4/27/2010
HEADLINES
Beaulieu at NFDA: Time to Expand, Acquire Companies
Economist Brian Beaulieu of the Institute for Trend Research
“It’s over,” economist Brian Beaulieu declared at the spring conference of the National Fastener Distributors Association of the U.S. recession which started in 2008.
The U.S. now has a “viable, sustainable recovery trend” and it is time for businesses to expand.
Profits will be up this year, and 2011 and 2012 “look good,” the economist who in previous years predicted the U.S. recession which started in 2008.
Because of the recession and the depths of it, many businesses are leery of ramping up. “If you are reticent to buy into the recovery, you will leave money on the table,” Beaulieu stressed.
He urged NFDA members to show the “visceral fortitude to buy other companies and expand now.”
It is also a time to hire good people, he added. “Stop looking in the rearview mirror.”
Beaulieu noted that sales are up. “If people are back to buying boats, the recession is over.”
Assuring economic growth is the fact that the U.S. will gain 130 million more people in the next generation.
“We are a job creating machine.”
• By 2012 it will be a good time to sell your business – followed by a prime opportunity in 2017, Beaulieu predicted.
• Though the stock market may have some “sideways” periods, overall it will be up over the next decade.
• “Get out of bond funds” and “invest more dollars outside the U.S. – unless you are near retirement,” he advised.
Expect inflation ahead, Beaulieu cautioned. That will spur retail sales because during inflationary periods “there is no incentive to save money.”
• The U.S. “has to restore rational behavior” and get control of the national debt.
With or without “cap & trade” legislation, “the green movement is already here, ” Beaulieu said. “And it is inflationary,” he added. “For the first time (green) technology is increasing the cost of living.”
The past two years were worse than the recession of the early 1980s, Beaulieu stated, but “not even close” to the Great Depression. ©2010 GlobalFastenerNews.com
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