McIlroy--Are We in Worse Shape Than Anyone Thinks?

Commercial printing ranks third of 20 industries on the "Montgomery Securities' List of Selected Consolidating Service Industries." And Montgomery ranks commercial printing No. 1 in degree of market fragmentation: More than 80 percent of commercial printers have sales of less than $2 million.

Despite the apparent under-consolidation of the printing industry, this year the capital markets are not attaching the same value to print consolidation as they were in previous years. The Printing Impressions/Advest index of 30 printing industry stocks has declined by more than 30 percent since June 1998, relative to the S&P 500 Composite Index.