“You identify areas where you think you can be more efficient by assuming the worst-case scenario. Then you end up saying, Why don’t we just do that anyhow?”
–Intuit CEO Brad Smith, from the article “How to manage your business in a recesssion,” in the current issue of Fortune. The article may be helpful reading for bosses reporting fourth-quarter earnings.
Alcoa , one of the 30 companies that makes up the Dow Jones Industrial Average, kicked off the reporting period with a loss of $929 million for the quarter. Meanwhile Citigroup , which next week is expected to report a $3.8 billion fourth-quarter loss, saw its stock plunge 17% as investors showed little faith in its plan to sell part of Smith Barney to Morgan Stanley . More bleak news sent the Dow down 125 points.