Saturday, September 5, 2015

Slow Saturday Special: The Death of Corporate Governance

It's been over 30 years now, and it's failed (unless enriching an upper crust while leaving the rest in misery was the goal). 

The man who brought it to us:

"Adrian Cadbury, at 86; British corporate governance leader" by Steven Gittelson Bloomberg News  September 05, 2015

NEW YORK — Adrian Cadbury, former chairman of Cadbury Schweppes and a leader in the field of best practices in corporate governance, died Thursday. He was 86.

Mr. Cadbury died in Birmingham, central England, according to Jon Garbett, a spokesman for Aston University, where Mr. Cadbury was chancellor from 1979 to 2004.

Mr. Cadbury was chairman of Cadbury Schweppes, the British food and beverage company, from 1974 to 1989. He was known for heading the Committee on the Financial Aspects of Corporate Governance from 1991 to 1995. The group’s recommendations helped formed the bedrock of what is generally accepted as proper corporate-structure rules.

Mr. Cadbury “has become the elder statesman of the corporate- governance movement and Britain is the ‘corporate-governance capital of the world’ in the words of long-time shareholder activist and Cadbury admirer Bob Monks,’’ the Guardian reported in 2002.

He described his experience as committee chairman, which amounted to a second career after spending more than three decades in the family business, in his 2002 book ‘‘Corporate Governance and Chairmanship: A Personal View.’’

For example, a chief executive should not also serve as chairman, he said, because he would focus the board’s attention on short-term results rather than long-range planning.

‘‘The company should revolve around the board, which under the guidance of the chairman should establish priorities and values and see that the executives put them into practice,’’ he wrote.

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The failure is reflected in the stock market:

"Stocks see worst month in 3 years; Confusion grows over Fed’s next move; Unease about China is likely to continue" by Beth Healy Globe Staff  September 01, 2015

Investors still sorting out conflicting messages....

I do it every day when I read through a Globe.

Confusing signals from the US central bank are leaving investors unsure if the Fed is planning to raise interest rates in September as previously expected or hold off until December, but that changed over the weekend. At a meeting of central bankers and economists in Jackson Hole, Wyo., comments by Fed vice chairman Stanley Fischer indicated a rate hike in September could still be a go.

Yeah, the “uncertainty is creating some volatility.” 

**********************

Oil, meanwhile, posted its biggest three-day rally in 25 years, and energy stocks helped the market in the afternoon. But volatile oil prices also are a reflection of a confused market.

‘‘August was a rough month for everybody,’’ said Michael Block, chief equity strategist at Rhino Trading Partners in New York.

‘‘There’s a little scare now, where people are getting this feeling from Fischer saying we could see a hike as soon as September, that they don’t care about volatility and that we’re on our own. You could argue a rate hike is good for stocks, but it’s a big unknown, and the market is undecided — that’s where the fear is.’’

The ups and downs are likely to continue, analysts said, until the Fed makes a decision in mid-September.

In addition, investors are awaiting evidence that China has a strong policy for handling its economy and can articulate that plan to global investors.

“It seems that the uncertainty from China’s roller coaster is not over yet,” said Guillermo Hernandez Sampere, head of trading at MPPM EK in Eppstein, Germany. “Any panic created out of this high volatility keeps investors out of the market. There’s still no clear message” on when the Fed will raise rates, he said.

The rout in global equities this month erased more than $5 trillion from the value of shares as Chinese policy makers tried to bolster their market amid growing concern that the country’s economy may be in worse shape than analysts had estimated.

On Monday, Morgan Stanley reduced its forecast for world growth this year and next, citing weakening industrial activity in China.

Trading in US equities has been volatile. Oil, meanwhile, reached its highest closing price in more than a month....

--more--"

About that oil:

"Oil rises as OPEC signals it’s ready to talk higher prices" by Maher Chmaytelli Bloomberg News  August 31, 2015

PARIS — OPEC, the producer of 40 percent of the world’s oil, has renewed its readiness to talk to other crude exporters to achieve ‘‘fair and reasonable prices,’’ according to the group’s monthly magazine. Oil jumped to its highest price in a month on the report.

