This was not a one-off. In March this year GE provided almost $200 million to Steve and Barry's.
That loan is already rumoured to be default - and Mish - bless him - has pointed out just how much of a Ponzi scheme Steve and Barry's turns out to be.
Mish concludes by saying:
If it seems like GE trades like a finance company, it's because GE is a finance company (masquerading as a conglomerate).In this case Mish is probably right. The two press releases (Kinney Drugs, Steve and Barry's) have the same contacts:
You got to wonder about an asset backed (which I think means stock backed) loan for $200 million which goes bad in four months.
The first question for Messers Wilson and Reynolds is what GE is going to do with $200 million of cheap apparel.
The second question: why does this business continue to exist - and who gets fired?
Mish's general assertion however - that GE is a finance company masquerading as a conglomerate is wrong. They can turn Italian crap into electricity - and no finance company can do that.
They might have a worse time though turning Steve and Barry's old rags into cash.
John