Sep. 25--When the telephone rang last week, it wasn't good news for Fabcon Inc., the Savage concrete wall maker that outfits Lowe's, Home Depots, offices and warehouses across the country.

A few customers worried by the sagging economy responded to Wall Street's developing crisis by pulling the plug on jobs in Chicago and the East Coast.

"They say that until the financial markets stabilize and [they] are able to get financed, we are just putting the [building] project on hold," said Jim Houtman, Fabcon vice president for marketing. "A lot of business [customers] are like, 'Well, I really don't know what my business is going to do, so I really don't want to invest,'" he said. "People are real jittery."

U.S. manufacturers are waiting anxiously to see if Wall Street's meltdown will freeze credit and chase off customers already shaken by the rocky economy. The wait-and-see approach isn't making for happy talk on the factory floor, even for companies such as Fabcon, which has a strong balance sheet and no need to borrow money from the markets.

Executives are struggling with Wall Street's volatility, sagging market caps and high commodity prices. (Oil again jumped past $120 a barrel this week.) The shocking demise of Lehman Brothers and the near-death experiences of American International Group, Merrill Lynch, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae just generated more uncertainty, which the government's $700 billion rescue plan has failed to subdue.

"It looks like a meltdown on Wall Street," said Hank Cox, spokesman for the 10,000 member National Association of Manufacturers. "Like everyone else, we are all watching this with bated breath," he said.

"Our primary concern is that this could lead to a tightening of credit. Manufacturing is very capital intensive. Our guys spend a lot of money on advanced equipment and software to compete in the world," Cox said. "Even the smallest manufacturer will have millions of dollars in capital equipment and they are constantly upgrading it. So manufacturers are just in a perpetual dance with their bankers."

Some firms have cash

On the upside, manufacturers have cut capital spending and hiring since 2003, said Cliff Waldman, economist with the 550-member Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI.

"That means they probably have enough funds on their own to fund capital improvements without going out to the capital markets. That's the good news," Waldman said. "The bad news is this financial earthquake has the potential to knock the U.S.