Container shipping rates jumped over the past week amid higher fuel costs, congestion at some Asian ports and a pickup in demand heading into a peak season for booking ocean freight. The spot rate for a 40-foot container to northern Europe from Asia rose to $3,649 as of Friday, a 27% increase from week earlier, according to Xeneta, an Oslo-based freight platform. The cost to the US West Coast from...
Container shipping rates jumped over the past week amid higher fuel costs, congestion at some Asian ports and a pickup in demand heading into a peak season for booking ocean freight. The spot rate for a 40-foot container to northern Europe from Asia rose to $3,649 as of Friday, a 27% increase from week earlier, according to Xeneta, an Oslo-based freight platform. The cost to the US West Coast from Asia was up 20%, to $3,933. The numbers align with Drewry’s latest composite reading for several long-haul routes, which also showed short-term rates posting a steep jump over the past week to the highest level in about a year. Xeneta’s figures showed rates to the US from Asia are up 109% since the US war with Iran started on Feb. 28, while charges for Europe-bound containers are up more than 50%. Carriers are adding fuel surcharges and forcing importers to shoulder costs tied to the energy crisis . On top of those added fees is tighter capacity heading into busy months for inventory restocking — July and August. Shipments rerouted because of the blocked Strait of Hormuz are causing backups at Southeast Asian hubs including Singapore and Malaysia’s Port Klang, spreading the capacity pressures to trade lanes far from the Persian Gulf. “Port disruption is toxic for supply chains, especially at transshipments hubs with global significance in Southeast Asia,” said Peter Sand , chief analyst with Xeneta. “So this is driving massive market spikes on trades such as the transpacific which does not transit the Middle East.” Related: US-Iran Standoff Drags On as Conflict Nears 100-Day Mark With fears growing that oil prices will stay elevated into the second half, the rate surge may have more room to run, he said. “The wave of freight rate increases is gathering momentum,” Sand said. “If shippers do look to front-load imports, then carriers will look to push rates higher and higher, so the market may yet be far from its peak across trades globally.” Shares of A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S ...
Economist Ken Rogoff argues that the dollar’s position as the world’s dominant currency is unlikely to disappear overnight, but faces mounting pressures. On the international stage, the war in Iran, rising military spending, and China’s efforts to expand use of the yuan build on a trend toward a more multipolar financial system. At home, persistent US deficits, rising debt burdens, and higher inte...
Economist Ken Rogoff argues that the dollar’s position as the world’s dominant currency is unlikely to disappear overnight, but faces mounting pressures. On the international stage, the war in Iran, rising military spending, and China’s efforts to expand use of the yuan build on a trend toward a more multipolar financial system. At home, persistent US deficits, rising debt burdens, and higher interest rates darken America’s fiscal trajectory. Rogoff says the dollar remains deeply embedded in global trade and finance, but warns that the gradual erosion of its dominance is already underway. (Source: Bloomberg)
TonyBaggett/iStock Editorial via Getty Images McDonald's ( MCD ) is experimenting with a new AI-based automated order-taking system called ArchIQ at the drive-thru of five locations across the U.S., Restaurant Business Magazine reported this week. The initiative, powered by Google ( GOOG ) ( GOOGL )-partnered voice-activated AI, is part of McDonald's ( MCD ) new brand strategy, “ McDonald’s > NEXT...
