Posted on March - 18 - 2011
The winter slowdown in the construction marterials market had been revised away with strong January activity and upward revisions for December. Orders and production increased at a double digit pace in the last three months. Inventories at manufacturers inched up, unfilled orders soared and the manufacturers’ inventory/sales ratio slipped slightly lower but remains above average. Nonetheless, materials prices rose at nearly a 9.0% annual rate in the three months through January. Further market strengthening is expected to be reported in February based on the 3.4% rise in construction work hours in February.
The slim 1.0% gain in materials production in the last three months, combined with the increase in the materials price index, is consistent with the nominal dollar gains in shipments and inventories.
The Japanese earthquake is expected to be very mildly negative for materials orders and shipments as well as the materials price index in the next few months. B
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Posted on March - 03 - 2011
The latest housing market reports were mixed, confirming that the housing market is edging closer to a sustained recovery but that it has not yet begun. Brief surges have occurred several times in the last two years but none have been sustained. Housing starts and existing home sales rose strongly in January while housing permits and new sales both declined significantly. Home prices also fell in January. Price data is less reliable. At best, prices have stabilized. At worst, the national home price index is still slipping slowly although prices are recovering in some regions.
The January gain in existing home sales was driven by foreclosure sales, cash sales (many of these to speculators) and purchases by first time home buyers. Purchases by current homeowners with standard mortgages from owners without financial distress remain an exceptionally small share of the market. This is usually the core of the housing market.
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Posted on March - 02 - 2011
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Setting Up an eBay Store
If you’re looking to increase your Web presence and think another selling avenue might do the trick, check out the option of setting up a store on eBay. An eBay store can look and feel like your own website but you’ll attract avid eBay shoppers on their platform. eBay provides designing and marketing tools, plus you’ll be able to use eBay’s toll-free customer support program. With over 62 million unique visitors (according to Compete.com), you can’t afford to ignore this huge market. eBay stores come with a monthly subscription fee and you’ll pay an insertion fee for auctions. There is also a fixed-price fee format available.
Posted on February - 26 - 2011
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BirthdayMessages.com
Stumped on what to write in an employee’s birthday card (or a friend’s or a client’s)? You want to be funny, but not crude or distasteful. Everyone gets writer’s block from time to time, so the next time writing a birthday card greeting is taking up way too much of your busy day, you can check out BirthdayMessages.com. You can search for funny messages (“Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional”) or more meaningful (“Here’s to another year of experience”). The site also has poems, famous quotes and religious birthday wishes. You can also search by who the message is meant for (family member) or look for age-specific wishes.
