Watching For What's Next

With so many industry gatherings in recent weeks, it lends itself to the massive incubation of rumors.  Being connected to the industry in the odd ways I am, I get to hear many of these.  Most are of the outlandish variety, but some eventually happen.  In any case the scuttlebutt of newer foreign players coming to the US and setting up fabrication plants continues to grow.  These rumors started a year ago during glasstec and have gained more ground in throughout the year and even more in recent weeks.  So it bears watching if the current busy market attracts new players into.  Plus will these people greenfield or acquire?  It’s a sellers market right now, so I would not be shocked if we see the former happen.  My fearless prediction is you will see someone new hitting a major market in the next 6-9 months.

Elsewhere…

--  Thank you to everyone in the industry who signed the Section 179 petition.  It was a bunch of you and good to see. The petition passed the 10K mark this week and the effort continues to get congress to look at this piece and roll it back to where it should be.

--  I have been following the new Apple HQ closely, and now this week renderings were released for another major Apple campus building in Silicon Valley.  This one is a clover leaf shaped complex that will cover 18 acres.  HOK is the designer and it will feature a lot of glass, a lot of it large and bent again.  Plus there’s some thought that Apple may try to push for Net Zero on this complex which would be an amazing accomplishment- so expectation of a heavy dose of solar is surely a possibility. 

--  Before we leave the state of California, a comical piece this week in the New York Times on electric cars and the battles that now come with them…mainly areas and spaces to charge up.  People are getting fired up as the cars and technology are outpacing areas to service and charge.  It’s a great read and shows that sometimes disruptive technology still has a long way to go with support and consideration.  Personally I see frustration and arguments over electrical outlets all the time… at the busy airports I frequent.

--  Poll time... so what are the most energy efficient states and which are least efficient?  According to a new survey by WalletHub here they are. (US only and study did not include Hawaii or Alaska) The piece analyzed efficiency of car and home energy consumption as a part of their process.

Most Efficient:

1.  New York – Color me stunned on this one.

2.  Vermont

3.  Minnesota- I actually figured this would be #1 thanks to brilliant people like Kerry Haglund being so alive there.

4.   Wisconsin

      5.   Utah

Least Efficient:

44- Arkansas

45- Kentucky

46- Texas

47- Louisiana

48- South Carolina

So South Carolina is the least energy efficient state according to this particular piece.  I guess aside from being a tough state to get Hurricane protection codes enforced, SC is also tough on energy.

--  I am in shock after the end of the Michigan-Michigan State game.  What a wild finish to a pretty intriguing football game.  Love College Football.  Congrats to my many State fans out there and I feel for my UofM folks.

--  Last this week… for those of you with a retail arm, do yourself a favor and check out this article on Angie’s List.  If you provide a service to the public you likely have been inundated and guilted by the heavy sales pitch from these folks and this story gives some insight on why.  I have to give credit to the people behind this service; they have found a way to make some good money without the effort of producing the product.

LINKS of the WEEK

I don’t know what to make of this story and can’t understand why a lawsuit between Aunt and Nephew even took place.

I do think of the “Great Depression” quite a bit and this site is a tremendous resource for images.

The end of an era- no more nude shots coming to Playboy.  We will see if the remaining people who do get the magazine actually do read it “just for the articles”

VIDEO of the WEEK

This past week SNL did a piece on Delta flight attendents.  It was just good enough to be featured here…. Only because I fly so much I think about these things all the time.