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The Economist (February 9)

2019/ 02/ 11 by jd in Global News

Foxconn is scaling back its plans to build a giant plant in Wisconsin. “At first glance, the Foxconn reversal confirms that American manufacturing is in trouble.” Other “recent wobbles” have included a Tennessee plant closing by Electrolux and Caterpillar’s disappointing results. “A closer look, however, suggests manufacturing is undergoing a revival, especially among agile smaller firms and those using advanced techniques.”

 

Wall Street Journal (June 21)

2018/ 06/ 24 by jd in Global News

Investors aren’t quite sure “how to trade a trade war.” Some obvious stocks like Boeing and Caterpillar are being hit hard, but for many others there’s a lack of information on the potential impact, “partly because supply chains are so complex.” While there’s much to “suggest that trade war fears haven’t sunk in properly,” the bigger issue is that it is challenging “to price in something you don’t understand, and the implications of a trade battle are obscure, at best.” We don’t know “precisely which products will be targeted in the next round, or how long the tariffs will last.”

 

The Week (April 9)

2017/ 04/ 12 by jd in Global News

“Corporate America almost uniformly craves tax reform. But businesses are deeply split over whether to support the…20 percent tax on imports coming into the U.S….. Major U.S. manufacturers like Boeing and Caterpillar are behind the idea. But retailers like Target and Ikea, as well as other companies that import most of their goods, are lobbying furiously against it.”

 

Financial Times (April 27)

2015/ 04/ 28 by jd in Global News

While Japanese companies benefit from currency gains on overseas sales, U.S. companies are feeling the heat. “A surge in the US dollar has already wiped more than $20bn from first quarter sales at the largest US companies, a sum larger than revenues generated by Intel, Caterpillar or Goldman Sachs in the first three months of the year.” The figure could potentially double as Q1 reporting in the U.S. was still near the halfway mark.

 

Barrons (January 30)

2013/ 02/ 01 by jd in Global News

“Fracking is creating a new source of cheap energy. By 2020, the U.S. is expected to become the world’s largest energy producer. And the falling cost of natural gas (now about a third of Europe’s and less than a quarter of Japan’s) is attracting corporate attention. “After decades of outsourcing… companies like Apple, Caterpillar, Ford Motor, General Electric, and Whirlpool are making more of their goods on American soil again. It isn’t just U.S. companies that are drawn to our cheap energy, weak dollar, and stagnant wages. Samsung Electronics plans a $4 billion semiconductor plant in Texas, Airbus SAS is building a factory in Alabama, and Toyota wants to export minivans made in Indiana to Asia.”

 

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