tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85623776514443087422012-01-16T13:48:28.788-05:00MGPS commentary on expense-related topics www.mgps.comMoorcrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013254843620357039noreply@blogger.comBlogger271100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8562377651444308742.post-70024581664534510972012-01-16T13:41:00.003-05:002012-01-16T13:48:28.803-05:00

To no one's surprise, 2012 is predicted to be a difficult year. Unemployment is up, deficits are huge and political dithering over austerity measures in Europe is likely to continue.Few are holding their breath that the U.S. can get unemployment down or reduce the deficit by any meaningful amount. Factor in the continuing crisis in Greece and Italy and it is going to be a rough year for

Moorcrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013254843620357039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8562377651444308742.post-82345115426321759472011-11-18T14:50:00.005-05:002011-11-18T15:22:09.208-05:00

Last month the White House indicated that, due to policy mistakes, the U.S. is in an L-Shaped economic recovery instead of a V-shaped economic recovery.I had indicated in April 2009 in a comment on a Wall Street Journal article that we might be facing an L-shaped recovery rather than a U or V Shaped recovery.http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2009/04/23/green-shoots-dont-come-cheap/tab/comments/In

Moorcrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013254843620357039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8562377651444308742.post-4515495429835388492011-08-09T17:27:00.003-04:002011-08-09T17:53:28.881-04:00

With the news of the recent loss of the U.S.' coveted AAA credit rating, stock markets went into a tailspin. All three major U.S. stock markets fell between 5% and 7% since the announcement by S&P. The downgrade was a result of political disputes on how to handle the mounting debt. S&P delivered a sharp rebuke to the political class of the U.S. Investors obviously panicked and decided to sell

Moorcrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013254843620357039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8562377651444308742.post-71202560535386857232011-08-05T17:46:00.006-04:002011-08-09T12:19:42.039-04:00

Are we heading for another recession? Based upon the most recent headlines, some experts say yes. Still, it's far from a certainty and may simply be a minor correction before the economy begins a slow recovery. It is possible that the worst is over in terms of housing prices, job losses and the hit to savings and retirement funds. On the other hand, few economists predicted the housing crisis

Moorcrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013254843620357039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8562377651444308742.post-18810199496815544802011-05-03T12:34:00.004-04:002011-05-03T12:49:09.017-04:00

Most, if not all political pundits were caught off guard by the sweeping changes in the 2011 Federal Election.A Tory win was predicted, but there was uncertainty over whether it would be a minority government or a majority government. As the election campaign went on, most were seeing a majority slip away. However, the big news, esp. during the last week of the election campaign, was the sudden

Moorcrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013254843620357039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8562377651444308742.post-24705209171639479242011-04-20T17:51:00.000-04:002011-04-20T17:52:27.781-04:00

With less than 2 weeks to go, it is still uncertain whether or not the Conservatives will secure a majority win or a minority win.If Harper wins a minority, the question then becomes will the opposition parties form a coalition in order to defeat the government or will Harper make concessions in order to remain in power?The latest polls reveal that the Conservatives are firmly in the lead but a

Moorcrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013254843620357039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8562377651444308742.post-9235713972608556852011-02-24T13:29:00.004-05:002011-02-24T13:50:06.159-05:00

The U.S. dollar may no longer be the 'safe haven' of old. The continuing crisis in Libya, as well as fears of unrest spreading throughout the Middle East has caused investors to seek safety outside the U.S. Specifically, the Euro, once a risky currency (due to the ongoing debt crisis in parts of Europe), is now considered (relatively) safe. Oil prices have risen on speculation Libya has lost

Moorcrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013254843620357039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8562377651444308742.post-21513902113945470692011-01-20T11:14:00.003-05:002011-01-20T11:31:38.756-05:00

Although the U.S. unemployment rate has held at 9.4%, the number of new claims fell to 404,000, below expectations.Economists indicate claims falling below 400,000 will signal that the U.S. unemployment rate will begin to decline.Housing sales have also improved. Scotiabank Group has predicted a global recovery with global output expected to grow 4.2% and 4.4%, respectively, in 2011 and 2012.

Moorcrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013254843620357039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8562377651444308742.post-26283583282894061292010-12-08T15:59:00.004-05:002010-12-08T16:09:20.758-05:00

As with many European countries, Canada will be cutting back on spending in order to rein in the federal deficit.Finance Minister Jim Flaherty did not provide details but said that the government has to scale back spending in order to eliminate the deficit by 2014.Opposition parties are concerned that 'turning off the taps' too soon could hurt the economy and especially those most in need.The

Moorcrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013254843620357039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8562377651444308742.post-91595207808718184982010-08-06T13:25:00.002-04:002010-08-06T13:34:59.260-04:00

Canada's unemployment rate inched up in July, although this appears to be due to layoffs in the Education sector due to the summer months.However, while the Canadian outlook is not too bad overall, the U.S. outlook is far more uncertain. The economy appears to be recovering, but at a slower pace than anticipated.Unemployment is still high in the U.S. and it is not likely to drop significantly,

Moorcrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013254843620357039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8562377651444308742.post-50160431589363394192010-06-14T12:07:00.002-04:002010-06-14T12:25:29.253-04:00

Overworked employees is nothing new to the corporate world but many executives and company owners are still unaware of the negative impact on a company's bottom that a stressed out employee can have. In the worst case, the employee can sue the employer, which is never a good thing. Time and money, not to mention the negative impact on reputation, can ruin a small company and cost a larger

Moorcrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013254843620357039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8562377651444308742.post-33877995244131520882010-03-01T14:49:00.003-05:002010-03-01T15:03:37.855-05:00

Warren Buffett blamed healthcare for dragging down the economy. The U.S. healhcare is bloated and at 17% of GDP, is a much higher cost than healthcare costs of other countries.Warren supported Obama's planned reforms but said he would prefer 'Plan C', one that focused on cutting costs.Warren likened healthcare as a 'tapeworm' and said it was 'eating at our economic body'.While the bloated

Moorcrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013254843620357039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8562377651444308742.post-23951365034063713892010-01-14T16:00:00.005-05:002010-01-14T16:21:22.610-05:00

Although unemployment figures in the U.S. have remained steady at 10.0 %, long-term unemployment has continued to increase. Long-term unemployment is defined as more than 27 weeks unemployment. 39.8% of unemployed Americans, or 6.1 million Americans have been unemployed for at least 27 weeks as of December 2009. This compares to 22.9% of unemployed Americans, or 3.5 million Americans suffering

Moorcrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013254843620357039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8562377651444308742.post-72002499831328006342009-12-17T12:38:00.004-05:002009-12-17T12:56:07.929-05:00

The recent news release from Best Buy (December 15, 2009), of their improved Earnings per Share over last year further confirms the wisdom of not only focused expense management, but also of the advantages of focusing on non-core expenses.Bob Willett, CEO of Best Buy International, noted that "[their] diligent focus on expense management this year" helped improve overall profitability. It was

Moorcrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013254843620357039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8562377651444308742.post-69544598624168916152009-12-03T12:39:00.003-05:002009-12-03T12:58:49.733-05:00

Yesterday, the United Nations came out with a positive forecast for the global economy for 2010. The primary drive will be from Asia. The U.S. is also expected to see modest economic growth.Nevertheless, the U.N. cautioned the growth will be 'fragile' and could fail if stimulus spending stops and if the U.S. deficit and external debt continues to climb. Such a crisis could cause global

Moorcrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013254843620357039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8562377651444308742.post-71169855122231901152009-11-10T14:56:00.005-05:002009-11-10T15:08:03.008-05:00

The recent news that commercial lending giant CIT Corp. is filing for bankruptcy can't be good for small and mid-sized businesses that rely on easy and cost-effective access to credit in order to survive.Although experts are indicating that the short-term impact for retailers will be modest, there is less certainty about the impact by spring. John Holub, president of the New Jersey Retail

Moorcrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013254843620357039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8562377651444308742.post-24494400108658077702009-09-14T14:11:00.005-04:002009-09-14T14:52:40.845-04:00

On the anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers, President Obama urged Wall Street to learn 'the lessons of Lehman' and not repeat the same mistakes.There are many who are suggesting that Wall Street has not learned the lessons of Lehman, opting instead to fight any new regulations that might impede lending, borrowing, investing or any other business the banks are involved in.What lessons

Moorcrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013254843620357039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8562377651444308742.post-35327328214391218112009-09-04T09:48:00.003-04:002009-09-14T14:37:58.773-04:00

I had to post this link to the new Calculator developed that has 16 digits...in order to show the U.S. debt which was $11,792,918,170,836.43 on Sept 1st. this is a sobering thought in light of the rosy economic predictions coming out of Washington. Layoffs have continued, although at a slower rate but there are some signs that a recovery is beginning.The stimulus package has had a positive

Moorcrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013254843620357039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8562377651444308742.post-87765838345590958002009-07-15T15:04:00.003-04:002009-07-15T15:18:04.012-04:00

GMAC Financial Services, formerly Chrysler Financial, has paid off its TARP loan of $1.5 billion. Chrysler used the loan to provide up to 85,000 consumer loans and said it was paying back the TARP loan in order to avoid higher costs.This is a step in the right direction as Chrysler is sending a message to the general public that it is on the road to recovery. It is also demonstrating priority

Moorcrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013254843620357039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8562377651444308742.post-4394699888692717602009-06-15T14:54:00.003-04:002009-06-15T17:40:54.683-04:00

Chrysler Group has emerged from bankruptcy protection as the "New Chrysler" with FIAT owning a 20% stake (with an option to increase to 35% and later 51% if certain financial and operational targets are met).At the helm is CEO of FIAT, Sergio Marchionne, a dual Italian and Canadian citizen. The future for Chrysler was bleak to say the least, but this is a good start considering Marchionne helped

Moorcrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013254843620357039noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8562377651444308742.post-51148234469663325082009-05-01T11:31:00.003-04:002009-05-01T11:47:22.410-04:00

A sector which, in 2001, employed, either directly or indirectly, over 7 million North Americans, is facing further trouble. Since December 2007, the auto sector has lost 27% of its jobs. That's almost 2 million people.With Chrysler going into bankruptcy protection, the number of layoffs are going to climb. Everyone is hoping the merger with FIAT will save the day, but the reality is, the next

Moorcrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013254843620357039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8562377651444308742.post-64992071308760355352009-04-15T13:59:00.005-04:002009-04-15T14:29:57.562-04:00

Mark Zandi, Chief Economist of Moody's Economy.com says GM will file for Chapter 11 protection and that Chrysler will broken up and sold to other companies.Basically, Ford will remain the sole American auto manufacturer...at least on the current scale. GM will come back as a 'shadow of itself'.What is most interesting is Zandi's final point about the lesson in all of this: if you have a

Moorcrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013254843620357039noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8562377651444308742.post-82409695660049664972009-04-13T15:55:00.003-04:002009-04-15T14:22:59.675-04:00

It looks like GM going bankrupt is inevitable. Of course, it would have been better had they gone bankrupt prior to receiving US$ billions of taxpayer money.This is simply the culmination of years of bad management and poor expense management. Bankruptcy is inevitable.Next up: Chrysler... http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=1491378

Moorcrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013254843620357039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8562377651444308742.post-37619239992903993582009-03-30T10:55:00.004-04:002009-04-15T14:25:10.815-04:00

This is a very interesting article which appeared in the New York Times by NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF on March 26, 2009.What's interesting is how 'Hedgehogs'- experts with strong convictions who tend to see things in black and white - provide better 'soundbites' and are thus featured more prominently than 'Foxes' - who are more pragmatic and cautious and tend to be more accurate in predictions - but

Moorcrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013254843620357039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8562377651444308742.post-60104936242304936732009-03-19T12:50:00.003-04:002009-04-15T14:24:22.958-04:00

There have been some rosy predictions about the economy lately. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke predicts the recession will end by the end of this year and the recovery will begin in 2010. Markets have rallied with news the U.S. government is pumping $1.15 trillion into the financial and housing markets.On the other hand, we are still seeing housing prices fall and unemployment figures

Moorcrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013254843620357039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8562377651444308742.post-54389008613768425372009-03-11T13:28:00.004-04:002009-04-15T14:21:56.222-04:00

Along with Ford, Toyota has asked the Canadian government to provide incentives to consumers in order to increase new car sales. These proposals include a $2,700 US incentive to purchase a new vehicle in 2009 as well as credit and tax breaks.Incentives have been proposed in the U.S. including incentives to purchase Hybrid vehicles and other 'buy American' proposals, but while the various auto

Moorcrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013254843620357039noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8562377651444308742.post-7141396205366513182009-03-06T12:54:00.003-05:002009-03-06T13:56:08.475-05:00

Friday, March 6, 2009The Department of Labor announced today that unemployment has risen to 8.1 percent, higher than expected and the highest rate since 1983. A staggering 651,000 jobs were lost in February bringing the total job losses to 4.4 million since December 2007. Back in December I had been predicting unemployment would rise to over 9 percent by the end of 2009 and it appears that,

Moorcrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06013254843620357039noreply@blogger.com2