Businesses are already hunkered down in the corner, waiting for the next economic downturn to hit. They've stopped making investments in new technology, research, and expansion. Instead, they're laying off hundreds of thousands of employees. But in their haste to improve their bottom lines, they've failed to realize that those laid off employees are going to come back to haunt them in the form of lower earnings. Despite slight upticks in retail sales and consumer confidence, skyrocketing oil and energy prices coupled with mounting layoffs will cripple the economy. As unemployment fears become reality, consumers will inevitably rein in spending. That means further slowdown is ahead for most sectors.