August 2012
Cliff Waldman |
08/26/2012 |
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It was almost a disaster. For a few harrowing minutes, the descent of Apollo 11 onto the lunar surface rode the narrow path between triumph and tragedy. As noted in an article on the Scientific American website, the Commander of the mission, anticipating great difficulties, only put the odds of a successful moon landing at 50 percent. But even this fighter pilot, Korean War veteran, and self-proclaimed “nerdy engineer” could not have fully...
Rae Ann S. Johnson |
08/24/2012 |
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On August 22, the SEC released its much anticipated final rule on corporate conflict minerals reporting. As expected, the rule requires all public companies to file a report with the SEC if any of four conflict minerals (or their derivatives) are used in the manufacture of a product. Essentially, anything with tin, tungsten, gold, or coltan in it must be reported if a company can determine that those minerals originated in the Democratic...
Categories: Commodity Purchasing
Daniel J. Meckstroth, Ph.D. |
08/24/2012 |
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The U.S. Census Bureau reported that durable goods orders for July increased 4.2 percent, after rising 1.6 percent in June. On the surface this looks like very positive results; however, there were major declines in the orders for machinery, communications equipment, and electrical equipment and appliances in June and July. The report shows that the gains over the last two months came from very large orders for civilian aircraft and parts. These...