HomeBudget & Tax NewsCompanies Are Slashing Away at Debt as Surging Inflation Casts Shadow Over...

Companies Are Slashing Away at Debt as Surging Inflation Casts Shadow Over Interest Rate Cuts

Many companies are looking to cut down on their debts as recent high inflation reports have made borrowing more expensive as the prospect of interest rate cuts by central banks diminishes, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

Even companies with already high credit outlooks are deleveraging to boost their rating with top agencies and reduce debt costs that have increased along with interest rates, while firms with lower ratings are needing to cut debt to maintain profitable operations, according to the WSJ. Investors have had to adjust their view about when interest rates might decline in recent weeks as persistently high levels of inflation have made it less likely that central banks around the world, including in the U.S., will cut interest rates, reducing the cost of holding debt.

“High yield companies are deleveraging, possibly even more than investment grade companies at the moment. But that is out of necessity,” Viktor Hjort, global head of credit strategy at BNP Paribas, told Dow Jones Newswires, according to the WSJ. “Not everyone can make it, but we think that the deleveraging trend over time will probably be a fairly broad-based process.”

Investors have increasingly pushed back projections of a potential cut to the federal funds rate by the Federal Reserve, with a majority not predicting lower rates until the Fed’s November meeting later this year, according to CME Group’s FedWatch Tool. Before the Fed’s January meeting, investors were projecting that rates would be cut by 0.25% from their current range of 5.25% and 5.50% in March.

Inflation in the U.S. has failed to decelerate below 3% year-over-year in recent months, measuring 3.5% in March and 3.2% in February.

One company reducing debt is American gold-mining firm Newmont, which is working toward deleveraging down to a $5 billion net debt target, according to the WSJ. The real estate sector is also likely to be considerably affected by leaving rates higher for longer due to being heavily indebted in both the U.S. and Europe.

The number of U.S. office buildings that are facing default, foreclosures or another form of financial distress is currently at its highest point since the fourth quarter of 2012, collectively worth $38 billion. Commercial real estate as a whole is facing a huge mountain of debt that is set to come due in the next few years, posing huge risks for small- and medium-sized banks that hold an outsized portion of commercial mortgage-backed securities.

With the timeline for potential rate cuts being pushed back, some highly indebted companies that have been delaying issuing new debt to avoid high rates will be forced to refinance debt that is reaching term soon, possibly increasing the supply on the market, according to the WSJ. Companies with high debts and low credit ratings might be in the most trouble, as high interest rates lead to speculation that current underperformance, as seen in the current market, will continue.

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1 COMMENT

  1. International Health Regulation (IHR) amendments and the so-called “Pandemic Treaty”:

    THE WHO’S POWER GRAB AND WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT

    The World Health Organization (WHO)’s 194 member nations are being asked to vote on two documents in the last week of May that will transfer unprecedented powers from our nations to the World Health Organization. Here’s what is happening:

    1. A new Pandemic Treaty is being proposed that would legalize the worldwide use of experimental, liability-free vaccines, impose health censorship and much more.

    2. Major amendments to the International Health Regulations are being proposed that give the WHO the power to impose worldwide lockdowns, vaccine mandates and much more.

    If either one of these two documents passes, it will be a massive blow to our civil rights, our Constitution, our national sovereignty and our individual freedoms. Both documents are considered international treaties and are intended to be biding (obligatory).

    1. Nations will be forced to pass laws to allow unlicensed, rapidly-produced and liability-free vaccines to be used for future “pandemics”.

    2. The WHO will be able to order global vaccine mandates, lockdowns, quarantines and border closures.

    3. The WHO Director-General (who isn’t a doctor) would decide which treatments you will get, which treatments you will be prevented from getting, and which information you and your doctor will be allowed to see.

    4. The WHO will require nations to surveil their citizens’ online activities and censor all information that does not agree with the WHO’s health narratives.

    5. The WHO is building a biowarfare agent library: requiring that nations share “potential pandemic pathogens” (a.k.a. biological warfare agents), decode their genomes in high containment labs, and place their sequences online in public databases – virtually guaranteeing lab escapes and more pandemics.

