Monday March 7 2016 Housing and Economic stories

TOP STORIES:

Bond Vigilantes Slap Oil CEOs With Junk Tag on $258 Billion Debt - (www.bloomberg.com) They have sold off hundreds of oil fields, eliminated thousands of jobs and slashed millions of dollars from capital spending and dividends. But in this unforgiving new world of $30-a-barrel oil, it’s barely been enough. As U.S. oil executives from Anadarko Petroleum Corp. to Hess Corp. take drastic measures to weather the worst slump in a generation and cling to their debt ratings, creditors are already writing some of them off. So much so that late last month, average borrowing costs for energy bonds with the lowest investment grades -- issues totaling $258 billion -- soared past those of the highest-rated U.S. junk borrowers for the first time. What’s more, debt issuance industry wide has all but ground to a halt after a record year in 2015.

Investors, Creditors Getting Demolished by this Global Renewables Giant - (www.wolfstreet.com) Abengoa Bioenergy US Holding filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Wednesday, listing up to $10 billion in total liabilities, including an unsecured leveraged loan of $1.45 billion and unsecured bonds of $3.85 billion. It didn’t list its secured debts. The filing was prompted by involuntary bankruptcy petitions by three US grain suppliers, which claim to be owed more than $4 million in unpaid invoices – million with an “m,” that’s how out of money this outfit is. The suppliers had reportedly been told by the company that its Spanish parent, Abengoa SA, which controls the “central treasury,” had run out of cash, Reuters reports. And they cited concerns that “the U.S. business was transferring cash and loan proceeds to Abengoa SA.”

S&P downgrades Noble Group's rating further into junk, outlook negative - (www.reuters.com) Ratings agency Standard and Poor's cut Singapore-listed Noble Group's (NOBG.SI) credit rating further into junk territory on Friday and described its outlook as negative. S&P said it had cut Noble's long-term corporate rating to BB- from BB+. Fellow ratings agency Moody's this week lowered its rating on the commodities' trader to Ba3 from Ba1. "We downgraded Noble because of the company's volatile earnings and high trade risk position, as  reflected in its large marked-to-market loss in 2015," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Cindy Huang. Noble swung to a net loss of $1.67 billion in 2015, its first annual loss in nearly 20 years, battered by a $1.2 billion writedown on weak coal prices.

Hedge-Fund Assets Below $3 Trillion for First Time Since 2014 - (www.bloomberg.com) Assets managed by hedge funds globally last month fell to less than $3 trillion for the first time since the industry hit the milestone in May 2014, according to data from eVestment. Investors pulled a net $21.5 billion, the most in the opening month of a year since 2009, while losses led to a $43.2 billion drop in assets under management. The industry managed $2.96 trillion at the end of January. Hedge funds that suffered losses last year were hit by redemptions worth $24.8 billion in January. Equity, fixed-income and multistrategy hedge funds suffered net outflows, though interest in those betting on commodities rose for the fifth straight month in January as investors pledged $1.2 billion, the most since mid-2014.

Chesapeake's AIG Moment: Energy Giant Faces $1 Billion In Collateral Calls - (www.zerohedge.com) "we have received requests to post approximately $220 million in collateral, of which we have posted approximately $92 million. We have posted the required collateral, primarily in the form of letters of credit and cash, or are otherwise complying with these contractual requests for collateral. We may be requested or required by other counterparties to post additional collateral in an aggregate amount of approximately $698 million."

OTHER STORIES:

China Tries to Tackle Its Commodities Crisis - (www.bloomberg.com)
Global Finance Leaders Meet as Economic Skies Darken - (www.nytimes.com)
As China’s Economic Picture Turns Uglier, Beijing Applies Airbrush - (www.nytimes.com)

China's Equities Plunge Most in a Month as Volatility Reignites - (www.bloomberg.com)
U.S. Stocks Fluctuate as Commodity Shares Slip With Crude Oil - (www.bloomberg.com)
Oil Retreats From Three-Week High as U.S. Crude Supplies Expand - (www.bloomberg.com)
Liquidity, Kill Switches Are the Talk of the Currency Universe - (www.bloomberg.com)