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Bloomberg is reporting on the increase in coal company bankruptcies in recent years, due to the switch by power companies to natural gas and fracking, which has flooded the market with cheap gas. Driving this conversion is the prospect of new, draconian rules to be issued by the EPA on emissions from coal plants. Exports are failing to save U.S. miners. Slowing Chinese growth and rising competition from overseas, including increased Australian output, have sent the price of metallurgical coal, used in steelmaking, to a six-year low. Central Appalachian thermal coal, used in power plants to produce electricity, fell on...

Ever since the obstreperous Occupy Wall Street protests of 2011, Americans have been getting an earful about the alleged crisis of student loan debt. Sensing a chance to appear both compassionate and pro-education, many lawmakers want to do something to ease the plight of indebted students. Senator Elizabeth Warren, for example, is pushing her populist plan of allowing students to refinance their loans at absurdly low interest rates. President Obama recently expanded the touchy-feely repayment system so that students would never have to pay more than ten percent of their discretionary income for 20 years before the rest of the...

A year after filing for bankruptcy, Detroit is building momentum to get out, especially after workers and retirees voted in favor of major pension changes just a few weeks before a judge holds a crucial trial that could end the largest public filing in U.S. history. Pension cuts were approved in a landslide, according to results filed shortly before midnight Monday. The tally from 60 days of voting gives the city a boost as Judge Steven Rhodes determines whether Detroit’s overall strategy to eliminate or reduce $18 billion in long-term debt is fair and feasible to all creditors. Trial starts...

Link only:http://www.clickondetroit.com/consumer/detroit-retirees-vote-in-favor-of-pension-cuts/27081476Many covering this Story at this early Stage can't be posted on FR.

Detroit neighbourhoods are being relit, its vacant homes are being sold off or torn down, its public transportation is cleaner and more often on schedule and the city has renegotiated some burdensome union contracts. In the little more than a year since the state-appointed emergency manager, Kevyn Orr, made Detroit the largest US city to seek bankruptcy protection, it has experienced a wide range of improvements that will factor into Judge Steven Rhodes's decisions during next month's bankruptcy trial. A major piece of the bankruptcy puzzle could fall into place on Monday, with the expected release of the results of...

Flint may be Michigan’s second city to plunge into bankruptcy unless retirees accept cuts in health benefits that threaten to unravel a balanced budget. As Crain's Detroit reports, Emergency Manager Darnell Earley (Flint’s third emergency leader since it was placed under state control in 2011) warned "If we have no ability to mitigate the cost of retiree health care, that’s going to make it very difficult for the city to remain financially stable over the next few years." As Eric Scorsone notes, "Flint's at the forefront, but a lot of cities are on the same train, and that train is...

Following this morning's farce of huge investor demand and then Bank of Portugal's Costa 'hoping' for demand from investors willing to pile more money on losing money into Espirito Santo, it appears things have escalated rapidly... *ESPIRITO SANTO INTERNATIONAL SAYS IT CAN'T MEET OBLIGATIONS *ES INTERNATIONAL APPLIES FOR `CONTROLLED MANAGEMENT' REGIME *ES INTERNATIONAL APPLIES FOR REGIME UNDER LUXEMBOURG LAW The "controlled management" application is the equivalent of declaring a breakup or controlled bankruptcy process (as we explained here). ESI is the ultimate HoldCo in the Banco Espirito Santo family.

<p>“Weekday morning from six to ten on WRKO. Important hours for. 3617666868. Here on AM 680. WRKO. And now I’m 93 point seven HDQ. My friends as I’ve been talking about for the last couple of days. Lynn. Has now become in many ways ground zero. For the immigration crisis engulfing this country. And now. Berlin’s mayor. Judy Kennedy. Has now come out and sad that — is basically now at the breaking point.</p>

Retired city workers in the Liberal Utopia of Detroit are being asked whether or not they want the city to exit bankruptcy, by slashing retirement pensions and cost of living adjustments. Officials are urging retirees to agree to a 4.5 percent cut in pension payouts, and an end to COLA. Unsurprisingly, some former city workers are less than thrilled by the idea of taking a pay-cut in an attempt to lessen the city’s debt obligation. Now, I understand the retirement pension of an average city worker is not amazingly lush in the city of Detroit; but (and this is...

Linette LopezJuly 3, 2014Argentina has its back against a wall. On July 30 it may default on a sovereign-debt payment that could send its economy into a tailspin of rising interest rates, money printing, and inflation. It could be the worst economic tragedy the republic has seen since 2001. And the tragedy will be well deserved, because this is a drama of Argentina's own making, a figment of political imagination tied closely with its history and culture. In Argentina, debt is identity, and this specific over-$1.3 billion debt in question, purchased by a group of hedge fund managers back in...

