Tired of waiting: Halcon Resources Corp. almost ran into trouble with its banks in June 2013. And again in March 2014. And in February 2015. As Bloomberg reports, each time, the shale driller came close to violating debt limits set by its lenders, endangering a credit line that provided as much as $1.05 billion in much-needed cash. And each time, Halcon’s banks, led by JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co., loosened their restrictions, allowing Halcon to keep borrowing. But that kind of patience may be coming to an end. Bank regulators have issued warnings on the risks involved in lending to U.S. drillers, threatening a cash crunch in an industry that’s more dependent than ever on other people’s money. Wall Street has been one of the biggest allies of the shale revolution, bankrolling thousands of wells from Texas to North Dakota. The question is how that will change with oil prices down by half since last year to about $50 a barrel. Read the full story.
The lesson plan: Parents used more of their earnings and savings to pay for college this year, instead of borrowing the money, according to a new study by Sallie Mae. As The Washington Post reports, the student lender surveyed 800 families and found they spent an average of $24,164 on tuition, books, room and board for the 2014-15 academic year, a 16% jump from the prior year and the most significant increase since 2010. Parents’ out-of-pocket contributions accounted for 32% of the total funding used to pay for college, surpassing scholarships and grants for the first time in five years, according to the survey. The findings are striking considering that tuition has risen faster than the rate of inflation and wages have not kept pace with the cost of college. But the resurgence of the job and housing markets has given families more confidence in the economy and their ability to pay for college, says Marie O’Malley, senior director of consumer research at Sallie Mae. Read the full story.
Motor city: Automakers and researchers say a new simulated city at the University of Michigan could help speed the development of driverless and connected cars. The 32-acre site on the university’s campus officially opened Monday. The $10 million testing ground will be run by the Mobility Transformation Center, a partnership between the university, state and federal governments and auto and technology companies. The site has many familiar features of urban driving, including intersections, a railroad crossing, two roundabouts, brick and gravel roads and parking spaces. Moveable building facades and fake pedestrians can be altered for different kinds of tests. There’s a simulated highway entrance ramp. Two features—a metal bridge and a tunnel—will be a special challenge for wireless signals and radar sensors. Automakers, high-tech companies and university researchers will test car-to-car communication systems, which could one day predict accidents and stop cars before a mishap. They’ll also be testing semi-autonomous and driverless vehicles at the site. The Associated Press has the full story.
