Timesizing® Associates

---

dooms du jour, Nov/1999
[Commentary] ©1999 Phil Hyde, The Timesizing Wire, Box 117, Harvard Sq, Cambridge MA 02238 USA (617) 623-8080

11/30/99 tue - 0 downsizings reported
but 2 bankruptcies mentioned: • broke Sidanko unit Chernogorneft bought by Tyumen Oil for a song, thus wiping BP Amoco's $½b investment in Sidanko • Yale's bookstore busted
+ 13 takeovers reported, totaling $695m + $$undisclosed
+ 1 clunker - judge lets would-be profiteering military contractor into Antarctic
vs. glimmers of hope - physicians can finally start healing selves, get NLRB to let interns unionize to cut their notoriously long workweeks
<<< ½YTD totals:  238 dnsz (330,751 jobcuts +?) + 1072 takov ($1027.1B+)
vs. 40 upsz (40,760 {12%} +?) + 46 untakov ($189.2B+?) >>>

11/28-29 - weekend roundup, per NY Times (& Boston Globe):
• 9 downsizings reported this week (over 7650 jobs gone)
• 39 takeovers reported (valued at $26.3B+)
• 1 bankruptcy mentioned (tue):  Holzmann in Germany
vs. 1 UPsizing (500 new jobs) & 2 UNtakeovers ($135.733B)
<<<½YTD totals:  238 dnsz (330,751+ jobcuts/12%) & 1058 takov ($1022.1B+)
vs. 40 upsz (40,760+ new jobs) & 46 untk ($189.2B+)>>>
+ 1 Sunday takeover reported: Redback gulps Siara for $4.3B
vs. glimmers of hope:   • 500 organizations in Seattle protest near-sighted WTO
• Wisconsin paperboard union protests corporate push to bring 12-hour shifts back from the dead
+ New Features menu: • Phil Hyde challenges Ted Kennedy in Y2K Senate race on shorter hrs platform
• Timesizing.com, "Timesizing Not Downsizing," now political party devoted to trimming the workweek
• goodnews split in three: regular, high test & transition
• half-year to date totals - see above <<<>>>
• site decolorized for visually impaired
• opus errata online

11/27 sat - 1 downsizing – 3300 jobs lost in Scots highlands as US-based Barmac overreacts to last year's news (= low oil prices) & bags most of its workforce
+ 6 takeovers reported, totaling $16B + $undisclosed
+ 2 clunkers - US about to approve Exxon-Mobil merger &
Calif. already hurting from high gas prices, low oilco. competition
vs. glimmers of hope:  • personal incomes rose in Oct., but inflated by bonuses & subsidies (& top execs?)
• Hong Kong grew 4.5% in Q3, but caught in deflationary spiral (but had world's highest prices) 
• 1 UPsizing - IBM to hire 500 sales staff, but just laid off 1100 marketers
<<< ½YTD totals:  238 dnsz (330,751 jobcuts +?) + 1058 takov ($1.022T+$?)
vs. 40 upsz (40,760 {12%} +?) + 46 untakov ($189.223B+?) >>>

11/26 fri - 0 downsizings & takeovers reported from U.S. Thanksgiving holiday -
1 clunker - Germany's consensus economy shakin' from 1-2 punch: • Vodafone's hostile bid for Mannesmann (but if France could stonewall Coke...)  • Holzmann's flirtation with bankruptcy
vs. glimmers of hope:  • Japan experiencing a bracing gust of ESL (English as Second Language)
• Philly's Back Home Cafe models how we can anchor the excluded back in the job market
<<< ½YTD totals:  237 dnsz (327,451 jobcuts +?) + 1052 takov ($1.006T+$?)
vs. 39 upsz (40,260 {12%} +?) + 46 untakov ($189.223B+?) >>>

11/25 thu - 2 downsizings reported, totaling 900 jobs lost + unspecified: 
• overall 900 jobs lost as Goodyear finishes shutting down its tire plant in Italy
• Ford itches to apply suicidal efficiency to its luxury-car sales operations
+ 7 takeovers reported, totaling $883m + $$undisclosed
vs. glimmers of hope:  • Stiglitz quits World Bank, uncorks scorn for conventional nostrums for poor nations • 1 UNtakeover: France vetoes Coke's $733m bid for Orangina
<<<½YTD totals:  237 dnsz (327,451 jobcuts +?) + 1052 takov ($1.006T+$?)
vs. 39 upsz (40,260 {12%} +?) + 46 untakov ($189.223B+?)>>>

