Member Briefing October 14, 2026

Trade Deficit Jumps as Capital Goods Imports Reach a Record High

Overall goods trade picked up in August. U.S. exports totaled $315.2 billion—a $4.5 billion increase from July—while imports were $420.8 billion, up $17.2 billion from the prior month. This resulted in a goods and services deficit of $105.6 billion, up $12.7 billion from July. The increase in the goods and services deficit was driven primarily by a $12.8 billion rise in the goods deficit to $136.6 billion. Overall, the goods and services deficit fell $138.2 billion year-over-year. Overall, the goods and services deficit jumped $48.4 billion from the same month a year prior. Meanwhile, the goods and services deficit year-to-date was $138.2 billion lower than the same period in 2025.

• Goods exports increased $4.4 billion in August. The most significant gain came in industrial supplies and materials (up $6.3 billion), led by exports of nonmonetary gold rising $2.3 billion.
• Exports of capital goods stepped up $1.3 billion, led by exports of semiconductors (up $1.0 billion).
• Goods imports rose $17.2 billion in August, led by a $9.1 billion jump in industrial supplies and materials that included an increase of $3.3 billion in imports of crude oil.
• Imports of capital goods increased $6.2 billion to a record high, led by imports of semiconductors (up $2.4 billion).
• Service exports ticked up less than $0.1 billion with the gain led by charges for the use of intellectual property (up $0.2 billion),
• Service imports moved up less than $0.1 billion, led by transport services (up $0.4 billion).

Read more at the Census Department

Fed Says Household Income, Wealth, Increased From 2022 To 2025. So Did Debt Stress.

he exit from the COVID-19 pandemic raised incomes and wealth for most US ​families, with income gains concentrated among the less well off but more wealth flowing to the top 10%, a new Federal ‌Reserve survey covering the 2022-2025 period showed. The Fed's latest Survey of Consumer Finances, a detailed poll held every three years and covering a representative sample of around 4,300 households nationwide, shows far slower wealth gains than experienced during the volatile pandemic years, when stock markets plummeted and then soared, and households banked trillions of dollars in federal support payments.

• While income gains were larger for the less well off, they did little to boost their wealth, with the bottom fourth of households ​seeing their net worth fall more than 50%, from $3,800 as of the last survey in 2022 to $1,700.
• Wealth gains were particularly pronounced, up 37%, for families whose main member was older than 75, a generational skew that has shown up in slower family formation and homebuying among younger families.
• While household ​debt remained stable and household leverage — the ratio of debt to assets — declined, signs of debt stress were accumulating through an era of high inflation and ​rising interest rates.
• The median debt payment as a share of income rose 2 percentage points to 15.4%, and the total debt-to-income ratio jumped to 94.9% from 89.4% in 2022. A larger share ‌of families, ⁠8.6% versus 6.5%, had debt payments that ate up more than 40% of their income, the highest reading since the 2013 survey.

Read more at Reuters

Machine Tool Demand Growing Stronger

U.S. demand for machine tools continued to climb in August as U.S. machine shops and other manufacturers’ new orders for capital equipment increased to $732.9 million, 21.0% above the July result and 36.3% higher than the August 2025 total. It is the third-highest monthly total on record, according to AMT - the Assn. for Manufacturing Technology, which maintains the monthly U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders series. Through eight months of activity in 2026, U.S. manufacturing technology demand has totaled $4.76 billion, 36.9% more than the comparable figure for January-August 2025.

The association also noted the divergence in order values and machine units, the former of which continues to rise faster than the latter. The explanation is partly the effects of inflation, but more specifically to the growing influence of automation in manufacturing, and consequently the increase in the value of individual purchases. “Aerospace manufacturers have accounted for a rising share of total orders since prior to the current rally,” AMT reported, though it added that the automation systems paired with manufacturing technology has enhanced new-order values across all buying segments.

Read more at American Machinist

Iran and the Middle East

• Fear Grips Taiz As Houthi Rebels Tighten Siege Of Yemen’s 3rd Largest City – AP
• Iran Reportedly Fortifies Nuclear Sites As It Prepares For Possible U.S. Strikes After Midterms - Reuters
• Houthi Official Warns Of 'Swift, Painful Response' If US Enters Yemen War – France 24
• The Houthis Are Building an Advanced Missile With Chinese Parts - WSJ
• US Sanctions 17 Vessels Accused of Carrying Iranian Oil to Asia – Energy News
• CCTV Shows Moment Of Attack At King Khalid International Airport In Riyadh - AP
• Tehran Denies Involvement In UK Fairford Air Base Incident As Britain Summons Iranian Ambassador – France 24
• Interactive Map – US and Israeli Attack in Iran – ArcGIS Story Maps
• Map – Conflicts in the Middle East – Live Universal Awareness Map

