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Skype, short for "Sky peer-to-peer," was launched in 2003. eBay bought Skype for $2.6 billion in 2005. Microsoft bought Skype for $8.5 billion in 2011 and replaced Windows Live Messenger with it. On May 5, Microsoft will replace Skype with a free version of Microsoft Teams. Shares of Microsoft closed yesterday at 396.98, a gain of 4.45 (1.13%).
Microsoft shutting down Skype in May
https://apnews.com/article/microsoft...476e01d8d4a473
Charles Walgreen, who had been working at a pharmacy in the Barrett Hotel in Chicago, bought the pharmacy in 1901 and opened a second location in 1910. By 1930, there were more than 500 Walgreens stores nationwide. Walgreens now has around 12,500 stores worldwide but plans to close 1,200 of them over the next three years. Shares of Walgreens closed today at 10.60, a drop of 0.15 (1.4%).
Walgreens to be acquired by private equity firm Sycamore Partners for almost $10 billion
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/walgr...b0a4ad9ebc0a85
King Donald's promise to lower prices "on day one" was, of course, a lie. Consumer prices rose by 3.2% in February and the tariffs King Donald imposed – tariffs which will drive up costs for Americans – are fueling fears of a recession. The Dow has fallen by 1,500 points since King Donald has been in office.
S&P 500, Nasdaq post worst day since 2022 amid recession fears; Dow drops 890 points
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money...r/82179334007/
Korean immigrants (and husband and wife) Do Won Chang and Jin Sook Chang opened their Fashion 21 store in 1984 in the Highland Park district of Los Angeles. They made $700,000 in their first year and began opening more stores, renamed Forever 21. At its peak in 2016, Forever 21 had 811 locations worldwide, including 549 in the United States. The original store, still known as Fashion 21, closed in April 2020. If the company can not find a buyer, all its U.S. locations will close in 2025.
Retailer Forever 21 files for bankruptcy for 2nd time in 6 years
https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/...d-time-6-years
23andMe, founded in 2006 in South San Francisco, sold saliva-based DNA testing kits to millions of people who wanted to know more about their ancestry. In November 2008, Time magazine named "the retail DNA test" as "invention of the year." That was then, this is now.
DNA testing firm 23andMe files for bankruptcy as demand dries up
https://www.reuters.com/business/hea...lf-2025-03-24/
In 2015, Dollar Tree purchased Family Dollar for nine billion dollars. Today Dollar Tree announced it is selling Family Dollar to two private equity groups for one billion dollars. Dollar Tree is losing eight billion dollars. Oy vey!
Dollar Tree is selling Family Dollar, ending its disastrous merger
https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/26/busin...ree/index.html
In 1983, six men with no restaurant experience opened the first Hooters restaurant in Clearwater, Florida. The chain, known for its chicken wings and its scantily-clad servers known as "Hooters Girls," now has more than 420 locations worldwide – and is $376 million in debt.
Hooters files for bankruptcy
https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/31/busin...tcy/index.html
Tesla, originally Tesla Motors, was founded in 2003 in San Carlos, California, and named after inventor and electrical engineer Nikolai Tesla. Elon Musk became chairman in 2004 and CEO in 2008. Musk's far-right politics, his ties to Donald Trump and his Department Of Government Efficiency's firing of tens of thousands of federal workers have led to worldwide protests and vandalism and arson at Tesla dealers and charging stations.
Tesla sales tumble 13% in first quarter as Elon Musk backlash, aging models turn off buyers
It also is a warning that the company’s first-quarter earnings report later this month could disappoint investors.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/tesla...b0061bf7e6e53c
Deranged, demented, delusional King Donald the First today compared the roll-out of tariffs to an "operation" and claimed, "It is going very well. The markets are going to boom. The stock is going to boom. The country is going to boom." Really? Here is a headline from Fox Business:
Stocks tumble after Trump’s tariffs roil global markets
The Dow today closed at 40,545.93, a drop of 1,679.39 (3.98%). The S&P closed at 5,395.92, a drop of 275.05 (4.85%). Nasdaq closed at 16,550.60, a drop of 1,050.44 (5.97%). Among the biggest losers: RH, Dell, Apple, Amazon, Semtech, Carvana, Wayfair, Shopify, The Gap, Liberty Energy, Bank Of America, Under Armour and Urban Outfitters.
Here are the eight largest point drops in Dow Jones history.
