The Bad News Report

[DMann]

http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/bank_notes/2013/08/citigroup-to-cut-150-jobs-in-fort-mill.html

more banks cutting jobs in the area

Actually the jobs being eliminated are all mortgage related.  That is an indication that refi's, short sales,  and foreclosure activity is tapering off.  Many of those eliminated jobs will relocate to other areas of the bank.

[Guest]

Actually the jobs being eliminated are all mortgage related.  That is an indication that refi's, short sales,  and foreclosure activity is tapering off.  Many of those eliminated jobs will relocate to other areas of the bank.

I Hope everyone on Urban Planet has survived any job cuts and we are all happily and gainfully employed! 

[HopHead]

I'm actually surprised by the numerous mortgage related job cuts given the increase in home values and the pick up in sales. Heck, I'm on the verge of unloading a few rentals myself. Had multiple offers on one of them. Even though refis and short sales may be tapering off, the realtors I know are working around the clock 7 days a week. They compare the market in terms of traffic to 2005-06.

[dubone]

The mortgage processing groups are often low level/entry level positions.  It will not be a major ripple in the economy compared to the loss of high level technology or HQ jobs.  But mortgage refi applications seem to have dropped a lot since the rates jumped up fast in the last 2 months.  No business, no need for employees.  

 

I think there is still growth in housing sales, because even at the 'spiked' rates, it is still a bargain to buy housing compared to renting.

[kermit]

Sounds like Daimler Trucks is packing up and leaving York County. They will build a new HQ in Portland.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/outside_the_loop/2013/09/daimler-trucks-to-announce-new-hq.html?ana=RSS&s=article_search&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&page=all

 

The new CEO said he doubted he could find a sufficient number of engineers to staff the operation in Fort Mill.

[HopHead]

Sounds like Daimler Trucks is packing up and leaving York County. They will build a new HQ in Portland.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/outside_the_loop/2013/09/daimler-trucks-to-announce-new-hq.html?ana=RSS&s=article_search&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&page=all

 

The new CEO said he doubted he could find a sufficient number of engineers to staff the operation in Fort Mill.

 

Bummer about this... Though, I kind of felt like the writing was on the wall because it seemed like after all the talk about them moving their HQ to Fort Mill, it never really gained traction. This seemed like such an up and down company. Best of luck to them in Portland. 

[kermit]

More bad news from the Southern burbs.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/bank_notes/2013/09/first-advantage-to-close-office-cut.html?ana=RSS&s=article_search&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

 

I wonder if 'Providence' is going to ask the city to provide some incentives to fill this space?

[nowensone]

According to their parent site, they are HQ'ed in St Petersburg FL, seems BizJournal pulled an O possibly.  Their own site has no reference to CLT, that's pretty quick, and brutal. 113 jobs, that sucks.

[CLTProductions]

http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/morning-edition/2013/10/wells-fargo-cuts-925-mortgage-jobs-as.html

 

more jobs being cut from mortgage....shocker  

 

Note: yes i know the article says it'll have minimal impact on Charlotte, but overall it indirectly has an impact.

Edited October 18, 2013 by Jayvee

[Miesian Corners]

I never count mortgage jobs as long term.  It seems like they come and go on a regular basis.

[rugger62]

Maybe there is a better thread for this, but I think it is bad news. Some idiot at the Panthers game decided to throw something at Chris Long as he was being escorted out after his ejection. Reflects horribly on the city. We are not Philly, Oakland, etc.

[MilZ]

Maybe there is a better thread for this, but I think it is bad news. Some idiot at the Panthers game decided to throw something at Chris Long as he was being escorted out after his ejection. Reflects horribly on the city. We are not Philly, Oakland, etc.

Yeah I wasn't thrilled during the highlights after the game when Bradshaw sarcastically said, "those classy people down in Charlotte".

