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Business news 2019
It's a new year and here is a new thread. This thread will feature the biggest business news stories of 2019. We can start a thread for 2020 business news in 2020 -- and a thread for 2021 business news in 2021 -- and.......well, you get the idea. Unfortunately, the first two big stories of 2019 are bad news.
Apple's surprise revenue shortfall is dragging down the rest of the tech industry
Business Insider, Jan 2 2019
Apple said today that its holiday quarter revenue would be 7% lower than expected due to weakening iPhone sales, primarily in China. Since the announcement, Apple's stock has dropped more than 7% in after-hours trading. The news of Apple missing its mark appears to be impacting other tech stocks, with Amazon, Intel, Alphabet, Qualcomm and others all taking hits in after-hours trading.
https://www.businessinsider.com/tech...ay-mark-2019-1
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In 1901, Carl Wallin and Swedish immigrant Johan Nordström opened a shoe store in Seattle. Cleverly known as Wallin & Nordstrom, the store was successful enough that other locations were opened. In the 1960s-70s, Nordstrom began selling clothing, handbags, accessories and cosmetics in addition to shoes and today there are 380 Nordstrom stores in the United States and Canada. Blake Nordstrom and his two brothers are the great-grandsons of the company's co-founder.
Blake Nordstrom, co-president of Nordstrom, dies at age 58 after fight with cancer
Blake's brothers, Pete and Erik Nordstrom, will continue as co-presidents of the company.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/02/blak...at-age-58.html
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I wonder if Amazon-owned gas stations would get a lot of business. Many people no longer drive anywhere to go shopping. They stay home and order books, movies, music, clothing, electronics and groceries online.......from Amazon.
DA Davidson analyst says Amazon should open gas stations
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/bu...ions/38833149/
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Last year, President Trump accused American pharmaceutical companies of "getting away with murder." He vowed to lower drug prices. He couldn't -- and he didn't:
Big Pharma ushers in new year by raising prices of more than 1,000 drugs
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/drug-pr...ger-ingelheim/
And here is how one company is spending some of its many billions of dollars:
Bristol-Myers Squibb will buy mega-biotech Celgene for $74 billion in cash and stock
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ellieki.../#3ed977e434eb
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In 1967, Kelleher and business consultant Rollin King founded Air Southwest in Dallas. It was renamed Southwest Airlines in 1971. Kelleher thought Southwest would not be subject to federal regulations if all its flights were within Texas. In 1979, Southwest finally began offering service to other states and today carries more domestic passengers than any other US Airline. And, unlike other airlines, the company does not charge any extra or "hidden" fees. Since October 2015, their slogan has been "Low fares. Nothing to hide. That's TransFarency." If I ever make a list of the all-time worst business slogans, that will probably be in the top ten, along with Allstate's "We know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two." You know as many as two things? Wooh!
Herb Kelleher, Southwest Airlines founder, dies at 87
https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/03/busin...bit/index.html
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Because so many Americans are canceling their TV subscriptions, TV providers are offsetting the revenue loss by raising their rates. Higher rates mean more subscribers will cancel. Then rates will go up again -- and more subscribers will cancel -- and.......well, this could go on for many years.
Comcast, Dish, DirecTV to raise TV prices to counter cord cutting
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/comp...O594?ocid=AMZN
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In 1921, Lucius Lowe opened a hardware store in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. In 1949, he opened a second store in Sparta. Lowe's now has more than 2,300 stores in the United States and Canada and is the second-largest hardware chain behind The Home Depot. And if you get a job at Lowe's, you can wear one of those stylish, red, polyester-mesh vests. Wooh!
