The Chronicles of…

Big Layoffs No Longer Help Boost a Company’s Stock
In normal times, investors generally react positively to layoffs, on the sentiment that personnel cuts are a critical way to resuscitate an underperforming company. But no longer, as firms that lay off thousands of workers are continuing to see their share prices plunge with little relief in sight.
 

Got a Mortgage or Credit Card? Don’t Pay Them
Finally something that we can all get behind: Don’t pay your bills. It’s not my idea, although it has appeal. It’s the Fed’s and it’s the cornerstone of the new Homeownership Preservation Policy. To qualify for aid, the homeowner must be at least 60 days past due on his or her mortgage payments. (This program is for mortgages acquired from Bear Stearns and AIG rescues. Another program begun in December 2008 required that the homeowner be 90 days late.) At the same time, the mortgagee must be able to make a reduced monthly payment, therefore, must have some income, presumably a job. The having a job part might be tough; the missing two payments part, easy.

“The I.M.F. does not have enough money for what is coming,” said Guillermo Ortiz, the governor of Mexico’s central bank.

So Far, Wireless Data Looks Recession-proof
After taking a look at the earnings of the largest U.S. wireless carriers, it’s clear that growth in wireless data at the top carriers is still going strong, despite a recession. There are concerns that some of this is the result of holiday sales (all those new iPhones for Christmas), so we’ll keep an eye on next quarter’s numbers to see if folks are ditching their data plans so they can pay rent, or if the ongoing layoffs are resulting in disconnects as employers stop subsidizing plans.

Why Your Bank Is Broke
Even without doing the math, you probably get that the government’s financial-rescue effort is failing. The signs are hard to miss. Your friend in finance got pink-slipped. A house sale down the street fell through because the buyer couldn’t get a mortgage. A local bank is closing a nearby branch or maybe shutting down altogether.

China Tells Obama What to Do With His Yuan Views
Jan. 28 (Bloomberg) — China took Barack Obama’s views on the yuan seriously. So seriously that it is doing the exact opposite of what the U.S. president would like.
China let the yuan fall the most in a month on Jan. 23, right after Timothy Geithner, Obama’s pick for Treasury secretary, relayed Obama’s campaign position that China was “manipulating” its currency. The reaction was China’s way of telling the new U.S. leader what he can do with his foreign-exchange views.  

 US-China currency war eclipses Davos, and threatens the world
Turning a corner in the labyrinthine corridors of the Davos nerve-centre, I ran smack into Chinese premier Wen Jiabao – followed by a regiment of retainers and senior offices in full regalia.
They have not quite adapted to the "sport" dress code of capitalism in Alpine retreat. Jeroen van der Weer – a Davos stalwart – wears horrendous corduroy trousers (pink sometimes) with a 1950s-era Tyrolean woolly. I dread to think how they react to Swiss prices if they venture into the restaurants.
Mr Jiabao smiled at me benignly, but he is not in a good mood. Indeed, he is fuming over the remarks by US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner that China was "manipulating" its currency to gain market share. Reports were circulating this afternoon in Davos that Mr Jiabao erupted into a tirade after lunch at the mere mention of Mr Geithner’s name.

Life after the apocalypse
What if the doomsayers are right … what if society, as we know it, really is about to collapse? Do you have what it takes to make it in a world without electricity and running water? Tanya Gold offers an essential survival guide

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