Firstly – Happy Thanksgiving to all readers!

 

Average spot container freight rates from Shanghai have hit all-time highs, according to Jefferies. Rates from North Asia to the West Coast of North America were $3,900 per 40-foot equivalent unit last week = more than double a year earlier.

 

In the vein of never letting an emergency go to waste, consumer-product suppliers like Procter & Gamble and Coca-Cola are pruning their offerings – it is goodbye to the likes of soda “Diet Mr. Pibb.” Coach has reduced the number of handbag styles by 20%.

 

Some interesting history:  On Nov 18, 1883, spurred by the American Railway Association, whose members were frustrated at their inability to calculate standardized arrival and departure times across the country, the U.S. divided into four simple time zones for the first time, replacing the old “system” in which each state had dozens of mini-zones where time differed by a few minutes from the next. No longer would it be noon in Chicago, 11:27 a.m. in Omaha, 11:41 a.m. in St. Paul, and 11:50 a.m. in St. Louis.