Latest news with #OaktreeCapital
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Howard Marks says he used AI tool Perplexity to help write his latest memo
Howard Marks says he enlisted Perplexity, an AI tool, to help write his latest memo. It laid out how he thinks regulations have distorted California's fire insurance market, reducing coverage. Marks still included colorful commentary from himself and wisdom from Warren Buffett. Howard Marks' memos are considered must-reads by many in the financial world, including Warren Buffett. Perplexity, an AI-powered search engine, helped write a chunk of his latest missive. Marks, the billionaire co-founder and co-chairman of Oaktree Capital Management, has been writing memos for 35 years and turns 80 next year. That makes it perhaps a little surprising that he's drafted in a machine as a contributor. "In a sign of the times, I'll let my new (and AI-powered) editorial assistant, Perplexity, fill you in on the background," Marks said in a Wednesday memo titled "More on Repealing the Laws of Economics." The veteran fund manager said he hadn't "changed a word" of Perplexity's output, which was "pretty close to what I would have produced in an hour or two." In support of his argument for free-market economics and less government intervention, Marks roped in the AI tool to lay out his view that regulations have distorted the fire insurance sector in California, resulting in widespread underinsurance. "As Perplexity notes, insurers were told they couldn't price fire policies to reflect increases in the frequency and severity of forest fires," Marks said. "Likewise, they couldn't raise prices to pass through the higher premiums their reinsurers were charging based on the increased frequency and severity." The distressed-debt investor asked whether a hypothetical insurer would cover a $5 million house with a 1% chance of burning down if the regulator only allowed it to charge $25,000 a year for a policy. "I didn't need Perplexity to tell me the insurance company faces an expected payout of $50,000 on that policy," Marks said. "The answer's simple: you don't write that policy." AI tools are divisive. Proponents hail them as productivity boosters that will free workers from mundane tasks and supercharge economic growth. Critics fear they'll stymie learning and development, erode skills, and destroy so many jobs that they cause mass unemployment. Marks may have embraced AI but he still finds value in human wisdom. In his new memo, he quoted Buffett saying the US fiscal deficit was "unsustainable" and could become "uncontrollable" during Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting in May. The Wall Street legend also included his own colourful, incisive comments: "The behavior in Washington with regard to both the fiscal deficit and the precariousness of Social Security remind me of the tale of the guy who jumped off the 20-story building. As he passed the 10th floor, he said, 'so far, so good.'" Marks may be in his golden years and as skeptical of high-flying assets as ever, yet seems open-minded about innovations. For example, he went from dismissing bitcoin as "not real" in 2017, to trumpeting its privacy and convenience in 2021 after learning about cryptocurrencies from his son. He's clearly finding uses for AI too. Read the original article on Business Insider Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
Bloomberg
7 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Essity's Attempt to Dismiss Bondholder Lawsuit Rejected by Court
A London judge rejected Essity AB 's request to dismiss a lawsuit by a group of bondholders including Oaktree Capital Management and Sona Asset Management, who claim the Swedish personal-care company breached debt terms and owe early repayment. 'There is a serious issue to be tried,' wrote Judge Timothy Fancourt of the London High Court in a judgment handed down on Monday. A lawyer for Essity had argued at a hearing in May that there wasn't, and that the plaintiffs who brought the suit aren't the 'proper parties' to bring such claims as they didn't directly hold the notes.
