c.h. robinson, echo, xpo, land star, asset light companies. >> so what makes those -- let's call it a c.h.obinson, former food contributor about 100 years ago, good value? is it a lower chinese currency? >> no, no. what happens is this, if i were to look at my group, if i look at the truckers, look at the railroads, and i would say what's the single largest thing they can do to create economic value for shareholders? i would say it's improve asset utilization. in the current environment, asset utilization is declining and declining dramatically. on the other hand, if i were to look at the nonasset, the logistics players, what's the greatest thing they can do? the greatest thing they can do to generate shareholder value is to improve their gross margins. their gross margins are exploding because they're still selling at contract prices to move goods, but they're buying at spot and with the drop-off in demand, spot market pricing, especially for trucking, has been plummeting. >> so if you like a c.h. robinson, does that mean you like expediters also? >> expediters isn't a direct competitor.

c.h. robinson, fed ex off by 2% or more. among the major u.s. indexes we tracked, dow transports are getting hit just about the hardest this year, down more than 8%. the index is in bear market territory. a situation that happens when some traders say a stock or index drops by more than 20% from the recent highs. so transportation stocks certainly a focus more many investors. >> and certainly not the only sector currently in bear market territory. the biotechs and the semis. so what's happening over in the real estate market? the red hot apartment market is finally starting to cool off. what is causing it and the cities and regions that could be impacted the most. plus, what is the real read on china's economy? surprisingly frank and blunt comments from one insider in the chinese government. you do need to hear what he has to say coming up next. >>> hello, everyone. i'm sue herera. here is your cnbc news update for this hour. >>> two earthquakes to report. a magnitude 6.1 quake struck in the ocean about 79 miles west of hokkaido island in japan.