50,000 people is a lot of people. That's 50,000 on top of
20,000 layoffs.
Citigroup 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
Co., Goldman Sachs Group, Whirlpool, Sun Microsystems and
Yahoo.
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.