The office systems industry is going great guns. It's only Steelcase that hasn't been setting record sales and earnings numbers. Part of this might be related to the IPO last winter. The U.S. economy is still holding its own. Those companies dependant on Asian orders for a substantial part of their business will be especially hurt, but other companies should see only modest slowdowns.
Japan is really critical.
It's in a deepening recession, and no one seems to want to do the right thing over there. Japan's economy is huge, and means more to us than all of the rest of Asia combined. The outlook for the U.S. depends heavily on what happens over the next few months in Japan. It's easy to get depressed if I dwell on it for very long. To date, consumer confidence has remained strong, but it is only recently that large US compin general have experienced significant declines in their business and profits.