Financial crisis weighs on executives' minds

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The most serious financial crisis in decades has caused business executives around the world to rein in their expectations for short- and long-term growth and warn investors that business volatility will be around for some time to come.

In a series of interviews with Reuters reporters, these executives -- from industries as varied as software, chemicals and leisure -- spoke of the widening global credit crisis and their many concerns.

Most said they were keeping a close eye on Washington, to see if U.S. lawmakers pass a $700 billion bailout package designed to halt the crisis.

The following are excerpts and highlights from interviews with executives in the past week:

MICROSOFT CORP CEO STEVE BALLMER:

Ballmer said the global crisis will sap consumer and business spending, affecting all companies, including his own.

"Financial issues are going to affect both business spending and consumer spending, and particularly ... spending by the financial services industry," Ballmer told reporters at a news conference in Oslo.

"We have a lot of business with the corporate sector as well as with the consumer sector, and whatever happens economically will certainly effect itself on Microsoft," he told Reuters.

"I think one has to anticipate that no company is immune to these issues," he said, but declined to be more specific.

Ballmer said he believed the U.S. Congress would soon help stabilize the situation.

"I trust that before the end of the week we have some resolution, at least in the U.S. Congress, that will help to stabilize the situation. We need that. I hope we get that," he said.

INTEL CORP CHAIRMAN CRAIG BARRETT:

Intel will continue to invest in products and technologies even though it sees that a U.S. financial meltdown is likely to affect the emerging markets that are crucial for its growth, Barrett said.

"I think you'd have to be prudent and assume that if the financial marketplace melts down there's going to be some impact. But nobody's predicting that, nobody knows how big it's going to be," he said.

"The only thing we can do is look at that part of our future destiny that we can control, and that's our investment in the future, in the products we create and the technologies we create," he said.

"We've always had the attitude that you have to make that investment in good times and bad," he said. "It's R&D, capital, marketing-intensive, and we're just like a blind greyhound, we just continue to race down the track."

Of its 2007 revenue of $38.3 billion, the world's biggest chipmaker spent $5.8 billion on research and development and $5 billion on capital items such as property, plants and equipment.

"You can't save your way out of a recession, you have to invest your way out, and so we've always kept a rainy day plan to accommodate that."

RAYMOND JAMES FINANCIAL CEO THOMAS JAMES

Failure by Congress to authorize a $700 billion fund for soaking up toxic bank assets has put financial markets and the U.S. economy on "the precipice" of a severe slump, James told Reuters.

After seeing the bill go down to defeat in the House, James called on the firm's army of nearly 5,000 brokers and its clients to lobby Congress to pass a plan as soon as possible. Further delay or prolonged debate, he argues, puts the whole banking system in jeopardy.

"We're on the precipice of a failure in the system. We need to have confidence," said James.

"What people don't understand is, suppose the government doesn't do anything," he said. "You could see another $3 trillion of losses in the market and failure of companies that can't get credit."

NORTHROP GRUMMAN CORP CEO RON SUGAR:

Northrop is "about as isolated as you can be" from the turmoil in U.S. and global financial markets, Sugar told Reuters.

He said Northrop had dramatically improved its balance sheet over the past five to six years after being highly leveraged following several large acquisitions. It also had committed credit facilities, did not borrow much money, had good cash flow due to its heavy reliance on government orders, and had secure orders through multiyear contracts.

"Nobody is totally immune from the craziness, (but) our industry and our company are about as isolated as you can be," Sugar said. "I don't want to sound like a Pollyanna, but ... we're not in the same place as many other financial and commercial institutions."

DOW CHEMICAL CEO ANDREW LIVERIS:

The U.S. economy could go into a deep slump lasting as much as two years if lawmakers do not rush through a bailout package to thaw the credit markets, Liveris warned.

"I'm in favor of a fix. And frankly, I'm in favor of a fix that works now," he said.

"Unless there is a fix here in the next little while, I don't think we'll (see a light at the end of the tunnel). We're talking about a deep correction that could take 18 to 24 months," he said.

Liveris said he has never experienced a financial crisis as serious as this during his 32-year career with Dow.

"There's nothing that parallels what's going on right now ... And I haven't found anyone who's lived through this sort of financial crisis," he said.

BULGARI CEO FRANCESCO TRAPANI:

The Italian jeweler's chief said the financial crisis was impacting trading and forecast Christmas sales would be poorer this year.

Bulgari, the world's No. 3 jewelry maker behind Tiffany and Cartier, part of Geneva-based Richemont, does not expect any major improvement before 2010.

"The environment is particularly difficult because of the U.S. financial crisis... and I expect that September, October and Christmas will be more difficult," he said. "We will not see any major improvement before 2010; I think the world will need another year before we see light at the end of the tunnel."

LAS VEGAS SANDS MAJORITY OWNER SHELDON ADELSON:

Adelson said his family has invested $475 million in the casino operator so it could pay down debt and maintain leverage ratios.

But the company is still seeking financing for its Macau projects.

"Had the availability of money been more plentiful, we would have gone out and borrowed," said Adelson, who also is the company's chairman and chief executive. "This way, I am minimizing the dilution to shareholders."

WOLVERINE WORLD WIDE INC CFO DON GRIMES

The shoemaker -- whose brands include Merrell, Hush Puppies and Sebago -- does not plan to broadly change its credit policy for retail customers in response to the global credit crisis.

Grimes said there have been talks about whether to tighten credit terms -- since some retailers are seeing sales slow and could have trouble paying for orders -- as well as loosening terms to give them more time to gather funds.

"We certainly recognize that some of our good customers may be having a bit of a credit crunch, and we'll deal with those on a case-by-case basis. But we're not making any sweeping proclamation that we are loosening credit policies," he said. "That'd be the last thing in the world I'd want to do."

Grimes said it is too early to tell exactly how the Wall Street crisis would impact sales.

WYNDHAM WORLDWIDE CORP CEO STEPHEN HOLMES

The U.S. Congress needs to pass a bill that addresses the immediate credit problem, Holmes said.

"What we are experiencing right now is an historic loss of credit which is forcing people to default on their loans and forcing businesses to conserve cash," he said in a statement to Reuters.

"We can talk all we want about who's responsible and why this happened, but right now, all that matters is that Congress needs to come together and pass a bill that addresses the immediate problem."

(Reporting by Joseph A. Giannone, Martinne Geller, Andrea Shalal-Esa, Mark McSherry, Euan Rocha, Dan Wilchins, Robert Hetz, Tarmo Virki, Astrid Wendlandt, Georgina Prodhan, Alexander Smith and Deena Beasley;; editing by Carol Bishopric)