JCPenney: Next To Go Under? -- May 6, 2016

Updates

May 7, 2016: next? Lands' End? WSJ is reporting that the catalogue company is struggling. 
 

Original Post

The New York Post is reporting that JCPenney is taking emergency measures to stay afloat:

JCPenney, faced with unexpected light sales in mid-April, slashed payroll, froze overtime and took other drastic cost-cutting steps in an attempt to protect its bottom line.

As the end of its first fiscal quarter approached, the mid-priced department store told store managers to take the emergency measures because the chain faced “an expense challenge."

“We have an expense challenge for the month of April and are asking all stores to do their fair share by closely monitoring all expenses."

Employees were stunned when their hours were slashed on such short notice. The cut in employee hours saved Penney around 800 hours over two weeks — or approximately $8,000 per store.

The emperor has no clothes. I may have to re-look at the rule that does not allow any individual to win multiple Geico Rock awards. Clearly, Barack Obama necessitates a re-look at this rule.

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GDP Now: May 4, 2016

Link here (dynamic link):

The GDPNow model forecast for real GDP growth (seasonally adjusted annual rate) in the second quarter of 2016 is 1.7 percent on May 4, down 0.1 percentage point from May 2.

The forecasts for second-quarter real nonresidential equipment investment growth and the change in private inventory investment declined following this morning's M3 report on manufacturers' shipments, inventories, and orders from the U.S. Census Bureau. While the forecasts for second-quarter real exports and real imports growth increased following the international trade report from the U.S. Census Bureau, the expected contribution of net exports to real GDP growth in the second quarter was virtually unchanged.