It's been a lovely fall here in the Midwest. Lots of sunshine. And today the sun was shining just a bit brighter up the road in Milwaukee. This morning, Rockwell Automation released it's 2010 fourth-quarter earnings report, which gave CEO Keith Nosbusch and the rest of the Rockwell gang a lot of reasons to smile.

The money quotes -- to coin a phrase -- are these:

Have spent most of the day on the phone interviewing folks on various subjects. The morning began with a conference call announcing Rockwell Automation's 3Q 2010 results. Things are looking good for the Milwaukee-based company. The short take is this:

    * Revenue up 25 percent year over year and up 9 percent sequentially
    * Diluted EPS from continuing operations of $0.83
    * Company raises fiscal 2010 EPS guidance to $2.95 to $3.05 

Spent the morning on a couple of conference calls relating to Rockwell Automation’s release of its financials for the second quarter of its fiscal year 2010. The bottom line: Pretty good, all things considered—and way better than 2009. Fiscal 2010 second quarter revenue was $1,164.5 million, up 10 percent compared to a year ago. Fiscal 2010 second quarter revenue was up 9 percent sequentially compared to the first quarter. Fiscal 2010 second quarter income from continuing operations was $111.9 million ($0.77 per share), compared to $40.6 million ($0.29 per share) a year ago.

It's interesting to watch an idea come of age. I've been covering manufacturing of one sort or another for more years than I'm usually prepared to admit to, and from the beginning, about once a year, someone would come up and say, "You know, you really oughta do a story on the decline of American manufacturing. The kids don't want to do this. The companies are moving everything overseas. What are we going to do when we don't make anything here anymore?"