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☆ Trucking Giant Knight-Swift Transportation to Buy U.S. Xpress
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Colin Kellaher | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The addition of U.S. Xpress’s 7,200 tractors and 14,400 trailers would boost Knight-Swift’s truckload fleet to roughly 25,000 tractors and 93,000 trailers. Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. is buying rival trucker U.S. Xpress Enterprises Inc. in a deal valued at about $808 million that will bolster the scale of one of the country’s largest trucking operators. Phoenix-based Knight-Swift said Tuesday it would pay $6.15 a share in cash for U.S. Xpress, more than four times Monday’s closing price of $1.50 for the Chattanooga, Tenn.-based carrier and 13% above the stock’s 52-week high of $5.44 reached last April.

☆ Beware of these S&P 500 stocks expected to struggle
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( Fred Imbert | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Investors may want to consider dumping some stocks expected to underperform going forward, especially as market volatility remains elevated. Bleach maker Clorox made the list with an average analyst rating of underweight. The transportation stock has an average rating of hold, and 25% of analysts covering it rate it as sell. The average analyst price target on C.H. Other stocks that made our list are Pinnacle West Capital , Expeditors International of Washington , Consolidated Edison and T. Rowe Price .

Two of the sources linked the increased Russian interest directly with reported Turkish plans to crack down on the transit of sanctioned goods. Some Russian firms have sought to establish long-term sanction-busting partnerships, the sources said. Under Russian law, it is an offence to comply with the Western sanctions and sanctions-busting has become a profitable boom industry for some entrepreneurs. Ankara also said it would not allow Western sanctions to be violated in or via Turkey and was taking steps to prevent this. Kazakh exports to Russia rose by a quarter to $8.8 billion last year and sales of some items surged.

☆ ArcBest Rolls Out Technology to Speed Up Freight Loading
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Liz Young | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

The freight-management system, called Vaux, is a steel-and-aluminum racking system that sits underneath and around cargo inside trailer beds. Warehouse workers can latch a forklift onto the Vaux platform to push freight into a trailer or pull freight out in one move, instead of having to handle pallets individually. ArcBest says loading or unloading a truck using Vaux takes less than five minutes, compared with the traditional process the company says can take 45 minutes. “What our customers have been telling us is that they are really under pressure,” ArcBest Chief Executive Judy McReynolds said. Rival trucking company TFI International Inc. recently disclosed it had taken a 4% stake in ArcBest, prompting speculation TFI is looking to buy ArcBest.

REUTERS/Miguel VidalA CORUNA, Spain/LONDON, Feb 28 (Reuters) - In Spain's A Coruna, two contrasting fashion business models collide - pitching the growing demands for the clothing industry to become more sustainable against the constant need to drive sales. This rainy, windswept, city on the rugged Atlantic coast is the unlikely headquarters of Zara-owner Inditex (ITX.MC) - the world's biggest fast fashion retailer. It also hosts small boutiques offering high quality, durable products that consider themselves an alternative to the fast and affordable fashion propelling Inditex's annual sales of 28 billion euros ($30 billion). "If you release tonnes and tonnes of clothes, textiles, shoes into the market, you will have to collect it," he said. But Circ and its competitors are only capable of producing 1% of the textiles needed to make the 109 million tonnes of clothes per year that the global fashion industry churns out.

☆ TFI Stake in Trucker ArcBest Sparks Acquisition Speculation
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Liz Young | Paul Berger | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +4 min

TFI in 2021 became one of the top carriers in the U.S. less-than-truckload sector when it bought United Parcel Service Inc.’s freight business for $800 million. TFI CEO and President Alain Bédard said on the Feb. 6 earnings call that TFI is looking for opportunities to work with ArcBest. TFI executives said they see ways to save money working together with ArcBest, analysts at Cowen wrote in a Feb. 14 note summarizing a meeting they had with TFI management. The Cowen analysts wrote TFI is well placed to take over ArcBest’s unionized workforce because it already works with the Teamsters union at TForce Freight. ArcBest shares are up about 14% since TFI disclosed its stake.

