The Final Word by Jim Thompson


Second quarter earnings are coming in from the pulp and paper industry. In the United States, one of the reasons these have been good is the black liquor tax credit. Reports at this time next year will be for the second quarter without this credit. It is this writer’s suspicion that year-over-year stock prices in our industry will take a hit as investors forget the artificial rise in profitability in second quarter 2009 due to the credit. They will see a dip and hammer the stocks. Count on it.