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CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Monday said that Monday’s rally won’t last because none of the headwinds to the economy have abated.
Stocks rebounded on Monday after an ugly end to the month and quarter on Friday, notching the best day since June for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500′s best day since July.

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Monday said that Monday’s rally won’t last because none of the headwinds to the economy have abated.
Stocks rebounded on Monday after an ugly end to the month and quarter on Friday, notching the best day since June for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500′s best day since July.

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Cramer: It’s the Fed versus China and Putin and stocks hang perilously in the balance

Cramer pointed out that the market has seen some sporadic one-day rallies recently, but they’ve always been felled by three things. Wednesday’s rally will likely face a similar fate, he added.
Here are three things preventing the market from having a sustained rally, according to Cramer

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is ongoing. Cramer pointed out that the two countries are still at war, and that it’s looking likely that the energy crisis it’s fueling could have serious consequences during the winter months.
China’s still under Covid lockdown. While tech stocks rallied on Monday, many of them are dependent on China, which is still beholden to Covid lockdowns with no end in sight.
Inflation driven by work-from-home is still up. Wage, food and housing prices are still too high, Cramer said, adding that he doesn’t have high expectations for the release of the nonfarm labor report Friday.

He also said that the market is still incredibly oversold.
“The most impressive thing about today’s rally is that it happened at all. My feeling is that today’s bounce is all about sentiment getting too negative,” he said.

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Rivian’s third-quarter production jumped 67% from the second quarter, to over 7,000 vehicles.
The California EV startup confirmed that it remains on track to build 25,000 EVs in 2022, in line with its March guidance.

Workers inspect a Rivian R1T electric vehicle (EV) pickup truck on the assembly line at the company’s manufacturing facility in Normal, Illinois, US., on Monday, April 11, 2022.
Jamie Kelter Davis | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Electric vehicle maker Rivian Automotive said Monday that it produced over 7,000 vehicles in the third quarter, its highest quarterly total to date.
The company also confirmed that it remains on track to produce 25,000 vehicles in 2022.

Shares of Rivian were up about 7% in after-hours trading following the news. The stock had closed more than 3% lower during the regular trading session.
Rivian said in a statement that it produced a total of 7,363 vehicles at its Illinois factory in the third quarter, and that 6,584 vehicles were delivered to its customers during the period.
Rivian currently makes the R1T pickup, the R1S SUV and delivery vans for Amazon at its factory in Normal, Illinois. The company didn’t break out production or deliveries by model.
Rivian had originally expected to build 50,000 vehicles in 2022. But it halved that guidance in March, saying at the time that global supply-chain issues had “added a layer of complexity” to its plan to increase production.
The company confirmed Monday that it still expects meet that goal of 25,000 this year.
Year to date, through the third quarter, Rivian has produced 14,317 vehicles.

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President Joe Biden vowed to support Puerto Rico’s recovery from Hurricane Fiona.
The White House on Monday announced the allocation of $60 million from the bipartisan infrastructure law for improvements that would help prevent hurricane damage.
It’s been two weeks since Hurricane Fiona ravaged Puerto Rico on Sept. 18, dumping up to 30 inches of rain in some areas as a Category 1 storm and killing at least 13 people, according to the island’s health department.
Over 100,000 Puerto Ricans were without power as of Monday morning.

President Joe Biden offered his unwavering support for Puerto Rico’s recovery from Hurricane Fiona, even as Florida reels from Hurricane Ian.
“We are not leaving here, as long as I’m president, until everything — I mean this sincerely — every single thing that we can do is done,” he said from Ponce, one of the areas of Puerto Rico hardest hit by Fiona.

It’s been two weeks since Hurricane Fiona ravaged Puerto Rico on Sept. 18, dumping up to 30 inches of rain in some areas as a Category 1 storm and killing at least 13 people, according to the island’s health department. The storm came almost five years to the day after Puerto Rico was hit by Hurricane Maria, which killed 3,000 people and caused massive power outages that lasted for nearly a year in some areas.
Over 100,000 Puerto Ricans were without power as of Monday morning, according to LUMA Energy. Hundreds of thousands initially lacked access to clean water, but that number has fallen to 33,000 households, according to the government’s emergency news portal.
“As we rebuild, we have to ensure that we build it to last,” Biden said. “We’re particularly focused on the power grid. This year to date, Puerto Rico has received $4 million to help make the power grid more resilient — that number is going to go up.”
The White House on Monday announced the allocation of $60 million from the bipartisan infrastructure law for improvements that would help prevent hurricane damage. Projects would include levees and flood walls, as well as a new flood warning system.
That $60 million is in addition to the $2 billion already allocated to Puerto Rico through the bipartisan infrastructure law. Biden previously signed a major disaster declaration for the island, guaranteeing that the federal government would cover in full the costs related to Hurricane Fiona relief in Puerto Rico for the next month.

