Screwed Investors Still Stuck in Woodford’s Imploded Mutual Fund Get a Glimpse of Their Losses

After a “run on the fund,” triggered when people figured out it was loaded up with crappy illiquid assets. By Nick Corbishley, for WOLF STREET: Hundreds of thousands of investors trapped in the imploded and shuttered Woodford Equity Income (WEI) fund, which is now down to £3.1 billion, could lose a third or more of their remaining … Read more

Is SoftBank’s Bailout of WeWork Already in Trouble?

Wolf Richter wolfstreet.com, http://www.amazon.com/author/wolfrichter Tender Offer Didn’t Happen. Bonds Plunge to Record Low. This comes after WeWork reported a $1.25 billion loss in Q3. Second thoughts about throwing so many good billions after bad? You’d think that by throwing billions of dollars at it, SoftBank would somehow manage to clean up this fiasco and make … Read more

“Brands don’t need Amazon”. Nike’s decision to no longer sell merchandise through Amazon shows that strong brands are realizing that traffic driven to their own site is self-sustaining, more profitable, and actually brand enhancing

Jefferies analyst Randy Konik said “Amazon had a delivery speed advantage, but that advantage has compressed.” Evercore ISI analyst Omar Saad wonders if other brands “will follow” Nike’s lead. It is clear to see how cutting out Amazon and focusing on direct sales could significantly reduce costs for Nike and other brands. Nike was up … Read more

The conventional wisdom that utility stocks are defensive. Truth is…they get crushed in bear markets.

Dumber than a bag of hammers… The conventional wisdom that utility stocks are defensive. Truth is…they get crushed in bear markets. Problems today: -Persistent negative free cash flow-Excessive indebtedness-Lack of pricing power-Historic valuations-Crowded trade pic.twitter.com/VaoRTMo1bN — Kevin C. Smith, CFA (@crescatkevin) November 14, 2019

Will Stocks Underperform In 2020?

by UPFINA The NFIB small business index is significantly off its cycle peak, but it’s still relatively strong. In October, it increased from 101.8 to 102.4 which beat estimates for 102. In the past 3 cycles, the readings before recessions were 98.3, 98.3, and 94.4. Small business confidence isn’t a leading index. It coincides with the … Read more

US-China trade talks are getting held up because of disagreements on a number of issues

#FixedIt >>US-China trade talks are getting held up because of disagreements on a number of issues https://t.co/LWzaxxveaq pic.twitter.com/e2jGYyZHwR — Tracy Shuchart (𝒞𝒽𝒾 ) (@chigrl) November 13, 2019 US-CHINA TRADE TALK HIT SNAG OVER FARM PURCHASE@RedboxWire LOLOLOL — Tracy Shuchart (𝒞𝒽𝒾 ) (@chigrl) November 13, 2019

The Crazy Card Worth Carrying

By Rodney Johnson Shanghai Pudong Development Bank recently sold $7 billion in convertible bonds. As usual, the bank took orders for the bonds ahead of time, and then allocated the bonds among potential buyers. What made the sale notable is that investors put in orders for more than $1 trillion worth of bonds, or 140 times what … Read more

Why Drudge Report went to the dark side

by Dr. Eowyn Begun as an email newsletter, Matt Drudge‘s the Drudge Report became a news aggregator website in 1996. By 2003, Drudge Report became so popular it made almost $1.3 million a year in advertising revenues. In 2006, while dissing the Drudge Report, Timemagazine named Matt Drudge one of the 100 most influential people in the world. In 2007, New York Times reporter … Read more

Bolivian Coup Comes Less Than A Week After Morales Stopped Multinational Firm’s Lithium Deal

by Eoin Higgins via Common Dreams The Sunday military coup in Bolivia has put in place a government which appears likely to reverse a decision by just-resigned President Evo Morales to cancel an agreement with a German company for developing lithium deposits in the Latin American country for batteries like those in electric cars. “Bolivia’s lithium … Read more

Fed Prints Even More Money, Adds 3 Additional Repo Operations With Longer Maturities!

via silverdoctors: The Fed will also adjust the “timing and amounts” as necessary… The Fed has upped the ante in its market intervention. Statement from the NY Fed (yellow highlight added for emphasis): Of course they’ll adjust the “timing and amounts”, and there’s a good chance it happens sooner than later. Is this further evidence the Fed & … Read more

Couple faces jail for living in RV on own property

https://www.facebook.com/pam.navari/videos/10157485123663904/   The couple says they were told their temporary home violated their Madison homeowner’s association code. Pam Navari says they parked the RV in their driveway as they fought their insurance company over the settlement claim amount for the Christmas Eve fire. She says the city alderman and mayor signed off on the plan and … Read more

Chinese killer robots sold to Middle East will leave ‘every human dead’

China is selling its most advanced “fully autonomous” military drones with fears that it could lead to a bloodbath in the Middle East. The Asian superpower is reportedly selling AI-enhanced combat drones to the region, with potentially disastrous consequences. Prof Toby Walsh, of the University of NSW, in Australia, said: “They would be impossible to defend … Read more