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More than 15,000 retail stores in the US have gone out of business since 2017. Another 75,000 could close by 2026 as more and more people shop online. Jeff Bezos probably is not complaining.
'Retail apocalypse' now: Analysts say 75,000 more US stores may be doomed
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/comp...med/ar-BBVNB0I
We are continually bombarded with advertising: radio, television, magazines, newspapers, billboards, websites, robocalls -- and Walmart is going to do its small part to make sure the bombardment continues. But, hey, if there's money to be made.....
Walmart acquires Silicon Valley startup Polymorph Labs as it works to build an advertising business like Amazon's
https://www.businessinsider.com/walm...isition-2019-4
Amazon sold nearly $300 billion worth of goods last year -- so I wouldn't start feeling sorry for Jeff Bezos just yet.
Jeff Bezos just confirmed Amazon's growth is slowing
https://www.latimes.com/business/la-...411-story.html
Uber is going public after losing $1.8 billion in 2018. Yeah, what a great investment opportunity, eh?
Uber files to go public after a long, bumpy road
https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/10/tech/uber-ipo/index.html
Amazon is erecting huge tents for the sorting and loading of packages. The battle to be the dominant parcel delivery service is really getting in-tents. (Ouch!)
Amazon is delivering packages out of giant 'carnival' tents in a mad race to catch up to UPS, FedEx, USPS
https://www.businessinsider.com/amaz...s-fedex-2019-4
"Alexa, can you tell me if Amazon respects and values my privacy?" "I would have to say no. Here is a story for you."
Amazon reportedly employs thousands of people to listen to your Alexa conversations
https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/11/tech/...ing/index.html
Retailers' woes are worsening.
Bed Bath & Beyond to close 40 stores
https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/13/busin...ing/index.html
Fred's to close 159 stores and start clearance sales at 360 locations
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money...es/3425057002/
US retail stores' planned closings already exceed 2018 total
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/12/b...-closings.html
AT&T sold its 9.5% interest in Hulu for $1.43 billion in a deal that values Hulu at $15 billion. AT&T's WarnerMedia will start its own streaming service this year. It will compete with Disney+. Good luck with that!
Hulu buys back AT&T's stake, leaving Disney and Comcast as co-owners
https://www.engadget.com/2019/04/15/...ney-as-owners/
Brothers Henry and Richard Bloch founded a tax preparation business in 1955 in Kansas City. Realizing their name could be mispronounced as "blotch," they called their company H&R Block. It is now the world's largest tax-services provider, with 12,000 offices in the US, Canada, India and Australia. Richard died in 2013. Henry died today – and H&R shares (NYSE: HRB) fell 0.40 (1.5%) to close at 26.31.
H&R Block co-founder Henry Bloch dies at 96
https://www.kshb.com/news/local-news...och-dies-at-96
Two Kroger markets and six Walgreens are testing these "embedded cameras," supposedly so they can target individual shoppers with specific ads on video screens attached to the shelves. Yeah, we don't see nearly enough advertising each day. And these Orwellian cameras analyze each shopper's emotional state. That is an invasion of privacy – and it's scary.
Coming to store shelves: cameras that can guess your age, gender and mood
https://www.king5.com/article/news/n...d-b696ff4e9dad
Memo to Amazon shoppers: When you have to pay an annual fee of $119 for an Amazon Prime membership, that "free shipping" isn't really free. Doy!
Amazon is spending $800 million this quarter to make free one-day shipping the default for Prime members
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/25/amaz...e-default.html
Many workers in the 1950s and '60s worried that they might be replaced by a machine. Six decades later, workers have to worry about being fired by a machine. This is progress?
Amazon's warehouse-worker tracking system can automatically fire people without a human supervisor's involvement
https://www.businessinsider.com/amaz...ff-task-2019-4
Shares of 3M fell 13% yesterday, the biggest one-day drop since 1987. 3M, the maker of Scotch tape, Nexcare bandages and Post-it notes, will lay off 2% of its workforce.
3M posts grim first quarter, will cut 2,000 jobs worldwide
http://www.startribune.com/3m-posts-...ide/509051782/
If Elon Musk granted these refunds, he and Tesla would receive a lot of favorable publicity – but two years ago he told Rolling Stone he was "brutally bullied" at school until he was 15. He may see these billboards as another form of bullying.
A Chinese ride-hailing company is so unhappy with its fleet of 278 Tesla cars that it bought billboards in Times Square to demand refunds
Shenma Zhuanche took inspiration from the movie Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri to get Tesla's attention.
https://www.businessinsider.com/tesl...huanche-2019-4
Today, after this news came out, Amazon closed at 1962.46, a gain of 61.64, and Berkshire Hathaway Class A closed at 327,765.61, a gain of 3551.61. I guess it's safe to assume Warren Buffett gets free two-day shipping from Amazon Prime.
Warren Buffett: Berkshire Hathaway has been buying Amazon stock
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money...tt/3660715002/
Disney's $71.3 billion takeover of Fox assets was finalized in March and included 22 regional Fox Sports channels. Antitrust regulators were concerned that Disney, which owns ESPN, would have too much control of the TV sports market and gave Disney 90 days to sell the sports channels. Pending Justice Department approval, the new owner of Fox Sports is Sinclair Broadcast Group, which owns nearly 200 local television stations nationwide. Combined, the channels, which will be renamed, own the broadcast rights to 16 NBA teams, 14 MLB teams and 12 NHL teams.
Sinclair buys 21 regional sports networks from Disney in $10.6 billion deal
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/03/b...-networks.html
Los Angeles aerospace manufacturing company Relativity Space is using 3D printers to build rockets. 3D printers. Yeah, what could possibly go wrong?
A small space startup that's never launched a rocket keeps landing big contracts
https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/06/tech/...ace/index.html
Bezos declared, "It's time to go back to the moon, this time to stay." All I can say is: "Have a nice time, Jeff! Don't forget to write."
Jeff Bezos unveils new plans for Blue Origin spaceflight
https://www.cnn.com/business/live-ne...89633989b1bc1d
Sam Calagione founded Dogfish Head Brewery in 1995 in Milton, Delaware. It's named after a cape in Maine where Calagione spent several summers. Spiny dogfish, which are related to sharks, are abundant in the waters there – and I doubt they drink beer.
The brewers of Sam Adams and Dogfish Head merge in $300 million deal
https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/09/busin...ger/index.html
As an old song says, "Turn out the lights; the party's over." These closures represent about 5% of their stores. Shares of Party City (PRTY) reached $16.80 ten months ago. For the past 30 days, they've averaged $7.46.
Party City to close 45 stores this year amid global helium shortage
https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/loca...509748211.html