☆ JPMorgan downgrades C.H. Robinson, says transportation stock is more exposed to macro risks than rivals
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Hakyung Kim | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Robinson has a tough road ahead in 2023, according to JPMorgan. Analyst Brian Ossenbeck downgraded the stock to underweight from neutral. The analyst named rail congestion fees, truckload rate cycles and coal volumes as headwinds for the company in 2023 despite an improving industry outlook. Robinson is more exposed to broader industry and macro risks than some of its competitors, notably RXO. However, JPMorgan thinks that there are still significant downside risks to the stock despite its recent gains.

☆ Here are Tuesday's biggest analyst calls: Apple, Coinbase, Walmart, Roku, Nvidia, Amazon & more
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Here are Tuesday's biggest calls on Wall Street: KeyBanc reiterates Apple as overweight KeyBanc said Apple has "significant" growth potential. Evercore ISI downgrades XPO to in line from outperform Evercore said it sees an unfavorable risk/reward for the logistics company. Evercore ISI downgrades First Solar to in line from outperform Evercore said it sees a slowing solar market. Bank of America reiterates Burlington as buy Bank of America said the discount retailer is well positioned for a margin recovery. Bank of America reiterates Roku as underperform Bank of America said it's bearish heading into Roku earnings on Wednesday.

☆ Morgan Stanley downgrades XPO, says logistics company is a 'show me story' after latest quarter
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Sarah Min | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

It's time for investors to move to the sidelines on XPO , according to Morgan Stanley. Analyst Ravi Shanker downgraded shares to equal weight from overweight following what he considered a lackluster quarter for the less-than-truckload (LTL) shipping company. While Shanker thinks XPO's valuation is still attractive against its peers, he cut his price target to $43 from $55. The new price target still implies shares can advance another 22% from Friday's closing price of $35.22. XPO shares rose more than 5% this year, after falling 27.6% in 2022.

☆ Valentine's Day roses turn Miami, usually a freight desert, into trucking's busiest hot spot
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-12 | by ( Bianca Giacobone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The US will spend $25.6 billion on Valentine's day this year. "There's not a lot of freight in the South Florida markets," Robert Rouse, product manager for truckload freight marketplace and data analytics platform DAT Freight & Analytics, told Insider. The overwhelming majority of Valentine's day roses and carnations come from Colombia and Ecuador. The overwhelming majority of Valentine's day roses and carnations come from Colombia and Ecuador, which are conveniently just a few hours plane ride from Miami. Valentine's roses are to Miami what Christmas trees are to Oregon and North Carolina, or pumpkins to Illinois.

☆ Where EV trucks are going to hit the road first
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Kaitlin Balasaygun | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Due to the limitations that EV truck batteries face in mileage range, they're best suited for drayage transportation, or the movement of goods across short distances. So, trucking companies are making efforts to develop short-haul EV trucks and put them to use at ports and intermodal logistics facilities. How electric trucks navigate long-haul shipping is one of the main issues that the trucking industry faces as it looks to expand EV usage. Performance Team, a subsidiary of shipping giant Maersk, deployed Volvo short-haul EV trucks in Southern California for distribution facilities and warehouses starting last October. Regardless of how these EV trucks are being deployed to lower carbon emissions, the goal is also for them to save the trucking companies money.

Feb 10 (Reuters) - U.S. diesel prices have dropped this month and could go lower, analysts said, an unexpected swoon that coincided with the start of a British and European Union ban on Russian fuel imports. Lower prices could ease inflation worries that have occupied investors. A relatively warm winter across the United States and Europe and lower commercial trucking activity lowered demand. “This week was supposed to be when diesel prices blew out to the moon, but that’s not close to what happened,” said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho. Diesel demand by truckers fell off at the end of this year as high inflation impacted U.S. demand for goods.

☆ Freight Broker C.H. Robinson Digs in Against Activist Investor
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Paul Berger | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +4 min

Robinson Worldwide Inc. is standing its ground against an activist investor pushing for a quick and wide-ranging overhaul of the country’s biggest freight broker as the company battles declining freight demand and growing competition. Robinson’s international freight forwarding business, a central goal of investor Ancora Holdings Group LLC as it seeks an overhaul of the business. Robinson executives said on the Wednesday earnings call that the global forwarding arm, which moves freight by air and ocean, is essential to the company’s success. Robinson is by far the largest player in the U.S. domestic freight brokerage market that matches freight shippers with available trucks. It is also among the top two U.S.-based companies in the global forwarding market that transports cargo by air and ocean.

