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Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (JBHT): Don't Sell Any Of These Companies, Warns Jim Cramer
We recently published . J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) is one of the stocks Jim Cramer recently discussed. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) is one of the largest trucking companies in America. As the firm's performance depends on economic performance, it's unsurprising that the shares have lost 13% year-to-date. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT)'s stock is still down by 2.6% since the pre-Liberation Day tariff high. Some factors that have influenced the shares include weak earnings reports on the back of growing stocks. However, Cramer advised viewers against selling the stock: '. . .I'm very bullish on industrial. And the industrials so you don't need to fool around. . .things are better for these companies. We saw that with JB Hunt, which I didn't think had that great a quarter but it was, people regarding as an inflection quarter. So don't sell a rail, don't sell any of these capital equipment companies because I don't think people realize legislation is about capital equipment.' A truck on a highway, its exhausts billowing in the air. Previously, Cramer shared that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) was quite popular among retail investors: 'Well what people wanted frankly, they're buying the transport, they're buying JB Hunt. They're buying the most pedestrian of things. Which I've got to tell you is really rather amazing again. It's an indicator of people are really, really bullish. They think that there's going to be return to trade. That they were too negative during this period.' While we acknowledge the potential of JBHT as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an extremely cheap AI stock that is also a major beneficiary of Trump tariffs and onshoring, see our free report on the . READ NEXT: 30 Stocks That Should Double in 3 Years and 11 Hidden AI Stocks to Buy Right Now. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Zawya
5 days ago
- Business
- Zawya
Mauritius: African Development Bank Urges Bold Reforms to Unlock Capital and Accelerate Sustainable Growth in 2025 Report
The African Development Bank ( has urged Mauritius to accelerate structural reforms to unlock its vast capital potential and advance long-term, sustainable growth. The Bank made the call during the launch of its 2025 Country Focus Report for Mauritius, titled ' Making Mauritius' Capital Work Better for its Development.' The report notes that while Mauritius continues to post strong economic performance—recording real GDP growth of 4.9% in 2024, slightly down from 5% in 2023—structural constraints and external shocks continue to undermine the country's growth trajectory. Key growth drivers in 2024 included construction, financial services, trade, and tourism, with arrivals reaching 1.38 million, representing 97% of pre-pandemic levels. On the demand side, consumption and investment were the primary drivers of growth. Despite the persistent challenges, the report underscores Mauritius' significant untapped potential. In 2020, the island nation's total national wealth was estimated at over $96 billion—more than six times its GDP—comprising human, financial, natural, and produced capital. In addition, Mauritius' vast ocean economy resources, within its 2.3 million km² Exclusive Economic Zone, offer immense opportunities for developing a sustainable blue economy. Speaking at the launch event, Mahess Rawoteea, Deputy Financial Secretary at the Ministry of Finance, welcomed the recommendations in the report. 'We are confident that the structural reforms outlined in the 2025–2026 Budget Speech will unlock significant investments, particularly in renewable energy, and contribute to higher GDP growth,' he said. Rawoteea emphasized the central role of human capital in Mauritius' development, while acknowledging persistent challenges such as education quality, skills mismatches, low female labor participation, demographic shifts, and youth emigration. He announced the establishment of a Climate Finance Unit within the Ministry of Finance to help bridge the country's climate financing gap. 'Mauritius is undertaking institutional reforms to better mobilize domestic and foreign capital and promote sustainable development,' he added. 'We are streamlining processes, enhancing transparency, and improving the ease of doing business. Environmental protection, including addressing beach erosion, is also a key priority.' Rawoteea expressed appreciation for the African Development Bank's support, particularly in mobilizing investments in renewable energy and the ocean economy—two sectors identified as future growth pillars. In his keynote remarks, Prof. Kevin Urama, the Bank Group's Chief Economist and Vice President for Economic Governance and Knowledge Management, emphasized Africa's broader potential for transformation. 'If Africa commits to investing in its own development and managing its assets efficiently, it can reduce external dependency and harness its enormous capital for transformative growth,' he said. Urama cited weak tax administration and inefficiencies in revenue collection as major constraints to development, urging a fundamental rethink of public financial management across the continent. Wolassa Kumo, the Bank's Principal Country Economist for Mauritius presented an overview of the report. The launch event attracted senior government officials, development partners, private sector leaders, and civil society representatives. Among those in attendance were Hervé Lohoues, the Bank's Division Manager for the Country Economics Department covering Nigeria, East Africa and Southern Africa, and Nontle Kabanyane, the Bank's Principal Country Programme Officer, who moderated a panel discussion. The panel explored strategies for mobilizing domestic capital more effectively by strengthening institutions, improving regulatory frameworks, increasing transparency and accountability, and deepening regional trade integration. Panelists included: Dr. Zyaad Boodoo, Ministry of Environment, Solid Waste Management and Climate Change (natural capital), Mauritius? Mr. Sanjev Bhonoo, Principal Statistician, Statistics Mauritius (natural capital) Mr. Ricaud M. Auckbur, Chief Technical Officer, Ministry of Education and Human Resources (human capital), Mauritius? Ms. Zaahira Ebramjee, Head of National Economic Collaboration, Business Mauritius (business capital) Mr. Vikram Ramful, Head of Listing, Stock Exchange of Mauritius (financial capital) Click here ( to download the report. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Development Bank Group (AfDB). About the African Development Bank Group: The African Development Bank Group is Africa's leading development finance institution. It comprises three distinct entities: the African Development Bank (AfDB), the African Development Fund (ADF) and the Nigeria Trust Fund (NTF). Represented in 41 African countries, with an external office in Japan, the Bank contributes to the economic development and social progress of its 54 regional member countries. For more information:
The Guardian
14-07-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
‘Neoliberalism lite' is no solution to Australia's cost-of-living and productivity crises. We must curb wealth concentration
With a national productivity roundtable on the horizon, Anthony Albanese is seeking answers to flagging economic performance, cost-of-living pressures and growing economic anxiety. But productivity debates rarely confront the elephant in the room: four decades of rising wealth concentration has coincided with Australia's worst productivity performance in living memory. The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, signalled his intent to 'grasp the nettle' on tax reform – a bold invitation to reckon with a structural driver of slowing productivity. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email The scale of the task is significant. The top 10% of households now control 44% of all wealth in Australia. The collective wealth of the richest 200 Australians has nearly tripled over two decades, mostly from property and resources – economic activities that extract value from existing assets rather than new productive capacities; what economists call 'rent-seeking'. The relationship between wealth concentration and productivity warrants examination. As economist Joseph Stiglitz argues, not all wealth represents productive capital. Rent-seeking concentrates wealth away from productivity-enhancing investments – in business innovation, public infrastructure, and worker wages. This leaves ordinary people paying ever-higher proportions of their income for necessities. French economist Thomas Piketty expanded Keynes' insight; without deliberate countermeasures, market economies naturally concentrate wealth as returns on assets outpace wages growth, making inequality an inherent feature of capitalism. This natural tendency can be accelerated by crises. The 2008 financial crisis and Covid-19 pandemic both triggered massive upward wealth transfers. While central banks' emergency measures prevented economic collapse, they disproportionately benefited those at the top. This marks a dramatic reversal from post-second world war prosperity, when countries like Australia, Canada, the UK and the US experienced broader wealth distribution. Institutional safeguards of the era, such as strong unions and progressive public policy, have steadily eroded, contributing to growing wealth concentration that now approaches pre-war levels. When middle and working-class families lose purchasing power, consumer demand falters. Since consumer spending drives 60-70% of economic activity in advanced economies, wealth concentration and income inequality trigger a demand spiral that weakens both business profitability and government revenues. Meanwhile, wealth inequality frays the social fabric. Financial hardship brings higher rates of anxiety, depression, suicide, addiction, family breakdown and domestic violence – placing further strain on public resources and healthcare systems. Despite growing awareness of wealth concentration's role in undermining economic performance and social health, political responses remain muted. Labor's re-election offers a revealing case. The party won not by proposing bold redistributive reform but by channelling voter anxiety around global uncertainty and cost-of-living pressure while keeping structural inequality off the table, as evidenced by Australian Labor's retreat on negative gearing reform. Despite commendable efforts to lift wages, wages of Australians have only returned to 2011 levels. This strategic ambiguity epitomises a modern centre-left paradox: parties can win elections on cost-of-living concerns only because they don't threaten the wealth concentration causing them. As seen in other advanced economies, failure to address underlying inequality eventually opens the door to movements that scapegoat minorities, immigrants and institutions while further slashing taxes for the rich – deepening the very discontent they exploit and threatening democracy. Chalmers has broken ranks with the usual political caution, stating that 'no sensible progress can be made on productivity, resilience or budget sustainability without proper consideration of more tax reform'. He has vowed to 'dial-up' Labor's ambition to change the tax system, signalling he is open to controversial ideas. However, newly surfaced Treasury advice suggests that while Chalmers signals political ambition, the institutional response remains conservative – tinkering at the edges while avoiding any serious confrontation with wealth concentration. Such a reset will require acknowledging a core contradiction at the heart of current policy: those who champion deregulation and resist redistribution undermine the very consumer base their prosperity depends on. The wealthy few cannot consume enough to replace the spending power of millions and the resulting demand weakness eventually undermines the economy. Unlike past technological revolutions, generative AI can perform non-routine cognitive tasks – affecting professionals across virtually every knowledge-based field . AI entrepreneur Ed Newton-Rex warned that tech elites are openly discussing their ambition to own the entire means of production through 'full automation of the economy'. As the adoption of generative AI accelerates, it threatens to decouple productivity from labour input – increasing unemployment and underemployment, pushing down wages and reducing disposable income. