bdp1ConsultingLtd

Dryship's Transformational CEO

Picking up on posts above, one thing about shipping stocks is that firms with more revenue visibility (often translated into bigger regular dividends) get more respect in the markets, in the forms of higher multiples. The spot markets are too risky, too volatile, for a company with a large fleet to be all spot. George and his peers (many other magnates also MIT educated) know this very well. Capesizes are put on long term charters at DISCOUNTS to current spot rates. See also SBLK for some good successes in this strategy.

What's been missing through the cycles and years (DRYS ipo was only in 2005) for shipping companies, public and private, is stability and students of the super-cycle know this. So, I agree that DRYS will be around for a while, and it will get bigger, I don't agree that it will continue to grow at exponential clips in perpetuity, as seems to be implied by the original post.

The rig biz, like shipping, requires huge capital, and ultimately cash flow based security (ie long term charters) will be attractive to lenders or bond buyers (let's not go there!!!) rather than purely asset based.