STORY: A potential strike at East and Gulf Coast ports is already causing chaos for U.S. companies, as three dozen ports with 45,000 workers could shut down as soon as Oct. 1.

Many shipping firms are now scrambling to import early, shift goods to the West Coast, and even put cargo on pricey flights to get ahead of the potential strike.

The dispute between the International Longshoremen’s Association union and the United States Maritime Alliance employer group hinges on pay, with current contract terms expiring at midnight on Sept. 30.

As a result, companies like DSW parent Designer Brands have been forced to come up with workarounds, as the fashion firm normally routes about 20% of its shoe imports through the East Coast.

According to its supply chain officer, it has now shifted about half of those goods to the West Coast and paid ten times more than a typical ocean transit to fly in a small shipment of leather boots and dress shoes from Brazil.

Along with causing corporate headaches, the threatened walkout could also jam supply chains and reignite inflation ahead of the U.S. presidential election, while also putting a deeper dent in the U.S. job market – as it would be the second major U.S. strike, alongside Boeing’s ongoing dispute.

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Vanguard, the world’s second-biggest asset manager, is planning a fresh push into the active fixed-income market, citing “extraordinary” inefficiencies and opportunities.

While the firm is better known for its equities business, increasing its scale in fixed income is a priority, according to chief executive Salim Ramji. Roughly 10 per cent of Vanguard’s assets are currently allocated to active fixed income.

Fixed income “is going to be more important as people retire . . . it’s going to be more important in, at least our view is, the long term rate environment”, Ramji told a Financial Times conference on Wednesday.

“If you think of the fixed income market today . . . it’s far more antiquated, it’s far less transparent, far more expensive,” he said, in one of his first interviews since becoming Vanguard’s chief executive in July. “I think there’s an opportunity that Vanguard has to change that dynamic.”

The move has the potential to rock the bond management industry by pushing down fees significantly. Vanguard, which has $9.7trn in assets under management, has already redefined equity investing, as investors flocked to its low-cost products.

Ramji said the firm had plans to bring more of its heft into the actively managed fixed income market. He also criticised the fixed-income market for high fees and lack of transparency, which he said benefited firms more than their clients. “The opportunity set is vast when you look at the fixed-income market. It’s twice the size of equity market and the inefficiencies in fixed income are extraordinary.”

He noted that Vanguard’s actively managed fixed-income fund cost just 14 basis points, significantly less than other active managers as well as the average for passive fixed-income funds. “What this shows is the whole dichotomy between I want great performance [or] I want a low price is a false dichotomy.”

Ramji is the first outsider to lead the asset manager since its founding in 1975. Previously he was a top executive at BlackRock, its main competitor that is the world’s biggest asset manager.

“It sounds like they are doubling down” on moves into bonds that began before Ramji arrived, said Dan Sotiroff, the lead analyst on Vanguard for Morningstar. He noted that active bond managers have a stronger record of beating their indices than equity funds. “It makes perfect sense. [Active bond funds] are a little more ripe for the picking.”

Vanguard revolutionised the asset management industry through low-cost index investing under founder Jack Bogle, and 80 per cent of Vanguard’s assets are in passive index funds.

However, the push into fixed income comes at a time when the asset manager is already under political pressure during an election year from both the left and right for its tremendous size, and the amount of shares it holds in many US companies.

Ramji also walked a fine line around the firm’s decision to support none of the environmental or social shareholder proposals that it considered in the 2024 proxy season. ESG has become increasingly politicised in the US.

Ramji said: “We don’t dictate to companies what their strategy should be, we don’t push a particular agenda.”

He also addressed technical and service failures that have plagued the manager in recent years as the industry has rapidly modernised, and acknowledged that the firm, had “let down” its customers. “We have some work to do,” he said.

This article has been amended to reflect that Vanguard has $9.7trn in assets under management

MCDONALD’S lovers have been going wild for its new breakfast menu item saying it reminds them of a classic American snack.

The home of the Golden Arches will soon start selling mini hashbrowns.

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McDonald’s already sells larger hashbrowns as part of its regular breakfast menu.

However, these new fried potato bites will come in a bigger portion but will be smaller in size, with a five-pieces costing £1.49.

You can also get a 15-piece sharebox for £2.99.

Talk of the new menu item is already causing quite a stir on social media, with many fans saying it is exactly like a popular American snack.

Commenting on a social media post one user said: “Looks like Tater Tots to me.”

“Otherwise known as a Tater Tot,” said another.

Tater Tots are a popular snack in America and are made by grating up pieces of potatoes which are then deep-fried in to small ball shapes.

The starch-based side is also sold in the UK with Sainsbury’s selling a frozen version of them called Hash Brown Bites for £2.10.

Birds Eye also sells something very similar called Potatoe Bites for £2.50 in Asda, but you will have to cook these at home yourself.

Fans were still excited to try out McDonald’s take on the classic, with one customer saying they needed to be an “all-day item.”

While another said they “needed to try them”.

If you are keen to try out the fried snack you will have to wait untill October 16, when they officially land in stores.

You will also have to get to your local Maccies bright and early because they will only be available from 6am-11 am.

It is still unclear whether or not the morning dish will become a permanent menu item or will only be available for a limited period of time.

All you need to know about McDonald’s

HERE’S all the crucial information about McDonald’s you’ve always wanted to know…

In 2022, the home of the Golden Arches added mini potato waffles to its morning menu but they were axed the following year.

At the time, fans said they tasted better than its hashbrowns.

Customers have seen a number of limited menu items arrive in stores over the past year.

This includes the Grimmace Shake which was only available for one week back in August.

