Dedicated to my wonderful kids

Passionate people.

In the 2011 movie, “The Green Hornet”, actor Seth Rogan tells Kato, “You don’t need to be afraid of dying, you need to be afraid of not living”.

As active thinking creatures, our attention is captured by things like, Money and material objects or Experiences and Travel. Even some people attention is captured by other people. Passionate people take those ideations to the extreme but it always seems to come down to ‘people’, good or bad, for those that are remembered in history. As in the Rockefellers that have donated a lot of their money to benefit other people or Explorers such as Columbus, Magellan who combined experiences with exploration that benefited the world or in the case of people, there are persons such as soldiers that die a young death for their country and its people, then there are people who give up money, things and experiences for people themselves such as Mother Theresa, Dr. Livingston of Scotland who went to Africa and yes, even the most famous, Jesus Christ. Even today, Scottish bagpipes play John Newton (1799) song, “Amazing Grace” in parades and funerals. Christ is also remembered by 100’s of millions of people around the world over the centuries in worship and study about him. It seems as if the people who are remembered in history are the passionate ones, yes even Adolph Hitler on the side of evil.

One passionate person we remember is an artist by the name of Vincent Van Gogh. He was a Christian that went into the missionary field, he wanted to marry one young woman but the family did not like his situation. Finally, he started painting, one of his friends was painter Paul Gaugin.  He fell in love with a prostitute and cut off part of his ear lobe for her (now that’s passion). (Wikipedia); Following his first exhibitions in the late 1880s, Van Gogh's fame grew steadily among colleagues, art critics, dealers and collectors.^[170] After his death, memorial exhibitions were mounted in Brussels, Paris, The Hague and Antwerp. In the early 20th century, there were retrospectives in Paris (1901 and 1905), and Amsterdam (1905), and important group exhibitions in Cologne (1912), New York City (1913) and Berlin (1914).^[171] These had a noticeable impact on later generations of artists.^[172] By the mid 20th century Van Gogh was seen as one of the greatest and most recognizable painters in history.. Diagnoses that have been put forward include schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, syphilis, poisoning from swallowed paints, temporal lobe epilepsy and acute intermittent porphyria. Any of these could have been the culprit and been aggravated by malnutrition, overwork, insomnia and consumption of alcohol, especially absinthe.

Van Gogh’s passion is remembered by musician songwriter, Don Mclean in his ballad, “Starry Starry Nights”.

America 2011

We can do all the complaining we want to, but I think the patient is already DOA.. I think we have a long hard road ahead of us..
I don't think somebody we elect is going to wave a magic wand and fix this anytime soon.. Whether we elect Conservatives or Progressives, we tried that in the past, it's still going to run its course. Everybody, government and citizens, kept spending more than they really had, and wanting more and more. We just denied it and didn't want to see it. This has been a 'long time comin' ' .... I think we might see something that we have never seen before?
This is likened the fire department going to a fire and running out of water and all they can do is stand there and watch the building burn.
Years ago, we drove American cars, we wore suits made in America, we had elevator operators, we wore leather shoes that were made in shoe factories here, people lived off of shoe shine businesses, things weren't so automated, people did mundane jobs, things were made better, we had craftsmen, carpenters, plumbers, plasterers, we hung wallpaper, we made appliances in America, a great many women stayed home and raised children so men had more jobs, we read newspapers so kids delivered newspapers, cops walked beats and knew residents, we manufactured TV's and radios here, there were tube testers in thrifty's so you could fix your own TV, people went to libraries to read books and news, there were newspaper and magazine sales persons on the corner, people read magazines, women wore dresses, skirts, nylons, make-up designed and made in America now they wear sweat pants and tennis shoes made in China, people bought trailers and campers and toured the highways and parks of the United States, we drilled a lot of domestic oil and our gas prices were cheaper, people went on sunday drives and picniced, people took flying lessons (now we are loosing small airports) and bought airplanes made in America, kids played in parks and streets with sports equipment made in America (now we stay home and play with electronics made in China and Taiwan and Japan),  people went to church and tithed and went to restaraunts afterwards, people went to cocktail lounges and smoked barbqued steaks with plenty of fat on it (now people live longer and health care costs us more), cars could be fixed at gas stations so mechanics were employed at gas stations, there weren't so many divorces so people saved more, there didn't have to be so much emphasis on child support, a penny saved was a penny earned, people worked 8 hour shifts and there was talk of working less for more family time, people were friendly you could pick up hitchhikers, people joined hunting and fishing clubs and went out and hunted and fished, people got together and played canasta and bridge, married people planned their second honeymoon, Christianity and churches were common place, profanity was a no no, cracker jacks had real prizes, cars were bigger and more safe, things weren't all made out of plastic it took craftsmen to make things, boy scouts girl scouts brownies and cub scouts were the going thing... But we thought we could make it better, girls should have careers and for go families, guys should be playboys, divorce was ok, opening stores on sundays, partying on saturday nights, who needs to be a member of a church, fast foods, instead of seeing the inner deterioration of our society we just alarm our cars and houses and video everyone.. So who's at fault, "We are". Wouldn't it be nice this Christmas to make the time spent with family more important than what we got or didn't get for Christmas...
It's Christmas time, I have to quit doing this one, I might get too depressed!