11/24 wed - 3 downsizings reported, totaling 3350 jobs lost + unspecified: 
• 11% cut (3,000 jobs) dragged across 13 demoralizing months as KeyCorp lurches to yet another "strategic" initiative to cut costs, instead of doing an 11% workweek cut (to 35.6 hrs) & keeping everyone earning & banking normally
• 5% staff cut (350 fatalities) hemmorrhaging for 9 depressed months as Hillenbrand holdings forces Hill-Rom medicos to do their own paperwork, vs. a 5% hours trim & everyone stays, pulling together
• unspecified cuts as Cole National closes 150 optical depts. in Montgomery Ward stores
+ 9 takeovers reported, totaling $3.5b + $$undisclosed
<<<½YTD totals:  235 dnsz (326,551 jobcuts +?) + 1045 takov ($1.005T+$?)
vs. 39 upsz (40,260 {12%} +?) + 45 untakov ($188.49B+?)>>>
vs. glimmers of hope:  • French economy humming - fastest growth in Europe - due to shorter workweek?
• Compaq starts granting stock beyond management to all 68,000 employees, 200 options apiece

11/23 tue - 3 downsizings reported, totaling 100 jobs lost + unspecified: 
• ½% workforce cut (100 jobs) in software division as IBM does 3rd round of layoffs in 6 wks, instead of just ½% workweek cut (to 39.8 hrs) & keeping everyone working & spending normally
• ?? cuts as Hollywood Pk sells only assets of 2 Missip. casinos to Pinn National Gaming
• unspecified cuts as Tufts Health Plan pulls out of Maine, N.H., R.I.
+ 17 takeovers reported, totaling $5.9b + $$undisclosed
+ 1 bankruptcy mentioned - German govt cools on $2½B bailout of big builder Holzmann
<<<½YTD totals:  232dnsz (323,201 jobcuts +?) + 1036 takov ($1.002T +$?)
vs. 39 upsz (40,260 +?) + 45 untakov ($188.49B+?)>>>
vs. glimmers of hope:  • Times reader thinks French health secret includes short workweek, long vacation & national health insurance, as well as great food
• 1 UNtakeover - Mannesmann employees oppose Vodafone's new $135B hostile bid

11/21-22 week's roundup, per NY Times (& Boston Globe):
• 15 downsizings reported this week (over 37,865+ jobs gone)
• 59 takeovers reported (valued at $26B+)
• 1 bankruptcy mentioned (tue):  Crown Bks emerging
• 1 work-related suicide (sat): Kim Jansen, COO of: Atlantic Monthly, US News, Fast Co.
vs. 2 upsizings (? new jobs) & 1 untakeover ($?)
<<<½YTD reports:  229D (323,101 jobcuts +?) + 1019T ($995.8B +$?)
vs. 39 upsz (40,260 +?) + 44 untk ($53.49B+?)>>>
+ clunkers: • top 325 have more than ½ Earth population (average less than $2/hr)
• GOP go seriously suicidal: offer handgun as raffle prize in Md.
vs. glimmers of hope:   "Crime" in Denmark
+ NEW FEATURES roundup: • Phil Hyde to challenge Ted Kennedy in 2000
• Timesizing.com, "Timesizing Not Downsizing," now political party devoted to trimming the workweek
• goodnews split in 3: regular, high test & transition
• site decolorized for visually impaired
• opus errata online

11/20 sat - 2 downsizings reported, totaling 6400 jobs lost: 
• 6,000 jobs to go over next 2 yrs as Canada's biggest bank (the Royal) reacts perversely to rising earnings, vs. just trimming hours, not pay, to centrifuge spending power & boost flagging economy
• 400 employees tossed up in the air as GM sells financial holding, assets-only, to Arthur Andersen - all 400 will be "given opportunity" to transfer
+ 7 takeovers reported, totaling $473m + $$undisclosed
+ 1 work-related suicide?
+ clunkers:  • U.S. now meddling in Caspian
• NYT ed observer now whining re soc sec integrity
vs. glimmers of hope:  • Gen. Acctg. Office slams White House for inadequate hedge-fund protections
• Senate approves budget pkg but breaks spending limits
• Economist Mag admits puzzled by US economy
• Boston, Mass. fluke - mfg wages up bigtime, jobs up slightly, but = only 5% of all jobs & return to losses projected
• 1 UNtakeover - Ocean Spray drops urge to merge

