"Our Data Is Not Good" - US Companies Warn That A Recession Is Coming

"Our Data Is Not Good" - US Companies Warn That A Recession Is Coming | Zero Hedge
Earlier this month, we highlighted comments from new Fastenal CEO (and former CFO) Dan Florness who, on the company’s Q3 call, took homage to one analyst’s suggestion that we’re currently in a “non-recessionary environment.” Here, as reminder, is the exchange:

William Blair’s Ryan Merkel: Then just lastly, Fastenal growing zero percent here in September and in a non-recessionary environment, it’s pretty surprising, I think, for a lot of us. 

Florness: The industrial environment is in a recession - I don’t care what anybody says, because nobody knows that market better than we do. You know, we touch 250,000 active customers a month.  

There you go. No ambiguity there. Nor was there anything ambiguous about some of the numbers Fastenal reported. For instance, in September, the company saw its first Y/Y sales decline since 2009. 

And the nuts and bolts manufacturer isn’t alone. 

As we’ve been keen on documenting, bellwether Caterpillar is in the midst of a truly historic sales slump that’s now entering its 35th month.