On Tuesday, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (along with other mortgage companies) announced some of the first details about how they plan to keep defaulting mortgage holders in their homes. Some critics say the plan to rewrite terms of some of these mortgages to limit payment to 38% of homeowner income doesn't go far enough.
And maybe it doesn't. But, according to Hal Look, incoming president of the Specialty Tools and Fasteners Distributors Association and senior vice president of marketing and business development for ORCO Construction Supply, Livermore, CA, the measures announced are a first step toward recovery of the residential construction markets.
Look recently spoke with me about the condition of the construction markets for our Nov. 10 issue of MDM (see
Every time we turn around, there's another sign that the economy is hurting. On Monday, The Conference Board released its Employment Trends Index (ETI). The October index of 105.3 was down 1.8% from September and 12% from a year ago. The ETI has been declining for the past 15 months.
And Gad Levanon, senior economist with The Conference Board, isn't optimistic about the near future. The sharp decline in the ETI in recent months suggests we will experience even greater deterioration in the labor market in the months ahead."Demand for goods and services are down, and companies are responding by slashing their workforces, Levanon says. The reductions likely will continue for several quarters until the economy starts to see recovery.
Bell Microproducts Inc., San Jose, CA, distributor of storage and computing technology, has created a security division in North America. Bell Microproducts will utilize its broad reach into the channel to replicate the success of its UK security division in the North American market.
Duncan Hume, who will serve as director of the security division, says that the timing is right for Bell Microproducts to expand its security distribution business. In today's market, customers buying storage products are looking for the best ways to protect their data, and there is a huge need to ensure the confidentiality, integrity and availability of that data," he said. "There are a number of compliance issues that must now be taken into consideration, and the technologies Bell ...
Over the past two months, MDM has published several articles on the distribution software industry in its twice-monthly premium content newsletter. The series of articles plus previously unpublished material from interviews with software providers and industry experts is available here.
In a survey of MDM Advisor readers, about 24 percent of respondents said they plan to make an investment in technology in the next year, and another 24 percent are currently researching options to upgrade or buy new technology. A good majority of these are looking at CRM or Warehouse Management Systems. Other technologies mentioned by distributors in the survey included e-commerce and ...
Arrow Electronics Inc., Melville, NY, has agreed to acquire Excel Tech, Inc. and Eteq Components Pte Ltd. Excel Tech is the sole Broadcom distributor in Korea with strong demand-creation capabilities while Eteq has Broadcom-based franchise agreements in the ASEAN region and China with ties to the ASEAN EMS industry.
These acquisitions will enhance our existing demand-creation capabilities in the high-growth vertical segments as well as allow us to gain strategic customer relationships, which is critical for Arrow to further increase market share in the Asia Pacific region,"said Peter T. Kong, president of Arrow Asia Pacific.
Arrow Electronics is a global provider of products and services to industrial and commercial users of electronic components and enterprise ...
According to various news reports, Ben E. Keith Foods, a national foodservice distributor, has acquired Winn Meat Company, Dallas, TX.
Winn Meat will operate as a division of the distributor. Winn sells to restaurants and other foodservice operations. The former owners will stay with the company. ...
France-based electrical distributor Rexel reported organic sales growth of 0.4% in the third quarter 2008, with year-to-date organic growth of 1.6%. Profit year-to-date
Rexel recorded year-to-date sales of €9.43 billion (US$11.8 billion).
CEO Jean-Charles Pauze said: Rexel recorded a solid third quarter and year-to-date performance in a challenging environment. Our profitability and cash flow attest to the resilience of Rexel's business model.
"As we had expected for the second half of the year, our major markets are slowing down. We have continued to implement measures to attain our targeted EBITA margin of around 5.4% in 2008 even if our sales are slightly lower than anticipated due to the deterioration of the economic environment and the ...
3M, St. Paul, MN, has agreed to buy Italian manufacturer Grafoplast S.p.A., which produces wire identification systems for the wire and cable market.
Grafoplast's range of electrical permanent marking products complements 3M's existing range of tape marking system products and will help us to better serve the wire and cable markets,"said Paul D. Steece, vice president and general manager, 3M Electrical Markets Division.
The 3M Electrical Markets Division designs, manufactures and markets products for electrical construction, industrial maintenance, utility and industrial power businesses, and electrical/electronic devices produced by original equipment manufacturers. Products include electrical and electronic specialty insulating tapes; power cable splices and ...
U.S. distributors'overall sales of PT/MC products rose 7.9 percent in September 2008 compared to August 2008, according to the latest month-end trend report from the Power Transmission Distributors Association. When matched up against sales in the same month last year, sales in September 2008 were also up by 13.0 percent.
Accounts receivable collection days dropped 3.7 percent since August 2008. The confidence index of U.S. distributors for September dropped 0.4 to 5.2 (on a 10-point scale).
Canadian distributors reported a 19.1 percent jump in sales in September 2008 compared to August 2008. Sales over the same period last year were up 11.2 percent. Accounts receivable collection days fell 7.1 percent compared to August 2008. In ...
