ECONOMY

Our Corporate Saviors

10 companies that may lead us out of recession.

Feb 9, 2009 | Updated: 5:22  p.m. ET Feb 9, 2009

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  • Posted By: didimau @ 02/14/2009 12:19:03 PM

    One of the best things that has bee implemented so far is the limiting of bankers and CEO's pay and bonus's while the rest of the country is suffering. These guys are just plain greedy. We Americans have no pity on these morons who rip off the system that makes them a living while they skim big bucks off of the little guy.

    http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/politics_pop/index.html

  • Posted By: didimau @ 02/14/2009 12:16:45 PM

    GM will lead the country out of the recession by the second half of this year. This company has taken its "hits" and is now ready to move forward. Next weeks announcements will be the "right thing" that is going to move the company forward faster than people actually believe.

  • Posted By: Mwalimu @ 02/14/2009 10:01:20 AM

    So Wal-Mart is the leading stock to invest in.
    WalMart finds nothing wrong with importing and sellling toxic merchandise from China. Infact, they import so many toxic products that the FDA and CPA, which WalMart would like to eliminate, can't keep up with them. . Their health insurance is so overpriced and so loaded with deductible that most employees resort to the local emergency wards increasing the tax burdens on everybody. Their massive asphalt parking lots mess up the water table and contribute to water pollution. they drive small mom-and-pop enterprises out of business. In fact, Wal-Mart is small business' greatest enemy.
    Worse, Al profit from overseas sweatshop and child labor. They cheat their employees. Wal-Mart is notorious for off-clock time. And Wal-Mart finds nothing wrong with hiring undoucmented immigrants or so-called "guest" workers whom they treat like sliaves. I'd suggest that McIntyre try living on a Wal-Mart salary and investigate housing options. Barbara Ehrenreich tried it . Maybe McIntyre should read her book Nickel and Dimed to find out what working for Wal-Mart is like. We now have a serious problem with the housing market. How many Wal-Mart workers will ever be able to afford the array of over-priced McMansions that have become toxic assets for the banking industry? Bear in mind the slave labor wages Wal-Mart pays its workers both in the US and abroad also destroy our economy's customer base. You can't sell a computer to some one who doesn't earn enough to buy food. That's the big reason we're in a recession and a dimey little tax cut won't help.
    McIntyre's article represents the stupdity of traditional economic thinking, which also fuels the GOP. That's the one reason I voted for change.
    P.S. I do own stock. Wal-Mart and is exploitative labor practices are screwing my portfolio.

  • Posted By: Nowforsomemoretruth @ 02/12/2009 10:21:14 AM

    I guess you don't like the NY Times either??? The truth is out there.

    http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0DE7DB153EF933A0575AC0A96F958260

    http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E06E3D6123BF932A2575AC0A9659C8B63

  • Posted By: Alex Wu @ 02/12/2009 8:20:54 AM

    Very good opinions about recovery and recession, these phenomena might remind people the winter is leaving and the spring is coming. The problem is where we can get the information lively. Everyone suffered the recession enough and hopes global economy comes back it normal track. But who can do this job?

  • Posted By: Nowforsomemoretruth @ 02/11/2009 7:08:28 PM

    Unfortunately, Congress today didn't get a chance to cross examine the real culprits:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MGT_cSi7Rs

    • Posted By: bkrummel @ 02/11/2009 9:30:31 PM

      I don't recall the article saying anything about Obama or the Democrats being good or bad for the economy. Please read the article and stay on topic. Thank you.

  • Posted By: jnakhoul @ 02/11/2009 3:39:21 PM

    what an absolutely stupid article, unless mcdonalds wants to open up another 100,000 chains to employ the 7.9 percent of americans out of work

  • Posted By: DanTMan @ 02/10/2009 2:33:45 PM

    What about the Oil Companies? If govermnent would relax all the red tape and regulations and let them get at the domestic oil, think about all the jobs that would be created. Not to mention the tax revenue to Federal, State and local goverments.

    • Posted By: jnakhoul @ 02/11/2009 3:31:48 PM

      yeah because im sure they wouldnt mind if we cut their huge subsidies

    • Posted By: markmier @ 02/10/2009 4:26:28 PM

      Exactly! And then when they spill oil all over the land and oceans, then the government can pay other people to clean it all up! Genius!

  • Posted By: atleasticanread @ 02/10/2009 4:00:02 PM

    Obviously the three posters preceding this have trouble reading and believe that this article was about video game quality or an affront to small business owners. The article is well written and makes a good case for signs that the economy may be on its way back by watching for changes in their performance or forecasting.

    • Posted By: barfly @ 02/10/2009 4:04:44 PM

      I understand that, but EA makes terrible games...

      • Posted By: jnakhoul @ 02/11/2009 2:58:43 PM

        hhahaha with terrible music too

  • Posted By: GregHere @ 02/10/2009 7:35:49 PM

    .............................I think that the Obama Administration will be working with many of our Corporations to create synergies between Government and the Private Sector that will produce good results for our citizens in ways that are not just profit/greed oriented. The Bush Crew just failed us completely and worked for the betterment of the rich elite which led to the mess that we are in now. We will be seeing forward thinking projects going by Summer but it will take time to reverse the damage that backwards Bush caused.

