Category Archives: News
$5 Gas Not Likely, Says Texas A&M Expert
Having to dig deeper to fill up the gas tank? You are not alone as gas prices have steadily risen in the past few weeks, but the possibility of gas hitting $5 a gallon by summer as many analysts are predicting is very unlikely, says a Texas A&M University economist who has studied oil prices for decades. John Moroney, professor of economics and an oil analyst for more than 30 years, says the possibility of gas reaching $4 a gallon from its current national average of around $3.45… Read More →
Number of the week
450,000: The likely threshold of new claims for unemployment benefits, above which the economy is likely losing jobs and below which it is adding jobs. The unemployed are more likely to apply for government benefits than they used to be, and it’s changing how economists use reports of new jobless claims as a gauge of labor-market health. An economic rule of thumb that generally held through the recessions of the1970s, 80s and 90s was that when new weekly claims for unemployment benefits rose above 400,000, the economy was cutting… Read More →
Well crap, here they go again…
Sorry for the technical jargon in the title, but that just about sums up my feelings on USDA’s latest announcement of their intentions to no longer produce the annual floriculture crops report. After USDA-ERS dropping their situation and outlook reporting several years back and USDA-NASS cutting the nursery crops report to a overy-thrid-year cycle (but not having delivered on even that since 2005), now NASS decides to drop the only green industry report we have left? C’mon Man! (to use the Monday Night Football slogan for dumb plays). Yes,… Read More →
Demography is Destiny
BNH spoke to Ken Gronbach, author of The Age Curve: How To Profit from the Coming Demographic Storm (AMACOM, 2008) and Common Census: The Counter-Intuitive Guide to Generational Marketing (Ford Odell Group, 2005). Gronbach, who ran an ad shop, KGA Advertising, in Middletown for years, sees in demographic trends reasons to espouse what most would describe as a contrarian view on America’s and China’s economic futures. Gronbach says demographics are destiny and marketers and public decision makers disregard them at their peril. BNH Publisher Mitchell Young interviewed Gronbach…. Read More →
Outlook: Manufacturing Strength Despite Slow Economy
A host of factors, ranging from the tsunami in Japan to higher oil prices, have conspired to weaken the outlook for the overall U.S. economy, yet the manufacturing sector continues to forge ahead, according to the Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI U.S. Industrial Outlook, a quarterly report that analyzes 27 major industries. “The positive momentum of a 2 percent reduction in payroll taxes this year and 100 percent expensing of equipment and software investments has been more than offset by higher oil prices, and Japanese automakers in the U.S. faced a… Read More →
Buy Your Raffle Ticket Now to Support American in Bloom
As many of you are aware, America in Bloom (AIB) promotes nationwide beautification through education and community involvement by encouraging the use of flowers, plants, trees, and other environmental and lifestyle enhancements. One of the ways that AIB raises funds (besides sponsorships) is to hold an annual raffle. Wouldn’t it feel good to put $5,000; $1,000, or even $500 in your pocket? If you purchase an AIB raffle ticket you just might be one of the lucky cash prize winners! The 2010 raffle generated over $30,000 in funding… Read More →
The future of learning
Every so often I come across something that stops me dead in my tracks; something so fascinating that I simply have to stop what I am working on [regardless of how important it is] and take an excursion that, in the end, proves to be paradigm-changing. This happened today. A friend of mine referred me to a site that has a good video explanation of enterprise value and EBITDA. It wasn’t necessarily the content (though it was exceptional). It was the manner in which the information was being… Read More →
Why tree prices will increase
One of the blog posts most commented on recently was by a guest blogger talking about the availability and quality of plant material in the green industry in 2011 (click here). Today, I received a heads-up from a friend (hat tip) regarding another excellent perspective regarding a related issue from one of our own in the industry. By permission, I am placing it here on Making Cents in its entirety (another hat tip to the author). Usually price increases are a sore topic. In our current economic climate,… Read More →
Commercial real estate indicator is positive
Note: This index is a leading indicator for new Commercial Real Estate (CRE) investment. From the American Institute of Architects: Firm Billings Rebound in November At 52.0, the AIA’s Architecture Billings Index (ABI) recorded a three point gain from the previous month, and reached its strongest level since December 2007. With ABI scores above the 50 level in two of the past three months, the prospects of a sustainable recovery in design activity are enhanced. This graph shows the Architecture Billings Index since 1996. The index showed expansion… Read More →
