As an investor its worth striving to ensure your overall portfolio beats the market average. But if you try your hand...

While growing in importance during the pandemic, Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) has undergone severe scrutiny.The following is a look at recent criticisms of Amazon. Deficient Labor Policies After having to shut down its distribution network in France, due to disputes over health and safety precautions, centers are now being reopened. In the U.S., on the other hand, despite boosting base pay to $15 per hour, the firm continues to face protests over added worker protections.FedEx Poses Threat Its fierce cloud rival Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) and FedEx Corporation (NYSE: FDX) announced a joint, multi-year partnership that could help transform commerce. FedEx Surround will provide companies real-time supply chain analytics, helping speed time to market and delivery.Not Giving Up On JEDI Amazon is running out of ways to stop the Pentagon's contract with Microsoft.In its latest move, the company filed an agency protest with the Defense Department. Its AWS cloud computing unit, which powers big portions of the internet, is key in helping businesses run online through the pandemic. Amazon aims to leverage the internet's dependence on its services to defend the Pentagon contract. Opinion: No Winners As A Result Of This Pandemic Despite pledging massive investments in the sustainability of operations, the firm must be able to navigate beyond profits and align the interests of all stakeholders.This article is not a press release and is contributed by Ivana Popovic who is a verified independent journalist for IAMNewswire. It should not be construed as investment advice at any time please read the full disclosure. Ivana Popovic does not hold any position in the mentioned companies. Press Releases - If you are looking for full Press release distribution contact: press@iamnewswire.com Contributors - IAM Newswire accepts pitches. If you're interested in becoming an IAM journalist contact: contributors@iamnewswire.com Questions about this release can be sent to ivana@iamnewswire.comPhoto by Pixabay from Pexels. See more from Benzinga * Caution Ahead: Biggest Blue-Chips Seek Change, Innovation Post-COVID-19 * eBay Reported An Amazing Quarter, But Is It Enough? * Amazon Emerges As The Winner Of The COVID-19 Outbreak(C) 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

The utilities sector is made up of companies that provide electricity, natural gas, water, sewage and other services to homes and businesses. Many of these companies are heavily regulated, and include Duke Energy Corp. (DUK), Southern Co. (SO), and American Electric Power Co. Inc. (AEC). Utilities stocks, as represented by the Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLU), have underperformed the broader market with a total return of -0.7% compared to the S&P 500's total return of 8.7% over the past 12 months. These market performance numbers and the statistics in the tables below are as of May 26.

Monmouth's (MNR) third high-quality acquisition so far in fiscal 2020 is net-leased to FedEx Ground Packaging System, which plays a key role in keeping supply chains moving.

For stockholders, FedEx (NYSE: FDX) has been dead money for years. FedEx's strength is in their express (or air) unit, which instead mainly supports business to business logistics. First, the bad: In FedEx's most recent quarter, CEO Frederick Smith reported a near 60% drop in profit year over year.

Cheap planes and a need for more capacity could be a perfect opportunity for Amazon to snatch up new jets for its delivery services.

(Bloomberg) -- Amazon.com Inc.’s talks to buy driverless vehicle startup Zoox Inc. has analysts speculating the deal could save the e-commerce giant tens of billions a year and put auto, parcel and ride-hailing companies on their heels.Shipping costs are one of Amazon’s largest expenses and may reach $90 billion in the coming years, Morgan Stanley’s internet, auto and transport analysts wrote in a report Wednesday. An autonomous offering could save the company more than $20 billion annually, they estimate.“Autonomous technology is a natural extension of Amazon’s efforts to build its own third party logistics network,” Morgan Stanley’s analysts wrote. They see the company being a “clear” competitor to the likes of Tesla Inc. and General Motors Co. and the potential for Amazon to compete in ride-sharing and food delivery. United Parcel Service Inc. and FedEx Corp. also “will have to respond to keep up.”Other companies in the automotive and chip industries have also held talks with Zoox about a potential investment, according to people familiar with the matter. At least one other business besides Amazon has offered to buy the company, they added. Zoox is unlikely to sell for less than the more than $1 billion that it has raised, according to the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private negotiations.“Zoox has been receiving interest in a strategic transaction from multiple parties and has been working with Qatalyst Partners to evaluate such interest,” the startup said Tuesday. It declined to comment on Amazon’s interest. A spokeswoman for Amazon declined to comment.Zoox had outsize ambition and financial backing. The startup wanted to build a fully driverless car by this year. However, after a 2018 funding round that valued Zoox at $3.2 billion, the startup’s board voted to oust Chief Executive Officer Tim Kentley-Klay. The executive criticized the move, saying the directors were “optimizing for a little money in hand at the expense of profound progress.”Dow Jones reported that Amazon is in advanced talks to buy Zoox for less than the $3.2 billion valuation from 2018.Amazon is willing to spend heavily to automate its e-commerce business. The online retail giant purchased warehouse robot-maker Kiva Systems Inc. in 2012 for $775 million and now has tens of thousands of robots in warehouses around the world.But paying drivers to deliver packages is still one of the biggest costs in the company’s operation. Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos announced plans for drone delivery in 2013, though they have yet to materialize at scale. Last year, Amazon revealed an experimental delivery robot called Scout in the Seattle area that rolls on sidewalks like a shopping cart.Last year, Amazon invested along with Silicon Valley venture firm Sequoia Capital in self-driving startup Aurora Innovation Inc., a startup led by the former heads of Google’s driverless car project and Tesla’s Autopilot team. Amazon also backed Rivian Automotive Inc., the electric pickup and SUV maker. Those bets left Morgan Stanley’s auto analyst questioning earlier this month whether Tesla’s rich valuation is warranted given the competitive threats the company faces.“We often hear from investors that Tesla could potentially be the Amazon of transportation,” Adam Jonas, who rates Tesla the equivalent of a hold, wrote in a May 17 report. “But what if Amazon is the Amazon of transportation?”For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) and FedEx Corporation (NYSE: FDX) will join forces in a multiyear technology and logistics partnership, the companies announced this week. The collaboration, to involve new product development, will combine the global digital and logistics network of FedEx with Microsoft's intelligent cloud, and could eventually reshape e-commerce as we know it."Together with Microsoft, we will combine the immense power of technology with the vast scale of our infrastructure to help revolutionize commerce and create a network for what's next for our customers," said Frederick W. Smith, chairman and CEO of FedEx, in a statement.Also this week the companies announced their first offering, FedEx Surround, aimed at providing real-time analytics into commerce supply chains and shipment tracking. FedEx Surround can also collect multiple data points gathered through FedEx's enhanced scanning and proprietary technology, and analyze them using Microsoft's suite of AI, machine learning and analytics solutions. "This will provide participating businesses with not only enhanced visibility of a package's location during its journey," the statement said, "but also knowledge of global commerce conditions and external challenges in near-real-time, such as severe weather or natural disasters, mechanical delays, clearance issues and incorrect addresses."Anything that drives "more precise" inventory management and logistics and also improves the ability of companies to sense and respond to potential issues and disruptions using real-time data will prove valuable, Brittain Ladd, a former Amazon executive who now runs his own consultancy, told FreightWaves.But Ladd said he believes "the ambition is much bigger," and that Microsoft will ultimately leverage the partnership to reimagine the shopping experience, using a combination of AI, machine learning, voice activation and virtual reality. LinkedIn, owned by Microsoft, would serve as the marketplace platform."Online shopping is old school," Ladd said." Virtual reality is the future, and Microsoft will be the one to usher in the new age of retail." In that context, Ladd said, "FedEx will be the dedicated provider of fulfillment." Whether that prediction comes to pass, it's hard not to view the partnership as a direct challenge to Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN), as the e-giant continues to build out its own logistics and technology networks.Less than a year ago, FedEx ended its ground and air shipment contract with Amazon. And as GeekWire observed, the partnership bears some similarity to previous Microsoft collaborations with Walmart and Kroger, Amazon competitors that may be less than eager to rely on Amazon Web Services (AWS) for their cloud services needs. Azure Cloud is the No. 2 public cloud platform behind AWS."Now more than ever, organizations are counting on an efficient and capable supply chain to remain competitive and open for business," said Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, in the statement."Together with FedEx, we will apply the power of Azure, Dynamics 365 and their AI capabilities to this urgent need, building new commerce experiences that transform logistics for our mutual customers around the world."Microsoft and FedEx will release more information about FedEx Surround availability this summer, along with news of additional product launches, according to the release.Image: Jim Allen, FreightwavesSee more from Benzinga * Today's Pickup: Bulkloads Rolls Out Early Features Of TMS * With Remote Working, Virtual Workspaces Grow In Importance * How Supply Chain Partners Can Help Drive The Triple Bottom Line(C) 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

Shares of FedEx (NYSE: FDX) gained more than 7% on Tuesday as investors cheered promising signs of an economic recovery. FedEx and other transport companies have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, but FedEx is well positioned to rebound if and when the economy begins to recover. FedEx shares were hit hard in the early days of the pandemic, losing nearly 40% of their value during a period from mid-February to mid-March.

It takes guts to be a value investor these days. According to a recent analysis from Research Affiliates, value has lagged growth now for more than 13 years — the longest stretch in recorded U.S. market history. This has led to a seemingly-endless series of pronouncements in recent years that value investing is dead.

Investors should watch what happens, because changes for the U.S. Postal Service have big implications for FedEx and UPS, and for companies involved in e-commerce.

Microsoft (MSFT) and FedEx collaborate to deliver an enhanced commerce experience and aid businesses with shipment tracking and visibility into the supply chain.

(Bloomberg) -- Amazon.com Inc.’s Prime Air fleet will grow to about 200 planes -- up from 42 now -- in the next seven or eight years, creating an air cargo service that could rival United Parcel Service Inc., according to a study.“At a time when many other airlines are downsizing due to the pandemic, Amazon’s push for faster and cheaper at-home delivery is moving ahead on an ambitious timetable,” said the report issued Friday by DePaul University’s Chaddick Institute of Metropolitan Development. “Amazon Air’s robust expansion makes it one of the biggest stories in the air cargo industry in years.”Amazon unveiled the air cargo service in 2016, prompting speculation that it would ultimately create an overnight delivery network to rival delivery partners UPS and FedEx Corp.Prime Air operates out of smaller regional airports close to its warehouses around the country, helping Amazon quickly move inventory to accommodate one- and two-day delivery. For that reason, some analysts have dismissed Amazon as a potential competitor to UPS and FedEx since it can only offer limited service to a small number of destinations and seems designed to handle Amazon packages.Key to its ability to take on the entrenched players, the report says, is Amazon’s new $1.5 billion facility near Cincinnati that will accommodate up to 100 planes and as many as 200 flights each day. Amazon’s lack of a central hub has kept it from competing in the overnight delivery services offered by UPS and FedEx, which have more planes flying to more destinations.“The massive investment being made in a large hub at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, however, could change everything,” the report says. “This hub appears to be the linchpin to Amazon’s efforts to develop a comprehensive array of domestic delivery services.”A separate report released Monday noted Amazon’s lack of a central hub in concluding it was not a competitive threat to FedEx, which has a hub in Memphis, or UPS, which has one in Louisville. FedEx’s network can offer 9,000 daily flight connections, UPS’ 5,500 and Amazon Air just 363, according to the report from Bernstein.“The viability of a commercial overnight offering from Amazon remains very limited,” Bernstein analyst David Vernon wrote. “Offering a low cost on shipping to a small number of markets every so often will never be a serious competitive threat.”For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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In the latest trading session, FedEx (FDX) closed at $117.01, marking a +1.93% move from the previous day.

FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) today announced the launch of the company’s SupportSmall Grants program, awarding grants and services to 200 business owners across the U.S. struggling to stay afloat during the COVID-19 global pandemic. Each grantee will receive a $5,000 check as well as a $500 credit for FedEx Office® print and business services to help support their small business.

ZTO Express earnings for a coronavirus-hit Q1 fell short of estimates as competition heats up in the Chinese delivery market.

FedEx Office, a world-class provider of convenient, state-of-the-art printing, packing and shipping services and subsidiary of FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX), is helping small to mid-sized businesses reopen their doors with easy access to customizable signs and directional floor signage that communicate safety measures, store traffic flow and more.

Monmouth's (MNR) fourth high-quality acquisition so far in fiscal 2020 is in Utah and the company is seeking to fortify its presence there.

Now might be the perfect time for Amazon.com to throttle up plans for its airfreight business, says BofA Global Research analyst Justin Post.