    • Posted By: wtoc @ 02/10/2009 8:56:06 PM

      it was clinton that started deregulation. granted bush did not gaurd the sheep very well,but clinton showed the wolves where to look

  • Posted By: dredai @ 02/11/2009 1:56:08 AM

    I'd have to agree with the few people that actually "READ" this article because it makes a very interesting argument that watching number 2 (Target) and not number 1 (all you Wal-Mart bashers) is a sign of growth. I feel it's true because when we start to spend money on the number 2 companies in these industries it's telling us that we can afford to bypass the leader to buy something that tends to be a little more expensive and of maybe of better quality. Kudos bkrummel

    • Posted By: NeitherLeftNorRight @ 02/11/2009 2:01:33 PM

      I'll second that. I enjoy reading the posts on newsweek.com, but I'm getting sick and tired of people not staying on topic and not engaging in intelligent debate - the purpose of this forum. If you want to bash Obama, fine, do it on a column that has relevance to what he did today. If you want to bash GWB, well, good luck finding an article about him anymore - we've turned the page. But this is just so typical - so many people lash out just because they see the word "Walmart" and don't even read the article to find out that it doesn't claim Walmart to be our savior, rather just recommends keeping an eye on the secondary players in various industries to get an idea when the economy might be on the upswing. Jeez, it's exhausting.

  • Posted By: RO in Reno @ 02/11/2009 8:58:07 AM

    Wal Mart? You have to be kidding; the one company that has killed off 10's of thousands of jobs, killed off 10's of thousands of small businesses in both the manufacturing and retail sectors.
    The company that has no qualms about paying much less than a living wage and actively opposes any voice in labor?
    The only other entity in this country more responsible for killing free enterprise in this country is the IRS.
    And now you see them as our savior?
    The problem with America is far too many are now the product of an educational system that actually teaches people to be dumb.
    You know the educational system I'm talking about, the one that denies the very existence of science and promotes thinking very very small.

    This reminds me of Nixons "Service Economy" it was years before I could get an answer to just what that meant.
    The obvious was Americas industrial might was being sent to Japan. The fact the yellow pages are 25% attorneys is also a clue.
    But finally it was revealed to me, the service economy was based on companies like Disney Land. We sent money to Japan for steel and they came to Disney land and spent it.
    It does work Disney land is doing very well, it just doesn't work for anyone not directly involved with Disney land. Roughly 99.9% of America.

    The writer of this article should get a life and a brain, as it stands he's a good Republican and not much else.

    • Posted By: Holly Garfield @ 02/11/2009 12:25:51 PM

      Reply to RO in Reno about Wal-Mart: Wally World may have taken out mom and pop stores, but those stores were inefficient and cost the customers money. Wal-Mart is the country???s second biggest employer, so jobs were transferred, not lost. Wal-Mart customers get more ???bang for the buck??? saving low income families large sums of money. The pay may be low for employees, but most of that lower cost savings is passed on to the customer, strengthening the overall economy. Contrary to killing off free enterprise, it is the epitome of free enterprise. What other retailer in the country can sell you everything you need to set up an apartment from scratch at 2 in the morning, including food, clothing, furniture, supplies and small appliances??? Certainly not the mom and pop stores. What other retailer provides complete one stop shopping for low income families? None. Wal-Mart is supplying a business model which is propagating throughout the entire retail industry providing other retailers with efficient, cost-cutting, customer-saving ideas.

      One of the basic principles of free enterprise is the survival of the fittest, not the survival of all. Mom and pop stores had their day, but large corporate retailers from the founding of Sears over a century ago have been eating into them. Wal-Mart is only the current version of Sear, Woolworth, K-Mart, etc. Each one brought something new to retailing, for the benefit of the customer. In the meantime the convenience store is also surviving and thriving as an improved version of the corner store. And many of the improvements in convenience stores come from the Wal-Mart business model.

  • Posted By: Nowforsomemoretruth @ 02/11/2009 11:20:06 AM

    When it comes to the economy, Obama is quite simply a liar. Hear him in his own words.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lr1M1T2Y314&feature=related

  • Posted By: OHIO Worker in distress @ 02/10/2009 7:06:09 PM

    lets see .. Walmart... buys mostly Made in CHINA... seriously.. thats the last place I shop..
    I support my local hardware store.... and I sure eat better (healthlly) than at McDonalds...

    Wake up America... (we're stupid... or at least Minnesota is.. electing a comedian to the Senate when we need people with experience in economics and banking .. what committee will he serve on? the morale committee.. ???

    • Posted By: barfly @ 02/11/2009 10:07:12 AM

      I love Minnesota, but remember they voted in Jesse "The Body" Ventura as well...

  • Posted By: bobcat4424 @ 02/11/2009 9:12:47 AM

    If these are the companies that will lead us out of "recession" then we are in for a long stay. Simple math will tell you that half the stocks traded will "outperform" the DJIA since it is an average of performance. One would expect a fourth grader to realize the silliness of the statement. Past recessions have largely been "rolling recessions" with one or more sectors remaining healthy. The healthy sectors held the line and others perked up and led us out. But now we have no healthy sectors and toothpaste is unlikely to lead us out.

  • Posted By: rgengel @ 02/11/2009 9:00:47 AM

    Walmarts top strength is its ability to keep unions from depositing fecal matter in their fish bowl.

  • Posted By: Munsta Boy @ 02/11/2009 8:41:21 AM

    Wall Mart should be your example Corporate America. You have the ability to fight back on costs to the customers you serve. They are sitting on piles of money all because of what they offer to the average Joe. You don't seem to get that picture anyone of you in any industry. America knows this, we are the 2/3rds of the buying power of a nation yet you constantly keep ignoring us. Get a clue. Your get rich garbage you were taught in colleges all across this country is a fading glory hole. You created this bubble and it backfired on you. You lobbied for it and it slapped you in the face. Your blind as a bat in a dark cave of selfishness and you can't see past your own noses. You know nothing about the core issues of a society to have a decent life in a country where we all prosper. Wal-Mart stepped up to the plate and offered this to the average American, you would be best to take a huge clue from them and cut your lifestyles down and work hard at getting to where they are and will be for years to come. I don't care if I support China, India, Ukrane, or where ever. Your the ones that sewed yourselves into this glory hole and your the only ones that will have to cut your way out of it. Made in America costs too much and its because of your unwillingness to compromise on your own lifestyles changes that make it as such. Its high time Corporate America wake up to the fact that we are tired of paying the high price of living in this country. Deflation is running rampant now and you FED it. Now you deal with it.

    Americans now knows they have a voice and they now know they have a power. We will use it and if you get steam rolled by it you have only yourself to blame for it due to your unwillingness to see past your own selfishness. Lay the rest of your workers off and get out of business cause you really don't have any reason being there.

  • Posted By: finncrisp @ 02/10/2009 8:35:00 PM

    greghere is a leftist stooge - please put down the kool-aid and get some real food. Obama is the representative of Godless statism and is trying to flush america down the drain with spending a deficits as far as the eye can see. How are higher taxes, higher energy prices, no growth in oil or coal production, and a Weak America policy forward thinking?

    • Posted By: mayboy20 @ 02/11/2009 3:15:44 AM

      Well if Obama is the representative of a Godless society, then let's by all means bring back G Dub and start WW3. Let's get it over with. Let all the Bible thumpers blow us all to hell because they hate anyone who is not on their God train 100%. You talk about the spending that Obama is proposing, but our former Commander in Chief started one too many wars and spent and taxcut us into this situation. Yeah we need more God fearing people like G.W. that is looking out for the wealthy, to hell with the working class and the poor, they're only good for fighting all the war for the wealth. God Bless America.!!!!!!

    • Posted By: mayboy20 @ 02/11/2009 3:14:32 AM

      Well if Obama is the representative of a Godless society, then let's by all means bring back G Dub and start WW3. Let's get it over with. Let all the Bible thumpers blow us all to hell because they hate anyone who is not on their God train 100%. You talk about the spending that Obama is proposing, but our former Commander in Chief started one too many wars and spent and taxcut us into this situation. Yeah we need more God fearing people like G.W. that is looking out for the wealthy, to hell with the working class and the poor, they're only good for fighting all the war for the wealth. God Bless America.!!!!!!

  • Posted By: maytheforcebewithyou @ 02/10/2009 8:33:41 PM

    Wal Mart and good merchandise in the same sentence? You must be out of your mind. IIt is cheap chinese junk.

    • Posted By: bkrummel @ 02/11/2009 12:27:50 AM

      At Walmart, I often buy the Smucker's Squeeze jelly containers, Campbell's soup, Dial soap, Kleenex, school supplies, and other food and supplies. I don't know if this stuff is "made in China" (really don't care), but it certainly isn't "cheap junk". It's inexpensive stuff that I need.

  • Posted By: bkrummel @ 02/11/2009 12:23:17 AM

    Interesting article, Douglas McIntyre. The article seems to suggest watching the number two in various consumer spending areas as a way of gauging consumer confidence. Cool idea.

    This list is also compelling since a number of the places he mentioned, including Walmart, Target, Staples, Starbucks, etc., are places that I spend my money and as a result I think the article seems to have a good grasp on what the number 2 places for consumer spending are.

    It seems like several of you posting here missed the point or didn't read the article and preferred to post about your personal agendas. This is ridiculous. You should read the article and stay on topic. That said, some of you seem to dislike Walmart or promote "buy American". Personally, if I need or truly want to buy something and have the money, I buy the product, at the best overall quality and low price I can find. I don't care if it's at Walmart or "made in America", just as long as it's what I want and not overpriced. It's amazing how often Walmart has something I need of good quality that I can get elsewhere, but Walmart has the best price. I love Walmart, save the long checkout lines, so please don't knock it.

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