DM Days in NYC this year was small and not that well attended, so I’m hoping DM Days in San Diego in October doesn’t suffer the same fate. In the intervening months, from June in NYC to now, the economy appears to have hit rock bottom and done a bit of a bounce. The DOW certainly has picked up some steam, and right now is hovering close to 10,000 – seemingly trying to break through that psychological barrier which could send stocks soaring in another round of irrational exuberance! Gold is trading over $1,000 an ounce and oil is around $70 a barrel again. Ben Bernanke, Fed Chairman, has claimed the recession (which I’d call The Great Recession) is “very likely over.” Most economic indicators, for the first time in several years, are pointing up – so what does this mean to list buyers and resellers, and what effect will it have on DM Days?

Well, my feeling is that there will be a reasonable increase in attendance next month at DM Days, I think some life is returning to our industry and people are keen to get out there and see what’s going on – especially if they skipped NYC to save a few dollars last June. I’ve spoken to quite a few list brokers on both coasts lately, and the consensus seems to be that they should make every effort to attend, even if they don’t host a booth – keeping up with what is going on is important to everyone.

It also seems pretty apparent that some life is returning to daily order volumes for many of us. At Compact we’re seeing a return to volumes we haven’t seen for most of the year, the order size is still a little smaller than in previous years, but the total number of daily orders is slowly rising again – a very positive sign. So, fingers crossed, for now at least the marketplace appears to be rebounding and we are all hoping for a solid end to 2009. With any luck this will continue in to 2010 and beyond.

See you at DM Days!

Cheers Rich