Business news 2025

In Stephan Pastis' June 17 2023 Pearls Before Swine comic strip, Goat, reading a newspaper, says, "Looks like artificial intelligence is really getting better." Rat asks, "What can we do about regular intelligence?" Goat replies, "I think that's stuck where it is." Rat declares, "Scientists need to prioritize." Sorry, Rat, that is not happening.

According to the Exploding Topics website, there are 333,340,000 companies in the world and 40% are using artificial intelligence (AI) technology. Another 42% of exploring the use of AI. The Economic Times says "2025 will see AI turn into business value. AI has evolved from a trend to a key business tool, enhancing efficiency and creating new roles."

Five work and business trends you need to know for 2025
Workplaces, technology and customer expectations are evolving. Here's what to expect in 2025.

https://www.uschamber.com/co/run/hum...trends-to-know

The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. It hasn't changed since 2009. Economic Policy Institute analyst Sebastian Hickey told CBS MoneyWatch that the base rate "has lost 30% of its purchasing power due to inflation. The number of workers that earn $7.25 per hour is quite low but that still means with inaction we are leaving tens of millions of workers out to dry." Twenty states still adhere to that minimum wage. Thirty states have a higher minimum wage – and 21 will be raising it in 2025..

Millions of minimum wage workers across the U.S. will see pay Increase in 2025
The minimum wage is set to rise across 21 states and 48 cities and counties.

https://www.latintimes.com/millions-...alifies-570706

In July 2003, Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning founded Tesla Motors, named for inventor and engineer Nikola Tesla. In 2004, Elon Musk made a $6.5 million investment in the company and became chairmen of its board of directors. Musk became CEO in 2008. Shares of Tesla closed today at 379.28, a drop of 24.56 (6.08%).

Tesla sales decline 1.1% in 2024, the company's first annual sales drop in a decade

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tesla-s...-january-2025/

"I Spy" is (a) a 1960s television series; (b) a game played by children; (c) the slogan of Apple's virtual assistant Siri; or (d) all of the above.

Apple agrees to pay $95 million to end Siri spying lawsuit

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/apple...123250623.html

President Biden, under authority of the Defense Production Act of 1950, blocked Nippon Steel's proposed $14.9 billion purchase of U.S. Steel. In a joint statement, the two companies said Biden's decision is "a clear violation of due process and the law governing CFIUS" – the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States – and will deny billions of dollars in investments planned in the United States. They vowed to take "all appropriate action to protect our legal rights."

Biden blocks U.S. Steel takeover by Japan’s Nippon Steel, citing national security

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/01/03/bide...-security.html

Fubo – the name is short for "football" – was founded January 1, 2015 and initially offered livestreams of soccer games. In 2017. Fubo added MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL games along with movies, news programs and network TV series. Shares of Disney closed today at 111.05, a drop of 0.11 (0.1%).

Disney to combine its Hulu+ Live TV with streamer Fubo

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/01/06/disn...e-tv-fubo.html

Venu will not have a venue. Shares of Disney closed Friday at 108.65, a drop of 1.11 (1.01%). Shares of Fox closed at 45.86, a drop of 0.75 (1.61%). Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery closed at 9.70, a drop of 0.36 (3.58%).

Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery call off plans to launch Venu sports streaming service

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/01/10/disn...g-service.html

Starbucks, founded in 1971 in Seattle, has more than 69,900 locations in the United States. Shares of Starbucks closed today at 93.56, a gain of 1.31 (1.42%).

Hanging out at Starbucks will cost you as company reverses its open-door policy
AP News, Jan 13 2025 2:03 PM

If you want to hang out or use the restroom at Starbucks, you’re going to have to buy something. Starbucks today said it is reversing a policy that invited everyone into its stores. A new code of conduct – which will be posted in all company-owned North American stores – also bans discrimination or harassment, consumption of outside alcohol, smoking, vaping, drug use and panhandling. The new rules are designed to help prioritize paying customers.

https://apnews.com/article/starbucks...9a4e56848ed28b

Much of Chase's profit comes from mortgages, home loans, auto loans and credit cards with interest rates ranging from 4.875% to 35.99% – while the interest paid on savings accounts is a pathetic 0.01%. Shares of JPMorgan Chase closed today at 252.35, a gain of 4.88 (1.97%).

JPMorgan Chase posts record profit as the bank's massive scale pays off
The bank said profit rose 50% to $14 billion in the fourth quarter.

