Greg Ip

Their population is angry at them.

Their defenses have been shown to be very weak and so forth.

I think the president is hoping that he maybe ends up in a Venezuela-like situation where the regime stays in place, but basically agrees to start behaving in a less confrontational way.

Will that happen?

I don't know.

As you said, these are geopolitics.

Nobody should be too confident.

Thanks for having me.

A lot of it transfers through that area because the Gulf carriers, the Middle Eastern carriers, have tremendously significant air cargo programs.

So it's much easier.

It's a lot shorter transit time.

Granted, the cost is more significant.

You know, the war in Ukraine has effectively shut off Russian airspace.

And so the same flights that now fly have to fly a longer route.

because essentially it becomes like surge pricing.

The holiday season can be make or break for retailers, and this past one for Target?

You know, it wasn't great.

Janet Joseph Kloppenberg of JJK Research says some of that was due to basic execution.

But retailers also faced headwinds that were out of their control, says Anthony Chukumba of Loop Capital.

Add growing job concerns, and consumers could remain wary about discretionary spending in the year to come.