To say that 2008 will go down as one of the most tumultuous economic years in history would be an understatement. 25 US banks failed including 2 of the largest bank failures in US history. The largest US bankruptcy filing ever, occurred in September, with the $639B chapter 11 filing of Lehman Brothers Holdings. To broaden the carnage, housing starts, business confidence, durable goods shipments, corporate debt issuance, industrial production, commercial paper underwriting, auto sales, M & A activity, employment growth, consumer confidence, IPOs, Wall Street bonuses, consumer spending, and the US equity markets all posted record declines of one form or another. Yield on the 1 month Treasury bill reached a mind-bending negative 0.15% and the US government took on a record $10 trillion dollars in additional liabilities or asset guarantees. Shares of major EMS companies reached valuation levels never before seen in the public markets, trading as low as a 1% to 3% multiple on sales and an astonishing 80% discount to book value. As of the writing of this blog, a staggering 1,276 publicly traded stocks in North America are trading at a discount to the cash that they have on their balance sheet.

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Mattel Inc., the El Segundo, CA based toy and game company, announced the release of a new decision support tool for manufacturers, the “Magic Eight Ball of Supplier Excuses.” Neil Friedman, President of Mattel Brands, displayed the new analytical tool at the 93rd Annual International Supply Management Conference in St. Louis, MO.

“For too long, manufacturers have been without the proper guidance to manage capacity and delivery information down the supply chain to their customers,” said Friedman, holding up the black globe in his right hand. “Now, regardless of your ERP system, we offer a fully compatible, universal decision support system that can measure and report performance for any production and distribution environment.”

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