Dust in the Wind

2010-04-15

Here's a little stock tip from LibertyBob. Now would probably be a really good time to invest in passenger ships that carry people across the North Atlantic. It may also be a bad time to invest in airlines that do the same, unless you are prepared to play the long game.

It seems the little volcano eruption going on in Iceland for the past month has put a large amount abrasive dust in the air. Apparently, this does unpleasant things to airliners resulting in crashes and loss of life and such. For this reason, many Northern European countries have decided to shut down air travel in those parts.

Now, this is good news for those of you whose boss, ex, or loan shark is stranded on the other side of the Atlantic. This is bad news for those who have lovers or cash-bearing relatives inconvenienced. Of course, if you own stock in a trans-Atlantic air service you may be in seriously bad luck. Then there are those who are trying to repair the Icelandic banking industry...

There is no reason to worry, of course. The dust will settle eventually. The current eruption is relatively small and may end in a few decades. Volcanic dust in the atmosphere also helps block incoming sunlight, which results in global cooling, and who doesn't want a bit of that. In geologic time, it is barely a thing.