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☆ The Disney CFO Who Raised Concerns About Bob Chapek Has Respect on the Street
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Nina Trentmann | Mark Maurer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

Christine McCarthy, Walt Disney Co. ’s longtime finance chief, took an unusual step when she expressed a lack of confidence in the chief executive to directors of the entertainment giant. But Ms. McCarthy had raised concerns to Disney directors, The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week. Newsletter Sign-up WSJ | CFO Journal The Morning Ledger provides daily news and insights on corporate finance from the CFO Journal team. Following the leadership shake-up, Disney faces a challenge to regain trust from the street and Ms. McCarthy needs to realign with her old and new chief executive Mr. Iger, analysts said. Age 67, Ms. McCarthy is likely to stay on while Mr. Iger reviews Disney’s strategy and searches for another successor to himself, analysts said.

☆ Inflation boosts U.S. household spending by $433 a month, on average, Moody’s finds
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Greg Iacurci | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Hourly earnings fell 2.8%, on average, in the year to October after accounting for inflation, according to the BLS. Your personal inflation rate depends on the types of goods and services you buy, and other factors such as geography. The Moody's estimate of inflation's dollar impact analyzes October's annual inflation rate and typical household outlays as outlined by the Consumer Expenditure Survey. "There's no one silver bullet," Joseph Bert, a certified financial planner who serves as chairman and CEO of Certified Financial Group, told CNBC. Joseph Bert certified financial planner and chairman of Certified Financial Group

☆ Latest weekly jobless claims jump to 240,000
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Alicia Wallace | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Minneapolis CNN Business —First-time weekly claims for unemployment benefits jumped to 240,000 for the week ended November 19, according to data released Wednesday by the Department of Labor. Alemán said he’s looking for signs of a broad-based increase in claims from other industries, in which workers aren’t typically covered by severance payments. Weekly jobless claims are volatile – especially around the holidays – and frequently revised, economists for Oxford Economics wrote in a note Wednesday. “Therefore, we don’t read too much into the larger-than-anticipated drop in claims,” they wrote. On average, weekly initial jobless claims have been below 215,000 this year.

☆ How Elon Musk’s Twitter Faces Mountain of Debt, Falling Revenue and Surging Costs
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Mark Maurer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +10 min

Elon Musk says his $44 billion Twitter takeover might result in a bankruptcy filing. To make the deal work, Mr. Musk has been trying to add subscription revenue and reassure advertisers about the platform’s future. What’s more, the company’s debt stack now includes floating-rate debt, meaning that interest costs are set to rise as the Federal Reserve continues to increase interest rates. Twitter’s credit ratings, which were below investment grade before the transaction with Mr. Musk, have deteriorated further. For that, Mr. Musk would need to persuade potential investors that he has a viable long-term business plan, he said.

☆ All eyes on the consumer ahead of Black Friday and the holidays
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-13 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Beyond a slew of retail earnings reports, the government will report retail sales figures for October on Wednesday. But the most recent Consumer Price Index figures for October provided some relief for shoppers…and Wall Street. Consumer spending rose 1.4% during the third quarter, according to the government’s most recent gross domestic product (GDP) report. A report on housing starts and building permits data for October will come out towards the end of this week. When Home Depot reported its most recent earnings in August, it noted that customers didn’t make as many purchases as they did a year ago.

☆ The US spent half a trillion dollars last year alone financing its mountain of debt
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

By 2025 or 2026, the United States may hit a bleak milestone: Federal interest payments could exceed the country’s entire defense budget, according to Moody’s Analytics. The Fed kept interest rates very low to stimulate growth (and encourage inflation) and investors around the world clamored to buy US debt. But White of Moody’s notes that gross interest payments include interest the government pays to itself and said net interest is the more relevant category to watch here. In a best-case scenario, the United States grows its way out of the debt mess, with the economy expanding more rapidly than interest payments. With interest rates going up, the sovereign bond bubble is unwinding,” Boockvar said.