11/19 fri - 1 downsizing reported, totaling 600 jobs lost: 
• 10% workforce cut as Newbridge Networks in Canada overreacts to poor results, instead of just doing a 10% workweek cut (to 36 hrs), keeping everyone employed & spending normally
+ 13 takeovers reported, totaling $4¼B + $$undisclosed
+ clunkers: • trade gap still growing - now record $24.4B  • stock swindlers abounding
• living wage campaigns broaden to list of demands, verge on relearning advantage of all-in-one demand: enforce and lower maximum hours
vs. glimmers of hope:  • U.S. afraid of indirectly funding the crushing of Chechen democracy
• Mass. Lt. Gov. Jane Swift announces $13m plan state workers to telecommute, jobshare & take family time off
• US House bans 'cybersquatters'  • 1 UNtakeover - Global Industries drops purchase of Groupe GTM's offshore bldg unit
• NEW FEATURE - Timesizing.com Party (code M) now listed on our political links page

11/18 thu - 'racing to the bottom' against Japan while shouting 'boom economy!' -
5 downsizings reported, totaling 22,200 jobs lost + unspecified: 
• 9.4% workforce cut (sayonara to 21,000) as NTT in Japan abreacts to shrinking sales & forced pricecuts, instead of a 9.4% workweek cut (to 36¼-hrs/wk), keeping all jobs & maintaining their greatest national treasure, their independence-supporting domestic consumer base
• 700 employees to go as Dow AgroSciences fights "the downturn in the U.S. farm economy"?!
• 3.5% staff cut (500 jobs) as Kennametal shrinks operations & maximizes damage of declining earnings, instead of 3.5% hours&pay cut (to 38.6/wk) & everyone stays employed & spending almost normally
• unspecified jobs lost as Fintube and • American Gaming & Electronics have their "assets acquired" (but not their employees)
+ 10 more takeovers reported, totaling $1.66B + $$undisclosed
+ clunkers:  • need for skills falling on wrong people
• stock market splitting further between tech blimp & all the rest - like American society
• Y2K cost put at $1/day/person for a year
vs. glimmers of hope:  • konfessions of a konservative  • a small example of timesizing at EBay
• NYT readers say "Physician, heal thyself - of megahours"  • IRS workers get tables turned on them by Treasury agents

11/17 wed - - the mesmerizing specter of a huge economy cannibalizing its own future -
4 downsizings reported, totaling 5605 jobs + unspecified:  • 10% workforce cut (2500 jobless) as Quest Diagnostics shutters/shrinks labs after taking over SmithKline Beecham's in Aug., instead of 10% workweek cut (36-hrs), keeping everyone employed & maintaining their (& economy's) consumer base
• 5% staff cut (500 people trashed) after Sept. consolidation of Crompton&Knowles with Witco into CK Witco food&drug additives, instead of 5% hours cut (38-hr wk) & all keep working & food shopping
• 33% cut (85 humans) as Azurix (a "water co."??) misses earnings estimates, vs. 33% hours&pay cut for all to minimize jolt 
• 20 employees cut due to seasonal sales at Fresh Samantha in Maine - so they gonna rehire them (if they're still there) in spring? - what chumps!
+ 10 takeovers reported, totaling $12.7B + $$undisclosed
+ prisonwatch:  latest data show black percentage on death row (43%) is 3 times percentage in general population - we can make it much much easier to earn an honest living
+ clunkers:  • Clinton makes devil's own bargain to get GOP to pay our UN dues
• Mass. becoming dependent on poor immigrant workers - new slave economy?
• "Looking for a company with a solid customer base?" - ominous fullpage ad
• new Internet freedoms force us to relearn many old lessons
• ever-bigger ships, ever-bigger trucks, ever-smaller brains
vs. glimmers of hope:  • mgmt guru turns 90 - Drucker "still preaches" customers over profits (perhaps short-term tiresome - but long-term true)  • Dow's newest member, lawsuit-clouded Microsoft, unthroned by oldest member, GE
• 2 UPsizings - by 2003, Marriott to add 1000 hotels - by 2002, Sonus Networks to open 7 offices (but quick downsizings & slow upsizings build lethal lag in consumer spending)

