Business

Authored by Ralf Zimmermann, Head of Equity Strategy at Bankhaus Lampe KG,

Let’s forget for ten minutes the upcoming Q3 reports (supportive for stocks), US policy risks (probably the biggest medium-term risk for stock markets), hurricane-related diversions and North Korean rumblings - and turn to a pretty fundamental issue, most likely the biggest one in contemporary capital markets: Central bank interventions in and manipulation of capital markets. 

Concluding this week's series of lousy Treasury auctions was today's reopening of $12 billion in 29-Year-11-month Bonds due August 2047, which priced in line with the previous poor 3Y and 10Y auctions, printing at a high yield of 2.790%, a tail of 0.3bps to the 2.787% When Issued, and the lowest yield since last October's 2.47%.

Authored by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,

When will America finally wake up? 

The borrower is the servant of the lender, and we now have a colossal 20 trillion dollar chain around our collective ankles. 

Seadrill Ltd., the London-based offshore driller controlled by billionaire Norwegian shipping magnate John Fredriksen, filed bankruptcy protection in the Southern District of Texas after working out a deal with most of its senior lenders to inject $1 billion of new money into the company pursuant to a pre-arranged plan of reorganization.  The filing was largely expected and came just a couple of days before the company's $843 million 5.625% Notes of 2017 came due. 

One day after the most anticipated Apple product launch in 10 years, several problems have emerged for the much hyped iPhone X, face-recognition demo flop notwithstanding: it will be substantially delayed confirming all earlier reports of supply-chain bottlenecks, and it will be expensive, perhaps prohibitively so. The introductory prices of the iPhone 8 and the iPhone 8 Plus have gone up compared to the prices of the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus. The iPhone X, meanwhile, will price in the 4 digits well equipped.