#supply-chain

#supply-chain

German Minister for Digital Affairs Karsten Wildberger emphasizes that Europe's call for digital sovereignty should not be confused with protectionism. According to him, Europe must develop its own digital infrastructure. This is to reduce dependence on American technology companies. That does not mean that cooperation with the United States should be ruled out. In an interview with Reuters, Wildberger explains that Germany and the European Union can no longer be mere spectators or customers in the digital sector, but must play an active role themselves.

Recent speculation about Tim Cook's potential departure from Apple has reached a crescendo, fueled not only by his approaching 65th birthday next month but also by broader questions about his leadership in an increasingly complex global landscape. While Cook has made no official announcement about stepping down, industry watchers note that his tenure has been marked by challenging geopolitical pressures that may be weighing on the famously private executive.

But companies are able to handle the chaos, conflicts and uncertainty a little bit better now, executives said on panels recently during Shoptalk Fall in Chicago. They've gotten used to having to pivot, whether there's an issue locally or internationally. And artificial intelligence has made adapting somewhat easier than five years ago, thanks to tools that flag delays, help optimize inventory and automate tasks.

Nike yesterday revealed that it expects $1.5 billion in gross incremental costs, on an annualized basis, because of tariffs. That's a 50% increase from Nike's last estimate, provided in June, of $1 billion. Meanwhile, Nike's gross margin for its first fiscal quarter of 2026 decreased 320 basis points, in part due to "increased product costs, including new tariffs, and channel mix headwinds," EVP and CFO Matthew Friend said on a call with analysts.

For Walmart, it's a priority to quickly stock store shelves with the freshest food possible. In doing so, the nation's largest grocery-store retailer can prevent food waste from eating into its profits, even in an industry known for thin margins. Yasemin Gunay, a managing director at Boston Consulting Group, told Business Insider that retailers and restaurants have historically planned their inventory levels based on their internal data, mostly based on past sales trend data.

In the fast-paced world of technology investing, where megacap giants like Apple ( NASDAQ:AAPL ) and Nvidia ( NASDAQ:NVDA ) dominate headlines with steady but modest gains, true wealth-building opportunities often hide in emerging sectors. The three stocks below represent innovative bets on transformative technologies that could redefine logistics, transportation, and space exploration. With strong cash positions, strategic partnerships, and accelerating milestones, they offer the kind of upside that could set you up for life.

That's because most top AI companies - like OpenAI, Microsoft, Anthropic, or Meta - operate in a primarily virtual space, processing unfathomably complex rivers of information into more digital information. AI-adjacent companies like Nvidia, Intel, and Oracle focus on providing the physical infrastructure upon which the AI machines function. Then there are the companies that are using digital intelligence to deliver physical results through automation and augmented experiences, like Tesla and Amazon.

Since launching Flexport in 2013, Ryan Petersen has helped more than 10,000 companies move over $175 billion worth of goods worldwide, raising $2.3 billion and redefining how supply chains are managed in a volatile, tech-driven era. After stepping down as CEO in 2022, he returned less than a year later to steady the ship and chart its next phase of growth.

The US tariff exemption for package shipments valued under $800 officially ended on Friday, raising costs and disrupting supply chain models for a range of businesses, with Trump administration officials saying the change would be permanent. There is now a six-month transition period under which postal service shippers can opt to pay a flat duty of $80-$200 per package depending on the country of origin, the officials added.

China introduced restrictions on its rare earth exports in April, two days after Trump announced retaliatory tariffs. In July, India's best-selling electric scooter, Bajaj Auto's Chetak, hit a big speed bump. A shortage of rare-earth metals had hit production plans, and the company was forced to almost halve its output. Bajaj manufactured just 10,824 units of the Chetak in July, as compared with 20,384 units during the same period last year, due to rare earth shortages.

Instead of sending unsolicited phishing emails, attackers initiate contact through a company's public 'Contact Us' form, tricking employees into starting the conversation. What follows are weeks of professional, credible exchanges, often sealed with fake NDAs, before delivering a weaponized ZIP file carrying MixShell, a stealthy in-memory malware.

When we're leading with swagger in our merchandising authority, when we have swagger in our marketing, and we're setting the trend for retail, those are some of the moments I think that Target has been at its highest in my 20 years, he said.