Now should probably be a better time for appliance manufacturer Maytag
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The Hoover division, meanwhile, continues to hurt the company. (Nathan Slaughter's June take on Maytag has a good discussion of the problems there.)
Maytag continues to send new products to market. Many, such as its Neptune drying system, have been well received. The company expects them to help results in the second half. Still, the company has looked "promising" for some time now -- read old Fool articles on the company, and you'll see a lot of language along those lines.
That the company, historically a strong cash producer, would surely come out of turnaround mode (well, that and an economic market seemingly tailor-made for the company) had been enough to help investors overlook the company's blemishes and give it the benefit of the doubt between early 2003 and this past April. Now, however, some are questioning the near-term future of the housing market, and that fund of patience, it seems, is running low.
Fool contributor Dave Marino-Nachison doesn't own any of the companies in this story.