‘‘There is no quick fix, but if there is a willingness to face the oil industry’s challenges together, then the prospects for the future have to be a lot better than what everyone involved in the industry has been experiencing over the past nine months or so,’’ said the opening commentary in the OPEC Bulletin published Monday on the group’s website. ‘‘As the Organization has stressed on numerous occasions, it stands ready to talk to all other producers.’’

Crude sank to a six-year low, losing more than half its value in the past year as Saudi Arabia, the world’s top exporter, led OPEC to reject demands from some of the other members like Algeria and Venezuela to cut supply in order to prop up prices. The group opted to maintain production in order to protect market share amid surging output from the United States, Canada, and other countries.

It was a coordinated plan to weaken Russia and Iran.

The 12-member Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries stuck to the same decision at its last meeting in June, ramping up daily output in the past three months above 32 million barrels, the highest since 2012, on increased supply from Saudi Arabia and Iraq, while prices weakened after fellow member Iran struck a deal in July with world powers on its nuclear program that would free up its oil exports.

How about that, huh?

*********************

OPEC won’t agree to carry the burden of propping up oil prices by cutting supply and nonmember nations would have to share the burden, according to the bulletin.

‘‘This has to be on a level playing field,’’ it said. ‘‘OPEC will protect its own interests. As developing countries, its members, whose economies rely heavily on this one precious resource, can ill afford to do otherwise.’’

‘‘If the wide-ranging projections on oil demand are correct, then it is just a case of riding out the storm and waiting for calmer waters to return,’’ the publication said, adding that demand growth in 2016 ‘‘augurs well for oil prices.’’

With consumption set to grow by 1.4 million barrels a day, OPEC and its de facto leader Saudi Arabia could seize the chance to broaden their market as competitors damaged by the price slump fall off. 

Ah, JIT, Iran.

‘‘OPEC, as always, will continue to do all in its power to create the right enabling environment for the oil market to achieve equilibrium with fair and reasonable prices,’’ the group said in the magazine.

A March initiative by Algeria’s President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to organize a coordinated response to the oil price slump between OPEC and non-OPEC nations met with no response.

Related: Algerian Aberrations

In a December interview with the Middle East Economic Survey, Saudi Arabia’s oil minister, Ali al-Naimi, said that a meeting with non-OPEC producers Russia and Mexico in Vienna produced no result as the two nations declined to commit to supply cuts.

The talks, also attended by Venezuela, were held before the November meeting where the decision to preserve market share was taken.

Venezuela is another country (and enemy of the U.S.) that has been crushed by the collapse in oil prices.

--more--" 

Looks like oil is being used as a weapon of war.

"China woes, Fed questions drive down stocks" by Beth Healy Globe Staff  September 02, 2015

It took only a fresh report on China’s slowing economy to send Wall Street into another nose dive Tuesday, chopping nearly 3 percent off the value of US stocks and dashing hopes that a global sell-off was losing steam.

The Dow Jones industrial average plunged almost 470 points to 16,058.35, fresh on the heels of the index’s worst monthly performance in three years.

Other US stock benchmarks fell in similar fashion, after tumbling more than 6 percent in a volatile August.

“I would buckle in, this isn’t going to be graceful,’’ said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics in West Chester, Pa.

A government report showed that manufacturing and factory activity in China slowed in August, adding fuel to concerns that economies around the world could stumble as a result.

Questions about the US Federal Reserve’s direction on interest rates, coupled with late-summer vacation absences on Wall Street, also helped set a negative tone for the session Tuesday.

Meanwhile, a US manufacturing report for August showed new orders and production still growing, but at a slower pace.

“We’re continuing to grow, we’re creating a lot of jobs, ” Zandi said. “The fundamentals of the economy are strong. The US economy can continue to drive the global train forward, just as long as China doesn’t derail.”

I'm so f***ing sick of the banker's pre$$, I really am. Shoveling horse shit every damn day.

But investors did not appear optimistic Tuesday, driving the price of stocks lower at the start of trading and keeping them down for the rest of the day.

It’s unclear how long it could take to sort out China’s economic trajectory. The country’s reporting of data is often incomplete and even suspect at times, investment managers complain.

Oh, you mean like my bu$ine$$ pre$$?

They say some of the government’s recent moves, like the unexpected decision to devalue the Chinese currency, have not inspired confidence.

