Industrials Empty Tool Box Amid Tough Operating Environment
By Kris Rosemann How far we have come from the financial abyss! The US economy is now more than seven years removed from the credit crisis that sent shockwaves through the global financial system in the latter years of the past decade. In the fourth quarter of 2008, for example, real GDP in the US tumbled more than 8%, a figure not witnessed since the double-dip recession of the 1980s, and perhaps not surpassed since the time of the Great Depression. During the Financial Crisis of 2008-2009, many industrial entities, particularly those with finance subsidiaries faced dwindling credit health, and several including General Electric (GE) and Harley-Davidson (HOG) cut their dividends to shareholders. Others such as General Motors (GM) even … Read more