Not All Is Going Well In The Solar Patch -- August 7, 2017; New Tesla Bonds? Junk Rated

Updates

August 12, 2017: apparently Tesla's JUNK bonds went at $1.8 billion for 5.3%. 

August 11, 2017: Tesla's JUNK bonds are over-subscribed; will pay 5.25%.

Original Post

Junk: Phil LeBeau, the #2 cheerleader (after Musk Melon) for Tesla was just on CNBC announcing the $1.5 billion bond Tesla offering. The bonds have received a JUNK rating. I could have missed it, but I don't think Phil LeBeau mentioned these bonds have a JUNK rating. Link here.

Following the announcement, Standard & Poor's reaffirmed its negative outlook for the automaker and assigned a "B-" rating for the bond issue - deep into junk credit territory. S&P also maintained its "B-" long-term corporate credit rating on Tesla.

Now, back to the solar patch story.

Now that President Obama is no longer in office, it appears that the mainstream media is feeling a bit more comfortable reporting stories suggesting not all is going well in the solar patch.

From the StarTribune (Minneapolis/St Paul):

• Sunvia: a Georgia solar-panel and solar-cell maker, filed for bankruptcy in April, 2017; Sunvia is majority-owed by a company in Hong Kong
• SolarWorld: Oregon, joined the suit; SolarWorld is a German company
• Ten K Solar: Minnesota's only solar-panel maker of any size; Bloomington; announced in May, 2017, it was getting out of the solar-panel business
• Heliene: based in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario; was left "out in the cold" (perhaps better said, left in the dark) when Silicon Energy, which manufactured panels for Heliene closed down

Meanwhile, St Louis Post-Dispatch reports that St Louis area companies are reeling from the bankruptcy filing of Sunvia.

I've always felt the solar panels being sold for residential rooftops reminded me of the aluminum siding craze in Williston, ND, when I was growing up there in the 50's and 60's.

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Note For The Granddaughters

Over the weekend I read a note suggesting that for three-year-olds, the "great room" in Goodnight Moon was particularly superb. I forget where I read that; perhaps in the "Review" section of The Wall Street Journal, but most likely somewhere else. Having toddlers name everything they see in the "great room" is quite compelling.

Today, coincidentally, I get this daily update from TutorTime where Sophia attends "school" and loves it:

Goodnight Moon, Margaret Wise Brown