Tire Trouble

Tony Stewart may disagree, but news this morning of Goodyear's multi-million dollar loss and and job cuts are what I call real tire trouble. How will this affect racing? It would take a smarter chick than me to figure that out. But I am left wondering how long it will be before the execs at Goodyear add their names to those seeking a federal bailout.

Goodyear Posts $330 Million Loss, to Trim 5,000 Jobs
By Alex Ortolani
Feb. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., the largest U.S. tiremaker, posted a fourth-quarter net loss of $330 million and said it plans to cut almost 5,000 jobs and continue a salary freeze.
The loss, its first in almost two years, was $1.37 a share and compares with net income of $52 million, or 23 cents, a year earlier, the Akron, Ohio-based company said today in a statement. Sales fell 20 percent to $4.14 billion.
Goodyear said the loss resulted from lower sales and higher raw material costs, which increased 28 percent. The company said it will curtail expenses by about $700 million and capital expenditures by as much as $800 million this year, while trimming production capacity by as much as 25 million units through 2010. The job cuts will reduce a workforce that stood at about 75,000 employees at the end of last year.