1) Another major U.S. airline, Southwest Airlines, is facing reduction in staff as the airline business continues to contract with little expectation of returning to its pre-corona days of business. About 24% of Southwest pilots and 33% of flight attendants have agreed to early retirement or long term leaves of absence. This accounts for about 4,400 employees who have decided to leave permanently with another 12,500 for extended emergency time off. Southwest is trying to avoid its first involuntary job cuts in its 49 year history. The company says that passenger numbers will have to triple by year end to eliminate the need for layoffs. There is growing evidence that the airline business is fundamentally changing.
2) The freight truck company TuSimple is building the world’s first network of self driving delivery trucks by 2024. The autonomous semi truck-trailers will operate across the America. TuSimple has partnered with UPS, Penske Truck Leasing, US Xpress and McLane for this autonomous freight network project. TuSimple is creating digital routes, terminals and a monitoring system in three phases that tracks its truck. Phase I is until end of 2021 to bring autonomous trucking services to Phoenix and Tucson in Arizona, plus El Paso, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio in Texas. Phase II, from 2022 till 2023, will expand the network coast to coast with a line from Los Angeles to Jacksonville in Florida. Finally, phase III between 2023 and 2024, will expand service nation wide to 48 states.
3) Both automakers GM and Ford have lost 27% of their market value this year, while electric car maker Tesla continues its unbelievable rise in the market. The reasons for the decline are different for the two companies. Ford sales relied too heavily on the F-150. While GM continues to sell more cars in the U.S. and worldwide, it’s hammered by the pandemic and failure in China, the world’s largest car market.
4) Stock market closings for – 20 JUL 20:
Dow 26,680.87 up 8.92 %
Nasdaq 10,767.09 up 263.90
S&P 500 3,251.84 up 27.11
10 Year Yield: down at 0.62%
Oil: up at $40.70