Tuesday, October 01, 2002

Fidelity Investments to cut almost 1,700 jobs Fidelity Investments, the nation's largest mutual fund company, said Monday it would lay off 1,695 workers, or about 5 percent of its work force, in a move that was widely expected due to Wall Street's slump. The value of privately held Fidelity's managed assets has fallen from about $1 trillion to $776 billion, since their peak in August of 2000. After the job cuts, the company will have about 29,300 workers, down from a peak of 33,000. 10:20:40 AM  Google It!  comment  []

Survey: Job cuts drop 41 percent The pace of job cuts announced by U.S. businesses slowed significantly in September to 70,057, the lowest in 22 months, down 41 percent from August, according to an international outplacement firm that tracks job losses on a daily basis. Challenger, Gray & Christmas' monthly job survey found 1,004,617 workers have lost their jobs so far in 2002, the second time job losses have exceeded 1 million since the Chicago-based recruitment firm began tracking job cut announcements in 1989. The report found U.S. corporations handed out 70,057 pink slips last month, bringing the number of third- quarter job losses to 269,090 -- 8 percent lower than the 292,393 cuts announced during the summer quarter and 72 percent lower than September 2001, when employers announced 248,332 job cuts in the slowdown following the terrorist attacks. Job cuts like the overall economy have been on a roller-coaster ride, averaging 111,624 a month from January through September. 9:23:59 AM  Google It!  comment  []

US manufacturing stalls The US manufacturing sector stalled last month, according to a widely-watched monthly survey of purchasing executives. The Institute for Supply Management said its index of manufacturing activity fell to a nine-month low of 49.5 in September from 50.5 the previous week. Any reading below 50 suggests contraction. September's reading suggested the sector has essentially stopped growing. . . . The US economy has been battered by a series of shocks during the past year - including the terrorist attacks, the eruption of a crisis of confidence in corporate America, fears of terrorism and now fears of war with Iraq and higher oil prices - all of which has complicated the interpretation of the ISM and other economic figures. The uncertain outlook has fuelled an ongoing debate about whether the economy's weakness is temporary, the first chapter of a protracted spell of sluggish and erratic growth or the beginning of another full-blown recession. 9:21:47 AM  Google It!  comment  []

Commentary: Dow still looks overvalued Price to earnings ratios are still way above normal. The Standard & Poor's 500 ended the third quarter priced at 30 times its last 12 months' earnings - twice its long-term average. And while dividend yields are moving up (see my column of Sept. 17), they are still far below the yield ($TNX: news, chart, profile) on the 10-year Treasury, theoretically the most competitive investment to stocks. This places fair value for the Dow anywhere from 6,500 to 5,000. Before you get too shocked, remember that the Dow was 6,346 when Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan first mused about irrational exuberance in early December 1996. 8:54:48 AM  Google It!  comment  []