158 replies to this topic

[maryportfuncity]

From Honez recent post on the deaths of 2008 thread......I take the point that thread is for people. But global markets are feeling the jitters and the odd airline, corporate giant or bank is always rumoured to be failing. So - since we speculate on the amount of useful life life wherever we find it - I reckon our recession watchers could use this here thread.

[Octopus of Odstock]

Glad you find this so amusing, MPFC.


I'm facing redundancy because of the crisis in the travel industry right now and I thought this would be one place I could get away from it & not have to discuss it.... but no, I should've known better.

XL's collapse is different to Zoom's & Silverjet's - it's like a whole leg has been cut off the travel industry's body. Zoom & Silverjet's departure was like a fingernail falling off. It's a much bigger disaster than most people think, because although it has already accounted for many - it will have a knock-on effect on so many different travel firms - it might be quite brutal - Alitalia, Libra, Goldtrail.. I can think of many for whom this is going to be a rocky time.

Part of the reason, why, regrettably, I'm trying to find some more stable employment right now.


Course, it's pretty damn difficult for so many industries now, so I know I'm not alone. But bar the above, I really am not in the mood for a discussion or betting on which company, travel, housing or wherever will go bust next. I would hope the fewer, the better, quite frankly.

[maryportfuncity]

Didn't intend any offence OoO....apart from the usual grim humour that draws us some ranter fire. I've always assumed most of us hereabouts are sane enough to know the difference between the grim laughs and the real world. Though your plight, like the admitted bouts of depression discussed by one or two here and the genuine deaths of loved ones amongst the membership, is a cause for sympathy and concern.

Go well


For what it's worth I heard Paddy Power - as in the real guy - discussing the £15,000 lost by his company paying out on bets about the demise of XL. I'm guessing his apparently relaxed and chipper attitude was a PR ploy to bring about more such bets. So I hope you don't find this thread completely distasteful because I'm guessing such speculations are likely to be a feature of the news and current affairs scene, and the betting industry, for the months ahead.

[Godot]

Good idea for a thread MPFC. I've been fired about four times this year (stopped counting) so don't worry too much about a steady job. I would, of course, if I didn't have a roof over my head, some money in the bank and a wife at work. But I gave up full time work precisely because I found companies and jobs so unreliable and many of the people so dull. The alternative is unreliable too but you can rely on the unreliability and that makes all the difference.

I'm all for a bit of a shake out in the system and there is definitely going to be a shake out if Lehman Brothers goes under.

OoO it might seem grim now but you'll look back in a few months time and think differently.

I've seen my income slashed in half, probably worse in recent weeks and couldn't give a flying f**k.

[Cowboy Ronnie]

This article from Dec 2006 says it all:

Lehman lamer

The fiscally responsible geniuses paid out $7.6 billion in bonuses, and less than two years later the company is bankrupt. I hope all those motherfuckers living in their gold-plated mansions in Surrey and Connecticut sleep a little less comfortably tonight.

[maryportfuncity]

If it's not the Italian national carrier that goes next two other airlines:

SAS
and
Spanair

Are - allegedly - teetering very close to the edge.

[CarolAnn]

Lehman Brothers filing for bankruptcy, Merrill Lynch selling itself to Bank of America (who already bought Countrywide Financial last year), AIG raising warnings about its solvency - me and my retirement fund might just run for the hills.

Wait. No hills in my part of Texas. Crap.

...and the consensus in the White House is, "I know Americans are concerned about the adjustments that are taking place in our financial markets," said Bush, speaking at the White House Rose Garden. "We are working to reduce disruptions and minimize the impact on the [broader economy]." (CNN)

The market drops 200 points. I feel better. How about you?

[themaninblack]

Not the only Lehman to stiff I can tell you....

[Youth in Asia]

As a former employee of Arthur Andersen (remember them?), once again you have to say with Lehmann Brothers - it couldn't happen to a "nicer" bunch of people.

Actually I left a year before AA went bust and it was hilarious watching the partners scrabbling around trying to beg for new jobs, and losing their pensions.

[maryportfuncity]

AIG stumbling around in search of salvation. Because they are so strongly connected, their demise would set this here thread alight.

[honez]

An extract from this article states, "Alistair Darling has just signalled ... that he is profoundly uncomfortable with the widespread practice of profiting from the woes of companies perceived as vulnerable through short-selling their shares. This is highly relevant right now, in that shares in HBOS - our largest mortgage lender - fell by more than 30% at one stage yesterday, which would have been unthinkable a few months ago. And they've fallen again this morning."

Aw, the poor little thing. These stock market folk seem happy to do this to other "ordinary" companies, sending them up the creek and shafting employees/shareholders/communities that depend on them, but when it's a finance company that's being preyed on they get all uncomfortable. That seems to me to be like a sex predator feeling queasy about doing his sister.

[maryportfuncity]

Just a thought here.....from a DL perspective, is the definition of a recession a period in which name companies are more likely to suffer sudden death than are famous people?

[maryportfuncity]

Washington Mutual fail on a big scale. And Alitalia are still teetering on the edge.

[themaninblack]

It's Cod War 2!

[halleluyahjohntudor]

themaninblack, on Oct 9 2008, 11:07 PM, said:

It's Cod War 2!

Never trust bankers who are based on a small island with an inclement climate. I hear that the contagion is likely to spread to Lloyds TSB on the Isle of Man.

[maryportfuncity]

It's not funny anymore.

Charities are caught in this and The Cats Protection League has over £11m lodged with a banking stiff.

Link.

[Grim Reaper]

maryportfuncity, on Oct 10 2008, 04:36 PM, said:

It's not funny anymore.

Charities are caught in this and The Cats Protection League has over £11m lodged with a banking stiff.

Link.

I too was shocked to discover that the global banking crisis is now threatening to harm innocent cats.
Surely a feline government bail-out is going to be needed?

Just to cheer those cats up...

What's the difference between Tesco and Iceland?

Apparently they offer cashback at Tesco

[themaninblack]

Octopus of Odstock, on Sep 15 2008, 11:23 AM, said:

Glad you find this so amusing, MPFC.


I'm facing redundancy because of the crisis in the travel industry right now and I thought this would be one place I could get away from it & not have to discuss it.... but no, I should've known better.

XL's collapse is different to Zoom's & Silverjet's - it's like a whole leg has been cut off the travel industry's body. Zoom & Silverjet's departure was like a fingernail falling off. It's a much bigger disaster than most people think, because although it has already accounted for many - it will have a knock-on effect on so many different travel firms - it might be quite brutal - Alitalia, Libra, Goldtrail.. I can think of many for whom this is going to be a rocky time.

Part of the reason, why, regrettably, I'm trying to find some more stable employment right now.


Course, it's pretty damn difficult for so many industries now, so I know I'm not alone. But bar the above, I really am not in the mood for a discussion or betting on which company, travel, housing or wherever will go bust next. I would hope the fewer, the better, quite frankly.

Never work for The Man...work for Local Government...