Some stories are focusing on container shipments out of Asia at what used to be peak season. The Wall Street Journal said this was "the latest sign of the economic whiplash hitting companies as inflation weighs on global trade and consumer spending."

A year ago, the Journal reported that big companies like Walmart and Home Depot chartered private cargo ships to avoid massive delays in ports. Understandable given how tangled things were. Controlling the course and heading for a port that was less jammed than those in Los Angeles and Long Beach improved chances of getting goods in a timely fashion and closing more business.

Now, there is a twist in all this. To talk of up to half of sailings being canceled to rebalance supply and demand, as CNBC reports—"Freight prices on one key route from Asia to the West Coast are now down more than 80% from last year"—and using that as proof of collapsing demand might be correct. If there is a sudden drop in demand for freight transit, it would seem reasonable to assume that buyer demand for those goods had also fallen.