Happy Holidays...

Source: Ben Garrison

“Two things become clear in an analysis of the financial health of US hydrocarbon production: 1) the sector is not at all homogenous, exhibiting a range of financial health; 2) some of the sector indeed looks exposed to distress [and] lifelines for distressed producers could include public equity markets, asset sales, private equity, or consolidation. If all else fails, Chapter 11 may be necessary.” That’s Citi’s assessment of America’s “shale revolution”, which the Saudis have been desperately trying to crush for more than a year now. 

To: St Nicholas Enterprises

From: Counting House Capital

Dear Santa Claus,

I am an activist investor in your company who has been infuriated for many years by your wilfully eccentric approach to capital allocation, pricing, brand strategy and supply chain management. Some of your devotees have urged me not to criticise your strategy in the season of goodwill, to which I reply: “Bah, humbug!”

It was just 10 months ago that Boston smashed its all time snowfall record, and the US was blanketed in freezing weather from west to east as the Polar Vortex unleashed cold air for the second year in a row. It was so cold, the GDP report for the winter period had to be double-seasonally adjusted as the sharp economic slowdown simply did not make sense otherwise.

For those who have followed the meteoric - and completely implausible - rise of Islamic State, it’s easy to become desensitized to the group’s apparent brutality.