In January I predicted (see Notable Bankruptcies of 2009: Q1) that “major” bankruptcies in 2009 would challenge the 383 mark set in 2001 (the high-water mark after the dotcom bubble). I even suggested that it was possible that we could exceed 400 “major” bankruptcies in 2009.[More...]

The second edition of  Fitch Ratings’ annual ‘Credit Encyclo-Media‘ report makes for some grim reading. As was the case last year, The Interpublic Group is only rated issuer with a “Positive” outlook .  All other companies  are either Stable or Negative: Diversified Media –CBS Corporation (’BBB’; Outlook Stable) –Cox Enterprises (’BBB’; Outlook Stable) –Discovery Communications LLC [...]

In January I predicted (see Notable Bankruptcies of 2009: Q1) that “major” bankruptcies in 2009 would challenge the 383 mark set in 2001 (the high-water mark after the dotcom bubble). I even suggested that it was possible that we could exceed 400 “major” bankruptcies in 2009. According to Bankruptcydata.com, there have been 156 “major” filings thus far in 2009. Assuming that bankruptcies are equally distributed throughout the year, this puts us on pace for 312 bankruptcies. That is tracking well shy of my prediction. In fact, bankruptcies were down significantly from Q1 to Q2, as there were 90 bankruptcies in the first quarter but only 66 in the second. That stylized fact begs the question: Is that a “green shoot”[More...]

If you frequent MSN, you’ve probably seen their attention-grabbing headline for 10 Companies That May Go Bankrupt This Year. If you haven’t yet read it, that really doesn’t matter much since it doesn’t offer many surprises. GM (NYSE: GM) made the list - obviously, since the automaker’s potential bankruptcy has made news for months now - as did Blockbuster (NYSE: BBI), which really has little to do with the flagging economy and more to do with progress and a little company called Netflix Inc. (Nasdaq: <a href="http://www.google.com/finance?q=NASDAQ%3ANFLX"[More...]