Sears Holdings Corp.’s latest attempt to raise cash and stave off liquidation is hinging on a complex -- and perhaps shrewd -- maneuver to create a bidding war among derivatives traders who wagered hundreds of millions of dollars on the retailer’s failure.

As the once-iconic retail giant, shutters stores, there are important lessons for investors.

Japanese investors bought the most U.S. sovereign bonds since July 2016 in September, when the Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the third time this year, spurring an advance in the dollar and Treasury yields.

Ford Motor Co. could be close to getting junked again.

First came the sweeping government pronouncements. Then the flurry of actions, all aimed at shoring up China’s capital markets and rescuing struggling private companies.

In a month when hedge funds globally registered their biggest drop in seven years, waning Chinese demand for luxury goods helped one Asian firm beat the odds.