Coal. Plants are closing. Looks like some votes from coal country were misplaced.
Dead Malls. Investing. See, e.g., this piece on Macerich. We don't typically cite to Seeking Alpha's collection of vagabonds and yahoos, but we found this particular analysis of A Malls interesting.
Exploration & Production. 17 months after filing its prepackaged bankruptcy case(s)...or was it prearranged?...sh*t, it's been so long that we can't even remember, Samson Resources Corporation finally has a confirmed plan of reorganization. We'd be curious to see what the professional fees are as a percentage of debt ($5.6b): perhaps this should be a new in-court ratio for courts to consider as part of 327(a) review. At least we got a new term of art out of it: "the Kirkland Prepack". So, there's that (2x if you consider EFH this week, too).
Nuclear power. Toshiba took a beating on Westinghouse this week. And now there are whispers of bankruptcy.
Retail. We have a Billions-style therapist in-house who keeps using bad sex metaphors to inspire us to be more positive about retail. Ok, no we don't: last we checked none of you are paying for this newsletter and so how the hell would we afford THAT?! Still, there are some positive signs for retail: Barron's, for instance, thinks Macy's stock has fallen too far and has upside. Meanwhile, specialty women's retailer J.Jill has filed its S-1 under the JOBS Act for an IPO which either means there's one retailer bucking recent trends or - more likely - TowerBrook Capital Partners LP is looking to dump this thing before Amazon gobbles it up like it has everything else. Damn...that was cynical and negative wasn't it? Well, we tried.
Retail II. This week we learned that Warren Buffett dumped his entire position of Walmart stock ($900mm) which, as this piece notes, ain't exactly a vote of confidence in retail. Perhaps Buffett would have reconsidered had he known about "Moosejaw Madness." You read that right: this week Walmart spent $51mm to purchaseMoosejaw, a Michigan-based online retailer (with about a dozen B-and-M locations). Interestingly, the business is similar to Gander Mountain which, as we covered last week, is staring down the barrel of a liquidation. Oh, and hhgreggisn't exactly instilling confidence either (yes, its publicly traded). But, in an ironic twist, Amazon is upping to 8 B-and-M book stores.
Retail III. This won't help mall foot traffic: frustrated by a lack of options, start-ups like Dia&Co. are looking to tackle the plus-size market (with wholly-unoriginal Birchbox-style monthly mailings). And a fresh round of funding from well-known VC Sequoia Capital will aid the effort. Speaking of Birchbox, note that the business - despite being copied by a slew of other start-ups - isn't exactly a shining tower of success; it recently took on venture debt (and rif'd staff) and now it's exploring pricier options to juice revenues.
Shipping. A bloodbath in China for the shipbuilders and Hanjin Shipping = toast.
Fast Forward: The oil and gas restructuring wave appears to be mostly behind us but the offshore operators remain under duress: case and point, Hornbeck Offshore, which may have various issues heading into 2018.
Rewind III: Canadian Retail. We previously noted the demise of Shoes.com. Here are some additional thoughts on the state of retail north of the border.