FINANCIAL TSUNAMI IN THE MAKING

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The Oil Short Squeeze Explained: Why Banks Are Aggressively Propping Up Energy Stocks
March 8, 2016

Last week, during the peak of the commodity short squeeze, we pointed out how this default cycle is shaping up to be vastly different from previous one: recovery rates for both secured and unsecured debts are at record low levels.

More importantly, we noted how this notable variance is impacting lender behavior, explaining that banks - aware that the next leg lower in commodities is imminent - are not only forcing the squeeze in the most trashed stocks (by pulling borrow) but are doing everything in their power to "assist" energy companies to sell equity, and "persuade management" to use the proceeds to take out as much of the banks' balance sheet exposure as possible, so that when the default tsunami finally arrives, banks will be far, far, away from the carnage.

All of this was predicated on prior lender conversations with the Dallas Fed and the OCC, discussions which the Dallas Fed vocally denied and accused us of lying, yet which the WSJ confirmed, showing that it was the Dallas Fed who was lying.

This was our punchline:

[Record low] recovery rate explain what we discussed earlier, namely the desire of banks to force an equity short squeeze in energy stocks, so these distressed names are able to issue equity with which to repay secured loans to banks who are scrambling to get out of the capital structure of distressed E&P names. Or as MatlinPatterson's Michael Lipsky put it: "we always assume that secured lenders would roll into the bankruptcy become the DIP lenders, emerge from bankruptcy as the new secured debt of the company. But they don't want to be there, so you are buying the debt behind them and you could find yourself in a situation where you could lose 100% of your money."

And so, one by one the pieces of the puzzle fall into place: banks, well aware that they are facing paltry recoveries in bankruptcy on their secured exposure (and unsecured creditors looking at 10 cents on the dollar), have engineered an oil short squeeze via oil ETFs...



... to push oil prices higher, to unleash the current record equity follow-on offering spree...



... to take advantage of panicked investors some of whom are desperate to cover their shorts, and others who are just as desperate to buy the new equity issued. Those proceeds, however, will not go to organic growth or even to shore liquidity but straight to the bank to refi loan facilities and let banks, currently on the hook, leave silently by the back door. Meanwhile, the new investors have no security claims and zero liens, are at the very bottom of the capital structure, and face near certain wipe outs.

In short, once the current short squeeze is over, expect everyone to start paying far more attention to recovery rates and the true value of "fundamentals."

Going back to what Lipsky said, "the banks do not want to be there." So where do they want to be? As far away as possible from the shale carnage when it does hit.

Today, courtesy of The New York Shock Exchange, we present just the case study demonstrating how this takes place in the real world. Here the story of troubled energy company "Lower oil prices for longer" Weatherford, its secured lender JPM, the incestuous relationship between the two, and how the latter can't wait to get as far from the former as possible, in...

"Why Would JP Morgan Raise Equity For An Insolvent Company"

I am on record saying that Weatherford International is so highly-leveraged that it needs equity to stay afloat. With debt/EBITDA at 8x and $1 billion in principal payments coming due over the next year, the oilfield services giant is in dire straits. Weatherford has been in talks with JP Morgan Chase to re-negotiate its revolving credit facility -- the only thing keeping the company afloat. However, in a move that shocked the financial markets, JP Morgan led an equity offering that raised $565 million for Weatherford. Based on liquidation value Weatherford is insolvent. The question remains, why would JP Morgan risk its reputation by selling shares in an insolvent company?

According to the prospectus, at Q4 2015 Weatherford had cash of $467 million debt of $7.5 billion. It debt was broken down as follows: revolving credit facility ($967 million), [ii] other short-term loans ($214 million), [iii] current portion of long-term debt of $401 million and [iv] long-term debt of $5.9 billion. JP Morgan is head of a banking syndicate that has the revolving credit facility.

Even in an optimistic scenario I estimate Weatherford's liquidation value is about $6.7 billion less than its stated book value. The lion's share of the mark-downs are related to inventory ($1.1B), PP&E ($1.9B), intangibles and non-current assets ($3.5B). The write-offs would reduce Weatherford's stated book value of $4.4 billion to - $2.2 billion. After the equity offering the liquidation value would rise to -$1.6 billion.



JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley also happen to be lead underwriters on the equity offering. The proceeds from the offering are expected to be used to repay the revolving credit facility.

In effect, JP Morgan is raising equity in a company with questionable prospects and using the funds to repay debt the company owes JP Morgan. The arrangement allows JP Morgan to get its money out prior to lenders subordinated to it get their $401 million payment. That's smart in a way. What's the point of having a priority position if you can't use that leverage to get cashed out first before the ship sinks? The rub is that it might represent a conflict of interest and [ii] would JP Morgan think it would be a good idea to hawk shares in an insolvent company if said insolvent company didn't owe JP Morgan money?

The answer? JP Morgan doesn't care how it looks; JP Morgan wants out and is happy to do it while algos and momentum chasing daytraders are bidding up the stock because this time oil has finally bottomed... we promise.

So here's the good news: as a result of this coordinated lender collusion to prop up the energy sector long enough for the affected companies to sell equity and repay secured debt, the squeeze may last a while; as for the bad news: the only reason the squeeze is taking place is because banks are looking to get as far from the shale patch and the companies on it, as possible.

We leave it up to readers to decide which "news" is more relevant to their investing strategy.