Companies Hit
Hardest by Credit Crisis

Safeway

Safeway (SWY) is one of the largest food retailers. As the AP pointed out, Safeway and its peers are struggling with changing shopping habits and how to price goods. Agriculture-based products are up, but that does not mean they can be passed to consumers. The profit margins at the company are already tiny. Last year, it made only $451 million on over $10.1 billion in sales. As of the last quarter, the firm had $4.6 billion in debt and $326 million in cash.

Next: Tiffany & Co

Tiffany & Co

Tiffany & Co (TIF) has supplied jewelry and expensive gifts for the upper class since 1837. Tiffany's flagship store sits on Fifth Avenue in New York City, one of the most expensive retail locations in the world. Many of Tiffany's best customers may not be back for a year, if they come back at all, due to the collapse of Bear Stearns, Lehman, and the thousands of additional layoffs in the financial sector. Over the twelve months, the stock has dropped from $57 to $35.

Next: Apple

Apple

Apple (AAPL) has been having a tough, tough time in the stock market. Shares fell 50% from $202 to $100. They have barely recovered. Why? A Mac costs more than $1,000, and that is a cheap one. Back-to-school purchases are not going to include Mac laptops which can run over $2,000 -- not when Mom and Dad are worried about the mortgage and overloaded credit card debt. More than 170 million iPods have been sold since the product came out. Many people will hold onto their old ones for another year.

Next: Disney

Disney

Disney (DIS) is not immune to the economy. Tourists don't have the money for airfare and hotels. Disney's cable, network TV, and studios may be hurt by plummeting advertising budgets, but getting people to theme parks when gas prices are high and credit is low would require more magic than the Magic Kingdom has to spare.

Next: Tuesday Morning

Tuesday Morning

Tuesday Morning (TUES) may have trouble coming up with the credit necessary to get inventory into stock for the holidays. Tuesday Morning has very modest cash on the balance sheet, only $6 million at the end of the June quarter. The company had $240 million in assets. To stock what the retailer needs for the holidays requires tens of millions of dollars in credit. If money gets really tight and rates for borrowing spike up, Tuesday morning could hit an inventory wall.

Next: Wynn Resorts

Wynn Resorts

Wynn Resorts (WYNN) shares are down by half this year. Some gambling companies will be hit doubly hard. Harrah's, the world's biggest gambling company, is owned by Apollo Advisors and TPG Capital. The LBO of Harrah's in an industry where business is drying up could face debt service problems in the near future. A credit crisis could hit gambling by decreasing revenue and undermining loan repayment.

Next: Sirius

Sirius

Sirius (SIRI) could have three sets of credit problems. The first is that most of its new business comes from the car industry. A tight auto loan market is undermining sales. Then, Sirius has over $2 billion in long-term debt, so its ability to refinance that to give it operating room gets harder each day that corporate lending gets worse. But, the biggest near-term problem is whether Sirius can continue to finance inventory.

Next: Amazon

Amazon

Amazon (AMZN) does not have any cash problems of its own. Spending money for inventory is not an issue for a company that has more than $2 billion in cash and short-term investments. Amazon's book business is not likely to be hurt much during the holidays. But, Amazon does a huge business in consumer electronics, jewelry, and PCs. Amazon offers an $1,800 Panasonic HDTV flat screen television. How many of those will get sold this holiday season?

Next: Nintendo

Nintendo

Nintendo has been on a roll for over two years. A standard Wii video console still only costs $285, but add popular games and accessories for the new Wii Fit package, and the price tag moves closer to $500. Microsoft (MSFT) may have similar problems with the Xbox 360 and Sony (SNE) may face slower sales of the PS3. But, the Wii is the game for the more casual player. Hardcore gamers may not be willing to go without a new console. The Wii customer is more likely to pass on the latest version.

