Thanks to all of you who participated in our survey of holiday business hours for this season - as promised, here are the results:

	Open Half Day	Open Full Day	Closed	Open
Friday, Dec 22	42%	48%	---	---
Tuesday, Dec 26	---	---	40%	60%
Friday, Dec 29	38%	47%	14%	---
Tuesday, Jan 2	---	---	22%	78%

2006 - A look back...

This past year brought many positive events and changes to RBI Bearing...

As we look forward to the start of our 18th year in business next month, we simply want to say thank you for being part of another great year and wish you a very happy holiday season!

A monthly look at events in China
Click the title to read the story

Young dominate China's rich list
A 37-year-old appliance merchant is China's richest person, topping other young entrepreneurs who have profited from the country's economic boom, according to a list released recently by the business magazine Forbes.

GM sees continued 2007 growth in China
General Motors expects its sales in China to grow by more than 15 percent in 2007, outpacing the overall Chinese auto market.

Chinese slow to embrace "free hugs" campaign
The Chinese appear not to have warmed to a "free hugs" campaign aimed at cheering up strangers by hugging them on the street, with some huggers even being hauled away by police for questioning.

Rich Chinese buying ticket to space
A Chinese businessman has paid $200,000 to become his country's first space tourist, hoping for lift-off some time by the end of 2008.

Which is a better cage material, nylon or pressed steel?
by Mike Mortensen - Director of Engineering RBI-USA

RBI typically supplies bearings with either nylon or pressed steel cages. Each material has its own advantages and disadvantages, making the optimal cage material vary from application to application. Table 1 draws a comparison between nylon and pressed steel cages over a variety of characteristics.

Table 1 . Comparisons between nylon and pressed steel cages.

Technical Article Archive

Have a question or topic you would like to see covered? Click here to let Mike know!

Fruitcake

When a research firm polled some 1,000 adults about what they did with fruitcake,
38% said they gave it away,
28% actually ate it,
13% used it as a doorstop,
9% scattered it for the birds,
4% threw it out, and
8% couldn't remember.

We Get It Done.

RBI Connections is a publication of RBI Bearing, Inc and is intended to provide useful company and/or industry news and information. We understand and respect your need for privacy. Email addresses in our files are from our customers or published materials. Please accept our apologies if you believe this email to be unsolicited. We are sorry for the inconvenience. Any personal information provided to us will be stored in a secure environment and will not be misused. RBI Bearing, Inc. does not make email addresses available to third parties for their use. RBI Bearing would like to send news releases and special promotions to you from time to time. If you would not like to receive these emails from us, please click this link and type the word "unsubscribe" in the subject. © 2006 RBI Bearing, Inc.