Linette LopezJune 27, 2014 Right now Argentina is in danger of a calamity, the likes of which the world hasn't seen since 2001, and it's all because of one hedge fund manager's tried and true strategy to make money off of distressed debt. That's right, bringing a country to its knees is a "strategy." According to a U.S. court's ruling, if Argentina does not pay a group of hedge fund managers over $1.3 billion worth of bonds by July 30, the Republic could go into default. If it goes into default — investors lose faith its capacity to pay, interest...

This is Primary Election Day for Virginia politicians. Encourage all Conservatives in Virginia to VOTE today! "Rubberstamp for Obama," Eric Cantor is "hellbent" on ramming through the US House Obama's Amnesty for Illegal Alien Invaders from Mexico. The GOP-E Leadership in the US House, (Boehner, Cantor, and Ryan), is always gullible to Obama's tricks. Consequently, Boehner, Cantor and Ryan, have all pledged to ram through this unpopular Obama Amnesty Bill due to Obama's illegal decision to flood the USA with children from Mexico and Central America. It is time to kick the GOP-E out of Congressional Leadership!

With the instructive Detroit precedent, shrunken populations, and underfunded municipal pensions common, we can conclude that no city, not even Chicago, should be thought of as too big to fail. About the bonds of Detroit, Barron’s said: “A lot of investors bought this debt because they assumed that the state of Michigan wouldn’t let its largest city default.�1 In other words, they assumed Detroit was “too big to fail.� Nonetheless, Detroit did default and became the largest municipal bankruptcy in history. This bankruptcy, with unfunded municipal employee pensions among the competing creditors, is a hugely important precedent. Is any city...

Is a taxpayer bail-out inevitable? If you think it is only your mortgages and homes which are at stake in the largest bankruptcy in history being heard in the Southern District of New York’s Bankruptcy Court before Judge Martin Glenn, think again. Embedded within the claims/creditor section in the simultaneous Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings of 51 residential mortgage companies is Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). Established in 1974, PBGC is a federal chartered agency that insures more than 26,000 private-sector pension plans. The agency protects the retirement incomes of over 44 million Americans. As of 2012, PBGC is running a...

Just off of the James C. Lodge Freeway in Detroit is Eight Mile Road. The stretch near the freeway is just east of the famed area that provided the basis for the Eminem film of the same name. To its north lie predominantly white suburbs -- over 77 percent of those who live in Oakland County are white -- with median family income in excess of $65,000. Married couples comprise approximately half of households, with fewer than 15 percent of households led by a single female. Since 1990, the population of Oakland County has jumped from 1.083 million to...

Half a Billion Dollars. That’s how much the California Teachers Association and the powerful Service Employees International Union have spent on California politics since 2000. The unions’ return on that “investment”? A legislature totally beholden to them for political support and campaign contributions. Here’s another mind-boggling number: Half a Trillion Dollars. That’s an estimate of the unfunded public pension liabilities racked up by California’s state and municipal governments due to overly generous pay and defined benefit pension plans lavished on unionized government employees. If you thought the bankruptcies of Stockton, San Bernardino, and Vallejo were entertaining, break out the popcorn...

O.K. I'm reaching out for help from people that I can trust. I need somebody with knowledge in Bankruptcy/Chapter 13 going to Chapter 7 and Real Estate Laws. My Girlfriend has the Family house and they are trying to take it. Her ONLY vehicle is also involved. I can't drive anymore so I have no vehicle. So if they take the truck She can't get to work, Doctors, etc. The only notice received at this time has been an E-Mail (from Her "Lawyer" who from what I know is basically USELESS) within the last hour. No Process Server, No Certified/Registered...

Creditor and Whistleblower evidence alleges securities fraud, income tax fraud and income tax evasion. Further investigation is necessary to protect millions of homeowners.New York City, New York – U. S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York’s Judge Martin Glenn, presiding over the simultaneous Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings of 51 residential mortgage companies, received a whistleblower filing package today from one of the creditors in this case, a private American citizen, Greg Morse. The Internal Revenue Service and Securities Exchange Commission received the same package today. Among its contents is Morse’s whistleblower submission of IRS Form 211—Application for Award for...

As it sought to recruit well-heeled investors, an untested and unprofitable Miami company named InnoVida brought aboard a trusted Florida figure in 2007: Jeb Bush, the former governor and the brother of a sitting president. For potential stockholders, the imprimatur of Mr. Bush, who joined InnoVida as a paid consultant and a member of the board of directors, conferred credibility on the young start-up. That credibility did not last long. It turned out that the leaders of InnoVida, a manufacturer of inexpensive building materials, had faked documents, lied about the health of the business and misappropriated $40 million in company...

