Thursday, December 13th, 2012
October 2012 US commercial printing shipments were up +$251 million, or +3.6% versus 2011, the first positive October since 2010. “On an inflation-adjusted basis, shipments were up +$100 million, or +1.4%,” said Dr. Joe Webb, Director of the WhatTheyThink Economics & Research Center. The latest report of shipments has been ...Thursday, December 6th, 2012
How many months have we claimed that the economy is still in sideways mode? It seems like years. The NASDAQ is down -0.9% compared to November's figure, despite some serious gyrations during the month, including a closing low of 2836 in the middle of the month, and what some analysts ...Tuesday, November 6th, 2012
September 2012 US commercial printing shipments were $6.97 billion, down -$232 million, or -3.2% versus September 2011. On an inflation-adjusted basis, shipments were down -$375mil, or -5.1%. For the first nine months of 2012, shipments were down -$1.3 billion on a current dollar basis (-2.1%, and -4.2% an inflation adjusted basis). The ...Monday, November 5th, 2012
Since the beginning of October, four of the six recovery indicators retreated, and two of them are below the levels at the start of the recession back in December 2007. (Click image to enlarge) The NASDAQ pulled back -4.3%. While it is +12.7% higher than it was when the recession started, ...Wednesday, October 31st, 2012
I've been hearing the expected and annoying "economic growth will be helped by disaster recovery" in the news today. This is the "broken window fallacy" as discussed by economist Frederic Bastiat. Bastiat's work explains that there are unseen costs (opportunity costs), unintended consequences, and misallocation of resources that disrupt the flow ...Monday, October 29th, 2012
Last week I expressed the belief that we are about to get harsher digital media wave than we did in the 2008-2009 period. I urged print business owners to act. The urge to act does not mean that this is a “do this or die” moment where is one single choice ...Saturday, October 6th, 2012
This past Friday's unemployment report has caused a great deal of confusion among businesspeople and (always-confused) political classes. Politically-charged pre-election periods make discerning the nature of economic data more difficult. I've dug into the data and these are the inconsistencies in the report that have caused the confusion and offer ...Thursday, October 4th, 2012
August 2012 US commercial printing shipments were $6.9 billion, down -$205 million (-2.9%) compared to 2011. On an inflation-adjusted basis, shipments were down -$325 million (-4.5%). For the first eight months of the year, shipments are down -2.1% in current dollars, and -4.1% after inflation adjustment. Our forecast models indicate ...Thursday, September 27th, 2012
I've been asked by some readers for my opinion about the recent end of talks between PIA and NAPL. So when I offer the opinion below, it must be understood that I'm just an outside observer. I know many of the players, but only as acquaintances as I see them ...Tuesday, September 11th, 2012
Software Freedom Day, a celebration of open source software and freeware, is held every September. Few people realize how important “open source” software is, but it is used mainly on computer servers to provide access to all of the data that are accessed on the Internet and on most corporate ..."Getting Business" extends the concepts from "Disrupting the Future" to plain-speaking advice for using the latest communications media by print businesses and as offerings to their clients.
Strategies and Action Items for Success
A contrarian look at the printing industry and the new rules and strategies needed to succeed.