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Gundlach says gold is no longer for lunatics as the bond king says wait to buy the 30-year
The direction is pointing south for stocks on Thursday. And some big names in finance have been offering advice over the past 24 hours. Howard Marks, co-founder and co-chairman of Oaktree Capital, on Wednesday warned investors to be cautious as uncertainty under President Donald Trump isn't going away. Israel-Iran clash delivers a fresh shock to investors. History suggests this is the move to make. 'I'm 68 and my 401(k) has dwindled to $82,000': My husband committed financial infidelity and has $50,000 in credit-card debt. What now? Walmart's stock looks like it's in trouble. What the chart says may come next. These defense stocks offer the best growth prospects, as the Israel-Iran conflict fuels new interest in the sector Gundlach says gold is no longer for lunatics as the bond king says wait to buy the 30-year There's plenty of wariness in our call of the day from another influential investor, DoubleLine's Chief Executive and Chief Investment Officer Jeffrey Gundlach. He has lots of ideas on where investors should be as U.S. market uncertainty swirls. Gundlach noted that markets are behaving 'strange' and 'differently,' in an interview with Bloomberg late Wednesday, where he noted how the dollar index DXY and Treasury yields fell during the April stock pullback, the opposite of what was seen in S&P 500 SPX corrections in the past 15 years. 'I think what we have is a recognition that the interest expense for the United States is untenable, if we continue running a $2 trillion budget deficit and we continue to have sticky interest rates,' he said. 'There's an awareness now that the long-term Treasury bond is not a legitimate flight-to-quality asset. It's not responding to lower interest rates, it's not really responding to an inflation rate, which is now 2.5%,' and likely to go higher, he said. The manager, nicknamed the bond king, said they are 'very uninvolved in the long-term [30-year] Treasury bond,' because of his belief yields will rise when the U.S. economy starts to weaken or the Fed cuts. He's waiting for the yield to possibly hit 6%, and trigger quantitative easing. 'You could get a 20-point rally on the long bond if they announced they are buying the long bond,' he said. Gundlach said that while the long bond is no longer a flight-to-quality asset, gold is. 'I think of gold as a real asset class. It's no longer for lunatic survivalists and wild speculators,' with central banks also buyers. As for U.S. stocks, he said while the market was 'really overvalued' ahead of the April selloff, it's 'more overvalued' now because the S&P 500 is lower and earnings estimates have been cut significantly. What is he expecting? 'I anticipate a great buying opportunity. I don't know when it's going to happen, but it's getting close,' he said. 'The environment feels a lot like 1999 relative to AI is just map over dot-com. I also think it feels a lot like 2006, 2007.' 'One of the hardest things to do in the investment business is to learn and fully appreciate how long everything takes to happen. It takes forever for the problems to actually show up, it takes forever for the defaults to finally arrive, but people anticipate change with great enthusiasm,' such as what's been seen with AI, he said. Tech stocks that have been outperforming tied to AI are a 'momentum trade,' which always tends to overshoot on the upside. 'And then once the momentum's broken, the late comers decide that their first loss is their best loss and it turns into a seller's market,' he said. Gundlach said a smart investor will right now be putting money into 'long-term themes. And a theme that I think is one of the most bankable, and it might take 30 years, is that you should invest in India because it has a similar profile to where China was 35 years ago,' such as a massive population and labor force and is now an economic powerhouse. Buy India and hold for 'your grandchildren's college fund,' and then just try to forget it, he said. U.S. stocks DJIA SPX COMP are dropping, with Treasury yields BX:TMUBMUSD10Y BX:TMUBMUSD30Y also falling. The dollar DXY is down 0.7% as gold prices GC00 climb nearly 2%. Key asset performance Last 5d 1m YTD S&P 500 6022.24 0.86% 2.20% 2.39% Nasdaq Composite 19,615.88 0.80% 2.45% 1.58% 10-year Treasury 4.418 2.70 -1.70 -15.80 Gold 3395.2 -0.06% 6.74% 28.64% Oil 67.71 7.92% 7.66% -5.79% Data: MarketWatch. Treasury yields change expressed in basis points Producer prices rose 0.1% in May, as did the core reading, again showing that tariff increases have yet to filter meaningfully into inflation. Weekly jobless claims stayed at 248,000, as the four-week average rose to the highest in nearly two years. A closely watched auction of $22 billion of 30-year notes is on tap. Boeing shares BA leading the Dow industrials lower after an Air India passenger plane bound for London crashed in Ahmedabad, India. Oracle stock ORCL is gaining after the cloud-services group lifted its 2026 revenue expectations as quarterly sales rose 11%. GameStop GME said it plans to raise $1.75 billion in debt, which could mean the videogame retailer will purchase more bitcoin. Shares are dropping. BioNTech BNTX said it's buying CureVac CVAC for $1.25 billion in stock, in a deal combining two German biotechs in the mRNA business. Fintech company Chime Financial CHYM priced its IPO at $27 a share, above an expected range for its Thursday debut on the Nasdaq. President Donald Trump said letters will go out to trading partners in the next two weeks setting unilateral tariff rates, before a July 9 deadline. The 'one big beautiful bill act' eliminates the Office of Financial Research — threatening the stability of the Treasury market. World Bank ends its ban on funding nuclear power projects. ICE raids have sent Latino shoppers into hiding and big brands like Coca-Cola are hurting. The Brookings Institution's Robin Brooks has been chronicling how countries have been exporting to Russia's neighbors to get around bans. Now he's finding China shipping to other countries in what he says is 'obviously' transshipments to avoid tariffs. 'Thailand and Vietnam look bonkers,' says Brooks. These were the most active tickers on MarketWatch as of 6 a.m.: Ticker Security name TSLA Tesla NVDA Nvidia GME GameStop PLTR Palantir Technologies BA Boeing AAPL Apple TSM Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing AMD Advanced Micro Devices AMZN Amazon ORCL Oracle Not just teeny tiny hands. Scientists unearth new T-rex species. American woman triggers cutlery war with Europeans. The retailer Poundland sells for an unsurprising price. My mother-in-law thought the world's richest man needed Apple gift cards. How on Earth could she fall for this scam? I'm in my 80s and have 2 kids. How do I choose between them to be my executor? 'I am getting very frustrated': My mother's adviser has not returned my calls. He manages $1 million. Is this normal? 'He failed in his fiduciary duty': My brother liquidated our mother's 401(k) for her nursing home. He claimed the rest. My life partner is 18 years my senior. He wants to leave his $4.5 million fortune to me — not his two kids. Do we tell them? Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Bloomberg
12-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Oaktree's Marks Says Trump Values Unpredictability, Be Cautious
Oaktree Capital Management LP co-founder Howard Marks said investors should expect uncertainty to endure under US President Donald Trump and relatively high valuations in global markets require a cautious stance. 'As someone who is a serial negotiator, he values unpredictability, and I think you're going to have that for a long time,' Marks said of Trump at the Morgan Stanley Australia Summit on Thursday in Sydney via video link from Spain.
News.com.au
04-06-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Resources Top 5: Coal punters breathe sigh of relief with Coronado's stay of execution
Coal miner Coronado surges as debt deal alleviates liquidity concerns Andromeda's $75m debt package lifts hopes for Great White kaolin development Artemis, Golden Deeps, Peregrine lift on no news Your standout small cap resources stocks on Wednesday, June 4, 2025. With met coal prices hammered in the past year the liquidity of high cost operator Coronado has come under sharp focus as the Queensland/US met coal producer has gone from hero to zero. Worth $2.34 per share in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, an event that precipitated an historic run in coking and thermal coal prices, oversupply in the market has seen CRN's returns collapse in recent times. It's now trading at just 14c, though a 35% bump today has improved the optics, off the back of news the miner has secured a refinanced debt facility with private equity firm Oaktree Capital Management. At $227m the company is well off its $3.5bn book value from a highly touted IPO in 2018. Birthed from the womb of still 51% owner Energy and Minerals Group, the deal with Oaktree brings another player into the potential bidding for the distressed company after reports Czech bargain hunter Pavel Tykac's Global Investments had bought up around US$40m of its debt last month. The new three year asset-based lending facility will comprise $75m to be drawn at financial close with the remaining $75m to be drawn in $25m increments over 12 months. There will be no testing of leverage and interest coverage financial covenants for the June 2025 quarter, with covenant thresholds from Sept 2025 onwards "designed to afford the business flexibility" in the current low price environment. Met coal futures are running at around US$183/t. But that's for the really high quality stuff. Last year, CRN's sales prices ran at a 77% realisation to the Aussie met coal index. And it paid ~US$117m in a rebate to Queensland power provider Stanwell due to expire in 2027. CRN has announced around US$100m of cost cuts across its business, while it has about US$80m of capex left to spend to deliver incremental expansions of 1.5-2Mt at its Mammoth mine and 1Mt at Buchanan in the US. At the same time, CRN held its AGM today, with chairman Gerry Spindler acknowledging the rough seas the miner has been navigating. "We acknowledge that our share price has declined significantly over the past year. In our view, this movement reflects not just cvompany-specific pressures, but broader sentiment in the sector, including commodity cycles, funding constraints and macroeconomic uncertainty," he said. "While disappointing, it does