10 Large U.S. Companies That Won't Cut Jobs

1. Cisco in the midst of a very rapid expansion into the server & data center business. That will require extra personnel and may involve acquisitions. Cisco is in several businesses which are nearly recession-proof and should continue to do well, including video conferencing which may actually grow as business people cut back on travel.

2. VISA is lucky. It does not offer consumers credit. It acts as an agent to transfer funds between buyers and merchants. Visa also handles transaction clearing and settlement services. Unlike large banks, when a customer defaults, Visa’s balance sheet is not at risk.

3. Apple will not lay people off because Steve Jobs would have to admit he had made a bad decision and the company would appear not to be perfect.

4. Apollo is a large education company almost no one has heard of.

5. Altria is doing well because people addicted to cigarettes smoke even during a recession.

6. Google fired a very small number of people last year. If the company wants to control personnel costs, it can simply stop hiring. Google has been adding employees at a dizzying rate for four years. Google, like Apple, has a tremendous interest in keeping its R&D, marketing, product development, and engineering projects going forward as rivals like Microsoft and Yahoo! falter. Google has a chance to pick up market share from both companies and improve its competitive position against Microsoft in the PC application business.

7. Colgate has “side-stepped the global slowdown” as MarketWatch recently wrote. In the most recent quarter the company’s profits were up 20%. It would be hard to pick a better time to sell toothpaste, pet food, and shampoo. Even in a bad economy, most of these are products will have stable sales.

8. Verizon is not growing as fast as it was a year ago. Cellular sales are not quite as good due to market saturation and the economy. But, the use of wireless devices for sending items like data and video over wireless networks is improving margins in the company’s cellular operations. Verizon has also made a major gamble that it can take home broadband and television services away from the cable companies. It will need to continue to market, service, and build the infrastructure out for that to get a return on its multi-billion capital investment.

9. Amgen is still growing rapidly unlike most Big Pharma companies. Its biotech business is producing novel medical treatments that have kept its' sales solid.

10. Corinthian College is another highly successful company in the education field which should benefit from the need of people out of work to develop new skills.

http://money.aol.com/investing/companies-that-wont-cut-jobs

World's Gloomiest Countries

No. 1 - JAPAN > Grade: minus-85
No. 2 - SPAIN > Grade: minus-65
No. 3 - THAILAND > Grade: minus-63
No. 4 - FRANCE > Grade: minus-60
No. 5 - BELGIUM > Grade: minus-58
No. 6 - ARGENTINA > Grade: minus-57
No. 7 - TAIWAN > Grade: minus-50
No. 8 - IRELAND > Grade: minus-50
No. 9 - HONG KONG > Grade: minus-49
No. 10 - BRITAIN > Grade: minus-47
No. 11 - ITALY > Grade: minus-45
No. 12 - SWEDEN > Grade: minus-40
No. 13 - FINLAND > Grade: minus-40
No. 14 - NETHERLANDS > Grade: minus-37
No. 15 - U.S. > Grade: minus-34
No. 16 - Greece > Grade: minus-34
No. 17 - DENMARK > Grade: minus-34
No. 18 - TURKEY > Grade: minus-24
No. 19 - CHILE > Grade: minus-24
No. 20 - NEW ZEALAND > Grade: minus-15

http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/01/0126_business_expectations/index.htm

The Best States For Business

1. Virginia
2. Utah
3. Washington
4. North Carolina
5. Georgia
6. Colorado
7. Idaho
8. Florida
9. Texas
10. Nebraska

http://www.forbes.com/2008/07/30/virginia-georgia-utah-biz-cz_kb_0731beststates.html

