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Recently the US government cracked down on online Internet gambling.  Many websites and many website owners involved and Internet gambling saw their businesses evaporator disappear overnight and some even found themselves in serious legal trouble.  This all stems from government reregulation.

In a recent press release, Xpressbet.com details how they managed to stay legal and safe from government regulators when they put their money on  horse racing betting.  For years horse racing has stayed legal around the country in many states while other forms of betting have been deemed illegal.  There is obviously more sport in horse racing as compared to a card game, but other sports such as football and basketball do not go hand in hand with legal gambling.

The bottom line is that it pays to have a good lobbyist on your side in Washington to help keep you in business, while your competitors are pushed out of business.

The National Association of Realtors predicts a fall in prices for 2007 of 0.7%.  That may not sound like a big percentage number, however if it comes to pass then it will be the first annual fall in housing prices in more than 70 years.  Last month in March housing prices slipped 0.3%.

The real test will come in June whent he first summer sales figures start to come in to play.  As kids get out of school and people moving start to pack up and make a move before school starts again the true test for housing prices will really start to show.

At the same time, Mortgage companies, banks and creditors of all stripes are learning to place nice.  They have to otherwise they will be next.  They are working with people more often to keep the revenue stream alive or else they will be stuck with a home that they can't sell in a market where home prices are going south.  Raising the question,

Who does the Debt Counselor Call when they need debt Counselling?

For thousands of years businesses have grown up in a around religious items. some entrepreneurs make religious items, some make icons, and some make religious artifacts. They often times have different names in different meanings but they almost always have a price. Today people can buy religious jewelry or catholic medals or lawn ornaments even bobble heads for their car.

The movement and sale of these goods often times works just the same as they do with any other goods. The products are made in a cheap location by the cheapest labor available and distributed to a location where funds are in heavy supply to pay for those goods. One of the differences is that these items sometimes would appear to be luxuries if they weren't religious in nature. When religious connotation is attached their value goes up and the likelihood that the poor will pay for them increases as well. In this regards business and religious goods can command a premium over business and other goods.

I'm not saying that that is right or wrong on just remarking on the fact. I personally don't do business and religious artifacts are goods, but I do find it interesting from the study and perspective of different variations in international trade and business.

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Our sponsors Cappella University have recently provided a press release about one of their faculty members. Sara Orem recently published a book titled "Appreciative Coaching: a Positive Process for Change". The book details a number of recent studies and developments in the world of psychology and organizational development. It provides the concept that students in higher education environments benefit when leaders teachers and counselors appeal to their sense of ideal.

The book promotes the concept of appreciative coaching and walks readers through four stages described as Discovery, Dream, Design and Destiny. Basically they are trying to teach people how to tap in to the motivation that comes with idealism. It's one way that leaders were teachers can help harness the power of a person's passion. When you make appeals to a person's ideals and the things that they want to see your improve is easier for them to grasp the benefits that they are providing to themselves and the world and possibly help them to see the big picture. Providing this type of vision to motivate people is not a new concept, however this new approach identified in the book may be a new twist.

This (or “the following”) blog post was (or “is”) based on information provided by Blogitive. For more information, please visit Blogitive.com.

The pet food recall appears to be spreading and could spillover into the recall of foods for humans.  It was revealed this week that tainted petfood was provided to hogs in California which made it into the food supply for humans.  Separately the FDA is also investigating similar circumstances where tainted foods may have made it into the food supply in Illinois.

The FDA is reacting to problems and does not appear to have the funds to be proactive in this investigation.  The portion of the FDA responsible for investigating foods for recalls at its budget cut over the last four years from 48 million down into the low $30 million range.  That's about $.10 for every person in the United States.  Only, $.10 is paid to ensure that the food you eat is safe.

"We don't have the resources or the capabilities to test every single shipment of every single food item that crosses into our country or into our state borders," said Frank Busta, director of the National Center for Food Protection and Defense.

Source: Food safety worries mount | Chicago Tribune

With that in mind and with the strengthening power of the Democratic led Congress, it seems likely that the FDA will receive additional funding and additional powers in the years to come.  Meanwhile China has just recently started to allow investigators to book their plane tickets to come to China to investigate the contamination of Melanine in the food supply.  China has never been known for its openness nor its transparency and they've only recently approved the visas to US investigators.  It's not terribly likely that China will prove to be very cooperative in this venture and doubtful that they will assist in getting to the bottom of the situation.