This month marks the fifth anniversary of the Chrysler bankruptcy. President Obama will doubtless mark the occasion by talking about how his intervention saved the auto company. More noteworthy, however, is how the lawlessness of that intervention created tremendous uncertainty, which still chills the economy today. Todd Zywicki has written an excellent summary of President Obama’s actions in the Chrysler bailout. A shorter version goes like this. Starting under President Bush and continuing under President Obama, the federal government used TARP funds to keep Chrysler afloat. This gave the government effective control over Chrysler. As a result, the Obama administration...

<p>The women’s clothing retailer failed to find a buyer or new capital. A liquidation sale is planned.</p> <p>Women’s specialty clothing chain Coldwater Creek filed for bankruptcy on Friday and said it will close all of its stores around the country, including 11 in Minnesota.</p>

Brookstone, the seller of all sorts of unusual electronic items through channels including mall stores in Massachusetts, is filing for bankruptcy protection and plans to sell itself to rival Spencer, the Wall Street Journal reports. Brookstone has Massachusetts locations in Boston, Holyoke, Peabody, Braintree, Marlborough, Wrentham, Burlington and Natick.

New Jersey’s largest city is hitting some roadblocks just months after its rising-star mayor went off to Washington. A bold reform plan for the state-run school system has hit a snag, the police department is facing federal oversight over citizen complaints, and the state is threatening a takeover of the city’s finances after several key deadlines were missed. An official who oversees city compliance with state obligations warned the City Council and the interim mayor last month about the state’s growing concern over Newark’s “extraordinary level of fiscal distress.” …

Honey Maid stirred controversy with a recent commercial that challenged traditional notions of what constituted a family. "This Is Wholesome" features a variety of families, including interracial couples and their mixed-race children, as well as a same-sex couple and their children. (See the commercial below.) As would be expected, Honey Maid generated a response. The company could have let it lie. Instead Honey Maid decided to make a new statement.

On March 10, Honey Maid - the graham cracker company - launched a commercial that celebrated all different kinds of families. The message was that no matter what, love is what makes a family a family... The title of the commercial was "Wholesome Love," but not everyone agreed with its message. A followup video was created by Honey Maid explaining the responses to the commercial...

I wish that this were just another bad April Fools' Day joke, but sadly, this story is all too real. Since President Barack Hussein Obama was inaugurated into office a little over five years ago, Obama, Pelosi, and Reid have doubled America's publicly held debt, an increase of more than 6.3 trillion dollars: Date                   Debt Held by the Public         Intragovernmental Holdings   Total Public Debt Outstanding 03/31/2014        6,307,310,739,681.66          4,319,566,309,231.42          10,626,877,048,913.08 8/19/2011          12,619,319,113,193.99 ...

As local government officials cheered the full reimbursement of revenue loss due to phasing out personal property taxes, others questioned whether local governments require a new state funding source. But local governments are not generally in need of extra funding: they are a unique example of (mostly) successful intergovernmental cooperation and a focus on giving residents more bang for the buck. Local governments were well protected from Michigan's general malaise during the 2000s. From 2001 to 2010 when the state's economy lost 700,000 jobs, there was a general rise in the housing market, which increased property tax collections by counties,...

For you movie buffs, this is a fascinating documentary called "Life After Pi" about the special effects company called Rhythm and Hues that did the incredible effects for "Life of Pi" and "Snow White and the Huntsman." They begin by blaming "foreign subsidies" (i.e., Canadian and British subsidies for outsourcing work, often to Vancouver) and feature Obama making one of his typical stupid appearances calling for "supporting" Hollywood. But then you lean that this company, which has been in business for over 20 years, was using a poor, unsustainable business model in that it would bid "fixed" price contracts on...

Quiznos has filed for bankruptcy protection, five days after the Sbarro pizza chain did the same. Executives at the restaurant chain, known for its toasted sandwiches, agreed to a restructuring plan that will reduce its debt by more than $400 million, the company said in a statement Friday. All but seven of Quizno's 2,100 restaurants in the United States and 30 other countries are independently owned franchises, and will remain open and operating as usual. Quiznos once had more than 5,000 stores and could have threatened rival Subway's hold on the sub market. But now, Subway has nearly 20 times...

Restaurant chains are dropping like flies this week. On Monday pizza franchise Sbarro dipped into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Following in its footsteps on Friday, sub shop Quiznos announced that it too would sink into bankruptcy as part of a “pre-packaged” deal to cut its debt by more than $400 million, or two-thirds.

