America is Fucked

Out of context: Reply #257

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  • utopian3

    Corporate America is in crisis

    In no particular order and with varying degrees of urgency, here's a list of companies that have just in recent days said they are under extreme stress as a result of the coronavirus shutdowns.

    These are companies that are in crisis: undergoing massive layoffs, posting record losses, and in some cases, filing for bankruptcy.

    Massive conglomerates
    Disney's parks are closed, its movies aren't in theaters, its cruise ships aren't at sea. The company said Tuesday that its profit plunged 91% in the first quarter. (It also said its Shanghai park will reopen next Monday.)

    GE is permanently cutting a quarter of its global workforce.

    Clothing companies
    J. Crew filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday.
    The Gap is running out of money and stopped paying rent.

    Retailers
    J.C. Penney has missed debt payments and is in negotiations with lenders.
    Neiman Marcus has a crushing debt load.
    Sears has been distressed for years.
    Food
    Tyson Foods has warned of more meat plant closures even as Trump invoked the Defense Production Act to keep plants open.

    Fitness
    Gold's Gym filed for bankruptcy.

    Foreign airlines
    Lufthansa is losing $1 million an hour.

    Domestic airlines
    United says employees should consider voluntary separation and also laid off a third of its back office staff.
    Boeing, which was already in trouble because of problems with its 737 Max, will cut 16,000 people.

    Cruise lines
    Norwegian Cruise Line's accounting firm said in a government filing that it may go out of business.

    Hotels and housing share services
    Airbnb announced massive layoffs. Marriott and Hilton have both furloughed employees.

    Autos
    Hertz got an emergency lifeline from lenders. Car companies are having difficulty too. Ford told investors it will lose $5 billion next quarter.

    Oil companies
    If oil stays extremely cheap, hundreds of US oil companies could go bankrupt.
    Not all companies are under stress. Amazon views itself as part of the national shelter-in-place infrastructure and it is reaping handsome rewards. It's making $10,000 in sales every second, according to one estimate.

    https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/05/p…

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    • who the fuck is at the top? the Iron Bank? whoever the end dept holder is should just fuck off for a while no?_niko
    • The banks have been on a knife edge since 2008. They all survive on debtors without having any capital themselves.monoboy
    • Governments bailed them out by borrowing from China or printing money.monoboy
    • Business like these run on super tight margins with the sole aim of enriching shareholders. All capital goes to them.monoboy
    • So they've spent the last decade finding ways to make things faster and cheaper.monoboy
    • The western economic system has just hit the wall. Bigtime.monoboy
    • You can grow a consumer economy without any consumers.monoboy
    • *can'tmonoboy
    • Team GOP will be under massive pressure to re-open, and let the virus kill off the 'surplus population' and get people spending again.monoboy
    • The virus disproportionally affects the old and the poor. They must be absolutely torn and desperate to find a way to get the US population to swallow it.monoboy
    • It's not as if they'd ever do the right thing.monoboy
    • Which in my guess involves seizing and shutting-down all tax havens, capping and taxing dividends, so big biz can pay back any Gov backed loans with interest.monoboy
    • That Central banks issue based on strict criteria for a sustainable global economic system that enriches more than just the 1%.monoboy
    • But. Que sais-je?monoboy
    • It's all smoke and mirrors.utopian
    • "They all survive on debtors without having any capital themselves".

      That's.. how banks work, no?      Nairn
    • I don't disagree that actual capitalist 'survive or die' principles shouldn't be applied though. Modern capitalism needs to evolve. Perhaps now's a good time.Nairn
    • Strikes me that massive systematic change tends to happen in times of widepsread strife. What will this birth? Hopefully not WW3, lol lol lol lol oh dear godNairn
    • I suspect nothing will change before any radical change unless a full-scale currency war forces things.monoboy
    • That or social unrest if the downturn is as bad as its expected to be—possibly even an uprising.monoboy
    • With a bit of luck, the public will turn back to more progressive liberal politics.monoboy
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