Last year more than 20 national retail chains filed for bankruptcy protection, continuing a trend that many observers attribute to the rise of e-commerce and the unprecedented growth of Amazon. While the impact of those forces certainly cannot be denied, the history of retail is also one marked by...
Six out of every 10 businesses are experiencing the same or higher levels of losses to online fraud compared with a year ago, according to “The 2018 Global Fraud and Identity Report” from Experian. Fraud was cited as a growing concern by 72 percent of businesses that participated in the study...
Despite the strong stock market performance and the low interest rate environment, financial distress, as measured by the number of Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings, is gradually increasing in both general Chapter 11 and real estate. The exception to this “gradual” increase is in healthcare, which has...
The positive economic climate seen around much of the world is a mixed blessing for restructuring and turnaround professionals. We continue to see signs of growth from investment in infrastructure and energy, consumer spending, job creation, and asset value appreciation, all without the inflation...
Distressed investing has been strong since the collapse of the financial markets in 2008, but as the economy has continued to expand, it has become increasingly opportunistic. It appears that the U.S. economy, which is heading into its ninth year of expansion, will continue to expand, with low...
Someone once joked that economists were created to make weather forecasters look good. Unfortunately, these days, it’s tough to say who’s doing a better job. A little over a year ago, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) encouraged global economies to pursue a “...
When I was asked to serve as guest editor for JCR ’s energy-focused edition last year, in trying to cover a breadth of developing trends across the industry we asked authors to focus on the investor and considerations that were important in making the investment decision. Since that time, the...
Even though default rates and corporate Chapter 11 filings remain at historic lows, a number of industries have been experiencing financial distress, including oil and gas, retail, higher education, and food processing. Hot topics affecting restructurings in all industries include potential limits...
There is no question that we are living through the most dynamic U.S. retail environment since Wal-Mart rolled out nationwide in the 1990s. This time, it’s not a better operator dominating in head-to-head competition, but rather the tipping point of digital commerce and the advent of fast fashion...
In my role as a guest editor of the JCR over the past couple of years, I have asked authors to focus on topics related to the energy business from the perspectives of both the investor and the turnaround professional. This year we have shifted to a survey format covering a broad range of topics...
