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How The Sears Catalog Changed Farming Forever​

Dec 13, 2025
How did a railroad station agent from Minnesota change the lives of millions of American farmers? In 1886, Richard Sears started selling watches by mail. Within a decade, his catalog would become known as "The Farmer's Bible" - a 532-page lifeline that brought the modern world to isolated farmhouses across America.
In this video, we explore how the Sears, Roebuck catalog revolutionized American agriculture. From cream separators that cost a fraction of competitors' prices to the stunning Graham-Bradley tractor - marketed as "the most beautiful tractor ever built" - Sears gave farmers access to equipment and goods they could never afford at local stores.


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CNBC’s The China Connection newsletter: Why Sam’s Club is in a sweet spot as China faces consumption worries​

  • Latest data from China showed a key gauge on consumption falling to its weakest level in nearly three years.
  • American membership warehouse clubs are telling a more nuanced story about the Chinese consumer, who are drawn to their curated product lines and the physical shopping experience.
  • Yet few local rivals have managed to seriously challenge Sam’s Club and Costco in membership retail.

The big story​

Latest data from China showed a key gauge on consumption falling to its weakest level in nearly three years. But it does not capture the full story.

American membership warehouse clubs are telling something more nuanced: they are finding success in drawing consumers who are willing to pay a hefty membership fee in exchange for premium goods at reasonable prices. On top of that, those stores provide no-frill “treasure-hunt” shopping experiences to sweeten the deal.

Sam’s Club, the membership-based warehouse retail arm of Walmart, opened its new store in Beijing last month, followed by another one in Shanghai on Tuesday. They drew large crowds, snarling traffic for hours and keeping consumers in long queues.

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Trust these numbers? Economists see a lot of flaws in delayed CPI report showing downward inflation​

  • Economists are viewing the delayed November consumer price index report with a dose of skepticism.
  • The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the annual headline inflation rate and core CPI rate for last month were 2.7% and 2.6%, respectively, well below expectations.
  • A chief point of concern is the way housing inflation was calculated, specifically the owners’ equivalent rent figure for November.
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www.drewry.co.uk

World Container Index - 18 Dec

18 Dec 2025: Drewry’s World Container Index increased 12% to $2,182 per 40ft container this week.
www.drewry.co.uk www.drewry.co.uk

Baltic Exchange Dry Index - Price - Chart - Historical Data - News

Baltic Dry fell to 2,071 Index Points on December 18, 2025, down 2.36% from the previous day. Over the past month, Baltic Dry's price has fallen 8.36%, but it is still 112.19% higher than a year ago, according to trading on a contract for difference (CFD) that tracks the benchmark market for...
tradingeconomics.com tradingeconomics.com
 
splash247.com

Splash Wrap: And that’s a wrap - Splash247

Venezuela has begun deploying naval escorts for vessels carrying oil byproducts as they depart its ports, underscoring a rapid escalation in maritime tensions following US president Donald Trump’s threat of a “total and complete” blockade of sanctioned oil tankers trading to and from the...
splash247.com splash247.com
 

European cargo ships are rerouting to Philadelphia as Baltimore struggles to replace Key Bridge​

Two top trans-Atlantic shippers are moving their cargoes to Philadelphia-area terminals, boosting longshore and trucking jobs, and ending Baltimore port calls as work drags on replacing the Key Bridge whose collapse 21 months ago crippled ship traffic to that city’s harbor.

A.P. Moller-Maersk, based in Denmark, and German-based Hapag-Lloyd AG, which each rank among the top five global container companies and operate hundreds of ships carrying millions of trailers, have switched a major route for their Gemini joint venture to the Delaware River container terminals, effective Jan. 4, Philadelphia-based Holt Logistics told customers in a note Wednesday.

More:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/e...place-key-bridge/ar-AA1SCq7k?ocid=socialshare
 

S&P 500 posts back-to-back gains Friday as AI trade resurges: Live updates​

U.S. stocks rose on Friday, lifted by Oracle, as the artificial intelligence trade looks to regain its footing after experiencing volatility.

The Nasdaq Composite gained 1.3%. The S&P 500 climbed 0.9%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced about 182 points, or 0.4%.

Oracle shares were up more than 7% after TikTok agreed to sell its U.S. operations to a new joint venture that includes the software giant and private equity investor Silver Lake.

The jump marks a turnaround for the stock, which came under pressure this week after a report revealed that the cloud infrastructure company lost a key backer of one of its data center projects over worries about the company’s debt and AI spending levels. That dragged down other stocks linked to AI, including Broadcom and Advanced Micro Devices

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