Changes at McDonald’s

Talk of a new menu item comes just days after Maccies hinted the McRib could once again land in stores.

A test notification for the boneless pork burger was sent out on the McDonald’s rewards app.

When asked if the McRib is coming back, a spokesperson said: “McDonald’s is always looking to innovate with new and exciting menu items, as well as bringing back the fan favourites.

“If you’re keen to be the first to receive more info from McDonald’s stay tuned.”

The McRib was first added to the main UK McDonald’s menu in 1981 but was taken off just four years later.

The burger, which comes with a boneless pork patty covered in barbecue sauce and topped with onions and pickles, has made temporary reappearances since.

It has remained a permanent fixture at McDonald’s in Germany.

What else is new at McDonald’s?

McDonald’s will regularly switch up its menu to make way for new items.

Earlier this month, the fast food chain changed its menu to coincide with the launch of McDonald’s monopoly. 

To take part in the game you must collect stickers that represent train stations or colour-coordinated streets. 

If you are curious about how the game works and what prizes you can win, read our article here. 

To mark the return of its sticker peeling game McDonald’s has brought back a number of fan-favourites

These include:

• Mozzarella Dippers 
• Philly Cheese Stack.
• Chicken Big Mac, 
• Galaxy Chocolate McFlurry 
• Twix Chocolate McFlurry
• Twix Latte 

If you are keen to try any of these new menu items you will need to act quickly as they are set to be pulled from restaurants in about three weeks.

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A leaked proposal from parties in a federal lawsuit over the impacts of dams on the lower Snake and Columbia rivers on federally-listed salmon and steelhead has revealed the Biden administration’s plans to work with federal agencies and Native American tribes in order to eventually remove four dams on the Snake River, Steve Ernst and K.C. Mehaffey reported for Clearing Up on November 22, 2023. Alex Baumhardt produced a follow-up report with additional detail for the Washington State Standard on November 30, 2023. 

The leaked plans for the Snake River, which runs through Idaho, Washington, and Oregon, call for habitat restoration and alternative energy development on tribal lands in the Columbia Basin during the next decade, Baumhardt reported. Without urgent attention, federal scientists predict that 13 separate salmon and steelhead runs in the Columbia Basin would face a “moderate to high” likelihood of extinction.

Ernst and Mahaffey reported that the government plan is part of a “package of actions and commitments” developed by federal agencies, environmental plaintiffs, the state governments of Oregon and Washington, and four tribes—the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, and the Nez Perce Tribe.

Noting that the draft memorandum of understanding “does not include breaching or depowering any of the four lower Snake River dams,” Ernst and Mahaffey reported that it does put the region “on a ‘path to breaching,’ according to multiple sources who agreed to speak with Clearing Up on the condition that they remain anonymous over fear of retribution from the White House.”

The plan’s opponents, Ernst and Mahaffey wrote, include Republican representatives in the Northwest, including Oregon congressman Cliff Bentz, electric utilities, and an industry group representing community-owned electric utilities in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Nevada and Wyoming.

Elizabeth Manning, a spokesperson for Earthjustice, said it’s unnecessary to pit the region’s power needs against its fish species. The goal, she explained in the Washington State Standard article, is “to reach a comprehensive solution that would prevent salmon extinction, restore the Columbia River Basin ecosystem and replace the services now provided by the dams so the Pacific Northwest can chart a more sustainable and resilient future.”

Sources: 

Steve Ernst and K.C. Mehaffey, “‘Path to Breaching’ Snake River Dams Rattles Northwest,” Clearing Up, November 22, 2023.

Alex Baumhardt, “Feds Consider Removing Snake River Dams in Leaked Agreement with Plaintiffs in Lawsuit,” Washington State Standard, November 30, 2023.

Student Researcher: Caleb Gilbert (Saint Michael’s College)

Faculty Evaluator: Rob Williams (Saint Michael’s College)

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Here’s an unsatisfying chart:

Deutsche Bank says it was inspired to run the numbers by the European Union’s Competitiveness report released a couple of weeks ago. Here’s the relevant bit of Mario Draghi’s foreward:

First – and most importantly – Europe must profoundly refocus its collective efforts on closing the innovation gap with the US and China, especially in advanced technologies. Europe is stuck in a static industrial structure with few new companies rising up to disrupt existing industries or develop new growth engines.

In fact, there is no EU company with a market capitalisation over EUR 100 billion that has been set up from scratch in the last fifty years, while all six US companies with a valuation above EUR 1 trillion have been created in this period.

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This lack of dynamism is self-fulfilling.

Note the careful phrasing. “Set up from scratch” excludes the likes of AstraZeneca (founded 1999 by the merger of Astra and Zeneca).

Nevertheless, Draghi’s wrong and so is Deutsche Bank. Here’s a different chart:

It shows all the constituents of Bloomberg World Large and Mid-Cap Index organised (where available) by date of incorporation. Countries and territories are all clickable.

Obviously, incorporation dates are even weaker than Deutsche’s finger-in-the-air approach when trying to estimate when companies were founded. Lots of things happened to make Saudi Aramco, for example, before its commercial registration was filed in 2018. Shell, clearly, wasn’t created in 2002.

Still, incorporation dates are enough to run a quick fact-check. Here’s the dot that matters:

PDD Holdings, the US-listed owner of the Temu and Pinduoduo e-retail platforms, moved its corporate registration from China to Ireland in May 2023. It was founded nine years ago and on current standings has a market cap equivalent to €140bn, so fits both of Draghi’s criteria.

All hail PDD, the future of European Union innovation.

Further reading:
— The mysterious rise of the Chinese ecommerce giant behind Temu (FT)