******************************

Another issue: Oil producers worry about slowing demand, even though globally it “has never been higher,’’ according to Jeff Mortimer, director of investment strategy at BNY Mellon Wealth Management. 

Sick of the mixed messages yet? 

Pretty clear the whole $y$tem is sucking loot up to the crust and that's it. 

Also see: Monday's $lice of Mellon 

Did I mention they are all crooks?

Wide swings in oil prices in recent days have come as investors and producers react to an apparent oversupply of crude. Mortimer said the United States has played a role in the glut, because of the success of fracking to produce natural gas.

Yeah, fracking has been great and the drilling operations are being shut down because they can't even cover the cost because of the collapse in oil prices. But, yup, fracking has been great (you never mind that methane), or so goes the narrative.

“We’re not used to seeing oil trade like this,’’ he said.

Fortunately, I am used to having shit shoveled at me with a trowel.

Lower oil prices are embraced by some people and feared by others. These are difficult times for producers, for instance, but cheaper energy can help make many businesses more profitable and help consumers save money.

The cheaper cost doesn't out way the structural harm of low oil prices.

The volatility of stock and commodity prices isn’t making the Fed’s job easy, near term.

Awww, poor f***ing Fed!

The central bankers want to start slowly moving rates higher to reflect a stronger economy.

You can't reflect something that isn't there.

But they don’t aim to make a swooning market worse.

And they are the alleged experts!

The Fed’s policy makers meet in two weeks....

RelatedBoston Fed chief says interest-rate hike will be gradual

And I quote:

“We don’t have a great explanation of why stock markets are so down around the world.”

I do.

--more--"

Related: Dollar As World’s Reserve Currency Threatened 

Thus Tianjin, which has completely disappeared from my coverage.

Also see:

Ford and Fiat-Chrysler post surprising sales gains in August

Missed but noted.

$27.3b left funds during turmoil

"US businesses added jobs at a steady pace last month, with construction and manufacturing showing solid gains."

RelatedLow-income workers see biggest drop in paychecks

Better check the book:

Fed's Beige Book says economy expanded across most regions Boston Globe - 15 hours ago
The Beige Book also showed that manufacturing activity was mostly positive, with only the ...

Page not found.

We're sorry for the inconvenience. Here are a few suggestions to help you find your way:
Yup.

Massachusetts life sciences companies added 2,800 jobs last year
MIT students seek boost in landing biotech jobs
Ariad shares fall 17% on Baxalta report
Florida biotech takes office space in Kendall Square
Lahey, Beth Israel Deaconess in merger talk

I feel so foolish and naive because I never realized health was such big bu$ine$$!

"Texas hedge fund manager Kyle Bass and his firm, Hayman Capital Management, rose to prominence eight years ago when he made a bold bet anticipating the crash of the US housing market. More recently, he has organized a group called the Coalition for Affordable Drugs to challenge the patents of many drugs owned by biotechnology companies. Among those challenges, he has filed patent cases against Shire PLC, an Irish company with a large presence in Lexington, and Aegerion Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Cambridge. Bass has publicly complained that a “small minority of drug companies” have used illegitimate patents to sustain an “anticompetitive high-price monopoly to the detriment of Americans suffering from illness.” His critics in the drug industry said the hedge fund manager was betting against the stocks of biotech companies and then attacking the intellectual property behind their products to drive down share prices." 

RelatedFund chief Kyle Bass says drug-patent fight isn’t over

Also seeEndoscopic maker files for bankruptcy

I'm not swayed by Bray, and am in fact bored.

"US stocks moved slightly higher Thursday as markets calmed after a recent bout of turmoil. Investors were encouraged by comments from European Central Bank policy makers, who said they were willing to provide more stimulus to the region’s economy, if needed. Investors now turn to Friday, when a key US jobs report will be released that could help determine whether the Federal Reserve raises interest rates this month. ‘‘There’s a lot of trepidation in the market over what the Fed will do, and it’s only getting worse as we get closer to the meeting,’’ said Kristina Hooper, at Allianz Global Investors. The Fed’s two-day meeting begins Sept. 16. Stocks started the day solidly higher in New York, but momentum waned as the day dragged on."

