By Brian E. Clark
RISING
Oshkosh Truck
Beijing Capital International Airport, which announced last week that
it plans to buy six fire trucks worth $5 million from Wisconsin’s
Oshkosh Truck, has also decided to buy two snow removal vehicles worth
a total of $1 million.
Gov. Jim Doyle, speaking from Beijing Monday, touted the news and said
China holds great potential for companies like Oshkosh because the
country is rapidly building airports and needs emergency vehicles.
Oshkosh is a leading manufacturer and marketer of specialty vehicles
and truck bodies for defense, concrete placement, refuse hauling,
access equipment and fire and emergency. Shares of Oshkosh Truck closed
Monday at $54.63, down from a 52-week high of $65.83.
MIXED
Economy
A top University of Wisconsin economist is predicting that the U.S.
economy will slide into recession next year, led by the downturn in the
housing market. How severe that recession becomes remains to be seen,
however, said Don Nichols, an emeritus professor of economics and
former director of the LaFollete School of Public Affairs.
“My money is on a near-term collapse in housing, a related decline in
consumer spending, [and] a typical accompanying response (downturn)
from inventories,” he said, speaking at Friday’s economic forecast
conference at the Fluno Center on the UW-Madison campus.
As for Wisconsin, Nichols said the impact of the housing slide and
related credit crunch will be felt much less than in other areas of the
country. In part, that is because residential construction peaked in
this state several years ago and new building permits for this July
were about half of what they were for the same month four years ago.
He said he is bothered, however, by employment growth that trails the
national average. On the other hand, he said Badger State exports are
booming by helping fuel China’s rapid economic expansion.
FALLING
Delphi
Delphi Corp. has informed state and local officials that it will close
its powertrain systems production plant in Oak Creek in late December.
The move means 200 Milwaukee-area workers will lose their jobs.
The facility is one of two plants the bankrupt Michigan automotive
supplier runs in Oak Creek, where it makes engine control modules and
catalytic converters. Both Oak Creek plants will be closed under a
reorganized Delphi, which expects to emerge from bankruptcy later this
year. The company’s notice to the state didn’t provide any information
regarding the other plant.
The affected workers are represented by the Union Auto Workers Local
1866 and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 663.
Shares of Delphi closed Monday at 54.5 cents, down from a 52-week high
of $5.51.