Best Countries for Business

R	Name	GDP Growth (%)	GDP / Capita ($)	Trade Balance ($bil)	Pop (mil)	Un Emp (%)
1	Denmark	1.7	37,400	4.7	5.5	3.5
2	Ireland	5.3	45,600	-12.6	4.2	5.0
3	Finland	4.4	35,500	11.2	5.2	6.9
4	United States	2.2	46,000	-747.1	303.8	4.6
5	United Kingdom	2.9	35,300	-111.0	60.9	5.4
6	Sweden	3.4	36,900	30.2	9.0	4.5
7	Canada	2.7	38,200	28.5	33.2	5.9
8	Singapore	7.5	48,900	41.4	4.6	1.7
9	Hong Kong	5.8	42,000	19.9	7.0	4.2
10	Estonia	7.3	21,800	-3.1	1.3	5.2
10	Switzerland	2.6	39,800	67.9	7.6	3.1
12	New Zealand	3.0	27,300	-10.0	4.2	3.5
13	Australia	4.0	37,500	-51.0	20.6	4.4
14	Netherlands	3.5	38,600	59.3	16.6	4.1
15	Norway	4.9	55,600	55.8	4.6	2.4
16	Israel	5.1	28,800	5.9	7.1	7.6
17	Iceland	1.8	39,400	-3.4	0.3	1.0
18	Belgium	2.7	36,500	11.0	10.4	7.6
19	Chile	5.2	14,400	8.2	16.5	7.0
20	Portugal	1.9	21,800	-18.5	10.7	8.0
21	Germany	2.6	34,400	185.1	82.4	8.4
22	Luxembourg	5.0	80,800	11.3	0.5	4.4
23	Austria	3.3	39,000	12.6	8.2	4.3
24	Japan	1.9	33,800	195.9	127.3	4.0
25	France	1.8	33,800	-35.9	64.1	8.0

http://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/6/biz_bizcountries08_Best-Countries-for-Business_Rank.html

Amazon Leads Tech Stocks Higher

A $1 billion share buyback boosted Amazon.com shares Friday and drew investors into technology shares for a second day.

After plunging 5% in the first three days of the week on slowdown fears, the Nasdaq has gained more than 2% off Thursday's low despite a warning from Cisco that the slowdown is real.

But investors have begun to see signs of value in the sector, driven in part by Microsoft's nearly $45 billion bid for Yahoo. Shares of both companies edged higher Friday on reports that Yahoo's board is meeting to consider its options.

Amazon was another sign of value, up nearly 4% after the company said it will buy back shares and part of its debt too. Former sector leaders that have been battered in recent months, like Research In Motion, Apple and Google, also caught a bid today. With the Federal Reserve and Congress working feverishly to stimulate the economy, investors may be betting that the downturn will be short-lived.

CNET gained 8% on reports that Google may be weighing a stake in the company.

McAfee, Cognizant and Adept Technology gained on their results, and HP recovered much of Thursday's 4% drop on a Goldman Sachs downgrade.

Alcatel-Lucent was off 4% after beating sales estimates but warning of a first-quarter loss and halting its dividend, as the company's troubles have been compounded by a slowing economy. Real Networks fell 5% on its results, and Aruba Networks tumbled 36% on a warning.

AMD fell 4% on reports that Dell may use fewer chips from the company.

Micron lost 6% following its analyst day.

Blue chip stocks, meanwhile, sagged on concerns that a bailout of bond insurers has yet to materialize.

The Nasdaq rose 11 to 2304, the S&P lost 5 to 1331, and the Dow fell 65 to 12,182. Volume declined to 3.75 billion shares on the NYSE, and 2.27 billion on the Nasdaq. Decliners led by a 19-13 margin on the NYSE, and 17-12 on the Nasdaq. Upside volume was 34% on the NYSE, and 65% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 31-97 on the NYSE, and 46-129 on the Nasdaq.

http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3727021/Amazon+Leads+Tech+Stocks+Higher.htm

Lessons in Funding

Ben & Jerry's
Funding: Personal Savings and Loans
How It Started: Friends Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield wanted a job they considered fun. They moved to Burlington, Vt. and completed a five dollar correspondence course in ice cream making from Pennsylvania State University. They borrowed $4000 and came up with a total of $12,000 start up money.

