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| 1.8 million job gain realized in July |
8/10/2020 |
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Many employers have been reluctant or unable to hire, with about two-thirds of the nation having paused or reversed reopening plans early last month. Even counting the hiring of the past three months, the economy has recovered only about 42% of the 22 million jobs it lost to the pandemic.
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| U.S. to reinstate a 10% import tax on Canadian aluminum |
8/10/2020 |
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Trump originally imposed the tariffs on aluminum imports in 2018. He then lifted them last year on Canadian and Mexican metals to smooth the way for the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which replaced the North American Free
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| "work/learn-from-home" drives tablet sale to record |
8/7/2020 |
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Tablets have evolved from the simple entertainment slate of the boom years into devices more capable of handling work and school tasks, which has broadened the choices consumers and commercial clients face when upgrading or buying new devices for the new normal.
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| Tariffs on Chinese imports could very well impact the average consumer in America |
8/7/2020 |
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Currently, the global supply chain runs through China, and some claim that China has “weaponized” its dominance. Perhaps this trade tension will weaken China’s dominance in global manufacturing. It will certainly be interesting to see if this conflict will result in a shift in power and influence global manufacturing.
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| The latest Galaxy phones to cost $1,000 to $1,300 |
8/7/2020 |
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Samsung is touting the fancy phones, called the Galaxy Note20 and the Note20 Ultra, at a time that Apple is enjoying success with a $399 iPhone released in April. Google is also rolling out a $349 Pixel phone that has many of the same features as its more expensive model.
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| Garmin reported paid millions of ransom to hackers |
8/7/2020 |
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Unfortunately for Garmin, a recent data breach compromised its entire operation when an alleged cyber attack knocked many of its services and systems offline. And recent reports suggest that it may have been even more nefarious than we realized, saying that Garmin was forced to pay a multi-million-dollar ransom to get its files back.
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| Virgin Atlantic files for protection in U.S. bankruptcy court |
8/6/2020 |
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The bankruptcy filing is part of a court process in the United Kingdom to carry out a restructuring plan that the airline announced last month. The process is supported by a majority of the airline's creditors, and the company hopes to emerge from the process in September.
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| U.S. trade deficit fell 7.5% in June |
8/6/2020 |
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The Commerce Department said Wednesday that the gap between the value of what the United States buys and what it sells abroad fell 7.5% to $50.7 billion in June from $54.8 billion in May. Exports shot up an unprecedented 9.4% to $158.3 billion. Imports rose 4.7% to $208.9 billion.
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| Analyst predicts memory market to slow down due to material shortage |
8/6/2020 |
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DRAM shipment growth is projected to be flat q-q. Of note, hyperscalers’ data center investment concentrated on 1H20 due to a surge in non-face-to-face traffic amid the Covid-19 crisis. Therefore, as memory inventory levels at hyperscalers will likely exceed the appropriate amounts in 2H20, data center investment is expected to decline h-h.
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| US PMI notching a third consecutive month of economic growth |
8/5/2020 |
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The July PMI registered 54.2 percent, up 1.6 percentage points from the June reading of 52.6 percent. This figure indicates expansion in the overall economy for the third month in a row after a contraction in April, which ended a period of 131 consecutive months of growth.
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| Semiconductor sales rose 5.1% year-on-year in June |
8/5/2020 |
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SIA said sales during the second quarter of 2020 were US$103.6 billion, an increase of 5.1% over the second quarter of 2019, but a small decrease of 0.9% compared to the first quarter of 2020.
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| Manufacturers will continue to bring supply chains closer to home |
8/4/2020 |
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Before the start of 2020, a trend toward nearshoring to North America was emerging. Now, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, we predict companies will not only continue this trend – they will also adjust their entire supply chains toward more geographically spread production.
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| Kodak stock value returns to it's glorious days |
8/4/2020 |
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Kodak stockholders, who saw the value of their stock climb from about $2 per share to as high as $60. The list includes CEO Jim Continenza, who reportedly added a cool $79 million to his net worth.
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| U.S. consumer spending up 5.6% in June |
8/3/2020 |
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Consumer spending followed a seasonally adjusted 8.5% surge in May after spending had plunged the previous two months when the pandemic shuttered businesses, caused tens of millions of layoffs and sent the economy into a recession.
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