Edited October 21, 2013 by MilZ

[15895]

Maybe there is a better thread for this, but I think it is bad news. Some idiot at the Panthers game decided to throw something at Chris Long as he was being escorted out after his ejection. Reflects horribly on the city. We are not Philly, Oakland, etc.

It does reflect bad but it shouldn't. No one condoned it and tons of Panthers fans slammed that person who threw a bottle.

[HopHead]

It's pretty sad that it was ONE plastic bottle being thrown by one idiot that got them all fired up. Not sure how that translates into the entire city being like that. Bradshaw should know better. He's spent more than enough time in Philly and Cleveland to know that. Part of it though too I'm sure was the fact that it was Howie Long's son that got tossed. 

 

However, fear not... All it took was a typical Jets fan yesterday to take the spotlight away: http://deadspin.com/male-jets-fan-decks-female-fan-in-metlife-stadium-fight-1448796519

[ah59396]

Frankly, I'd rather be known as a stadium and fan base that throws things at ejected opposing players than one that is known for sitting on it's hands all game next to Thurston Howell and Muffy.

[nowensone]

And funny how they'll choose that moment to refer to us as Charlotte and not the typical down in "Carolina".

[ssh214]

http://obsbankwatch.blogspot.com/2013/10/bank-of-america-to-cut-3000-jobs.html

 

Bank of America is set to cut 3,000 mortgage related jobs. No news on how many jobs will be cut in Charlotte. 

[ah59396]

Quick question...is it bad news (economy wise) if they are cutting mortgage positions?  Obviously it stinks for those that hold the job, but doesn't it bode well for the economy?

[HopHead]

Quick question...is it bad news (economy wise) if they are cutting mortgage positions?  Obviously it stinks for those that hold the job, but doesn't it bode well for the economy?

 

Most of these cuts, which all the banks are doing at the national level, are more of a reflection of the reduction in Refis. To me it's a bit of a head scratcher because of the uptick in home buying. Has anyone tried to get a mortgage lately? It takes an act of god to get it done in 30 days now. Not just because of the regulations but also due to the backlog. Having gone through the process of selling some properties recently it's become very frustrating because we've had to go down to the wire. Especially because of the fact we set the closing date out nearly 2 months from when the contract was signed. So to answer your question, not sure how it's overly positive. Except for maybe balance sheets.

Edited October 24, 2013 by wend28

[tozmervo]

I didn't get my final approval until hours before closing back in July. 

 

I'm still finding gray hairs. 

[CLTProductions]

http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/outside_the_loop/2014/03/new-chiquitafyffes-headquarters-will-be-in-dublin.html

Couldn't decide where to put this. Wonder how this will affect Chiquita's operations here.

[HopHead]

^Based on the article, it sounds like the execs will be split between Charlotte and Dublin. The company will be chaired by the current Chiquita CEO who will remain here. Not sure how much of a net job loss that will be, other than maybe a handful. But that's just a guess. 

 

The amount of money that was paid out to lure Chiquita here has been a punching bag for critics since day one. This will only add fuel to the fire. 

[Miesian Corners]

I view it as good news. CLT-DUB on US/AA goes year-round, rather than seasonal as it is currently.  

[atlrvr]

It's tough to say if this is good or bad news yet.  It would be nice if the change in HQ means much of the incentives are returned.

 

1 likely reason for the Dublin HQ is tax benefits of being incorporated in Ireland.  Ingersoll Rand would be a Fortune 500 company based here in Davidson, but its technical headquarters is Ireland, purely for tax reasons.

 

As MC points out, this should be good for the DUB/CLT flight, and possibly will even lead to increased Charlotte investment by other Irish firms.

 

Finally, Chiquita was really in poor financial condition.  It's probably better to be the co- or North American HQ of a bigger stronger firm that could grow, than the HQ of a firm that has to keep cutting costs to survive.

[ssh214]

According to the Observer article they quoted an industry news service as saying the "balance of power will be on the Atlantic side"; I'm not sure how this is going to bode well for Charlotte other then this new company being much healthier as atlrvr suggested.