Blockbuster, RadioShack May Be Gone in 2011

Posted by jolt3500 on July 9, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Detroit Is Halting Garbage Pickup, Police Patrols In 20% Of City: Expect Bankruptcy In 2011

16 U.S. Cities That Could Face Bankruptcy in 2011

Posted Dec 21, 2010 06:06pm EST by Gus Lubin and Leah Goldman in Recession, Politics
Provided by the Business Insider, Dec. 21, 2010:
2011 will be the year of the municipal default. At least that's what analysts like Meredith Whitney predict, as do bond investors that have been fleeing the muni market.
There are many reasons to be worried. First, the expiration of Build America Bonds will make it harder for cities to raise funds.
Second, city revenues are crashing and keep getting worse. Property taxes haven't reflected the total damage from the housing crash. High joblessness is cutting into city revenues, while increasing costs for services.
The next default could be a major city like Detroit, or it could be one of hundreds of small cities that are on the brink. Did we leave off your ailing city? Let us know in the comments.
San Diego, Ca.
Deficit through June 2012 : $73 million
Budget in FY2011: $2.85 billion
Annualized gap: 1.7%

San Jose, Ca.
Deficit through June 2012: $90 million
Budget in FY2010: $2.7 billion
Annualized gap: 2.2%

Cincinnati, Oh.
Deficit through December 2012: $60 million
Biennial budget FY2009/2010: $2.5 billion
Annualized gap: 2.4%

Honolulu, Hi.
Deficit through June 2012: $100 million
Budget in FY2011: $1.8 billion
Annualized gap: 3.7%

San Francisco, Ca.
Deficit through June 2012: $380 million
Budget in FY2011: $6.55 billion
Annualized gap: 3.9%

Los Angeles, Ca.
Deficit through June 2012: $438 million
Budget in FY2011: $6.7 billion
Annualized gap: 4.4%

Washington, D.C.
Deficit through September 2012: $688 million
Budget in FY2011: $8.89 billion
Annualized gap: 4.4%

Newark, NJ
Deficit through December 2011: $30.5 million
Budget in FY2010: $677 million
Annualized gap: 4.5%

Detroit, Mi
Deficit through June 2011: $85 million
Budget in FY2011: $3.1 billion
Annualized gap: 5.5%

Reading, Pa
Deficit through December 2011: $7.5 million
Budget in FY2010: $120 million
Annualized gap: 6.3%

Joliet, Il
Deficit through December 2011: $21 million
Budget in FY2010: $274 million
Annualized gap: 7.7%

Camden, NJ
Deficit through December 2011: $26.5 million

Budget in FY2010: $178 million

Annualized gap: 15%

Hamtramck, Mi
Deficit through June 2012: $4.7 million
Budget in FY2011: $18 million
Annualized gap: 17%