Truthfully they have no reason to assist as the US inspects less than 1% of food that is imported into the country.  Short of a ban on food products from China, which could be possible if this contamination problem continues to spread, it's unlikely that China will take any proactive action themselves.  After all this is the same country that encouraged its own people to begin smoking so that they could raise more money in taxes.  If the help of their own people is such a low priority is no reason to assume that the health of their customers as a high priority either.

I'd like to apologize to my readers have been absent from this site for a few days working on a new project. Soon I will disclose the project and it will be one of those options that can be and will be interesting and appealing for many of my readers on this site. I've been launching a new division of my Company Softduit Partners. currently we are in a beta testing program that would not be appealing to anyone here just yet. Soon we will be opening it up to businesses and companies that are interested in taking advantage of the new type of advertising. While I've been setting up a new company have had to deal with a number of things that you go through with a start up. I've been ordering business cards and working on banner art for the website, establishing the website, working with graphic artists coming up with promotional materials I've even been looking at having some custom pens made with our logo and phone number and website address on it. Soon we will be revealing the new division and some new capabilities and look forward to sharing that information with you and maybe even sending you a custom pen!

Silver prices are heading up the last couple of months as oil and gas prices continue to rise as well. Spot rates for silver are starting to push up on $14 per ounce. At the same time gas prices are starting to increase again as well and several states are now reporting gas prices over three dollars a gallon. There are several things at play in the economy right now including political instability around the world, a crisis in the mortgage markets and a bursting of the real estate bubble combined with the stock market it seems to be racing higher as people take money out of real estate and put it into the stock market. Not everyone invests in precious metals by purchasing commodities. Our sponsors, the Monex deposit Company, provide people with the capability of buying precious metals directly. They recently provided a press release detailing the services that they provide in this area from the buying and selling of silver to storage and appraisal and more.

In case you were wondering why we have 2 extra days to file our taxes this year, its because of Emancipation Day.  That's not a Federal holiday but it is a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and several other states as well.

Whenever the tax filing deadline lands on a Saturday or Sunday it has always been bumped to the next business day, which in this year would have been April 16th.  In fact some IRS filing instructions were originally printed up to state April 16th.

However, there is a law that extends holidays in the District of Columbia out to the rest of the country.  Therefore this year we picked up an extra day and the deadline is officially April 17th!

Menu Foods dropped its Chinese supplier after receiving products with Melamine in the Wheat Gluten.  Scientists do not know how Melamine causes health problems in cats and dogs, but they suspect that Melamine was used to boost the appearance of protein levels so that the food could be used in premium foods charging premium prices. 

Paul Henderson, the president and chief executive of Menu Foods, said his company severed its relationship with its Chinese supplier of wheat gluten on March 6. Melamine in the supplied wheat gluten has been identified as the root of the problem.

In addition, it was also revealed that the CFO of Menu Foods Income Fund sold 45% of his units in February approximately 2-3 weeks prior to the recall on March 6.  Regulators have not yet indicated whether they will investigate the timing of this substantial sale.

Source: CTV.ca | Menu Foods CFO sold stock before pet food recall

Throughout any given busy day we all find ways to recharge ourselves

and focus our energy and and work on the tasks at hand.  In any given process or work setting it often becomes necessary to pause operations and take a break to perform maintenance.  Sometimes during his downtime we are able to get a new appreciation of areas where we can prove performance refine processes or make out-of-the-box breakthroughs that we couldn't see while we were running things at a breakneck pace.

The same thing applies to a business process also applies to the people that run those business processes.  For many years we've been pushing the health kick that encourages people to exercise regularly and consistently to keep their bodies healthy and also to reduce stress so they can react appropriately to the situations that occur in any normal business life.

There's a new area opening up that promises even larger breakthroughs in productivity and accuracy.  It's the concept of the Power Nap(see ultimate Guide to Power Napping).  There have been many productivity studies that show that people work best when they have regular breaks throughout their workday.  In many settings however people are producing at levels that have never been seen before, and short breaks, while very helpful are not entirely covering the strange that develops for people that are working 45 and 50 and 60 hours a week not to mention evenings at home, work on the road and work on the weekends.

