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Is Liz Claiborne On Road To Chapter 11?
A fitting headline to cap a day in which retail analysts from various investment banks were yapping ceaselessly, trying to convince CNBC's viewers that consumer discretionary is the next REIT space, and that HFT computers are mere minutes away from trading trillions of shares with one another, thereby pumping retail stocks into the ionosphere, is the news out of the WSJ that Liz Claiborne has hired restructuring and turnaround advisor Alvarez & Marsal, best known for advising the wind-down of Lehman's bankrupt estate.
Liz Claiborne, which owns the Lucky, Juicy Couture, Kate Spade brands
in addition to its namesake line. didn't announce that it had retained
Alvarez & Marshal. Usually such retentions are disclosed because
they are material to a company's health, Mr. Felton said. But
securities law allows some leeway because of the impact the information
can have on a company's business and stock price, he said.
Hiring a restructuring firm "not infrequently is the first step towards
a bankruptcy filing," said Raymond Felton, chairman of the corporate
practice at law firm Greenbaum, Rowe, Smith & Davis in Woodbridge,
N.J.
While likely the preamble of some significant equitization (and absolutely not the last one in the mid/premium retail space) this an amusing episode, as it highlights the stigmata associated with companies, about whom it is leaked that they work with such traditional restructuring advisors as A&M, Alix & Co., Houlihan Lokey, and Miller Buckfire. In many ways, this is the bread and butter of specialized FT subsidiary service Debtwire, which is a specialized Page 6 for the distressed space, providing "color" on who has hired whom, or who is pitching what, where (and we love them dearly).
As more and more retail companies realize that Hopium does not pay the bills, and resort to the services of bankruptcy experts, expect to see increased episodes of retailers claiming to never, ever need to restructure, until one lovely morning there is a fresh and warm Chapter 11 filing waiting at the inbox in Southern District Of NY.
Ironically, as we live in a time where bankruptcy is actually beneficial for stocks, it may be merely a matter of time before every single US corporation seeks to gun their stocks higher, while enjoying a 3-6 month vacation under the observant eye of Judge Gerber.
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What the hell has happened to Zero Hedge traffic? Seems like it has exploded:
Today's Most Popular
That's a heck lot of reads! Top post by Project Mayhem on Swine Flu in the contributors section at 9397 reads of this post.
Let's hope we don't become a "cyber threat".
http://www.politechbot.com/docs/rockefeller.revised.cybersecurity.draft....
flag@whitehouse.gov
That's the whole point. Fair and balanced and truthful...MSN pinched most of the front page from ZH..almost word for word.
We are "low" level terrorists. People who may do radical things like refuse to pay taxes. Take Ron Paul seriously. Make fun of our government.
Check out Alexa. ZH Daily reach is spiking up like gold.
http://alexa.com/siteinfo/zerohedge.com
It seems like the tipping point is close or already reached. If you have the patience, download a separate browser app, add in alexa.com and compete.com toolbars, and use that just for reading ZH. Or add a review on those tracker sites. Or drop links to ZH posts in the commentary sections of large-traffic MSM sites and other forums.
BTW, how does one get to the list Raymond copied? It seems to go away as soon as I log in, and only shows the reader counts for the given day's posts.
Right now, it seems to show a slightly different view:
Today's Most PopularInteresting that LIZ CDS jumped from 15% upf at the open to 19.5% upf at the close - oops! and of course the stock was up LOL....
I recall that Warren Buffet bought a stake in LIZ several years ago. I wonder if he still owns it. Probably not I'd imagine.
This site is a systemic risk !!
All the views come from Greek "Revolutionary Struggle" rebels, checking up on all the latest scandals and tricks used by Wall Street, so that they can catch their local banksters when they try to use the same tricks.
Going way long 2+ quarters out OTM retail puts for pennies
erin-brockovitch-law-firm-sued-into-bankruptcy-by-dead-partners-estate
http://gawker.com/5348677/erin-brockovitch-law-firm-sued-into-bankruptcy-by-dead-partners-estate
Mother isn't going to take this news well.
I don't like the clothes.
This summary is literary gold, aptly describing both our state of the financial union and exposing the clowns. Short post in Greece.
To be fair, plenty of firms hire an A&M and don't end up in bankruptcy. See, e.g., HealthSouth or Krispy Kream. But that being said, the retail space is going to get so much worse before it gets better, I don't see them staying out of the tank.
too bad
good articles; good articles 4 slow news day ..http://www..
hat tip: finance news & finance opinions