Word: retailers
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...market confirmed Citi's stressed state. The cost of credit-default swaps that protect investors from losing money on Citi's bonds skyrocketed, signaling a lack of confidence in the bank's ability to survive. Bankruptcy rumors circulated, and fears grew that people doing business with Citi - including its retail banking customers - would pull their money. At that point, regulators felt they had no other option but to step...
...careful whose gift cards you buy this season. As retailers struggle with recession, debt-laden consumers, unfriendly bankers and declining property values, fewer of them will be around next year. "By the end of 2009, the number of retail players will be down by at least 25% and could be down by as much as 40%," says Britt Beemer, chairman of America's Research Group, a consumer-research and marketing firm based in Charleston, S.C. "I expect the number of bankruptcies next year to be more than we've seen in the last five years combined...
...Already, some 20 retailers have sought bankruptcy protection this year, with such household names as Circuit City, Steve & Barry's, Linens 'n Things and Mervyns going under. Of those four, only Circuit City is attempting to restructure its business, closing 155 stores by the end of the year in an effort to emerge as a leaner operation. The other three plan to liquidate altogether, a trend that is on the rise as a result of the lack of potential buyers for troubled assets and a tightening of credit offerings by banks. "The days of restructuring are gone," says Howard Davidowitz...
...store owners big and small, 'tis the season of sweating brows. U.S. retail sales dropped a record 2.8% last month, just the latest in a string of bad months. By the end of 2008, 148,000 retail establishments will have closed, the largest number since 2001, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers. A rough holiday season will produce an additional 73,000 store closings in the first half of 2009, the council predicts. "In the first six months of next year there will be a lot more retail museums than retail stores," says Beemer...
...pillars in the crisis: guaranteeing money-market funds after a run began on them in October; opening the Fed lending windows wide to keep credit from freezing completely; and intervening to wind down big players with a semblance of order, without which we could have seen a retail panic against a Merrill or Wachovia or AIG. As Treasury Secretary, Geithner will play a large role in erecting the last pillar - regulating risk and leverage in the shadow banking system...