11/16 tue - 2 downsizings reported, totaling 3000 jobs + unspecified:  • 10% workforce to go as Philipp Holzmann construction execs make same mistake twice investing in E.German real estate, instead of 10% workweek cut (to 36 hrs...or 33¾ hrs if we're starting from 37½) & everyone keeps their job
• 35% staff cut at New York's GT Interactive videogames in May surfaces today as "Deer Hunter" risks "Total Annihilation" via takeover by Infogrames of Paris
+ 1 bankruptcy mentioned: Crown Books Corp. emergeth
+ 17 takeovers reported, totaling $5.12b + $$undisclosed
+ prisonwatch:  Massachusetts inmates allege reign of terror
+ clunkers:  • Russia seeks $12B debt forgiveness - a mere bagatelle  • lobbying getting worse in DC
• high tech companies whine about skill shortage - can they spell T-R-A-I-N-I-N-G?
vs. glimmers of hope:  • NYT reader nails the flat tax
• NEW FEATURES - Good news distilled & split into market reinvestment & adjustable workweek pages

11/14-15 - week's roundup, per NY Times (& Boston Globe):
• 8 downsizings reported this week (over 9319 jobs gone)
• 1 bankruptcy mentioned (sat):  Filene's Basement
• 47 takeovers reported (totaling $13.6b + $undisclosed)
vs. 5 upsizings (650 new jobs +?) & 4 untakeovers ($13.26 +$?)
<<<½YTD reports:  214D (285,236 jobcuts +?) + 960T ($969.81B +$?)
vs. 37 upsz (40,260 +?) + 43 untk ($53.49B+?)>>>
+ 2 weekend takeover reports, totaling $1.8b + $undisclosed
+ 1 weekend downsizing report: 60 jobs "moved" as Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide advertising closes Houston office
vs. glimmers of hope:   • New feature! - for the visually impaired, we are decolorizing our website
• Chainsaw Dunlap finally gets dumped on in new biography
• Big step vs. overpop - reversible sterilization for women

11/13 sat - 2 downsizings reported, totaling 3900 jobs lost: 
• 16% workforce cut (3000 jobs) as Adtranz (train mfg) overreacts to declining sales & red ink by closing 6 factories across Europe & US, instead of just doing 16% workweek cut (to 33.6-hr wk) as VW did & everyone stays employed & ridin' the train
• 23% staff cut (900 jobs) as Filene's Basement plans to emerge from Ch.11 by self-amputation, cutting nearly ½ its 40 stores, instead of just a 23% hours cut (to 30.8 hrs/wk) & keeping everyone working & shopping
= 1 bankruptcy mentioned (Filene's Basement)
+ 7 takeovers reported, totaling $493m + $$undisclosed
vs. glimmers of hope:  • big increases in productivity (but small increases in wages = setup for depression)
• 2 UPsizings:  ¤ Emerson College  ¤ Brown Rudnick Freed & Gesmer
• 3 ANTI-takeovers:  ¤ Datum-Frequency Electronics ($58m)  ¤ NTL- C&W Comm units ($13.2b)  ¤ MCI Worldcom-Sprint ($?)

11/12 fri - 2 downsizings reported, totaling 25 jobs lost + unspecified: 
• 25+? jobcuts as Sight Resource Corp. closes 2 mfg labs & 3 stores "to cut costs" (& morale & a modicum of own market) instead of maintaining jobs & markets by trimming hours & pay for all
• "undecided" jobcuts as IMC Global overreacts to disappointing earnings by shuttering 2d & 3d plants & furloughing others, instead of "all sacrifice together, starting at the top" (like Lincoln Electric & Nucor)
+ 12 takeovers reported on the 12th, totaling $3B + $$undisclosed
vs. glimmers of hope:  • 2 UPsizings: Boeing to build $250m launching complex at Canaveral, & Starbucks to open more than 100 coffeebars in Albertson's stores  • 1 ANTI-takeover: Mannesmann bulks up vs. possible hostile bid by Vodafone

11/11 thu - 4 downsizings reported, totaling 5394 jobs lost:  • 10% cut in its nonagent staff (4,000 people) as Ill.-based Allstate tries to revive its profit growth by increasing job anxiety in the consumer markets, instead of a 10% hours cut (to 36 hrs/wk) like Lincoln Electric in Ohio
• 1.5% workforce cut (1,000 jobs) as NorTel "reduces overlap" & contracts out more business, instead of an unnoticeable 1.5% workweek cut (to 39.4 hr/wk) & everyone stays working & buying new phones
• 11% cut in HQ staff &...sales & mktg?! (200 jobs total) as Avid Technology tries to save money by cutting its revenues, instead of an 11% hours & pay cut for all (including insulated top execs) & keeping everyone earning & spending normally (e.g., on digital entertainment)
• 0.5% workforce cut (194 jobs) as the Fleming Cos. grocery wholesalers consolidates distribution centers in Texas, instead of 0.5% workweek cut (39.8-hr wk) & everyone carries on
+ 6 takeovers reported, totaling $473m + $$undisclosed
vs. glimmer of the real solution:  front-business-page NY Times coverage of 35-hour workweek in France!

