Business

The shocking fate of Third Avenue's junk bond fund, which as we reported yesterday, announced it would gate investors and proceed to liquidate over the next several months as it sought to unwind its illiquid positions at a leisurely pace "without resorting to sales at prices that would unfairly disadvantage the remaining shareholders" is made just modestly less shocking when one considers that the $789 million fund (down from $2.4 billion earlier this year) was the worst performing YTD fund tracked by Morningstar, tumbling 27% YTD, but only after placing in the top 1%-percentile in 2013.

Extending its losses from yesterday, following the untimely sacking of a fiscally responsible finance minister, South Africa is in freefall - Rang crashed above 16 (record lows), stocks have crashed, and bond yields exploded:

China's Yuan hit a fresh 4 year low...

EM Stocks are plunging...

And of course US High Yield Bonds...

'As goes oil, so goes the US equity market' appears to bethe new mantra. Just as yesterday's pump-and-dump tracked oil, so in the pre-market, WTI Crude plunged back to fresh 7-year lows after IEA warned that the oil glut will worsen, with prices lower for longer as demand remains subdued through at least 2017. This in turn sent US equities tumbling with Dow futures down 200 points (down 330 from Thursday highs).

Spot the difference...

• Futures down sharply as oil hits seven-year low (Reuters)
• Oil slides to new seven-year low as IEA warns of worse glut (Reuters)
• But... but... they all said... Cheap Oil Gives Little Help to U.S. Spending (WSJ)
• Disappearances in China Highlight Ruling Party Detention System (BBG)
• China’s Credit Rebounds as Stimulus Helps Boost Loan Demand (BBG)
• Junk Fund’s Demise Fuels Concern Over Bond Rout (WSJ)
• No cheer as China yuan hits four-and-a-half-year low, oil at seven-year low (Reuters)
• Fixing the Falling Yuan (WSJ)

It's official: two of America oldest publicly traded companies will combine, with Dow and DuPoint merging as equals in a combined company that will have a $130 billion market cap and will be named DowDuPont. And while shareholders already benefited from the deal with shares of both consitutents rising by 10% in the days preceding the official announcement, the biggest loser are once again the employees: the combined company announced that as part of the $700 million in restructuring efforts, 10% of the combined company's employees will be laid off.

Here are the details: