FreshDirect has figured out an important trick: how to make money delivering groceries.

If you happen to be at the beach this summer, make a mental note of any giant freighters crossing the horizon. In a few years’ time those same ships will probably be moving just a fraction slower.

Donald Trump has promised since his presidential campaign to drive down drug prices.

Few people consider used plastic to be a valuable global commodity. Yet China has imported 106 million tons of old bags, bottles, wrappers and containers worth $57.6bn since 1992, the first year it disclosed data. So when the country announced last year that it finally had enough of everybody else's junk, governments the world over knew they had a problem. They just didn’t know exactly how large it was.

The Trump administration’s China tariffs spared some finished goods like smartphones and washing machines, while charges on parts and components could drive up costs in the U.S. supply chain.

Amazon.com Inc. has long used robots to help humans move merchandise around its warehouses. Now automation is transforming Amazon’s white-collar workforce, too.

On the Model 3 body line on a Tuesday afternoon in early June, everything is still. Tesla Inc. is just coming off a week of downtime during which workers added a new production line, improved ventilation after a fire in the paint shop, and overhauled machines across the factory. But even after the changes, there are kinks to work out.

The gold market could be using the technology behind cryptocurrencies to track an almost-$200bn supply chain as soon as next year.