11/10 wed - 10 more takeovers reported, totalling $1.2B + $undisclosed
+ 2 clunkers: • despite giant hedge-fund collapse last year that our fool Fed walked into (where angels feared to tread), gov't regulators wimp out & let the derivatives 'rodeo' rip outa control
• déjà vu - US occupation ends & Haiti trembles - how about they join up with the new Québec?
Baron Samedi meets Bonhomme Carnival? It's a WINNER!
vs. 8 glimmers of hope:  • new president offers west Indonesia a freedom referendum  • IMF director resigns midterm 
• slightly fewer jobless Germans (but E-W gap still wider)  • Fortune 500 has new African American CEO, Avis' Barry Rand
• voter confidence drains away from House GOP  • NY gov has plan to halt emptying of mental centers 
• Trump proposes one-time 14¼%tax on net worth of people & trusts with $10m or more (but we'd have to give up inheritance taxes forever)  • Delaware judge blocks stock ripoff by top executives of Computer Associates

11/09 tue - no downsizings reported today - but 10 takeovers reported, totalling $8.4B
+ 3 deathwish "leaders": • babybrain Bush's great pollution cure - self-policing
• another zillionaire's spur of moment gratitute - gives megabucks to world's richest tech institute
• CEO Robert Ayling of ailing British Air's great rescue plan - cut seats & mkt share (& own throat)
vs. glimmers of hope:  • press releases fly for 1st 'dot-com' political party - championing shorter hours for new millennium  • 1 UPsizing - 650 new jobs as Dell Computer builds 2nd factory near Nashville

11/07-08 - week's roundup, per NY Times (& Boston Globe):
• 13 downsizings reported this week (over 15,428 jobs gone)
• 2 bankruptcy mentions (both thu):  member protections evoked by healthcare bankruptcies, e.g., Lenox Healthcare
• 44 takeovers reported (valued at $96.96B!)
vs. 2 upsizings (5000 new jobs +?) & 3 untakeovers ($27m +$?)
<<<½YTD reports:  206D (275,917 jobcuts +?) + 913T ($956.21B +$?)
vs. 32 upsz (39,610 +?) + 39 untk ($40.23B+?)>>>
+ 2 takeovers reported Monday ($??)
+ prisonwatch - zero tolerance moves inside NYC jails
+ 2 other clunkers:  • Boston Globe finally nails dearth of training
• USA Today cites skill shortage & firms' quest for female employees to save on pay
vs. 6 glimmers of hope:  • Time Mag starts series on new century - questions & visions 
• UN wises up re late US dues, "Pay up, or no voting rights or contracts"
• NY wises up re lawmakers' lateness with state budget, "Delayed budget delays your pay"
• 2 Dem candidates focus on shorter hours prereq - job-independent health plans
• labor forces worldwide labor standards on Clinton ahead of WTO meet
• Aussies keep Canucks company - vote to keep Queen

11/06 sat (on fri events) - 1 downsizing reported:  another 100 of the 4700 (11%) targeted jobs vanish as Gillette moves a product line to Mexico, vs. 11% workweek cut (to 35.6 hours) & everyone here keeps working & buying razors
+ "daily 8" takeovers reported (4th day in a row), today totalling $2.73B + $undisclosed
vs. 6 glimmers of hope:  • Microsoft gets busted  • WTO members start seeing through fatal free trade fad?  • Canuck joblessness down  • Congress relaxes Medicare cuts  • 1 UPsizing:  Best Buy to open 3 New England stores  • 1 UNtakeover: Tenneco spins off Pactiv (but Tues' Tarmac untakeover reversed today)

