John’s Blog 9-8-08

Dear Friends,

The government bailout of Fannie and Freddie lifted the financial markets due to the belief that this is the first step to changing the current poor housing market.  Between the two they have lost $14 Billion on $5 Trillion in mortgage backed loans.

When the word broke out over the weekend it was expected that the stock market would rally on this good news and it has.

Because the housing is a strong component in our nation’s economy, those of us in the supply chain business have reason for hope as well.  The consumer’s confidence in spending is tied to their feelings of well being and now the government is backing about half of the US mortgages that Freddy and Fanny represent.

Oil took a bump in price by $3.00 to $109.12 per barrel due to concerns over hurricane Ike.  It looks like Ike will head into the gulf so the oil rigs and refineries will be shuttering operations in preparation.

Rail traffic fell in August led by lower intermodal, and other car loadings of autos and other movements of equipment.

On a personal note, my friends at Pac Am successfully completed a transaction selling the Oakland based 3PL to Matson Global.  Watching this company grow due to their professional approach to logistics and seeing a worthy buyer like Matson pick them up is a great outcome for everyone involved. Congratulations!

I want to thank Dave Pfannerstill and his team in the Wagner IT group for the successful conversion of a major paper account over the weekend to Red Prairie.  The directed put away feature and the accuracy from scanning roll numbers will provide a boost in accuracy and productivity. A total win for the Wagner IT team.

At Wagner, we share a strong desire to service our client’s needs and welcome the opportunity to help you lower your landed cost in distributing your products.  Think of Wagner as you evaluate your distribution network for 2009.

Have a great week,

John Wagner Jr.