Headcount: Woe Be Gone

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single mode figure 12/5/2012 | 12:11:34 AM

re: Headcount: Woe Be Gone Here in the SV prices might be holding, due to it's international demographics. There are foreclosures rallying monthly, and properties are sitting on the market. On the penninsula, what we locals call it, people are living off their equity in their homes, and many are patiently waiting for the SV to rally yet again. What is certain is that the desperation is felt, seen and very visable at all levels.

Portland and Seattle has many, many homes on the market, areas like Queen Anne, nice neighborhoods, have so many homes on the market, it might just tumble.

On balance

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opticalwatcher 12/5/2012 | 12:11:33 AM

re: Headcount: Woe Be Gone What helps Silicon Valley and the SF Bay Area in general is that home ownership is very low, and prices are also pretty high outside the immediate Bay Area. So when interest rates or prices drop, a large new customer base enters the real estate market. This explains why the high end of the real estate market is terrible, but the low and middle end pricing is holding pretty well.

Rent prices are finally dropping and interest is starting to inch upward. So if the economy doesn't improve soon, we may see prices go downward. Because of forces I mentioned above, however, the bubble isn't going to 'pop', just 'deflate' a little.

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whyiswhy 12/5/2012 | 12:11:31 AM

re: Headcount: Woe Be Gone Good point. The press portrays the phenomena as consumers taking advantage of lower interest rates to save money, fix up their homes, and other "positive" spins. In truth, a large part (majority?) of the re-financing has gone to paying off the credit cards they initially floated their families on, and the balance went into savings. Thus the increase in savings statistics a few months back. Now, that metric is falling as people pay the mortgage and buy food due to continued un- and under-employment. This is seen by the fact that although interest rates have continued to fall over tha last few months, the volume of refinancing is way way down. The US consumer is loaded to the gills with mortgage debt, and no equity to burn. A rise in interest rates caused by deficit spending will burst that bubble, big time.

Home equity was going to pay for a nice retirement, now people are eating their retirement, and Social Security will not be there.

-Why

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fud9999 12/5/2012 | 12:11:28 AM

re: Headcount: Woe Be Gone
You can add Procket to the list of companys
trying to boost earnings by cutting heads. Oh
that's right they don't have any earnings.

I heard at least 100 talented folks are going to
pursue other interests.

Looks like the sales cycle for Atlas is longer
than the sales guys thought. Go figure.

Give me liberty or give me death!

Hank

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networker2003 12/5/2012 | 12:11:27 AM

re: Headcount: Woe Be Gone How much cash do they still have? Just curious.

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ThurstonHowell3rd 12/5/2012 | 12:11:24 AM

re: Headcount: Woe Be Gone OH MY!!! I don't know what is more breathtaking... the story run by LR - assumably because they have space to fill... or the drival on this discussion thread regarding housing prices...

The only amusing post is the one referring to 100 talented people being at Procket (HA!) That's almost as amusing as referring to either the SCMR or CORV management teams being adept at anything more then driving a stapler....

Makes me wonder (wistfully) when Light Reading will put its domain name up for sale...

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metro_ether_man 12/5/2012 | 12:11:20 AM

re: Headcount: Woe Be Gone This is all very interesting.
Yes, it is bad, very bad all over.
Take a look in any Sunday newspaper
from any metro area at the legal-notices
section! Forclosure market is great, if your looking to buy. Most of the people that took
out equity in thier homes are using it to live
on for the past two years. It's pretty bad when you can pick a neighborhood and every other house is for rent, sale or lease.

Took a ride yesterday through some of the industrial parks, empty buildings, 5-10 cars
in parking lots that once held 5-10 thousand.

Oh and yes our government would like you to think everything is O.K. Take a look at how the get those numbers. It's not a running list from oh let's say june 2001. This is a great depression
not recession.

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malakraday1 12/5/2012 | 12:11:08 AM

re: Headcount: Woe Be Gone This is a depression not a recession as the previous poster points out. The sooner people realize this the sooner we can face up to what we have to do to fix it.

When FDR took office in 1933 there was 25% unemployment and the banks were closed. On his inauguration he said those infamous words "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself" Did anyone growing up in the great bull market of the '80's and '90's really understand what he meant by 'fear'.

All too often this speech is mixed up on television with footage from Pearl Harbor as a broad swipe across the history of the period. Fear, in the context of this type of content, is usually associated with the anticipation of war. In fact the speech took place on March 4, 1933 at the height of the first great depression. Hitler had only become Chancellor 3 months previous.

No...the fear of which FDR speaks is a fear that we are becoming familiar with today. It is a type of desperation that comes with economic uncertainty. Check out this website, http://www.depression2.tv/week..., if you want to face the stark reality of the current depression. The links presented at this site are a reflection of the dark side of the economy. They are always pessimistic and are put together by people, who I believe are gold bulls, so take it with a grain of salt.

Here is an example of a link they had today. http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/loca...

America resolved its fear in the '30's by putting people back to work. Individually we must try to confront this fear in our own ways but we must be aware of it and not pretend it isn't there. Fear is spreading...it is contagious and it is a psychological trap that makes people stagnant.

It is a good time to take stock of what is really important in life. It is time to mend fences with people you've been angry with and it is time to spend more time with family even if your still working. It is a good time to take a walk in the woods, in the park, by the ocean or along the river. It is a time to deal with your own fears and look at them honestly. In doing this we all have to remember to try to keep control of our emotions. To try to keep things in perspective.

One thing I've heard recently, which I think is quite true, is that people who will survive this depression will do so by creating their own opportunities. Don't just rely on corporations or government to give you a job. If it has been months and months since you've had a job think about your talents...what you have that can bring you a measure of economic properity. Be creative! Don't wallow in self pity either.

The internet is built, unless government steps in to spur growth and build it out some more it is what it is. It won't be upgraded until this economic malaise is over. Try 10 - 20 years. Carriers will only fix what is broken...they won't upgrade. This is reality.

Some say I have lost all hope. That is not true. After all this economic destruction a multidecade bull market will ensue. Things will be great again and maybe America will build things instead of just providing 'services'. But a lot has to happen before the conditions are right for a bull market. The S&P is still trading at above 30 times earnings. People will hate stocks at the end of this bear market and companies will be trading at 5 - 7 times earnings at the bottom. Bear markets slide down a slope of hope while bull markets climb a wall of worry. We are just beginning to feel that worry.

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Panglossian 12/5/2012 | 12:11:06 AM

re: Headcount: Woe Be Gone > The links presented at this site are a reflection of the dark
> side of the economy. They are always pessimistic and are
> put together by people, who I believe are gold bulls, so
> take it with a grain of salt.

Gold bulls.

I was watching the Ten Commandments the other night when that Dathan guy said "Yo, where's your Moses now?" (that Edward G. Robinson is just trouble). So, Joshua, Moses brother who's supposed to provide some leadership makes this Gold Bull so that all of the folks have something to worship. Talk about depression! You'd be depressed, too, wandering around in the desert! (it's like working for Lucent!)

Earlier in the movie, Moses killed Vincent Price. That was cool. I fell asleep before the movie ended. It's a long movie. I think that Moses comes down from this hill and later on winds up killing the baby Jesus or something like that.

--Pangloss

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dljvjbsl 12/5/2012 | 12:11:05 AM

re: Headcount: Woe Be Gone
This is a depression not a recession as the previous poster points out. The sooner people realize this the sooner we can face up to what we have to do to fix it.

The economy is growing so this is not even a recession let alone a depression. There was a bubble market in optical networking which burst causing a great deal of personal hardship. However it is not a recession.

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