AT&T Disconnecting 12,000 Jobs; Credit Suisse Announces 5,300; Capital One Puts Chevy Chase in Its Wallet; Argentina Announces $3.9 Billion Stimulus, Jobless Benefits at 26-year High; Dupont Cuts 2,500 Employees; Williams-Sonoma Beats Estimates; Oil Falls 5%
AT&T Inc. (T) said it would scale back 12,000 jobs, about 4% of its workforce, between now and the end of 2009 to fight "economic pressures, a changing business mix and a more streamlined organizational structure." It will also take a severance charge of nearly $600 million for the fourth quarter, Reuters reported.
Credit Suisse Group AG (ADR: CS) will scale back its workforce, eliminating 5,300 workers, or about 11% of its workforce. Switzerland’s second-largest bank will also nix bonuses for its top executives, Bloomberg reported.
Capital One Financial Corp. (COF) said it will acquire privately-held Chevy Chase Bank for $520 million in cash and stock, The Associated Press reported. Bethesda, Md.-based Chevy Chase Bank has branches primarily in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., and has about $11 billion in deposits.
Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner said the government will offer 13.2 billion pesos ($3.9 billion) for an economic stimulus. The plan seeks to reduce loan costs to manufacturers, help finance new auto purchases and reduce export taxes on corn and wheat, Bloomberg reported.
The number of U.S. workers on unemployment benefits rolls soared to 4.09 million last month, the highest level in 26 years, according to the Labor Department. The four-week moving average of initial claims, a less volatile measure, climbed to 524,500, also the highest since 1982.
E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. (DD) said yesterday (Thursday) that it will not turn a profit in the fourth quarter, and consequently, will be forced to cut 2,500 jobs and release 4,000 contractors by the end of this year. "We expect 2009 to be a very challenging year," said DuPont chief financial officer Jeff Keefer.
Williams-Sonoma Inc. (WSM) beat analysts’ third-quarter expectations, but the company’s revenue still fell 16% from a year ago, to $752.1 million. The company lost $11 million, or 10 cents a share, for the in the three months ended November 2, compared with a profit of $27.1 million, or 25 cents a share, a year earlier. Analysts' average forecast was a loss of 11 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates.
Crude oil prices fell more than 5% yesterday (Thursday) as employment and manufacturing data indicated the U.S. recession would be severe. Light, sweet crude for January delivery fell $2.49 to settle at $44.30 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.