Terex Corp. shares were 20 percent lower last week after the Westport-company cut its earnings and revenue outlook on weakening demand in the United States and Western Europe for construction equipment and aerial lifts.
Terex expects to have revenue between $10.3 billion and $10.6 billion, $300 million lower than earlier expectations. The company cut its profit forecast by 50 cents a share, to between $6.35 and $6.65.
The company indicated sales remain solid for cranes and mining equipment.
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Blyth shares drop
Shares of Blyth Inc. plunged 30 percent in early September, after the company cut its 2008 sales forecast as consumers tighten their purse strings.
The Greenwich-based company sells home-décor products and foodstuffs under the PartyLite brand, with sales associates organizing in-home gatherings to tout goods.
In the second quarter, Blyth reversed a recent revenue slide, increasing sales in the by 1 percent to $237 million, while holding profits steady from a year ago at $3 million.
Westport says paper only
In Westport stores, the “paper or plastic” query will soon refer only to what”™s in your wallet.
The retail magnet became the first municipality on the East Coast to ban plastic checkout bags in markets, giving stores six months to switch to paper.
Organizations like the Farmingdale, N.Y.-based Citizens Campaign for the Environment, argue that plastic bags take centuries to decompose and are a danger to aquatic wildlife.
“Every grocery store in Westport either recycles plastic bags or has stopped using plastic bags altogether,” said Emmett Pepper, who leads CCE”™s New Haven office, in a statement. “Banning plastic bags town-wide is the next logical step for a town that is already transitioning to using reusable bags.”
Galante gets 7 years
A federal judge sentenced James Galante to seven years in prison for fixing prices and routes of area trash haulers over several years, with prosecutors stating he curried ties with organized crime to muscle his way to 80 percent of the market in southwest Connecticut.
Galante was owner of Automated Waste Disposal and 25 other garbage companies, as well as the Danbury Trashers semiprofessional hockey team.
The 55-year-old New Fairfield resident pleaded guilty in June to racketeering and fraud, and was sentenced last week in New Haven by Judge Ellen Bree Burns.
More than 30 people were indicted in the Galante probe, and former state Sen. Louis Deluca resigned following allegations of his ties to Galante.
