Home
Jump to Risk Factors
Jump to Industries
Jump to Exposures
Jump to Event Codes
Jump to Wiki Summary

Industries
Health Care Facilities
Asset Management and Custody Banks

Exposures
Intelligence
Military
Express intent
Material Aid
Cooperate
Judicial
Provide
Political reform
Leadership

Event Codes
Pessimistic comment
Warn
Yield to order
Solicit support
Demand
Endorse
Human death
Grant
Yield
Accident
Threaten
Complain
Sports contest
Force
Agree
Consult
Negotiation
Promise
Adjust

Wiki	Wiki Summary
Financial condition report	In accounting, a financial condition report (FCR) is a report on the solvency condition of an insurance company that takes into account both the current financial status, as reflected in the balance sheet, and an assessment of the ability of the company to survive future risk scenarios. Risk assessment in an FCR involves dynamic solvency testing, a type of dynamic financial analysis that simulates management response to risk scenarios, to test whether a company could remain solvent in the face of deteriorating economic conditions or major disasters.
Balance sheet	In financial accounting, a balance sheet (also known as statement of financial position or statement of financial condition) is a summary of the financial balances of an individual or organization, whether it be a sole proprietorship, a business partnership, a corporation, private limited company or other organization such as government or not-for-profit entity. Assets, liabilities and ownership equity are listed as of a specific date, such as the end of its financial year.
Financial statement	Financial statements (or financial reports) are formal records of the financial activities and position of a business, person, or other entity.\nRelevant financial information is presented in a structured manner and in a form which is easy to understand.
Financial ratio	A financial ratio or accounting ratio is a relative magnitude of two selected numerical values taken from an enterprise's financial statements. Often used in accounting, there are many standard ratios used to try to evaluate the overall financial condition of a corporation or other organization.
Financial law	Financial law is the law and regulation of the insurance, derivatives, commercial banking, capital markets and investment management sectors. Understanding Financial law is crucial to appreciating the creation and formation of banking and financial regulation, as well as the legal framework for finance generally.
Trustmark (bank)	Trustmark is a commercial bank and financial services company headquartered in Jackson, Mississippi, United States, with subsidiaries Trustmark National Bank, Trustmark Investment Advisors, and Fisher Brown Bottrell Insurance. The bank's initial predecessor, The Jackson Bank, was chartered by the State of Mississippi in 1889.
Arithmetic	Arithmetic (from Ancient Greek ἀριθμός (arithmós) 'number', and τική [τέχνη] (tikḗ [tékhnē]) 'art, craft') is an elementary part of mathematics that consists of the study of the properties of the traditional operations on numbers—addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, exponentiation, and extraction of roots. In the 19th century, Italian mathematician Giuseppe Peano formalized arithmetic with his Peano axioms, which are highly important to the field of mathematical logic today.
Bitwise operation	In computer programming, a bitwise operation operates on a bit string, a bit array or a binary numeral (considered as a bit string) at the level of its individual bits. It is a fast and simple action, basic to the higher-level arithmetic operations and directly supported by the processor.
Special Activities Center	The Special Activities Center (SAC) is a division of the Central Intelligence Agency responsible for covert operations and paramilitary operations. The unit was named Special Activities Division (SAD) prior to 2015.
Operations management	Operations management is an area of management concerned with designing and controlling the process of production and redesigning business operations in the production of goods or services. It involves the responsibility of ensuring that business operations are efficient in terms of using as few resources as needed and effective in meeting customer requirements.
Emergency operations center	An emergency operations center (EOC) is a central command and control facility responsible for carrying out the principles of emergency preparedness and emergency management, or disaster management functions at a strategic level during an emergency, and ensuring the continuity of operation of a company, political subdivision or other organization.\nAn EOC is responsible for strategic direction and operational decisions and does not normally directly control field assets, instead leaving tactical decisions to lower commands.
Operations research	Operations research (British English: operational research), often shortened to the initialism OR, is a discipline that deals with the development and application of advanced analytical methods to improve decision-making. It is sometimes considered to be a subfield of mathematical sciences.
Operation (mathematics)	In mathematics, an operation is a function which takes zero or more input values (called operands) to a well-defined output value. The number of operands (also known as arguments) is the arity of the operation.
