Air Cargo-Guest Commentary by David Hendershott

Traditionally a lot of air cargo planes were older passenger planes converted to cargo planes. Conversions are still done, but the supply of older planes has dried up for now, and the need for fuel efficiency is making conversions a lot less attractive than it used to be. Because of the urgent need for freighters, even the inefficient older planes are converted as fast as they become available. Boeing entered the conversion business last year. Even with the high fuel costs, airfreight is far more efficient than maritime shipping for the timely delivery of high value, low weight or perishable items such as electronics, food and apparel directly to their destinations. The biggest market for new aircraft is in the long haul segment.

In reality it's not just the air cargo system that is straining it’s capacity. The maritime shipping industry doesn't have enough ships. The ports are operating at nearly full capacity, or more in some cases. The rail systems are proving inadequate even in the U.S. There was an article in the WSJ on Wednesday detailing some of the infrastructure needs in the U.S., concluding that we need to spend $1.3 trillion by 2010 just on maintenance and repair, and that won't help the capacity issue.

For more information about global investing visit. For more information about guild investment managment services visit. Guild Investment Management, Inc., is a registered investment advisor. All material presented herein is believed to be reliable. Investment recommendations and opinions expressed in these reports may change without prior notice. You can also read our past periodic market and economic commentary articles by going to the Commentary Archive on our web site.

These articles are for informational purposes only and are not intended to be a solicitation, offering or recommenda

In reality it's not just the air cargo system that is straining it’s capacity. The maritime shipping industry doesn't have enough ships. The ports are operating at nearly full capacity, or more in some cases. The rail systems are proving inadequate even in the U.S. There was an article in the WSJ on Wednesday detailing some of the infrastructure needs in the U.S., concluding that we need to spend $1.3 trillion by 2010 just on maintenance and repair, and that won't help the capacity issue.

For more information about global investing visit. For more information about guild investment managment services visit. Guild Investment Management, Inc., is a registered investment advisor. All material presented herein is believed to be reliable. Investment recommendations and opinions expressed in these reports may change without prior notice. You can also read our past periodic market and economic commentary articles by going to the Commentary Archive on our web site.

These articles are for informational purposes only and are not intended to be a solicitation, offering or recommend

In reality it's not just the air cargo system that is straining it’s capacity. The maritime shipping industry doesn't have enough ships. The ports are operating at nearly full capacity, or more in some cases. The rail systems are proving inadequate even in the U.S. There was an article in the WSJ on Wednesday detailing some of the infrastructure needs in the U.S., concluding that we need to spend $1.3 trillion by 2010 just on maintenance and repair, and that won't help the capacity issue.

For more information about global investing visit. For more information about guild investment managment services visit. Guild Investment Management, Inc., is a registered investment advisor. All material presented herein is believed to be reliable. Investment recommendations and opinions expressed in these reports may change without prior notice. You can also read our past periodic market and economic commentary articles by going to the Commentary Archive on our web site.

These articles are for informational purposes only and are not intended to be a solicitation, offering or recommend

For more information about global investing visit. For more information about guild investment managment services visit. Guild Investment Management, Inc., is a registered investment advisor. All material presented herein is believed to be reliable. Investment recommendations and opinions expressed in these reports may change without prior notice. You can also read our past periodic market and economic commentary articles by going to the Commentary Archive on our web site.

These articles are for informational purposes only and are not intended to be a solicitation, offering or recommend

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