TonyBaggett/iStock Editorial via Getty Images McDonald's ( MCD ) is experimenting with a new AI-based automated order-taking system called ArchIQ at the drive-thru of five locations across the U.S., Restaurant Business Magazine reported this week. The initiative, powered by Google ( GOOG ) ( GOOGL )-partnered voice-activated AI, is part of McDonald's ( MCD ) new brand strategy, “ McDonald’s > NEXT, ” unveiled at the company’s biennial Worldwide Convention in Las Vegas this week. The move comes two years after the fast-food chain abandoned a similar AI ordering system. “We are currently in 5 test stores, having processed over 1M transactions with about 90% of orders completed without human escalations. Impressive for a new test,” a McDonald’s ( MCD ) franchisee identified as McFranchisee said on X. “I wanted to hire Google (who uses NVIDIA) to service our AOT 3 years ago and found out today that Google is behind this project,” the franchisee added. However, most of the public reaction was negative. One user responded to the post saying, “No one wants this—we like dealing with smiling faces,” to which the McFranchisee replied, “We still smile at the cash and present window—this is just at the speaker.” “Today AI ordering, tomorrow robotic AI meal making...all of the workers will be out of work in no time,” another user said. McDonald's ( MCD ) didn’t immediately respond to a request for comments. More on McDonald's McDonald's: Still Lovin' The Moat McDonald's: GPUs Are Great, But The Big Mac Is Forever McDonald's: Buy For Long-Term Investors As Shares Could Re-Rate Due To Accelerating Store Growth McDonald's eyes chicken wings launch as a way to compete with Wingstop and Chick-fil-A Analysts see value in McDonald's near its 52-week low
Cold storage and logistics body warns food supplies at risk from fuel shortages, cyber attacks and extreme weather Ministers have been accused of being complacent about the risks to vital supplies of food into the UK amid concerns over fuel shortages, cyber attacks and extreme weather. The trade body for cold storage and logistics has urged the government to make potential disruption to the UK’s f...
Cold storage and logistics body warns food supplies at risk from fuel shortages, cyber attacks and extreme weather Ministers have been accused of being complacent about the risks to vital supplies of food into the UK amid concerns over fuel shortages, cyber attacks and extreme weather. The trade body for cold storage and logistics has urged the government to make potential disruption to the UK’s food system an “immediate national priority”. Continue reading...
200mm/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images Introduction Back when I last covered L'Oréal ( LRLCF ) ( LRLCY ), I initiated coverage with a Hold rating, highlighting the very strong underlying business but demanding a better margin of safety before considering it an attractive level for my preference. Although the company reported strong earnings recently that highlight their resilience during uncerta...
200mm/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images Introduction Back when I last covered L'Oréal ( LRLCF ) ( LRLCY ), I initiated coverage with a Hold rating, highlighting the very strong underlying business but demanding a better margin of safety before considering it an attractive level for my preference. Although the company reported strong earnings recently that highlight their resilience during uncertain times, I'm going to reiterate L'Oréal's Hold rating, as the valuation is still not compelling enough to warrant an entry, in my opinion, especially given all the macro uncertainty that can easily bring more attractive prices once again. Strong Performance During Weakness L'Oréal IR L'Oréal reported a strong first quarter, with growth across all regions and emerging markets up in the double-digit range and even a strong 7.6% increase in North America and solid growth in China, at a time when virtually everyone is struggling there, with the CEO discussing this during their Q1 Earnings Call : And we've really very seriously outperformed the market in the first quarter as the market was, as I said, somewhere between plus 1% and 2%, and we were in mid-single digits in China. So really gaining share, particularly on selected divisions. L'Oréal IR Financially, based on L'Oréal's latest report, they remain in a very solid position, with the current assets covering their current liabilities well while the non-current debt is very manageable despite the recent hike as a result of the aggressive year they had in terms of acquisitions. Still, even when excluding the cash for the acquisitions mentioned before, we see a strong amount of cash that can support solid shareholder returns on top of the cash flow, with the company recently announcing that it has entered a mandate with an investment services provider for buybacks until the end of June, for a maximum of €500 million, after spending about €3.92 billion for dividends and about €501.5 million for buybacks during 2025, although t...
In Benin’s southern Atlantic coastal town of Ouidah, located about 40km (25 miles) west of the economic capital of Cotonou, China is turning a former slave trade hub into a busy tourist destination. The historic port once saw nearly 2 million enslaved Africans marched along the 2km “Slave Route” from the auction plaza to the beach during the transatlantic slave trade. On the shore, captives were p...