Biden on Wednesday will visit Florida, which is in the process of recovering from Hurricane Ian. The Category 4 storm, which made landfall in Florida on Wednesday before moving up the eastern U.S. coast, has reportedly killed more than 80 people. That number is expected to rise as floodwaters recede and rescue teams access new areas.
Hurricane Ian is shaping up to be the costliest Florida hurricane since Andrew in 1992, with wind and storm surge damage estimated to be between $28 billion and $47 billion. Roughly 600,000 homes and businesses in Florida were without power as of Monday morning, down from a peak of 2.6 million on Thursday, according to PowerOutage.us.

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General Motors’ third-quarter vehicle sales increased 24% compared to a year ago.
GM said it sold 555,580 vehicles from July through September, up from 447,000 a year earlier.
Supply chain problems weighed more heavily on GM’s output in 2021.

People look at the Cadillac Lyriq electric vehicle at the Cadillac booth at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan on September 14, 2022.
Geoff Robins | AFP | Getty Images

DETROIT – General Motors’ third-quarter vehicle sales increased 24% compared to a year ago, when supply chain issues weighed more heavily on the company’s output.
The Detroit automaker on Monday said it sold 555,580 vehicles from July through September, up from about 447,000 a year earlier, when sales were depressed due to Malaysia-related supply issues of semiconductor chips. The increase was in line with or higher than industry analysts’ expectations of an at least 21.6% increase.

Regarding electric vehicles, GM said it plans to increase production of its Chevrolet Bolt EV and EUV after the vehicles recorded their best quarterly sales ever at 14,709 units. GM intends to boost calendar-year production for global markets from approximately 44,000 vehicles in 2022 to more than 70,000 in 2023.
The increase for GM’s older Bolt models is in contrast to production of the pricy GMC Hummer EV pickup. Beginning in late November, the company on Monday said it will pause production of the pickup for several weeks to pull ahead body shop upgrades for the upcoming electric Chevrolet Silverado.
The company has been producing the Hummer EV pickup, which was the first vehicle to feature GM’s next-generation Ultium batteries and platform, at a snail’s pace compared to its typical output of vehicles. The automaker has only sold 782 Hummer EVs, which currently cost more than $100,000.

Through the first nine months of the year, GM’s sales totaled 1.65 million, down 7.1% compared to the same time period in 2021.
GM ended the third quarter with 359,292 vehicles in dealer inventory, including units in-transit, an increase of 111,453 units from the previous quarter. That’s nearly three times the inventory available at the end of the third quarter of 2021, when Covid-related supply chain issues impacted production.

GM was among the first major automakers to report third-quarter sales Monday. Overall, analysts estimate automakers sold 3.4 million new light-duty vehicles in the U.S., down less than 1% from the same time last year.
Automakers continue to deal with supply chain issues – from semiconductors and wire harnesses to smaller parts such as vehicle and company logos.
Others automakers to report September and/or third-quarter sales include:

Toyota Motor said its third-quarter sales declined 7.1% from the same time last year to 526,017 vehicles.

Stellantis (formerly Fiat Chrysler) sold 385,665 vehicles during the third quarter, down about 6%.

Hyundai Motor reported sales of 184,431 in the third quarter, up about 3%.

Honda Motor said its sales declined 36% from the same time last year to 222,050 vehicles.

Nissan Motor sold 154,086 vehicles during the third quarter, down about 23%.

BMW reported sales increased 3.8% from the same time last year to 85,209 vehicles.

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Norwegian Cruise Line will end all Covid-19 testing, masking and vaccination requirements effective Tuesday.
Cruise passengers will still be subject to local Covid-19 travel requirements.
Carnival and Royal Caribbean still require testing for unvaccinated passengers.

A Norwegian Gateway cruise ship leaves from the Manhattan port during sunset in New York City, United States on April 10, 2022.
Tayfun Coskun | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

Norwegian Cruise Line announced Monday that it will suspend all Covid-19 testing, masking and vaccination requirements.
The change goes into effect Tuesday, the company said.

Norwegian is the first of the major cruise lines to end its testing requirements for unvaccinated passengers. But passengers are still subject to the local travel requirements set by each country.
“Many travelers have been patiently waiting to take their long-awaited vacation at sea and we cannot wait to celebrate their return,” said Harry Sommer, Norwegian’s president and chief executive officer, in a statement.
Norwegian’s ships reported an occupancy rate of 65% for its second quarter, up from 48% in the prior quarter.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ended its voluntary Covid-19 program for cruise ships in July. Since then, both Carnival and Royal Caribbean simplified their requirements, but still require proof of a negative test from unvaccinated passengers.
Shares of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings closed up less than 1% Monday.

