Wal-Mart CEO sees no quick rebound for U.S. economy

The chief executive of Wal-Mart Stores said on Monday that he expects the U.S. economy to remain extraordinarily challenging in the first half of the year and he was not expecting a quick turnaround.

Lee Scott said the U.S. government's efforts to stimulate the economy should have "some impact," but he added: "I don't see anything that tells me it's going to turn around quickly."

"The second half of the year, you would hope, would be better," he said. "We all hope by next Christmas it certainly isn't any worse."

Wal-Mart, the discount giant, has been gaining market share in the past year as consumers seek out its low prices on items such as food and medicine to stretch limited budgets.

But a year-long recession, mounting job losses and tighter access to credit combined to produce the worst holiday sales season in nearly four decades, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers.

Wal-Mart was not immune to the harsh climate and last week posted lower-than-expected December sales and cut its fourth-quarter profit forecast.

Scott said this downturn may fundamentally change people's spending habits.

"I'm not necessarily convinced that just when all this liquidity and things hit, if you're going to have the same immediate desire to go back to consumption and debt," he said, referring to a potential U.S. government stimulus plan.

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Update 2/13/2009:

Wal-Mart Stores announced Tuesday that it is eliminating as many as 800 positions at its headquarters in an effort to reduce costs.

Most of nonfarm jobs lost in CA are housing related

In the year ending in November, 71 percent of the nonfarm jobs lost in California were housing-related.

Many of the nation's leading mortgage lenders -- Countrywide Financial, New Century Financial, IndyMac Bancorp, and Fremont General Corp. -- were based in California and have since been bought by larger banks or gone bankrupt.

Unemployment rate rose to 7.2% in December

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The unemployment rate rose to 7.2% in December, the highest it has been since 1993.

The government also does report a so-called underemployment rate, which includes some part-time workers as well as people who have given up looking for work during the past year. That figure is now 13.5%.

Prior to 1994, all people who were "discouraged workers" were counted in the unemployment survey. But that's no longer the case. So he believes his number is more of an apples-to-apples comparison to some of the numbers cited about the peak level of unemployment during the Great Depression, which was around 25%.

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2/6/2009 update:

Nationwide: 7.6%
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3/6/2009:

Nationwide: 8.1%
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5/8/2009

Nationwide: 8.9%

U.S. consumer bankruptcy rose to 1.06M in 2008

The American Bankruptcy Institute said overall consumer filings rose to 1.06 million in 2008, compared with 801,840 during 2007. The ABI based its study on data from the National Bankruptcy Research Center.

2008 car sales

For the full year, GM's sales fell 23% to 2.95 million vehicles, Ford's declined 21% to 1.98 million and Toyota's U.S. sales declined 15% to 2.22 million vehicles. Chrysler was the No. 4 manufacturer in 2008, with sales of 1.45 million vehicles, down 30%.

12/2008 car sales down near 30%

The nation's six largest automakers all reported December sales declines of more than 30% Monday, capping the industry's worst year since 1992.

Chrysler -53% (from a year ago)
GM -31%
Toyota -37%
Ford -32%
Honda -35%
Nissan -31%
Mazda -27%

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Update: 2/13/2009

Last week, Toyota lowered its sales forecast for the current fiscal year to 7.08 million vehicles from an earlier projection of 8.87 million. It also said it expects to suffer a net loss this year for the first time since 1950.

In January, Toyota's U.S. sales fell 32%, compared with a 49% sales plunge for General Motors (GM, Fortune 500) and Ford's (F, Fortune 500) 40% decline. To top of page

SEC completes distribution of $42M fair fund for improper mutual fund practice

The SEC continued its recent string of Fair Funds distributions on Thursday, announcing the completion of a nearly $32 million Fair Fund distribution to current and former customers of Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. (formerly known as American Express Financial Advisors Inc.) The SEC stated that approximately 575,000 investors were affected by what it alleged were improper mutual fund practices. On April 9, 2008, the SEC approved a distribution plan, and appointed Nelson S. Kibler as the fund administrator responsible for distributing the Fair Fund.

Since June 2008, the SEC has announced Fair Funds distributions in seven other settlements: Franklin-Templeton Investments ($49 million); Banc of America Capital Management ($103 million); Banc of America Securities ($26 million); Spear & Jackson ($5.6 million); Vivendi Universal ($48 million); Janus Capital Management ($18 million); and Putnam Investment Management ($40 million).