Google
Funding: Credit Cards and Investors
How It Started: Founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin maxed out their credit cards for computers and office equipment, building Google's first data center in Larry's dorm. But since they needed more cash to move out of the dorm, the duo turned to an investor. Andy Bechtolsheim, one of the founders of Sun Microsystems and friend of a Stanford faculty member, wrote a check for $100,000 to Google after only seeing a short demo.

Apple
Funding: Sold Personal Possessions
How It Started: Co-founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, both college dropouts, began their partnership by selling boxes they built that allowed for free long-distance phone calls. In 1976, they started working on another box, the Apple I computer. Jobs and Wozniak sold their most valuable possessions, a van and two calculators, raising $1,300 to fund the company.

Mrs. Fields
Funding: Business Loan
How It Started: Despite numerous warnings of certain failure, Debbi Fields wanted to start a cookie business. Debbi and her husband, Randy, turned their home mortgage lender for financial backing. Debbi wrote in her book that the bank "trusted us, not cookies." Although he expected the cookie business to fail, their banker Ed Sullivan trusted the young couple to pay back a business loan.

Under Armour
Funding: Credit Card and Personal Savings
How It Started: Kevin Plank had about $20,000 in the bank when Under Armour started. For more funding, he accumulated over $40,000 in credit card debt spread across five cards. In the summer of 1997, he was so broke that he went to his mom's house for dinners.

Pink's Famous Hotdogs
Funding: Loan
How It Started: Paul and Betty Pink borrowed $50 to buy a hotdog cart. They sold 10-cent chilli dogs at the corner of Brea and Melrose. Sixty years later, daughter-in-law Gloria Pink, decided to market Pink's Los Angeles roots and raise the eatery?s profile. This family business, affectionately called "the little hot dog stand that could," now sells 1,500 hotdogs a day, in addition to burgers, Grape Crush and fries, bringing in $2.5 million per year in revenue.

Calvin Klein
Funding: Loans and Awards
How It Started: When Calvin Klein's childhood friend loaned him $10,000 in start-up money, Klein rented a dingy showroom to exhibit a small line of samples. The vice-president of Bonwit Teller stopped at the wrong floor of the building, liked what he saw and invited Klein to bring his samples to the president's office. Klein wheeled the rack of clothes uptown personally, winning $50,000 on the spot.

Meebo
Funding: Credit Cards and Venture Capitalists
How It Started: Instead of looking for venture capitalists, Seth Sternberg, Sandy Jen and Elaine Wherry funded Meebo in 2005 with credit cards. They each accumulated $2,000 in credit card debt, which was enough to cover their biggest expenses -- a few computer servers at $120 a month each. Later, they received funding by Sequoia Capital and Draper Fisher Jurvetson.

Crate & Barrel
Funding: Personal Savings and Family Loan
How It Started: Rumor has it that while admiring inexpensive dishes purchased on a European vacation, Gordon Segal was inspired to open Crate and Barrel. Gordon and Carole Segal went into business with their life savings of $12,000, plus $5,000 borrowed from Gordon's father. From humble beginnings, the chain is now a household name.

Nantucket Nectars
Funding: Working Odd Jobs
How It Started: Tom First and Tom Scott funded their first large production with personal savings and a family loan. They mass produced 1,400 cases of their beverages at a cost of $9,000. Shortly after starting their company, the Toms found themselves short on cash. To keep the business running, the two juggled odd jobs such as delivering bread, shucking and shipping scallops and pumping waste.

1-800-Flowers
Funding: Loans From Family and Friends
How It Started: James McCann was involved in social work as the administrator of a youth home in Rockaway, NY. In order to supplement his income, he procured $10,000 in loans from family and friends to purchase Flora Plenty, a small flower shop. He transformed this small struggling business into an international operation.

http://smallbusiness.aol.com/features/funding