STERLING 6 MONTH MEAN INTERBANK LENDING RATE (Source: Bank of England) Interest rate, Percent, Interbank lending rate 6 month mean, Sterl...

U.K. Economics - Bank Rates & Sterling Lending Rates



STERLING 6 MONTH MEAN INTERBANK LENDING RATE (Source: Bank of England) Interest rate, Percent, Interbank lending rate 6 month mean, Sterling . For more information, please see: http://www.bankofengland.co.uk:10065/boeapps/iadb/agg_series

12/31/2016
0.6935

12/31/2015
0.7385

12/31/2014
0.6485

12/31/2013
0.5906

12/31/2012
1.1036


OFFICIAL BANK RATE (Source: Bank of England) Interest rate, Percent, Official Bank Rate, Sterling . For more information please see: http://www.bankofengland.co.uk:10065/boeapps/iadb/agg_series

12/31/2016
0.3972

12/31/2015
0.5

12/31/2014
0.5

12/31/2013
0.5

12/31/2012
0.5


GOLD PRICE AGAINST STERLING (Source: Bank of England) Exchange rates, Fine troy ounces, Gold price, Sterling . For more information, please see: http://www.bankofengland.co.uk:10065/boeapps/iadb/agg_series


12/31/2016
920.5365

12/31/2015
712.3243

12/31/2014
767.8239

12/31/2013
673.7289

12/31/2012
1044.094


GOLD PRICE AGAINST US$ (Source: Bank of England) Exchange rates, Exchange rates, Fine troy ounces, Fine troy ounces Gold price, Gold price, US dollar, US dollar . For more information, please see: http://www.bankofengland.co.uk:10065/boeapps/iadb/agg_series


12/31/2016
1249.911

12/31/2015
1159.328

12/31/2014
1265.805

12/31/2013
1409.57

12/31/2012
1668.932






Fresh Lawsuit: American Apparel (From WWD) From WWD / Kari Hamanaka A fresh lawsuit from Standard General serves up more questions as to wh...

Fresh Lawsuit: American Apparel (From WWD)

Fresh Lawsuit: American Apparel (From WWD)
From WWD / Kari Hamanaka

A fresh lawsuit from Standard General serves up more questions as to whether American Apparel ever had a fair shot at a turnaround following its first go at bankruptcy.

New York investment firm Standard General on Monday filed a lawsuit against Goldman Sachs, Monarch Alternative Capital, Coliseum Capital Partners LP, Pentwater Capital Management and Blackwell Partners LLC — the other financial firms that comprise American Apparel’s lender committee — for breach of contract in hopes of winning damages and have a judge reassess the priority of payment claims on certain loans.


The picture painted isn’t pretty, with Standard General alleging the lender committee propped up the company with additional debt — $82 million between April and October of last year — as it focused on a sale of the business for the highest price rather than a turnaround of American Apparel.

Prior to and during the company’s second bankruptcy the lender committee “has repeatedly acted in disregard of Standard General, trampled over Standard General’s contractual rights and interests and ignored Standard General’s status as an equal lender,” the lawsuit said.Coliseum declined comment while Monarch, Pentwater and Goldman did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday.

The filing is timely as the local market reels from last week’s mass layoffs at American Apparel that involved 2,400 jobs cut at the Los Angeles firm. About another 1,000 positions are up in the air as the company focuses on a wind-down and transition to its largest buyer Gildan Activewear Inc. Other deals, struck during a bankruptcy auction this month, sold off smaller parts of the business.

The lender committee combined holds 80 percent of American Apparel’s debt, more than 90 percent of the equity and controls American Apparel’s board.

Standard General asserts the other lenders told the firm they were committed to a turnaround strategy following the company’s emergence from its first bankruptcy in February of last year, acknowledging the additional equity such steps would involve.

Those promises gave Standard General confidence to agree to invest new money, putting up $25.8 million, or 20 percent, of the total $129 million provided by the lender group in exit loans.

That turnaround strategy, which was never shared publicly up until this point, would have called for American Apparel’s exit from the knit and dye business, a focus on fixing the global supply chain and moving cutting and sewing to the Southeast.

Instead, what followed two months after the company’s emergence was the tacking on of debt via amendments to the credit agreement — nine, totaling $82 million — without consulting Standard General, the lawsuit said.

These amendments, sometimes being added a week apart from one another, came “at a time when the company was rapidly losing funds and, upon information and belief, was unable to pay its debts as they came due. The company should have been preparing for a second bankruptcy filing, instead of digging itself further into debt,” the court filing said.

A revolving credit facility of as much as $40 million written into the credit agreement as a last-ditch financial crutch was never provided, which could have given the turnaround legs under then-chief executive officer Paula Schneider.

