If you want a dose of machining today go directly to the ads, because I’m mad and I just can’t take it anymore. In a couple of days we’ll celebrate Thanksgiving, watch the NFL, sop our dressing, and try to sleep with reflux. But 10,000 miles away thousands of American men and women will be trying to stay alive in Afghanistan. Tell me, why? We are propping up a corrupt Karzai government, playing ball with a Pakistan that harbors Al Qaeda, and inflating our monstrous budget deficit, to accomplish what? I don’t care if you are a lefty or a…
Author: Lloyd Graff
With GM going public today and bringing back billions to the taxpayers, we are seeing a batch of revisionist opinion pieces about Rick Wagoner, former head of the auto giant. Malcolm Gladwell, a favorite writer of mine, wrote a fascinating review of Steven Rattner’s new book, Overhaul, about the restructuring of GM for the Obama Administration. Rattner is a Wall Street mover and shaker who headed the restructuring in Detroit. Rattner saw Wagoner as a bureaucratic company guy and ultimately fired him, bringing in crusty Ed Whitacre to oversee the saving of a big part of the American auto industry.…
We are seeing an acceleration of year end buying in machinery for both new and used equipment. One reason for this is the widespread business expectation that prices for new machine tool inventory ordered from Japan will reflect the 25 percent drop in the past year of the value of the U.S. dollar versus the Japanese yen. The Japanese importers generally erred on the conservative side when 2010 orders were placed, which means the cupboards are now relatively bare. I’m hearing that 10 percent to 13 percent price increases are coming on Japanese built equipment, indicating that the builders hedged…
One of my abiding lifetime fascinations has been under-standing how markets value things. My father raised me on stories about buying machines at low prices and selling them at higher ones. I’ve been titillated by the stock market since childhood as I’ve tried to grasp the mystery of the shifting values of equities. Recently our new accountants leaned on us to do a comprehensive inventory of our stuff so they would feel secure about the values ascribed to our inventory in case the IRS came to visit. So we counted every screw and shaft (well, give or take a few)…
The mood has changed in the last few weeks in the precision machining world. It became real to me as I talked to folks at the Asset Sales auction at Caire Medical in Indianapolis last Thursday. The people of the machining world are happy again. They have a bit of visibility about orders. Washington has been neutered. Tax breaks are out there to shield income. Free cash flow is increasing. The dollar is weak and interest rates are low. The banks may be Scroogy, but just about everything else looks good. I see people rushing to get the last of…
I attended the auction of Caire Medical’s surplus machinery Nov. 4, in Indianapolis. The auctioneer, Asset Sales Inc. of Indian Trail, North Carolina, had a financial interest in the sale. There was an 18% buyer’s premium tacked onto the bid prices. The equipment was superb and the bidding was spirited. The hottest piece in the sale was a Citizen M32 Type V, new in 2007, with a FMB barloader. The bid price was $262,500 plus 18%, taking it over $300,000. There were (2) M32 Type III machines (new in 2003) which fetched $160,000 and $140,000 plus BP. An A-16 VIP…
The 2010 election reflected the anger of the American voters towards the Obama Administration, Congress, the Fed, Washington lobbyists, Wall Street, and Fannie and Freddie—just about everybody except Jack Bauer. The People have spoken and they are pissed—and they want Washington to know it. Now Washington does know it. But is anything important going to happen to make businesses hire and banks lend? Probably—but it will have only a little to do with the election. Business is getting better now. Retail had a good “back to school” season, and it’s predicted that Christmas will be fine. Cars are selling decently…
By Lloyd Graff Today’s Machining World Archives October 2010 Volume 06 Issue 08 It’s fall of 2010 and IMTS is behind us. Baseball, football, basketball and hockey are all going on at the same time. Elections loom and the economy cha-chas along—three steps forward and three steps back, following its own rhythm. The earthquake of 2008 is behind us, but we’re still jumpy because the shock was so violent. The landscape is still damaged, with big unemployment, bankers living in bunkers, and homes, offices and factories waiting for occupants or lookers. But the unemployment statistics don’t tell you that four…
This week I am enjoying the wonderful experience of connecting with my three granddaughters and feeling the enormous sense of possibility in Palo Alto, California. This is the town the recession tornado bounced over. Homes sell in weeks, restaurants are crowded, and nannies are at a premium. The huge boulevard, El Camino Real, runs through the city, home of Stanford, Hewlett Packard, Tesla Motors and Facebook. El Camino Real actually runs from San Diego to Sonoma. It dates back to the founders of the Spanish missions in California in the 1700s. It tied together 21 missions and presidios up the…
For used machinery dealers who are prepared to “detrashify” the ugly refugee machines emerging from the automotive flotsam being pushed into the market, 2011 stands to be a good year. For example, Hilco and Maynards auctioneering firms are now selling off multiple GM, Ford, and Chrysler plants with thousands of motley machines. Machines like Twin Grip Cincinnati centerless grinders and 8-spindle National Acme screw machines are being sold for near scrap prices. These are rugged machines which have been abused by indifferent operators and mindless management, but they are so durable that they can be brought back to life by…