Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
February 18, 2019
I am chomping on the bit as today we managed to book a nationally known and widely recognized speaker who will (I hope) hold everyone in their seats until the end of our SMU Steel Summit Conference. When booking your travel to Atlanta for our conference, you will want to arrive as early Monday morning (Aug. 26) as possible as we expect a futures/hedging seminar to be held prior to our conference, which will officially kick off at 1 p.m. ET that day. The first program will feature Chris Houlden, Josh Spoores and me discussing some of the proprietary products we offer, along with the CRU steel price forecast for the balance of 2019 and all of 2020.
We will also have a program addressing transportation issues (specifically trucking and the railroad) and a very strong distribution/processing/coil coating panel with the CEOs of Ryerson, Russel Metals and the President/COO of Precoat Metals. Then we go right into the first networking gala hosted by Heidtman Steel.
Registration is way ahead of last year’s pace. We anticipate close to 1,000 executives at this year’s conference and, as I have said many times already, we will have one of the strongest lineups of speakers we have ever had. You can register online and find more information on our website: www.SteelMarketUpdate.com/events/steel-summit. My goal is to have the first draft of our conference schedule on our website by the end of this week. Stay tuned for more details.
I have heard from Ternium in Mexico that they would like to work with Steel Market Update and have us conduct one of our Steel 101 workshops in Monterrey, Mexico. I have been invited to visit them ASAP to review their training facility and to meet with their executives. I will have more details coming regarding our first foray into Mexico. Stay tuned.
We have been getting many new members for both the Executive and Premium levels of our newsletter and website. I want to welcome you to SMU, and I encourage you to interact with us whenever you have a question, comment or suggestion. We will do our best to answer your query or to take your suggestion in order to make our product even better.
I also encourage our existing members to speak with Paige Mayhair regarding your membership, and how we can improve how you interact with Steel Market Update. One of my original goals for SMU was to encourage companies to provide the product to as many of their employees as possible. CRU has embraced the concept and has come up with a couple of unique levels (regional and global) that will allow companies to put a wide number of employees onto their subscription without having to pay huge fees. Contact Paige at 724-720-1012 or Paige@SteelMarketUpdate.com
As always, your business is truly appreciated by all of us here at Steel Market Update.
John Packard, President & CEO
John Packard
Read more from John PackardLatest in Final Thoughts
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.
Final Thoughts
A modest week-to-week change in HR price understates a huge swing in expectations.
Final Thoughts
What happens when ChatGPT meets SMU's Market Chatter? No, this is not an idea for the latest Hollywood blockbuster. Then again, with what Hollywood is putting out these days, Chatter Meets Chat might just turn out to be a hit. Rather, it’s that old idea of putting theory into practice. Recently, I conducted an interview with Doug Schrock, managing principal of AI at public accounting and consulting firm Crowe. He gave some tips on how to implement AI into your business.