Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Filings Increase 42%

 by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times,

There were 644 commercial Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings in April 2026, a 42 percent yearly increase, according to a May 6 statement from the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI).

A Chapter 11 bankruptcy seeks to reorganize a company’s debts, with the aim of keeping the business operational and, eventually, becoming solvent. This is the most common type of bankruptcy filing made by businesses.

Within the 644 commercial Chapter 11 filings last month, 301 were made by small businesses, up 46 percent year over year, ABI said.

Overall commercial filings, including Chapter 11 and other types of bankruptcies, rose 21 percent during this period to 3,060 filings this April.

Chapter 12 filings, which concern family farms and fisheries, surged 130 percent to 62 in April 2026, the highest monthly total since February 2020, according to the institute.

“Rising inflation, higher borrowing costs, and geopolitical uncertainty are intensifying the financial strain on families and businesses,” ABI Executive Director Amy Quackenboss said.

ABI “appreciates the momentum building in Congress to permanently expand access” for distressed small businesses looking to file bankruptcies for restructuring under Chapter 11, she said, referring to the Bankruptcy Threshold Adjustment Act of 2026.

The Act, introduced in March, seeks to permanently raise the small-business Chapter 11 bankruptcy debt threshold to $7.5 million, according to a March 5 statement from Rep. Ben Cline’s (R-Va.) office. The threshold is the maximum debt limit a small business owner can have while applying for such bankruptcy.

The higher limit will allow more small businesses to access a “faster, more cost-effective bankruptcy process” while they negotiate with creditors.

“The Bankruptcy Threshold Adjustment Act will give small businesses the certainty they need to reorganize, restructure, and keep operating when challenges arise,” Cline said.

“By permanently raising the eligibility threshold, we’re ensuring more job creators can access a streamlined and affordable bankruptcy process that helps them stay open, protect paychecks, and meet their obligations. Just as importantly, this bipartisan bill maintains the integrity of our bankruptcy system by keeping it self-supporting and fair for all who rely on it.”

Economic Indicators

While bankruptcy numbers are increasing, other economic indicators, such as employment and business sector activity, are giving mixed to positive signals.

For instance, the initial unemployment weekly claims for the week ending May 2 stood at 200,000. While this was an increase of 10,000 claims compared to the previous week, the four-week moving average of the claims fell by 4,500 during this period.

In a May 7 statement, the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) said that its April jobs report indicates “softening” in the employment market.

The organization’s Small Business Employment Index declined for the second straight month in April. However, “even in a month with a weaker Employment Index, over half of small business owners reported hiring or trying to hire,” NFIB chief economist Bill Dunkelberg said.

Regarding business activity in the United States, five of seven sectors tracked by S&P Global registered higher activity in April than the previous month, according to a May 5 statement from the company.

In April, the health care, consumer goods, industrials, basic materials, and consumer services sectors grew month over month, while technology and financial sectors posted declines. Health care and consumer goods were the two top-performing sectors.

“The latest increase in Consumer Goods production was the steepest since April 2022,” S&P said. “This partly reflected advanced purchasing and customer stock building in response to expected price hikes, as the rate of new order growth surged to its highest since August 2021.”

As for the country’s overall economic growth, the first quarter 2026 U.S. GDP growth was 2 percent, up from 0.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2025, according to an April 30 estimate by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

In late April, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said that U.S. growth was “really solid” across the economy.

“Some of that is that consumer spending is hanging in pretty well; the most recent data are good. And some of it is just the apparently insatiable demand for data centers all over the United States,” Powell said.

https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/chapter-11-bankruptcy-filings-increase-42

Another Wall Street Giant Plotting Escape From Mamdani's NYC

 It looks like Citadel isn’t the only Wall Street giant looking for the exits as New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) continues his commie Robinhood thing on the city’s richest.

Fox Business Network’s Charles Gasparino reported Wednesday that the Manhattan-headquartered private equity giant Apollo is preparing to establish what insiders describe as a “second headquarters” in either Florida or Texas. A formal announcement on the location is expected within weeks.

