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Remember Crocker, Gibraltar, Franklin, Bank One, American Savings, Lincoln Savings, Washington Mutual, Great Western and Security Pacific? They are among 175 major US banks that are no longer in business because of mergers, takeovers or failures -- and here comes the latest merger:
$66 billion BB&T-SunTrust merger would create America's sixth-largest bank
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/comp...ank/ar-BBThzqI
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Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti is already hopeful that "New York's loss will be L.A.'s gain." Hey, Mayor, Amazon's plans for a new headquarters in Queens haven't been canceled and may not be. You should put your energy into repaving roads and getting homeless people off the streets.
Amazon's deal for a new headquarters in New York might be in jeopardy — and it could mean the state and city lose out on $27.5 billion in tax revenue
Some New York lawmakers have complained that HQ2 is not worth the roughly $3 billion in incentives the state and city have promised Amazon.
https://www.businessinsider.com/amaz...ue-loss-2019-2
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AT&T launched the first 5G network in December and it is available in only a few small areas right now. Sprint is suing AT&T for deceiving customers with advertising implying the 5G network is nationwide. I bet the majority of Americans probably couldn't tell the difference between 4G and 5G anyway.
Sprint sues AT&T, alleging it falsely brands 4G as 5G
https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/08/tech/...uit/index.html
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Twitter launched on July 15, 2006 and has never shown a profit until now. I wonder if the profit is because we now have a President who sends out thousands of tweets per day.
Twitter records its first annual profit but it is losing millions of users
https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/07/tech/...-q4/index.html
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In Greek mythology, the phoenix (φοῖνιξ) is a long-lived bird that dies by fire and then is reborn, rising from the ashes. A certain giraffe is also rising from the dead:
Toys Я Us plots a second act with new look, new name
CBS News, Feb 11 2019 6:50 PM
Toys Я Us fans in the US should see the iconic brand re-emerge in some form by this holiday season. Richard Barry, a former Toys Я Us executive and now CEO of the new company called Tru Kids Inc., told The Associated Press he and his team are still working on the details but they're exploring various options including freestanding stores and shops within existing stores. He said e-commerce will play a key role.
Toys Я Us, buckling under competition from Amazon and several billions of dollars of debt, filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in September 2017 and then liquidated its businesses last year in the US as well as several other regions including the UK.
In October, a company called Geoffrey LLC won an auction for Toys Я Us assets to resuscitate the brand, rather than sell it off for parts. It set up Geoffrey's Toy Box in November last year in about 600 Kroger stores in nearly 30 states.
On January 20, Barry and several other former Toys Я Us executives founded Tru Kids and are now managing the Toys Я Us, Babies Я Us and Geoffrey brands. "These brands are beloved by customers," said Barry. He noted that the company will focus on physical stores, which could be about 10,000 square feet. The original Toys Я Us stores were roughly 40,000 square feet.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/toys-r-...nder-new-name/
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The wealthiest Americans now have one more reason to thank Donald Trump for their multi-million-dollar tax cuts:
American household debt just hit a new record high
Business Insider, Feb 12 2019 04:21 PM
Americans faced record levels of debt at the end of 2018, with the amount owed by households rising for an eighteenth consecutive quarter. Overall debt rose by $32 billion to $13.5 trillion in the fourth quarter, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said in a report today, bringing it to a fresh high. Total household debt was nearly 7% higher than the previous peak of $12.68 trillion seen in the third quarter of 2008. One of the most troubling trends, according to economists, is the number of Americans seriously delinquent on auto and student loans.
https://markets.businessinsider.com/...9-2-1027947029
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When it first appeared that Amazon would abandon plans for a new headquarters in New York, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti expressed hope that "New York's loss will be L.A.'s gain." Amazon now will not build a new headquarters anywhere. Who wants to break the news to Garcetti?
Amazon cancels plans to build New York headquarters
https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/14/tech/...nyc/index.html
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Over the past year, Amazon has been shipping an increasing number of orders in lightweight plastic mailers instead of cardboard boxes. The production and recycling of plastic emits fewer greenhouse gases and uses less petroleum than the production and recycling of cardboard. Who knew? But those plastic mailers are causing all kinds of problems for recyclers, and most of them -- the plastic mailers, not the recyclers -- wind up in landfills.
Amazon's streamlined plastic packaging is jamming up recycling centers
https://www.latimes.com/business/la-...213-story.html
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Last year, Business Insider senior correspondent Steve Kovach explained how and why Amazon paid almost no federal taxes on a profit of $3 billion. This year, once again, Amazon will be "getting away with murder" (to use the words of a certain President). Happy Valentine's Day, Jeff!