Central Falls, RI
Deficit through June 2012: $7 million
Budget in FY2011: $21 million
Annualized gap: 22%

Paterson, N.J.
Deficit through December 2011: $54 million
Budget for FY2010: $225 million
Annualized gap: 24%

BONUS: Chicago, Il
Deficit through December 2011: $654 million Closed
Budget in FY2010: $6.8 billion
Annualized gap: 9.6%

2011 will be the year of the municipal default. At least that's what analysts like Meredith Whitney predict, as do bond investors that have been fleeing the muni market.

There are many reasons to be worried. First, the expiration of Build America Bonds will make it harder for cities to raise funds.

Second, city revenues are crashing and keep getting worse. Property taxes haven't reflected the total damage from the housing crash. High joblessness is cutting into city revenues, while increasing costs for services.

The next default could be a major city like Detroit, or it could be one of hundreds of small cities that are on the brink. Did we leave off your ailing city? Let us know in the comments.

San Diego, Ca.

Deficit through June 2012 : $73 million

Budget in FY2011: $2.85 billion

Annualized gap: 1.7%

The city's official have tried curbing the deficit by increasing sales taxes, but residents of the city strongly oppose this and have voted it down.

San Diego already cut over $200 million over the past two years, so these cuts won't come easy.

New York, NY

Deficit through June 2012: $2 billion

Budget in FY2010: $63.1 billion

Annualized gap: 2.1%

Estimates of the NYC deficit range from $3.6 billion according to Comptroller John Liu to around $2 billion according to the Independent Budget Office. Everyone agrees that the deficit will be worse if New York state cuts aid as part of its own deficit reduction plan.

Mayor Bloomberg has already started to address the FY2012 deficit, calling for layoffs in all city agencies, closing 20 fire departments at night, and reducing services for seniors, libraries and cultural centers.

San Jose, Ca.

Deficit through June 2012: $90 million

Budget in FY2010: $2.7 billion

Annualized gap: 2.2%

After an audit of the San Jose police department, city officials found it to have too many high paid supervisors, costing the city too much money. The answer to this is converting some of those upper ranked officers to patrol positions. This could reduce the city's debt by $33 million.

Last year's deficit was $116 million, leading to brutal cuts including nearly 900 layoffs.

Cincinnati, Oh.

Deficit through December 2012: $60 million

Biennial budget FY2009/2010: $2.5 billion

Annualized gap: 2.4%

Helping the budget in Cincinnati depends largely on changes in the police and fire departments. The city can either get $20 million in concessions from the two unions, lay off 216 firefighters, or outsource the police force to neighboring city, Hamilton.

Honolulu, Hi.

Deficit through June 2012: $100 million

Budget in FY2011: $1.8 billion

Annualized gap: 3.7%

Mayor Peter Carlisle said police officers and fire fighters will be asked to make concessions in the upcoming budget and he will also end furloughs of two days per month for public workers. This will require the 2,900 officers to give back their 6% pay raises they have received in each of the past four years.

Last year Honolulu raised some property taxes to fill a huge $140 million deficit.

San Francisco, Ca.

Deficit through June 2012: $380 million

Budget in FY2011: $6.55 billion

Annualized gap: 3.9%

Mayor Gavin Newsom says this year's deficit is completely manageable. Last year's deficit approached $500 million and the city did not need to lay off any police or firemen. While Newsom's term is coming to an end, he says he and his colleagues will leave detailed options for the incoming mayor.

Last year's cuts were even larger, eliminating a $438 million deficit. The city is down to the bone.

Los Angeles, Ca.

Deficit through June 2012: $438 million

Budget in FY2011: $6.7 billion

Annualized gap: 4.4%

The Los Angeles City Administration Office plans to cut 225 civilian positions in the LAPD, reduce firefighting staffing, and eliminate a dozen positions in the City Attorney's Office and General Service Department. The deficit will only get worse unless an effort to privatize parking garages is approved. If not, the city will require more layoffs, furloughs, and curtailed hiring.