Raw material	A raw material, also known as a feedstock, unprocessed material, or primary commodity, is a basic material that is used to produce goods, finished goods, energy, or intermediate materials that are feedstock for future finished products. As feedstock, the term connotes these materials are bottleneck assets and are required to produce other products.
Climate risk	Climate risk refers to risk assessments based on formal analysis of the consequences, likelihoods and responses to the impacts of climate change and how societal constraints shape adaptation options. Common approaches to risk assessment and risk management strategies based on natural hazards have been applied to climate change impacts although there are distinct differences.
Risk management	Risk management is the identification, evaluation, and prioritization of risks (defined in ISO 31000 as the effect of uncertainty on objectives) followed by coordinated and economical application of resources to minimize, monitor, and control the probability or impact of unfortunate events or to maximize the realization of opportunities.\nRisks can come from various sources including uncertainty in international markets, threats from project failures (at any phase in design, development, production, or sustaining of life-cycles), legal liabilities, credit risk, accidents, natural causes and disasters, deliberate attack from an adversary, or events of uncertain or unpredictable root-cause.
Business risks	The term business risks refers to the possibility of a commercial business making inadequate profits (or even losses) due to uncertainties - for example: changes in tastes, changing preferences of consumers, strikes, increased competition, changes in government policy, obsolescence etc. Every business organization faces various risk elements while doing business.
Financial risk	Financial risk is any of various types of risk associated with financing, including financial transactions that include company loans in risk of default. Often it is understood to include only downside risk, meaning the potential for financial loss and uncertainty about its extent.A science has evolved around managing market and financial risk under the general title of modern portfolio theory initiated by Dr.
Anal masturbation	Anal masturbation is the erotic stimulation of the anus and rectum. For humans, common methods of anal masturbation include manual stimulation of the anal opening, and the insertion of an object or objects such as fingers, tongue, phallic-shaped items, water play, or sex toys such as anal beads, butt plugs, dildos, vibrators, or specially designed prostate massagers.
Probabilistic risk assessment	Probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) is a systematic and comprehensive methodology to evaluate risks associated with a complex engineered technological entity (such as an airliner or a nuclear power plant) or the effects of stressors on the environment (probabilistic environmental risk assessment, or PERA).Risk in a PRA is defined as a feasible detrimental outcome of an activity or action. In a PRA, risk is characterized by two quantities: \n\nthe magnitude (severity) of the possible adverse consequence(s), and\nthe likelihood (probability) of occurrence of each consequence.Consequences are expressed numerically (e.g., the number of people potentially hurt or killed) and their likelihoods of occurrence are expressed as probabilities or frequencies (i.e., the number of occurrences or the probability of occurrence per unit time).
Anechoic chamber	An anechoic chamber (an-echoic meaning "non-reflective") is a room designed to stop reflections of either sound or electromagnetic waves. They are also often isolated from energy entering from their surroundings.
Recycling	Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept.
List of elements facing shortage	Since 2011, the European Commission assesses a 3-year list of Critical Raw Materials (CRMs) for the EU economy within its Raw Materials Initiative. To date, 14 CRMs were identified in 2011, 20 in 2014, 27 in 2017 and 30 in 2020.
Material	Material is a substance or mixture of substances that constitutes an object. Materials can be pure or impure, living or non-living matter.
Yoda conditions	In programming jargon, Yoda conditions (also called Yoda notation) is a programming style where the two parts of an expression are reversed from the typical order in a conditional statement. A Yoda condition places the constant portion of the expression on the left side of the conditional statement.
Dirichlet conditions	In mathematics, the Dirichlet conditions are sufficient conditions for a real-valued, periodic function f to be equal to the sum of its Fourier series at each point where f is continuous. Moreover, the behavior of the Fourier series at points of discontinuity is determined as well (it is the midpoint of the values of the discontinuity).
Twenty-one Conditions	The Twenty-one Conditions, officially the Conditions of Admission to the Communist International, refer to the conditions, most of which were suggested by Vladimir Lenin, to the adhesion of the socialist parties to the Third International (Comintern) created in 1919. The conditions were formally adopted by the Second Congress of the Comintern in 1920.
Nervous Conditions	Nervous Conditions is a novel by Zimbabwean author Tsitsi Dangarembga, first published in the United Kingdom in 1988. It was the first book published by a black woman from Zimbabwe in English.