Tell me about it (by the time I reach this section I making big black Xs and notes to link or read later (ha).

Now about Europe (which was supposed to be rebounding):

"Stimulus for Europe still hotly debated" by Jack Ewing New York Times   September 03, 2015

FRANKFURT — Thursday was supposed to be an occasion for Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank, to take a victory lap. Instead, he may face questions on why he and his policy council are not running even harder, given all the new uncertainties in global and European economies.

Draghi would probably prefer to note the positives. Six months after the central bank began an unprecedented stimulus program, eurozone growth has improved. Unemployment is edging lower. Inflation is back above zero, if just barely. There are signs credit is flowing more easily. The crisis in Greece has faded, for now at least.

Yeah, printing money and showering it on banks is great, and now that the Greek government has capitulated to the bankers they have other problems (waves of war refugees).

But Thursday, when Draghi presides at a regularly scheduled meeting of the central bank’s Governing Council, he will need to address the welter of new and in some cases unexpected threats from around the globe, which could create pressure for more stimulus spending.

Don't shut those printing pre$$es of quite yet!

A slowdown in China and other emerging markets has prompted wild swings in stock prices, although markets were relatively calm Wednesday.

The Federal Reserve is poised to raise interest rates in the United States as early as this month, possibly causing borrowing costs to rise in the eurozone before growth is strong enough. 

Students with loans take note; you are now tied to that thanks to the Republocrats.

Some economists are even warning again about the eurozone’s lapsing into deflation, a broad decline in prices that is considered poisonous to growth and employment.

An influx of migrants into Europe from Syria and other conflict zones, while outside the purview of monetary policy, adds to the uncertainty. Confusion among European leaders about how to deal with the crisis raises questions about the political unity that is essential to the survival of the eurozone.

That's what I thought. The migrant crisis will mean no more threats of Grexits, and now word comes from the blogs that this is a backdoor way to invade Syria (and thus staunch the flow of refugees created by the EUSraeli Empire, right).

These factors could undermine the positive effects of the bond-buying stimulus program, known as quantitative easing, that the ECB began in March to pump money into the eurozone economy and force down market interest rates. 

It's what I've been saying, and its a failed policy unless the intent was to enrich the elite crust. If so, mi$$ion accomplished.

As a result, some analysts, so far apparently a minority, expect Draghi to send a strong signal Thursday that the Governing Council is ready to step up its bond purchases and continue them longer than currently planned.

Just like what the Fed is doing here. Only a matter of time before this house of cards again collapses.

But any talk of more stimulus would reawaken tensions on the council between those who think the central bank has already done too much and those who favor aggressive, pre-emptive action. It took years for Draghi to resolve those tensions and begin the bond-buying program in the first place.

The goddamn bankers really f***ed things up, didn't they?

“I can imagine that the controversy within the Governing Council and the debates within the Governing Council continue to be quite heavy,” said Zsolt Darvas, a senior fellow at Bruegel, a research organization in Brussels. “Since there are some improving signs in the eurozone, those governors who were against quantitative easing will be against it even more.”

Partly because of that dissent, Darvas said he did not expect any major shift in policy from the ECB on Thursday. Many analysts seem to agree.

Nor, Darvas said, is major action necessary right away. While China is an important export market for Germany and other European countries, he said, a slowdown there will not derail eurozone growth.

--more--"

"If needed, eurozone economy will get bigger dose of stimulus" by David McHugh and Pan Pylask Associated Press  September 03, 2015

WASHINGTON — The European Central Bank is ready to give the eurozone economy a bigger dose of stimulus if turmoil in China and weaker global growth hurt its modest recovery, President Mario Draghi said Thursday.

Market volatility, concern over a looming US interest rate increase, and a drop in oil prices have spawned uncertainty about the global economy, leading the ECB to cut its inflation and growth forecasts for the eurozone.

And just a few weeks ago the same pre$$ was saying everything looked great!

Draghi said the ECB can add to its $1.2 trillion program if the 19-country currency bloc needs it.

‘‘We expect the economic recovery to continue, albeit at a somewhat weaker pace than earlier expected, reflecting in particular the slowdown in emerging market economies, which is weighing on global growth and foreign demand for euro area exports,’’ Draghi said.

