The trail-blazing and transcendent David Bowie died this weekend after an 18-month battle with cancer. Incredibly, his reach extended beyond music, cinema, holiday duets, fashion, and stage and into our world of finance, as evidenced by his “Bowie bonds”—the “first in what would become a wave of esoteric asset-backed securities deals based on intellectual property [in this case, nearly 300 of his recordings and copyrights.” Rebel rebel, indeed – NYTimes and WSJ
Sub-$30 a barrel oil looks like a distinct possibility after crude-oil prices dropped another 5% yesterday, raising concerns that nearly 1/3 of American oil-and-gas producers could face bankruptcy and restructuring in the next 2 years – WSJ
Dublin-based drug-maker Shire, not that far removed from an ill-fated merger attempt with AbbVie, announced a successful tie-up with Chicagoland-based Baxalta in a deal valued at $31 billion. Until 6 months ago, Baxalta was an arm of Baxter, a medical supplies giant – NYTimes
The Supreme Court has rejected a pension trust fund’s attempt to revive a putative class action against Bank of America over allegedly raising billions in stock offerings without disclosing its secondary mortgage market exposure – Law360
The official word on FICO scores from a new wave of Silicon-Valley-backed lenders? Nope, don’t trust ‘em. More on why not and how they’re getting around them – WSJ
EU regulators are aiming to prevent another credit crisis by taking aim at the shadow banking industry—with particular attention to repurchase agreements, securities lending, and margin loans – Bloomberg
For those of you keeping track at home, Fitbit hasn’t exactly been hitting daily goals (aka, its stock has lost 37% in the new year and is now below IPO price) – WSJ
Dealbook examines the recent collapse of Third Avenue Management (you’ll remember it as the fund that froze redemptions after a run on payouts) and how it’s helped prompt SEC attention to liquidity (and possibly into the fiduciary duties of fund trustees) – NYTimes
Star Wars, the Fed, and the Force (of Inflation) – NYTimes
Roll Tide is appropriate, I think, after ‘Bama’s 4th title in 7 years – NYTimes