Ukraine

• Russian Strikes Kill Three, Damage Dozens Of Power Facilities - Reuters
• Ukraine Had ‘No Warning’ Of Latest Russian Ballistic Missile Strike On Kyiv – Politico
• 'Increasingly Evident' Russia Won't Accept 'Energy Ceasefire': Zelensky – France 24
• Russia Detains Japanese Journalist On Suspicion Of Spying - Reuters
• Drone Attack Sinks Ship Off Bulgarian Coast As Radev Summons Russian Ambassador - Politico
• Ukraine’s Steelmaking Is On The Brink Of Collapse As Russian Bombing Intensifies - Fortune
• Russian Men Are Fleeing Before The Army Can Grab Them – The Economist
• Interactive Map: Assessed Control Of Terrain In Ukraine – Institute For The Study Of War
• Map – Tracking Russia’s Invasion Of Ukraine – Live Universal Awareness Map

Other World Headlines

• China’s Weakening Economy Is Creating A Lost Generation – WSJ
• Japan PM Faces Calls For Immigration Cap As She Weighs Policy On Foreigners – Nikkei Asia
• The Welfare State Is Crushing Britain - WSJ
• French Supermarkets Suffer Refrigerator Shutdown After 'Unprecedented' Cyberattack – France 24
• In Charts: How France, One Of The World’s Biggest Economies, Got Trapped By Debt - CNBC
• MI5 Chief Says Iran Is Targeting Military Sites And Suspected Plot At RAF Fairford Is ‘Not Unique’ - AP
• Surgery Confirms Pope Has Lung Cancer And He Had The Lower Lobe Of His Right Lung Removed - AP
• Poland Says Two Turks Arrested Over Russia-Linked Starlink Station Fire – ABC

Advertisement

Your ad here! Contact Harold King to learn more

Gallup: Trust in Federal Government Sinks to New Depths, Barely Half ‘Trust American People as a Whole’

Five measures of trust in the federal government are at low points in Gallup’s trends. One-third or less of U.S. adults have a great deal or fair amount of trust in the executive (33%) and legislative branches (28%) and the federal government’s ability to handle both international and domestic problems (both at 33%). More, 46%, trust the judicial branch, but its trust has never been lower than now.

In addition to asking about trust in federal government institutions, the Governance survey asks Americans to indicate how much they trust major actors in the political process — namely, politicians, the American people and the media. Gallup previously reported on trust in the mass media, finding a slight uptick to 33% from its historical low point measured last year. Forty-two percent of U.S. adults trust “men and women in political life in this country who either hold or are running for public office,” slightly above its 2023 low of 40%. The 51% who trust “the American people as a whole” is the lowest Gallup has measured to date, though not significantly different from last year’s 53%. Trust in the American public has been below 60% each year since 2018, after never having been below that level until 2014.

Read more at Gallup

US Hits Bank Of America With $1.2 Billion Fine, Saying It Violated Money Laundering, Sanctions Laws

The U.S. Treasury Department said Tuesday that it’s imposing $1.2 billion in fines on Bank of America for allegedly violating anti-money laundering and sanctions laws. The fines on America’s second-biggest bank amount to the third-largest in the department’s history. Treasury said Bank of America also reached an $11.6 million settlement with the department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control over “apparent violations of numerous sanctions programs, including on Iran, Russia, narcotics, and global terrorism.”

As part of the settlement, Bank of America admitted that it willfully violated the Bank Secrecy Act by failing to maintain a compliant anti-money-laundering program, conduct required due diligence on foreign correspondent accounts and file suspicious activity reports, according to Treasury. Bank of America said in a statement to CNBC that the bank has invested billions in compliance and is “far along” in remediation efforts.

Read more at CNBC

From Iowa Steel to Philly Ships, Trump’s Industrial Promises Face Big Tests

In Philadelphia, a $5 billion shipyard project needs more space for shipbuilding, and has challenges attracting more customers beyond its owner, Korean company Hanwha Shipping. In Iowa, a company with an unproven record in the U.S. steel industry is developing what will be one of the largest and most expensive steel mills in the country. The two projects are part of Trump’s push to revive old-line industries. They check all the boxes for Trump: They are big, audacious, expensive and expand industries he sees as barometers for America’s manufacturing and national security.