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion Unless proactively managed, the transition to an AI-driven economy will see instability due to large-scale job displacement and unprecedented wealth capture. The current policy mix – 'neoliberalism lite' – will not solve these challenges. Australia needs a bold vision beyond tax reform that redirects economic returns toward broad-based prosperity. Norway's Government Pension Fund Global and Alaska's Permanent Fund show how sovereign wealth funds deliver public returns that can be reinvested for collective benefit. The entrepreneurial state model also ensures public investment yields public returns. Governments already underwrite innovation but rarely retain equity. Social production wages could pay those displaced by automation for charity work, caregiving, environmental restoration, informal mentoring and civic participation. Job guarantee schemes would ensure full employment through public service roles, underwritten by the returns of sovereign wealth funds. Whatever the approach, rather than framing public investment as wasteful spending, we should recognise it as essential. Central banks may be heralding their victory over inflation but ordinary Australians have little to celebrate. Slowing inflation merely reduces the pace of price increases – it doesn't reverse the cost-of-living surge. When wealth becomes too concentrated, it erodes not only economic dynamism but also the institutional foundations of productivity. Chalmers is right to say that reform is a 'test of the country'. The upcoming roundtable should acknowledge wealth concentration as a systemic risk and confront it directly. Now is the time for cross-sector leadership. Curbing wealth concentration may no longer be just a progressive preference. It may be capitalism's only lifeline. Associate Prof Jo-An Occhipinti is an NHMRC principal research fellow and co-director of the Mental Wealth Initiative at the University of Sydney's Brain and Mind Centre Dr Ante Prodan is a computer scientist and complex systems researcher with the school of computer, data and mathematical sciences at Western Sydney University Prof John Buchanan is a labour market researcher and co-director of the Mental Wealth Initiative employed in business information systems at the University of Sydney Business School
BBC News
08-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Ulster Bank: Business activity in Northern Ireland fell last month
Business activity in Northern Ireland fell slightly in June, according to a survey by Ulster month it asks firms from across the private sector about things such as their staffing levels, order books and exports in what is considered a reliable indicator of economic reduction in business activity was caused by a decrease in new orders levels, with those who took part in the survey reporting muted footfall and a lack of client despite this fall, firms reported taking on more staff for the first time since January. The only sector recording an increase in activity was construction, whereas retail reported the sharpest economist for Ulster Bank, Sebastian Burnside, said the survey was "good news" for the local labour market in June as companies started hiring Ireland was the only area of the UK where employment rose."Other aspects paint a more subdued picture, however," Mr Burnside said."The expansion in output we saw last month was not sustained into June as new order inflows remained muted."The survey also suggested input prices continued to increase rapidly in June, with the pace of inflation ticking one-third of respondents registered an increase in input costs, again often linked to higher wages and the rise in National Insurance contributions."Companies are still confident about the year-ahead outlook, however, so we will hopefully see some demand and output improvements during the second half of the year," Mr Burnside said.
Free Malaysia Today
25-06-2025
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
Single deal likely behind Sabah's ‘unusually high' 2023 trade figure, says Phoong
State industrial development minister Phoong Jin Zhe warned that if corrections are warranted but not made, it could lead to the false conclusion that Sabah's economy is in decline. (Facebook pic) PETALING JAYA : Sabah's industrial development minister Phoong Jin Zhe says the state's 'unusually high' trade figure for 2023 was likely driven by a single transaction and does not reflect the state's actual economic performance. Phoong also said he had written to the statistics department for clarification of the spike, which saw Sabah's total trade value for that year leaping to RM158 billion, the Daily Express reported. 'If you look at the trend from 2019 to 2022, Sabah's trade consistently hovered between RM36 billion and RM58 billion. But in 2023, it suddenly jumped to RM158 billion,' he said. He said initial checks suggested that the increase might be linked to a single entry of goods related to a large-scale investment project, which would not reflect long-term trends. He also said that figures from the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida) provided a more consistent view of Sabah's trade performance, recording RM52.1 billion in 2023 and an increase to RM53.6 billion the following year. 'This shows that the state's economic fundamentals remain stable and positive,' he added. Although the reports from both the statistics department and Mida tallied at the national level, showing total Malaysian trade at RM2.6 trillion in 2023 and RM2.9 trillion in 2024, Phoong said the discrepancy in data involving over RM100 billion affected only Sabah. 'That's why I have officially written to the department's director for an explanation. I am still waiting for their reply,' he said. Phoong said the discrepancy might be due to how the agencies record trade activity, noting that some methods might count goods at points of exit such as ports or airports, which could distort the location attribution in state-level data. He warned that if corrections were warranted but not made, it could lead to the false conclusion that Sabah's economy was in decline if lower figures were recorded for 2024. Phoong said that based on Mida's data, Sabah's trade performance in 2024 actually improved from pre-pandemic levels in 2019 and 2020, which ranged between RM36 billion and RM40 billion. Sabah Umno information chief Suhaimi Nasir previously criticised the state government for failing to stimulate economic growth, citing figures from the statistics department showing drops in Sabah's import and export numbers.
