50,000 people is a lot of people.  That's 50,000 on top of 20,000 layoffs.

Citigroup (C) has cut off approximately 30% of its workforce now amid the economic crisis as cost cutting continues.  The danger of all of it is that this is happening in the crucial holiday period, one week before Thanksgiving.  And it's on top of 5% to 10% cuts byJ.P. Morgan Chase & Co, Hewlett Packard (HPQ) Co., Goldman Sachs Group (GS), Whirlpool, Sun Microsystems (JAVA) and Yahoo (YHOO).

As everybody tightens their belt, layoffs are real problems for real people.  In some cases it can be a tragedy.  Meanwhile, the mainstream media looks for the greedy people who caused it.  I think they are not looking hard enough.  If they were, they would still be studying the reasons that the first dominoes fell.  Was Bear Stearns really dead or was it killed by traders on the attack.  Is the market efficient and fair or were their ways for short term profiteers to profit on a company market cap massacre.

Many professional investors know the answer.  But does the rest of the market know the story?  And will the Securities and Exchange Commission do anything about what has happened?  The latest headline is, "Mark Cuban charged with Insider Trading."  The answer is probably no.  And the financial press wonders why there is no confidence in Wall Street.