    6. The WHO is negotiating major amendments to its International Health Regulations in the backroom, behind closed doors, and we may not find out what is in them until after they have been voted on. Why so much secrecy?

    7. The WHO removed the words “human rights, dignity and freedom of persons” from the International Health Regulations amendments. The WHO thinks your basic human rights are negotiable!

    8. The proposed Treaty gives the WHO a blank check to spend on pandemic preparedness. How much will it cost? No one is saying, but estimates suggest the WHO budget could increase from 4 to 30 billion dollars a year or more.

    9. The WHO intends to enforce compliance. “National IHR Authorities” in every country will coordinate with the WHO’s compliance committee and implementation committees to compel compliance. The 2 documents will be binding (compulsory) for every nation.

    10. When will all this go into effect? The Treaty will go into effect for countries that ratify it after one month, which could be as early as July 2024. The Amendments will take 12 months after passage, or end of May 2025 if they are passed.

    latest draft of the proposed IHR amendments
    doortofreedom.org/recently-circulated-new-draft-of-amendments-to-the-ihr/
    apps.who.int/gb/wgihr/pdf_files/wgihr8/WGIHR8_Proposed_Bureau_text-en.pdf

    ———————————————————————————————————————————–
    WHAT CAN WE DO?

    HELP SPREAD THE WORD:
    jamesroguski.substack.com/p/help-spread-the-word

    WORLDWIDE ACTIVIST TOOL BOX
    jamesroguski.substack.com/p/exitthewhoorg
    JamesRoguski.substack.com/archive

    FOR INFORMATION ON WHAT YOU CAN DO PLEASE VISIT
    SovereigntyCoalition.org
    DoorToFreedom.org
    worldcouncilforhealth.org/
    standforhealthfreedom.com
    ———————————————————————————————————————————–
    WHAT OTHERS HAVE DONE SUCCESFULLY:

    Oklahoma Passes Legislation Against the WHO
    doortofreedom.org/oklahoma-passes-legislation-against-the-who/

    The Oklahoma State House of Representatives passed legislation yesterday stating that “The World Health Organization, the United Nations and the World Economic Forum shall have no jurisdiction in the State of Oklahoma.”

    In March 2024 the State of Louisiana voted against the WHO power grab.
    doortofreedom.org/2024/03/29/bravo-louisiana/

    “SB 133 states: the WEF, the UN, and the WHO shall have no jurisdiction in Louisiana”. This bill passed the Louisiana State Senate unanimously.

    Nullification
    (..) some states are crafting laws that restore state sovereignty through nullification of federal directives – protecting against globalist-run NGOs.
    https://doortofreedom.org/what-is-nullification/

    Netherlands, the parliament acted against it too, successfully:
    doortofreedom.org/today-dutch-parliament-votes-to-instruct-the-government-to-demand-a-delay-in-both-who-votes-and-if-no-delay-to-vote-against-the-proposals

    Other actions worldwide against the WHO power grab:
    doortofreedom.org/actions-around-the-world/

    Rally and March on June 1st 2024, Geneva. The Geneva Project:
    https://www.roadtogeneva.com/

    In Japan, Tens of Thousands Protest WHO’s ‘Supranational Grab Over Global Health’
    childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/japan-protest-who-supranational-grab-global-health/

    Ongoing list of USA State level legislation we are watching:
    doortofreedom.org/state-legislation/

    Italian Organizations Object to the WHO Treaties
    doortofreedom.org/italian-organizations-object-to-the-who-treaties/

    Countries Opposing WHO Pandemic Treaty Fear Reprisal, Japanese Join Opposition
    brightlightnews.com/countries-opposing-who-pandemic-treaty-fear-reprisal-japanese-join-opposition/

    SOURCE DOCUMENTS:

    Proposal for the WHO Pandemic Agreement:
    apps.who.int/gb/inb/pdf_files/inb9/A_inb9_3Rev1-en.pdf

    (Leaked) Proposed Pandemic Treaty Resolution:
    keionline.org/wp-content/uploads/INB-WHA-resolution-771-draft-16.04.pdf

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