| Universal Forest Products 1Q Earnings Down 75 Percent, But March ...
GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Universal Forest Products, Inc. reported first quarter earnings of $3.9 million on sales of $665 million, down 75 percent from its first quarter 2006 profit ot $15.9 million. The company said last year's figures were unusually high due to the spike in FEMA orders for manufactured homes in the wake of the 2005 hurricane season. "We predicted that the housing market would be soft, but it turned out to be even weaker than we anticipated. In addition, supply continues to exceed demand in an already depressed lumber market, keeping prices low and adversely affecting our sales numbers," said President and CEO Michael B. Glenn. "These factors combined to create a tough quarter." Glenn noted that January and February were as weak as the Company has seen, but as the weather improved in March, sales and profits also rebounded.
Large Cap News: Current Research on Affordable Residential ...
Affordable Residential Communities, Inc. engages in the acquisition, renovation, repositioning, and operation of all-age manufactured home communities primarily in the United States. It also involves in the retail sale and financing of manufactured homes; and rental of manufactured homes with the option to purchase, as well as acts as agent in the sale of homeowners' insurance and other related insurance products to residents in its communities. As of December 31, 2006, the company owned and operated 275 communities consisting of 57,264 homesites in 23 states. The company, formerly known as ARC IV REIT, Inc., was founded in 1998. Affordable Residential Communities is based in Englewood, Colorado. Shares were up 4% after disclosing it is in talks to sell nearly all its assets to hedge fund Farallon Capital Management LLC.
7 stops in meat country
A week of visits to slaughterhouses and butcher shops led to nights filled with carnivorous dreams. We may not have envisioned pigs twirling on a spit, but there were buttery soft lamb thymus sweetbreads smothered with warm tehina and monumental cuts of entrecote for asado. And Moshe, the son of Zalman the butcher from Jaffa, whispering some advice: "The meat of the females is always better than that of the males." The path to the perfect steak is not simple. The quality of the meat derives from a variety of factors: the origin of the beef, the gender, the conditions in which the animal was bred, its feed, the manner in which it was slaughtered, how the carcass is cut up and how the meat is improved, or aged. And that's all before we get to the person in charge of the grill, and the grill itself.
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