11/05 fri - 5(!) downsizings reported (totalling 9300 jobs + unspecified) : 
• 9000 jobs vanish as Dole Food shuts down banana production in Nicaragua & Venezuela & distribution capacity in Europe due to Hurricane Mitch & weak European sales
• 300 jobcuts as 2d-biggest Coke bottler scrunches 8 divisions into 6
• 4½% cut in server workforce as IBM confirms mainframe customers' fears about buying pre-Y2K computers, instead of stockpiling for post-New Year's flood of orders, or maintaining team spirit with 4½% cut in server workweek & keeping everyone employed through the holidays
• unspecified jobcuts as Warner-Lambert gets gobbled by American Home - or will it be Pfizer?
• unspecified jobcuts as Fruit of the Loom eliminates 1000 products & mulls closing plants
+ 8 more takeovers reported, totalling $18.4B + $undisclosed
+ 1 clunker: European Central Bank raises rates for the 11 EC economies
vs. 3 glimmers of hope:  • 10-year anniversary of Fall of Berlin Wall (but Ossie-Wessie mistrust lives on)
• now freedom regained in east Indonesia (East Timor), 50,000 rally for freedom in west Indonesia (Aceh)
• Fortune 500 gets 4th female CEO - Andrea Jung of Avon Products

11/04 thu - 3 more downsizings reported (totalling 545 jobs) :  • 75% cut (300 jobs) as Raytheon sells out Quincy, Mass. employees & buyer moves business to Long Island, NY
• 8% workforce cut (175 jobs) as Donna Karan fashions closes 7 outlet stores & consolidates divisions, instead of just 8% workweek cut (36.8 hrs/wk) & everyone keeps buying clothes
• 70 jobcuts as General Binding shuts Auburn, Mich. plant after a Q3 loss
+ 2 bankruptcy mentions:  • Lenox Healthcare nsg homes goes Ch.11
• Mass. House passes bill to protect mbrs when HMOs go bust
+ 8 more takeovers reported, totalling $71.4B + $undisclosed
+ 1 chunka “bad news, but...”: deathwish GOP leadership blocks patients' rights, but splits party
vs. 5+1 glimmers of hope:  • Washington FINALLY enforces Clean Air Act against acid rain makers  • Mass. House sets matching funds for land preservation  • San Fran voters ban ATM fees  • Nasdaq finishes over 3,000 for 1st time, but fragile  • 2 UNtakeovers - Ashanti Gold vs. Lonmin, & • Fletcher Challenge/Canada vs. New Zealand parent

11/03 wed - 3 downsizings (totalling 3803 jobs) reported:  • 85% cut (2200 jobs) as Packard Bell vanishes in USA
• 15% workforce cut (1500 jobs) as AmeriServe Food cuts costs the traumatic way, instead of just nicking their workweek 15% (34 hrs/wk) & everyone keeps eating out
• 15% HQ staff slimming (26 jobs) plus 77 other jobs round the country as Jenny Craig goes bulemic & sheds 86 weight-loss centers, instead of all trimming a bit together & staying on hand for recovery
+ 8 takeovers reported, totalling $250m + $$$undisclosed
vs. glimmers of hope - 1 UPsizing & 1 UNtakeover: • Nortel to create 5000 fiberoptic jobs round world
• Production One of Calif. cancels $27m sale of its Canuck operations to Edmonton-based Voxcom

11/02 tue - 1 downsizing reported:  • 1% workforce cut (1680 jobs) as Lucent phone eqmt bashes its successful salesforce to cut costs, instead of 1% workweek cut (24 minutes less per week) & everyone stays employed, feeling good & spending normally
+ 9 takeovers reported, totalling $882m + $undisclosed
vs. glimmers of hope:  • 2 "coming to their senses" - Brit biznez vs. euro, RealNetworks vs. invading customers' privacy
• 2 UNbankruptcies: Leowen Group, ICO Global  • 1 UNtakeover: Tarmac (but reversed 4 days later)

10/31-11/01/99 - week's roundup, per NY Times (& Boston Globe):
• record 14 downsizings reported this week (over 32,200 jobs gone)
• 4 bankruptcies mentioned:  Harvard Pilgrim/RI, Mactell, Nikko Electric, American Family Enterprises
• 43 takeovers reported (valued at over $19B)
vs. 4 upsizings (2035 new jobs +?) & 3 untakeovers ($4.4b +$?)
<<<½YTD reports:  193D (260,489 jobcuts +?) + 869T ($860.25B +$?)
vs. 30 upsz (34,610 +?) + 36 untk ($40.2B+?)>>>
+ 3 Halloween Sunday takeovers reported, totalling$3.3b + $?? (to be counted next week)
vs. glimmers of hope   - some great NYT letters & op eds, 3 samples: • latest Congressional intrusion (vs. states rights & death with dignity) perpetrated by same elected servants who claim to be getting big government off our backs 
• Safire said test ban should be swept under carpet, but reader says should be an issue for the people to decide
• Safire redeems self by slinging soundbytes vs. new insurer-banker-broker blender