CLO's -- The New CDO's

Remember the CDO's that tanked the economy in 2008?  Now they're back, in a more pernicious hidden form, as Collateralized Loan Obligations.  Mortgages were somewhat visible, in that everyone could see the irrational rise in real estate prices, and witnessed episodes of unqualified borrowers walking the plank of hope.

Collaterized Loan Obligations take private commercial loans and bundle them up.  Sounds like certain bundles contain a mix of quality:

"...collateralized loan obligations...bundle such leveraged debt into higher-rated securities that are pitched to more risk-averse investors." 

What could go wrong? Meanwhile, party party party!


https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-16/a-leveraged-loan-collapses-and-reveals-key-risk-in-credit-market

4/22/23: no apparent fallout yet from the above.

Metal Recycling

I had a couple days off so I collected all the odd bits of metal I've been accumulating and took them to the metal recycler.  Items:

Some aluminum server shelves, and a big 6' section of ~2.5" copper pipe...

Some aluminum from motor casings and espresso machine mechanisms... 

Brass: espresso machine fittings, boiler shells, and a can of house keys...

Insulated wire from miscellaneous appliances...

Bare copper: some pipe fittings, and wire from motor armatures...

This is a funky place in a funky part of town.  They have huge (beat up ) bins like this for your stuff.  They mostly serve larger recyclers -- the guy ahead of me had a cart full of brass plumbing fittings.

I wish I'd thought to get more pictures of the facility -- it's a real warren old radiators, piles of conduit, wheels of cable, etc.   I have to say they were nice and accommodating and helpful for my little load of scrap. 

Provide ID, license plate number and fingerprints at the cigarette-smelling window...

Net result: $58, not bad for a 10 minute drive.  Obviously, copper is where the money is.  Stainless only got me 20 cents a pound -- surprising, considering how expensive stainless is. Any commercial kitchen contains thousands of dollars worth of stainless equipment.

Interestingly, beverage can recyclers pay about $1.30 for aluminum cans. Scrap aluminium gets you $0.25.

When I retire, I'll set up a workstation in my garage, and make a hobby out of collecting motors and stripping the wire out of the armatures.