Wolfe conditions	In the unconstrained minimization problem, the Wolfe conditions are a set of inequalities for performing inexact line search, especially in quasi-Newton methods, first published by Philip Wolfe in 1969.In these methods the idea is to find\n\n \n \n \n \n min\n \n x\n \n \n f\n (\n \n x\n \n )\n \n \n {\displaystyle \min _{x}f(\mathbf {x} )}\n for some smooth \n \n \n \n f\n :\n \n \n R\n \n \n n\n \n \n →\n \n R\n \n \n \n {\displaystyle f\colon \mathbb {R} ^{n}\to \mathbb {R} }\n . Each step often involves approximately solving the subproblem\n\n \n \n \n \n min\n \n α\n \n \n f\n (\n \n \n x\n \n \n k\n \n \n +\n α\n \n \n p\n \n \n k\n \n \n )\n \n \n {\displaystyle \min _{\alpha }f(\mathbf {x} _{k}+\alpha \mathbf {p} _{k})}\n where \n \n \n \n \n \n x\n \n \n k\n \n \n \n \n {\displaystyle \mathbf {x} _{k}}\n is the current best guess, \n \n \n \n \n \n p\n \n \n k\n \n \n ∈\n \n \n R\n \n \n n\n \n \n \n \n {\displaystyle \mathbf {p} _{k}\in \mathbb {R} ^{n}}\n is a search direction, and \n \n \n \n α\n ∈\n \n R\n \n \n \n {\displaystyle \alpha \in \mathbb {R} }\n is the step length.
Conditions (album)	Conditions is the debut studio album by Australian rock band The Temper Trap, released in Australia through Liberation Music on 19 June 2009. It was later released in the United Kingdom on 10 August 2009.
Conditions of Learning	Conditions of Learning, by Robert M. Gagné, was originally published in 1965 by Holt, Rinehart and Winston and describes eight kinds of learning and nine events of instruction. This theory of learning involved two steps.
Conditions races	Conditions races are horse races in which the weights carried by the runners are laid down by the conditions attached to the race. Weights are allocated according to the sex of the runners, with female runners carrying less weight than males; the age of the runners, with younger horses receiving weight from older runners to allow for relative maturity, referred to as weight for age; and the quality of the runners, with horses that have won certain values of races giving weight to less successful entrants.
Standard temperature and pressure	Standard temperature and pressure (STP) are standard sets of conditions for experimental measurements to be established to allow comparisons to be made between different sets of data. The most used standards are those of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), although these are not universally accepted standards.
Limited liability company	A limited liability company (LLC) is the US-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability of a corporation.
Legal liability	In law, liable means "responsible or answerable in law; legally obligated". Legal liability concerns both civil law and criminal law and can arise from various areas of law, such as contracts, torts, taxes, or fines given by government agencies.

Risk Factors
ALLEGHENY TECHNOLOGIES INC Item 1A Risk Factors There are inherent risks and uncertainties associated with our business that could adversely affect our operating performance and financial condition
Set forth below are descriptions of those risks and uncertainties that we believe to be material, but the risks and uncertainties described are not the only risks and uncertainties that could affect our business
See the discussion under “Forward Looking Statements” in Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, in this Annual Report on Form 10-K 8 _________________________________________________________________ [65]Table of Contents Cyclical Demand for Products
The cyclical nature of the industries in which our customers operate causes demand for our products to be cyclical, creating uncertainty regarding future profitability
Various changes in general economic conditions affect the industries in which our customers operate
These changes include decreases in the rate of consumption or use of our customers’ products due to economic downturns
Other factors causing fluctuation in our customers’ positions are changes in market demand, lower overall pricing due to domestic and international overcapacity, currency fluctuations, lower priced imports and increases in use or decreases in prices of substitute materials
As a result of these factors, our profitability has been and may in the future be subject to significant fluctuation
Product Pricing
From time-to-time, intense competition and excess manufacturing capacity in the commodity stainless steel industry have resulted in reduced prices, excluding raw material surcharges, for many of our stainless steel products
These factors have had and may have an adverse impact on our revenues, operating results and financial condition
Although inflationary trends in recent years have been moderate, during the same period certain critical raw material costs, such as nickel and scrap containing iron and nickel, have been volatile
While we are able to mitigate some of the adverse impact of rising raw material costs through surcharges to customers, rapid increases in raw material costs may adversely affect our results of operations
We change prices on certain of our products from time-to-time
The ability to implement price increases is dependent on market conditions, economic factors, raw material costs and availability, competitive factors, operating costs and other factors, some of which are beyond our control
The benefits of any price increases may be delayed due to long manufacturing lead times and the terms of existing contracts
Risks Associated with Commercial Aerospace
A significant portion of the sales of our High Performance Metals segment represents products sold to customers in the commercial aerospace industry
The commercial aerospace industry is historically cyclical due to factors both external and internal to the airline industry
These factors include general economic conditions, airline profitability, consumer demand for air travel, varying fuel and labor costs, price competition, and international and domestic political conditions such as military conflict and the threat of terrorism