The number of third-quarter deals with a value of at least $50 million will not match last year's level of 207, but will approach the number announced in 2006, 169. The total value of deals announced in the third quarter, $35 billion, is behind last year's $88 billion at this time. This is due to a drop in large deals of more than $1 billion. Tight credit markets are mostly to blame for the decline in large-deal volume.
Interest in industrial machinery targets continued to lead activity in industrial ...
These select product groups provide a snapshot of inflation trends based on the Producer Price Index from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Third quarter 2008 is compared with third quarter 2007, and second quarter 2008 with third quarter 2008. Graphics depict trend for that product from the start of 2007.
International Wire Group, Inc., Camden, NY, Operating income, reported for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, 2008, were $203.4 million, an increase of 13% from net sales for the same period 2007. Profit was $2.4 million, down 11.1%.
A higher selling price of copper, increased sales volume, higher customer pricing/mix, the impact of a stronger euro versus the U.S. dollar and sales from the Global Wire acquisition beginning on July 1, 2008, contributed to the quarterly sales growth. Profit was negatively impacted by lower sales to the automotive industry.
Sales for the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2008, were $609.7 million, an increase of 10.0% over reported 2007 levels. The company reported profit of $15.2 million, up 13.9% over the prior year same period. ...
September U.S. manufacturing technology consumption totaled $439.51 million, according to the Association for Manufacturing Technology and the American Machine Tool Distributors'Association. This total, as reported by companies participating in the USMTC program, was up 32.0% from August but down 1.4% from the total of $445.56 million reported for September 2007. With a year-to-date total of $3,462.69 million, 2008 is up 11.4% compared with 2007.
These numbers and all data in this report are based on the totals of actual data reported by companies participating in the USMTC program.
This solid September machine tool consumption report confirms the strong numbers from IMTS in September,"said Peter Borden, AMTDA President. "However, the financial uncertainty faced by ...
Quebec-based Kinecor reported sales of C$81.7 million (US$68.3 million) for the third quarter of 2008, up 11% from the same period 2007. Earnings improved to C$5.4 million (US$4.5 million), an increase of 17.3%.
Increases in sales of bearings and power transmission parts, and fluid power parts and service revenue, as well as C$4.3 million (US$3.6 million) of revenue from the acquisition of Weir Process Equipment, contributed to overall higher revenues for Kinecor. Increased natural gas drilling activity in western Canada and higher sales to manufacturing, agricultural and mining sector customers also contributed to the increase. Offsetting these revenue increases was a reduction in forestry sector sales in eastern Canada compared to last year.
MDM asked economists for their take on residential, commercial and institutional construction markets. Construction supply and building materials distributors also describe how they have adjusted to the new market realities. While many still write off 2009, some signs of improvement are emerging.
Signs that the boom in the housing market were coming to an end began appearing as early as 2006. At that time, companies like ORCO Construction Supply, Livermore, CA, began preparing themselves for what they thought would be a normal market correction.
We never expected it to get this bad,"says Hal Look, senior vice president of marketing and business development at ORCO and the incoming president of the Specialty Tools &Fasteners Distributors ...
Last week produced more economic bad news: chain store and vehicle sales down, a labor market in self-reinforcing decline. The data is dismal. Our lead article in this issue on construction markets indicates that many expect a tough year ahead before improvement. The severity holds parallels to what industrial distributors went through eight years ago.
So this is where I have to say the sky is not falling. The feedback we are hearing, including at the recent Power Transmission Distributors Association meeting, doesn't match the TV chatter regarding the economy.
The general consensus across industrial sectors is this: Most distributors and manufacturers expect a flat to 5 percent decline in sales for 2009. The only sector falling off a cliff so far is ...
This is part of a series looking at the distribution software industry. This article examines challenges and what distributors should expect in the next five years.
In the year or so leading up to Y2K, many distributors upgraded their computer systems to protect their businesses from what was supposed to be a widespread system breakdown when the clock struck midnight on Jan. 1, 2000. The scare fueled massive technology investment in businesses worldwide.
And now, thanks to technological improvements making viable solutions more affordable and scalable to distributors of all sizes, many are looking to invest again or transition from their legacy systems to an off-the-shelf solution or a modernized interface.
The industrial product group listed here - Telecommunications Equipment MRO - represented a market in 2007 of $73.3 billion, according to estimates by Industrial Market Information, Minneapolis. These charts show the top ten industries, by SIC code, consuming these products; and the 2007 end-user consumption of these groups sorted by the nine government market ...
Chicago, IL-based W. W. Grainger, Inc. has appointed Michael A. Pulick, senior vice president for Customer Service, to president, Grainger Industrial Supply. Pulick is replacing Y.C. Chen, 61, who will stay on in a special advisory role with the company. Pulick joined Grainger in 1999 from General Electric. More Fairmont Supply Company, Canonsburg, PA, distributor of industrial maintenance, repair and operating supplies, has acquired Pennsylvania-based North Penn Pipe &Supply. Based in Warren, PA, North Penn Pipe &Supply is a supplier to the oil and gas industry. North Penn Pipe &Supply will operate under its current name. More Interline Brands, ...
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