August, for most of the business world, generally means it is going to be very quiet while everyone wiles away their time on the last vestiges of summer. Yes, captains of industry and us aircraft brokers alike always have one finger stuck up in the air trying to figure out which way the wind blows, but little was one prepared for the gale that swooped down upon the world this month. Augustus was not about to allow anyone to nap.
It is said that if America sneezes, Europe catches a cold. Just when we thought we were over the worst of it, concern anew begins with the banking system. What? I thought that was old news here and abroad, and the worst that could be said is that there is limited financing for all but the most credit worthy of clients and newest of airplanes. It seems it is also bailout season once more in the EU and so forward progress in global economic recovery is again stymied. Wow! So much for giving the world breathing space instead of worrying about countries on the verge of default. Roller-coaster is the new exciting ride on Wall Street and up went the fear quotient and down went the confidence level of the general public. Whoa! So much for consumer spending on the rise.
Global market may be the new buzz word in the media, but airplane brokers have been cognizant of the big wide world and potential overseas sales since the first airplane went from point A to point B. We have long been conscious of the need to cultivate relationships, foster business ties, market an airplane’s attributes to all and show how the benefits of utilization can be derived by someone in Timbuktu as much as one can in Tallahassee. Sure, cross-border transactions may have become more prevalent and increasingly pursued in the last ten years, but I’m not sure how many saw this as a revelation as much as an obvious pattern of growth.
Today a savvy aircraft broker is watching trends in various sectors of the global market and responding to that market movement. What makes it difficult to ply our trade is turmoil in the financial sector. If stability could be maintained there, then surely it will come to all other marketable goods and services? Maybe financial market movers and shakers ought to take a page out of the aircraft broker’s play book and take stock of current assets and play the long game. Instead of playing FTSE with stocks what about recognizing and selling value. How about minding one’s P’s & Q’s instead of just the S & P? Isn’t one as important as the other in the grand scheme of things? Don’t tell me one CAC quarante! I guess all I wish is that the news would not be so DOW about airplane investments and instead investors be encouraged to continue to seek out opportunity. After all, an airplane is a commodity that one can expect to trade in an up or down market. Yes, residual value is an important consideration when purchasing, but it shouldn’t necessarily be viewed as an appreciating asset. What an airplane does during all the ups and downs is provide a continued useful service to its beneficiary.
As we close the month out, a hurricane will have made its way up the East coast of the United States. This same storm forced me to flee the outer islands of the Bahamas earlier in week. Thanks to a Mooney Ovation we could set a course for a safe harbor and make the world that much smaller. Vacation salvaged. Perhaps the markets will be too since Irene visited New York over the weekend. Otherwise what would the world do if the NYSE were INOP for a few days?