☆ Truckers Expect an Inventory-Driven Rebound Later This Year
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Liz Young | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +4 min

Trucking companies are pinning hopes for a rebound in freight demand on the second half of this year, saying their retailer customers expect to resume restocking after winding down inventories over recent months. Carrier executives say they are hearing from their shipping customers that they expect to return to a more normal ordering cycle this year and start moving bigger volumes closer to the fall shopping season following volatile retail spending and distribution in 2022 that left them overstocked. Inbound volumes at U.S. ports are also down, suggesting fewer goods from overseas are flowing into domestic freight networks. “Trucking is definitely down right now,” said Tom Nightingale, CEO of AFS Logistics, a Shreveport, La.-based logistics operator. She said on a Jan. 18 earnings conference call that the company “has good signals” from shipping customers that they plan to pick up their ordering in the second quarter.

That surge in demand and limited supply contributed to higher prices. But diners will likely still pay higher menu prices than they were last year. Dutch Bros. Coffee CEO Joth Ricci told CNBC that most coffee businesses hedge their prices six to 12 months in advance. However, Zandi said, if the job market remains strong, inflation eases and wages grow, Americans can better manage higher prices for airfare and other items. Several hot pandemic items, including TVs, computers, sporting goods and major appliances have dropped in price, according to Labor Department data from December.

Five decades ago, Jim Ziglar witnessed the landmark Roe v. Wade decision take shape inside the Supreme Court chambers. Jim Ziglar, center left, clerked for Justice Harry Blackmun, center right, in 1972-1973, the session in which Blackmun wrote the landmark majority decision for Roe v. Wade. Blackmun, Frampton said, "really wanted to become an expert in the history of abortion and the history of abortion law." The Supreme Court clerks who served in the 1972-1973 session, in which the Roe v. Wade decision was handed down. Richard Hoffman and Rhesa Barksdale worked as clerks for Supreme Court Justice Byron White in the 1972-1973 session, in which White wrote the dissenting opinion in the landmark Roe v. Wade decision.

☆ Here are Wednesday's biggest analyst calls: Apple, Tesla, Netflix, Amazon, Salesforce, Levi's & more
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Bank of America downgrades Coinbase to underperform from neutral Bank of America said it sees too many headwinds for the crypto exchange. Goldman Sachs downgrades Jefferies to neutral from buy Goldman said it sees a "backlog decline" for the investment bank company. Bank of America upgrades Toll Brothers and Pulte Group to buy from neutral Bank of America upgraded several homebuilders, citing compelling valuations. "We upgrade PulteGroup to Buy (from Neutral), Toll Brothers to Buy (from Neutral), and Lennar to Neutral (from Underperform). Bank of America upgrades Dow to neutral from underperform Bank of America said it's taking a more "offensive" approach to the stock.

☆ State of Freight: XPO CEO on expectations for Lunar New Year, supply chain conditions and manufacturing trailers to meet demand
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailState of Freight: XPO CEO on expectations for Lunar New Year, supply chain conditions and manufacturing trailers to meet demandXPO CEO Mario Harik says, "Supply chains today are operating much more efficiently than where they were a year ago." But the pureplay less-than-truckload company is facing other headwinds including softening demand and the need for trailers to move freight. Frank Holland talks with Harik about trucking rates, his expectations for Lunar New Year and when he expects to see a recovery in the freight markets.

☆ Freight Broker C.H. Robinson Ousts CEO Bob Biesterfeld
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Liz Young | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

Mr. Anderson, 56, stepped down as chair, a position he has held since 2020. Mr. Anderson doesn’t plan to be considered as a candidate for the permanent position, according to the securities filing. Robinson and this exceptional team,” Mr. Biesterfeld said in a statement released by the company. Robinson is by far the largest player in the U.S. freight brokerage market, one that matches freight shippers with available trucks. “We got ahead of ourselves in terms of head count,” Mr. Biesterfeld said on Nov. 2.

