10Aug2018 Market Close: Wall Street Plunged As The Turkish Lira Rocked Global Equities And Emerging Markets, Investors Sent Scurrying For Safety In Assets Like The Yen And U.S. Government Bonds

Timeline: Main events in Tesla’s history as a public company

Here are some of the key events in Tesla Inc’s turbulent history as a public company.

Emirates expects single-digit U.S. capacity rise in 2018: executive

Emirates airline [EMIRA.UL] expects a single-digit percentage increase in its U.S. capacity in 2018, a company executive said on Friday, as sales rebound after travel restrictions imposed by the Trump administration weakened demand from the Middle East early last year.

Energy executives lament Trump tariffs as costs rise on pipeline projects

U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal to double tariffs on steel and aluminum from Turkey could push up costs even further for domestic oil and gas pipeline projects, as energy executives said they were already struggling from earlier tariff rises.

Wall St. falls amid Turkey woes; banks, tech decline

U.S. stocks slid on Friday as a deepening economic crisis in Turkey dragged on bank stocks and triggered fears that it could spread to other global economies.

Doug Field, former Tesla engineering chief, returns to Apple

Doug Field, who stepped down as the senior vice president of engineering at Tesla Inc last month, is returning to Apple Inc , Apple told Reuters on Thursday.

Turkish lira’s free-fall rocks equity markets, euro falls

A plunge in the Turkish lira rocked global equities and emerging markets on Friday and fear of more turmoil sent investors scurrying for safety in assets like the yen and U.S. government bonds.

Heineken considers closing Brazilian factories due to court dispute

Heineken NV , the world’s second-largest beer maker, is considering closing two factories in northeastern Brazil as “an extreme measure” after a court ordered the company to sell beer and soft drinks in the region at a money-losing price, the company said on Friday in a statement.

BMW delays Chinese deliveries of X4 vehicles to fix brake issue

German carmaker BMW on Friday said around 400 BMW X4 vehicles, built in Spartanburg South Carolina, are being withheld from delivery to Chinese customers until a potential brake problem has been fixed as part of a global safety recall.

Ryanair strike hits 55,000 passengers across Europe

Ryanair endured its worst one-day strike on Friday after a walk-out by pilots in five European countries disrupted the plans of an estimated 55,000 travelers with the budget airline at the height of the summer holiday season.

Turkish Lira, Stocks Jump After Jay Sekulow Says “Close To Resolution” On Pastor Brunson

With stocks tumbling into the Friday close following the collapse of the Turkish lira,, and with Trump a stickler for no red days especially when he is on vacation, traders were wondering where today’s stick save would come from. We got the answer moments ago when Trump’s attorney – or rather one of many – Jay Sekulow said that the Trump administration is “getting close to a resolution” on the case of Pastor Brunson who is held by Erdogan under house arrest, and was the catalyst for today’s latest Trump sanctions lobbed at Turkey.

SEKULOW SAYS CLOSE TO GETTING RESOLUTION ON TURKEY-PASTOR CASE

There was no further detail, and no indication that this is not just a talking point which is completely devoid of any of today’s context, which saw not only Trump double down on Turkish sanctions, but also ended with Turkey vowing to retaliate to US sanctions.

In kneejerk reaction, the USDTRY dropped some 20 large figures, pushing US futures higher in the process.

Then again, with the Pastor at best a sideshow to the problems facing Turkey, of which first and foremost is Erdogan’s unwillingness to raise rates, call the IMF for help, or enact capital controls, we are confident it’s only a matter of time before the selling resumes.

Tesla Slides On Report It Is Only Now Approaching Potential LBO Investors

It looks like Elon Musk lied when he said that the “funding was secured.”

Assuring that the SEC will have its hands full, Bloomberg reports that only now are Elon Musk and his merry advisers men seeking a “wide pool” of investors to back a potential take-private of the automaker to avoid concentrating ownership among a few new large holders, according to people familiar with the matter.

Furthermore, quite contrary to even the loosest definition of “secured”, BBG adds that Tesla is holding early discussions with banks about the feasibility and structures of a possible deal, citing sources, and only now is it canvassing investors including large asset managers.

It’s not immediately clear how any of this is different from simply doing a follow on offering of public stock, one which takes out existing small shareholders, especially since Tesla would always have publicly filing (junk) debt as the core component of its capital structure, and thus instead of trading the stocks, those evil shorts would be buying CDS on the company instead.

Always a chooser and never a beggar, in addition to getting investors to allocate funds to a company that would have an idiotic pro forma leverage, Musk also hopes to retain control and “would prefer to amass a group of investors who could each contribute part of the funds because he wants to avoid having one or two large new stakeholders in the company.” Which immediately kills either SoftBank and the Saudi Sovereign Wealth Fund as potential investors. It also prompts the question: does Musk even know what going private means?

Most troubling, and where the SEC should immediate chime in, is that according to the report deliberations are only at an early stage and the company hasn’t yet formally hired a bank to work on the process or made a final decision on how to proceed.

As a reminder, since …

Spending On Interest Hits All Time High As Budget Deficit Soars To $684 Billion

The US’ spending problem is starting to become a major issue.

According to the latest Monthly Treasury Statement, in June, the US collected $225BN in tax receipts – consisting of $110BN in individual income tax, $91BN in social security and payroll tax, $4BN in corporate tax and $20BN in other taxes and duties- a drop of 2.9% from the $232BN collected last July and a reversal from the recent increasing trend…

… and in July, the 12 month trailing receipt total was barely higher compared to a year ago, up just 0.4% Y/Y after rising as much as 3.1% at the end of 2017.

Turkish Banks Plan Emergency Meeting As Erdogan Vows To Retaliate To US Sanctions

Update: Bloomberg reports that Turkish banks will hold an extraordinary meeting on Saturday with the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency, known as BDDK in Turkish, according to four people with knowledge of the matter.

The regulator requested that banks study the impact of interest and exchange-rate shocks today, and findings to be discussed on Saturday; they’ll also discuss the liquidity situation, three of the people said.

* * *

With the Lira at record lows amid its biggest single-day drop since Feb 2001’s crisis (when groups owning bank, media and holding companies jointly notoriously precipitated the domestic financial crisis by stashing away the home deposits in their offshore branches), Erdogan has made it clear that he is not backing down… for now.

First, Turkey has signaled no desite for an IMF bailout (having seen what happened to Argentina after theirs, who can blame him).

“We have received no indication from the Turkish authorities that they are contemplating a request for financial assistance,”

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