While many analysts suggest we are at, or are nearing, a bottom, here at SHTF we believe the bottom is nowhere in sight.
Retailers continue to get hammered by lowered consumer spending, resulting in a steady stream of seemingly never-ending job losses. And as more jobs get vaporized, there are fewer consumers left to keep spending. This negative feedback loop will continue for months, perhaps years.
Contrary to popular belief spewed by our mainstream media, we are just in the opening stages of this mess. The body count will go higher, more retailers will go bankrupt. This will inevitably lead to a meltdown in the commercial real estate sector, namely traditional mall and strip mall operators.
The latest counts from the Wall Street Journal:
| Company name | Date of announcement | Number of jobs cut | Percent of work force |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft | 01/22/2009 | 5,000 | 5% |
| Huntsman | 01/22/2009 | 1,175 | 9% |
| Intel | 01/21/2009 | 6,000*** | 7% |
| UAL | 01/21/2009 | 1,000 | 2% |
| Eaton | 01/20/2009 | 5,200 | 6% |
| Bose | 01/20/2009 | 1,000 | 10% |
| Rohm & Haas | 01/20/2009 | 900 | 5.7% |
| Clear Channel | 01/20/2009 | 1,850 | 9% |
| ConocoPhillips | 01/16/2009 | 1,300 | 4% |
| Circuit City | 01/16/2009 | 30,000 | 100%* |
| Pfizer | 01/16/2009 | 3,200** | 3% |
| AMD | 01/16/2009 | 1,100 | 9% |
| Hertz Global Holdings | 01/16/2009 | 4,000 | 13% |
| Wellpoint | 01/16/2009 | 1,500 | 3.6% |
| Saks | 01/15/2009 | 1,100 | 9% |
| MeadWestvaco | 01/15/2009 | 2,000 | 10% |
| Autodesk | 01/15/2009 | 750 | 10% |
| Motorola | 01/14/2009 | 4,000 | 6% |
| Barclays | 01/14/2009 | 2,100 | 1.3% |
| Neiman Marcus | 01/13/2009 | 375 | 3% |
| Cummins | 01/13/2009 | 800 | 2% |
| Seagate Technology | 01/12/2009 | 800 | 10% |
| Cessna | 01/12/2009 | 2,000 | N/A |
| Boeing | 01/09/2009 | 4,500 | 7% (of commercial-airplane staff) |
| Walgreen | 01/08/2009 | 1,000 | 9% |
| Lenovo Group | 01/08/2009 | 2,500 | 11% |
| EMC | 01/07/2009 | 2,400 | 7% |
| Logitech International | 01/06/2009 | 500 | 5% |
| Alcoa | 01/06/2009 | 15,000 | 14.5% |
| Cigna | 01/05/2009 | 1,100 | 4% |
*Company in liquidation
**Includes announcements of 2,400 cuts on Jan. 16 and 800 layoffs on Jan. 13.
***Number of employees affected by plant closures, not all will lose jobs
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