Citigroup Inc. (C) today (Monday) unveiled plans to cut more than 50,000 jobs in the “near term” and slash expenses by 20% to preserve capital as it faces a global slowdown that’s expected to push well into 2009.
Forget about the office Christmas party this year, says Bill Bonner. That’s if you are lucky enough to still have a job. Throughout the country, businesses and households are cutting costs. And this is only the beginning. Bill says the Obama government will try to take up the slack in the economy. But that will just create more debt problems in the long term.
The ‘Big Three’ automakers in Detroit are begging for a government rescue. Adam Lass says these companies are just too risky to raise capital themselves. A bailout may be coming, but shareholders won’t be saved. That’s why Adam says investors should short GM (NYSE:GM) and Ford (NYSE:F).
Wave Strength Options Weekly editor Adam Lass says Washington is lying through its teeth about the state of the US economy. It’s also cooking the books on unemployment and GDP figures.
Crude oil prices spiked $10 today to reach a new record above $139, as disappointing US unemployment data, a weak US dollar, and a comment by the Israeli transport minister that an attack by Israeli forces on Iranian nuclear sites was “unavoidable” sent prices spiraling.
A Morgan Stanley forecast of crude oil prices at $150 within the month added further support to oil’s climb.
“I can’t think of a sector more vulnerable to soaring oil prices than the airlines,” writes Andrew Gordon in Investor’s Daily Edge.
The US unemployment rate rose to 5.5% in May, the biggest jump since 1986.
The picture would be even bleaker were it not for controversial changes in statistical methodology at the US Department of Labor, says Dave Gonigam in The Daily Reckoning.
Slowly but surely, awareness is growing that government economic figures are being cooked.
Trichet talks tough! Kohn sends warnings… The currencies bounce back! Will the BLS create ghost jobs?
With consumer confidence now testing generational lows, our politicians are, nevertheless, continuously assuring us that the economy is strong and that there is no cause for worry.