In Benin’s southern Atlantic coastal town of Ouidah, located about 40km (25 miles) west of the economic capital of Cotonou, China is turning a former slave trade hub into a busy tourist destination. The historic port once saw nearly 2 million enslaved Africans marched along the 2km “Slave Route” from the auction plaza to the beach during the transatlantic slave trade. On the shore, captives were passed through the “Gate of No Return”, with a monumental memorial arch now standing at the exact...
CNN anchor Jake Tapper joined a chorus of voices accusing the former first lady of rewriting history and dodging accountability for the 2024 loss Forget the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fight being held on the White House lawn, if you want to tune in to a far more amusing brawl, may I suggest Hunter Biden v Jake Tapper? The CNN anchor is categorically unimpressed with Jill Biden’s new memo...
CNN anchor Jake Tapper joined a chorus of voices accusing the former first lady of rewriting history and dodging accountability for the 2024 loss Forget the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fight being held on the White House lawn, if you want to tune in to a far more amusing brawl, may I suggest Hunter Biden v Jake Tapper? The CNN anchor is categorically unimpressed with Jill Biden’s new memoir , View from the East Wing, and has joined a chorus of voices accusing the former first lady of rewriting history and dodging accountability for the 2024 loss. In response, Hunter has accused Tapper of having the wrong priorities. “So let me get this straight,” Hunter wrote on Twitter/X on Wednesday . “Jake Tapper is focused on attacking my Mom. Jared and Ivanka are building a private island paradise on Albanian protected land. Don Jr married the daughter of Epstein’s banker, and a startup his fund backs just got a record $620M Pentagon loan. Eric is taking an Israeli drone company public for $1.5B in the middle of a war with Iran that nobody wanted. And I know: ‘But what about your paintings, Hunter?’ Please.” Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
Bodies were buried in Happisburgh after HMS Invincible sank in 1801 on way to join Nelson at Battle of Copenhagen A mass grave for 119 sailors who drowned more than 200 years ago could be exhumed to avoid their remains being exposed by coastal erosion. HMS Invincible sank off the Norfolk coast in 1801 on its way to join Horatio Nelson’s fleet at the Battle of Copenhagen . The recovered bodies of t...
Bodies were buried in Happisburgh after HMS Invincible sank in 1801 on way to join Nelson at Battle of Copenhagen A mass grave for 119 sailors who drowned more than 200 years ago could be exhumed to avoid their remains being exposed by coastal erosion. HMS Invincible sank off the Norfolk coast in 1801 on its way to join Horatio Nelson’s fleet at the Battle of Copenhagen . The recovered bodies of those who drowned were buried at St Mary’s church in Happisburgh, the nearest village to the shipwreck. Continue reading...
Kristen Gonzalez, a state senator who authored the bill, said moratorium would target ‘hyperscale’ datacenters over 20MW New York moved closer toward becoming the first US state to enact a moratorium on large datacenters this week. On Thursday, the state legislature approved a one-year ban on the facilities powering the AI boom. The measure now heads to Kathy Hochul, the governor, who will decide ...
Kristen Gonzalez, a state senator who authored the bill, said moratorium would target ‘hyperscale’ datacenters over 20MW New York moved closer toward becoming the first US state to enact a moratorium on large datacenters this week. On Thursday, the state legislature approved a one-year ban on the facilities powering the AI boom. The measure now heads to Kathy Hochul, the governor, who will decide whether to sign it into law. The Guardian spoke to a state senator in the wake of the historic vote about authoring the bill and the wider US backlash against datacenters. Continue reading...
Diagnostic interviews seen as ‘gold standard’ vary in reliability from condition to condition, study says Diagnostic interviews – the most common way to diagnose substance use and mental disorders including depression, anxiety, bipolar and personality disorders – vary in reliability from condition to condition, according to a new study in Jama Network Open . Laura Duncan, a psychiatry professor at...
Diagnostic interviews seen as ‘gold standard’ vary in reliability from condition to condition, study says Diagnostic interviews – the most common way to diagnose substance use and mental disorders including depression, anxiety, bipolar and personality disorders – vary in reliability from condition to condition, according to a new study in Jama Network Open . Laura Duncan, a psychiatry professor at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, and one of the study’s authors , said diagnostic interviews are “often treated as a ‘gold standard’ for assessing mental disorders in both clinical settings and research”, but pointed out that these interviews fall short of providing a “definitive benchmark that demonstrates excellent validity and reliability”. Continue reading...
