The hoi polloi, according to ABLOY

I just finished up ASSA ABLOY’s second quarter presentation and they’re still powering on with a new acquisition to sweeten the pot, but those darn residential numbers continue to be a thorn in their side.

Bearing that in mind the title of today’s blog is a little tongue in cheek, it's not the little people causing all that softness in the residential market, at least not to the degree that it's currently suffering, that’s a multi-aspected hydra that’s global in scale. It’s hard to make money selling door locks, garage doors, windows, and plumbing (thanks to HHI) for new houses when no one can afford to buy a new home, so nobody, thus, builds them.

Which will likely not be a problem for them with this newest acquisition of Evolis that ASSA ABLOY is making through subsidiary HID Global. Physical access in the commercial industry continues to be big business, and a company that produces card printers and ID accessories among other things should slot into that portfolio nicely.

I am more skeptical of CEO Nico Delvaux’s comments that the worst of the residential market is coming to an end in North America. I see just as many fiscal prophets decrying a housing market crash as there are those lauding the “remarkable resilience” of the market. I won’t pretend to look into the crystal ball on this one, but I’ll guess we’ve got some more uncertain months before any headway is made on that problem, at a minimum.

Is there a rodent you can pull out of the ground to determine how long the U.S. residential market will continue to remain soft? Wrong answers only.

I bet it’s a guinea pig.