^{Big one.}

'Quinn warned there would be "meaningful" workforce reductions in the bank's home market of the United Kingdom. Other cuts to jobs and costs will come from a simplification of the bank's organizational structure and from the effect of technology and digitization on the business.'

'The bank plans to reduce its global headcount by roughly 15% to 200,000 over the next three years, a company spokesperson said, although the precise figures have not been finalized.
HSBC will also ditch $100 billion in assets, shrink its investment bank and close a third of its US branches as it shifts resources to the Middle East and Asia, where it already makes most of its profits. The changes are expected to cost $7.2 billion by 2022.'

HSBC plans to cut 35,000 jobs as profit drops 33%
https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/18/business/hsbc-results-2019-announcement/index.html

They will close 76 branches in the USA.

I'm not sure that I have ever seen one.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HSBC_Bank_USA

>I'm not sure that I have ever seen one.

Same here.  Must be Yankee/Cali-only.  Which may explain their problem in the US.  I live in a small town, but it's the business hub of dozens of outlying rural communities. We have too many banks, but there has been some down-sizing over the last decade.

Oh, and don't forget ....DON'T BANK ONLINE!  ^hhh

Macy's Downgraded To Junk; Stock Tumbles

S&P Global Ratings

Dow Slides After Morgan Stanley Warns the 'Downturn' Has Begun

Warren Buffett' Berkshire Hathaway has moved into defensive stocks while trimming banks and consumer discretionary stocks. Should investors be concerned about recession?

Japan's Economy Shrinks 6.3%

Could the coronavirus epidemic trigger a China-led global recession?

China's passenger car sales tumble 92% in first half of Feb due to virus outbreak
https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2020/02/21/china039s-passenger-car-sales-tumble-92-in-first-half-of-feb-due-to-virus-outbreak

The Glub, Glub, Glub Of Recession Circling The Drain

QuoteIn short, manufacturing remains in recession; corporate profits remain in recession; freight remains deep in recession; Carmageddon remains in recession; and the Retail Apocalypse remains a recession for brick-and-mortar stores, while employment - the last holdout - is now also turning downward.

Anecdotal:  The Mrs & I went out to dinner last night and there were a lot less people out downtown than there was six month ago.  We were speculating that its coronavirus making people stay in.

Moody's downgrades auto sales forecast on virus fears - ABC News
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/moodys-downgrades-auto-sales-forecast-virus-fears-69228781

>>virus fears

SFO just declared a state of emergency despite no confirmed cases. In Russia, they are monitoring and putting restrictions on Chinese.

All of this is going to throw some cold water on global trade and eventually even local trade.

> state of emergency

Saw a headline that London did the same.

Saudi Arabia suspends pilgrimages to Mecca over coronavirus

So, with CV I think we went fro recession speculation to now speculating on how bad it's going to get.   We haven't had a disruptive force like this in decades. 

>>decades

Do you think it's bigger than the complete shutdown of air traffic and then launching two wars in 2001?

But yes, that's the only thing I can think of in a long time that seems this disruptive to the economy.

>Do you think it's bigger than the complete shutdown of air traffic and then launching two wars in 2001?

Probably yes, this is a global crisis with massive economic disruption basically everywhere. 

Companies are canceling U.S. domestic travel over coronavirus fears
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/companies-are-canceling-us-domestic-travel-over-coronavirus-fears/ar-BB10xnbr

Coronavirus prompts United Airlines to offer pilots a month for flight cuts
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/29/coronavirus-prompts-united-airlines-to-offer-pilots-a-month-for-flight-cuts.html

The travel industry, a linchpin of the global economy, is suffering its worst shock since 9/11
https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/29/business/travel-industry-coronavirus-economic-impact/index.html