July 20, 2009

Eaton Second Quarter Sales Down 32%

Companies, Free, News, Subscriber Only / MDM Staff

Diversified industrial manufacturer Eaton Corp., Cleveland, OH, reported sales in the second quarter were $2.90 billion, 32% below the second quarter of 2008. Core sales were down 26%. Profit was $29 million compared to $333 million in 2008.

For the first six months, sales were $5.7 billion, down 26.5% from the first half of 2008. The company recorded a loss of $21 million for the period, compared to profit of $580 million the prior year period.

"As we survey our end markets, the year is shaping up to be considerably weaker than we had forecast in April," CEO Alexander M. Cutler said. "We now anticipate our overall end markets will decline by between 21 and 22% versus our earlier forecast of a decline between 15 and 16%."

Second quarter sales for the Electrical Americas segment …

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Communicating Your Value More Important Than Ever

Free, Management, Sales & Marketing, Strategy, Subscriber Only / Lindsay Konzak

IndustryWeek today offers an endorsement of a distributor’s value; the online magazine looks at what it means for a distributor to offer true value, and also offers "nontraditional performance measurements," as provided by SKF’s Bill Moore, to judge whether a distributor is effective as a strategic partner.

Moore tells IndustryWeek that engineering assistance supplied by a distributor is one example of a value-add – it can address recurring equipment failure problems, and improve overall performance.

One metric Moore offers in the article – how prepared a distributor is to react in emergencies – anything from an equipment failure to a …

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Leading Economic Index Posts Third Consecutive Increase

Economic Trends, Free, News, Research & Analytics, Subscriber Only / MDM Staff

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index for the U.S. increased for the third consecutive month in June, improving 0.7%. The six-month change in the index has risen to 2.0% (a 4.1% annual rate) in the period through June, up substantially from -3.1% (a -6.2% annual rate) for the previous six months, and the strengths among the leading indicators have remained balanced with the weaknesses in recent months. The Conference Board LEI for the U.S. now stands at 100.9 (2004=100).

The Coincident Economic Index for the U.S. continued to decrease in June amid further contractions in employment and industrial production, posting a negative 0.2%.

Between December 2008 and June 2009, the index fell 3.0% (a -5.9% annual rate), slightly faster than the decline of 2.8% (a -5.6% annual rate) for …

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June Housing Starts Up 3.6% from May

Building Materials/Construction, Economic Trends, Free, News, Research & Analytics, Subscriber Only, Top Distributor Sectors / MDM Staff

Housing starts were up 3.6% in June, compared to May estimates, according to the latest figures from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The rate of 582,000 is 46% below June 2008 figures.

Single-family housing starts were 470,000, up 14.4% from May.

Housing units authorized by building permits were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 563,000, 8.7% above the May rate but down 52% from the June 2008 estimate. Single-family authorizations were at a rate of 430,000, 5.9% above May. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 109,000.

Privately-owned housing completions in June were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 818,000, 0.4% below the revised May estimate and 27.7% below the June 2008 rate. …

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ProBuild Expands Presence in Chicago Market

Building Materials/Construction, Free, News, Subscriber Only, Top Distributor Sectors / MDM Staff

ProBuild Holdings, Denver, CO, a upplier of building materials to professional contractors, expanded its presence in Illinois by opening a new location outside Chicago and taking lease positions on two other locations in the area.

The new 23-acre facility located in Hampshire, IL, features a full service lumberyard as well as truss and wall panel manufacturing capabilities. The Hampshire facility will serve both residential and commercial contractors and supports ProBuild’s strategy to aggressively build out its national footprint by enhancing existing market coverage to better service its customers.

"Chicago is an important market in ProBuild’s overall business strategy," says Lonnie Bernardoni, senior vice president, Manufacturing. "This new location provides superior positioning …

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