Business

Submitted by Simon Black via SovereignMan.com,

This is starting to become very concerning.

The momentum to “ban cash”, and in particular high denomination notes like the 500 euro and $100 bills, is seriously picking up steam.

On Monday the European Central Bank President emphatically disclosed that he is strongly considering phasing out the 500 euro note.

Yesterday, former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers published an op-ed in the Washington Post about getting rid of the $100 bill.

Congratulations to Devon Energy: moments ago it announced that with Goldman as underwriter, it became the first company to successfully access the equity offering window in a long, long time sell equity in the form of 55 million shares in stock, or just over $1 billion in proceeds assuming today's closing price of $20.33.  The proceeds will be used "for general corporate purposes, including bolstering the Company’s liquidity position, reducing indebtedness and funding the Company’s capital program." In other words, Devon is rusing to sell equity while it still can sell equity.

There really is only one clip for this...

This is the first 3 consecutive 1% gains for S&P since Oct 2011 - most notably S&P remains well below its 50dma...

Wolf Richter, www.wolfstreet.com

Most of the defaults, debt restructurings, and bankruptcies so far this year and last year were triggered when over-indebted cash-flow negative companies could not make interest payments on their debts.

With the market enjoying its biggest three-day short-squeeze since 2011, one can be forgiven to forget, if only briefly, that nothing has been fixed. Furthermore, if the OPEC meetings of the past two days have demonstrated anything, it is to confirm that not only is OPEC finished as a cartel, but that OPEC has no power over the marginal oil producers in Texas, aside from bankrupting them by pressuring prices lower.

Which is precisely what it will do.