Cost reductions at Herman Miller

It's been extremely hard to focus on stock selection when I wake up to layoff news every morning. At times I worry about my own job let alone other company's prospects. Herman Miller just recently announced another set of cost reductions through voluntary and involuntary work force reductions.

After the company managed its operating expenditures through the mountain high commodity costs this past year, the company revised it's outlook for the quarter ending November.30th to 475M-495M from 490M-515M. Falling commodity prices of late won't help much, as domestic and international sales are coming under pressure.

When I first entered into a position a few months ago, one of the positives was the fact the company had increased it's foreign sales steadily over the past few years, thus broadening their revenue streams. Things are a lot different in China now that the Olympic glory is over. The company will have to adjust it strategy going forward under its recent partnership with Posh Office Systems in Asia.

Domestically, the $1600 Embody chairs and Convia office systems (unified energy office management systems) may not be the cup of tea these days.