Next: Under Armour

Under Armour

Under Armour (UA) has had tremendous success selling ultra high-end athletic gear. UA offers underpants for $20. At Wal-Mart the customer can buy four for $9.99. UA has nice polo shirts for $60 and $13 socks. The company will also sell customers $75 training shoes. Under Armour's revenue rose almost 50% last year. With a shopping public looking for bargains, that kind of growth is gone.

Next: Charter Communications

Charter Communications

Charter Communications (CHTR) might not be able to buy set-top boxes, connectors, and VoIP systems to supply all of its customer demand. The cable company has $20 billion in debt and a $.73 stock. Debt services eats up all of the company's operating income and the principal on some of that paper comes due soon. Charter customers calling in to get new HDTV receivers may find that there will be a delay as the company struggles to finance inventory for customer installations.

Next: American Express

Circuit City

Circuit City (CC) just replaced its CEO and has brought in restructuring experts. The consumer electronics retailer also just announced it is filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy and will close about 20% of its stores by the end of the year (155 stores).

Next: RadioShack

American Express

American Express (AXP) is another major company with a share price down 50% over the last year. The company's net income fell 38% in the last quarter. The results included a $600 million ($374 million after-tax) addition to U.S. lending credit reserves that reflected a deterioration of credit indicators beyond management's prior expectations. Even some of the customers that Amex calls "superprime" are not doing well. When the wealthy are struggling, it spells trouble for a whole range of industries across the economy.

Next: Gatehouse

Gatehouse

Gatehouse (GHS), the newspaper chain, might get to the point where some of its properties can't deliver the morning paper. The company's stock is at $.50, down from a 52-week high of $12.94. It has almost $1.3 billion in debt and lost $429 million in the last quarter. A lot of that was a write-down in assets, but Gatehouse is not able to cover its debt service. Newsprint is expensive. So are the costs of drivers, trucks, and gas.

Next: More From AOL

General Motors

The most tragic of all the large companies which may fail because it does not have access to capital is GM (GM). GM now loses over $1 billion a month. It may be low on capital as early as the middle of next year. If that happens, it will not be able to buy parts and other materials. Production of vehicles out of its plants could actually stop. GM has already been in the market looking for capital as part of a plan to buy Chrysler. There have been no takers. Part of GM's problem is that people who do want to buy cars and trucks are having trouble getting credit.
Next: RIM

Radio Shack

Radio Shack (RSH) usually has about $700 million of goods on hand going into the holidays. As of the end of the June quarter, it had $577 million of cash. Radio Shack has two problems now. The first is that it caters to a relatively low-end consumer base, the people who tend to be hurt most by a recession. The other is that because it is a fairly small operation, its larger competitors can squeeze it on price. In this environment, Radio Shack does not want to have to look for money to finance inventory.
Next: General Motors

RIM

RIM (RIMM) is having its first rough patch in over a year-and-a-half. Apple claims its iPhone outsold the Blackberry in the last quarter. If so, the product which helped push RIMM shares to $48, may have seen its best days. The stock is now down to $51. Most Blackberries are bought by businesses for their employees. With credit tightening at many firms, especially small businesses, funding even modest purchases of new communications equipment may be out of the question. Access to capital has gotten that bad.
Next: Standard Pacific

Standard Pacific

Some home builders may simply disappear between now and the middle of 2009. Getting capital to pay obligations on the empty homes they have built and the real estate they have financed may simply overwhelm them. Access to money is out of the question. The weakest of the large companies in the industry is Standard Pacific. JP Morgan recently downgraded the company's shares. Two-third of its homes are in the weak markets of California, Florida, and Arizona. SPF does not have customers who can get credit to buy its homes.
Next: Safeway

More on AOL:

10 Most Unusual CEOs

There's your average CEO -- you know, type-A and relentlessly focused on the bottom line or stock performance -- and then there's your, shall we say, slightly unusual CEO. For every Warren Buffett, there's a Patrick Byrne. For every Steve Jobs, there's a Larry Ellison.

Click through our gallery to see Minyanville.com's profiles of 10 CEOs who’ve gone wild, or at least, further afield than your average chief executive officer.

First Up: Abercrombie's CEO