Yahoo Finance The Final Chapter of Chesapeake Energy Story?
Monday, June 29, 2020
Ahead of the initial opening bell to start this holiday-shortened week — Friday, July 3rd, will be in observance of Independence Day — we have no new economic reports released. This will change dramatically as the week progresses, from Case-Shiller home prices and Consumer Prices tomorrow to ADP private-sector jobs and ISM Manufacturing and Services Wednesday to Initial Jobless Claims and a new Employment Situation report Friday.
Market futures are up this morning, following a sell-off day Friday on the increase in COVID-19 cases in the U.S. These numbers continue to get worse, as overall cases have hit a new 7-day average high in the U.S., with more than 40K cases reported Sunday and upwards of 50K expected sometime during this week. California, Texas and Florida have now reversed their reopening objectives as cases in those states begin to spiral out of control.
Drug maker Gilead GILD, which is creating the leading treatment for COVID-19 still being studied in phased testing, has announced its pricing for its treatment remdesivir when it comes to market: $520 per dose for private insurance, $390 for government and other developed countries. This news says nothing about when we might expect to obtain a dose of remdesivir, but these price points are roughly in-line with what analysts had been projecting.
This announcement comes a day after Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar declared that President Trump has secured half a million courses of remdesivir. Now we can calculate how much this initial buy will cost.
Chesapeake Energy (CHK) Files for Chapter 11
Finding difficulties in dealing with its now $10 billion in debt, fracking pioneer Chesapeake Energy CHK has announced it is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The Oklahoma City, OK-based company — whose founder and CEO Aubrey McClendon was instrumental in bringing the Seattle Supersonics NBA franchise to OK City, which founded the Thunder — was founded in 1989 and taken public in 1993.
Chesapeake was largely considered at the forefront of the at-the-time unconventional hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) industry, which used immense pressure underground to unlock massive natural gas reserves. The company’s stock hits its apex in late June 2008, when its share price skyrocketed to $12,818 amid all-time high worldwide energy prices.
In the spring of 2016, one day after he had been indicted by a grand jury for rigging bids for oil and gas leases, McClendon died in a single-car crash in OK City. Since that time, Chesapeake has been on a slow but persistent drift downward. Its share price, now at $11.85, is down 97% over the past year. For more on this story, click here.
Mark Vickery
Senior Editor
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