Mean Reds: Tiffany's Earnings Fall 75%

Luxury retailer Tiffany announced that its 4th quarter earnings dropped 75% during the holiday shopping season. Crain's reports, "Its adjusted results beat Wall Street forecasts, but Tiffany is predicting 2009 earnings from continuing operations below Wall Street forecasts." Chairman and CEO Michael Kowalski said, "We have not yet seen signs of an upturn in our business with worldwide sales in the quarter-to-date declining more than 20 percent, which is inline with our expectation, due to varying degrees of softness in all three regions. Our planning is based on the assumption that economic conditions will remain challenging throughout the year." Oh, so is this why rich people aren't supposed to be taxed? So they can buy stuff at Tiffany?