Oil in New York rose above $50 a barrel early last week, before slipping as signs of rising global supply eroded optimism that curbs by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners are rebalancing the market. The failure of OPEC’s efforts amid expanding output in Libya and Nigeria and lower compliance by some nations has spurred Saudi Arabia to take more action. Prices “are profiting from Saudi Arabia’s announcement that it will be reducing its oil shipments,” said Eugen Weinberg, head of commodities research at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt. “This announcement is remarkable to the extent that domestic demand declines in September, meaning that more crude oil will be available for export if production remains unchanged.” Click Read More below for additional detail.

Raj Subramaniam, chief executive of the global e-commerce and transportation company, spoke in an interview with The New York Times, published on Sunday, about his approach to technology. "Truck unloading and truck loading are a very difficult problem for robotics to solve — packages come in every size, shape, and weight," he said. He added, "We're not looking for humanoid robots — we're looking for super humanoid robots, because maybe they need to have a couple of elbows. More degrees of freedom." The executive said that FedEx is still in the pilot stage for these robots, and was "not ready for prime time yet." Beyond humanoid robots, he said, FedEx was drilling down on AI, training on data from its 17 million deliveries daily around the world to predict delivery times for its customers accurately.

American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index decreased 1.1% in September after rising 0.2% in August. In September, the index equaled 113.9 (2015=100) compared with 115.2 in August. “After hitting a bottom in April, tonnage increased in three of the previous four months, gaining a total of 2.2% before September’s drop,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “However, this freight market remains in flux, and the index contracted by 1.1% in September, which erased half of those gains. Additionally, the year-over-year decrease was the largest drop since November 2020 on a very difficult comparison – September 2022 – which was the previous cycle high. While it is likely a bottom has been hit in truck freight tonnage, there could still be choppy waters ahead as the freight market remains volatile.”