For executives that are always on, they need to consider taking short power naps or breaks to reset their body and their minds.  Just like a personal computer gets bogged down with too many processes running and needs to reboot or at least Run a RAM Optimizer program, people need a break and need to reset as well.

You would not want to make an important decision when you've been up for more than 24 hours, or when you've had less than a couple hours of sleep.  That same logic applies when you've been working 12 hours straight, age 20 to 30 minute nap can help you get things and focus and relax your mind so that you can make a key decision in the 13th hour.

Tom Zosel Associates announced that they will help Caribou coffee model is supply chain looking for greater efficiencies and distribution.  They're hoping to optimize service-level relationships in a way that will help support the cost of the different business channels.

This type of review and optimization is rapidly becoming necessary and essential for many growing companies as well as entrenched companies are looking to cut costs or maintain their market share.  Caribou coffee is the second-largest specialty coffee retailer in the United States, and if they hope to hold on to that number two position and even contemplate grabbing more market share they definitely need to stay on top of their game managing supply chain and making improvements and distribution on a regular basis. 

Link to Tom Zosel Associates Helps Caribou Coffee Model Its Supply Chain Network to Tap Logistics Efficiencies

Companies today need to be able to stay on top of what's going on in their sales organization.  At any given time the rest of the organization may need to react to an offer or an opportunity that the sales group might provide.  The sales team needs tools to help do more with less and cover more customers continuously and effectively.  In general both groups the sales team and the supporting organization need to be able to coexist and share information rapidly, without the sharing of information becoming a full-time job in and of itself.

Fortunately there are technology tools available to help capture the information of what is going on in the sales organization, what needs to be done to serve customers better, and what needs to be done to realize and close on new transactions with with new customers and with old customers coming back to the fold.  The same technology can enable these organizations to communicate seamlessly from sales to logistics to finance the legal to marketing and beyond.

Our sponsor AIMPromote offers a lead management solution that is uniquely affordable and scalable.  Their system does not require a million-dollar install of servers and months and months of consultants to set the system up, instead they offer a free 14 day trial and a monthly subscription at a rate of approximately 30 three dollars a month.  Their solution is affordable and comprehensive.  If you're going to manage the sales team, or sales organization and have a coexist effectively with the rest of your company and the support organizations within your company, not to mention any outsource partners, you should definitely consider a sales lead management tool such as the one offered by AIMPromote.

I came across an interesting but slightly convoluted story of black-market Sim card distribution in Nepal.  A local reporter named Santosh Salik Shah tells his story of going to purchase a Sim card through a government-sponsored distribution of Sim cards.

His reported story is a little convoluted and does not receive a great deal of set up.  However it describes a government that set up a public program to distribute Sim cards to citizens of Nepal.  The government is still run by Communists in the area and according to the report appears to be rife with corruption as as the ones of many communist based societies where citizens and up taking it upon themselves to find the small rewards available through capitalism only in black-market capacities.

Governments that attempt to remove ownership and the benefits from ownership of items and up owning and controlling everything at the government level.  This removes the benefit from those that produce to those that govern and as a result creates a society that is structured around governmental favoritism in black-market deals.

The story is a raw look at the simple transaction of getting a SIM card.  It is however a unique glimpse into a culture that is politically not too far removed from that of China, and in fact is directly and severely influenced by China.  China has recently evolved from a very similar place.  We often in the West gate slightly confused by Chinese business tactics, as we expect China to adopt Western styles of capitalism and learn from all of the mistakes that we have made over the last two to 300 years.  However China is starting from a much different place than the United States or you're up commence their journey through capitalism.  It's important for us to take a look at examples of the beginnings of Chinese capitalism if we are to understand where they are today, where they are heading tomorrow, and how they are going to get there.

I encourage you to read this article and attempt to put yourself in the shoes of this reporter and understand the cultural dynamic driving this country.  This slightly convoluted glimpse might help make some connections and associations with other business operations and strategies in China.

Source: Blatant Fraud in Nepal's SIM Card Distribution - OhmyNews International

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The concept of a corporate timeshare has not completely died away, but might be going through a transformation.  Many companies have for years acquired vacation homes and other items in the company name for the use of key executives and shareholder or bord retreats and meetings.  Various financial scandals and key executive perks that have bled a number of corporations dry have damaged the concept.

