5 replies to this topic

[stocks]

Only when the tide goes out do you find out who has been swimming without trunks.

 

The stock market always does WHAT it's supposed to do but it doesn't do it WHEN it's supposed to do it.

 

The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.

[diogenes227]

The last time the U.S. elected a "democratic socialist" as President the shadows powers that be had to get the 22nd Amendment passed limiting Presidents to two terms because the American people kept reelecting him and reelecting him and reelecting him and along the way he pulled the country out of the Depression, rid the world of the curse of Nazism, altered the cultural and economic history of Japan, created the most powerful military since the Roman Empire, laid the basis for the most prosperous era in world history, and subsequently the greatest national wealth, and built much of the public infrastructure the me-me-me-capitalist tax-evaders have been letting crumble ever since.

 

Maybe times will change...and socialism will once again save capitalism from itself.

 

(By the way, stocks, love your shout-out type size)

 

Is that type size a joke?  Maybe.  He's long been quite the comedian. But then again probably believes all that and has found himself a rooftop so can't help but let loose - true believer syndrome.  

[stocks]

The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.

 

 

Elon Musk and Solar City (SCTY) bail on Nevada

 

Ruling class politicians in both major parties, who have received financial contributions from Musk, frequently steer taxpayer dollars into green energy boondoggles that ultimately raise electricity prices. That’s a lose-lose arrangement.

 

Musk is pulling up shop in Nevada and taking his business elsewhere. SolarCity has announced that it will cut 550 jobs in the state. What’s the problem? Apparently, Nevada’s utilities commission is becoming a little less generous with the credits consumers receive for selling excess solar power to the state grid. No big deal for Musk as he has plenty of benefactors in other states. Solar is still getting a generous subsidy in Nevada; just not as much as Musk wants.

 

Without government intervention, green energy moguls like Elon Musk would need to invest and risk their own money on costly solar power projects. Without U.S. taxpayers to foot the bill for these dubious schemes, government intervention would not be possible. Musk’s departure from Nevada shows that he is only interested in building his empire on the backs of taxpayers and not the free market.

 

 

http://www.rgj.com/s...float/79766336/

[stocks]

Only when the tide goes out do you find out who has been swimming without trunks.

 

 

Oprah Loses $27 Million in Weight Watchers Stock Plunge

 

The significant drop has led some to call into question Winfrey’s ability to sway public opinion the way she once could.

 

Winfrey signed on to play a big part in Weight Watchers’ public image last October when she acquired a 10% stake in the company, joined its board and became a member herself.

 

WTW stock is currently trading almost 60% below the peak it hit in November as a result of Winfrey’s endorsement. The stock is down 50% for the year, with membership and meeting attendance slipping as well.

 

 

http://variety.com/2...nge-1201716125/

Edited by stocks, 26 February 2016 - 07:33 PM.

[stocks]

Only when the tide goes out do you find out who has been swimming without trunks.

 

 

 

LendingClub, Theranos, Breitling Energy

 

So today, LendingClub announced that loan volumes in Q2 have plummeted by about a third from the $2.75 billion it had reported in Q1. Some money managers lost their appetite for LendingClub’s loans.

 

On Friday the SEC filed a lawsuit against Chris Faulkner, CEO of fracking outfit Breitling Energy, three related companies, and seven other individuals for raising funds and then cheating investors out of $80 million, starting in 2011. 

 

Theranos, the blood-testing startup once considered one of the hottest unicorns with a $9-billion valuation that in April came into the cross hairs of the SEC, the FDA, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California, and other federal and state regulators.

 

http://wolfstreet.co...eitling-energy/

[stocks]

Only when the tide goes out do you find out who has been swimming without trunks.

 

 

 

Macy’s: 4,350 job cuts, plus. In early 2016, it announced about 3,000 cuts at its 770 stores, plus 1,350 back-office employees and customer service reps. Execs don’t get laid off. But 165 got buyout packages. This does not include the jobs that will disappear when it shutters 100 stores in early 2017, after having shuttered 41 stores last year. Macy’s, with its 157,900 employees, is getting clobbered by online retailers, and it’s seriously shrinking [Profits Plunge, Sales Drop at Macy’s. Slashes Jobs, Closes Stores. Stock Jumps 18%].

