Carl Villella

Interest Rate Outlook and Planning Your Financing

Carl Villella

Taking a look at what some of the analysts are saying, it appears that the consensus is that the period of near-zero interest rates is not likely to return anytime soon. Going back to 1870, or roughly 60% of the time, the U.S. Treasury yields have been in the 3.5% to 5.5% range. Fed Chair...

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April 2024
Issue #16297
Page 59
Todd Drummond

Straight Talk About Labor Shortages and Costs

Todd Drummond

I have had the same conversations with so many executives concerning the tight labor market and rising labor costs. There is good and bad news concerning this subject. First, the good news is that you can be assured that high labor costs and a tight labor market are not only affecting your...

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March 2024
Issue #16296
Page 24
Carl Villella

A Closer Look into 2024

Carl Villella

Over the last few months, we have seen rates drop for those seeking to finance new or used equipment. Economists are pointing to even lower rates as the year goes on, but of course that will depend on whether the economy continues its downward inflation trend or not, on its way to the 2%...

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March 2024
Issue #16296
Page 59
Craig Webb

Deals Report 2023: Tracking the Openings, Closings, and Acquisitions

Craig Webb

The construction supply industry saw high lending rates and a relative lack of big transactions result in 22% fewer deals involving 2.6% fewer locations in 2023 vs. 2022. There also were 10% fewer buyers, with several big players barely present. But greenfield openings, while down 5% from 2022,...

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March 2024
Issue #16296
Page 98
Carl Villella

What’s the Difference Between a Lease and a Loan?

Carl Villella

The question of what’s the difference between a lease and a loan comes up often, and there are some clear differences that can affect how a client decides to finance their commercial equipment. When a client decides to lease equipment, they make regular lease payments for the right to...

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February 2024
Issue #16295
Page 59
Lesko Financial Services Team

A Mixed Start to 2024

Lesko Financial Services Team

Beginnings always feed the temptation to look ahead and make predictions, and recent economic news, podcasts, and websites have featured their fill. 2024 went out on a fairly positive note and it was tempting to try to extend that optimism beyond the first few weeks of January. But despite...

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February 2024
Issue #16295
Page 64
Todd Drummond

Mistake-Proof Your Process with Must-Have Communication Features

Todd Drummond

Last month’s article, Continuous Improvement (Kaizen) for Enhancing Performance to Ensure ROI Retention, is a natural lead-in to Poka-Yoke. In lean terminology, roughly translated from Japanese, Poka-Yoke means to mistake-proof the process. A more accurate translation could be...

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January 2024
Issue #16294
Page 24
Carl Villella

What You Can Expect in 2024

Carl Villella

According to the research team at Goldman Sachs, we can expect healthy growth in 2024, with the economy growing by 2.1%. Most of the problems that would lead to higher inflation, such as an overheated labor market, are gone. And as a result, the probability of a recession in 2024 is much...

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January 2024
Issue #16294
Page 59
Valerie Hansen

Creating Your Own Commodity Market Performance Measures

Valerie Hansen

If you haven’t considered BuyMetrics yet, I have one more reason for you to check it out in 2024 – our new Commodity Analysis and Visualization Module. This new module will give BuyMetrics’ clients the power to control their own market analysis and measure their own...

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January 2024
Issue #16294
Page 64
Todd Drummond

Continuous Improvement (Kaizen) for Enhancing Performance to Ensure ROI Retention

Todd Drummond

Over twenty years ago, I struck out to help companies improve their operations through best practices based on lean manufacturing and industrial engineering practices. Helping hundreds of companies improve their operations has been an extremely rewarding experience. After all of the 35 years I...

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December 2023
Issue #15293
Page 24
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