E-Trade, Borders And Frontier May Vanish This Year

Get ready to say goodbye to the E-Trade baby and Frontier Airlines. According to 24/7 Wall Street, the two businesses are among their 10 picks for companies that will not survive the year. Others that may not be long for this world: Sara Lee, Gateway and Office Depot.

E-Trade is vulnerable because there are too many discount brokers, and the company is the weakest of the bunch, according to 24/7 Wall Street. The site picks TDAmeritrade or Charles Schwab as likely buyers if E-Trade goes on the block. Borders, already on life-support, is having trouble paying publishers for books, not exactly a good sign for a bookstore chain. And then there’s Frontier:

The carrier is owned by Republic Airways Holdings and was bankrupt when Republic bought it in 2009. Republic recently merged another of its holdings, Midwest Air, into Frontier. Denver-based Frontier is simply too small to compete in the domestic carrier market — which has become increasingly dominated by large airlines that are growing due to mergers. …

Airline mergers and buyouts like the Continental/United deal and Delta’s takeover of Northwest are popular in the industry because they allow for personnel reductions and route cuts — as well as trimming the number of aircraft that have to be maintained. Two airlines together can have a better margin than separately. Frontier is a buyout target; its brand is not.

Of course, 24/7 could be wrong, and some of these companies could be around a decade from now. But would you really be that upset if you never saw the E-Trade baby again?

10 American Companies That Will Disappear in 2011 [24/7 Wall Street]

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