No Financing And No Demand: Chinese Refiners Run Into Trouble

International banks are suspending credit lines for some independent oil refiners worried about the growing risk of defaults across industries because of the coronavirus epidemic, Reuters reports, citing industry sources… According to the sources, at least three private refiners, or teapots, have had credit lines to the tune of $600 million suspended by banks including French…

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Will COVID-19 Lead To A Gold Standard?

Even before the coronavirus sprang upon an unprepared China the credit cycle was tipping the world into recession. The coronavirus makes an existing situation immeasurably worse, shutting down China and disrupting global supply chains to the point where large swathes of global production simply cease. The crisis is likely to be a wake-up call for complacent…

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Deutsche Bank, Donald Trump, And An Epic Trail Of Destruction

The Institutional Risk Analyst, we review the new book by David Enrich, “Dark Towers: Deutsche Bank, Donald Trump, and an Epic Trail of Destruction.” Enrich is currently a financial editor at The New York Times and was previously an editor at The Wall Street Journal covering financial institutions. This important book puts in perspective the history of Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE:…

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The Dilemma Facing China Is Truly Awful

As has been the case since Monday’s sell-off, there is an attempt to try to look on the bright side of the virus headlines. Chinese officials are spreading the word globally that things are under control and that other country should not be closing their borders to China, in line with the WHO recommendations that…

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Coronavirus Triggers “Biggest Shock” To Oil Markets Since Lehman Crisis

Update: The Telegraph’s Ambrose Evans-Pritchard warned that the collapse in Chinese oil consumption is “the biggest shock to oil markets since the Lehman crisis.”  Evans-Pritchard said the plunge in consumption could be between three to four million barrels per day, adding that this amount is twice UK’s North Sea oil output.  We noted earlier (see below), OPEC+ couldn’t come to…

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