Sbarro has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization for the second time in just three years as the pizza chain struggles to turn its business around amid a drop in traffic at shopping mall food courts. The bankruptcy filing on Monday comes after the company shuttered 155 of its U.S. locations last month. The Melville, N.Y., company still has about 800 locations globally, half of those in North America. The pizza chain isn’t alone in hurting from the decline in traffic at shopping malls. Earlier this year, the owner of Hot Dot on a Stick also filed for bankruptcy protection,...

People apparently don't eat pizza when it is snowing... Or during an economic recovery... And certainly not when celebrating the market's all time high 5 year bull "market" anniversary. That is the conclusion one can derive from the just filed Sbarro Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, which just happens to be the company's second in three years after it did the same in April 2011. The filing itself, which lists assets and liabilities between $100 and $500 million, is not surprising following on the heels of the announcement last month, when Sbarro said it would close 155 of 400 North...

Detroit's looming bankruptcy is making news again, this time focusing on current restructuring plans aimed to wipe out $18 billion in debt by axing pension checks of city retirees, including police and fire. Massive long-term retirement and healthcare promises were by no means solely responsible for the city's fall, but these massive pensions coupled with a tax base weakened by high unemployment and housing vacancies caused the budget to bleed out quicker. The Michigan city may be the most recent victim of bankruptcy, but many of the 61 largest U.S. cities have adopted the same retirement legacy leading to $118...

Sandwich chain Quiznos is preparing to file for bankruptcy protection within weeks as it contends with declining sales and a lofty debt load, people familiar with the matter said. The company, which has about $570 million in debt, has been negotiating with creditors for weeks on a restructuring plan that would streamline its trip through bankruptcy court, these people said. A final deal on a so-called prepackaged restructuring plan hasn't yet been reached, they said.

Italy's historic capital is on the brink of bankruptcy as its mayor plans to plead for a bailout from the national government. Mayor Ignazio Marino told the Wall Street Journal that he is in daily discussions with Italy's national government. But he stressed the parties "just needed to identify the right amount of money the government should give to Rome".

The road back for Detroit seems to be getting longer. More than three months after its historic bankruptcy filing, city officials Friday offered up their proposed plan to pay bondholders, pensioners and other creditors holding its $18 billion debt substantially less then they're owed. "We think the plan is reasonable," emergency manager Kevyn Orr told reporters. "We really don't have time for a lot of acrimony and litigation." But even before Orr had a chance to formally unveil it, the plan was under heavy attack from investors, unions representing city workers and other creditors.

Carlsbad-based chain Hot Dog on a Stick filed a Chapter 11 petition in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Los Angeles on Monday. The company, known widely for staff in brightly-colored, striped uniforms and impaled corn dogs, said in a statement that it is seeking relief in order to reorganize and restructure its business. Hot Dog on a Stick, which currently operates 93 locations, said that it plans to continue business as usual throughout the bankruptcy proceedings. The company also said that, in addition to working to save money in the supply chain and in stores, it has made significant reductions to...

On Tuesday, credit ratings agency Standard & PoorÂ’s downgraded Puerto RicoÂ’s general-obligation bonds to BB+, a level that is considered junk status. Similar action by rating agencies MoodyÂ’s and Fitch appears virtually certain, as the island territory copes with a staggering $70 billion of debt, all of which needs to be repaid with interest. Unfortunately, Puerto Rico has been in what amounts to a continuous recession since 2006, and its economy is currently shrinking at a 6 percent pace. The official unemployment rate is 14.7 percent, and its debt-to-GDP ratio is 93 percent.Furthermore, the island is experiencing the largest population...

Hold on to your wallets, folks. Without a powerful intervention, California may soon become the first big domino to fall in America's public pension debacle. To help prevent catastrophe, the California Public Policy Center (CPPC) has just made public a new database detailing the size and scope of the state's outsized expenditures on public employees — the largest ever compiled in California. Legislators and voters should take note, because California can't afford another round of fact-free partisan warfare. As recently reported in the New York Times, the fate of California cities such as Desert Hot Springs — where civic bankruptcy...

Texas-based Furr’s Fresh Buffet restaurant chain has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the company announced Tuesday. The chain employs more than 2,000 people but plans to continue operating its 29 restaurants in New Mexico, Arizona, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas during the Chapter 11 process. Buffet Partners LP said a December ice and sleet storm in North Texas, leaving tens of thousands of people without power and stranding drivers, severely hurt its already tenuous liquidity. Barry M. Barron Sr., who was named chief executive of Buffet Partners last June, said in a statement that because of “the challenges facing our...