Critics, including some Democrats, have said the Iowa project was pieced together quickly to aid Republicans in next month’s midterm elections. Mesabi Metallics says that isn’t the case. In Philadelphia the current order book beyond the Hanwha order consists of three containerships for Hawaii-based Matson Inc. at $330 million each. That is twice the price of a mega vessel built in South Korea or China. “It’s hard to justify a high valuation multiple for a U.S. shipbuilder like Philly from a foreign buyer, based on pure economics,” said Basil Karatzas, head of consulting firm Karatzas Marine Advisors.

Read more at the WSJ

November Election Headlines

• The Races That Will Decide Control Of The US Senate – Reuters
• The Senate Races Most Likely To Flip Less Than A Month From Election Day – The Hill
• Minnesota Is a Republican Punchline. Amy Klobuchar Says She Can Fix It. - WSJ
• Montana Democratic Party Chair Resigns, Endorses Independent In Senate Race – The Hill
• Democrats Lead Republicans On Favorability, Economy: Gallup – The Hill
• Real Clear Politics Battle for the Senate – Real Clear Polling
• Real Clear Politics Battle for the House – Real Clear Polling

More Policy and Politics Headlines

• Trust in Federal Government Sinks to New Depths - Gallup
• The Today’s Inflation Data Is Expected To Show Price Increases Are Accelerating – CNBC
• Immigrants Sue ICE for Allegedly Withholding Passports and Other Documents - WSJ
• Supreme Court To Hear Trump's Fight To Shield DOGE Records From Disclosure - Reuters
• Rep. Ilhan Omar’s Home Is Searched By Federal Agents - WSJ
• CVS To Pay $315M Settlement Over Allegations Of Illegally Filling Opioid Prescriptions – The Hill
• Trump Sticks With Tariffs Even As US Voters Turn Against Them Before The Midterms – AP

The Quest to Deliver Alzheimer's Drugs Directly to the Brain

An experimental Alzheimer’s treatment is testing a nearly 40-year-old idea: Could drugs hitch a ride through the blood-brain barrier by exploiting the brain’s own transport system? About 400 miles of blood vessels run through the human brain. The smallest are lined with endothelial cells joined by tight junction proteins, forming a nearly impenetrable barrier that keeps unwanted substances in the bloodstream from entering the brain. The blood-brain barrier acts like passport control at an airport, tightly regulating what can enter. Hormones, iron, and other nutrients can pass through because their molecular shapes act as passports, recognized by specialized proteins called receptors and transporters along the barrier.

In the late 1970s, UCLA endocrinologist William M. Pardridge began studying the pathways that allow hormones and nutrients to pass through the blood-brain barrier. In 1989, that work led to a patent for the Molecular Trojan Horse platform. Pardridge envisioned laboratory-engineered antibodies that could smuggle drugs into the brain by exploiting the barrier’s own receptors. That strategy has now begun to work. Two treatments for a rare genetic disorder called Hunter syndrome hitch a ride on one of these proteins, the transferrin receptor. Roche’s experimental Alzheimer’s therapy trontinemab uses the same route and is now being tested in multiple Phase III trials.

Read more at National Geographic

Upcoming Council Programs

Events

Annual Luncheon and Expo - Friday November 20, 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM. The Grandview, Poughkeepsie.

Insight Exchange - On Demand Webinars

The Orange County Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ): Duty Elimination, Reduction Deferral - Presented by Steve Gross, Orange County Economic Development

C3POA - Key Perpectives on your CMMC Compiance Journey - Presented by Nick DeLena, PKF O'Connor Davies.

CMMC for Legacy Equipment: Securing Specialized Assets with Zero Trust Micro-Enclaves - Presented by Marc Hoover, Trout Software.

See previous episodes here!

Training

Effective Business Communication, (A CML Course) October 21, 8:30 - 4:30. SUNY Orange Newburgh.

Making a Profit in Manufacturing, (A CML Course) October 28, 8:30 - 4:30. SUNY Orange Newburgh.

Lean Overview and Simulation, (A CML Course) November 19, 8:30 - 4:30. SUNY Orange Newburgh.

Risk Management: Enviroment Health and Safety, (A CML Course) November 19, 8:30 - 4:30. SUNY Orange Newburgh.

Strategies for Motivation, Coaching and Managing Difficult People, (A CML Course) November 19, 8:30 - 4:30. SUNY Orange Newburgh.