Cruise lines have continued to struggle despite easing Covid-19 rules for passengers. Inflation keeps squeezing consumers’ budgets and rising costs are cutting into cruises’ bottom lines. Last week, Carnival’s share price fell below its April 2020 pandemic low following a bleak earnings report.
Cruise companies also took on billions of dollars of debt during pandemic lockdowns, and some investors worry the payments will balloon as the Federal Reserve hikes interest rates.
Correction: Shares of Norwegian Cruise Line were trading Monday. An earlier version misstated the day.

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Will Smith’s upcoming film “Emancipation” will be released in theaters on Dec. 2 and on Apple TV+ a week later on Dec. 9.
It’s Smith’s first project since the Oscars, where he made headlines for slapping host Chris Rock on stage.
Smith subsequently resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and the Academy banned him from attending the Oscars ceremonies for 10 years.

US actor Will Smith accepts the award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for “King Richard” onstage during the 94th Oscars at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on March 27, 2022.
Robyn Beck | Afp | Getty Images

Will Smith’s upcoming film “Emancipation” will be released in theaters on Dec. 2 and on Apple TV+ a week later on Dec. 9.
It’s Smith’s first project since the Oscars, where he made headlines for slapping host Chris Rock on stage and winning Best Actor for his titular role in “King Richard.”

Smith subsequently resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and the Academy banned him from attending the Oscars ceremonies for 10 years. Smith is still eligible to be nominated for the awards.
In “Emancipation,” Smith plays a runaway slave searching for his family in the swamps of Louisiana. Apple announced the release date alongside a trailer for the film.
The movie has received positive response after a pre-screening hosted during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 51st Annual Legislative Conference this past weekend, according to entertainment media reports.
In a tweet, NAACP CEO Derrick Johnson called the film “a story of adversity, of resilience, of love, and of triumph.”

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State of Freight

U.S. shippers are seeing a 20% drop in ocean freight orders.
The declines include machinery, household products, industrial products and some apparel.
Ocean carriers are canceling as much as 50% of sailings to rebalance vessel capacity to demand.
Freight prices on one key route from Asia to the West Coast are now down more than 80% from last year.

For the marine shipping industry to cut its carbon footprint in half by 2050, promising technology will need to become reality, and efficiency gains will need to increase as well.
Lucy Nicholson | Reuters

A significant consumer pullback is showing up in ocean shipping, with logistics managers telling CNBC they have seen a 20% drop in ocean freight orders for the months of September and October. The decline in demand cuts across many products, including machinery, housing, industrial and some apparel. Logistics CEOs explain to CNBC the reason is a combination of too much inventory coupled with a lack of clarity on consumer demand.
The ocean shipping trend echoes recent comments from logistics industry executives. Georgia Port Authority executive director Griff Lynch said he expects the number of waiting ships to drop over the next several weeks after seeing historic vessel calls.

In apparel and footwear, executives say there is no definitive trend, though inventory issues are becoming more prevalent. Nike’s overstock problems announced last week in its earnings weighed on the stock.
“Inventory levels are high as consumerism shifts further to off-price,” said Brett Rose, CEO of United National Consumer Suppliers. “Bigger brands are very conscious of current season and trends. A Bloomingdale’s consumer doesn’t want last season’s shoes or handbags. These items will be attractive to consumers of retailers like T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, Ross Stores,” he said.

Seko Logistics tells CNBC that orders for expensive items like smart parcel lockers, integrated server racks, ultrasound machines, and time-sensitive cargo like retail displays are still strong.
DHL Ocean Freight tells CNBC it is not currently seeing any indication of a 20% drop off in orders. But with no rush anticipated in the build up to the Chinese national holiday of Golden Week, it expects demand to be flat in October. The ongoing threat of labor action among rail and port workers in some geographies, port congestion in Europe, and weather-related schedule disruptions will likely lead to more canceled sailings and port omissions, partially offsetting some of the rate decreases out of Asia Pacific.

Ocean rates are dropping, ships being canceled

To put a floor on prices, ocean carriers are doing what’s called tactical canceled sailings so they can match the vessel space with orders, which they hope will stop the decline in prices. In a note to clients, HSL Logistics said its vessel cuts were by nearly 50% and that the pullback in vessel capacity may continue into 2023 until demands pick up before Chinese New Year, which is in late January.

It will take time for the cut in capacity to stop the freight rate slide. According to Freightos, Asia-US West Coast prices (FBX01 Daily) fell 8% to $2,978/Forty Equivalent Units (FEU). That rate is 82% lower than the same time last year. Freight prices for the Asia-US East Coast route (FBX03 Daily) decreased 5% to $6,952/FEU, and are 63% lower than the rates for this week last year.
Other data points which signal a decrease in orders are the outbound tender rejections.  