The length and degree of cyclical fluctuation are influenced by these factors and therefore are difficult to predict with certainty
For example, average prices per pound for our titanium mill products were below dlra12dtta00 for each of 2001, 2002 and 2003, and were dlra22dtta75 in 2005, and average prices per pound for our nickel-based and specialty alloys were below dlra7dtta00 for each of 2001, 2002 and 2003, and were dlra11dtta25 in 2005
A downturn in the commercial aerospace industry would adversely affect the prices at which we are able to sell these and other products, and our results of operations, business and financial condition could be materially adversely affected
Dependence on Critical Raw Materials Subject to Price and Availability Fluctuations
We rely to a substantial extent on third parties to supply certain raw materials that are critical to the manufacture of our products
Purchase prices and availability of these critical raw materials are subject to volatility
If suppliers increase the price of critical raw materials, we may not have alternative sources of supply
In addition, to the extent that we have quoted prices to customers and accepted customer orders for products prior to purchasing necessary raw materials, or have existing contracts, we may be unable to raise the price of products to cover all or part of the increased cost of the raw materials
The manufacture of some of our products is a complex process and requires long lead times
As a result, we may experience delays or shortages in the supply of raw materials
If unable to obtain adequate and timely deliveries of required raw materials, we may be unable to timely manufacture sufficient quantities of products
This could cause us to lose sales, incur additional costs, delay new product introductions, or suffer harm to our reputation
We acquire certain important raw materials that we use to produce specialty materials, including nickel, chromium, cobalt, titanium sponge and ammonium paratungstate (APT), from foreign sources
Some of these sources operate in countries that may be subject to unstable political and economic conditions
These conditions may disrupt supplies or affect the prices of these materials
The prices for many of the raw materials we use have been extremely volatile
Since we value most of our inventory utilizing the last-in, first-out (LIFO) inventory costing methodology, a rapid rise in raw material costs has a negative effect on our operating results
Under the LIFO inventory valuation method, changes in the cost of raw materials and production activities are recognized in cost of sales in the current period even though these material and other costs may have been incurred at significantly different values due to the length of time of our production cycle
For example, in 2005, the increase in raw material costs on the LIFO inventory valuation method resulted in cost of sales which was dlra45dtta8 million higher than would have been recognized if we utilized the first-in, first-out (FIFO) methodology to value our inventory
In a period of rising raw material prices, cost of sales expense recognized under LIFO is generally higher than the cash costs incurred to acquire the inventory sold
Conversely, in a period of declining raw material prices, cost of sales recognized under LIFO is generally lower than cash costs incurred to acquire the inventory sold
We rely upon third parties for our supply of energy resources consumed in the manufacture of our products
The prices for and availability of electricity, natural gas, oil and other energy resources are subject to volatile market conditions
These market conditions often are affected by political and economic factors beyond our control
Disruptions in the supply of energy resources could temporarily impair the ability to manufacture products for customers
Further, increases in energy costs, or changes in costs relative to energy costs paid by competitors, has and may continue to adversely affect our profitability
To the extent that these uncertainties cause suppliers and customers to be more cost sensitive, increased energy prices may have an adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition
Risks Associated with Retirement Benefits
Our US defined benefit pension plan was funded in accordance with ERISA as of December 31, 2005
Based upon current actuarial analyses and forecasts, we do not expect to be required to make contributions to the defined benefit pension plan for at least the next several years
However, a significant decline in the value of plan investments in the future or unfavorable changes in laws or regulations that govern pension plan funding could materially change the timing and amount of required pension funding
Depending on the timing and amount, a requirement that we fund our defined benefit pension plan could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition
Risks Associated with Accessing the Credit Markets
Our ability to access the credit markets in the future to obtain additional financing, if needed, may be influenced by the Company’s credit rating
However, changes in our credit rating do not impact our access to our existing credit facilities
Credit Agreement Covenant
The agreement governing our secured bank credit facility imposes a number of covenants on us
For example, it contains covenants that create limitations on our ability to, among other things, effect acquisitions or dispositions or incur additional debt, and require us to, among other things, maintain a financial ratio when our available borrowing capacity measured under the credit agreement decreases below dlra75 million
Our ability to comply with the financial covenant may be affected by events beyond our control and, as a result, we may be unable to comply with the covenant, which may adversely affect our ability to borrow under our secured credit facility if the availability level is below dlra75 million