☆ We need the labor market to soften and get wage growth down, says Moody's Zandi
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailWe need the labor market to soften and get wage growth down, says Moody's ZandiMark Zandi, Moody’s chief economist, joins 'Squawk on the Street' to discuss the job openings data and how it relates to the U.S. economy or recession, what economic data he would like to see and more.

☆ Asia bond funds dump China in favour of cash after high-yield rout
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Summer Zhen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Many holders of China high yield bonds have seen them trading below 20 cents on the dollar. The in-default bonds of property company Sunac China (1918.HK) maturing in 2025 trade at 6 cents to a dollar. The average return of the top 10 Asia high yield bonds is down more than 30% this year, Morningstar data shows, of which Fidelity Funds' Asian High Yield Fund and UBS's SICAV - Asian High Yield (USD) had shed more than 40% as of Oct. 27. Value Partners’ Greater China High Yield Income Fund was down 37% as of the end of September. While there are select bonds that have upside, China high yield as an asset class is currently “uninvestable", she said.

It isn’t clear yet who will succeed Mr. Segal as CFO. Twitter and Mr. Musk on Friday didn’t respond to requests for comment. Mr. Segal on Friday tweeted that “the work isn’t complete,” referring to Twitter’s ambition to build “the world’s townsquare.” Mr. Segal didn’t respond to a request for additional comment. Mr. Musk has said buying Twitter would accelerate his creation of an app that combines the capabilities of several apps in one. The future executives that Mr. Musk installs will have to share his vision for Twitter, Mr. Ives said, and prepare to support growth initiatives that will take years to build.

☆ Analysis: U.S. junk bond investors face tough choice as yields spike
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Matt Tracy | Shankar Ramakrishnan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

WASHINGTON, Oct 27 (Reuters) - A sell-off in the U.S junk bond market is presenting investors with a buying opportunity but some are holding back, worried that a looming recession could spark widespread credit defaults. That level is the highest for yields since April 2020, while the index is down some 13% this year. That level is a critical zone of credit stress where credit markets become vulnerable to dysfunction, said Oleg Melentyev, credit strategist at the bank. DEARTH OF OFFERINGSAt the same time, risk aversion has slowed new bond issuance in the primary high-yield market to a trickle. That could change in 2023, however, if a recession further dampens activity in primary markets and borrowing costs remain high, spurring potential defaults in the lowest rungs of junk-rated bonds.

☆ Moody’s lowers UK’s outlook to negative
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

The affirmation of the Aa3 rating is a reflection of the UK’s economic resilience, Moody’s said in a statement. Credit ratings are essentially credit scores for governments and companies. Germany, Canada, Switzerland, Australia and the United States have some of the best credit ratings in the world, while Argentina, Nigeria, Pakistan and India have some of the lowest ratings. Soaring food costs drove the annual rate of inflation to 10.1% in September, returning it to July’s 40-year high. As well as driving up borrowing costs for the government and adding pressure to public spending, any credit ratings downgrade would only weaken investor appetite for UK assets.

☆ Data Centers Face Higher Costs, Weaker Demand for Debt That Fueled Sector’s Rise
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Kristin Broughton | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +7 min

The decline in issuance of data-center debt comes as chief financial officers across industries evaluate their funding options amid the Fed’s rate-hike campaign. Within the data-center sector in particular, that calculus for some companies involves assessing whether the timing is right to tap the securitization market despite the higher costs. What’s more, while the data-center sector is much bigger now than it was during the 2007-09 recession, it hasn’t been tested. The securitization market has historically provided Vantage with more money than it has needed to pay down its loans, Mr. Metwalli said. Digital Realty Trust Inc., a publicly traded company in the sector with an investment-grade rating, has avoided the securitization market.