Trade Wars

• Franco–German Deal On Cars And ‘Made In Europe’ Is ‘Hours Or Days’ Away, Says EU Industry Boss – Politico
• Levi’s To Use Part Of $80M Tariff Refund For Supply Chain – Supply Chain Dive
• China's Peak-Season Auto Sales Flop With Sharpest Monthly Drop Of Year – Nikkei Asia
• USTR Initiates Next Stage Of USMCA Review – Supply Chain Dive
• China Moves to Stave Off Wider EU Trade War With Hybrid Deal – Bloomberg

Avolon Orders 250 Boeing, Airbus Jets With Option For 100 More

Global leasing giant Avolon said ‌on Friday it had agreed to order 140 aircraft from Boeing and 110 from Airbus with an option to buy a further 100 jets from the ​European planemaker. The orders were the largest Avolon, the world's ​third-biggest aircraft lessor, has placed with either manufacturer and bring ⁠its total number of aircraft on order to 749, on ​top of the 561 it currently owns. Dublin-based Avolon said the order comprised ​140 Boeing 737 MAX jets, 75 Airbus A320neo planes and 35 of its wide-body A330neos, with options for a further 100 unspecified Airbus aircraft.

Aircraft lessors own ​around half the world's airline fleet and have been in hot ​demand from airlines in recent years due to a backlog of plane orders, ‌a ⁠trend that has supported the specialist industry's rentals, resale values and profits. It has also allowed leading lessors like Avolon to sell their older planes to make room for more fuel-efficient new-technology aircraft. The Avalon order is estimated to total $46 billion.

Read more at Reuters

Bank Earnings

JPMorgan Chase fell short of quarterly profit estimates for the first time in nearly three years as market volatility and an uncertain economic outlook dampened dealmaking and reduced bond market ​trading activity in recent months. Earnings from the largest US bank underscored how uncertainty over interest rates, soaring energy prices and geopolitical tensions shaped the quarter. While equities trading ‌thrived, dealmakers largely stayed on the sidelines, threatening what was expected to be a banner year for investment banking. JPMorgan reported an 8% decline in third-quarter investment banking fees versus the second quarter, even as it recorded a 14% rise compared with a year earlier. Revenue in its markets division climbed ​15% in the third quarter from the prior year. Equity markets surged 49% as investors rejigged their portfolios amid the volatility. Fixed-income trading revenue, however, declined 4%. Reuters

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reported earnings of $17.01 per share, well above the analyst consensus estimate of $13.08. Net revenue increased 23% year over year (Y/Y) to $18.68 billion, beating the consensus estimate of $16.71 billion. This is driven by strength in its Global Banking & Markets business. Net interest income declined to $3.77 billion from $3.85 billion a year earlier. Operating expenses increased 20% Y/Y to $11.31 billion, reflecting higher transaction-related costs and increased compensation and benefit expenses. Chief Executive David Solomon said clients continued to rely on the firm’s advisory, execution and financing services despite a challenging business environment. This demand helped the firm deliver its second-highest quarterly net revenue and record year-to-date revenue. Benzinga

Wells Fargo beat Wall Street estimates for third-quarter profit on Tuesday, but missed net interest income and revenue expectations. The fourth-largest US lender reported a profit of $1.87 per share, beating analysts' average expectations of $1.85, according to data compiled by LSEG. Its net interest income — the difference between what a lender earns on loans and pays out on deposits — rose ​5% to $12.52 billion but fell short of expectations of $12.63 billion. The bank said NII was impacted by lower interest rates on ​floating-rate assets, higher deposit costs and a decline in noninterest-bearing deposits. - Yahoo Finance

Citigroup beat Wall Street estimates for third-quarter profit on Tuesday, helped by stronger investment banking revenue and transactions with multinational companies as well as higher earnings from wealth management. Trading profits gained only 2% over a year ago, but fell 27% against the ​previous quarter, mainly due to a drop in equity trading revenue. Citi's investment banking revenue increased ​9% from a year ago to $1.35 billion but fell 13% over the previous quarter as equity and debt underwriting activity slowed. Citi reported a profit of $2.85 per share in the third quarter, compared with analysts' average estimate of $2.66 per share, according to data compiled by LSEG. - Reuters

Blue Origin to Build Manufacturing Campus in Texas

Blue Origin LLC plans to build a 1.3-million-square-foot manufacturing campus here called Constellation Park. The multi-facility operation will serve as a central production hub for several of the company’s satellite and communications programs.

Constellation Park will support manufacturing for TeraWave, Blue Origin’s satellite communications network. It will also expand production for Quartz, a global ground communications network featuring 3.7 meter aperture antennas that enable S band and X band connectivity for low Earth orbit missions. In addition, the sate-of-the-art campus will house manufacturing for key Blue Origin subsystems, including solar arrays, avionics, telecommunications and other satellite hardware.