☆ Bank of America downgrades logistics stock XPO, cites worsening outlook for smaller freight loads
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Sarah Min | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Analyst Ken Hoexter downgraded shares of XPO to neutral from buy, and lowered his price target, saying the logistics company will have to contend with a tougher outlook for less-than-truckload shipping. "We target XPO shipments/day to fall 3% year-year in 4Q22e and 2023e," Hoexter wrote. "LTL volumes are increasingly challenged, evident in ODFL and SAIA mid-quarter updates where daily tonnage for Oct/Nov was -9%/-7% and -8%/-9% year-year, respectively. FedEx also saw accelerating declines in LTL volumes (see F2Q23 Note) with shipments down 11% in Nov from -3% in June." The analyst roughly halved his price target, down to $35 from $60, implying shares have just 5% upside from Friday's closing price.

☆ Here are Tuesday's biggest analyst calls: Tesla, Apple, Wynn, Amazon, Wendy's, Delta & more
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

We are lowering our relative ratings on ALLY, COF and MTB from Overweight to Equal Weight and ZION from Equal Weight to Underweight." Wells Fargo upgrades Wynn to overweight from equal weight Wells said in its upgrade of the casino company that it sees a significant reopening opportunity for the stock. " Wells Fargo initiates Mondelez as overweight Wells said the food products company has "superior" fundamentals. Wells Fargo downgrades Molson Coors to equal weight from overweight Wells said in its downgrade of the stock that it sees downside to estimates. Baird names Wells Fargo a top 2023 pick Baird said it likes the risk/reward for the banking giant in 2023.

☆ Inside a liquidation center that sorts millions of returns a year for resale, donation, recycling, and the trash
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( Emma Cosgrove | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Many major retailers use some kind of outside service to help with returns processing. Inmar Intelligence, a liquidation warehouse operator, showed Insider how it all works. Sign up for our newsletter for the latest tech news and scoops — delivered daily to your inbox. Returns have come a long way in the last few decades, according to the industry veteran. Now, most major retailers have realized proactively handling returns can help with brand reputation and the bottom line.

☆ Brexit has cracked Britain’s economic foundations
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Brexit has erected trade barriers for UK businesses and foreign companies that used Britain as a European base. While Brexit isn’t the cause of Britain’s cost-of-living crisis, it has made the problem more difficult to solve. The Brexit deal, known as the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, came into effect on January 1, 2021. The deal is “the world’s largest zero tariff, zero quota free trade deal,” the spokesperson added. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development expects the UK economy to shrink by 0.4%, ahead only of sanctioned Russia.

☆ France's Deschamps on cusp of World Cup history but happy to shun limelight
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Rohith Nair | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Of course, I'm proud and we all know there's a chance now to defend our title in the final," Deschamps said. Having captained France's 'golden generation' that won the 1998 World Cup and the 2000 European Championship, the 54-year-old has now nurtured another golden generation over the past decade. "He's just an amazing manager and he's so humble... For me he's the greatest French manager by miles!" ADAPTABILITYWhat has made Deschamps successful in tournaments, especially at the World Cup since 2018, is not sticking to a particular identity or philosophy which is often the defining feature of big teams. "Didier Deschamps has shown he's the best head coach in the world in the last 10 years."

☆ Werner CIO Looks to Outfit Company Trucks With AI-Enabled Tech
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Belle Lin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +4 min

Mr. Mahon was hired in 2020 to help the 66-year-old trucking and logistics company modernize its technology—much of it built on legacy systems. Nearly 50% of Werner’s systems, data and applications have already been moved to the cloud from its data centers, Mr. Mahon said. Newsletter Sign-up WSJ | CIO Journal The Morning Download delivers daily insights and news on business technology from the CIO Journal team. While Werner is putting its costs “under the microscope heading into next year,” Mr. Mahon said technology is still an area of investment given its priority for company executives. “They understand that if we want to get to that stated goal of $5 billion in the next few years, and beyond that, we have to improve and increase our spend in technology,” Mr. Mahon said.

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