Last year's deficit was even larger, totalling nearly $700,000.

Washington, D.C.

Deficit through September 2012: $688 million

Budget in FY2011: $8.89 billion

Annualized gap: 4.4%

Council member Tommy Wells proposed tax rate increases which were voted down, but Wells says he will continue to push his proposal. Wells' proposal seems reasonable as residents making $100,000 a year would only pay $63 more in taxes per year. This is a small price to pay that would benefit the city immensely.

Newark, NJ

Deficit through December 2011: $30.5 million

Budget in FY2010: $677 million

Annualized gap: 4.5%

Newark's deficit was $83 million before Mayor Cory Booker initiated a plan to sell city-owned buildings, raise property taxes to 16 percent and decimate the police force. Nontheless, Moody's cut Newark's rating to A3 citing its $30.5 million remaining deficit.

Detroit, Mi

Deficit through June 2011: $85 million

Budget in FY2011: $3.1 billion

Annualized gap: 5.5%

Detroit's city government has cut costs with layoffs and by leaving currently vacant positions open. Mayor Bing's emergency fiscal plan includes demolishing houses and cutting police and trash services to 20% of the city.

Last year the city council pushed through severe cuts to fill an over $700 million deficit.

Reading, Pa

Deficit through December 2011: $7.5 million

Budget in FY2010: $120 million

Annualized gap: 6.3%

One of Pennsylvania's several distressed municipalities, which receive state aid, Reading has been running an operating deficit for years. In September the city council said their deficit was bigger than expected, soaring to $7.5 million for the current year, which means they will have to borrow around $17 million from the state to pay off total debts.

Joliet, Il

Deficit through December 2011: $21 million

Budget in FY2010: $274 million

Annualized gap: 7.7%

Last year, the city increased property tax by over 12 percent and hiked water and sewer rates by 45 percent over three years to help with the deficit. The city council also cut police and public sector jobs.

Camden, NJ

Deficit through December 2011: $26.5 million

Budget in FY2010: $178 million

Annualized gap: 15%

Despite holding title of second most dangerous city in America, Camden recently received approval to lay off half of its police force.

Hamtramck, Mi

Deficit through June 2012: $4.7 million

Budget in FY2011: $18 million

Annualized gap: 17%

City manager Bill Cooper was denied permission to declare bankruptcy. He says the city is owed millions of dollars in tax dollars from Detroit from a shared facility. The state offered the city a loan to stave off bankruptcy.

Cooper says he has already cut almost everything possible, going so far as to lay off the city's five crossing guards.

Hamtramck might avoid bankruptcy, but also-broke Michigan can't afford many of these deals. That's why Gov. Rick Snyder predicts "hundreds of jurisdictions" going bankrupt in the next four years.

Central Falls, RI

Deficit through June 2012: $7 million

Budget in FY2011: $21 million

Annualized gap: 22%

Central Falls has been put in state receivership due to critical budget problems. State-appointed receiver Mark Pfeiffer thinks the best solution is for Central Falls to be annexed by its neighboring city, Pawtucket.

Paterson, N.J.

Deficit through December 2011: $54 million

Budget for FY2010: $225 million

Annualized gap: 24%

As a "last resort," Paterson is considering laying off 30 percent of its police force, said councilman Steve Olimpio. This will put 150 police officers out of work.

http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/16-u.s.-cities-that-could-face-bankruptcy-i...