Read more at Assembly Magazine

Apple Releases HomeView Smart Home Hub With Screen As Showcase For Siri AI

Apple on Tuesday announced a new home hub called HomeView. Apple said the device with a 7-inch screen was designed to be mounted on a wall or placed on a table. It’s designed for multiple people in a household, and will recognize the user by their face to display pertinent information. It starts at $299 and ships on Nov. 13.

Tuesday’s launch event is the second under new CEO John Ternus, who took over from Tim Cook in September. Last month, Apple announced new models of its most important product, the iPhone, including a foldable model called the Duo that retails for nearly $2,000. Apple also announced new Apple TV and HomePod hardware on Tuesday. The new Apple TV 4K costs $299 and has a redesigned remote that can play a sound if it is lost. Apple’s HomePod Mini speaker comes in new colors and costs $149, a slight increase over its previous $129 price.

Read more at CNBC

Northrop Grumman, Air Force Start On $4.5B Facility Expansion

The U.S. Air Force and defense contractor Northrop Grumman have begun work on a massive expansion at a federal aircraft manufacturing plant in California. The team broke ground on a new final assembly line at Air Force Plant 42, located in Palmdale, California, according to an Oct. 8 news release. Northrop Grumman and the Air Force will use the facility to manufacture the B-21 Raider, a strike-stealth bomber.

The project will add more than 1 million square feet of facilities that will help increase the production capacity at the plant, per the announcement. The expansion follows an agreement earlier this year between the Air Force and Northrop Grumman to increase the manufacturing capacity for the B-21 Raider, according to a February announcement from the Air Force. Total investment in the project will reach $4.5 billion, which was appropriated via the One Big Beautiful Bill.

Read more at Manufacturing Dive  

Intermodal Freight Volume Remains Elevated in October

This year has been a strong one for intermodal volumes. On November 8, the Intermodal Association of North America released the latest reading of its Intermodal Volume Index, a measure of North American intermodal freight activity. The October 2026 estimate of 105.1 is a predicted 0.3% decline from September but a 5.5% increase from the year prior, underlining the strength of this year’s intermodal volumes.

"We are expecting October to look remarkably similar to September, extending the peak season demand into the first part of Q4," said Andrew Sibold, director of economics, in a statement. "A word of caution: with strong domestic share shifting from trucking and imports rebounding, there is the potential for capacity to tighten, which would dampen the actual results," Sibold added.

Read more at Material Handling & Logistics

For Walmart, Replacing Humans With Robots Is a Multibillion-Dollar Struggle

Walmart WMT 0.54%increase; green up pointing triangle has relied for years on more than 140,000 warehouse workers to unload trucks, forklift pallets of merchandise into warehouses, sort and store the goods on towering racks, then reverse the entire flow to send them out to stores and homes. It isn’t an easy job. A worker might walk 20,000 steps a shift. It also isn’t all that complicated—unless you try to program robots to do it.

Walmart and the robotics companies it hired to help searched in vain for a way to choreograph robots to sort merchandise into bins while zipping past warehouse workers, testing technology that either didn’t work or cost too much. Eventually, they designed small robots on wheels with motion and obstacle sensors and are now installing them in more than a dozen warehouses. “We are kind of in this peak complexity,” said Rob Montgomery, head of supply-chain operations for Walmart U.S., who is overseeing the automation transition now under way at most of Walmart’s roughly 200 U.S. supply-chain buildings.

Read more at The WSJ

U.S. Department of Energy Issues Power Grid Emergency Across 13 States

The emergency order, which is effective October 13-16, aims to mitigate blackout risks in the mid-Atlantic ahead of a period of elevated demand, a high rate of planned generator outages during the autumn maintenance season, and numerous planned transmission outages. The order directs PJM Interconnection to dispatch specified units and to order their operation as needed to maintain reliability and authorizes PJM to direct backup generation resources to operate as a last resort before declaring an Energy Emergency Alert 3.

“This order will help ensure millions of American families and businesses across the mid-Atlantic have access to affordable, reliable, and secure electricity by making additional power generation, including backup power, available to use as needed,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright. The PJM Region includes all or parts of Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia.

Read more at TD World

Daily Market Update Oct 13, 2026

The November ’26 natural gas contract is trading up $0.01 at $3.17. The November ’26 crude oil contract is down $1.19 at $92.55.

Read more at NRG

Learn more about the Council of Industry Energy Buying Group

Quote of the Day

“Success is about having. Excellence is about being. Success is about having money and fame, but excellence is being the best you can be.”

Mike Ditka - American NFL Football Player and Coach He Died last week aged 86.

If you’re part of a Council of Industry member company and not yet subscribed, email us. If you’re not a Council member, become one today.