The move would build on Apollo’s earlier internal memo to employees signaling plans for significant future growth outside its longtime New York base, amid a broader migration of financial firms toward business-friendly states in the South.

Gasparino reports:

The new outpost could eventually become home to as many as 1,000 employees over time – in line with Apollo’s current headcount in New York, the sources said. The buyout firm currently employs more than 6,000 worldwide.

Apollo paid a whopping $1.276 billion in income taxes in 2025, up from $1.062 billion the year before. While filings don’t break down how much of that went to the Big Apple, the city stands to lose a hefty revenue stream as the firm looks to expand elsewhere.

Apollo – headed by billionaire CEO Marc Rowan – is currently scouting out space in Miami and in Palm Beach, where Apollo already has a small presence, according to the sources. In Texas, office space in Austin is also under consideration, the insiders said.

News of Apollo’s plans come after billionaire Citadel CEO Ken Griffin said Mamdani’s push for higher taxes on second homes has reinforced his firm's commitment to Miami - and even led the firm to scale up its planned headquarters there.

During a Tuesday interview at the Milken Institute Global Conference, Griffin confirmed that Citadel decided to enlarge its Miami office project after Mamdani publicly referenced his $238 million Central Park South penthouse while promoting a new pied-à-terre tax proposal.

“We went to Miami and revised our building plan to make it a bigger office building,” the high-profile investor said. “What the mayor of New York has made clear to my partners, and principally my New York partners, is that we need to double down on our bet in Miami.”

Griffin also said he watched Mamdani’s video three times, branding it “creepy and weird.”

The Citadel boss added that the situation brought back memories of his departure from Chicago, where he previously criticized local leadership before moving Citadel and Citadel Securities to Florida.

“Looking at what Mamdani did to me and more broadly is doing to the city of New York is triggering the trauma I went through in Chicago,” he explained.

Griffin’s announcement is part of “a troubling pattern taking shape” in the Big Apple, according to Steve Fulop, who leads the pro-business lobby organization. Partnership for New York City.

“The solution is that the administration needs to have a real pro-business agenda that has support of the broader business corporate community,” Fulop told Gasparino. “We haven’t seen this yet and there is a sense of urgency to getting this going. It is a competitive landscape and without a strategy companies will look to more friendly places.”

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/another-wall-street-giant-plotting-its-escape-mamdanis-new-york-city-report

Amphastar falls after flat revenue

 

Amphastar Q1 EPS falls 43% on flat $171.2M revenue, misses estimates, cuts BAQSIMI outlook but keeps 2026 growth guidance

• Q1 2026 non-GAAP EPS was $0.42 (-43% YoY) with net income $6.4M on $171.2M revenue (+0% YoY), missing estimates.
• Gross margin compressed to 71% of revenue from mix shift, BAQSIMI pricing and higher costs, contributing to EPS decline.
• BAQSIMI units grew 8% YoY, but revenue declined 15% on higher rebates and 340B discounts.
• Management cut BAQSIMI 2026 outlook to flat or low-single-digit growth, citing ongoing pricing pressure.
• Overall 2026 sales unit growth guidance maintained at mid-to-high single digits despite BAQSIMI reset.
• New ipratropium bromide (AMP-007) launch, currently sole generic, expected to be 2026’s largest growth driver.
• Primatene MIST demand solid with store-level sales up 6.5% YoY, with no visibility yet on generics.
• Glucagon injection sales fell 56% YoY, with further declines expected but at a slower pace.
• Late-stage insulin aspart biosimilar and GLP-1 ANDA remain targeted for 2027 commercialization.
• Investor focus remains on BAQSIMI economics, AMP-007 ramp, and regulatory paths for key pipeline assets.
• Main concern is sustainability of BAQSIMI profitability amid rebate and 340B pressures and broader pricing headwinds.
• Quarter was mixed, with BAQSIMI pricing headwinds offset by new product launches and a resilient base portfolio.
• Company filed its Q1 2026 report with the SEC today, disclosing updated financial details.