Ten Big Companies That Are Veering Toward Bankruptcy

Posted Sep 18, 2009 12:21pm EDT by Vincent Fernando and Joe Weisenthal in Investing, Media, Products and Trends, Recession

Related: AMD, LVS, S, M, GT, MYL, HTZ

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From The Business Insider, Sept. 18, 2009:
Despite a few green shoots in the economy and a rocketing stock market, many large companies are still struggling to avoid bankruptcy.
A new report by Audit Integrity identifies some high-profile names "that have the highest probability of declaring bankruptcy among publicly traded firms."
Which companies appear the worst off? We took the list and removed any company with a market cap under $3 billion. We then ranked the remaining names by a simple measure of the market's perceived bankruptcy risk - Market Cap (MC) divided by Enterprise Value (EV). The less MC vs. EV, the less residual shareholders' value (above what debt holders can claim) the market is pricing-in for the company. Thus a lower MC/EV means the market thinks the company is more likely to go bankrupt.
1. Hertz
When you have tons of debt financing your fleet of cars, falling rental demand really hurts.
While the company raised new capital in May for some breathing room, Fitch and Moody’s actually cut their ratings for the company in July.
Ignoring the downgrade, shares kept rallying and are now at over five times the March $2 low. Best of luck.
Market Cap (MC)/Enterprise Value (EV) = 32%
2. Textron
What a tough time to be selling business jets.
Textron wrote down $2.3 billion its backlog this year after it canceled a new jet design, and demand for its other aircraft-related offerings has plummeted.
Shareholders may be heartened by the company’s ability to push back some debt maturities lately, but deteriorating credit quality at the company’s leasing arm makes the outlook uncertain at best.
MC/EV=39%
3. Sprint Nextel
Sprint Nextel is bleeding customers, and could lose as many as 4.4 million net post-paid subscribers this year.
This is a huge problem when you have large amounts of maturing debt over the next few years.
A recent Deutsche Telekom acquisition rumor offered some hope, but that appears to have faded. Facing a difficult road ahead on its own, the company better keep its lawyers on speed-dial.
MC/EV=41%
4. Macy's
Does anyone even shop at department stores anymore?
Same store sales will likely keep falling at Macy’s right through 2009. With $2.4 billion of maturing debt over the next five years, the company is trying to cut costs, and has already reduced its dividend.
Hopefully the US consumer will bounce back soon, and actually want to shop at Macy's.
MC/EV=47%
5. Mylan
In a classic case of management empire building, Mylan overpaid big time when it bought Merck’s generic business back in 2007 and is now stuck with $5 billion of long-term debt as a result.
From 2007 – 2008, the company lost over $1.3 billion very much due to goodwill write-downs.
While the company could earn $300 million this year, they’ll have to earn far more than that in the future to make their debt manageable.
MC/EV=51%
6. Goodyear
Demand for Goodyear tires has sunk, and the company is saddled with massive debt and pension obligations.
It doesn’t help that The United Steelworkers union prevents the company from proper cost control by forcing factories to stay open.
Shareholders have to wonder how much value will be left of the company after bondholders and the union members have their way.
MC/EV=53%
7. CBS
Weak advertising and falling license fees have sent CBS's earnings off a cliff in 2009.
If they remain depressed for too long, the company could have trouble refinancing $3.2 billion of debt coming due over the next five years.
It will really come down to whether or not CBS’s earnings collapse is merely cyclical, or the result of structural trend whereby traditional TV is dying.
As a business blog, we can't help but feel partly guilty here.
MC/EV=55%
8. Advanced Micro Devices
When will AMD actually make money again? The question is becoming more important by the day since it carries over $5 billion in long-term debt.
After losing almost $3 billion from 2007 – 2008, analysts expect the company to lose more money in 2009 and 2010.
While the shares rallied from their February $2 low, they still appear stuck in a long-term down trend from $40 highs way back in 2006.
MC/EV=55%
9. Las Vegas Sands
Las Vegas Sands over-expanded and over-levered in the last few years and now has over $10 billion in debt to deal with.
Despite jumping 13 times from their March low, Las Vegas Sands shares still face an uphill battle.
Conditions in Las Vegas are horrible, Asian expansion isn’t enough, and if this lasts too long then LVS will end up in bankruptcy court looking like it bit off more than it can chew.
MC/EV=60%
10. Interpublic Group
As one of the largest advertising and marketing companies in the world, IPG was slammed by the global recession.
As the company’s CEO said during recent second quarter results, the downturn “is proving steeper and more lasting than expected”.
Revenues have fallen double digits and the company’s exposure to General Motors as its largest client hasn’t helped.
MC/EV=80%
More coverage from The Business Insider:

10 Debt-Laden States Quickly Becoming The Next California

 

1/13

Maryland CDS Spread: 66.4 bps

Maryland sold $595 million in new debt on February 24 taking advantage of the new Build American Bond provision in the U.S. stimulus bill and their solid credit rating.
CDS Spread: 66.4 bps
Municipal Bond Ratings (Moody's): Aaa
Municipal Bond Ratings (S&P): AAA
Source: Bloomberg

Texas is ranked fourth by Forbes Magazine in terms of states with the best debt position due to the relatively low amount of debt on its books.
CDS Spread: 75.1 bps
Municipal Bond Ratings (Moody's): Aa1
Municipal Bond Ratings (S&P): AA+

Connecticut's per capita debt levels are the country's worst, having Massachusetts and Hawaii as company.
CDS Spread: 119.0 bps
Municipal Bond Ratings (Moody's): Aa3
Municipal Bond Ratings (S&P): AA

Massachusetts experiences a net migrations of nearly negative 10,000 people per year, which will reduce the amount of taxpayers in the state if the trend continues.
CDS Spread: 120.8 bps
Municipal Bond Ratings (Moody's): Aa2
Municipal Bond Ratings (S&P): AA

Sen. Jim Bunning's moves to halt government spending have hit Ohio by stopping construction of the $4.4 million Fitzwater Road bridge, a replacement for an older construction.
CDS Spread: 136.8 bps
Municipal Bond Ratings (Moody's): Aa2
Municipal Bond Ratings (S&P): AA+

Las Vegas airport administrators are seeking $1.8 billion in municipal bond sales this year to build a new terminal.
CDS Spread: 190.8 bps
Municipal Bond Ratings (Moody's): Aa2
Municipal Bond Ratings (S&P): AA+

Michigan is one of seven states where local communities might lose the support of their state government as a result of financial problems.
CDS Spread: 211.3 bps
Municipal Bond Ratings (Moody's): Aa3
Municipal Bond Ratings (S&P): AA-

New York

The city's municipal water authority is set to auction off $400 million in new bonds in the coming weeks.
CDS Spread: 211.7 bps
Municipal Bond Ratings (Moody's): Not Available
Municipal Bond Ratings (S&P): Not Available

New Jersey

New Republican Governor Chris Christie is attempting to have the federal government forgive the state's unemployment related debt of $1.2 billion.
CDS Spread: 222.2 bps
Municipal Bond Ratings (Moody's): Aa3
Municipal Bond Ratings (S&P): AA

New York state is facing a deficit of $60.8 billion over the next five years, according to Reuters.
CDS Spread: 224.2 bps
Municipal Bond Ratings (Moody's): Aa3
Municipal Bond Ratings (S&P): AA

Illinois just completed a $1 billion bond sale in January and now looks forward to another sale, this time of $356 billion, on March 11.
CDS Spread: 233.6 bps
Municipal Bond Ratings (Moody's): A2
Municipal Bond Ratings (S&P): A+

And while we're at it, here's California: CDS Spread: 301.4 bps
California is planning on a bond issuance of $5 billion in March.

CDS Spread: 301.4 bps
Municipal Bond Ratings (Moody's): Baa1
Municipal Bond Ratings (S&P): A-

December 11, 2009

2 Comments

10 Companies that Will go Bankrupt in 2010

Posted in Corporate by Kevin | Tags: 2010, bankrupt, companies, companies bankrupt, Corporate


