The Fire Sprinkler Roundtable

January was not a good month for the equity markets here and abroad.  Your 401K’s may have lost as much as 15%. February is starting off on a much more positive note …but as you all know a paper loss is not a loss until you sell.

Field reports on new business activity remain quite grim.  Jobs under contract are being postponed indefinitely or canceled because financing is non-existent.  Economic reports suggest an impending commercial real estate crisis on loans which will default…we are talking about a potential financial “meltdown” approaching 1.5 trillion dollars.  While balance sheets for a majority of businesses are improving dramatically, layoffs and consolidation of business units are the main reasons.  Unfortunately, no new hires or capital expenditures are expected in the near term.  Excess capacity at every level is the culprit and until we see some dramatic absorption in both residential and non-residential space we will continue to “muddle along”.

Government debt is also a major concern and there remains a lingering concern that inflation will rear its head.  While long term prospects for the industry remain “bright” the concern in the sprinkler marketplace is fewer companies will be around to participate in that market unless we see some dramatic increase in non-residential construction.   We would like to hear from our readers as to what you are seeing in your market areas.