I work for an S&P 500 company, specifically
in the financial sector. At the end of last year we were told of several
things to expect for the new year - new laptops for our entire dept and a
renovation of all floors in the building where I work. In the past two
weeks we have been told that the company was placing fairly stringent
limitations on travel and other expenditures. We were also told that new
laptops are on hold until further notice and that the renovation work is
also on hold. Given that the Dow 30 is only off about 5% from year end, I
find these decisions to be somewhat odd, if not premature. That is unless
they believe something VERY significant is coming and want to have lots of
cash on the books rather than putting it toward infrastructure. I don't
know for sure what discussions have been going on in the upper levels, but
again, it just seems like they are pre-positioning for something. I'm
curious as to whether other companies, especially in the financial sector,
are seeing the same things already so early in the year.

Feb 25, 2016