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Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Cliff Dive: Companies Brace As The Fiscal Cliff Cometh


The “fiscal cliff” is now 11 weeks away. The system of automatic sharp spending cuts and tax hikes that legislators agreed to in 2011 will start to be put into effect after Dec. 31 if the US political class can’t come up with a deal that makes some incremental progress on better balancing revenue and spending. And with key metrics on the US business spending looking weak, people are starting to worry about the looming threat.
As corporate earnings season continues, well-heeled investment bankers, budget retailers and health care companies alike are laying out how they’re keeping a tight handle on inventories, spending and expansion plans until they have a better sense of how the situation in Washington will shake out. Here’s some of what corporate officials are saying, culled from transcripts of earnings calls, via FactSet’s CallStreet service.
Goldman Sachs sees muted mergers and acquisitions deals as partially due to the cliff.

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