not in our view, reflect the full value or potential of our assets, our team, or the strategic work underway. We are focused on strengthening our fundamentals because we know that market value will follow business performance over time. "We have high-quality assets, long-term demand, a deeply experienced team, and a board that is fully engaged in driving performance and unlocking value. These are the fundamentals that will carry us forward." CRN finished the March quarter in a net debt position of US$194.9m and US$229.5m of non-restricted cash on hand. Andromeda Metals (ASX:ADN) From one debt deal to another, this one a project creator rather than a company saver. ADN owns the Great White kaolin project down on South Australia's minerals rich Eyre Peninsula. And credit approval for a $75m debt facility for the development from Merricks Capital has given the firm a major shot in the arm. The debt will have a tenor of 78 months, with scheduled amortisation to begin after a 12 month grace period from the end of project development, ending at maturity with a 50% bullet repayment. The financing is subject to customary conditions, including the company securing the necessary funding for the balance to support a final investment decision for its State 1A+ development. 'Receiving confirmation from Merricks Capital that the proposed facility is credit approved, following extensive due diligence, represents a significant milestone in the financing of Stage 1A+ of the Great White Project," ADN acting CEO Sarah Clarke said. 'This outcome is a strong endorsement of the project's quality and a testament to the team's dedication, expertise and commitment to delivering an investment ready project. 'With this momentum, we continue to pursue the balance of funding opportunities to support a final investment decision, with due diligence continuing with a select number of capital providers.' The Stage 1A+ development is expected to cost $84m to construct, producing 100,000 wet metric tonnes of kaolin per annum, with an NPV8 of $211m and IRR of 26%. Two further expansions are planned beyond that to 210,000wmtpa (cumulative cost $141m) and 330,000wmtpa (cumulative capex $194m). Andromeda's Great White is expected to be a high quality supplier of products for ceramic tiles and slabs, porcelain tableware and the broader ceramics market, with products also under development including a decarbonising additive for concrete production and high purity alumina for use in LED lights, semiconductors and lithium-ion batteries. Artemis Resources (ASX:ARV) A handy 40% bump for Artemis Resources on Wednesday as investors digest the latest news about drilling at its Carlow gold and copper project. The spex are a 5000m program of wide-spaced drilling including 3800m of diamond chasing extensions both under and along strike from a known 374,000oz gold and 64,000t copper resource at the Pilbara precious and base metals project. That'll be augmented with 1200m of RC drilling 2km to the west of Carlow at the Titan prospect, where high grade results in shallow exploration have gone untested with modern drilling. Artemis gets to be the firm that tests the true extent of its ground, located between the key Pilbara towns of Karratha and Roebourne, in the same district as major discoveries like the Andover lithium deposit and 11.2Moz Hemi gold project. It's also applied for some highly sought after ground around 450km east of Kalgoorlie in the same neighbourhood as Teck Resources and WA1 Resources (ASX:WA1), where ARV is hoping a big IOCG (iron oxide copper-gold) system lurks beneath around 300m of Eucla basin sediment cover. Golden Deeps (ASX:GED) and (Up on no news) Peregrine Gold was up big on no news on Wednesday, having had relatively little to report since announcing plans to commence an 8000m aircore drill program in April. That drilling at the Newman gold project was set to test geochemical and geophysical targets, and follow up the newly discovery Tin Can West prospect, which previously returned a hit of 4m at 9g/t Au from 12-16m. PGD has solid pedigree for making a major Pilbara gold discovery, with legendary WA prospector Mark Creasy its top backer and former Azure Minerals chairman Brian Thomas on board as non-exec chairman. Its technical director George Merhi has a history of success as exploration manager for Creasy Group and Novo Resources (ASX:NVO). PGD is also planning a 10,000m aircore program at Mallina, which sits to the north-east of the 11.2Moz Hemi discovery, while Creasy has inked a deal with PGD that will enable him to share profits with the ASX junior from the mining of shallow gold down to 50m at the Peninsula prospect, part of the Newman project. Golden Deeps meanwhile has been on the trail of a high-grade gallium discovery at Nosib in Namibia, located near the also high-grade Tsumeb copper mine. Part of the Central Otavi critical metals project, Nosib has returned hits as strong as » 23m at 168g/t Ga2O3, 0.72% Cu, 0.54% V2O5, 3.97% Pb and 1.8 g/t Ag from 4m (in hole NOUG0021), including 4m at 387g/t Ga2O3, 1.06% Cu, 0.74% V2O5, 4.04% Pb and 2.38 g/t Ag from 4m. There's more of those, with every polymetallic co-product under the sun plugged into the assay results. GED remains well stocked for more exploration at Central Otavi, with ~$3.4m in the bank at March 31.