It's partly due to the abuse of some of the executives asking for and receiving these benefits that the concept grew out of control.  However there still might be a future for corporations to use vacation homes near Disney World as an example in a way that is good for the company.  Instead of purchasing these homes for the exclusive use of the CEO or CFO, a company could use these real estate purchases as a form of timeshare to reward employees of all levels throughout the company.  Various incentives awards and recognition's and contests could be used to and sent employees to achieve large goals that the company may not choose to compensate through salary increases or other benefit compensation.

These types of rewards can go a long way towards improving our row and creating a healthy sense of competition in a company.  They're not the only solution, but their usage is definitely been under exploited in a positive way.

GE energy financial services has completed the purchase of Kinder Morgan Inc.'s  (KMI) natural gas retail distribution business.  This business covers a quarter million customers and Colorado, Nebraska, Wyoming and Hermisillo, Mexico.  The purchase of this business cost of $710 million.  They have acquired more than 11,900 miles distribution and transmission pipelines plus underground storage fields and related facilities.

The transaction was announced last fall in August of 2006 and is now received deregulatory approvals to move forward.  GE also holds investments and an additional 7700 miles of natural gas pipelines in North America.  They have past experience in the industry and this purchase significantly grows their core business and natural gas and energy distribution.  GE energy financial services is not going this investment alone, they are partnered with Alinda Capital Partners LLC, which will own a 50% stake in this recent acquisition.

US Retail Gas Operations of Kinder Morgan, Inc. Acquired by GE Energy Financial Services and Alinda Investments LLC

I was just watching a site on the news talking about Donald Trump's latest exploits in Las Vegas.  As the real estate and mortgage market trembles a little bit this spring, Donald Trump is slightly concerned about one of his new high-rise projects going out and so he's turning to his reality TV show, The Apprentice.

He's going to have his contestants do what he has been unable to do himself, develop a marketing plan to help maintain the price of the Las Vegas Luxury Condos he is attempting to build and sell.  He's essentially creating a price premium on his condo products leverage off of his reality TV show.

Regardless of what you think of Donald Trump or of his TV show, it is an interesting example of how a corporation can leverage entertainment to build in a price premium.  It's not a new concept, in fact it's one that's been proven by Walt Disney, Planet Hollywood, Universal Studios, MTV and Hard Rock Cafe and many other entertainment companies that have ventured into side businesses.  This is somewhat unique in that a real estate company has ventured into the entertainment business and is now boosting that core business with entertainment.

Many companies even at the mom-and-pop level are getting some exposure to this concept through the use of their websites and web marketing programs especially as it relates to business blogging.  Businesses are rapidly creating blogs to personalize their company their leadership and their products in a way that enables them to leverage a large Internet community of customers while maintaining a close and personal business relationship with those customers.  When your business touches thousands of people around the world via the Internet, it's not possible to wine and dine your clientele or take them out for a round of golf.  You don't get to make close contact with your customers and shares some of the personal stories and tribulations that go into running your business.

Companies are using many vehicles including blogs video blogs and podcasts to help bridge the gap that the Internet has created using new technology available through the Internet.

The newly merged Adidas and Reebok Co. will close four distribution plants.  They are going to consolidate the plants from four different states into a brand-new plant in South Carolina.  The new plant is not yet constructed, but will total over 2,000,000 ft.² in area when complete.

The distribution centers that will be mothballed are located in Massachusetts, Tennessee and Kentucky.  375 jobs will be lost in those states and will be shifted to South Carolina.  Just as there is a brutal competition to shift labor to cheaper markets internationally, within the United States individual states are battling it out to retain jobs or gain jobs usually to the detriment of other states.

New plants and distribution centers often receive heavily subsidized plantar distributions that are financing and major tax breaks.  Relocating plants closing down other plants also enables companies to hire brand-new employees starting them out at lower wages in the seasoned employees they left behind.  In many cases they even bring in temporary employees set up on contract basis.  Their contract will typically expire after 360 days and a new contract will be signed in the new year.  This process is repeated over and over again and enables the company to save money by not having to pay benefits.  

Adidas, Reebok to close distribution centers

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A cold front is preparing to move over the Southeast United States threatening spring break this week and next for many families.  Our sponsor Orlandofuntickets.com want to encourage everyone to head to Orlando and move far enough in a southerly direction to avoid the cold.