Welcome to the Wall Street Week newsletter, bringing you stories of capitalism about things you need to know, but even more things you need to think about. I’m David Westin , and this week, and this week we went to People Inc. to see how its content business is faring in the AI era, and to the Dominican Republic to visit the commercial spaceport being built to catch up with satellite demand. If yo...
Welcome to the Wall Street Week newsletter, bringing you stories of capitalism about things you need to know, but even more things you need to think about. I’m David Westin , and this week, and this week we went to People Inc. to see how its content business is faring in the AI era, and to the Dominican Republic to visit the commercial spaceport being built to catch up with satellite demand. If you’re not yet a subscriber, sign up here for this newsletter. Could AI End the Age of the Internet? The Internet has become a rich source of news, information and entertainment, powered in no small part by Google searches. But now, that system is being disrupted by AI, as those chatbots start just giving us the answer, instead of referring us to the underlying content. Caitlin Petre, author of the book “All the News That’s Fit to Click,” warns that “most people don’t click on the links,” which means publishers are “seeing, in some cases, very dramatic decreases in the traffic they’re getting from Google.” That poses a problem because publishers have been getting paid for their content through advertising that now may be going unseen. But companies such as People Inc., the largest online and print publisher in the country, are finding new ways to support their content financially. Neil Vogel, People’s CEO, says the company saw the profound differences AI would make to their business, made adjustments, and now “we’re very profitable.” Why US and China Need Latin America for Space About 14,000 satellites are orbiting the Earth, a number that’s projected to rise to 100,000 by 2030, creating a big demand for space launches and the need for a lot more capacity. Launch On Demand is a US-based company seeking to meet some of that demand by building a commercial spaceport in the Dominican Republic. Its founder and CEO, Burton Catledge, learned the business while working as a US Air Force colonel overseeing Cape Canaveral launches, and he’s building a business based on the “large appe...
watch now VIDEO 6:27 06:27 Can Trump outdo Obama's Iran nuclear deal? Politics President Donald Trump on Friday defended the continued lack of a war-ending deal with Iran by once again trashing the prior nuclear agreement brokered by Barack Obama , his predecessor and longtime political foe. "They've dealt with very weak and ineffective leadership on behalf of the United States" and others "that a...
watch now VIDEO 6:27 06:27 Can Trump outdo Obama's Iran nuclear deal? Politics President Donald Trump on Friday defended the continued lack of a war-ending deal with Iran by once again trashing the prior nuclear agreement brokered by Barack Obama , his predecessor and longtime political foe. "They've dealt with very weak and ineffective leadership on behalf of the United States" and others "that allowed them to get away with murder," Trump said of Iran in an NBC News interview. He was asked why Iran is still holding out in negotiations if they are desperate to reach an agreement, as Trump insists that they are. "It takes a little while … This should have been done long ago," Trump said when pressed. He then brought up the Obama-era nuclear deal — the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA — which Trump withdrew the U.S. from in 2018 and did not renegotiate . "That deal was tantamount to giving them a nuclear weapon. It was a horrible deal given by Barack Obama, and really penned by him," Trump told NBC. "It was a horrible deal." It was hardly the first time Trump has excoriated the JCPOA, which was reached in 2015 by an international coalition including the U.S. "The DEAL that we are making with Iran will be FAR BETTER," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on April 20, adding a few minutes later that such a deal will come "relatively quickly!" US President Donald Trump speaks with the press aboard Air Force One as he flies from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland to Eau Claire, Wisconsin, June 5, 2026. Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images It's become a frequent refrain from Trump as the Iran war, which he initially said would last four to six weeks, stretches into its fourth month without a short-term peace deal, let alone one that solves the Iran nuclear threat. Trump often claims had he not pulled the U.S. out of the JCPOA, Iran would have already obtained and used nuclear weapons. But many national security experts say the deal, while not perfect, succeeded in its main...
