To be a supplier to the electronics industry, unless one wants to avoid selling to the big guns, all companies will be caught in the CFS net as everyone in the supply chain will need to show their products flow back to a CFS certified smelter.

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"But the main story is the relatively mundane but terribly important activity in electronic procurement and supply-chain optimization" made possible by the Net.

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Shares in the Wendy's hamburger chain rose slightly after it posted a bump in net income for the fourth quarter and stood by its outlook for the year.

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This reduced net employment within the industry, but freed capital that had been used in the supply chain.

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One of those I especially like now is May Department Stores (nyse: MAY - news - people ), America's largest such chain, at 50% of annual revenue, 4 times cash flow (in the sense of 2002 net income plus depreciation) and with a 4.1% dividend yield.

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