They recently provided a new release offering up many options for fun out of the sun if it does get chilly during spring break.  There are many indoor events at all of the theme parks, but in addition there are shows at Medieval Times, at the Kennedy Space Center and many other destinations.  Plus they are offering special a special, Discount Universal Studios Tickets to take the edge off of prices.  Regardless a chill to a Floridian is a beautiful day to the rest of the country so enjoy your holiday!

What happens when one of the world largest drug suppliers choose an exclusive Wholesaler to provide drugs in the United Kingdom?

Apparently it has trigger an inquiry by the Office of Fair Trading in the United Kingdom and could escalate depending on the finding of that inquiry triggering a 'full Competition Commission investigation.'

Pfizer chose UniChem a wholesale arm of Alliance Boots, which is also the subject of a £10bn takeover.  Pfizer is the biggest supplier of the UK's NHS, supplying 10 percent of all drugs prescribed.  The government is concerned that the exclusive deal could impact prices paid for medicine.

Pfizer's move may be the first of many as other major drug multinationals consider reining in their wholesaler base.

Link to Pfizer drug distribution deal triggers market investigation - Independent Online Edition > Business News

There is one key element that must be covered very effectively in any business if its to remain viable. You might say that it is the fundamental requirement for success in a business. Its cash flow management.

After working for many years refining and improving cash flow processes, working with some of the largest systems and collections agencies around the globe, I can attest that if you do not stay on top of your cash, and especially your collections, little else will matter for very long.

Too often companies ignore the importance of the systems, people and processes that bring cash in to a company. They might worry about more sales or building and shipping widgets but they often dismiss collections as a task for clerks. I’ve seen this attitude bring a fortune 100 company to its knees and put lesser companies out of business.

With that in mind I’d like to introduce you to a solution from CheckVantage that offers an accounts receivable conversion process to automate payment receipts, scanning, application and closing. It is very important to automate this area of business so that your company can stay on top of the health of your business. If someone pays late or fails to pay for several days, it could be a simple mistake or it could signal the tip of an iceberg. If they short pay or deduct that to could be extremely problematic. Many companies lose track of customers that pay a partial balance assuming that there is a small glitch to work through in a reconcilliation.

However, most customers, especially major retailers, use this mechanism to test your company and to turn a cost center into a revenue and profit center for their own business. Besides they are essentially increasing their vendor financing and costing you money in an interest free loan, which may ultimately never be paid if you do not act immediately and swiftly.

In a world where thousands of transactions can take place via EDI in the blink of an eye, its even more important to automate a manual process of handling a physical check or remittance information just to keep up with the data and protect your company.

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We would like to take another moment to talk a little bit about our sponsor hayfield dental care.  Hayfield dental care has been in business for over 20 years and provides dental services and surgical procedures in the Alexandria Virginia area.  One of their dentists, charles brown dds pc is a dentist that is won numerous awards at hayfield dental care.

Hayfield dental care recently provided a press release hoping to remind readers that they can provide excellent service for both children and young adults and seniors in the Virginia area.  They have handled thousands of different procedures over the years from grounds to Ruby Noll's and many other surgical procedures.

The US has reached a free-trade deal with South Korea that could be the largest free-trade deal with United States sends NAFTA came into existence in 1994.

Both the United States and South Korea caved in on certain issues but ultimately the deal was struck.  The US hopes to gain access to South Korean markets in order to sell insurance, financial products, and possibly more importantly be even pork without having to pay the current 40% tariffs.  Those terrorists will expire right away but they will phase out over the next 10 to 15 years for pork and beef relatively speaking.

The agreement will eliminate duties on products such as South Korean autos and apparel, and cut investment barriers for American insurers and financial companies. South Korea will abolish its 40 percent tariff on U.S. beef over 15 years and the pork tariff over 10 years, Trade Minister Kim Hyun Chong said at the joint briefing. Rice wasn’t included in the accord.

Source: US reaches free-trade accord with South Korea

 Mazda is continuing a trend to take back its own distribution and control its distribution destiny around the world.  This originally started in Great Britain and is now moving to Belgium and Luxembourg.

Mazda Motor Europe has taken over distribution of the brand in Belgium and Luxemburg under the name Mazda Motor Belux.

