Layoffs

[beej]

We are aftermarket automotive. We have two brands. One brand is down about 3% over last year. That brand represents 65-70% of our total sales dollars. The other brand is up about 12-15%. Overall we are staying flat. However, we are used to 10-20% growth every year so we consider it a down year.

The boss has enough shares in a few of the big publicly traded companies, that in the same markets that we are in, that he gets to listen in on their shareholder calls. They are all saying they are down 15% YOY so for us to stay flat is doing well.

I don't know if it's a recession, but it sure feels like a recession.

[CNCAppsJames]

I believe ours has to do with the Boeing take over. Management said we still have inventory that we built up when Boeing was in the depths of its issues. My opinion, Boeing doesn't want the cost of that inventory.

That seems very plausible if not downright probable.

We have a number of Boeing top-tier shops as customers that when all indications were that the FAA was going to ground the MAX-8,  Boeing told our customers to keep making parts. Well, as time dragged on, inventory piled up. The last year and a half-ish has been slow for them...

All indications say they are STILL sitting on a pile of inventory. 

[gcode]

Radio Free Asia

Protests by workers demanding back wages are spreading across China in a sign of growing discontent among millions suffering the brunt of factory closures, triggered by steep U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports amid an economic downturn.

Across the country – from Hunan province's Dao county in central China to Sichuan's Suining city in the southwest and Inner Mongolia's Tongliao city to the northeast – hundreds of disgruntled workers have taken to the streets to protest about unpaid wages and to challenge unfair dismissals by factories that were forced to shut due to the U.S. tariffs.

[CNCAppsJames]

We're ALL in for a bumpy ride. 

Consumerism doing consumerism things.