Railway workers in Canada hit the picket lines
TheStreet’s Conway Gittens brings you the biggest news of the day, including what investors are watching and why Canadian railway workers are striking.
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00:00I'm Conway Gittins reporting from the New York Stock Exchange. Here's what we're watching on the street today.
00:05Wall Street took a cautious tone ahead of a Friday speech by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
00:10Investors want to hear what he has to say about the pace of rate cuts expected to begin in September.
00:16In other news, dark clouds could be on the horizon for the U.S. economy due to a major railway strike north of the border.
00:24All rail movement by Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Kansas City were grounded to a halt
00:31after labor negotiations failed. The two companies told roughly 10,000 union workers to stay home.
00:38A spokesperson for Canadian Pacific Kansas City told CNN,
00:42We're right up against the fall peak shipping season.
00:44You have Christmas presents and containers arriving at ports. If this pushes further into fall shipping period, the consequences are going to be worse.
00:53$382 billion in cross-border trade happens between the two countries according to the U.S. Transportation Department,
01:00and 14 percent of that happens by rail.
01:04Auto parts are particularly vulnerable as many components cross the border several times before the finished automobile rolls off the assembly line.
01:12A disruption in that supply chain could leave American auto factories with no choice but to temporarily go offline.
01:20And it's not just new car sales in jeopardy. What you serve on your plate is also at risk.
01:25Those rails also carry fertilizer used in American food production and chlorine used for water purification.
01:32One U.S. firm estimates a week-long shutdown could cause $1 billion in economic damage
01:38and a major threat heading into the peak holiday gift buying season.
01:42That'll do it for your daily briefing from the New York Stock Exchange. I'm Conway Giddens with The Street.
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