Standard General said it attempted to discuss the company’s turnaround with the other lenders between July and November of last year, but “the members were no longer interested in a turnaround” and instead “were laser-focused on extricating themselves from the situation without liability.” The firm said it challenged why the Los Angeles factory remained open, pointing out weekly losses. Standard General alleges it was told by the lender committee the factory needed to remain open in case a buyer interested in the facility came along.

It appears there had also been two parties looking to partner on an acquisition of American Apparel that would have included purchase of the intellectual property and a retail partner that would have paid an annual royalty to license the name for retail. Standard General said it was never put in touch with those bidders.

The firm also alleged it had offered to establish a holding company so the lender committee could have went in on a credit bid — which would have allowed it to bid on the company’s assets up to the amount of the debt. That idea was met with no support, Standard General claimed in the complaint.

Headlines and news rundowns from my personal reading... The Dodd Frank Report studies the resolution of financial institutions as require...

The State of Dodd-Frank News & Updates on Dodd-Frank

Headlines and news rundowns from my personal reading...

The Dodd Frank Report studies the resolution of financial institutions as required by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (U.S. Courts Page)


"I don't support going back to Glass-Steagall as is," Mnuchin told the Senate Finance Committee. "When we talked about policy with the president-elect, our view is we need a 21st century version."

Away from that....A paper from Federal Reserve staff released in December that found that the Volcker rule had a negative effect on corporate-bond liquidity, or the ease with which buyers and sellers can find each other. Federal Reserve Paper: Volcker Rule and Market-Making - Link

The head of CME Group on the Volcker Rule: Everybody thinks Dodd-Frank is in full swing, so people want to dismantle something that's not even 100% enacted today. So I think we have to wait and see how this plays out. But the pendulum definitely swung a little too far against the dealers, in my opinion. The Volcker Rule is something that needs to be looked at. They need to be able to proprietary trade. But when they have taxpayers backing up their deposits, and they're proprietary trading, there's some issues there. We are going to have to see what happens. - Business Insider

Jamie Dimon and Lloyd Blankfein are saying the SAME thing...Link at Dealbreaker

Sixth Circuit Declines to Address the Definition of Dodd Frank “Whistleblower
Background & Links -
On January 13, 2017, the Sixth Circuit in Verble v. Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, LLC, declined an opportunity to be the third federal appellate court to address the definition of “whistleblower” under Dodd Frank’s anti-retaliation provision. Background In 2013, the Fifth Circuit in Asadi v. G.E. Energy (USA), LLC, 720 F.3d 620 (5th Cir. 2013) held that the text of Dodd-Frank’s anti-retaliation provision (Section 922) requires that a “whistleblower” report an alleged violation to the SEC to be covered. Some district courts have followed Asadi while others have rejected Asadi and held that an internal complaint of an alleged securities law violation is sufficient to invoke Dodd-Frank’s anti-retaliation protection. In response to the growing disagreement amongst courts, the SEC issued an interpretive rule on August 4, 2015, clarifying that for purposes of Dodd-Frank’s employment retaliation protections, individuals who have not reported alleged misconduct to the SEC may nevertheless qualify as “whistleblowers.” Over one month after the SEC issued this guidance, the Second Circuit in Berman v. Neo@Ogilvy held that Dodd-Frank’s whistleblower protection provision applies to individuals who did not bring the complaint to the SEC, but instead reported internally within the company. Within that decision, the Second Circuit recognized the contrary holding in Asadi and reasoned that the Fifth Circuit’s opinion too narrowly limits the scope of whistleblower protections under Dodd-Frank.
The National Law Review - http://www.natlawreview.com/article/sixth-circuit-declines-to-address-definition-dodd-frank-whistleblower

Article posted here, a few months back on Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform - http://www.chaganomics.com/2016/12/dodd-frank-rollback-despite-ny-fed.html

Philadelphia Fed Business Outlook Survey : Prior: 21.5, Prior Revised: 19.7, Consensus: 16.0, Consensus Range: 12.0 to 22.2, Actual: 23.6 H...

U. S. Economics: Jan. 19, 2017 8:30 am



Philadelphia Fed Business Outlook Survey : Prior: 21.5, Prior Revised:

19.7, Consensus: 16.0, Consensus Range: 12.0 to 22.2, Actual: 23.6

Housing Starts : Prior: 1.090M, Prior Revised: 1.102M, Consensus:
1.200M, Consensus Range: 1.100M to 1.275M, Actual: 1.226M

Initial Jobless Claims Drop 15,000 to 234,000, vs
255,000 Estimates; Week Ended 1/7 Revised Up to 249,000

US Building Permits (Dec) M/M -0.2% vs. Exp. 1.1% (Prev. -4.7%)

US Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index (Jan) M/M 23.6 vs. Exp. 15.8




I am a big fan of the JOBS ACT - but not of crowdfunding. However, I am not against crowdfunding, and I see it working in some circumstances...

