shtfplan.com / by Mac Slavo / October 23rd, 2012
When global freight transportation collapsed to record lows in July of this year most analysts wrote it off as an anomaly. In September, when one of the largest retail shipping companies in the world warned of weakening global economic conditions and announced they would slash thousands of jobs, financial markets barely even noticed.
Last week, Google, the largest small business advertising platform on the internet, announced a 21% decline in revenue per share year-over-year, leading to such a rapid decline in their stock price that stock exchange circuit breakers were forced to halt trading. Still, not many financial pundits noticed and investors didn’t seem too worried about the overall picture.
But this morning, investors in the U.S., Europe, and Asia can’t ignore the facts.
In a veritable who’s who of global behemoths, companies with operations across the globe and in many different industries are showing severe strain in a recessionary economic environment that can no longer be papered over.
The weak earnings and dwindling revenues have led to cost-cutting that will add to lost jobs in order to protect profits.
“The writing has been on the wall for a while,” said Peter Jankovskis, co-chief investment officer at OakBrook Investments LLC in Lisle, Illinois.
“It’s a very tough environment, tough to generate new revenues, so it shouldn’t be too big a surprise we are having people miss on that front.“
