Feed Editor 6 Jul 2010 08:41:08 CDT The AGMA News Brief provides industry-specific news and information to the gear manufacturing marketplace. Delivered weekly, the publication keeps decision makers informed of topics that impact the gear manufacturing industry. http://www.multibriefs.com/briefs/agma/newsbrief.xml en 'Another storm is coming, I'm afraid," said Sheldon Stone, talking about the hundreds of automotive parts suppliers that are still teetering on the edge of survival. Head of the restructuring practice of Birmingham-based turnaround advisory firm Amherst Partners, Stone said the good news is that most suppliers have cut labor and other costs so they can break even or make money at much-lower volume levels, just as General Motors and Chrysler have done after government-aided bankruptcies. "But about 65 percent or 70 percent of those suppliers have balance sheets that are still upside-down," he saidlast week 6 Jul 2010 08:41:08 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4c3114663ddff 1 A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers Friday pushed for a probe into a Chinese steel conglomerate's investment in a U.S. mill citing concerns over national security and employment. In a letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, 50 members of the Congressional Steel Caucus showed concerns over China's Anshan Iron and Steel Group's recent investment in the American Steel Development Company, requesting the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to launch an investigation. 6 Jul 2010 08:41:08 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4c310d25588a0 2 Orders to U.S. factories declined broadly in May after nine straight months of gains, raising new concerns that the recovery is stalling. The Commerce Department said that orders for manufactured goods decreased 1.4 percent in May. It was the biggest drop since March 2009. 6 Jul 2010 08:41:08 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4c310e8897df2 3 India's car makers reported that sales for the month of June were strong, underscoring consumer demand and industrial growth in Asia's third-largest economy. India's top car maker, Maruti Suzuki, said sales jumped 17 percent last month compared with the same period a year ago while Ford India, Tata Motors and General Motors all also reported a sharp surge. 6 Jul 2010 08:41:08 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4c33308947860 4 French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said that stress tests will show that Europe's banks are "solid and healthy. We're going through a process that is organized and planned," Lagarde told reporters in Aix en Provence, France. "Banks in Europe are solid and healthy." 6 Jul 2010 08:41:08 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4c3116335da6c 5 Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has introduced legislation to repeal the Jones Act, a 1920 law requiring that all goods shipped between U.S. ports be carried by U.S.-built ships and that the vessels be owned and operated by Americans. In a bill introduced recently, McCain called the Jones Act "antiquated and protectionist" and said it favors labor unions over U.S. consumers. 6 Jul 2010 08:41:08 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4c3116824277f 6 Germany, Israel and Taiwan top the list of countries interested in Sikorsky’s new CH-53K, now scheduled for first flight in 2013. The heavy lifter, which is headed for service with the U.S. Marine Corps, has suffered from delays, including a slip in initial operational capability of three years, to 2018. The delays seem not to faze the Marines and the CH-53K program office at Naval Air Systems Command. 6 Jul 2010 08:41:08 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4c3113dbbb84c 7 If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it's a duck — or a really great ducklike thingamajig. Apply that maxim to energy, and you get some insight into why more Americans are shedding fossil fuels in favor of wind power and other forms of clean, renewable energy. After all, if it gets the same job done at far lower risk and with less cost over the long run, what's not to like? Case in point — even though the housing market has not recovered from its crash, sales of small home-scaled wind turbines increased last year by almost 10,000 units. 6 Jul 2010 08:41:08 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4c31175aa7e18 8 Volvo CE officially inaugurated its expanded heavy equipment factory in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania. The event was attended by local and state public officials, company executives and personnel and members of the local media. It marked the revealing of a $30 million investment to expand the company's assembly capabilities to meet anticipated demand in the North American market. 6 Jul 2010 08:41:08 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4c3247423cfff 9