Transports still lag/'Under pressure'/It's not just copper, gold and silver/10 yr JGB yield hits 1.00%

While it hasn't gotten much mention with the Dow Jones Industrials Average 40,000 hats out and the S&P 500 hitting fresh highs but the Transportation index can't get out of its own way, is no higher than it was in June 2023 and was down by 1.7% yesterday and lower for the 5th day in 6. I'll highlight the 2.9% fall specifically in JB Hunt yesterday in response to the comments they made at the Wolfe Global Transportation & Industrials conference. 

They said:

"the broader feedback from our customer is, in many cases, the customer's volume was down. And so some of that negativity is more around the customer just doesn't have the business. But the broader feedback from our customers has been just truckload capacity is loose. And costs have surprised customers."

"And so there's been a lot of debate about how long will the lower truckload rates last? And nobody knows. We joked earlier that today is one day closer to hopefully truckload rates beginning to climb. We'll see when that happens. I have no idea when that will happen. But volume demand has been okay." On the other hand, we know ocean freight costs have spiked this year for reasons we know. 

Also out yesterday was the monthly truck tonnage index from the American Trucking Association and it showed a 1.2% drop in April after falling by 2.2% in March and is lower by 1.5% y/o/y. The chief economist at the ATA said "The truck freight market remained soft in April as seasonally adjusted volumes fell for the 2nd straight month. With a rebound in freight remaining elusive, it is likely that additional capacity will leave the industry in the face of continued softness in the market."

Have you heard me say how mixed and uneven the economy is? More evidence below.