Yesterday afternoon, Barnes Group Inc. (NYSE: B) announced that it is withdrawing its 2009 earnings guidance thanks to uncertainty in the transportation sector. In May, Barnes forecast earnings of $1.20 to $1.35 per share -- better than the consensus estimate of $1.19 per share. Barnes did not update its estimate when making the announcement.
The company stated that problems in transportation sectors (like the automotive industry, which comprises one third of the company's revenue) have made predicting the rest of the year very difficult. Barnes' CEO Gregory Milzcik noted, "Challenging industry conditions, evidenced by customer plant closures, reduced customer production schedules, and overall uncertainty in the automotive market driven by bankruptcies and the cascading effect on suppliers, have obscured our visibility for the coming months."
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