Business

So much excitment but by the end of the month...

Some high-/low-lights for February...

Via EvergreenGavekal.com, 

“Betting against gold is the same as betting on governments. He who bets on governments and government money bets against 6,000 years of recorded human history.”

 

– Charles De Gaulle, Leader of the French resistance during WWII and 18th President of France

SUMMARY

Over the past two weeks, we’ve begun to document (see here and here) what may end up being a dramatic unwind in the CLO market.

Supply all but vanished in the wake of the crisis but staged a comeback starting in 2012 and by 2014, issuance was running at a $125 billion per year clip. As we noted last week, that’s roughly the equivalent of how much auto loan-backed paper came to market last year.

With CDS markets implying around a 40% probability of default, Moody's has issued a warning over Valeant's deleveraging prospects (and ability to deliver sustainable growth) putting $31 billion of biotech debt on watch for downgrade. VRX bonds are down dramatically on the day.. not the forst day back at work Pearson was hoping for.

Submitted by James Stafford via OilPrice.com,

With lithium prices skyrocketing beyond wildest expectations, talk heating up about acquisitions and mergers in this space and a fast-brewing war among electric car rivals, it’s no wonder everyone’s bullish on this golden commodity that promises to become the ‘’new gasoline”.

Moreover, land grabs, rising price predictions, and expectations of a major demand spike are leaping out of the shadows of a pending energy revolution and a new technology-driven resource era.