☆ Landmark trial begins over Arkansas' ban on transgender youth care
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

The nation’s first trial over a state’s ban on gender-confirming care for children begins in Arkansas this week, the latest fight over restrictions on transgender youth championed by Republican leaders and widely condemned by medical experts. The families of four transgender youth and two doctors who provide gender-confirming care want Moody to strike down the law, saying it is unconstitutional because it discriminates against transgender youth, intrudes on parents’ rights to make medical decisions for their children and infringes on doctors’ free speech rights. Arkansas was the first state to enact such a ban on gender-confirming care, with Republican lawmakers in 2021 overriding GOP Gov. Hutchinson, who had signed other restrictions on transgender youth into law, said the prohibition went too far by cutting off the care for those currently receiving it. Children’s hospitals around the country have faced harassment and threats of violence for providing gender-confirming care.

☆ Premarket stocks: The housing market is a mess, but this isn't 2008
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

But within those reports, investors found ominous clues about the future of the housing market, underscoring fears of an upcoming crisis. “We’ve had a time of a red-hot housing market all over the country,” Fed President Jerome Powell told me in September. “For the longer term what we need is supply and demand to get better aligned so that housing prices go up at a reasonable level…and people can afford houses again. “This is the sharpest turn in the housing market since the housing market crash in 2008,” said Redfin’s chief economist, Daryl Fairweather, last month. What’s next: Investors will next look to housing starts data next week as an indicator of where the housing market is headed.

☆ Junk-Rated Companies Search for the Right Time to Tap Investors
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-16 | by ( Nina Trentmann | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +8 min

While there is limited pressure overall as many businesses refinanced in 2020 and 2021 when funding was cheaper and investor appetite stronger, high-yield companies with immediate financing needs have to find the right time to tap investors, corporate bankers say. Adding loans and revolving-credit facilities, speculative companies have maturities of around $1.47 trillion through 2027, ratings firm Moody’s Investors Service said last week. And the high-yield bond market isn’t closed, it has just become more expensive, bankers said. Movie theater chain AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. on Friday said that its subsidiary Odeon Finco PLC priced a $400 million bond. Bankers said they have received few calls from triple C-rated companies in recent months looking for maturity extensions.

☆ Kroger Pauses Buybacks to Prioritize Debt Reduction After Albertsons Deal Closes
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Kristin Broughton | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +4 min

The blockbuster transaction comes amid a slowdown in deal making, economic uncertainty and concerns among investors about companies that carry high levels of debt. Cincinnati-based Kroger said Friday that it will pay for the $24.6 billion deal with cash and proceeds from a new debt financing. The company secured a 364-day, $17.4 billion bridge loan from Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co., it said in a securities filing. Kroger will temporarily pause buybacks with the goal of giving priority to debt reduction after the transaction closes, the company said Friday. The company on Friday didn’t say what its leverage ratio will be after the transaction closes.

☆ These retail chains may not survive a recession
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Nathaniel Meyersohn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN Business —America’s retail chains have proven surprisingly strong during the pandemic. At the beginning of the pandemic, stores temporarily closed to halt the spread of Covid-19 and retail sales tumbled. “That wave of defaults effectively flushed out a lot of debt and unprofitable stores from the sector,” Sokolyanska said. Retail sales quickly recovered thanks to federal stimulus checks, growing personal savings accounts and pent-up consumer demand. Retail sales remain above pre-pandemic levels and more stores have announced openings than closings this year.

☆ Overdone recession fears: Top economist Mark Zandi predicts inflation will moderate in next six months
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailOverdone recession fears: Top economist Mark Zandi predicts inflation will moderate in next six monthsMark Zandi, Moody’s Analytics chief economist, joins CNBC's "Fast Money" to discuss Thursday's important consumer price index report, which will show whether the pace of inflation is slowing.

☆ One-Third Vacant, Massachusetts Mall Shows Why Regional Operators Are in a Bind
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Kate King | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

NORTH ATTLEBOROUGH, Mass.—The only mall in this former manufacturing town recently sold for a fraction of its value only a decade earlier, another sign that regional malls are sitting out a broader recovery in retail real estate. The previous owner of Emerald Square Mall, which spans 1 million square feet and features stores such as Victoria’s Secret and Macy’s , defaulted on $94.5 million of debt in mid-2020. That marked the largest loss recorded on a loan securitized in the last dozen years, according to Moody’s Investors Service .

