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Trade Wars
CEOs Say AI Is Making Work More Efficient. Employees Tell a Different Story.
The gulf between senior executives’ and workers’ actual experience with generative AI is vast, according to a new survey from the AI consulting firm Section of 5,000 white-collar workers. Two-thirds of nonmanagement staffers said they saved less than two hours a week or no time at all with AI. More than 40% of executives, in contrast, said the technology saved them more than eight hours of work a week.
Workers in the Section survey were far more likely to say they were anxious or overwhelmed about AI than excited—the reverse was true for the C-suite—and 40% of all respondents said they would be fine never using AI again. The most common way most people said they used AI tools was for basics like google-search replacements or generating drafts. Far fewer used it for more-complex tasks like data analysis or code generation. A new report from the business-software company Workday goes so far as to call frustrations with the technology an “AI tax” on productivity. Though 85% of the roughly 1,600 employees it surveyed reported saving one to seven hours a week by using AI, much of the time was offset by having to correct errors and rework AI-generated content.
Read more at The WSJ
Construction Spending Trended Sideways in September and October
Construction spending declined modestly in September and then rebounded in October, making overall construction spending virtually unchanged since August. Some segments continued to outperform over the two-month period, such as data centers, power, transportation and public works projects. That said, most other categories fell back, demonstrating that high interest rates and economic uncertainty are still constraining activity. All told, the declines registered in private outlays support our outlook for continued near-term weakness in residential and structures investment.
Total construction spending declined 0.6% in September and then rose 0.5% in October. Although down 1.0% on a year-ago basis, the trend in spending was essentially flat since August, with outlays down 0.1% over the two-month period. In October, private construction spending fell 1.9% on a year-to-year basis, with residential and nonresidential outlays both dropping on an annual basis and over the balance of the previous two months. The declines registered in private outlays support the outlook for continued near-term weakness in residential and structures investment. Home improvement spending, which rose 2.2% since August and was up 4.5% on a year-to-year basis in October, continues to be one of the bright spots within the residential category.
Read more at Wells Fargo
Fastenal Q4 Earnings & Sales Meet Expectations, Stock Down
Fastenal Company FAST reported fourth-quarter 2025 results that came in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate for both earnings and revenues, supported by steady contract customer momentum and improved operating leverage. Fastenal reported earnings per share (EPS) of 26 cents, in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate, but up 12.2% year over year from 23 cents in the prior-year quarter. Net income increased to $294.1 million from $262.1 million a year ago.
During the fourth quarter of 2025, Fastenal reported broad-based growth across product categories, supported by strength in manufacturing customers and benefits from the fastener expansion project. Direct products, which include fasteners, cutting tools and other production-related items, recorded daily sales growth of 13.1% year over year and accounted for 38.4% of net sales, up from 37.8% in the year-ago quarter. Growth was led by direct fasteners and hardware, which rose 12.1% year over year and represented 20.4% of sales. Indirect products, comprising safety supplies and other MRO-related items, posted daily sales growth of 10.1% and made up 61.6% of net sales, slightly lower than last year.
Read more at Yahoo Finance
Breeze Airways Adds Raleigh-Durham And Tampa Service From Stewart
Breeze Airways is adding two cities to its service from New York Stewart International Airport at Newburgh. Beginning May 6, the low-cost airline will fly twice-weekly to Raleigh-Durham on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Travelers will also be able to stay onboard and continue on to Tampa. “The new breeze service is a meaningful expansion for New York Stewart, adding a strong nonstop link to a growing hub while building on the airport’s core strengths,” said Port Authority Chairman Kevin O’Toole.
