Grim forecast for L.A. and Long Beach ports

*remember when the Longshoreman strike of 2001 cost the US economy $4 billion a day because Bush refused to mediate the strike? Well it's 8 years later and a new wind is a blowing and it still ain't pretty.
BDI was down today -70 to 2704 after two days of gains. This does not bode well for a strong recovery if at all.

The busiest U.S. seaport complex won't fully recover from the economic downturn until 2013, a report says. Imports at both facilities fell in July from a year earlier.As the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach post another round of dismal monthly import statistics, a new assessment finds that the nation's busiest seaport complex will need at least four more years to fully recover its momentum -- not to mention the jobs, incomes and revenues that went with it -- after the worst global recession in 60 years.

The recovery will be so slow and painful that a return to the pace set during the economic boom year of 2006 -- when the ports handled 15.8 million cargo containers bound for most parts of the U.S. -- won't come before 2013. LA Times