Markets & Finance

Mexican polyethylene producer Braskem Idesa filed a prepackaged Chapter 11 in Texas on August 17, 2026, with backing from a substantial majority of noteholders and its term-loan lender. The plan would reduce total senior debt from roughly $2.5 billion to $1.6 billion, with parent Braskem S.A. contributing $476 million and retaining a majority stake post-emergence. Operations are reported as continuing without interruption, though DIP financing terms and individual creditor-class treatment have not been publicly confirmed.

The SEC alleges Andrew Spaventa and three affiliated entities used more than 100 cold-calling sales agents to raise funds from over 800 retail investors, many of them retirees, while charging undisclosed markups averaging 46% above acquisition prices rather than the 12.5% fee cap investors were told applied. The complaint, filed August 14 in the Southern District of New York, seeks permanent injunctions, disgorgement, and a bar prohibiting Spaventa from working in the securities industry. No defendant response or judicial ruling has been located in publicly accessible docket records as of August 19.

TPG signed a share-purchase agreement on 11 August 2026 to acquire 61.17% of Lotte Rental, South Korea's largest car-rental company, at KRW59,000 per share from Hotel Lotte and Lotte Hotel Busan, with closing contingent on Korea Fair Trade Commission approval. The deal follows the KFTC's January 2026 prohibition of a structurally different bid by Affinity Equity Partners, which was blocked because Affinity already controlled rival SK Rent-a-Car; TPG holds no comparable competing asset. Secondary reporting indicates TPG plans an all-equity purchase and intends to reposition Lotte Rental toward B2B fleet management, though no official TPG release confirming those plans has been located.

Keysight Technologies posted Q3 FY2026 revenue of $1.85 billion, up from $1.35 billion a year earlier, with non-GAAP EPS of $3.07 compared to $1.72 in the prior-year quarter. Orders reached $2.091 billion, the second consecutive record quarter above $2 billion, driven by AI-related testing demand across GPUs, CPUs, and high-speed connections. The company guided Q4 revenue to $1.930–$1.950 billion, well above previously circulated estimates of $1.73–$1.75 billion, though management noted supply chain constraints rather than demand will govern near-term revenue conversion.

NuScale, Nano Nuclear, and Oklo shed a combined $30.3 billion in market value from their October peak, with short sellers estimated by S3 Partners to have captured $2.1 billion in gains over the past year. All three companies reported minimal or no material revenue in their most recent filings, and Oklo has yet to receive a construction or operating license from the NRC. Shares-on-loan figures used as short-selling proxies ranged from 18% for NuScale and Oklo to nearly 30% for Nano Nuclear, though official FINRA issue-level short-interest data for these stocks were not yet published as of August 19, 2026.