Market Deregulation

I am a big fan of the JOBS ACT - but not of crowdfunding. However, I am not against crowdfunding, and I see it working in some circumstances, but it's not an excitement. The point is that with a good comes a bad. The JOBS ACT untied some knots but not enough to fully let open the floodgates of capital. The extra oomph needed was confidence. We now have that, and sentiment seems to be on a non stop train, ticking up and up, higher and higher.  So should we repeal Dodd Frank?

Is this bad?

I can't possible answer that, but I will say that I think it could be bad now that we have Trump as president. I am fearful of idiotic risk takers, financial magic oil salesman, and bad deals. Is it really time to roll back Dodd Frank?

Anyways, as a restructuring professional, I can only comment. 

Gold is falling and that is a good thing. Unless the new president pushes us back to a gold standard, gold is likely to settle. I...

What Gold Is Really Worth (Right Now)






Gold is falling and that is a good thing. Unless the new president pushes us back to a gold standard, gold is likely to settle. I'd like to see that level near 2007-2008 levels, however we have to see how active the market stays, and how much supply is leveraged for derivative trading. Yes, in times of extreme instability gold can hold a value standard, but that does not compute to long term holding of the metal. 
My theory is that the extreme scare and flight of capital out of equities into gold in 2008 pushed the price up to an unruly price. 




Where has the Euro gone?

The Lows of the Euro (EURUSD)

Where has the Euro gone?


Hey guys - If you want to hear me on a podcast the link is here: Gimlet Media Following his ousting from American Apparel, Dov Charney h...

StartUp Part 7: MAGIC (Season 4, Episode 10)

Hey guys - If you want to hear me on a podcast the link is here: Gimlet Media


Following his ousting from American Apparel, Dov Charney has been eager to restart and launch his new venture—Los Angeles Apparel. He has assembled the fabric, the equipment, and the people to help make his new clothing line. Now he needs to find his customer base. In this, the season finale of StartUp, Charney debuts his product to a group of people that knows his history well. But will his past prove to be an obstacle, or become part of what leads his new business to success?
Gimlet Media


CHAD: And we made some jokes to the point that hey, let’s go ahead and get in touch with these guys, because, you know, we’re fine loaning money to them if they’re taking it at 15%.

ISM Manufacturing Index Rises to Highest Level in Two Years as New Orders, Prices Jump - 10:32 AM EST, 01/03/2017 (MT Newswires) -- The Ins...

ISM Manufacturing Index Rises to Highest Level in Two Years

ISM Manufacturing Index Rises to Highest Level in Two Years as New Orders, Prices Jump - 10:32 AM EST, 01/03/2017 (MT Newswires) -- The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index rose to the highest level in two years last month and the overall economy grew for the 91st straight month, the ISM said in a report on Tuesday. The manufacturing index rose to 54.7% in December, up from November's 53.2%, the ISM said. The new orders index rose to 60.2%, up 7.2 percentage points, from the prior monthly. The employment index came in at 53.1%, up from 52.3%, and raw-material inventories were reported at a 47% reading, down 2 percentage points from November, the ISM said. The prices index rose 11 points to 65.5% in December, an indication of higher raw material prices. Eleven of the 18 manufacturing industries -- petroleum and coal, primary metals, miscellaneous manufacturing, food, beverage and tobacco, apparel, paper products, machines, electrical equipment, appliances, computers, fabricated metal and chemicals -- reported growth last month. Plastics and rubber, furniture, printing, textile mills, non-metallic minerals and transportation equipment all reported contraction in December.

MT Newswires

A little economic history: the word salary is derived from salt.  Beijing prepares to dissolve ancient grip on salt market - Link Salt, s...

Salt In China 2017

A little economic history: the word salary is derived from salt. 


Beijing prepares to dissolve ancient grip on salt market - Link


Salt, salt production, and salt taxes played key roles in Chinese history, economic development, and relations between state and society. The lure of salt profits led to technological innovation and new ways to organize capital. Debate over government salt policies brought forth conflicting attitudes toward the nature of government, private wealth, the relation between the rich and the poor, while the administration of these salt policies was a practical test of a government's competence. - Wikipedia

A Look At Consumer Sentiment & Inflation http://www.sca.isr.umich.edu/tables.html

Michigan Surveys - A Look At Sentiment & Inflation

A Look At Consumer Sentiment & Inflation
http://www.sca.isr.umich.edu/tables.html




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