REALITY BITES THE SLOPE OF HOPE

By Dhanya Skariachan
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Best Buy Co, the world's largest consumer electronics chain, will cut its hiring of temporary workers in the United States this holiday season by almost half compared with 2010.
The decision is further bad news for the U.S. economy and for the unemployed in particular. A quarter of the retailers surveyed by the Hay Group said they were hiring fewer seasonal workers this year and only 10 percent plan to hire more.
Best Buy is hiring only 15,000 seasonal workers this year, down from 29,000 last year, and is counting on permanent employees to work overtime to close the gap in terms of hours worked, Chief Executive Brian Dunn told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday.
He said the retailer is not counting on any help from the economy this Christmas as it sees consumers staying cautious about spending on nonessential items.<<

In my own life and business, I go about my daily chores looking for new clients, taking care of existing ones, without a THOUGHT to the economy. But when it comes time for portfolio positioning, IMHO, MR CONSERVATIVE is sitting this period OUT.

D