedented decline. It later stabilized, but for a moment there we thought we were witnessing the start of the biggest economic downturn since the financial crisis of 2008. We now know that the historic decline was a direct result of China’s economic slowdown of 2016, but there are other factors at work here.
Low oil prices have given American consumers persist low inflation over recent years. Now that some of President Trump's policies have begun to swing into effect, it's all about to change. But, is that any reason to worry? Perhaps not, if you invest in commodities and precious metals. Trump's anti-migrant stance has already affected wage rises, but so have long overdue price rises of commodities and manufactured goods. Charles Schwab, the banking company, in its 2017 outlook put inflation at the top of its list of concerns for the bull market in stocks (domestic and international). Their concern is that rising wages will be a hit against corporate earnings.