Almost one year ago, we predicted, correctly, the inevitable bankruptcy of some large corporations in 2009 (Old Article). As the highly volatile market of 2009 is slowly fading into the “Reconstruction” era model of 2010, consumer spending has slowly been realigned from the “wants” to “needs.” Although confidence has gone up slightly from last year’s holiday season, more and more Americans are finding out that the green linings in their wallet have disappeared.
Recent economic data points to market stability and a push into the recovery phase by the second quarter of 2010. Less businesses went bankrupt in the last 12 months than 2008, mostly due to government intervention, which saved insurance giant AIG (one of the companies were predicted would fizzle to death in our last issue) and the car businesses (also predicted, Ford and GM).
However, this year, the Feds are under more pressure to stop wasting hard earned tax money and focus more on employment, social security,  and the health care reform bill. This means that many companies will still keep going bankrupt, as Uncle’s Sam safety net has become increasingly porous. Also, credit is still dried up, the dollar is losing its value, and more banks are being closed (banks in 4 different states were taken over by the FDIC today).
Here is the list of 10 companies we predict won’t live to see the next holiday season:
1) Loehmann’s
Loehmann’s has declared bankruptcy protection twice, once in 1989 and in 1999. They have very low market visibility and are losing their fight to big time discount dress store Ross, who is making big gains in the sector. Lookout for big changes in the company structure to avoid Bankruptcy- if it isn’t too late.

2) Blockbuster


We keep picking against these guys, yet they keep on surviving. The video rental company had a horrible third quarter (although ALL their quarters are equally awful). Revenue for this period of 2009 was $910.5 million, down from $1.16 billion for the same quarter a year ago. The firm’s net loss was $114 million compared to a $19 million loss in the same period in 2008. Blockbuster has only $141 million in cash and cash equivalents. No one has figured out what to do with Blockbuster. The company has 3,662 stores in the US and 1,703 overseas.
3) Palm



These guys are really in trouble- their launching of Pixi was supposed to propel them to great revenue, but facing the fiery marketing of Verizon’s Motorola Droid and newer model sets from Nokia. Stocks have plummet from a 52- year high of $18 to an investor target of $10-11 based on earnings (almost a 60% drop). These guys are in big trouble and need to move past Sprint to get anything done.
4) Caterpillar

Construction is still down and facing huge losses, as most of the market stability has come from the manufacturing sector. Caterpillar struggled in 2008 and cut 20,000 jobs on January 2009. More job losses are on the way and the days are numbered for this construction company. It’s largest divisions are facing difficulties with liquid assets due to the credit crunch and the future looks very bleak

5) Sprint- Nextel

Has 8,000 jobs now lost and things will get even worst and Could be potentially bought out by the end of 2009. While both Verizon (NYSE: VZ) and AT&T (NYSE: T) increased the number of subscribers in the third quarter, Sprint Nextel, like T-Mobile, saw its subscriber count drop. Regardless of gains in the prepaid space, many argue that Sprint still has to stop the bleeding on the postpaid end. Sprint’s balance sheet is stacked with debt and it continues to invest money in Clearwire (Nasdaq: CLWR), which it is relying on for its 4G expansion. Sprint will be in trouble this year.
6) Hertz

Hertz is loaded with debt from financing their cars and increased interest rates will not be helping. It’s employees are underpaid and job confidence is down- they went on strike recently. Although stocks are up from their low of $2, demand for business is decreasing- Americans traveled less and spend less money on cars.
7) Macy’s


Consumers are staying away from department stores and the quality of products in Macy’s has been suffering more and more. Same store sales will likely keep falling at Macy’s right through 2009. With $2.4 billion of maturing debt over the next five years, the company is trying to cut costs, and has already reduced its dividend.
8 )  General Growth Properties

Mall owner General Growth Properties Inc. (GGWPQ) will ask a New York bankruptcy judge to sign off on a reorganization plan to restructure some $9.7 billion in mortgage loans. Approval of the plan, which affects 92 properties, is the first step in the company’s bid to get the 166 malls it put into Chapter 11 in April out of bankruptcy.
The deal extends the due dates on the mortgages by several years in return for various payments. If Judge Allan Gropper confirms the plan, the properties could emerge from bankruptcy court by the end of the year.
While approval of the plan would represent a significant milestone for General Growth, the country’s second-largest mall operator still must strike similar pacts with lenders on another $11.7 billion of debt. The Chicago company, which owns and manages more than 200 U.S. malls in 44 states, filed for Chapter 11 protection in April after failing to refinance a portion of its $27 billion debt as it came due.
9) OfficeMax

