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CreditPulse is an online publication that provides in-depth coverage, analysis and perspective of credit markets, currency markets and capital markets to provide support in credit and investment decisions. CreditPulse also monitors the credit standards and performance benchmarks of a variety of industries and public companies through its proprietary Credit Standards Index (CSI).

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Rank Company Industry Revenue* Bad Debt Allow DSO Ops Cash as % of Rev Current Ratio Debts/ Assets CSI Score
1 Arena Resources Inc
Tulsa, OK
 Oil/Gas-Independent 208,859 0.0% 20.05 84.9% 4.52 0.18 1.00
2 Monolithic Power Systems Inc
Los Gatos, CA
 Semiconductor 160,511 0.0% 20.73 24.7% 5.53 0.16 1.00
3 Tessera Technologies Inc
San Jose, CA
 Semiconductor Equip 248,291 0.4% 21.65 27.6% 7.21 0.11 1.00
4 Gen-Probe Inc
San Diego, CA
 Medical Equip/Supplies 472,695 2.1% 25.79 37.7% 13.49 0.06 1.00
5 United Microelectronics
Hsinchu City, Taiwan
 Semiconductor 3,071,496 0.1% 31.62 46.7% 5.37 0.15 1.10
* in thousands
Rank Industry No. of Comp Write- Offs Int'l Sales Bad Debt Allow DSO Ops Cash as % of Rev Current Ratio Debts/ Assets CSI Score
1 Semiconductor 89 51% 70.00% 3.2% 41.56 15.0% 4.69 0.33 2.18
2 Diagnostic Substances 10 83% 15.80% 3.1% 58.23 18.0% 4.96 0.22 2.29
3 Biotechnology 17 147% 25.60% 2.4% 58.09 23.0% 4.77 0.37 2.32
4 Mining/Quarrying 28 14% 27.80% 1.4% 35.44 21.0% 1.77 0.54 2.45
5 Oil/Gas-Independent 63 27% 3.60% 2.3% 37.09 57.0% 1.20 0.56 2.46

Recent Articles

Currency Volatility Rises in 2018

April 12, 2018

Venezuela's massive devaluation and the slide in Sudan's currency set the pace for renewed volatility in global currency markets for 2018.

After months of calm, currency markets are rumbling again as the volatility rate for global currencies reached the pivotal 1.50 percent threshold in the first quarter of 2018, the highest quarterly average since the fourth quarter of 2016, according to the lastest data from the Currency Volatility Index (CVI).

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Inflation Rises to 2.4 Percent

April 11, 2018

Core inflation, the CPI less food and energy, jumped over the Fed's 2.0 percent threshold to 2.1 percent, led by an increase in motor vehicle insurance.

Consumer prices rose 2.4% in March from a year earlier, according to the Labor Department, which released its monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures earlier today.  Just as important was a rise in core inflation, overall inflation less the more volatile food and energy prices, which increased to 2.1%.

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Fed Stays on Track with Rate Increase

March 22, 2018

Fed to stay on course with rate increases even as economic and inflation projections remain modest.  "Our inflation objective is symmetric."

The U.S. Federal Reserve, the world's largest central bank, raised its short term federal funds rate by a quarter percent yesterday bringing the signature interest rate to 1 3/4%, it's highest level since 2008, the year of the crisis when it dropped from 4.25 to 0.25 (see graph below).

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Fourth Quarter U.S. GDP Disappoints at 2.6%

January 26, 2018

U.S. economy sputters in the final quarter of 2017 even as business investment and exports rise.  Consumer spending still leads the way.

U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of just 2.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2017, according to the advance estimate released by the U.S. Commerce Department earlier today, well below the 3% to 4% figures that were forecast in many outlets.

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Currency Volatility Report for 2017

January 24, 2018

The unexpected decline in the U.S. dollar had a dramatic affect on the value of many world currencies with three in particular worth noting.

The war-torn nation of Syria and four African nations -- the Congo, Liberia, Ethiopia and Nigeria -- suffered huge currency declines in 2017 accounting for a large portion of the world's currency instability even though a majority of the world's currencies actually gained in value against the U.S. dollar.

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World Currencies Less Volatile in 2017

January 17, 2018

World currencies were less volatile in 2017 as the Currency Volatility Index fell for the second straight year due to Syria and a drop in the U.S. dollar.

After three years of instability, global currency volatility settled back to a normal level in 2017 as the average volatility percentage fell to 2.78, a 9 percent drop from the 3.04 percent average the year before, according to the 2017 data from the Currency Volatility Index (CVI) of 122 currencies compiled by CreditPulse.

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Perspective

CSI Rankings

Oil & Gas Refining

34 Companies in the CSI

  1. Sasol Ltd 

    Rosebank, South Africa

    CSI Score: 2.30

  2. HollyFrontier Corp

    Dallas, TX

    CSI Score: 2.50

  3. Valero Energy Corp

    San Antonio, TX

    CSI Score: 2.50

  4. Western Refining Inc

    El Paso, TX

    CSI Score: 2.70

  5. Tesoro Corp

    San Antonio, TX

    CSI Score: 2.70

  6. Murphy Oil Company

    El Dorado, AR

    CSI Score: 2.80

  7. ExxonMobil Corp

    Irving, TX

    CSI Score: 2.80

  8. Phillips 66

    Houston, TX

    CSI Score: 2.80

  9. Marathon Oil Company

    Houston, TX

    CSI Score: 2.80

  10. China Petroleum Corp

    Beijing, China

    CSI Score: 2.80

Based on 2016 figures

Noteworthy