Head
of US state media put RT on same challenge list as ISIS, Boko Haram - (www.rt.com) The
Tyranny under the US Government continues. Newly-appointed chief of US Broadcasting Board
of Governors (BBG), Andrew Lack, has named RT one of the agency’s main
challenges alongside extremist groups like the Islamic State and Boko Haram. Lack,
the first chief executive of the BBG, mentioned RT in an interview with The New York Times. “We are facing a
number of challenges from entities like Russia Today which is out there pushing
a point of view, the Islamic State in the Middle East and groups like Boko
Haram,” he said. “But I firmly believe that this agency has a role to play in
facing those challenges.” RT never expected to find itself on a list with the
two most dangerous terrorist groups of the day and is seeking clarification on
the comment. “We are extremely outraged that the new head of the BBG mentions
RT in the same breath as world’s number one terrorist army,” said
Margarita Simonyan, RT’s editor-in-chief. “We see this as an international
scandal and demand an explanation.” Apart from BBG itself, RT is also seeking
clarification from the US State Department and the US Embassy in Russia.
Venezuela's currency woes an increasing threat
to U.S. corporate profits - (www.reuters.com) Venezuela's deepening economic troubles, and in
particular the weakness of the bolivar and restrictive currency controls, have
hurt U.S. corporate profits for the fourth quarter of 2014 and are set to
inflict further pain this year. In a likely sign of things to come from a
number of companies this results reporting season, Ford Motor Co on Friday said it was taking a pre-tax
charge of $800 million for its Venezuela business. It blamed Venezuelan
exchange control regulations that have restricted the ability of its operations
in the country to pay dividends and obligations in U.S. dollars. Ford also said
that it was unable to maintain normal production in Venezuela with
the availability of vehicle parts constrained. Also on Friday, diaper and
tissue maker Kimberly-Clark Corp said it took a fourth-quarter charge of $462
million for its Venezuelan business. That was after it concluded that the
appropriate rate at which it should be measuring its bolivar-denominated monetary
assets should be a Venezuelan government floating exchange rate -
currently at around 50 bolivars to the dollar - rather than a fixed official
rate of 6.3 to the dollar that it had previously been using. Kimberly-Clark
blamed increased uncertainty and lack of liquidity in Venezuela for
the move.
America's
Frightening "Policing For Profit" Nightmare - (www.zerohedge.com) In
a move to check certain abuses inherent in the nation’s asset forfeiture law,
Attorney General Eric Holder announced last Friday that the Justice Department
would limit its practice of “adopting” state and local law-enforcement seizures
of property for subsequent forfeiture to the government. Under the
practice, to circumvent state laws that limit forfeitures or direct forfeited
proceeds to the state’s general treasury, state or local officials who seize
property suspected of being “involved” in crime ask the Justice Department to
adopt the seizure, after which the proceeds, once forfeited pursuant to federal
law, are then split between the two agencies, with 20 percent usually kept by
Justice and 80 percent returned to the local police department that initiated
the seizure. If that sounds like “policing for profit,” that’s because it is. And the abuses
engendered by this law’s perverse incentives are stunning. In Volusia County, Florida,
police stop motorists going south on I-95 and seize amounts of cash in excess
of $100 on suspicion that it’s money to buy drugs. New York City police make DUI arrests and
then seize drivers’ cars. District of Columbia police seized a grandmother’s
home after her grandson comes from next door and makes a call from the home to
consummate a drug deal. Officials seized a home used for prostitution and the
previous owner, who took back a second mortgage when he sold the home, loses
the mortgage. In each case, the property is seized for forfeiture to the
government not because the owner has been found guilty of a crime—charges are
rarely even brought—but because it’s said to “facilitate” a crime. And if the
owner does try to get his property back, the cost of litigation, to say nothing
of the threat of a criminal prosecution, often puts an end to that.
Senator Wants DUI Charges Dismissed Citing that Lawmakers are “Privileged from Arrest” - (www.thefreethoughtproject.com) A Kentucky state senator is having no reservations about proclaiming his political privilege. In fact, he’s simply citing a section of the Kentucky constitution that claims politicians are in fact, above the law. Sen. Brandon Smith (R) was charged with driving under the influence and wants the case dismissed citing that lawmakers are “privileged from arrest.” His attempt to circumvent the hand of justice have thus far proven to be successful too. On Wednesday a judge delayed Smith’s arraignment after his attorney filed this request. “(Smith) has raised a serious constitutional issue regarding his immunity in this case,” attorney Bill Johnson wrote. Smith and his attorney are citing a century-old rule, Section 43 of the Kentucky Constitution, which is still on the books and states: “The members of the General Assembly shall, in all cases except treason, felony, breach or surety of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance on the sessions of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any speech or debate in either House they shall not be questioned in any other place.”
These Shale Companies Will File For Bankruptcy First: Goldman's "Best And Worst" Shale Matrix - (www.zerohedge.com) Over a month ago we presented a ranking of "America's most levered energy companies." Since then they have all, without exception gotten clobbered, not only in their publicly traded stock but also their debt. Today, long after the liquidation whirlwind has left junk bond owners dazed and confused, Goldman catches up, and lays out a matrix of shale companies sorted not only by leveraged (they see 2.5x as the cutoff; we used 4.0x) but also by shale asset quality. From there, it also lays out the various opportunities, if any, available to the management teams in the resultant 4 quadrants. Readers will be most interested in the "restructuring/bankruptcy" option, most applicable for Group 4, because these are the names which, all else equal, will file for bankruptcy first. This is what Goldman's Jason Gilbert has to say: We believe oil market weakness presents H&Y E&P management teams with difficult decisions. For certain stronger companies, the challenge may be one of deciding if and when to high grade the portfolio through M&A. For some weaker companies, the decisions may be more stressful, with many lower-quality names being forced to consider (1) selling themselves, (2) restructuring/filing for bankruptcy protection, and/or (3) bolstering liquidity through asset sales and/or second lien debt issuance. We have created a 2x2 matrix, shown in Exhibit 1, where we classify E&Ps according to both asset quality and balance sheet strength. In Exhibit 2, we provide the backup data on each company that justifies its classification in the chart below.
No comments:
Post a Comment