Retailer behaving badly

OK, you're running a pretty lousy company in a very tough industry and your shareholders are demanding that you do something - anything -to get earnings and the stock price back up. So somebody in your shop has a masterstroke: why don't we just fire a few thousand of the higher-paid employees and replace them with schlubs willing to work for way less money? Brilliant, right? Circuit City CEO Philip Schoonover didn't put it quite that way this morning in announcing this ingenious cost-cutting effort. Well, here's his statement: "We are taking a number of aggressive actions to improve our cost and expense structure, which will better position us for improved and sustainable returns in today's marketplace." Don't you just love these guys? It's bad enough that he's dumping his own folks because he and his lieutenants haven't figured out how to compete with Best Buy and the warehouse stores (that's really what this is about), but then he's telling Wall Street in that mind-numbing bizspeak that he has everything under control. Which of course he hasn't. Or didn't anyone tell this guy that slash-and-burn policies almost never do any good, and in fact usually result in less efficiency and productivity? Oh, and they can't blame some nasty labor union for propping up wages. But heck, who cares - Circuit City shares were up 2 percent today, and that's the important thing, right? Too bad the stock is barely above its 52-week low, and after this moronic move, is edging closer and closer to a Chapter 11 filing. Enjoy, Phil...