RIM: Massive Layoffs Ahead?

The Globe and Mail is asking staff to take voluntary buyouts, with declining print circulation prompting the need for cost cutting. Globe CEO Phillip Crawley informed employees of the offers at an all-staff town hall Thursday afternoon — a later town hall will be held for editorial employees only. Sources at the Globe who participated said Crawley told staff the paper is aiming to find approximately 40 employees across the company who will agree to voluntary severance packages. Crawley did not reply immediately to a request for comment.

ByKurt Windibank:A few thousand years ago the Mayans predicted that the "End of Times" would fall on Dec 21,2012. What exactly did they foresee that would trigger such an event? Was it a meteor? Was it a massive flood? Was it solar flares? Maybe , just maybe, they caught a glimpse of RIM's (RIMM) 3rd Quarter results!

The markets are higher ahead of the long Memorial Day weekend, and as expected, both volume and the news flow are light. The Dow up up 38 points (0.2%), the S&P is up 3 points (0.2%), and the Nasdaq is up 7 points (0.2%).

Submitted by Charles Kennedy of OilPrice Crude oil just capped off a third straight week of declines, as WTI nears the $40 per barrel threshold. Goldman Sachs is once again raising the possibility of oil dipping into the $20s per barrel.

The oilsands sector is in danger of losing its reputation as a job-creating machine. A new industry report shows the sector may require 84 per cent fewer construction workers in 2020 compared to 2015 as project cancellations pile up amid a crippling oil-price environment. “Overall workforce requirements for the oil and gas industry has been severely impacted by a reduction in investment,” said Carol Howes, vice-president of communications at Petroleum Labour Market Information, part of the industry-funded Enform based in Calgary.

HP's layoff plan, that was supposed to cut 27,000 jobs and end in October, will drag on, the company confirmed in its quarterly SEC disclosures on Monday.

By Stock Croc:Canada's own Research In Motion (RIMM) seems to be facing the same challenge again and again. Its big gunner in the wireless phone industry is the ubiquitous (perhaps only in name, now) Blackberry smartphone line. The struggle in investors' mind is whether the company can rebound as Blackberry's stake in phone sales continues to erode.

Zacks.com submits: Research In Motion Ltd. (RIMM) will announce the third quarter financial results of fiscal 2011 on December 16, after the closing bell.