U.S. commercial oil inventories may be too low for comfort as the war with Iran enters its fourth month far from a clear resolution — and a lot is riding on how much longer the conflict drags on.
U.S. commercial oil inventories may be too low for comfort as the war with Iran enters its fourth month far from a clear resolution — and a lot is riding on how much longer the conflict drags on.
littleclie/iStock via Getty Images Co-authored by Kody's Dividends PwC released its 2026 ETF outlook. In it, it highlighted that both ETFs that follow the American market, as well as ETFs that look at the overall global market, are expected to see extremely strong growth as far as assets under management . ETFs now equal or outnumber the total number of available common equity of companies in the ...
littleclie/iStock via Getty Images Co-authored by Kody's Dividends PwC released its 2026 ETF outlook. In it, it highlighted that both ETFs that follow the American market, as well as ETFs that look at the overall global market, are expected to see extremely strong growth as far as assets under management . ETFs now equal or outnumber the total number of available common equity of companies in the market. ETFs provide you with a way to slice up the market into different categories or access other markets, like the bond market. As a total returns-focused dividend investor, I'm looking to buy into companies that are trading at attractive valuations and of extreme quality. For many, they choose to buy a passive market-wide ETF or leverage different funds to meet their goals, whether that's focused on getting a lot of dividends up front as income or different types of options trading. There is an ETF that meets almost every type of goal an investor may have and may not meet the goals of other investors effectively. For me, though, I would rather sidestep an ETF and own a company that is producing massive sums of positive cash flow and is focused on rewarding shareholders. I can find great value in buying a company that oversees a lot of different ETFs. Let's look at one of those today. A Market-Beating Yield And Double-Digit Earnings Growth Potential MSCI Inc. Q1 2026 Earnings Press Release When we last covered MSCI Inc. ( MSCI ) with a Buy rating in February , there was a lot we liked about the company. Its investment models, technology, research, and data help investment professionals to make better, data-driven decisions. We also appreciated that almost all the company’s revenue was recurring revenue. High retention was another positive. The Q1 2026 earnings report released on April 21 validated our investment thesis. MSCI’s operating revenue climbed 14.1% higher year-over-year to $850.8 million during the quarter. Predictably, this level of growth was made possible b...
Dorin Puha/iStock via Getty Images Purpose I look at the high frequency weekly indicators because while they can be very noisy, they provide a good nowcast of the economy, and will telegraph the maintenance or change in the economy well before monthly or quarterly data is available. They are also an excellent way to "mark your beliefs to market." In general, I go in order of long leading indicator...
Dorin Puha/iStock via Getty Images Purpose I look at the high frequency weekly indicators because while they can be very noisy, they provide a good nowcast of the economy, and will telegraph the maintenance or change in the economy well before monthly or quarterly data is available. They are also an excellent way to "mark your beliefs to market." In general, I go in order of long leading indicators, then short leading indicators, then coincident indicators. A Note on Methodology Data is presented in a "just the facts, ma'am" format with a minimum of commentary so that bias is minimized. Where relevant, I include 12-month highs and lows in the data in parentheses to the right. All data taken from St. Louis FRED unless otherwise linked. A few items (e.g., Financial Conditions indexes, regional Fed indexes, stock prices, the yield curve) have their own metrics based on long-term studies of their behavior. Where data is seasonally adjusted, generally it is scored positively if it is within the top 1/3 of that range, negative in the bottom 1/3, and neutral in between. Where it is not seasonally adjusted, and there are seasonal issues, waiting for the YoY change to change sign will lag the turning point. Thus I make use of a convention: data is scored neutral if it is less than 1/2 as positive/negative as at its 12-month extreme. With long leading indicators, which by definition turn at least 12 months before a turning point in the economy as a whole, there is an additional rule: data is automatically negative if, during an expansion, it has not made a new peak in the past year, with the sole exception that it is scored neutral if it is moving in the right direction and is close to making a new high. For all series where a graph is available, I have provided a link to where the relevant graph can be found. Recap of Monthly Reports May data started out almost all positive, with a solidly positive jobs report, although nonsupervisory wages were weak. The ISM manufacturing a...
