There’s nothing particularly seasonal about the peak shipping season this year. Consumer-electronics retailer Best Buy added to the mounting signs of ample capacity and receding freight rates, the WSJ Logistics Report’s Liz Young writes, with a note that transportation markets are “stabilizing and moderating” heading into the fall. The comments from Best Buy CEO Corie Barry bolster data that show pricing pulling back sharply from container shipping markets to the trucking sector. Capacity-straining demand usually swings into high gear as fall nears. This year, big retailers are undertaking a balancing act, seeking to clear out excess inventories while filling gaps on shelves for goods that remain in short supply. Shipping costs remain elevated, in part because of high energy prices. But the mix of transport supply and demand is shifting, and Best Buy’s Ms. Barry says the retailer is “taking advantage of some rate opportunities” on the water.

• HP’s sales declined in the latest quarter and the PC maker cut its outlook amid an increasingly dour view of consumer spending on electronics. (WSJ)
• Off-price retailer Burlington's quarterly sales fell 10% while freight and sourcing expenses rose. (Retail Dive)
• Retailer Williams-Sonoma is struggling to find high-quality alternative vendors​ outside China as it seeks to reset its supply chain. (Supply Chain Dive) 

New moves to expand U.S. manufacturing are taking a decidedly green hue. The country’s biggest U.S. solar-panel maker plans to spend up to $1.2 billion to expand capacity by around 75%, the WSJ’s Phred Dvorak reports, the latest in a surge of domestic clean-energy investments spurred by the recently enacted climate law. First Solar’s plan is to build a factory in the southeastern U.S. and expand factories in Ohio. The new investment plans are a reversal for the only major American-owned maker of solar panels. First Solar CEO Mark Widmar had said until recently that high costs and a lack of policy support left it considering expansion in Europe or India. Mr. Widmar said he reconsidered after President Biden signed the law containing hundreds of billions of dollars in incentives for companies to make clean-energy equipment. The U.S. is concerned about relying on China, which dominates manufacturing in clean-energy technologies.

A big squeeze is coming to global liquefied natural gas markets. Russia’s shutdown of its key Nord Stream natural-gas pipeline leaves Europe guessing again about whether supplies will restart, the WSJ’s Georgi Kantchev reports, adding urgency to efforts to secure long-term supplies. Russia’s Gazprom raised further alarms this week by reducing gas deliveries to French utility company Engie because of a dispute over contracts. European governments are wooing top producers like the U.S., Canada and Qatar but are struggling to get agreements. Any deals would redraw maps for global LNG shipping that are already shifting as countries seek to stockpile gas. But bottlenecks at Europe’s re-gasification facilities limit how much LNG cargo the U.K. and parts of northwest Europe can absorb. Germany doesn’t have a single LNG terminal to receive overseas shipments but has leased four floating terminals as a temporary stop-gap.

• U.S. LNG export terminals are pushing to increase capacity, triggering surging demand for feedstock gas. (S&P Global)

U.S. job openings rose in July as employers scooped up workers in a tight labor market. (WSJ)

A survey of U.S. consumer confidence rose in August for the first time in four months. (MarketWatch)

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo says President Biden remains undecided about easing tariffs on Chinese imports. (WSJ)

Amazon is canceling more warehouse projects and closing more facilities as part of its U.S. logistics review. (Dow Jones Newswires)

Gopuff is seeking to borrow up to $300 million, as it tries to navigate slowing growth in its instant-delivery business. (WSJ)

U.S. average diesel prices surged 20.6 cents per gallon in the first weekly increase in two months. (Fleet Owner)

Taiwan's China Airlines is buying 16 Boeing 787 widebody jets to replace its aging Airbus A330s. (Reuters)

U.S. nut exporters frustrated by delays at the Port of Oakland are in talks with shipping lines and rail carriers for a new route to get shipments overseas. (Bloomberg)

Maersk-owned APM Terminals is shedding its investment in Russian container terminal operator Global Ports Investment. (Automotive Logistics)

Congestion at ports in northern Europe is declining significantly. (The Loadstar)

Chinese container line Cosco Shipping is projecting a 74% rise in first-half net profit. (Dow Jones Newswires)

Nordic American Tankers narrowed its quarterly loss to $4 million from $28.7 million a year ago. (TradeWinds)

Three smaller unions reached a tentative contract agreement with major U.S. freight railroads. (Progressive Railroading)

Paul Page is editor of WSJ Logistics Report. Write to him at paul.page@wsj.com.

Follow the WSJ Logistics Report team: @PaulPage, @bylizyoung and @pdberger. Follow the WSJ Logistics Report on Twitter at @WSJLogistics.