2,997.10 – March 16, 2020 (Donald Trump was President)
2,352.60 – March 12, 2020 (Donald Trump was President)
2,231.07 – April 4, 2025 (Donald Trump was President)
2,013.76 – March 9, 2020 (Donald Trump was President)
1,861.82 – June 11, 2020 (Donald Trump was President)
1,679.39 – April 3, 2025 (Donald Trump was President)
1,464.94 – March 11, 2020 (Donald Trump was President)
1,338.46 – March 18, 2020 (Donald Trump was President)
How Trump's tariffs rollout turned into stock market mayhem
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/05/how-...et-mayhem.html
Since King Donald the First imposed his punitive tariffs, U.S. stocks have lost six trillion dollars in value – and deranged, demented, delusional Donald had this to say today:
Trump stands by far-reaching tariffs, calling them a 'beautiful thing to behold' as stock futures plummet
https://nypost.com/2025/04/06/us-new...tures-plummet/
Mario Prada founded the luxury fashion house Prada in 1913 in Milan. Giovanni "Gianni" Versace founded the luxury fashion house Versace in 1978 in Milan. Shares of Prada closed today at 12.65, a gain of 0.30 (2.43%). Shares of Versace parent company Capri Holdings closed at 14.63, a drop of 1.73 (10.57%).
Prada agreees to buy fashion rival Versace for $1.375 billion
https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/10/style...ace/index.html
Americans voted for Donald Trump because they thought our nation's economy would thrive under a Trump Presidency – but the three highest monthly layoff totals and the eight highest Dow Jones point drops have all occurred during Trump's time in office.
Jobs suffer yet another blow under Trump
Sacramento Bee, Apr 12 2025
Layoffs in the U.S. have reached their highest levels since the pandemic’s peak, as federal workforce cuts under the Department of Government Efficiency continue. Employers announced 275,240 job cuts in March, up 60% from February and marking the third-highest monthly layoff figure on record. April and May 2020 are the only months to surpass this level of workforce reductions.
https://www.sacbee.com/
Walmart founder Sam Walton opened the first Sam's Wholesale Club store in 1983 in Midwest City, Oklahoma. The chain, renamed Sam's Club in 1990, now has 600 locations and plans to open 15 new stores each year for the next decade – and all Sam's Club shoppers will have to have a smartphone. Shares of parent company Walmart closed today at 93.22, a gain of 2.03 (2.23%).
Sam’s Club plans to eliminate all checkout lanes and self-checkout in favor of Scan & Go
https://www.kristv.com/news/local-ne...vor-of-scan-go
Royal Paper, founded in 1992 in Gila Bend, Arizona, has distribution centers in Phoenix and Duncan, South Carolina, and manufactures bath tissue, facial tissue, paper towels and napkins that are sold under a variety of brand names.
Royal Paper, company that makes toilet paper for Aldi, Kroger, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, files for bankruptcy
https://www.mlive.com/news/2025/04/c...ankruptcy.html
United Parcel Service was founded in 1907 in Seattle as American Messenger Company, a telegram and package delivery service.
UPS to cut 20,000 jobs, close 73 facilities as it reduces amount of Amazon shipments it handles
https://www.usnews.com/news/business...nts-it-handles
On April 29, Skechers was one of several footwear manufacturers who warned King Donald the First in a letter that his punitive tariffs would hit them "particularly hard," leading to increased costs and putting "tens of thousands of jobs" at risk. Shares of Skechers closed today at 61.39, a gain of 11.99 (24.27%). The company will be taken private.
In a trade-war whirlwind, shoemaker Skechers is sold for $9.42 billion to 3G Capital
https://apnews.com/article/skechers-...631fbe249bae4c
Jean Nidetch and Al and Felice Lippert founded Weight Watchers in 1963 in Queens, New York. In 2018, the company shifted its focus from weight loss to overall health and wellness and was renamed WW International. The company now has $1.15 billion in debt. Shares of WW closed today at 0.45, a drop of 0.34 (43.04%).
Weight Watchers files for bankruptcy, plans pivot to telehealth
The company has struggled with a heavy debt burden and competition from new prescription drugs.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/weigh...b0a7eb6001db34
Rite Aid, originally Thrift D Discount Center, was founded by Alexander Grass in 1962 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. It is – or was – the third-largest drugstore chain after CVS and Walgreens.
Rite Aid set to close all 1,240 store locations amidst bankruptcy
https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/lif...tore-closures/
A majority of Microsoft's layoffs will be in management. Fifty-five percent of Microsoft's 228,000 employees work in the United States.
Microsoft to cut 3% of its workforce
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/bus...ffs-rcna206517