2 min readFor the quarter ending March 30th 2024, Apple reported net income of $23.6B, down 2.2% year-over-year, on revenues of $90.8B which were 4.3% lower over the same period. The change in revenues reflected a 14.2% increase in services revenue and a 9.5% decrease in product revenues. Of particular note, iPhone sales which accounted for about…
5 min readIntroduction Earlier this year, European oil majors BP and Shell announced that they would roll back their energy transition plans and keep oil and gas as relatively large parts of their portfolio. In October 2023, their American counterparts Exxon Mobil and Chevron doubled down on a collective $115 billion bet on fossil fuels. Exxon Mobil…
7 min readWhat effects have the labor strikes had on credit markets and how may the Fed’s tightening cycles create further impact? Introduction The U.S. lost 4.1 million days of work to strikes in August, the most in 23 years. The end to the Writers’ strikes brought this figure down to 3.6 million in September, but 33,000…
7 min readCash investors looking to incorporate ESG face an interesting dilemma: Can you invest in oil majors while claiming to be an ESG investor? The answer may surprise you. Part 1: A Recent History of Energy The prominence of ESG investing has increased significantly in recent years, and nowhere has its impact been felt more than…
7 min readMacroeconomic Conditions The post-pandemic economy has had to contend with a rarely seen number of short-term disruptions and fundamental shifts to which it has mostly taken in stride. So far, we have avoided a widely broadcast recession, helped initially by huge amounts of pandemic related financial aid, and followed by a historically strong labor market…
6 min readWhat happened with Credit Suisse and what cash investors may be able to take away from the experience. Amidst the recent turmoil in the banking system, investors have taken a renewed interest in their bank debt holdings, particularly in the case of Credit Suisse. In a highly unusual move, regulators flipped the established creditor hierarchy…
11 min readIntroduction The acquisition of Silicon Valley Bridge Bank’s (SVBB) loans and deposits from the FDIC by First Citizens Bank (FCB) resolved a major uncertainty for customers and depositors of the failed Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). The transaction allowed the FDIC to move on from the second largest bank failure in US history. SVB customers and…
9 min readWhat Led to The Bank’s Eventual Closure and What Lessons Cash Investors Can Learn From This to Minimize Portfolio Risk On March 8th, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) announced a significant balance sheet restructuring and an associated $2.25 billion capital raise to shore up the bank’s financial position after rising rates and significant deposit outflows severely…
6 min readIn a speech given in April 2022, Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu recalled the ‘chaos’ driven by a series of bank failures during the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) . This resulted in a flurry of acquisitions and unorderly liquidations thrown together to prevent further disruption to the financial system. This experience eventually led…
4 min readHow auto manufacturers are developing strategies for improved ESG ratings Over the past several years, auto manufacturers have been increasingly focused on reducing carbon emissions via improving vehicle fuel efficiency and transitioning their product lines to fully electric vehicles. This increasing focus isn’t unfounded: according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the transportation sector accounted…