Business

Another company on the infamous Fitch "retail death list" has taken its first step toward bankruptcy.

On Thursday, distressed children's clothing retailer Gymboree elected not to make the interest payment due June 1 on its outstanding 9.125% notes due in 2018, Debtwire reported, with Moody's downgrading the company to D from CC on Friday, as it does not expect Gymboree to make the interest payment, "or any other payments on its debt obligations, and sees a general default given ongoing lender negotiations."

With yields plunging to 2017 lows, the Treasury curve has collapsed with 2s30s at its flattest since early September (and 2s10s at its flattest since early October).

This, as Gary Cohn noted, reflects bond investors' poor outlooks for longer-term growth... which, with equity markets at record highs, is entirely missing from stock investors' minds.

http://player.cnbc.com/p/gZWlPC/cnbc_global

Now where would bonds get the idea that all is not well from?

Authored by Tsvetana Paraskova via OilPrice.com,

The OPEC/non-OPEC deal is working, and the current underlying key assumption of Russia’s economic policies—oil prices at US$40—can allow it to live forever at that price or below, Russia’s Economy Minister Maxim Oreshkin told Bloomberg in an interview on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on Thursday.

http://www.bloomberg.com/api/embed/iframe

Authored by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,

Even as attention has turned once again to Italy as the next possible source of European financial contagion, Spain's sixth largest bank has found itself in freefall over the past few days as concerns grow that the bank may be liquidated unless a last-minute buyer, or source of capital, emerges.