You know the saying: New year, new market opportunities!

After a chaotic 2018 — a year defined by tariffs and trade wars, unprecedented merger and acquisition activity, stock market volatility, and murmurings that a new recession is brewing — finding the next big industry can be a real challenge.

It's been a busy start to the year for Marketresearch.com!

Be sure to catch up with this week's headlines from Packaged Facts, Freedonia Focus Reports, and Kalorama Information, including the latest analysis on the financial services market, ramifications of the federal government shutdown, local bans on certain plastics, the Sears bankruptcy proceedings, and more.

In 2021, the global market for blood glucose test strips will be worth $12.93 billion, its highest ever level, a new report from the Business Research Company shows.

Update: As of January 16, Sears and ESL Investments appear to have reached an agreement to keep the company in business and stores open — for now. Be sure to subscribe to our blog for ongoing insights and analysis on new developments in this story.

Is this the end of the road for one of the oldest retailers in the US?

With so much going on in the news lately, it can be hard to keep up.  Take a moment to check out the latest headlines from The Freedonia Group, Freedonia Focus Reports, Simba Information, and Kalorama Information.  This week, hot topics included developments in activated carbon, a resurgence in polyethylene, beverage trends, the federal government shutdown and education funding, reports from the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, and more.

The US market for shoulder arthroplasty implants is worth over 40% of the entire global market for all types of minor orthopedic replacement implants and is growing at 6.6% year on year, according to a recent report by The Business Research Company.

In case you missed them, several industry articles were published over the holidays, covering a variety of topics, from health-related product claims to the use of artificial intelligence in supply chains.

We also rounded up our most-viewed articles from 2018. Find out more below.

The world is shifting rapidly, and market research is no exception. Scan through the headlines of some of the top industry analysis pieces published on the MarketResearch.com blog in 2018.

Lack of visibility and transparency are considered some of the biggest challenges in the supply chain industry, at times causing disruptions and inventory imbalance.  These issues largely stem from an inability to store and make sense of the overwhelming amount of data scattered across different processes, sources, and systems.

Catch up on all the latest headlines from The Freedonia Group, Packaged Facts, Simba Information, and Kalorama Information.  This week, analysts dove into topics related to alternative transportation, the rise of online grocery shopping, changes in college course materials, in vitro diagnostics trends, and more.