Misfire: America’s oldest gun manufacturer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, USA Today reports, citing court papers filed in Delaware late Sunday. The move by Remington Arms Co. and its parent, Remington Outdoors, comes amid slumping sales at the firm founded more than 200 years ago. Based in North Carolina, the company is majority-owned by Cerberus Capital Management, a private-equity group that intends to sell off the gun maker’s assets once the bankruptcy process is complete. Remington will continue to operate while it pursues Chapter 11 protection, an action that allows ailing companies time to come up with a reorganization plan to stay afloat, and to pay off company creditors. Read the full story.
By the numbers: Refinancings make up a smaller portion of the mortgage business than at any time in the past two decades, The Wall Street Journal reports, posing a challenge for lenders who already fear higher interest rates and climbing house prices could eventually depress purchase activity. Last year, 37% of mortgage-origination volume was because of refinancings, according to industry research group Inside Mortgage Finance. That is the smallest proportion since 1995, and the number of refinancings is widely expected to shrink again this year. In 2012, refinancings were 72% of originations. Read the full story (subscription may be required).
Between the lines: The U.S. Supreme Court has already heard a major case about political line-drawing that has the potential to reshape American politics. Now, before even deciding that one, The Associated Press reports the court is taking up another similar case. The arguments justices will hear Wednesday in the second case, a Republican challenge to a Democratic-leaning congressional district in Maryland, could offer fresh clues to what they are thinking about partisan gerrymandering, an increasingly hot topic before courts. Decisions in the Maryland case and the earlier one from Wisconsin are expected by late June. Read the full story.