Ekkasit Jokthong/iStock via Getty Images As I said in my last article on Columbus McKinnon ( CMCO ), the company’s acquisition of Kito Crosby was a big bet on adding scale in legacy lifting products going into an industrial recovery. Since then, there have been increased concerns about the pace of industrial capex spending, and CMCO’s modest near-term growth and elevated leverage have led more inv...
Ekkasit Jokthong/iStock via Getty Images As I said in my last article on Columbus McKinnon ( CMCO ), the company’s acquisition of Kito Crosby was a big bet on adding scale in legacy lifting products going into an industrial recovery. Since then, there have been increased concerns about the pace of industrial capex spending, and CMCO’s modest near-term growth and elevated leverage have led more investors to head to the sidelines. CMCO shares are down almost 40% since my last update , dramatically underperforming a flattish industrial sector, while rival Konecranes ( KNCRY ) (KCR.HE) has lost about 10% of its value and industrial automation and motion control manufacturer Regal Rexnord ( RRX ) has declined slightly. If CMCO can generate mid-single-digit long-term revenue growth and pair that with EBITDA margin improvement into the low 20%’s, the shares are meaningfully undervalued today. That margin improvement could prove to be an unreachable “if,” though, and the company’s high leverage (5.9x net debt to the low end of FY27 EBITDA guidance) gives the company far less leeway to disappoint with respect to post-deal synergies and performance. Mixed Results In A Messy Quarter Given the closing of the Kito Crosby deal in the quarter, this was always going to be a messy quarter relative to sell-side expectations. That said, underlying results were nevertheless mixed, with concerns about weak organic volume growth and core margins likely to persist for at least the next few quarters. Reported revenue was massively impacted by the Kito deal and beat published sell-side estimates, but underlying organic revenue growth was about 3%, more or less in line with sell-side expectations. Within that, pricing (up 3.4%) played an unexpectedly positive role, and volume contraction of 0.5% was a negative surprise, with management noting some sales force “distraction” from the Kito deal and the divestiture of the U.S. power chain hoist business. Gross margin declined 250bp on an adjuste...
Our first glimpse of the new AI Siri came all the way back at WWDC 2024. Apple has been on its back foot , AI-wise, for the past few years. But in a strange way, playing from behind might not be such a bad move. At WWDC on Monday, Apple appears to be getting ready to reintroduce us to the new Siri . Again. As a reminder, we met the new Siri in 2024 when Apple "launched" Apple Intelligence. Siri ca...
Our first glimpse of the new AI Siri came all the way back at WWDC 2024. Apple has been on its back foot , AI-wise, for the past few years. But in a strange way, playing from behind might not be such a bad move. At WWDC on Monday, Apple appears to be getting ready to reintroduce us to the new Siri . Again. As a reminder, we met the new Siri in 2024 when Apple "launched" Apple Intelligence. Siri came with a new glowing border, different voice options, and the ability to punt questions to ChatGPT. The whole "Intelligence" bit of the Siri redesign was coming soon, Apple promised. It didn't. In fact, its promotion around Apple Intelligence was so misleading that the company is settling a class-action lawsuit and has t … Read the full story at The Verge.
Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 131, your guide to the best and Verge -iest stuff in the world. (If you're new here, welcome, happy last week of productivity before the World Cup starts, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage .) This week, I've been reading about the World Cup and peptides and parasocial media , catching up on Clarkson's Farm ahead of the new se...
Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 131, your guide to the best and Verge -iest stuff in the world. (If you're new here, welcome, happy last week of productivity before the World Cup starts, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage .) This week, I've been reading about the World Cup and peptides and parasocial media , catching up on Clarkson's Farm ahead of the new season, buying literally every single new item in The Verge Shop , watching so so so many BTS concert clips on my social feeds, brainstorming ways to resurrect my old Facebook Portal , testing Spokenly to see if it's the dictation app for me, and ponying … Read the full story at The Verge.