Office-what? Competition from Staples and Office Depot is driving this smaller retailer out of business- and fast. Also not helping: employee lawsuits, mail-in-rebate lawsuits, overpriced items. They laid off 2800 last year, but it hasn’t helped their income.
10) Pier 1 Imports


Pier 1 closed 100 stores and has spent the last year making promises of change, but the ongoing housing collapse caught them like a deer in the headlights. Now, the retailer believes it has a solution; investors are clearly not as convinced. People are putting off purchasing furniture and the store has fallen off consumer radar.

Taken from an editorial .... UNDERSTANDING INFLATION, DEFLATION

Taken from an Editorial by:

Aubie Baltin CFP. CTA, CFA, Phd. (retired)

The Pivot Point

We are now at or close to the topping out point, which is the point at which consumers can not or will not take on any more debt and/or Mortgage corporations and Banks are unwilling or unable to extend more credit. We now seem to be hitting those topping points simultaneously in many areas: jobs, housing, consumer spending, and credit expansion.

The poor investments of the must have-it-now, generation is about to be unwound. We are where we are because Central Banks have printed ever expanding amounts of money to prevent the normal business cycles from working, to satisfy politicians wanting to get re-elected. Remember "it's the economy stupid". But the only thing the Central Banks have accomplished is to putt off the inevitable deflationary credit crunch while making sure it will be a lot worse in the end. They have definitely NOT eliminated the business cycle.

There are many that think true deflation (decrease in money supply) can not happen under a fiat money system but perhaps the point is moot. Money supply itself actually never contracted in Japan. Instead, it grew very slowly for a long time as bank credit contracted for more than five years consecutive years. Clearly there was a credit contraction so how did money supply still manage to grow? Fiscal deficits were ramped up to dizzying heights, Island Airports and roads to everywhere were built, and the Bank of Japan monetized all of it. I don't think the Government and the FED could get away with that here in the USA, especially since unlike Japan, where they have a 40% savings rate our savings rate is close to zero plus the fact that Japan's Gov. Debt is owned by the Japanese, unlike the USA that owes the rest of the world over $3 Trillion. A financial crisis that brings about massive debt repudiation would cause a massive shrinkage of the money supply (the true definition of deflation) In addition, the velocity of money plummeted in Japan. The net effect of the credit contraction on prices was clearly "deflationary". Prices across a broad range of assets, goods and services fell. Indeed, practically everything fell in price except government bonds.

People were amazed at the alleged "bond bubble" as well as the Zero Interest Rate Policies of the BOJ. However, a 1% interest rate on a 10-year bond makes sense when prices are falling 2.5% annually, the real yield becomes 3.5% (1% interest rate + 2.5% deflation) which is obviously far higher than 1% stated rate. Perhaps a practical way to think of deflation under a FIAT system is the destruction of credit/debt that exceeds the growth of the money supply.

Regardless of social, economic and political differences I expect the USA to attempt to follow in the footsteps of Japan even though the circumstances are vastly different. Although a central bank might be able to sustain a certain amount of inflation by resorting to extreme measures, like "dropping money out of helicopters" it can not stop the inevitable credit contraction. Nor will the FED bail out consumers at their own or other creditors expense. The Fed like the BOJ will stop short of destroying themselves and their power. At some point, most likely due to the Real Estate Bubble implosion, consumers will be unable to take on more debt and/or because banks will refuse to extend consumers additional credit as the value of their assets collateralizing their loans tumble; consumer bankruptcies will soar as the various credit bubbles implode. Furthermore, in a world awash in overcapacity there will be no need for corporations to borrow to make investments when they are awash in over capacity. That is why the Bank of Japan failed to defeat deflation and that is why Bernanke will fail as well.