S&P 500
7,226.20
+0.01%
Dow Jones
49,494.60
-0.62%
Nasdaq 100
27,685.40
+0.66%
Russell 2000
2,804.78
-0.02%
FTSE 100
10,364.50
0.00%
Nikkei 225
59,260.50
-0.78%

Economy

The Return Of The Lay-Off Economy (GM)(S)(C)

Photo of Douglas A. McIntyre
By Douglas A. McIntyre Published
Follow 24/7 Wall St. on Google
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.

The worst part of the recession cycle is beginning. News from several big sectors like retail, housing, and automotive has already turned bad.

In the last two days, Sprint (S) and GM (GM) have said that they plan to cut thousands of jobs. Citigroup (C) will take out thousands more. Other financial services firms are likely to announce significant lay-offs between now and the end of the month.

Even the tech sector may get "down-sized". Nokia (NOK) has fired 2,300 people in Europe this week. Struggling companies like AMD (AMD), Nortel (NT), and Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) may take out another slice.

When the market looks back at the first quarter of 2008 it may see a surfeit of dismissals. Companies often cut more than they absolutely have to so that they don’t need to go at it again in another quarter.

The Fed has a chance to head some of this off. A rate cut of half a percent won’t do it. Three-quarters might save tens of thousands of jobs. Corporations need a reason to believe that the downturn will be relatively brief. A quarter or two of poor results may be OK. A year of losses will not be.

It would not be shocking if the 1,000 largest companies in the US drop 500,000 people this quarter. The Fed might save some of those jobs.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Photo of Douglas A. McIntyre
About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.

Continue Reading

Jon C. Ogg |

How Did the U.S. Postal Service Actually Add 4,500 Jobs in February?

courtesy of USPSThere are always some interesting factoids in various industries and sectors in each monthly breakdown of the Employment…
Douglas A. McIntyre |

The Auto Industry Restructuring Global Tour Moves To Europe

The restructuring of the American car business is still a work in progress. Chrysler laid people off as late as…
33% of Americans Think They Need $1.5 Million+ to Retire, Yet 33% Have Under $50K Saved
David Beren |

33% of Americans Think They Need $1.5 Million+ to Retire, Yet 33% Have Under $50K Saved

One of the unfortunate truths about America today is that there is a major disconnect between the amount of money…
Douglas A. McIntyre |

Recession May Save CEO’s In Trouble (AMD, ALU, C, SYMC)

Recessions are no good, no fun, and we are for all practical purposes in one.  The government numbers just aren’t…
What Is a ‘K-Shaped’ Recovery?
Douglas A. McIntyre |

What Is a ‘K-Shaped’ Recovery?

Economists have traditionally used three letters to describe an economic recovery. A “V-shaped” one is a sharp decline in gross…
Douglas A. McIntyre |

Will US Unemployment Hit 10%? (SHLD)(NCC)(GM)

The US unemployment rate in September was 6.1%. The consensus estimates are that the numbers will rise, but there are…
I’ve been contributing to my 401(k) since my 20s — but why don’t I feel financially secure yet?
Kristin Hitchcock |

I’ve been contributing to my 401(k) since my 20s — but why don’t I feel financially secure yet?

This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through…
We’re a couple in our 50s spending $180k year – is our retirement nest egg big enough to stop working?
Maurie Backman |

We’re a couple in our 50s spending $180k year – is our retirement nest egg big enough to stop working?

A lot of people dive into early retirement because they get tired of working or burn out. So I was…
Suze Orman Has A Warning About Amazon Shopping
Andrew Dupont |

Suze Orman Has A Warning About Amazon Shopping

One of the best and worst parts about living in the age of technology is the ability to online shop.…

Top Gaining Stocks

Cboe Global Markets
CBOE • Vol: 1,568,143
New Pluto Global
PSKY • Vol: 12,285,993
Seagate Technology
STX • Vol: 7,378,346
Oracle
ORCL • Vol: 26,317,675
Datadog
DDOG • Vol: 6,247,779

Top Losing Stocks

LKQ
LKQ • Vol: 4,367,433
Clorox
CLX • Vol: 13,260,523
Stryker
SYK • Vol: 4,519,455
Mohawk Industries
MHK • Vol: 1,859,865
Amgen
AMGN • Vol: 3,818,618