MarketWatch: Wall Street cheers as Gannett cuts 1,000 jobs

Wall Street cheers as Gannett cuts 1,000 jobs
Commentary: Investors send a dismal message to the newspaper company
By MarketWatch



NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Wall Street sent a dismal message to media executives: If you cut jobs, big time, we will reward you.

Gannett Co., the biggest U.S. newspaper publisher, announced Thursday that it will chop 1,000 positions, or roughly 3% of its total work force at the newspapers. Some 600 people will lose their jobs, according to the company.

Naturally, Gannett's stock soared on the news.

Gannett, which publishes USA Today and other newspapers, has suffered the woes cutting across the newspaper industry. In July, Gannett declared second-quarter results that came in below most analysts' projections, and said it would take to take a charge between $2.4 billion and $2.7 billion related to a write-down of its assets because of softening market conditions and a steep decline in its stock price.

Year-to-date, Gannett stock had fallen about 60% at the time of the news.

Gannett's stock-market jump is a commentary on how Wall Street thinks. It's an exacting boss. There is a saying that the stock market has no memory. Professional investors care about the future -- they are the ultimate frontrunners and their motto may well be: what have you done for me lately?
Gannett has historically been regarded as a prudent, well-run company. But Wall Street on Thursday isn't rewarding the company for once having the optimism and long-range strategy of launching USA Today in 1982. Nor is the Street hailing Gannett for its years of expertise and strong management.

Instead, Wall Street is thanking Gannett for cutting costs, big time.


http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/wall-street-cheers-gannett-cuts/story.aspx?guid=%7BEEC525DD%2D2C80%2D4F83%2DAD5A%2DCA015ED349B4%7D

....as long as its not Wall Street job losses.

It becomes a crisis then.