Reply #16: Amen, brother.

[Tampa Rob]

Simply incredible. It's why I've stayed in the food business for 20 years - not out of deep love, but for the simple fact that certain foods are still cost prohibitive to produce and ship to the USA. Even my industry is deeply involved with China and the Pacific Rim for certain ingredients and equipment.

Some companies I've worked for are even laying off now, not due to any real "need" to cut workforce, but to protect an imaginary profit margin that the upper Management has determined they simply must have - because all of their bonuses are tied to Stock price.

It's a vicious cycle that keeps repeating.

Wish I could be more positive, but when a certain unnamed Company I used to work for, with net PROFITS in the BILLIONS, has frozen hiring and is instituting layoffs, some priorities are severely out of whack.

TR