Condé Nast’s business rag, Portfolio, will only be printed 10 times per year now, and will be cutting its staff by 20%. Deep cuts are planned for Portolio’s website which will be merged with other web properties.

Portfolio was launched last year with a mind-numbingly high budget of $100-$125 million. Damn you recession!

[NY Observer] Portfolio Cuts 20 Percent of Its Staff; Reduces Publishing to 10x a Year

If only CBS Corp’s media assets weren’t the cause of a $14 billion dollar fire, the company would have made a profit! Oh well, they were and the company posted a laughably embarrassing third quarter. The stock is up on the news though — maybe Sumner Redstone won’t have to sell any more due to margin calls…

[CNBC] CBS’ Massive Third Quarter Write Down

Right on the heels of posting a third quarter profit, communications company Qwest announced that it would be axing 1,200 employees. The layoffs will come “before the end of the year” — just in time for the holidays! Anyone interested in working for a caring company like this should visit Qwest’s career page.

[Star Tribune] Qwest cutting 1,200 more workers

American Express has announced that it will be laying off 7,000 employees (10% of its work force). All business units will be affected, but the cuts will focus on “management positions.”

AmEx CEO Kenneth Chenault could barely fight the tears back as he spoke sorrowfully about the layed off employees:

“The reengineering program we announced today will help us to manage through one of the most challenging economic environments we’ve seen in many decades.”

Oh wait, that must have been the wrong quote… Well we’re sure he must have been sad, right?

[CNN] AmEx to cut 7,000 jobs

Dell is the subject of a class-action lawsuit filed by four women who used to work in the company’s human resources department. The lawsuit claims that Dell’s latest round of layoffs targeted chicks and old people. The suit also alleges that Dell “systematically blocks women from reaching the top levels of power.” What’s the price tag for this? $500 mil.

[The Dallas News] Class-action suit alleges Dell layoffs targeted women

Shares of VeraSun fell over 50% today on rumors that the ethanol company is close to filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company has been frantically trying to sell itself for the last month, but has apparently come up empty-handed. I guess the market for corn-to-fuel companies that lose $100 million per quarter has dried up.

[Yahoo Finance] VeraSun falls on report bankruptcy filing imminent

Sony’s profits took a big plunge for the third quarter — they were down 72% from the same period a year before. Sony’s music division, BMG, and the mobile division, Ericsson, are taking the blame for lagging behind. The company has also confessed that the holiday season is probably going to suck.

[The Hollywood Reporter] Sony profits drop 72%; outlook dim

Automobile system maker Tenneco is going to be closing five facilities and laying off 500 salaried employees and 600 hourly workers. This is around 5% of the company’s work-force. Gregg Sherrill, Tenneco’s CEO, was brimming over with empathy when he issued this statement:

“We must act quickly by better aligning our operations with the new realities of the market”

What compassion!

[Yahoo Finance] Tenneco to lay off 1,100 worldwide, shut plants

Manhattan employees of Google are going to feel cost-savings in the cafeteria. The cuts have been made on the west coast as well, but how much could this possibly save the company? Read on for the memo…
Read more »

The largest magazine company in the world is going to axe 600 employees (6% of its workforce). Time Inc is a division of Time Warner and the publisher of dumbed-down rags like: Fortune, People, and the sycophant suck-fest Entertainment Weekly.

Know what the worst thing about these layoffs is? Time Inc. is profitable! These employees are not being let go because they aren’t making money — they are –these people are being fired simply because the higher-ups at Time Warner think they aren’t making enough money. So profitability will rise at Time Inc, but quality will go down… Is this good management?

[The New York Times] Time Inc. Plans About 600 Layoffs

In a desperation move likely to help out its merger prospects, Chrysler has announced that the company will be cutting 25% of salaried workers. CEO Bob Nardelli said that “These are truly unimaginable times for our industry.” Actually Bob, the only news to come out of Chrysler that is “truly unimaginable” lately was that they were exiting the hybrid business until 2010.

The largest U.S. newspaper publisher, Gannett, will continue its firing spree and let another 10% of its local newspaper staffs go. There is no word yet on how many employees will be cut, and the company has hinted that there will be even more layoffs by the end of the year.

[Yahoo Finance] Gannett: Another 10 pct job cut at local papers

Appliance-maker Whirlpool has announced that in addition to the 400 employee layoffs they announced earlier this month, 5,000 additional employees will be let go — mostly overseas. Four plants will also be closed in the United States and Mexico which will be the source of 2,000 axed workers.

[Yahoo Finance] Whirlpool job cuts at a glance

General Motors and Chrysler have asked the U.S. government for a briefcase filled with money to help the sub-par, struggling automakers complete a merger to form one large mediocre company. In exchange for the bailout, the taxpayers would get $3 billion of preferred stock in the new company. Rad. What would employees get out of all this? Probably layoffs as the new company would be under pressure to cut costs quickly.

[CNBC] GM, Chrysler Ask for $10 Billion to Aid Merger

Wall Street Fighter has two great financial-crisis related Halloween masks.

The New York Times has coverage of the now-guilty Senator Ted Stevens.

TechDirt features a nutcase who is suing MySpace for taking down her profile.

Yahoo Finance brings us today’s big losers on the stock market.

TheStreet has some lessons from the 1929 market crash: