Sales for HARDI distributor members increased by increased by 12.2 percent in November, according to the monthly TRENDS report. The average annualized growth for the 12 months through November, 2018 is 11.1 percent.

“Furnace season is off to a great start,” said HARDI Market Research & Benchmarking Analyst Brian Loftus.  “October was colder than the prior year in every region. That happened again in November when heating degree days exceeded normal in six of our seven economic regions.”

“HARDI sales still looked outstanding entering into the winter months,” said HARDI Economist Paul Hallmann. “Despite recent volatility in equity markets, economic fundamentals remain strong.”

“We’ll be keeping a close eye on the actions and remarks of the FED in the coming months, as continued equity market volatility will lead to downside risk on consumer and business confidence, as well as on economic activity in general,” Hallmann continued. “However, November confidence numbers remained strong for both consumers and businesses.”

The Days Sales Outstanding (DSO), a measure of how quickly customers pay their bills, is now over 48 days. “The DSO is up from the summer lows and that is consistent with the normal annual pattern,” said Loftus. “48 is a little higher than last year, but we expect the ratio to remain in the 47 to 49 range the next couple months.”