Amazon will pay $0 in federal taxes – here's how the $793 billion company gets away with it
https://www.businessinsider.com/amaz...p-bezos-2018-4
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Here is a double dose of dismal, depressing, deeply disturbing developments driving our economy down:
More than 1,500 stores will close this year – here's the full list
https://www.businessinsider.com/stor...is-year-2019-2
Spending's slumping, manufacturing's slowing and delinquencies are rising. Warning signs for the US economy are piling up.
https://markets.businessinsider.com/...9-2-1027957636
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To go along with the two dismal, disturbing, depressing stories above, here is a brutally bad bit of business news about a bankruptcy:
Payless ShoeSource closing all 2,100 US stores, starting liquidation sales Sunday
https://www.azcentral.com/story/mone...ng/2885949002/
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This year, to the Chinese, is the Year Of The Pig. In the United States, 2019 is starting to look like the Year Of The Bankruptcy. Here is another retailer going out of business:
All Performance Bicycle stores expected to close next month
One of the nation's largest bike retailers will shut its doors for good on March 2.
https://www.bicycling.com/news/a2630...cycle-closing/
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I have no desire to own a self-driving car. Why would I want a vehicle that can go places without me? I now fear we may soon have phones that can call each other and they won't need us either.
Samsung's Galaxy S10 lineup: Foldable phones, 5G and phones that charge each other
CNN Business, Feb 20 2019 4:01 PM ET
A 5G device. A foldable phone that morphs into a tablet. A smartphone that can charge another smartphone when sandwiched together. Samsung is making bold moves with its new lineup of Galaxy S10 smartphones, which were announced today at its "Unpacked" press event in San Francisco. Following a year of slower sales growth — due largely to the S9 models not being different enough from its successful Galaxy S8 products — the company hopes a handful of innovative features will inspire consumers to trade in existing devices for newer models.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/20/tech/...s10/index.html
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Pepsi will also close several bottling plants. Their four-year restructuring plan will cost $2.5 billion.
PepsiCo is laying off corporate employees as the company commits to millions of dollars in severance pay, restructuring and 'relentlessly automating'
https://www.businessinsider.com/peps...cks-off-2019-2
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The CEO of Stamps.com says the Postal Service is becoming "less competitive." How can it be competitive when about the only things sent through the mail anymore are supermarket ads, Amazon parcels and a few magazines?
Blame Amazon: Stamps.com stock price plunges 56% as USPS deal dissolves
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/stamps-...-blame-amazon/
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Samsung's new folding-screen phone will sell for $1,980. Huawei's folding-screen phone will cost $2,600. This is assuming, of course, that anyone will actually buy them. Maybe a few people who are still using their 1996 Motorola StarTAC flip-phone will finally be ready to upgrade.
China's Huawei unveils new 5G folding-screen phone
http://time.com/5536191/huawei-5g-folding-phone/
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The Kraft Heinz Company, which owns Kraft, Heinz, Oscar Mayer, Planters, Jell-O, Ore-Ida, Kool-Aid, Grey Poupon, Maxwell House and 13 other brands, last week posted a loss of $12.6 billion and has long-term debt of nearly $31 billion. Yikes!
Kraft Heinz exposes corporate America's debt problem
https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/25/inves...ebt/index.html
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This is from RadioInsight.com, February 26 -- but does iHeartMedia really truly know how to "manage" and "monetize"?
"iHeartMedia continues its audio technology acquisition spree with the announcement that it has acquired the Greek based Radiojar Information Technology through its RCS subsidiary. iHeart intends to take Radiojar’s cloud-based audio playout system to utilize within broadcast automation systems and transition to use for streaming and podcast delivery as well. Radiojar will remain open to other clients to allow management of music, voice tracks and advertising in real-time to create, manage, distribute and monetize streams, podcasts and other audio content."
https://radioinsight.com/headlines/1...ires-radiojar/
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Donald Trump hates CNN. Donald Trump opposed the AT&T-Time Warner merger and tried to block it. Time Warner owns CNN. See how it all fits together?
Appeals court upholds ruling approving AT&T-Time Warner merger
https://variety.com/2019/politics/ne...rt-1203144790/
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HBO (Home Box Office) launched November 6, 1972 and is the oldest pay-television channel in the United States. It was originally owned by Time Inc., which merged with Warner Communications in 1990. After AT&T merged with Time Warner in 2018, HBO's parent company was renamed WarnerMedia. Plepler joined Time Warner in 1992, became co-president of HBO in 2007 and was appointed as HBO Chairman and CEO in 2013 -- and now he's gone.
HBO chief Richard Plepler to step down in highest-profile exit since AT&T bought Time Warner
The cable executive championed shows such as Game Of Thrones and True Blood and political coverage from news startups Axios and Vice News.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/all/hbo...exit-t-n977946