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CVS rejected Walmart's demand for higher reimbursement costs for filling CVS prescriptions, saying the new rates would lead to consumers "paying more for their medicines." Am I being overly cynical when I say I don't think CVS cares what people pay for prescriptions? After all, CVS is a for-profit business.
Walmart splits with CVS after battle over prescription costs
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/comp...sts/ar-BBShcke
McDonald's tried unsuccessfully to block the trademark of Irish fast-food chain Supermac's. "People will confuse the Supermac with the Big Mac," lawyers argued. No, I think we're all intelligent enough to figure out that a Supermac is not a Big Mac and vice-versa. Hey, lawyers, maybe you can go after Mack Trucks!
McDonald's loses trademark battle over the Big Mac
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/comp...mac/ar-BBShZsH
If Costco launches a streaming service, will it be operated the same way as their stores? You'll first have to pay an annual fee before you can watch anything -- and then you'll be able to purchase a giant economy-size package of 24, 36 or 48 movies.
Costco might launch its own streaming service for 'average Americans' to compete with Netflix and Amazon
https://www.businessinsider.com/cost...-report-2019-1
San Francisco-based Gymboree has been selling children's clothing since 1986. In 2007, Gymboree opened a chain of Crazy 8 stores, which sold lower-cost apparel. Prior to its 2017 bankruptcy, Gymboree had 1,300 stores in the US, Canada and Puerto Rico. Another bankruptcy filing two days ago means the stores that didn't close in 2017 will close in 2019. Around 10,000 people will lose their jobs.
Gymboree, Crazy 8 to close all stores
https://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/...ding-4-in.html
"You be the judge," a long-running feature in Reader's Digest presents both sides of a legal dispute and asks the reader to decide how he would rule. The judge's verdict appears on another page. President Trump gave huge tax cuts to banks, big corporations and the wealthiest Americans. Did they deserve it? You be the judge.
The biggest US banks made more than $120 billion last year
CNN Business, Jan 18 2019 4:37 PM
You wouldn't know it from watching their stocks but the biggest US banks just had a banner year. JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley brought in more than $120 billion combined in profit last year, the result of President Donald Trump's corporate tax cuts and a booming economy. That's a record showing. It also dwarfs the amount they made in 2017, when many banks faced large, one-time charges related to tax reform.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/18/busin...omy/index.html
Well, it didn't take long for one of the rich to get richer. Just three days after reporting a $32.5 billion annual profit, JPMorgan Chase gave its chief executive a $1,500,000 raise.
CEO Jamie Dimon gets a raise to $31 million after JPMorgan Chase's record year
https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/17/busin...ion/index.html
I bet Mark Zuckerberg didn't sleep well overnight. He was probably worrying Facebook will be next.
France fines Google €50 million ($56.8 million) for breach of data protection rules
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/...095437606.html
Target, Speedway, Hy-Vee, Taco Bell and Jack In The Box are joining the many other chains that accept Apple Pay. Unfortunately, making it easy for shoppers to pay for things by waving a smartphone at a checkout terminal is making smartphones a much more desirable target for thieves.
Target stores to accept mobile payment including Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Google Pay
https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/...ll/2643811002/
At an April 11 investors meeting, Disney will preview its new streaming service which will launch later this year. Viacom wants to compete with Disney so they're buying a streaming service called Pluto. I find that amusing -- but I wonder if Disney is amused.
Viacom will buy streaming service Pluto TV for $340 million
https://www.businessinsider.com/viac...million-2019-1
Intel CEO Brian Krzanich resigned in June 2018 and was replaced by interim CEO Bob Swan -- "interim" for seven months so far. Last month, Barron's reported that since 2010 Swan is the only Intel insider to have bought Intel stock. I wonder if he now wishes he hadn't.
Intel's shares plunge 8% as it misses on revenue and earnings and warns trouble in China could mean more pain to come
https://www.businessinsider.com/inte...gs-live-2019-1
An additional penny a mile doesn't sound like a big increase but if you drive 100,000,000 miles, that's an extra $1,000,000 (before taxes). Wooh!
Walmart raises pay for truck drivers
CNN Business, Jan 25 2019 1:23 PM
Walmart hopes a pay raise will solve its trucking problem. The company announced this week that its more than 8,000 truck drivers will get around a $1,500-a-year raise. Walmart, the world's largest retailer, hopes higher pay will help it retain those drivers and hire 900 new ones this year.
