Bitcoin (Bust Out the Big Guns. Literally.)

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What all of the big name investors have said about it. We really liked this befuddling bit from Marc Lasry of Avenue Capital, "I should have bought bitcoin when it was $300. I don’t understand it. It might make sense to try to participate in it, but I can’t give you any analysis as to why it makes sense or not. I think it’s real, as it coming into the mainstream." Ok, sure.

Meanwhile, once you start to understand the risks, this whole Bitcoin craze seems even...uh...crazier. Coinbase, for instance, may not be available to manage your transaction. A Board member is saying to proceed with caution (read: people are worried about lawsuits). Good luck with that volatility, then. And, security, apparently, is shockingly old school (must read - click "still too pricey" to view article). Maybe THIS really is the right way to protect your $BTC. W.T.F.

This seems like the most level-headed bit we've seen on BTC this week.

News for the Week of 10/23/16

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  • Stone Energy - the company announces plans for a prepackaged bankruptcy which, from our vantage point, will be one among a grouping of next-wave oil-and-gas-related prepackaged/prearranged chapter 11s to file this quarter (perhaps starting as early as this week).  
  • Distressed Debt Market - "They raised the money and now they have few places to put it." - an assessment of the overall state of distressed debt when low rates persist and bonds trade up. Marc Lasry, however, talks capital deployment in energy.  
  • Relativity Media - the Chapter 7 or Chapter 22 watch continues. 
  • Retail Grocery - continued movement in the battered space as Supervalu sells Save-a-Lot. 
  • Bill Ackman - is his comeuppance around the corner? 
  • True Religion - cheesiness, the millennial preference for athleisure, and too much debt put denim retailer in distressed territory.
  • Chart of the Week:
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