Secondary and smaller ports across the U.S. are processing less trade as shippers readjust supply chains against the latest tariff deadlines. Ports of Oakland, Jacksonville, New Orleans, and Panama City, Florida, are among those "getting sandwiched out of port calls as more shippers decide to unload their freight in the larger ports," said Paul Brashier, vice president of global supply chain at ITS Logistics. "This is not a seasonal dip, but a market recalibration," said a top official at Port of Oakland.

Three years into a dramatic slump in oil prices, big oil companies seem to have adapted their businesses to a point where they can still generate cash and reduce debt levels even at current oil prices. European oil giants Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Total SA and Statoil ASA kicked off the sector's second quarter earnings Thursday season with a flurry of reports that highlighted growing cash flow and sustained profits. Though notably better than at the start of 2016 when the price of crude plummeted to $27 a barrel, oil is still more than 50% weaker than in 2014 when prices started to fall. The supply glut that sparked the crash has proved stubbornly persistent despite efforts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other major producers to limit output, prompting several large banks to cut their oil price forecasts in recent months. Click Read More below for more of the story.

Oil rose further above $68 a barrel briefly on Tuesday, touching its highest since May 2015, supported by OPEC-led production cuts and expectations U.S. crude inventories fell for an eighth week. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies including Russia are keeping supply limits in place in 2018, a second year of restraint, to reduce a price-denting glut of oil held in inventories. OPEC is cutting output by even more than it promised [OPEC/O] and the restraint is reducing oil stocks globally, a trend most visible in the United States, the world's largest and most transparent oil market. Click Read More below for additional information.