Risks Associated with Environmental Matters
We are subject to various domestic and international environmental laws and regulations that govern the discharge of pollutants, and disposal of wastes, and which may require that we investigate and remediate the effects of the release or disposal of materials at sites associated with past and present operations
We could incur substantial cleanup costs, fines and civil or criminal sanctions, third party property damage or personal injury claims as a result of violations or liabilities under these laws or non-compliance with environmental permits required at our facilities
We are currently involved in the investigation and remediation of a number of our current and former sites as well as third party sites
With respect to proceedings brought under the federal Superfund laws, or similar state statutes, we have been identified as a potentially responsible party (“PRP”) at approximately 28 of such sites, excluding those at which we believe we have no future liability
Our involvement is limited or de minimis at approximately 21 of these sites, and the potential loss exposure with respect to any of the remaining 7 individual sites is not considered to be material
The terms of the cost-sharing arrangements are subject to non-disclosure agreements as confidential information
Nevertheless, the cost-sharing arrangements generally require all PRPs to post financial assurance of the performance of the obligations or to pre-pay into an escrow or trust account their share of anticipated site-related costs
In addition, the Federal government, through various agencies, is a party to several such arrangements
We believe that we operate our businesses in compliance in all material respects with applicable environmental laws and regulations
However, from time-to-time, we are a party to lawsuits and other proceedings involving alleged violations of, or liabilities arising from environmental laws
When our liability is probable and we can reasonably estimate our costs, we record environmental liabilities in our financial statements
In many cases, we are not able to determine whether we are liable, or if liability is probable, to reasonably estimate the loss or range of loss
Estimates of our liability remain subject to additional uncertainties, including the nature and extent of site contamination, available remediation alternatives, the extent of corrective actions that may be required, and the participation number and financial condition of other PRPs, as well as the extent of their responsibility for the remediation
We intend to adjust our accruals to reflect new information as appropriate
Future adjustments could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations in a given period, but we cannot reliably predict the amounts of such future adjustments
At December 31, 2005, our reserves for environmental matters totaled approximately dlra29 million
Based on currently available information, we do not believe that there is a reasonable possibility that a loss exceeding the amount already accrued for any of the sites with which we are currently associated (either individually or in the aggregate) will be an amount that would be material to a decision to buy or sell our securities
Future developments, administrative actions or liabilities relating to environmental matters, however, could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations
10 _________________________________________________________________ [67]Table of Contents Risks Associated with Current or Future Litigation and Claims
A number of lawsuits, claims and proceedings have been or may be asserted against us relating to the conduct of our currently and formerly owned businesses, including those pertaining to product liability, patent infringement, commercial, employment, employee benefits, taxes, environmental, health and safety and occupational disease, and stockholder matters
Due to the uncertainties of litigation, we can give no assurance that we will prevail on all claims made against us in the lawsuits that we currently face or that additional claims will not be made against us in the future
While the outcome of litigation cannot be predicted with certainty, and some of these lawsuits, claims or proceedings may be determined adversely to us, we do not believe that the disposition of any such pending matters is likely to have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or liquidity, although the resolution in any reporting period of one or more of these matters could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations for that period
Also, we can give no assurance that any other matters brought in the future will not have a material effect on our financial condition, liquidity or results of operations
Labor Matters
A portion of our workforce is covered by various collective bargaining agreements, principally with the USW, including: approximately 2cmam900 Allegheny Ludlum production, office and maintenance employees covered by collective bargaining agreements, which are effective through June 2007; approximately 240 Allvac Albany, Oregon (Oremet) employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement, which is effective through June 2007; approximately 590 Wah Chang employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement, which continues through March 2008, approximately 270 employees at the Casting Service facility in LaPorte, Indiana, covered by a collective bargaining agreement, which is effective through December 2007, and approximately 200 employees at our Portland Forge facility in Portland, Indiana, covered by collective bargaining agreements with three unions that are effective through April 2008
Generally, agreements that expire may be terminated after notice by the union
After termination, the union may authorize a strike
A strike by the employees covered by one or more of the collective bargaining agreements could have a materially adverse affect on our operating results