The higher percentage of rejections indicates tighter capacity; the lower the percentage shows looser capacity. “Right now we are tracking at 2019 levels and are down 80% from where we were a year ago. Looking at spot rates excluding fuel surcharges, we are currently 31% below where we were last year,” said Kevin Hill, Head of Communities and Research for FreightWaves.
The CNBC Supply Chain Heat Map shows vessel congestion on the East Coast continues and the impact of Hurricane Ian will delay the clearing out of vessel congestion, according to MarineTraffic.
During the period of September 12-18, the Port of Savannah reached the highest number of weekly average days waiting at anchor since April 2022, according to Alex Charvalias, supply chain in-transit visibility lead at MarineTraffic. “Because of Hurricane Ian, zero vessel calls have been recorded at the Port of Savannah since September 29. There is no question this new disruption by Ian will increase the existing congestion even more.”

Arrows pointing outwards

The CNBC Supply Chain Heat Map data providers are artificial intelligence and predictive analytics company Everstream Analytics; global freight booking platform Freightos, creator of the Freightos Baltic Dry Index; logistics provider OL USA; supply chain intelligence platform FreightWaves; supply chain platform Blume Global; third-party logistics provider Orient Star Group; marine analytics firm MarineTraffic; maritime visibility data company Project44; maritime transport data company MDS Transmodal UK; ocean and air freight rate benchmarking and market analytics platform Xeneta; leading provider of research and analysis Sea-Intelligence ApS; Crane Worldwide Logistics; and air, DHL Global Forwarding; freight logistics provider Seko Logistics; and Planet,  provider of global, daily satellite imagery and geospatial solutions.  More

Private venture Firefly Aerospace reached orbit with its Alpha rocket for the first time.
Firefly is the fifth U.S. rocket builder to reach orbit in the past 15 years — joining a select group that includes SpaceX, Rocket Lab, Virgin Orbit and Astra.
Firefly’s Alpha rocket is designed to launch as much as 1,300 kilograms of payload to orbit – at a price of $15 million per launch.

The view from the upper stage of the Alpha rocket after reaching orbit on Oct. 1, 2022.
Firefly Aerospace

Private venture Firefly Aerospace reached orbit with its Alpha rocket for the first time on Saturday, a milestone in the company’s development that sees it join an increasingly competitive U.S. launch market.
Firefly is the fifth U.S. rocket builder to reach orbit in the past 15 years — joining a select group that includes SpaceX, Rocket Lab, Virgin Orbit and Astra.

“It’s a fantastic group to be a part of … but there’s nobody else in that group that has the capability of the rocket we just put into space,” CEO Bill Weber told CNBC. “There’s an open for business sign on Firefly.”
Standing at 95 feet tall, Firefly’s Alpha rocket is designed to launch as much as 1,300 kilograms of payload to orbit – at a price of $15 million per launch. This puts Firefly in the “medium-lift” category of rockets, in between “small” launchers and the “heavy” rockets.
“There’s a business case that is just screaming to be addressed” in the middle part of the launch market, Weber said.
Firefly launched the mission, its second attempt to reach orbit, from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base, with the Alpha rocket delivering three satellite payloads. The success comes a year after its first attempt failed mid-flight.

Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket on the launch pad at Vandenberg Space Force Base.
Andrew Evers

Firefly has another Alpha launch scheduled for this year, and plans to launch as many as six in 2023 and 12 in 2024.

“We don’t want to just do this once. We want to do this once a month and then ultimately once a week,” Weber said. “There is more demand in the market than rockets we’re going to build and that’s a great place to be from a growth perspective.”

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Weber was named Firefly CEO just a month ago, with company co-founder Tom Markusic stepping down earlier this year, shortly after private equity firm AE Industrial Partners acquired a significant stake in the company. Weber was previously CEO of KeyW, a cybersecurity company sold to Jacobs in 2019.
The company has a variety of plans for expansion, including a partnership struck this summer with Northrop Grumman to move the contractor’s Antares rocket work to the U.S. from Russia and Ukraine. It also plans to build a larger rocket called “MLV.”
Firefly is building out additional product lines as well, including its “Blue Ghost” lunar lander and a space utility vehicle, or “space tug,” to transport satellites into unique orbits after a launch. Weber said the first Blue Ghost mission to the moon is currently scheduled for May 2024.
“We’re going to be one of the first missions, if not the first mission, for NASA that puts a spacecraft back on the moon,” Weber said.
With the funding its raised previously, Firefly’s CEO said the company is capitalized to “do the things that we need to do in 2022 and 2023.” But Alpha reaching orbit gives the company a new status for potential investors.
“[Saturday] morning changed a lot of things for this company, on a lot of different fronts,” Weber said.

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