Beherman Auto had previously handled the import of Mazda vehicles into the countries since 1967.

   Source: Mazda takes back Belgian distribution

It is expected that Mazda will continue this strategyas itrefocusesin the Czech Republic and Slovakia.  As IT systemsincorporate restructurings start to show benefits,many companies that once relied on distributorsare now finding that they can managethe extra complexitya distribution relationships all by themselves.

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Our sponsor, Azcentral.com, recently announced the implementation of a new booking system.  Their website provides a new system running on alliance reservation systems of Phoenix which will allow consumers to better filter their searches by various categories that include price, brand, various amenities, and proximity to landmarks.

Their travel site offers information on Arizona Vacations as well as many other useful services including restaurant reviews and a great deal more information.  Azcentral.com is owned by the parent company Phoenix newspapers Inc.  the website has been revamping itself for some time now working to provide better information to travelers about the destinations that they are planning to visit and the major attractions that are bringing them to the area.  They have created a series of over 20 city guides and four regional guides to cover not just Phoenix but the entire Arizona area.

DHL, the express package delivery and logistics company, announced that they have won vendor of the year from Technicolor Cinema distribution.  DHL won this award for their services and contributions throughout the United States.  This is the third year in a row the DHL has won this award.

DHL Express manages the regular distribution of time critical film prints and marketing materials to theaters nationwide on behalf of Technicolor.

DHL's service performance for express and same day deliveries was over 99% error free.

Link to Digital50: News and more Business News

Nestle has take back distribution control of Nescafe in Thailand.  Nestlé and Coca-Cola through its joint venture business partners worldwide have decided to go their separate ways as of last fall. 

Nestlé feels that they can do a better job distributing their coffee products and tea products.  In Thailand Astley is the market leader in instant coffee but only number two and ready-to-drink coffee in a can.

Both companies (BPW and Coca Cola) will be allowed to develop and acquire additional tea brands to compete with Nestlé.  BPW will continue to distribute tea products world wide except in the US where Coca Cola will cover distribution.

Link to Bangkok Post : Business news

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Easter is coming quickly and now is a good time to consider rewarding your office or your fellow employees with  Gourmet Food Gift Baskets.  Know when the holidays come a lot of times offices will bring together potlucks and bring in some excellent food.  Personally at times I'm challenged in these areas because I can make some dishes very very well however those are typically the dishes that take me hours to create.

It's usually during the holidays I have the least amount of time to go cook some food.  However the last thing you want to be is the person shows up empty-handed at the potluck.  So for that I recommend that you consider our sponsor GourmetGiftBaskets.com and order up some gourmet goodies to bring to the potluck.  Their recent release lists a number of excellent products that you can choose from to ensure that you are the person that just "brought the drinks".

I have recently completed a review on a different site covering a project management tool that can be very effective for business users. The tool is called Topicscape and it provides the ability to create three-dimensional mind maps which can be used to keep up with a project.

The tool provides a three-dimensional view which helps users manage the information and knowledge of what is going on a project by providing easily identifiable views of the big picture. Many projects run in Microsoft project as an example often times gets so lengthy with so many to dues and tasks that it's very difficult to look at a project in a snapshot and assess where you are. Topicscape provides the ability to see the big picture in one view easily and it also provides a quick zoom feature that allows you to jump in and out of details rapidly.

Here's a quick video that shows the quick zoom functionality.

Separately here is another review by Utterly Geek of Topicscape.

Stocks were down today as manufacturing did not put up numbers that analysts were expecting.  The uncertainty will definitely is causing concern for investors who are warily watching geopolitical events unfold, the mortgage industry totter on the brink of self-destruction, and the auto industry attempting to ward off a financial crisis of its own.  With housing in a strange state and the auto industry suffering its no wonder her that manufacturing was unable to sustain the expected growth, but it is possibly more trouble in that analyst may have rose-colored glasses on and are looking for more that isn't there.

The nation's manufacturing sector expanded at a slower-than-expected pace in March, marking the second consecutive month of growth, a trade group said Monday.

The Institute for Supply Management said its manufacturing index registered 50.9 in March, below the February reading of 52.3 and Wall Street's expectation of 51.

A reading above 50 indicates growth for the sector, while a reading below 50 indicates contraction.

Source: U.S. manufacturing expands in March