The business news thread

[Rewind]

"CNN is fake news. Fake news. Fake news, okay? And a merger involving CNN? Look, I just can't allow such a deal, okay? And did I mention that CNN is fake news?"

AT&T wants answers about White House's role in blocking Time Warner deal
Los Angeles Times, Feb 14 2018 1:10 PM

AT&T wants to show political tampering as it seeks evidence about whether President Trump influenced the Justice Department's decision to sue to block the company's proposed $85.4 billion acquisition of Time Warner. AT&T wants communications between the Justice Department and the White House about the Time Warner takeover. It's also looking to put the head of the Justice Department's antitrust division, Makan Delrahim, on the witness stand at trial.

If approved, the deal would reshape the media landscape by uniting a telecom giant with the owner of CNN, Warner Bros., TNT, TBS and HBO. AT&T, the owner of DirecTV, is the largest pay-TV distributor, as well as a powerhouse in mobile phones and landlines. The Justice Department has argued that letting AT&T own the films and TV shows that flow down its pipes would harm consumers and competitors.

AT&T's move attempts to highlight how the White House may have pulled some strings in the first major antitrust action brought by Trump's Justice Department. The lawsuit, which is set to go to trial March 19, has sparked speculation that Trump, a relentless critic of Time Warner's CNN, pushed the department to oppose the deal. The Justice Department sued to block the merger in November, saying it was harmful to consumers. That dealt AT&T a surprising setback to a deal that seemed on track for approval similar to Comcast's prior purchase of NBC Universal.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...214-story.html

[Rewind]

Is the President aware that adding another 25¢ to the gasoline tax will eventually drive up the price of every product that is transported by trucks? Is he aware that increasing the gasoline tax will hurt the middle class and the poor but not the wealthiest Americans? Oh wait, I forgot -- he proved he doesn't really care about the middle class and the poor when he gave the biggest tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans.

Trump is open to more-than doubling the gas tax to pay for his giant infrastructure plan
Business Insider, Feb 14 2018 5:02 PM

President Donald Trump told lawmakers in a White House meeting that he is open to increasing the gas tax to pay for his giant infrastructure plan. The federal gas tax has not been increased since 1993, when it was bumped to 18.4¢ per gallon of unleaded fuel and 24.4¢ for diesel. According to Jonathan Swan at Axios, Trump said he would consider raising the gas tax 25¢ per gallon to help pay for his plan to spend $200 billion of federal funding on infrastructure over the next 10 years.

Republicans have been split on the idea. The tax is regressive and many lawmakers have expressed concern about the optics of increasing taxes after passing their massive tax cut bill. "The gas tax has its pros and cons and that’s why the President is leading a thoughtful discussion on the right way to solve our nation’s infrastructure problems," a White House official told Business Insider.

https://www.aol.com/article/finance/...plan/23361897/

[Rewind]

In late 2015, after a large number of people in nine states got E. coli after eating Chipotle food made with tainted Australian beef, Chipotle lost a lot of business. A year later, sales were still down by more than 30%. Can Niccol boost Chipotle's sales? I'll bet a niccol he can. (Sorry.)

Chipotle taps Taco Bell CEO Brian Niccol to turn around the struggling chain

http://www.businessinsider.com/taco-...ive-job-2018-2

[Rewind]

Fourth-quarter sales dropped 18.1% at Sears and 12.2% at Kmart. Analysts say Best Buy, which has been expanding its appliance business, would benefit the most if Sears goes out of business. But will Sears go out of business? That is the question. Sears still expects a profit this year.

Sears posts its biggest holiday sales drop in history

http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/compa...D=ansmsnnews11

[Rewind]

Winn-Dixie will close 200 stores and file for bankruptcy. I don't quite understand it. Did hundreds of thousands of people suddenly quit buying groceries?

Supermarket chains Winn-Dixie and Tops preparing for bankruptcy filings

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articl...for-bankruptcy

[Rewind]

It appears that millions of Americans are discovering that "things go better" with other beverages besides Coke.

Coca-Cola sales decline 20% in fourth quarter; $3.6 billion tax charge recorded

http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2...-recorded.html

[Rewind]

Albertsons/Vons/Safeway/Pavilions is the nation's second-largest supermarket chain behind Kroger/Ralphs/Dillons/Fred Meyer/Food 4 Less. Albertsons Co. is privately owned and operated but is planning to go public and trade shares on the NYSE.

Albertsons, which owns grocers Vons and Safeway, is buying Rite Aid
Los Angeles Times, Feb 20 2018 12:55 PM

Albertsons Co., which operates the grocery chains Vons, Pavilions and Safeway as well as its namesake grocery stores, is acquiring the Rite Aid drugstores that are not being sold to Walgreens under a previously announced deal. Albertsons would get slightly more than half of Rite Aid's retail locations, plus additional Rite Aid assets such as its pharmacy benefit company and its wellness/loyalty program. Rite Aid stockholders would receive either Albertsons stock or a combination of Albertsons stock and cash. The value of the deal wasn't disclosed but Rite Aid has a current stock market value of $2.3 billion.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...220-story.html

[Rewind]

The company's NASDAQ symbol is now BKNG. Let's have a show of hands: Who thinks "Booking Holdings" is a better name than "Priceline"? Anyone? Hmmm, nobody. That's what I thought.

Online travel giant Price line Group changes name to Booking Holdings

http://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/21/price...-holdings.html

[Rewind]

Ford North America president out after inappropriate behavior
Reuters, Feb 21 2018 5:05 PM

Ford Motor Company said today that Raj Nair, its president for North America, was leaving the company immediately after an internal investigation found his behavior was "inconsistent with the company's code of conduct." Ford did not give any details on what that behavior entailed. His departure comes after several high-profile business leaders have quit or been fired following accusations of sexual misconduct. Nair apologized, without elaborating. He said in a statement, "I sincerely regret that there have been instances where I have not exhibited leadership behaviors consistent with the principles that the Company and I have always espoused."

https://www.aol.com/article/finance/...vior/23367855/

[Rewind]

I am always amazed that so many millions of people will pay so much money to buy water in plastic bottles. See, in kitchens and bathrooms there are these little devices known as "handles" and "faucets" and.......

Will Smith and son Jaden create eco-friendly bottled water company called Just

https://hosted.ap.org/citizensvoice/...r-company-just