Hancock Fabrics: 4,500 job cuts. A brick-and-mortar casualty. It first filed for bankruptcy reorganization in 2007 and emerged in 2008. In February this year, it filed again. But this time, reorganization failed. It is now liquidating its 250 stores, and everyone goes.

Microsoft: 4,700 job cuts. Having botched its entry into mobile, and being stuck in the middle of the downward spiral of the PC ecosystem, it has been trying to get into the “cloud” business, like everyone else. To restructure, it has been on a veritable layoff binge over the past couple of years. With its 114,000 employees, there’s still some room left [some thought on its genius… After Losing $11 Billion on $9.4-billion Nokia Buy & Axing 27,650 Jobs, Microsoft Dumps Consumer Smartphones].

 

Cisco: 5,500 job cuts. Old tech, yes, but outside the PC ecosystem. Its router business is beset with competition from China. So it too wants to get into the “cloud.” On Tuesday, with its stock trading at a nine-year high, it leaked that it would let go up to 14,000 workers, or nearly 20% of its workforce. On Wednesday, as part of its earnings report, it announced that it would lay off only 5,500. Suspicions immediately arose that the leak was undertaken to butter up the markets and keep the damage to a minimum.

National Oilwell Varco: 6,000 job cuts. After having already axed 13,445 employees in 2015, the oilfield services and equipment provider with about 50,000 employees will also close 200 facilities.

DuPont Pioneer: 6,000 job cuts, plus. This product of a merger between DuPont and Dow Chemical is now looking for the promised synergies and efficiencies. The initial step is for DuPont to cut $700 million in annual costs and 6,000 employees. DuPont has been shrinking its headcount for years. Back in 2011, it employed 61,600. At the end of 2015, it was down to 52,000. More job cuts are on the way to live up to the promise of a further $3 billion in savings.

Weatherford International: 8,000 job cuts. The oil field services company with 39,500 employees hopes to save $446 million per year.

Bank of America: 8,000 job cuts, plus. Another well-greased layoff machine. Last year it shoved 10,000 people out the door. With 213,000 employees, it too has some room left to please the analysts. Since the Financial Crisis, it shrank its consumer division by 32% to 68,400 employees as of Q1 this year. It said in June that the number of employees in this division will drop “to the low 60s” soon. So more layoff announcements this year.

Seagate Technology: 8,100 job cuts. With revenues in free fall, the disk drive maker with 45,500 employees is restructuring, again, to diversify its products and get the heck out of the downward spiral of the PC ecosystem. It’s trying to get into – you guessed it – the “cloud.” So a year ago, it bought cloud storage company Dot Hill Systems.

Schlumberger: 10,000 job cuts. The oilfield services company had already cut 24,000 jobs since late 2014, but it wasn’t enough, and in January, with 95,000 people still on its payroll, and $1 billion in red ink, it announced another 10,000 layoffs, along with a good swig of financial engineering to make the results go down better.

Intel: 12,000 job cuts. With part of its business positioned at the center of the PC ecosystem’s downward spiral, it announced that it would slash its workforce by 11%. Yup, with its 107,300 employees, it too is seeking salvation in the “cloud.”

Halliburton: 15,200 job cuts. Back in late 2014, the oil-and-gas services company employed about 80,000 folks. A year later, it was down to 65,000. This year’s cuts will take its headcount down to around 50,000. Over the period of the oil bust, it has axed 38% of its workforce. I’m practically expecting an announcement that it too would seek salvation in the “cloud.”

And the winner – Wal-Mart Stores: 17,500 job cuts. OK, given its 2.3 million employees, those cuts don’t weigh as heavily as some of the other layoff queens. It will also close 260 stores, of which 154 in the US, mostly Walmart Express stores, and 115 stores in other countries – as I said at the time, “rubbing salt into the deepening brick-and-mortar retail wounds.”

 

What stands out among these announcements? They’re company or industry specific: oil-and-gas, brick-and-mortar retail, and tech – all three of them deeply troubled. Well, OK, a bank too. Smaller companies in these and other sectors often lay their workers off quietly, and unless you’re working there, or know some who is, you’ll never hear about it.

 

http://wolfstreet.co...uncements-2016/