NEWS BR[EFS

The Ford Administration's latest proposals ro help the housing industy, which so far sound much like a continuation of many of the Nixon Administration programs, have drawn generally favorable comments from most observers .... as has the latest housing billsigned into law recently ....

"But itos all cold comfort if you're trying to make it in this market, today," noted a discouraged southern Oregon mill operator faced with plant shutdowns in the face of a still weakening market for lumber and plywood ....

"Conventional Wisdom" holds promise of a bleak Fall with slil/ lower lumber prices but many note "Conventional Wisdom" this year has had a poor track record in forecasting more than the most general of trends....

The market is not without bright spots remodeling and the d-i-y segments continue to come on like Gangbusters optimists take heart from President Ford's awareness of the dual trouble areas of housing and mortgage money .... any progress made against inflation (Ford's no. I target) will also mean relief is on its way for housing and the suppliers tied to it ....

Housing start figs. continue to make like the stock market . . . July was l67o below June, lowest level in 4 years, 1,335,000 units Michael Sumichrast, the home builder assn's. economist, glumly notes, "For many (home builders) it isn't a question any longer of production but of survival ....

For the lumber industry, it is not the gloom/doom of the builders the Federal Reserve Bank of S.F. recently noted "with a non-residential building boom offsetting the housing slump, the lumber industry experienced only a modest decline in output during the first half of the year"

F.W. Dodge reports that "a surge of industrial construction and a further decline in home building left July's total value of contracts for future construction slightly above the level at the same period last year'o

Building Centers hopes to open its new combined administrative offices for Sun Lumber Co., Ward & Harrington and Coopers by mid-Oct., in El Segundo (Los Angeles) Georgia-Pacific has reportedly sold its /z interest in Englewood Lumber Co., Redcrest, Ca., to Eel River Sawmills, no figure revealed ....

Fibreboard Corp. has agreed to buy "most assets" af Yuba River Lumber Co. and Brunswick Timber Products Corp. for stock valued at about $14.7 million Roseburg Lumber Co. has acquired L&H Lumber Co.; Sidney Leiken, former pres. and sole owner, has left the company; other plant mgrs. are being retained....

A reorganization plan for Sierra Pacifc Industries has been clouded by a suit filed by stockholders alleging mismanagement .. among assets that would go to John B. Crook in the proposed settlement are the SPI particleboard plant, its 4 retail stores, timberlands, cash and notes....

Evans Products' stock slipped drastically after Moody's downgraded their commercial paper rating; persistent industry rumors say many of their production facilities are for sale in the face of a cash flow squeeze.

Commercial Lumber Co. plans a move in the next 6 mos. to a new, 4 acre site in the City of Industry, Ca. Santa Cruz Lumber Co. opted for "Timberjack's True Value Home Center" as the name for their new Cupertino, Ca., store after Lumberjack Stores, Inc., operator of two Sacramento outlets, filed suit when SCLC originally planned to use the word "Lumberjacko' in itsname....

Plum Creek Lumber Co. plans to open its new $l0tl million fiberboard plant in Columbia Falls, Mt., this mo. VisRey, Inc's. Tacoma, Wa., lumber yard suffered $80,000 damage in a recent fire .. . Dant & Russell common stock has been admitted for trading on the Pacific Coast Stock Exchange ....

' Remodeling is up 30-35Vo says the Nt'l. Remodelers Assn.; new kitchens are a hot seller at prices from $3,000 - $8,000 .... many are remodeling present quarters as high mortgage rates, climbing house prices eliminate them as newhome buyers....

Stocks Lumber Yard, Port Orchard. Wa., has been sold to Bethel Builders, no price revealed Rodney and Fay Ringer have opened Home & Building Supply yard at Gold Beach, Or., renaming it the Gold BeachLumberYard....

Champion's U.S. Plywood div. plans to spend $1 7+ million to modernize their Anderson, Ca. mill . . Fibreboard Corp. plans to build a $5 million * iniulhtion mill near Grand Junction. Co. . Weyerhaeuser rs building a $25 million research facility at Tacoma, Wa. -

New Products Corp., Ogden, Ut., says it has acquired a unique lumber drying process that supposedly is more economical than present methods, no details revealed, tho ....