Just when you thought things couldn't get worse, they didn't. In fact, they have actually gotten noticeably better. Similar to what I recall happening last year, the market bottomed in November and has clearly rebounded in December. At several auctions lately we noticed that there were perhaps twice the number of dealers in attendance than in November. The activity has reflected this increase in attendance with much greater competition for product, raising prices across the board. This certainly bodes well for sellers who deserve some good news after struggling mightily in October & November. For people who need an explanation for such a turn of events one might be that those dealers who bought carefully and cheaply in previous months had some success turning those well-worth-the-money products and came back for more. I suspect that word also got out that there were some real bargains to be had on the block and that brought some additional buyers out. And there just might be some increase in retail activity that has built up after a couple of very weak retail months. Regardless of the reasons, it has been a welcome movement in the right direction, and we look for the momentum to carry into the new year if the weather cooperates. There may still be some bargains to be had as manufacturers unload additional inventory that has accumulated in December while some of them took a brief sabbatical from the sales, but we expect the market to continue its upturn in mid-January. Dan Galves