CircuiTree - December 2008 - (Page 6) Lead Wire Group Publisher • Tom Esposito (610) 436-4220 x 8530, espositot@bnpmedia.com Associate Publisher • Darryl Seland (610) 436-4220 x 8532, darryl@circuitree.com Senior Editor • Stephanie J. Church (734) 997-9235, stephanie@circuitree.com Technical Editor • Karl Dietz technicaleditor@circuitree.com Technical Packaging Editor • Ken Gilleo Ken@ET-Trends.com India Editor • Muniswamy Anil Kumar Editorial Advisor • Happy Holden Global Sales Manager • Christopher Wilson (248) 244-8264, wilson@circuitree.com West Coast Sales Manager (AZ, CA, CO, NV, OR) • Ed Lohmann (925) 648-2562, lohmanne@bnpmedia.com Inside Sales Manager • Vito Laudati (630) 694-4018, laudativ@bnpmedia.com Art Director • Mike Holmes (412) 306-4358, holmesj@bnpmedia.com Production Manager • Nann Barkiewicz barkiewiczn@bnpmedia.com Marketing/Reprints Jill L. DeVries – Editorial Reprints, (248) 244-1726, devriesj@bnpmedia.com Marketing Manager Lynn Davidson (248) 786-1652, davidsonl@bnpmedia.com Audience Development Christine A. Baloga – Corporate Audience Development Director Christina Gietzen – Audience Development Coordinator Megan Masson – Multimedia Coordinator Catherine M. Ronan – Corporate Audience Audit Manager Irrational Weariness? By Darryl Seland A lan Greenspan coined the phrase “irrational exuberance” to describe the frenzied growth of the stock market in the very late 20th century. Many, like me, naturally assume that there must be a flipside. Not that I would use it to describe current economic conditions, but there has been a great deal happening lately to describe the situation as chaotic, at the least—a presidential election, contradictory economic news, and financial indicators, like the Dow Jones, that bounce around like a superball. We have been inundated with quarterly and half-year reports, as well as other news, commonly seeing words like reduced, adjusted, postponed, or cancelled to describe business plans for the near future. But we have also seen our fair share of the phrases expanding and moving forward. It’s these contradictions in terms and actions that have many worried over the uncertainty of it all. While it’s hard to argue that we are not in a slump, the more predominant questions seem to be “how long will it last?” and “how bad will it get?” The good news is that many industries and markets are still showing signs of great strength (in the aforementioned flurry of news I managed to also see the phrase record earnings) and the PCB market is no different. October estimates still place growth of the global PCB market at two to three percent. Companies are positioning themselves with mergers and acquisitions and many are continuing to get involved with the newest innovations in the market, such as photovoltaics and green technology. Perhaps we can also take a nice deep breath because as I write this the country has put to rest one of the biggest perpetrators of the chaos and worry we have experienced. We have elected a new president. And while it remains to be seen what effect this new administration will have on the short- and long-term economy, we can all hope for what CircuiTree’s market experts Walt Custer and Jonathan Custer-Topai call a “post-election economic bounce.” Read more of Walt and Jonathan’s analysis in Market Outlook, as well as Joe Fjelstad’s take on 2008 in Flexible Thinking, as CircuiTree joins everyone in moving toward the end of the year and looks forward to providing you with all the information you need in 2009. For subscription information or service, please contact Customer Service at: Tel. (847) 763-9534 or Fax (847) 763-9538 or e-mail: CTR@halldata.com www.circuitree.com Contact Info for List Rental Customers: POSTAL: Robert Liska, List Manager 800-223-2194 • robert.liska@edithroman.com EMAIL: Shawn Kingston, Account Manager 800-409-4443 • shawn.kingston@epostdirect.com Back Issues – Ann Kalb – (248) 244-6499, kalba@bnpmedia.com Corporate Directors Publishing: Timothy A. Fausch Publishing: David M. Lurie Publishing: John R. Schrei Audience Development: Christine A. Baloga Custom Media: Steve M. Beyer Corporate Strategy: Rita M. Foumia Information Technology: Scott Kesler Production: Vincent M. Miconi Finance: Lisa L. Paulus Creative: Michael T. Powell Marketing: Douglas B. Siwek Directories: Nikki Smith Human Resources: Marlene J. Witthoft Conferences & Events: Scott A. Wolters 6 December 2008 • circuitree.com http://www.circuitree.com http://www.circuitree.com
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