Dover Corp. (DOV), a diversified manufacturer of industrial products, announced that Hill PHOENIX, its operating company has acquired Barker Co. Ltd. and its sister company, Barker Sales and Service, Inc. (the Barker Co.). The Barker Co. specializes in manufacturing refrigerated, non-refrigerated and hot display cases. However, financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.   The acquisition is expected to be a strategic fit as it puts Hill PHOENIX in a better position to serve customers in its Specialty Products division. In addition, Barker Company's innovative design capabilities and broad specialty product line coupled with the impressive technology and product engineering in combination with the performance of Hill PHOENIX represents a real opportunity for Hill PHOENIX to expand its presence in the rapidly-growing specialty merchandiser segment.   In the past three years Dover has been focusing on growth through strategic acquisitions. During the second quarter, the company acquired ...

Siemens AG (SI) has targeted orders worth more than 6 billion Euros for intelligent power networks (Smart Grids) over the next five fiscal years. The company is already a leading international supplier of Smart Grids and continues to strengthen this position.

Intelligent power grids, or smart grids, are based on the conventional power grids which transport electricity from large power plants to individual households. However, digital technology allows individual households or businesses to manage their electricity more efficiently, allowing them to receive, or deliver back to the grid, electricity from other sources like wind or solar power facilities, or even from batteries in electric cars.

According to studies, more than a billion tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions could be abated with intelligent power networks by 2020. Smart Grids are essential for integrating renewable power sources into power networks and for ensuring stable power supplies from solar and

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Siemens Energy, a division of Siemens AG (SI), acquired the majority holding in the Chinese metalworking company Yangtze Delta Manufacturing and the Chinese aluminum foundry GISAP (GIS Steel & Aluminium Products), both headquartered in Hangzhou.   Siemens Energy is expanding its global production capacity for high-voltage circuit-breakers in China and enhancing its value chain proposition from foundry work through machining to final product assembly.   There is a constant robust demand for high-voltage power transmission products in China. The demand for reliable, cost-efficient high-voltage products for the transmission of electrical energy, which minimizes losses, continues to rise.

Siemens has a leading position in China, the world’s largest market for power transmission equipment. The company has involvement as a provider of innovative energy technologies in numerous major infrastructure projects, including projects in the field of high-voltage direct current transmission.

Siemens is a German industrial conglomerate with interests in information services, automation and

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Falken Industries Ltd. is a diversified industrial conglomerate that operates in chemicals, wet wipes and biodegradable technology. The company today announced an increase in second-quarter distributor revenues for its hand care product conceptions.

In the midst of a recession and unrelenting economic concerns, the company maintains its confidence for solid quarters in the future. Manuel Garcia, FLKI’s communication officer, said the company anticipates continued significant growth, specifically for the third quarter.

“In the second quarter of 2009, sales of the personal hand care group of products increased 27.7 percent and we are confident that global distribution will increase sales another 30 percent to 50 percent for the next quarter,” Garcia stated in the press release.

Because the majority of FLKI’s product conceptions target the automotive aftermarket, the company said it has experienced minimal negative effects from the recession. Rather than spending money on new cars, people are tightening budgets and

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Siemens AG (SI) reported third-quarter revenues of €18.3 billion, down 4% from the year-ago quarter, and earnings of $1.44 per ADR, lower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Order backlog had a stabilizing effect on revenue while new order intake was down 28% and the book-to-bill ratio fell below 1 to 0.94.   On a geographic basis, revenue grew 5% in Asia, Australia on the back of double-digit growth in China. In Europe, Commonwealth of Independent States, Africa and Middle East, revenue declined 9%, including sharply lower revenues in Germany. Order intake was influenced most strongly by Industry segment, which saw demand fall sharply in the Mobility division.   Total Sectors profit declined 21% year over year while income from continuing operations fell 17% year over year. The estimated under funding of Siemens’ principal pension plans as of Jun 30, 2009, was €5 billion, double the amount as on ...

New York based industrial conglomerate, Dover Corporation (DOV), announced its second quarter results before market open. The company reported earnings of $0.54 per share for the quarter, slightly above our expectations of $0.53. Second quarter earnings were down 45% on a year-over-year basis. Second quarter revenue declined approximately 31% to $1.4 billion, from $2.0 billion reported last year. All of Dover’s business segments reported double-digit revenue declines. Bookings fell 32% year-over-year to $1.4 billion. However, they improved 9% on a sequential basis. The better-than-expected earnings performance was a result of various aggressive actions taken by Dover in response to the market conditions. These actions include synergy capture, pricing initiatives and significant restructuring programs. The company expects a total of $0.10 to $0.13 of EPS benefit in 2009 from its synergy and business integration activities. Furthermore, the company expects its capacity rationalization efforts and workforce ...

As industrial markets have fallen over the past two years, companies previously bought hand-over-fist due to strong international presence have been put in their place; diversified product portfolios have become recession backfires; cost-restructuring plans and management shakeups have become costly uncertainties and cash has become the worlds most valuable commodity. Despite the negativity, markets over the past few months have shown major signs of improvement as economic indicators from construction spending to consumer confidence continue to get “no worse.”

When we consider economic troughs, it is important to invest in companies with major exposure to the early-cycle. Our greatest conviction buy from the industrial sector of the market has been in 3M Corp. [MMM: 61.00, 0.00 (0.00%)], an industrial conglomerate that manufactures everything from Post-It Notes to eco-friendly plasma television components. Companies like 3M with order books typically running a short 30-day time span will have major success

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Amidst this economic downturn, investors are consistently looking to invest in companies with the ability to “weather” the storm. A frequently mentioned characteristic of the companies deemed qualified to handle the current recession are size, in particular market cap. But how has size held up thus far in this market? The following is a snapshot of the largest stocks, by market cap, in each sector of the S&P 500. Included in this synopsis is their performance since the beginning of 2008, and the current state of each company’s operations. As a note, performance figures were calculated as of the market close on Monday March 23. Furthermore, for a relative perspective, the S&P 500 returned -39.58% in 2008.

Consumer Discretionary

McDonald’s Corporation [MCD: 55.01, -1.05 (-1.87%)]

2008 Consumer Discretionary Sector Return: -48.10% 2008 MCD Return: 8.58% 2009 MCD Return: -13.66% Market Cap: $61.43 Billion...