From Bloomberg via gCaptain, July 23:
A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S is in an unusual place this year as the
world’s biggest shipping company finds itself the target of an attack by
hedge funds.
For years, there’s been no speculation against Maersk to speak of. In
September, short positions represented just 0.8 percent of the Danish
company’s stock. But with a trade war upending the outlook for the
global container shipping industry, investors are reviewing their
options.
Short interest in Maersk has jumped to about 6 percent of the share
capital this year, according to data compiled by IHS Markit. That’s the
highest level on record, with the data going back until 2006 (the
numbers have been adjusted for the effect of dividend payments).
The global economy is now firmly in the grip of an escalating trade
war. On Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump said he’s “ready to go” with
new tariffs on $500 billion of Chinese goods destined for the U.S.,
which roughly corresponds to the value of all imports from China to
America.
For a company that controls about a fifth of the world’s container
fleet, which transports goods worth $4 trillion a year, the new wave of
protectionism could be devastating. Maersk has already lost more than 20
percent of its market value this year as investors try to digest the
changing landscape.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty over how container freight demand will
develop during the remainder of the year, caused by the tariffs
implemented on Chinese imports in the U.S,” David Kerstens, an analyst
at Jefferies, said by phone. “Clearly there’s a risk the situation
escalates and further impacts Transpacific trade flows.”...
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