Ports

We head into the weekend facing not one, but two possible shocks to the economy. There's the fiscal cliff, of course. And then there's the ports. Unionized longshoremen at 14 ports from Maine to Houston threaten to strike at midnight on Saturday, over a pay dispute.

The stuff we all buy – shoes, clothes, tools and nails – could all be harder to come by starting soon. Longshoremen on the East Coast and shipping companies and port operators have until midnight Sunday to work out a new contract.

A deal has been reached to end an eight day strike at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which handle almost half of all the cargo that arrives by sea in this country.

Today, huge container ships are anchored off-shore from southern California today, waiting to get into the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. It's the seventh day of a strike that has crippled the busiest port complex in the country.

Already the strike has idled thousands of trucks and trains that take containers from the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to factories and distribution centers.

Unionized clerical workers who staff the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have entered the fourth day of their strike. If the dispute continues, the ripple effects could soon be felt across the country.

Port Fouchon is the industrial heart of the New Orleans coast, about 60 miles south of New Orleans. And it is shut down because of the hurricane.

Obama may waive a law so that foreign ships can transport gas from the Gulf of Mexico to the East Coast to ease shortages and lower prices.

The Panama Canal is getting a makeover, and it could be a gamechanger for Atlantic coast ports -- that is, if those ports are ready in time.