Walmart Inc (NYSE: WMT) has yet to see a large wave of early holiday shoppers this year but expects that will change after the company kicks off its Black Friday sales, which will be spread across the month of November this year. Many retailers, including Target (NYSE: TGT), Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) and Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN), began holiday promotions in October, warning consumers of longer delivery times and reduced product availability while urging shoppers to buy in-demand items as soon as they see them.
Samsung Electronics Co vice president Jay Y. Lee has embarked on a high-profile business trip to the US to finalize the company’s plant to build a $17 billion semiconductor plant and discuss COVID-19 vaccines with Moderna Inc.
Reuters reported that Samsung’s decision on where it will locate its new plant with coincide with Lee’s trip, which kicked off Sunday. https://www.reuters.com/business/samsungs-lee-visits-us-ahead-likely-17-bln-chip-plant-decision...
You’ve probably heard this already, but if you haven’t started your Christmas shopping, it might be a good idea to do so as soon as possible. Shipping bottlenecks are expected to persist well into 2022, driven by slow capacity growth, a shortage of containers and truckers and the ongoing semiconductor chip crunch, which has limited new truck production for last mile delivery.
These “perfect storm” disruptions have created numerous headaches for shipping and logistics companies. But as is often the case, bad news is good news, especially for investors who have seen shares of container lines surge in the 18 months since the pandemic began.
In September, the US economy added 194,000 jobs, far below consensus analyst expectations of 500,000 jobs. The unemployment rate moved lower to 4.8% from 5.2% in August. Ironically, there are plenty of jobs available for workers, but companies across all sectors report challenging conditions for attracting workers.
Since the start of the global pandemic, historically low interest rates and government spending have inhibited saving and encouraged borrowing and spending to lift the economy during the challenging period. The US Federal Reserve and government have pumped far more liquidity into the financial system than during the 2008 global financial crisis. We have seen an increase in inflationary pressures because of the stimulus. Moreover, the pandemic’s unintended consequences have created shortages and supply chain bottlenecks that have only exacerbated rising prices.
Nissan Motor Company will pause production at two Mexican plants for several days this month due to the ongoing shortage of semiconductor chips.
On Wednesday, Reuters reported that operations will halt for 11 days at Nissan’s plant in Aguascalientes and for 8 days at its Morelos factory.
New orders for U.S.-made goods accelerated in August, pointing to sustained strength in manufacturing even as economic growth appeared to have slowed in the third quarter because of shortages of raw materials and labor.
The Commerce Department said on Monday that factory orders increased 1.2% in August. Data for July was revised higher to show orders rising 0.7% in July instead of gaining 0.4% as previously reported. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast factory orders gaining 1.0%.
The ongoing semiconductor shortage is now expected to cost the global automotive industry $210 billion in revenue this year, according to global consulting firm AlixPartners.
The forecast released Thursday is almost double the firm's previous projection of $110 billion made in May.
General Motors Co will reduce production at most North American assembly plants this month because of the ongoing semiconductor chip shortage, hitting its profitable truck and sport utility vehicles, it said on Thursday.
The largest U.S. automaker will halt production next week at its Fort Wayne plant in Indiana and its Silao plant in Mexico, both of which build pickup trucks. In total, GM is cutting production at eight North American assembly plants in September.
Tesla Inc’s (Nasdaq: TSLA) chief executive officer Elon Musk said the EV maker is delaying deliveries of the new version of its Roadster sports car until 2023, at the earliest.
In a tweet Wednesday, Musk wrote, “2021 has been the year of super crazy supply chain shortages, so it wouldn’t matter if we had 17 new products, as none would ship. Assuming 2022 is not mega drama, new Roadster should ship in 2023.”
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