There can be no assurance that we will succeed in concluding collective bargaining agreements with the unions to replace those that expire
Risks Associated with Strategic Capital Projects
From time-to-time, we undertake strategic capital projects in order to expand and upgrade our facilities and operational capabilities
For instance, in 2005 we announced major expansions of our titanium and premium-melt nickel-based alloy, superalloy and specialty alloy production capabilities
We intend to invest approximately dlra130 million in the aggregate through the end of 2006 to complete these strategic capital projects, and we expect to achieve an aggregate of more than dlra270 million of potential annual revenue growth from these projects when they are fully implemented
Our ability to achieve the anticipated increased revenues or otherwise realize acceptable returns on these investments or other strategic capital projects that we may undertake is subject to a number of risks, many of which are beyond our control, including a variety of market, operational, permitting, and labor related factors
In addition, the cost to implement any given strategic capital project ultimately may prove to be greater than originally anticipated
If we are not able to achieve the anticipated results from the implementation of any of our strategic capital projects, or if we incur unanticipated implementation costs, our results of operations and financial position may be materially adversely effected
Risks Associated with Acquisition and Disposition Strategies
We intend to continue to strategically position our businesses in order to improve our ability to compete
We plan to do this by seeking specialty niches, expanding our global presence, acquiring businesses complementary to existing strengths and continually evaluating the performance and strategic fit of existing business units
We consider acquisition, joint ventures, and other business combination opportunities as well as possible business unit dispositions
From time-to-time, management holds discussions with management of other companies to explore such opportunities
As a result, the relative makeup of the businesses comprising our Company is subject to change
Acquisitions, joint ventures, and other business combinations involve various inherent risks, such as: assessing accurately the value, strengths, weaknesses, contingent and other liabilities and potential profitability of acquisition or other transaction candidates; the potential loss of key personnel of an acquired business; our ability to achieve identified financial and operating synergies anticipated to result from an acquisition or other transaction; and unanticipated changes in business and economic conditions affecting an acquisition or other transaction
International acquisitions and other transactions could be affected by export controls, exchange rate fluctuations, domestic and foreign political conditions and a deterioration in domestic and foreign economic conditions
Internal Controls Over Financial Reporting
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements
Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate
We have maintained various forms of insurance, including insurance covering claims related to our properties and risks associated with our operations
Our existing property and liability insurance coverages contain exclusions and limitations on coverage
From time-to-time, in connection with renewals of insurance, we have experienced additional exclusions and limitations on coverage, larger self-insured retentions and deductibles and significantly higher premiums
As a result, in the future our insurance coverage may not cover claims to the extent that it has in the past and the costs that we incur to procure insurance may increase significantly, either of which could have an adverse effect on our results of operations
Political and Social Turmoil
The war on terrorism and recent political and social turmoil, including terrorist and military actions and the implications of the military actions in Iraq, could put pressure on economic conditions in the United States and worldwide
These political, social and economic conditions could make it difficult for us, our suppliers and our customers to forecast accurately and plan future business activities, and could adversely affect the financial condition of our suppliers and customers and affect customer decisions as to the amount and timing of purchases from us
As a result, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected
Export Sales
We believe that export sales will continue to account for a significant percentage of our future revenues
Risks associated with export sales include: political and economic instability, including weak conditions in the world’s economies; accounts receivable collection; export controls; changes in legal and regulatory requirements; policy changes affecting the markets for our products; changes in tax laws and tariffs; and exchange rate fluctuations (which may affect sales to international customers and the value of profits earned on export sales when converted into dollars)
Any of these factors could materially adversely effect our results for the period in which they occur
Risks Associated with Government Contracts
Some of our operating companies directly perform contractual work for the US Government
Various claims (whether based on US Government or Company audits and investigations or otherwise) could be asserted against us related to our US Government contract work
Depending on the circumstances and the outcome, such proceedings could result in fines, penalties, compensatory and treble damages or the cancellation or suspension of payments under one or more US Government contracts
Under government regulations, a company, or one or more of its operating divisions or units, can also be suspended or debarred from government contracts based on the results of investigations