The business news thread

Proof positive that print porn publications are proving to be un-popular:

Playboy Enterprises might kill magazine in post-Hefner era

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment...efner-era.html

Penthouse magazine parent files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection

http://www.msn.com/en-us/finance/com...ion/ar-AAuCkfw

Last year Donald Trump said several times that the dollar is "too strong." A weaker dollar will result in higher profits for US companies operating in other countries. Well, last year the dollar lost 10% of its value relative to other currencies and so far this year it has lost almost 2%. CNN business correspondent Paul La Monica says the slump should not be surprising, nor should it be a cause for worry.......yet.

Why the U.S. dollar isn't so mighty anymore

http://www.money.cnn.com/2018/01/15/...lar/index.html

Here is an old joke: Morton's is merging with Duracell and they're going to make a salt and battery. And here is a new news story:

Energizer buys Rayovac for $2 billion

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

Ferrero manufactures Nutella, Tic Tacs, several brands of chocolate candy -- and, soon, Butterfinger and Baby Ruth.

Italian confectioner Ferrero buys Nestlé's US candy business for $2.8 billion

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ferrero-...r-2-8-billion/

At one time General Electric was the biggest company in the United States. Now, faced with a pre-tax $9.5 billion charge related to an insurance portfolio, GE may soon become a lot smaller.

GE breakup is likely and announcement could come as soon as this spring

http://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/16/ge-br...g-sources.html

The cheapest Ferraris start at $188,000. I can't begin to imagine what this one will sell for:

Ferrari plans to make an electric supercar that would compete with Tesla

http://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/16/ferra...ith-tesla.html

Here is a two-sentence headline from the Los Angeles Times. The statistic in the second sentence is largely responsible for the statistic in the first sentence. Doy!

Movie attendance fell 6% in 2017. Meanwhile, ticket prices hit a record high.

http://www.latimes.com/business/holl...117-story.html

So many mergers and buyouts lately! I fear that eventually we will wind up with just one broadcasting company, one food manufacturer, one automobile manufacturer, one hotel chain, one drugstore chain, one restaurant chain, one movie studio, one banking corporation.......

Wyndham Worldwide to buy La Quinta's hotel business for $1.95 billion

http://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/18/wyndh...5-billion.html

Oooh, such excitement! This is like an NCAA tournament. I wonder what cities will be in the "Final Four."

Amazon narrows list of cities for new headquarters to 20

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

Analysts expected IBM's earnings would be $5.17 per share. They were $5.18 per share. Wooo!

IBM's first revenue rise in nearly six years tops estimates
International Business Machines Corp's revenue rose for the first time in 23 quarters and beat analysts' estimates as the company’s shift into its focus areas such as cloud computing and security services gains traction.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-i...KBN1F732Z?il=0

Because, gosh darnit, Amazon just hasn't been making enough money lately.

Amazon boosts monthly fee for Prime by $2, maintains yearly rate

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-am...-idUSKBN1F81P3

There is an old song that begins "What a difference a day makes." Well, look what a difference an ounce can make:

United Airlines saves 170,000 gallons of fuel by using lighter paper on inflight magazine
Los Angeles Times, Jan 20 2018 06:00 AM

What difference can an ounce make on an airplane? If you are United Airlines, with 4,500 flights a day, an ounce can add up. The Chicago-based carrier said it recently began printing its inflight magazine Hemisphere on lighter paper, cutting one ounce from each magazine. It now weighs 6.85 ounces. United has also switched to lighter paper on its seatback service guides. The carrier operates 744 mainline planes that vary in size, carrying 50 to 366 passengers each. For a typical 737 plane carrying 179 passengers, the reduction is about 11 pounds per flight. The airline said the slight weight reduction is saving 170,000 gallons of fuel a year, or $290,000 in annual fuel costs.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...120-story.html

Here is another good reason to go back to the old-fashioned method of paying for something by writing a check. Or, heck, maybe even use good old American money!

OnePlus confirms hack exposed credit card numbers of 40,000 phone buyers

http://www.zdnet.com/article/oneplus...-phone-buyers/

I bet shoplifters will regard this store as a challenge. They will soon find a way to steal food without being detected by the cameras and sensors.

Amazon's automated grocery store of the future opens Monday
Reuters, Jan 21 2018 10:48 AM

Amazon will open its checkout-free Amazon Go grocery store in Seattle to the public on Monday after more than a year of testing, moving forward on an experiment that could dramatically alter brick-and-mortar retail. To start shopping, customers must scan an Amazon Go smartphone app and pass through a gated turnstile. Sleek black cameras monitoring from above and weight sensors in the shelves help Amazon determine exactly what people take. Cash registers and checkout lines become superfluous. Customers are billed after leaving the store using credit cards on file. Amazon has not said if or when it will add more Go locations.

https://www.aol.com/article/finance/...nday/23339175/

"He is neither qualified nor capable of successfully running this company." Hey, Carl, tell us what you really think.

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn makes push to remove Xerox CEO Jeffrey Jacobson, add four new members to board

http://www.usnews.com/news/business/...move-xerox-ceo

Remember the good old days when people would watch television shows on a television set and see movies in a movie theater?

Netflix saw record subscriber growth in fourth quarter, fueled by new content

http://www.latimes.com/business/holl...-q4-story.html

Musk's compensation, to use a Frank Sinatra song title, could be "all or nothing at all."

Tesla unveils pay plan for Elon Musk: Depending on stock price, he could get nothing for 10 years

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...123-story.html

Cara owns 1,259 restaurants, mostly in Canada, and just bought 106 more.

Cara Operations, owner of Harvey's and Swiss Chalet, buying steakhouse chain The Keg for $200 million

http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/business...ions-1.4499652

Proving the truth of the old adage "Cheaters never prosper."

EU antitrust officials fine Qualcomm $1.2 billion for paying Apple to use its chips in iPhones and iPads

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

Toys Я Bankrupt plans to shutter one-fifth of their US stores. Can we blame Amazon and Walmart.com?

Toys Я Us to close 180 stores across the US
The closures are scheduled to begin in early February and run through mid-April. The retailer hopes to restructure and emerge from bankruptcy.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/24/toys...ss-the-us.html