Breeze currently operates year-round service to Charleston, South Carolina and Orlando, Florida, along with seasonal routes. Allegiant air also offers service from Stewart – to Fort Lauderdale, Orlando-Sanford, Punta Gorda, and St. Petersburg, Florida, as well as season service to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Read more at Mid-Hudson News
Iconic Coney Island Hot Dog Maker Nathan's Famous Is Sold For $450 Million
Nathan’s Famous, which opened as a 5-cent hot dog stand in Coney Island more than a century ago, has been sold to packaged meat giant Smithfield Foods in a $450 million all-cash deal, the companies announced Wednesday. Smithfield, which has held rights to produce and sell Nathan’s products in the U.S., Canada and at Sam's Clubs in Mexico since 2014, will acquire all of Nathan's outstanding shares for $102 each. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2026.
Nathan's board of directors, which own or control nearly 30% of the outstanding shares of Nathan’s Famous common stock, approved the buyout and agreed to recommend to its shareholders to vote in favor of the deal. Smithfield, which also owns the Gwaltney bacon and Armour frozen meat brands, rang up more than a billion dollars in operating profit in 2024 on sales of $14.1 billion. It's on track to eclipse both those figures when it reports its fourth-quarter results.
Read more at Yahoo Finance
Toyota affiliates in $436 million settlement over alleged forklift engine emissions cheating
Three Toyota affiliates reached a settlement worth an estimated $436 million of a proposed U.S. class action accusing them of emissions cheating in nine engines for forklift trucks. A preliminary settlement with Toyota Industries (6201.T), opens new tab, the world's largest maker of forklift trucks, and two subsidiaries was filed on Tuesday night in San Francisco federal court, and requires a judge's approval. Toyota, the parent automaker, was dismissed as a defendant after claiming it had nothing to do with the emissions testing and forklift sales.
The settlement provides $299.5 million of cash to owners and lessees of 272,422 forklifts from the 2007 to 2021 model years, with an expected payout of $1,400 to $2,800 per vehicle depending on the number of claims. It also provides inspections and maintenance valued at $83.7 million to $189.3 million, with a midpoint of $136.5 million, depending on how many forklifts are still operating. This service plan is valued at $800 per forklift, the plaintiffs' lawyers said.
Read more at Reuters
Siemens Tests Humanoid Robots in Industrial Logistics
A proof of concept to test humanoid robots in industrial logistics has been successfully completed by Siemens and Humanoid, a UK-based AI and robotics company. Humanoid’s HMND 01, a wheeled robot, was deployed in real operations at a Siemens facility, marking a significant step toward the deployment of humanoid robots in industrial settings. It is the first step in a broader partnership between the two companies to test and validate how humanoid robots can be used in real-world environments.
The robot autonomously picked totes from a storage stack, transported them to a conveyor, and placed them at the designated pickup point for human operators. This sequence was repeated until the stack was fully empty. The POC involved a two-week on-site deployment at the Siemens Electronics Factory in Erlangen, where partners assessed the robots in a real-world production environment. It measured both performance and reliability of humanoid robots under autonomous operation. Target metrics were met in full and included a throughput of 60 tote moves per hour, operation with two different tote sizes, and continuous autonomous task execution for more than 30 minutes.
Read more at Assembly Magazine
Intel Wins U.S. SHIELD Contract to Supply Chips & Advanced Packaging Under $151 Billion Defense Program
Intel has won a major U.S. Department of War contract, according to an announcement by the company's executive, who said Team Blue is now the chip supplier for the SHIELD program. According to an announcement by James Chew, Intel's new VP of Government Technology, the company has now been included in the Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense (SHIELD) contract, which has a ceiling of $151 billion, and it is known to be one of the most ambitious projects by the DoW.
Team Blue's status as the native US chip manufacturer gives them the edge in official government contracts, given that, due to the sensitivity of the technologies under development, there isn't any other alternative for the administration. There isn't any disclosure about which process technologies we could see adopted under the SHIELD program, but given the military-focused application, mature nodes will be a larger part of the arrangement. Intel has plenty of options, such as the Intel 16, which are known to be integrated in radio-frequency (RF) and analog components.
Read more at WCCF Tech
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