Final Thoughts

Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
April 29, 2015
For those asking about Steel 101, we will close registration to our Chicago (Merrillville, Indiana) workshop at the end of this coming week. Details on the workshop can be found on our website or you are welcome to contact us: info@SteelMarketUpdate.com.
With some luck we will hopefully have registration up and running for our 5th Steel Summit Conference on our website sometime on Friday (tomorrow). We are going to have a great program and I want to invite all of you (and your friends) to join us in Atlanta on September 1 & 2 (actually you need to come in the night before and join us at the hotel bar for some networking).
Keeping it short this evening…
As always your business is truly appreciated by all of us here at Steel Market Update.
John Packard, Publisher

John Packard
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United Airlines raised eyebrows earlier this month when it provided two forecasts for 2025 – one assuming a relatively stable economy and another assuming a recession. The reason? Uncertainty around the impact of President Trump’s policy shocks on the broader economy. And it sometimes feels like we’re seeing a battle between those two narratives (stable vs recession) play out within in the pages of this newsletter.

Final Thoughts
Despite some scary headlines lately (especially about Trump potentially firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell) this is not October 2008 (financial crisis) or March 2020 (onset of the pandemic). But it sure seems like we’ve taken a relatively strong economy and poured a thick sauce of uncertainty over it.

Final Thoughts
I put some of our survey data through ChatGpt, with interesting results.

Final Thoughts
Nearly 50% of respondents to our latest survey thought hot-rolled coil prices have already peaked. And where will those prices be two months from now? Responses were decidedly split on that question.