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/bus...ays-rcna187845

Berthold & Hilda Reich, Sigmund & Mathilda Rohrbach and Justin & Alma Zimmerman opened Cleveland Fabric Shop in 1943. Twenty years later there were 18 Cleveland Fabric Shops in Ohio and the stores were renamed Jo-Ann's Fabrics after Joan Zimmerman and Jacqueline Ann Rosskamm, daughters of the co-founders. The chain became Joann in March 2018. There are now 850 Joann stores nationwide. After Joann's first bankruptcy filing in March 2024, its share price plummeted to 0.0765, trading was halted and its stock was delisted from Nasdaq.

Joann files for bankruptcy – again

https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/15/busin...tcy/index.html

The CEO's big acknowledgment falls under the category of "Duh!" Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance closed yesterday at 11.89, a drop of 0.63 (5.03%).

Walgreens CEO on anti-shoplifting strategy: ‘When you lock things up, you don’t sell as many of them’

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money...s/77745170007/

Grapes are the highest-value fruit crop in the United States.The United States accounts for 12% of the world’s wine production. The United States leads the world in wine consumption by volume – but Portugal leads the world in wine consumption per capita.

Wine sales drying up as Americans turn elsewhere
U.S. wine sales continued a multiyear decline in 2024, which experts attribute to shifting demographics, health concerns, new competition and economic forces.

https://www.nbcnews.com/data-graphic...ess-rcna187628

Stephen Geppi, who owned four comic book stores in Baltimore, founded Diamond Comic Distributors in 1982. They transport comics, graphic novels, action figures, apparel and other products from publishers and suppliers to comic shops and retailers. At its peak, Diamond distributed comics from DC, Marvel, Boom!, Image, IDW, Dynamite, Dark Horse, Gemstone and other publishers.

Diamond Comic Distributors files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection

https://toybook.com/diamond-comic-di...ors-chapter11/

Adidas is the world's second-largest athletic footwear and sportswear manufacturer, after Nike. Shares of Adidas closed today at 133.22, a drop of 2.04 (1.51%).

Adidas to cut up to 500 jobs after posting better-than-expected holiday profits

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/01/23/adid...-500-jobs.html

Polish immigrant Maxwell Kohl opened his first grocery store in 1927 in Milwaukee. By the 1950s, Kohl's Food Store had several locations. In 1962, Kohl opened a department store in Brookfield, Wisconsin. Today there are 1,165 Kohl's stores nationwide. Shares of Kohl's closed today at 13.55, a drop of 0.05 (0.37%).

As sales slump, Kohl’s turns to a new CEO to bring back customers

https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/27/busin...les/index.html

King Donald the First mistakenly believes the people of Canada, Mexico and China will pay for the tariffs he imposes. They will not. Americans will pay for them, in the form of higher prices. Shares of Temu parent company PDD Holdings closed today at 105.24, a drop of 6.67 (5.96%).

Temu parent PDD's stock tumbles as Trump tariffs close trade loophole
Trump struck down the "de minimis" trade exemption which allows packages under $800 to enter the U.S. duty free.

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/02/03/temu...-loophole.html

Mark Honeywell founded the Honeywell Heating Specialty Company in 1906 in Wabash, Indiana. Today the Honeywell International aeronautics, automotive, automation and engineering company operates in 79 countries and has 110,000 employees. Shares of Honeywell closed today at 209.82, a drop of 12.53 (5.64%).

Honeywell, one of the few remaining US industrial conglomerates, will split into three companies

https://apnews.com/article/honeywell...cecead3fd98060

Brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald opened the first McDonald's restaurant in 1940 in San Bernardino, California. There are now 13,600 McDonald's in the United States and more than 41,,000 worldwide. Shares of McDonald's closed today at 308.42, a gain of 14.12 (4.8%).

McDonald's posts biggest US sales decline in nearly five years

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money...s/78389776007/

Air Southwest Co. was founded in 1967 in San Antonio. In 1971, the company became Southwest Airlines and moved its headquarters to Dallas. Southwest flies to 121 destinations in the United States and ten other countries. Its share price today is 30.28.

Southwest Airlines to slash 15% of corporate jobs in 'unprecedented' move to cut costs

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/02/17/sout...ving-push.html

Consumer confidence fell by seven points in February, the biggest monthly drop since August 2021. The percentage of Americans anticipating a recession is at a nine-month high. Any minute now, King Donald the First will blame Joe Biden and "liberal Democrats."

Wall Street stocks crash as consumer confidence hits 4-year low
Cryptopolitan, Feb 25 2025 1:24 PM

Wall Street stocks tumbled today as a sharp four-year decline in consumer confidence rattled investors already on edge over Donald Trump’s latest tariff announcement. The S&P 500 plunged 0.9%, extending its four-day losing streak, while the Nasdaq collapsed 1.8%, wiping out last week’s record highs.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/mark...ow/ar-AA1zMoyj