How do you like the double$peak?

He cautioned that it was premature to conclude the market turmoil of recent weeks means longer-term trouble for the world economy. Draghi said that before acting, the ECB wanted to learn ‘‘whether this is just the beginning of long-term lower output, or a strictly transitory phenomenon.’’

The ECB is pumping about $67 billion a month in newly printed money into the eurozone economy by buying government and corporate bonds. The program, dubbed quantitative easing, or QE, is slated to run at least through September 2016.

It's a policy that has been in place since 2008, and all its done is make the rich richer.

Draghi said the bank could increase the ‘‘size, composition and duration of the program.’’

Tom Rogers, senior economic adviser to the EY Eurozone forecast, said the ECB’s cuts to its forecasts ‘‘imply that QE will go on longer than the current end-point.’’

Those pre$$es will still be running after the mushroom clouds and global firestorm.

Joerg Kraemer, chief economist at Commerzbank, said the ECB would probably increase the size of the stimulus at its December meeting and predicted it would do so by raising the amount of monthly bond purchases, rather than by extending the program’s duration.

A skeptic of such bond-buying programs, Kraemer argued that more stimulus would not help, saying it would only support financial markets, while taking pressure off of eurozone governments to reform their economies.

We know.

The stimulus is intended to help get consumer price inflation back toward the ECB’s target of just below 2 percent. In the year to August, inflation was 0.2 percent. Draghi said the rate could even go negative in coming months due to a further drop in oil prices this summer.

The hint at further stimulus boosted stock markets but weighed on the euro, whose value would be diluted if more money is put in circulation.

Yeah, it's not that hard a concept to under$tand.

The euro fell 1 percent to $1.1118, while the Stoxx 50 index of leading European shares added to earlier gains, rising 2.2 percent.

The ECB’s position contrasts with that of the US Federal Reserve, which is expected to raise interest rates, possibly as early as this month.

Such a move could cause more turmoil in global markets as investors bring money back to the United States from other countries to take advantage of the new, higher interest rate.

Maybe that is what they want; then the rich buy low and consolidate more.

The move could also indirectly lead to higher market interest rates in Europe, hurting the economy by making borrowing more expensive.

F*** Europe, as Victoria Nuland once famously said.

Draghi said he usually doesn’t comment on other central banks but added that ‘‘if this is necessary to achieve the inflation objectives and more broadly the objectives of the Federal Reserve monetary policy, this is a plus for the world.’’

These guys are the most disgusting $lime that ever existed.

On the positive side for the eurozone, a Federal Reserve rate increase could also strengthen the dollar against the euro, boosting the eurozone’s trade position.

What does it matter? The rest of the world is subtly dropping it, even if my pre$$ won't tell me that. 

That's the real reason for the wars, not all the lies and distortions we are fed about how evil is the other guy (fill in name of enemy country).

Against the backdrop of weaker oil prices and a slowdown in developing economies, the ECB cut its projections for eurozone inflation and economic growth.

It trimmed its annual inflation forecast for this year to 0.1 percent from 0.3 percent previously, and for next year to 1.1 percent from 1.5 percent.

It cut its eurozone growth forecast to 1.4 percent this year from 1.5 percent previously, and to 1.7 percent for next year from 1.9 percent.

--more--"

Gee, the central banks look like they are out of breath! 

They can't even inflate a balloon, never mind an economy.

"Investors were served with another dose of uncertainty Friday following a jobs report they thought would provide more clarity on interest rates before a key Federal Reserve meeting this month. However, a mixed report left them guessing. The report showed that the US jobless rate fell to a seven-year low in August but also that employers added fewer jobs than forecast. Stocks have been volatile for weeks on concern that China’s economy is slowing more rapidly than previously thought. Among individual stocks, Netflix continued its slide on Friday. The company’s stock has slumped for six straight days and closed the week down 16 percent on speculation that competition from rivals including Amazon and Hulu is intensifying. The price of oil fell 70 cents to close at $46.05 a barrel in New York."

"Jobs report little help to Fed officials mulling rate hike" by Megan Woolhouse Globe staff  September 04, 2015

Now what?

Friday’s mixed economic news added to the uncertainty....