https://finviz.com/quote?t=AMPH&p=d

Traws potential clinical candidates for treatment, prevention of hantavirus uses existing antiviral assets

 Traws Pharma to rapidly advance potential clinical candidates for treatment and prevention of hantavirus infections using existing antiviral assets

https://finviz.com/quote?t=TRAW&p=d

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/virginia-supreme-court-blocks-democrats-voter-approved-congressional-map-midterms

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/ukrainian-drone-strike-paralyzes-airports-across-all-southern-russia

Doctor vacationing on hantavirus cruise forced to treat patients after ship’s medic sickened

 A doctor traveling as a passenger on the MV Hondius cruise ship has revealed how he stepped in to treat hantavirus patients after the ship’s medic was one of those sickened by the outbreak that has killed at least three people.

“I sort of fell into the role of becoming the ship doctor,” Stephen Kornfeld told CNN Thursday of his unexpected work role after the cruise ship’s primary doctor was sickened.

“I knew one of the passengers was getting ill. This is at the end of April, and I just reached out if I could assist the doc, make sure he felt he had adequate coverage,” he said of his initial offer of help, before they knew they were dealing with a spreading, deadly virus.

Avid bird watcher Dr. Stephen Kornfeld was on the Hondius as a guest but was forced to intervene when the ship’s chief medic fell sick.Dr. Stephen Kornfeld

“And I was told the doctor was also sick. So over 12 to 24 hours, it became clear that there were a number of people sick and that they were getting sicker.”

Kornfeld, an oncologist in Bend, Oregon, said three people started to get ill around the same time — but didn’t realize their illnesses were hantavirus until last week, weeks after the first death on April 11, which at the time was assumed to be natural causes.

“Early on, we didn’t know it was hantavirus until May 2, May 3,” he said.

A Dutchman, 70, died on board the ship on April 11 and his wife, 69, died two weeks later after leaving the cruise and trying to fly out of South Africa.

Before the widow left, she showed “a lot of confusion, a lot of weakness,” but her symptoms were “non-specific,” Kornfeld said.

The unidentified ship’s doctor suffered from a “lot of fever, fatigue, and flushing” before he was removed and taken to intensive care in Johannesburg, according to Kornfeld.

“At the time, neither one of them looked critically ill. But the fear with hantavirus is you can go from seriously ill to critically ill very quickly,” he said.

Medics from a small boat seen boarding the MV Hondius.Kasem Ibn Hattuta via REUTERS

Kornfeld, an avid bird watcher, told KTVZ-TV he masked up and worked 18 hours a day with limited resources as he treated sick passengers – when he should’ve been enjoying the excursion.

He noted how the ability to treat critically ill patients on the MV Hondius was “non-existent.”

“You kind of get into that doctor work mode,” he said. “You’re just trying to do the best you can in the circumstances with somewhat limited resources on a cruise. 

“I was able to find some better protective gear. I showered a lot. I washed my clothes a lot. I felt vulnerable, but I didn’t feel super vulnerable.” 

Kornfeld is one of 17 Americans on board the ship — and his representative, Janelle Bynum (D-Or.), has claimed passengers have “not received any guidance on returning home safely or disembarking the ship.”

“The seventeen Americans on board, including my constituent, are being abandoned by their government,” she claimed on X.  “They have no guidance and no support to ensure their safe return home.”

The ship is currently en route to the Canary Islands, where it is due to dock Saturday.

Meanwhile, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has classified the hantavirus outbreak as a “Level 3” threat and activated its emergency operations centers, sources told ABC News Thursday.

The designation is the lowest level of emergency activation, signifying that the risk to the general public remains low — in line with information given by the World Health Organization.

The CDC is actively monitoring the situation, including by activating the emergency centers. It means that epidemiologists, scientists, and physicians may be reassigned to monitor and assist with the disease response.

https://nypost.com/2026/05/08/world-news/doctor-vacationing-on-hantavirus-cruise-forced-to-treat-patients-after-ships-medic-sickened/