PG&E Shares Crash 50%, Bonds Crater As CEO Quits Ahead Of Bankruptcy Filing

Shares of the troubled California utility PG&E tumbled more than 50% on Monday after its CEO Geisha Williams quit, followed by the revelation made in an 8-k filing on Monday morning that the utility - which is facing potentially billions of dollars in fines related to the California wildfires - is planning to file for bankruptcy on Jan. 29.

PG&E has seen its shares plunge by more than half since November after the state opened an investigation into the utility's role in the wildfires. The utility had already participated in one of the largest bankruptcies in US history back in 2000 during California's energy crisis. Following a collateral-call-triggering downgrade to junk last week, rumors circulated that PG&E could inform its employees about bankruptcy plans as soon as Monday.

The rout in PG&E shares have established the trade as the worst ever made by Stanley Klarman's Baupost Group.

Williams, who was one of the first Hispanic CEOs in the Fortune 500, will be succeeded by the company's general counsel on an interim basis. Her departure follows the exits of three PG&E CEOs earlier this month, according to Bloomberg.

"I will be leaving PG&E,” Williams said in a separate email, without providing a reason for her departure. "I value the opportunity I’ve had to lead PG&E and wish all of my colleagues well."

Meanwhile, the possibility of a state takeover and/or state-organized breakup have also loomed over the company. Newly appointed California Governor Gavin Newsom said during a press conference Thursday that his office would be making an announcement related to PG&E within the next few days and that the issue was at the top of his agenda. He said in a later interview that the announcement would involve appointments to the California Public Utilities Commission, the state’s grid operator and to a commission established by legislature to explore wildfire issues.

Wall Street analysts are scrambling to discern the possible fallout from such a large bankruptcy filing, and its possible implications on the junk bond market, and whether a PG&E bankruptcy could create an "AIG" moment. Citigroup Inc. called it a “a crisis of confidence.” Guggenheim Securities analysts likened the dilemma PG&E poses to investors and lawmakers as “a falling knife.”

After taking the helm at PG&E, Williams pushed for changes to California laws to free utilities from responsibility if their equipment malfunctions and causes a natural disaster - something she decried as "bad public policy." However, while lawmakers have rejected PG&E's calls to change wildfire liability laws, they did pass a law in August to help the utility to pay for the 2017 wine country fires. California lawmakers are now weighing whether to pass another law to help PG&E limit its liability.

rest at link

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-01-14/pge-shares-crash-30-ceo-quits-utility-prepares-bankruptcy-filing

>>4750048 peace for you and yours as always sa.

Futures are down however they have not dropped very much from last night's read. The DOW was down -139 last night for example.

Last week's markets were pushed upwards on very low trading volumes. In some cases they were less than 50% of daily average volumes depending on the day and index. There was quite a bit of insider selling. Naughty jack , Sheryl Sandberg at FB to name a few.

In one case a 10% owner of LuLu lemon disposed of shares that equated to $131m.

Pretty sneaky doing it just after the start of the year and when most officer's are embargoed from selling. They all have trading plans that are tied to compensation so it is legal. It should not be allowed after the qtr closes imo.

At the very least they should not be able to do this before a major event i.e. earnings reports. Trading plan or not.

WTI crude oil has now given back it's entire gain that started last weds. Left side of chart reading to right. Oil has ticked with equity's for some time even before last weds meteoric rise. As with equity prices it has done so on lower volume, not as low as equity's but low nontheless.

Looks like $51 is now it's overhead resistance

Gold has some selling being shaken out. Of course everyone just dumps a hard asset when equity's are indicatinga gap down! Not a big drop but the COMEX paper dumps seem to be re-appearing. Silver has a smaller dip and not a big deal. It's the patterns that should be paid attention to..not the total amount or %of said dip.

All european index's are lower too.

Opening gap down here upon session start.

>>4750174

Like the buffets with the plates full of crab legs and not much else!

Not much change here from last night too. BCH and Litecoin continue trend of loss leader and gainer on up days. Ethereum is in second place as loss leader now just ahead of Litecoin.

Japan aims to start next round of landfill work for U.S. base in March-Okinawa

Another round of landfill work for the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station within Okinawa Prefecture, from Ginowan to the Henoko district of Nago, is planned to start as early as March, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.

According to sources, the central government will notify the Okinawa prefectural government as early as this month of the timing to launch the second round of landfill work, which will cover an area of about 33 hectares at the southwestern part of the site. Since this next landfill zone is about five times that of the first landfill zone, progress toward the relocation of the Futenma air base to Henoko will further materialize.

Monday marked a month since the first round of landfill work began for an about 6.3-hectare area at the southwestern part of the planned relocation site. The landfill work has steadily progressed, as about 20 percent of that section has so far been reclaimed. The first landfill zone covers about 4 percent of the entire sea area to be reclaimed for the relocation.

The second landfill zone is adjacent to the first zone, and each is surrounded by bulkheads. Repair and inspection work for the bulkheads will be completed in late March, and the central government is now expecting to begin landfill work after that.

The Defense Ministry plans to reclaim the first and second zones to almost the same level as sea level, with the first set for completion as early as April and the second as early as in 2020. Although it is necessary to eventually fill these areas with more soil, the ministry marks sea-level reclamation as a major milestone because it will clearly define the progress of the landfill work. The two zones will cover about one-fourth of the entire 160-hectare sea area to be reclaimed.

At present, soil for reclamation is unloaded from transport ships on a bulkhead about 1.5 kilometers north of the landfill zone and transported by dump trucks. To implement the landfill work more efficiently and speedily, the ministry is considering two plans: to use the first landfill zone after it is filled as a work site to place heavy equipment and other materials there, and erecting two bulkheads where transport ships can dock as early as this summer to make it possible to unload soil at multiple locations.

rest at link

http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0005477515

>>4750277

people need a distraction. I agree with the sentiment but as long as it does not turn into hero worship why not?

Just like music with the knowledge we have gained over the last few year's you either separate the product from the producer or just stop consuming the product.

Markets opening

>>4750303

>>4750360

penny stock bullshit.

Don't take financial advice from a public message board.

That is a sweat shop tactic designed to have retail buy shares that the sweat shop contractors are paid to pump to the public.

marketanon has only ever said to buy Au/Ag

Did so reluctantly at the time as it's still a public board. If you've been here for some time I have made it very clear none of what I post is actionable advice-I will never advocate buying anything except the metals EVER. If you take it that way and fuck up..no one to blame but yourself. It's called free will.

myself and one other anon tagged that penny stock crap when it came in.

>>4750383

>>4750429

Yes buy Ag/Au that is what the first sentence says.

Even without my input have you not paid attention to anything else about it?

>>4750501

not this anon.

The very first response to it yesterday was from me saying " we do not give financial advice on this board". Have the screen shots if you want them.

regarding Ag/Au you can use the ETF's to capture performance and only that. Those only have paper obligations to COMEX contracts and with the movements being pretty benign recently they have not done much. Read the prospectus in anything you want to research. It will clearly show they are nothing moar than a capture of movement on any vehicle they are tied to. You also have time slip with those too so they can under-perform because of this.

>>4750706

Andrew Jackson home just north of city. anon visited about 20 years ago.

https://thehermitage.com/

>>4750728

>>4750759

"The people's POTUS"

same as now