He has often gone against conventional wisdom, buying when others are selling and lying low when plants are humming and prices high.

Its two plants are humming along at peak efficiency.

The plant whispered and then hummed softly and steadily.

Unlike Goodyear, they say, their new tires are rolling and their new plants are humming.

Behind me, the plant hummed gently, its skylights glowing in the night.

Even in the aging industrial cities of the Midwest, plants are humming again, riding a rebound in exports of manufactured goods.

A few days ago Rockwell, a giant of the aerospace industry, announced a layoff of more than 100 workers at a nearby plant, but her own plant is humming.

This plant hummed night and day, vibrating the ground of the surrounding neighborhood as it generated electrical power and steam heat for the city of Worthington.

The aerospace company recently laid off more than 100 workers at a nearby plant, but Ms. O'Connor's plant is still humming.

When both plants were humming, with their lights shining on the cheerful puffs and tiny plumes of escaping steam, they seemed to be the heart of the world.