Saturday, Jan. 03, 2009

Dollars and Sense

OIL PRICES FALL TO HALF OF A YEAR AGO

Exactly one year after crude eclipsed $100 a barrel for the first time, 2009 trading began Friday with prices roughly half their year-ago levels, and some believe oil could be headed even lower. Oil markets kicked off the new year with crude climbing above $46 a barrel. A variety of factors were likely at work, including continued violence in Gaza and expectations that OPEC would carry out its largest production cut ever to stem historic price declines. SOME LOSSES TO MADOFF NOT SO BAD

Some clients of disgraced financier Bernard Madoff are concluding that their losses weren't as bad as originally thought. Three organizations that invested heavily with the Wall Street money manager lowered their estimated losses this week as it became apparent that much of the money that vanished from their balance sheets probably never existed in the first place. 2009 OUTLOOK DISMAL FOR RETAIL

After a long stretch of easy access to capital, a store-building boom and effortless selling to shoppers flush with cash from home-equity loans, the retail landscape is about to get smaller. Retailers are facing what could be the biggest wave of bankruptcies and store closings in history, according to Credit Suisse analyst Omar Saad. The year ahead will be a "healthy and cleansing process," but a disruptive one for many merchants, he said in December. In another report, the International Council of Shopping Centers estimates that 148,000 stores closed in the United States in 2008 and forecasts 73,000 more will shut down in the first half of this year. AUTO SUPPLIER CUTS HOURS, PAYCHECKS

Van Buren Township, Mich.-based automotive supplier Visteon Corp. said Friday it will shift more than 2,000 workers to a four-day week and cut their pay by 20 percent as tight credit and collapsing sales cause huge industry losses. The moves will begin on Monday and affect all 2,000 workers at Visteon's headquarters in Wayne County's Van Buren Township and 50 at a testing center in Plymouth. The company has about 35,000 employees in 27 countries. Visteon recently announced 800 job cuts on top of 2,000 that had been eliminated.