“The Fed is going to move in September,” said John Silvia, chief economist for Wells Fargo & Co., in Charlotte, N.C. “They are going to raise rates.”

Or not.

“The Fed will likely hold off,” said Gregory Daco, chief of US macroeconomics at Oxford Economics USA in New York, citing the recent turmoil in markets around the world.

So who is going to win the Patriot's game Thursday, guys?

************

As recently as three weeks ago, a Fed rate increase seemed a sure bet as the US economy continued to expand and add jobs at a solid pace. But news of weakening Chinese economy — the world’s second biggest — has sent stocks tumbling from Shanghai to London to New York, raising concerns of a global economic slowdown that could derail the US expansion.

Yeah, right, it's all China's fault. Not the wealth inequality and looting schemes of Wall Street.

US stocks, after rallying earlier this week, fell sharply again Friday following the jobless report. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 273 points, or about 1.7 percent, to 16,102....

Up and down, up and down, but down more.

The question facing the Fed officials is whether the US economy, still healing from a historic recession that officially ended in 2009, is strong enough to absorb higher interest rates, which the Fed uses to prevent the economy from overheating and sparking runaway inflation. 

The economy is "still healing" -- despite the roaring recovery we have been told about for years! 

How f***ing offensive, as if it is some sort of sentient life form that feels pain. It's a manipulated $y$tem that benefits a select few -- by design!

Once the Fed begins raising rates for borrowers, the effects will ripple through the economy in the form of higher costs for mortgages, credit cards, and business loans.

And student loan rates will also rise, don't forget that. 

Time to Occupy again, kids.

The debate has divided economists, business leaders, investors, and Fed policy makers.

The employment report provided support for both sides of the debate....

Revisions by the Labor Department showed that employers added 44,000 more jobs in June and July than previously reported.

The August numbers could also change; historically, August is the month with the greatest revisions.

Meaning the government reports are ALL CRAP!

In the report, wages ticked up: Average hourly earnings of private sector workers rose 8 cents last month to $25.09.

“The dominant US economy is doing fine,” Silvia said.

Daco, however, noted that job growth has slowed from 2014....

It's a $hit economy!

--more--"

Oh, look, there is a job you can Target!

Related:

"The share of federal jobs going to veterans is at its highest level in five years, statistics show, with former servicemembers making up almost half of full-time hires in the past fiscal year." 

That explains the police state and mentality from authority, and isn't that discrimination against civilians?

Sorry to leave you on an island as I close out today's posts:

"Puerto Rico gets new terms on $5.7b in debt" by Mary Williams Walsh New York Times  September 03, 2015

NEW YORK — Puerto Rico agreed on terms for restructuring up to $5.7 billion of bonds late Tuesday, even though its plans to propose a much broader debt moratorium remained delayed by a week.

The new restructuring plan covers only the uninsured bonds of Puerto Rico’s big public electric utility, an islandwide monopoly known as PREPA. Its outstanding bonds have a total face value of about $8.1 billion, but of that, about $2.4 billion is insured and not part of the agreement.

Melba Acosta Febo, president of Puerto Rico’s Government Development Bank, called the deal “an example of the promising results that can be achieved when the commonwealth and its creditors work together.”

The agreement calls for an exchange of debt, according to people briefed on the terms. Current bondholders are to accept new bonds with a par value 15 percent less than the bonds they now hold. At the same time, the new bonds are to be backed by a securitized stream of revenue that is intended to make them much safer and likelier to repay investors than PREPA’s current bonds.

A securitized stream of revenue? Smells like more $hitty CDOs.

With less risk, the new bonds are also intended to cost PREPA less in interest, said people briefed on the terms. The bonds have not yet been rated, but the securitization is supposed to make them so much stronger that they could have a coupon rate somewhere between 4 percent and 5 percent. The terms also call for a portion of the new bonds to pay only interest — no principal — for the first five years, to help PREPA conserve its cash.

Who is going to rate them, the same guys who stamped the mortgage-backed securities AAA?

Stephen Spencer of the investment bank Houlihan Lokey, which advised the bondholders, said the deal was structured to produce savings that the utility could use to get back on its feet.

“We believe it provides PREPA with a fresh start and financial flexibility, with bondholders providing meaningful sacrifices to make that happen,” he said.