Investments in renewable energy were supposed to be a sure thing, with wind park operators promising annual returns of up to 20 percent. More often than not, however, such pledges have been illusory -- and many investors have lost their principal to boot. Indications are mounting, however, that green capitalism will not be able to meet all expectations. In courts around the country, complaints are mounting from wind park investors who haven't received a dividend disbursement in years or whose parks went belly up. Consumer protection activists are complaining that many projects are poorly structured and lack transparency. In the...

Freedom Industries, the unfortunately named company whose chemical leak contaminated the water supply for parts of West Virginia, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Friday. The company voted to pursue bankruptcy protection during a voluntary board meeting on Friday, according to WVNS-TV. The Wall Street Journal reports official company papers from the meeting estimate their debt at roughly $10 million, which does not include the impending clean-up costs and lawsuits, which will no doubt be immense.

As I’ve said before, I love Detroit. Born and raised there to parents who were born and raised there, and went to college at Wayne State. It’s an amazing place. I passionately want to see Detroit revitalized. But part of loving something means being honest about it, and Detroit is a mess. To save the city, to really save it and get it out of the mess it’s currently it means making sacrifices. That's why the recently announced $330 deal to "save Detroit's art" and fund pensions is so disappointing. It has nothing to do with Detroit's long-term viability and...

Like Enron, Greece, and Donald Trump before us, America is about to go bankrupt. Unfortunately, our bankruptcy will probably be more Enron and less Donald Trump because we're very unlikely to come back bigger and better in the lifetime of anyone reading this column. Instead, most Americans are probably going to experience skyrocketing taxes, spiraling inflation, widespread disorder, and a dramatically reduced standard of living. This isn’t a crisis that our great-grandchildren will have to figure out one day. To the contrary, it's entirely possible it will occur within the next decade and unless we make big changes no one...

the bogey man known as “systemic risk” to gain advantage over the other creditors . ... In order for the OTC casino to work, the derivatives contracts had to be given special priority in bankruptcy. Speculative derivative instruments such as credit default swaps (CDS), which caused the failure and government bailout of American International Group, could never exist in significant size were in not for the safe harbor from bankruptcy for derivatives created by Congress in the 1980s and 1990s. Members of Congress from both parties were paid very well for their treachery. ... The intellectual author of the “systemic...

Detroit’s decline into bankruptcy and decay seems to have boosted its desirability as a sight for tourists to visit. Howard Carter, a recent visitor to the City’s ruins, was quite enthusiastic, “It’s like seeing the pyramids without having to wait thousands of years for them to turn into ruins.” Carter congratulated himself on his good fortune. “Instead of having to pay thousands of dollars to take the family to Egypt we were all able to hop in the car and drive over from Canton,” Carter boasted. “At most we’re out a few hundred bucks instead of the thousands an overseas...

The tentative decision prohibits the city from forcing current employees to contribute significantly more toward their pensions, as called for in last year's Measure B. That left each side claiming victory, even as both expected to appeal.

Kevyn Orr, Detroit’s emergency manager, is threatening to take over one of Detroit’s pension funds after a report found that retirees received extra payments while the funds lost value. Mr. Orr proposed for Detroit to pay 20 cents on the dollar for the $3.5 billion that the city says it owes its two pension funds, one for 20,500 nonuniformed retirees and one for 12,700 retired police and firefighters. Detroit, of course, is the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history, although New York City and Cleveland came close. This comes after another Detroit-area fiscal meltdown, the infamous General Motors bailout. Treasury...

With the news of Betsey Johnson, the Octomom and many other celebs facing bankruptcy in this economically uncertain time, it seems appropriate to look at other celebs who have really tanked their finances. More often than not, these actors, singers and entrepreneurs are just starting out and hoping to break out in their respective industries. But many celebs are just irresponsible with finances and blow everything they earned (we're looking at you Courtney Love). 1) Anna Nicole Smith thought she was the victim of secret sabotage. Anna Nicole Smith thought she was the victim of secret sabotage. When Anna Nicole...

“Anytime somebody says it can’t happen, I whip those pictures out and say, ’Oh, don’t you bet against it,’” Orr said the other day, not long after a federal judge allowed Detroit to become the nation’s largest city ever to enter bankruptcy. “Let me show you what can happen.” Orr, 55, who has never run for political office, finds himself in an extraordinary role. He holds power even more concentrated than that of the emergency control board that intervened when New York City was teetering near bankruptcy: an unelected lawyer chiefly responsible for the reinvention of a major American city...