energy

The first signs of financial distress often surface when CFO's start to play games with their balance sheet.  First, comes the ballooning of current liabilities as payable balances are stretched out to the max to preserve cash.  Next, the most astute vendors catch on fairly quickly to the gamesmanship and move to COD terms for new purchases.  Once that happens, the gaming CFO typically faces a 'run on the bank' which prompts a full revolver draw and generally, soon thereafter, a bankruptcy filing.  

Authored by Raul Ilargi Meijer via The Automatic Earth blog,

We are witnessing the demise of the world’s two largest economic power blocks, the US and EU. Given deteriorating economic conditions on both sides of the Atlantic, which have been playing out for many years but were so far largely kept hidden from view by unprecedented issuance of debt, the demise should come as no surprise.

Authored by Gail Tverberg via Our Finite World blog,

The Federal Reserve would like to raise target interest rates because of inflation concerns and concern that asset bubbles are forming. Part of their concern seems to arise indirectly from the rise in oil prices, relative to their low level in early 2016.

Figure 1. WSJ figure indicating likely reasons for rate hike.

Via Mike Krieger of Liberty Blitzkrieg blog,

Bitcoin topped $1200 overnight for the first time, bringing it ever closer to the price for an ounce of gold...

As Bloomberg notes, a ten-day rally for the cryptocurrency has narrowed its gap with the precious metal to the smallest on record.

Each asset has been touted as an alternative to regular currencies, because of constraints on their supply and the capacity they offer to sidestep governments.

Partity looms once again...