The announcement that PREPA had an agreement with a big block of its creditors gives Puerto Rico a needed accomplishment at a time when other developments have been going against it.

Like what?

The government on the island is close to running out of cash and can no longer borrow on reasonable terms. And it has defaulted on one class of bonds and has more bond payments looming. At the same time, Puerto Rico has been trying without success to get access to the federal bankruptcy courts, something that would take an act of Congress.

Restructuring PREPA’s debt alone cannot cure all those woes, but the new term sheet does give the Puerto Rican government evidence to show to other creditors of the merits of negotiating consensual restructurings instead of litigating and insisting on full payment. That’s something that should be especially useful once Puerto Rico has issued the terms of its broad moratorium proposal. That is now expected to happen on Sept. 8. 

As if debt could "cure" anything. 

Readers, this banker$peak $hit is the most rank garbage I've ever read.

Puerto Rico’s total bonded debt has a face value of about $72 billion, and Governor Alejandro García Padilla has called it “unpayable.”

As is most of the debt issued by private central banks all around the world, but if you can keep the scheme going just a while longer.... 

In June, he called for a “negotiated moratorium” to give his administration time to try to turn the island’s economy around with a package of deep structural reforms. But how long the moratorium is to last, and which of Puerto Rico’s many debts it would affect, remain closely held information.

And Puerto Ricans thought they were living in poverty now.

--more--"

Related:

"Citing time lost to a tropical storm, the government of Puerto Rico has postponed by one week a plan for a “negotiated moratorium” on $72 billion of debt. Officials have been working on the plan since the end of June, when Governor Alejandro García Padilla announced that Puerto Rico’s economic decline had become self-feeding, and said that without profound structural changes, the island would never be able to pay off its debt. He spoke in general terms about slowing Puerto Rico’s scheduled debt payments while sweeping economic changes took place. A detailed plan was to be completed by Sunday, but on Saturday evening the governor’s chief of staff, Víctor Suárez Meléndez, said it was not ready. “The government’s efforts in the past days have been focused on preparing for the possible impact of Tropical Storm Erika,” he said in a statement. The new due date is Sept. 8."

Speaking of storms:

"Stock Market Crash 2015: The Dow Has Already Plummeted 2200 Points From The Peak

by Michael Snyder, on September 4th, 2015

Those that watched their stocks steadily increase in value for years are now seeing all of that “wealth” disappear at a staggering pace.  The only way you actually make money in the stock market is if you get out in time, and many Americans are discovering that all or most of their gains have already been wiped out.  At this point, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has dipped below where it was at the end of the 2013 calendar year.  That means that nearly two years of gains have already been obliterated.  On Friday, the Dow was down another 272 points, and it is now down more than 2200 points from the peak of the market back in May.  For months, I have been detailing how things were setting up for this kind of financial crash in textbook fashion, and now events are playing out just as I warned.  But this is just the beginning – what is coming next is going to shock the world....

I wish I could tell you that things are going to get better, but I can’t do that.  There are some giant financial bubbles that are starting to unwind, and this process is going to take time to fully unfold.
And this is truly a global phenomenon.  Chinese stocks have been crashing horribly, Japanese stocks just had their worst week in over a year, Canada and much of South America are plunging into recession, and Europe is probably in worse shape than everyone else if you look at the fundamentals.

Even though U.S. stocks have already fallen substantially, the truth is that they easily have much farther to fall.  Yale economics professor Robert Shiller believes that we could actually soon see the Dow plunge all the way to 11,000….

We have entered “the danger zone“, and events are going to start moving very rapidly now.  If you have been listening to the warnings, you are going to understand why things are happening and you are going to know what to do.

Unfortunately, most people are going to have that “deer in the headlights” look because they will not understand what is happening and they will be frozen by fear.

Stay tuned to this website and to End Of The American Dream because things are about to get very weird and I will do my best to explain them as the coming weeks and months play out....

--MORE--"

While on the subject of corporate deaths:

The Boston Globe Admits Iraq Lies Killed It

I blame the New York Times because "from the moment the Times Co. purchased The Globe in 1993, it has treated New England's largest newspaper like a cheap whore."

After more than two years, things have only gotten worse.

Time to put the blog down for the night.