☆ Tens of thousands likely jobless after Hurricane Ian, economists say
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Martha C. White For Cnn Business | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Although the damage is still being tallied, early estimates indicate that Ian could be the most costly hurricane to make landfall in Florida. In the short term, a spike in jobless claims is almost inevitable, economists say: “Hurricane Harvey in Texas prompted a rise of about 50,000 in August of 2017,” noted Mike Englund, chief economist at Action Economics. A view of the destroyed road between Florida's Matlacha and Pine Island after Hurricane Ian. “Katrina was a much more damaging storm, and impacted Louisiana, which is much less affluent than Florida,” Zandi said. A powerboat lies atop a pile of debris two days after the passage of Hurricane Ian, in Fort Myers, Florida.

London CNN Business —One of the world’s leading multilateral financial institutions has joined a chorus of criticism of huge tax cuts announced by the UK government last week that sent the pound plunging to a record low. In a rare and stinging rebuke for such a large developed economy, the International Monetary Fund warned that the tax cuts — the biggest in Britain since the early 1970s — would likely increase inflation and inequality. “We understand that the sizable fiscal package announced aims at helping families and businesses deal with the energy shock and at boosting growth via tax cuts and supply measures,” an IMF spokeperson said. UK finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng has shown no signs of backing down, despite the market crash. Yields on 10-year UK government bonds fell sharply after the Bank of England’s announcement on Wednesday but remain elevated.

☆ How much ‘pain’ is the Fed willing to inflict? Wednesday’s rate hike will offer clues
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has acknowledged the economic pain this rapid tightening regime may cause. A larger hike is possible, but unlikelySome economists even expect the Fed to implement a massive — and historic — full-point rate hike on Wednesday. It meant that people understood the seriousness of the Fed’s commitment to getting inflation rates back down to 2%, he said. They want higher bond yields,” former New York Federal Reserve President Bill Dudley told CNN back in May. The Federal Reserve announces its rate hike decision Wednesday at 2 p.m.

A similar proposal failed last year, but as its woes worsen, Kaisa may reconsider. As with most holders of dollar bonds issued by Chinese developers, Kaisa’s investors are in a tough position. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterBut this crisis looks more serious than 2015. Credit ratings agency Moody’s estimates property sales could contract another 20% by next June. Kaisa’s sales slumped 80% in the first eight months this year, per Chinese consultancy CRIC. Local governments are under increasing pressure from Beijing to ensure private developers’ stalled housing projects pre-sold to buyers are delivered to avoid social unrest.

☆ India renewables push gets lift from patient money
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MUMBAI, Sept 19 (Reuters Breakingviews) - As global borrowing costs rise, patient foreign investors are stepping up to help tycoons recycle capital and speed India’s energy transition. The wider deal will help the unit of $19 billion Mahindra and Mahindra (MAHM.NS) repay a shareholder loan as Indian businesses deleverage en masse. In April, Tata Power (TTPW.NS) struck a deal with BlackRock (BLK.N) and Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterSimilar tie-ups helped renewables power 60% of India’s energy capacity additions in the past six years, according to Moody’s. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ Cheniere CFO Aims for Investment-Grade Credit Rating as Natural-Gas Prices Soar
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-15 | by ( Kristin Broughton | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

Cheniere Energy Inc.’s finance chief is working toward landing an investment-grade credit rating in the coming year, as the largest U.S. exporter of liquefied natural gas pays down debt and benefits from the run-up in energy prices. Photo: Cheniere Energy Inc. The company expects to reach investment grade next year based on its current rating and financial position, Mr. Davis said. An investment-grade rating would provide confidence to long-term investors and customers that the company can survive volatility in commodity markets, Mr. Davis said. Higher natural gas prices have been a boon to Cheniere’s finances, prompting it to accelerate plans to pay down debt.

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