Lowe's plans to hire 65,000 workers this year
CBS News, Jan 4 2019 5:30 PM
Home-improvement giant Lowe's plans to hire more than 65,000 workers in 2019, most for seasonal jobs. Later this month, the company will start posting more than 50,000 seasonal jobs to help customers with spring indoor and outdoor projects at certain locations. It plans to add nearly 10,000 permanent merchandising personnel, as well as 6,000 full-time store managers and department supervisors. Lowe's also plans to fill more than 2,000 technology positions, including software engineers.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lowes-p...ers-this-year/
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The 99 Cents Only chain has stores in California, Arizona, Texas and Nevada. Initially, everything was priced at 99¢ or less. As rising costs cut into profit margins, in 2007 all 99¢ items were raised to 99.99¢. The stores now carry a few $1.99 and $2.99 items. Will the similar Dollar Tree stores start selling things for more than a dollar? An investor thinks they should -- but I'm wondering, would they rename it Dollar-Twenty-Five Tree?
Activist investor wants Dollar Tree to start selling things for more than $1
https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/07/inves...ard/index.html
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Amazon may open as many as 3,000 cashier-less Amazon Go stores in the next three years. Kroger, the nation's largest supermarket chain (Kroger, QFC, Ralphs, Dillons, Fry's, Smith's, Roundy's, Fred Meyer, Food 4 Less) is looking to compete by partnering with Amazon to launch markets with "digital shelves" and "digital price tags." Customers can use an app to create a shopping list and then the app will use the store's software and sensors to lead customers to the items on their list. But is that really necessary? Is it all that difficult for a shopper to go to a market and buy what he wants without using an app?
Kroger and Microsoft partner up to take on Amazon
https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/07/busin...res/index.html
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Muslims objected to Amazon selling bath mats and welcome mats bearing Islamic calligraphy. They say stepping on those mats would be disrespectful. Today, January 8, is Elvis Presley's birthday. What would Amazon do if I complained about them selling a disrespectful Elvis bath mat?
https://www.amazon.com/Elvis-Presley...dp/B07KVSQMVG/
Complaints prompt Amazon to remove products that are offensive to Muslims
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/comp...XaU8?ocid=AMZN
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New York-based Philip Morris International makes Marlboro, Philip Morris, Lark, Merit, L&M, Chesterfield, Parliament, Virginia Slims and many other brands of cigarettes but the percentage of people who smoke cigarettes is steadily declining and the number of people who use smokeless e-cigarettes is increasing. PMI's CEO wants the company to quit producing regular cigarettes and instead focus on "safer alternatives." If he's really so concerned about safety, PMI wouldn't make any kind of cigarettes. I'm guessing his main concern is not safety but profits. PMI stock fell 23% last month.
Philip Morris wants to end cigarette production
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/comp...1j73?ocid=AMZN
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From Disney/Pixar to a studio that's been in business less than two years. How the mighty have fallen! Skydance Animation has four films in development. The first, Luck, is set for release in March 2021.
Ousted Pixar chief John Lasseter hired by Skydance Animation
https://variety.com/2019/film/news/j...ce-1203103804/
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I do not consider self-driving cars to be safe and I would never ride in one -- but I have to admit that if we have groceries delivered by a self-driving car, we won't have to worry about a driver sneaking a few bites of our food during the trip.
China's Baidu will help deliver Walmart groceries in self-driving vans
CNN Business, Jan 9 2019 8:05 AM
China's leading search engine will soon be helping make deliveries for Walmart, bringing it into direct competition with Google's driverless technology. California startup Udelv will deploy self-driving vans using Baidu's technology in Surprise, Arizona, as part of a pilot program to deliver fresh groceries for Walmart. Udelv has developed a fleet of autonomous delivery vans on Baidu's open-source autonomous driving platform, Apollo.
The partnership with Baidu comes amid heightened trade tensions between the United States and China, a lot of which are centered around advanced technologies, and highlights how companies from the two countries continue to work together. The self-driving delivery vans will be used by other US companies in San Mateo and Houston.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/09/tech/...elv/index.html
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I am not surprised smartphone sales are declining. Judging by the percentage of people I see in public who are talking on a cell phone or texting or staring at the screen, I doubt there are many people who don't already own a smartphone.