A shortage of truck drivers nationwide and high turnover rates in the industry have hit Walmart at a bad time. The company faces pressure to deliver goods on time to its 4,700 stores and online distribution centers to compete with rivals like Amazon. Walmart has its own private fleet of 65,000 trailers, one of the largest in the country. Last year, Walmart brought on more than 1,400 new drivers.
Walmart drivers get paid per mile. Pay varies based on their tenure at the company. Beginning in February, Walmart will give a one-cent-per-mile increase in pay. That means drivers will now make about 89 cents per mile on average and $87,500 a year.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/25/busin...pay/index.html
Many companies are starting to find environmentally-friendly alternatives to the plastic bags that protect electronics and appliances after their manufacture. While we're at it, maybe pharmaceutical companies could stop putting bottles of pain pills and cough syrup inside cardboard boxes, which are totally unnecessary and wasteful.
Samsung is getting rid of plastic packaging for phones, tablets and TVs
https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/28/busin...ing/index.html
DirecTV has been losing hundreds of thousands of satellite television subscribers so they launched a streaming service in 2016 and hundreds of thousands of customers are now flowing away from that service as well. (Yeah, another bad pun. I know.)
Customers are fleeing in droves from AT&T's DirecTV Now streaming service
Streaming services are a hard business, said one analyst: "Unlike pay TV, with live streaming services you can sign up and move from one package to another."
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/bus...droves-n964546
I wonder if UPS delivery people might also be replaced by robots someday. Does anyone know if robots look good in brown?
UPS says robots will help sort almost 80% of its packages this year
Business Insider, Jan 31 2019
UPS says around 70% of its packages are going through automated facilities. That's up from 50% in 2017. This year, UPS aims to have nearly 80% of packages sorted by robots in those automated facilities.
The shipping giant opened 22 new or retrofitted automated facilities worldwide in 2018, including five new superhubs. Those new technology-enabled facilities boast 25% to 35% higher efficency. An additional 18 automated hubs will open in 2019.
It's part of the company's growing investment in technology and automation. UPS says the investment in technology has helped power UPS shipments during its peak holiday season — it delivered a record number of packages in the 2018 peak season. Throughout Q4, UPS delivered an average of 21 million packages per day.
https://www.businessinsider.com/ups-...ts-sort-2019-1
I have no idea why Sears, Kmart, Macy's, JC Penney, Bebe, Brookstone, Gymboree, Henri Bendel, Toys Я Us and other major retailers have been closing so many stores or going out of business. Oh wait.....I think I do know why:
Amazon's sales and profit beat estimates, driven by retail and web services
https://www.latimes.com/business/la-...131-story.html
"Involuntary job cuts" is a euphemism. In the Trumpian language, the proper expression is: "You're fired!"
GM said to be readying 4,000 involuntary job cuts next week
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gm-said...uts-next-week/
Ben Hammersley, a British technologist and journalist, coined the word "podcast" in 2004 by combining "iPod" and "broadcast." More than 50 million people listen to podcasts, also known as netcasts. Spotify, which has more than 200 million users, has its sights set on those 50 million podcast listeners.
Spotify is in talks to buy Gimlet for more than $200 million. That’s a big deal for the podcasting world.
Spotify wants to break out of the music streaming business. Gimlet, the company behind shows such as Crimetown and Reply All, can help.
https://www.recode.net/2019/2/1/1820...st-acquisition
In response to the suicide of a 14-year-old girl who had viewed graphic images of self-harm on Instagram, the social media company will start blurring such images but users will still be able to choose to view them. Hey, Instagram, you could always remove those images, y'know. Did you not think of that?
Instagram to hide self-harm images in the wake of rising teen suicides
"Sensitivity screens" which blur images at first glance will aim to protect vulnerable users from seeing images that could lead to self-harm.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...icides-n966781
Do we need to start a separate thread for all the retailers declaring bankruptcy? Here is the latest one. Charlotte Russe, named after the French dessert, opened its first women's clothing store in 1975 in Carlsbad, California. There are now more than 500 Charlotte Russe stores in the US and Puerto Rico. Most are in malls. Their slogan is "Fashion that's trendy, not spendy." Whoever came up with that slogan should be ashamed of himself.
Charlotte Russe files for bankruptcy, will close 94 stores
https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/04/inves...ail/index.html
Chunky Monkey is a banana/fudge/walnut ice cream made by Ben & Jerry's. The name is a registered trademark. "Chunky" by itself was not a trademark.....until now. Let's hope Campbell's doesn't try to trademark the word "soup."
Campbell's Soup trademarks the word "chunky" after years of pop culture spoofs
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/comp...ofs/ar-BBTd0dC