George J. Blickley, contributing editor
Articles
A few controls users, suppliers pierce overall economic gloom
Industries that use and produce industrial did not have a very good year in 2002, if you examine their sales and profits compared to the year before. In one of the more useful sources of analysis, Business Week magazine takes the financial results of more than 900 companies in more than 20 industry segments, and publishes them in its "BW Corporate Scoreboard.
CE Index leads recovery with 20% gain in 4Q02
Step aside and let a winner lead the way. Even though 4Q02 was poor for the economy, and even as other markets improved somewhat, the controls industry showed more definite signs of recovery. While the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased about 10% and the NASDAQ rose about 14% during the quarter, the Control Engineering Index shot up 20%, outstripping the other two indexes during 4Q02.
Lower water level lowers horizons of all boats
The first two quarters of 2002 were bad enough, with two of the indexes that we track here declining, except for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Control Engineering Index showing slight increases in 1Q02. The third quarter was the worst by far, with all of the indexes falling 10% to 20%. The CE Market Value Index appears to have ended the roller-coaster cycles that occurred from 3Q...
1Q02: another boom or just a fizzled bust?
Following a year of wild ups and downs in many stock markets, paralleled on a less widely fluctuating scale by the controls field, financial gauges indicated that many industries settled in for some significant gains during first quarter 2002 (1Q02). The Control Engineering Index managed to gain almost 5% in the first quarter, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased about 4%, and the...
Data suggest U.S. economy, controls began recovery in 4Q01
Despite financial fluctuations following the World Trade Center tragedy and recent economic downturn, data indicate that U.S. financial and controls markets started rebounding at the end of 2001.Outperforming the overall markets, industrial controls improved by 26% in 4Q01 over the previous quarter, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Standard & Poor's 500 improved only 13%...
3Q01 results generally unfavorable to all
The meltdown that has hobbled the overall U.S. economy finally hit the controls industry in 2001's third quarter. This industry had held its own earlier this year, when many other industries were foundering. However, the CE index suffered a 25% decline from the second to the third quarter, and it even performed a little worse than the Dow Jones and S&P 500, which both suffered approxi...
Drop in market affects controls industry
The downturn in the U.S. markets that started in 4Q00 is reflected in various indexes. All the indexes have been somewhat stable, except for NASDAQ, which demonstrated the biggest hits among technical and dot-coms stocks for most of the past year. The indexes are all down significantly for 1Q01, but the good news is that the Control Engineering Stock Index declined only 5.
年终控制指标比大多数人
Year-end stock indexes for 2000 tell quite a story—a good one for the controls industry. The overall indexes peaked, or were near their peak, at the beginning of the year, and then generally fell through 3Q00—except for the Control Engineering (CE) Index, which reached a new pinnacle at the end of 2000.
Industrial control indexes hold own in third quarter
Earnings for industrial control companies through 3Q00 don't seem to parallel many analysts' opinions that overall industrial earnings for 2000 won't be too good. The Control Engineering (CE) Stock Index for control firms appeared healthy enough in 3Q00, with enough momentum to indicate that year-end figures will be pretty good.
Stock prices decline while industrial control earnings improve
The stock market wasn't kind to the controls industry in the first half of 2000. The Control Engineering Index (CEI) showed that prices for industrial control stocks fell 11% in 2Q00, which was more than the Dow Jones Industrial Average's decline (-4.3%), though less than the NASDAQ's drop (-13%).