Global smartphone sales fell for the first time ever in 2018. This year may be better.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/09/tech/...omi/index.html
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The growth of Amazon's Go stores has put a stop to any new 365 stores. (Hey, not all my story intros can be classics!)
Amazon-owned Whole Foods scraps smaller 365 store expansion
Yahoo Finance, Jan 11 2019
Whole Foods Market once had an ambitious plan to broaden customer appeal with its 365 stores but now it's saying goodbye to the cheaper and smaller store format. Whole Foods CEO John Mackey told employees the grocery chain will not open any new Whole Foods 365 stores. The existing 12 stores, the newest of which opened in Atlanta in December, will remain in business. Amazon has been rolling out discounts and weekly deals for Prime members who shop at Whole Foods stores. But in August, 40% of more than 2,000 Whole Foods shoppers surveyed by Yahoo Finance said they believe the prices of products in the stores aren't really lower.
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/whol...173614733.html
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MasterOfPuppets might also be a MasterOfScams. He posted the above ad, disguised as a news story, to eight different threads. My advice? Ignore it. Do not click on it. And now for some real news -- in fact, some scary news:
There's a simple reason why your new smart TV was so affordable: It's collecting and selling your data
https://www.businessinsider.com/smar...rtising-2019-1
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On January 9, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, whose net worth is $144 billion, announced he and MacKenzie were divorcing after 25 years of marriage. Hours later, we learned the reason: Bezos had been having an affair with news anchor and entertainment reporter Lauren Sánchez. MacKenzie's divorce papers were just delivered to him.
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President Trump promised to lower drug prices. It was a nice promise but one which he failed to keep. In fact, prices of more than a thousand drugs rose this month. Democrats, led by Bernie Sanders, Elijah Cummings and Ro Khanna, are determined to discover "why drug companies are increasing prices so dramatically, how drug companies are using the proceeds and what steps can be taken to reduce prescription drug prices." Good luck!
House Democrats launch drug-pricing probe into a dozen major health-care companies
The House Oversight Committee is investigating the actions of a dozen pharmaceutical companies. Chairman Elijah Cummings sent letters to AbbVie, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Celgene, Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson, Mallinckrodt, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Sanofi and Teva Pharmaceuticals.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/14/hous...companies.html
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This morning, CNN posted this story:
PG&E, California utility tied to wildfires, will file for bankruptcy
https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/14/busin...res/index.html
And moments ago CNN posted this shocking update -- and yes, that is another of my notoriously bad puns:
"Shares of Pacific Gas & Electric are down roughly 50% in early trading after the energy company said it will file for bankruptcy on January 29. California's largest utility is facing billions of dollars in claims over the deadly 2018 Camp Fire. It cited at least $7 billion in claims from the fire, which caused 86 deaths and destroyed 14,000 homes. Shareholders are generally wiped out in the bankruptcy process. Shares of PG&E were already down 63% since the start of the Camp Fire in November."
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Gort, Rosie, Robby, Marvin, Ultron, R2-D2, C-3PO and WALL-E could have used the work -- but no, the supermarket chains had to create new robots.
'Marty' the robot ready to roll at nearly 500 Stop & Shop, Giant Food and Martin's stores
CBS News, Jan 14 2019 6:26 PM ET
Robotic assistants will soon be deployed in nearly 500 Stop & Shop, Giant Food and Giant Martin's stores, parent company Ahold Delhaize USA announced today. Dubbed "Marty," the in-store robots will be used to identify potential safety hazards such as spills of liquid, powder or bulk food items in store aisles and to issue an alert for clean-up. Robots are performing many tasks at other retailers. Walmart plans to have 360 robotic mops scrubbing store floors starting this month and Amazon is using artificial intelligence to rid stores in Seattle and Chicago of cashiers and checkout lines.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/robots-...and-stop-shop/