Freight News: Lots of Positive Signs

1. Passenger traffic at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) increased by 4.1% in September above last year, and 5.2% above September 2008.  The 4.7 million passenger count in September was the highest for that month since the 4.8 million passengers in September 2007.  

Freight traffic at LAX in September was 8.1% higher than last year, and 10.3% above the same month in 2008.  The 157,466 tons of air freight this year was 8.6% below the 172,238 tons in the pre-recession month of September 2007. 

2. "The volume of containers handled by the Port of Savannah in October increased 16.7 percent to 273,296 20-foot equivalent units compared to the same month last year.The overall total of freight handled by all Georgia ports reached a new monthly record of 2,347,260 tons, which represented an increase of 9.8 percent compared with last October."

3.  The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach recorded strong growth again in October, indicating that the peak-shipping season in the trans-Pacific this year had some staying power.  Containerized imports in Long Beach were up 33.5 percent compared to October 2009. Imports were up 5 percent over September 2010.  Imports in Los Angeles increased 3.19 percent compared to October 2009, which was the strongest month for imports last year. Imports in Los Angeles were down 7 percent from September 2010. 

October was the busiest month of the year so far for exports from Long Beach. Exports increased 26.3 percent compared to October 2009, and they were up 9 percent over May, which was the previous high point in 2010. Exports in Los Angeles were flat compared to October 2009, but exports were up 8 percent from September 2010.  See related post here by Scott Grannis.

4. Shipping volume at the Port of Seattle was up by 18.5% in October compared to the same month last year, following double-digit percentage gains in every month this year.  The number of fully loaded outbound containers in October of 55,552 was the highest for the year, and the highest in a single month going back to at least 2008. 

5. Total tonnage at the Port of Portland increased in September by 14% above last year, and year-to-date total tonnage at Portland is 36% above last year.

Oct. Retail Sales Back Close to Pre-Recession Levels

Given the strong increases in year-over-year sales tax collections in October for many states like Virginia (6.5%), Georgia (7.4%) and Texas (6.6%), it shouldn't be surprising that retail and food sales increased by 7.3% in October above last year (see bottom chart above).  The October increase in retail sales follows a similar 7.4% increase in September, suggesting that consumers are gradually gaining confidence and starting to spend again.  

Compared to a year ago, spending in all major categories have improved, with especially large gains in motor vehicles (14%), building materials (12.2%) and sporting goods (6.7%).  The $373 billion in consumer spending in October was the highest monthly total since August of 2008, more than two years ago (non adjusted for inflation).  October retail sales were only 2% below the $380 billion peak in November 2007 before the recession, and at this pace, retail sales will be above pre-recession levels within the next few months.     

Markets in Everything: Handwritten Notes for $3

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Schumpeterian Creative Destruction: 10 Products, Businesses Being Destroyed by the Smartphone

The following are the 10 products which smartphones are killing.

1. PDAs

2. Flip video cameras

3. MP3 Players

4. Digital cameras

5. Handheld video games

6. GPS

7. Regular cell phones

8. PCs

9. Watches

10. Remote controls

HT: Instapundit

The Pending 26% Tax Hike on the Middle Class

In today's "The Gartman Letter" Dennis points out what will happen if the "Bush Tax Cuts" expire:

1. All income tax rates will go higher with the bottom rate moving up from 10% to 15% while the top rate shall go up from 35% to 39.6% (see chart above comparing 1999 and 2008 tax rates).

2. The tax credit for children will drop from $1000/child to $500. 

3. The standard deduction for married couples will be cut. 

4. Capital gains taxes will go up from 15% to 20%.

5. Dividends, which now are taxed at a lower rate than earned income will rise to that same level. 

6. The one year “exemption” in estate taxes ends but with a $1 million exemption, and the tax rate goes to 55%.

The chart below is from The Tax Foundation and compares annual individual income taxes paid before and after the "Bush tax cuts" by various income groups:

Despite all of the political rhetoric about "tax cuts for the rich," this analysis shows that federal income taxes have fallen for groups at all income levels as a result of the Bush tax cuts, compared to the 1999 tax rates under Clinton.  And therefore, taxes for all groups would go up if the current tax rates expire at the end of the year (see percentage increases in taxes for each group above). 

And in fact, the group in the chart above that would experience the largest percentage increase in taxes would be the married taxpayers with $50,000 of household income (clearly middle class by most definitions) - they would pay 26.7% more in taxes if the Bush tax rates expire. By contrast, "rich" single taxpayers with income of $125,000 would pay only 10% more in taxes. In other words, some middle-class taxpayers received twice the tax cut on a percentage basis as some of "the rich" under the Bush tax rates, and that group would suffer the most with higher taxes if the current federal income tax rates expire.  

Consumer Greed Causes Trade Deficit With China

"What about the argument that American producers are undercut by cheap goods imported from low-wage countries like China? Whose fault is this? The answer is easy. If American consumers refused to buy goods produced in China, there would be no Chinese-made goods on store shelves. 

American consumers who prefer lower prices to higher prices are the true enemy of American companies and their unions whining about "free but fair trade." They should show up in front of Walmart and other sellers of foreign products and denounce American consumers who buy foreign-made products. That would be honest. The "free trade but fair trade" lobby finds it more effective to pursue their agenda by stealth — namely intimidate and bribe congressmen into enacting tariffs and quotas."

~Walter Williams

From the CD Comments: "Grammar Hall of Shame"

Here's some background, here's the rule:

1. The State of Maine has decided it must insure that all of it's dairies make a profit.

2. India's inflation rate is about 14% and it's agricultural tariffs average 32%.

3. When Apple moves it's $4 production cost to Vietnam… 

4. They’ve just released a fantastic report on China and it’s emerging cities.

5. It may not make sense, but a country that can print it's own money should never default on it's debts.

6. ….recognizing it's shortcomings would serve us all well.

7. Nuclear has it's own set of disposal issues….

8. Vast land areas would have to be converted to it's growth to replace any meaningful amount of gasoline…

9. China has no "communist" system today.  It's Communist Party is that in name only.

10. Nearly all technology is highly dependent on public funding for it's existence.

What's up with the "growing misuse of that puny piece of punctuation," which Arianna Huffington called "America's Apostrophe Catastrophe?"