Business news 2019

[Rewind]

New York-based Philip Morris International makes Marlboro, Philip Morris, Lark, Merit, L&M, Chesterfield, Parliament, Virginia Slims and many other brands of cigarettes but the percentage of people who smoke cigarettes is steadily declining and the number of people who use smokeless e-cigarettes is increasing. PMI's CEO wants the company to quit producing regular cigarettes and instead focus on "safer alternatives." If he's really so concerned about safety, PMI wouldn't make any kind of cigarettes. I'm guessing his main concern is not safety but profits. PMI stock fell 23% last month.

Philip Morris wants to end cigarette production

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/comp...1j73?ocid=AMZN

[Rewind]

From Disney/Pixar to a studio that's been in business less than two years. How the mighty have fallen! Skydance Animation has four films in development. The first, Luck, is set for release in March 2021.

Ousted Pixar chief John Lasseter hired by Skydance Animation

https://variety.com/2019/film/news/j...ce-1203103804/

[Rewind]

I do not consider self-driving cars to be safe and I would never ride in one -- but I have to admit that if we have groceries delivered by a self-driving car, we won't have to worry about a driver sneaking a few bites of our food during the trip.

China's Baidu will help deliver Walmart groceries in self-driving vans
CNN Business, Jan 9 2019 8:05 AM

China's leading search engine will soon be helping make deliveries for Walmart, bringing it into direct competition with Google's driverless technology. California startup Udelv will deploy self-driving vans using Baidu's technology in Surprise, Arizona, as part of a pilot program to deliver fresh groceries for Walmart. Udelv has developed a fleet of autonomous delivery vans on Baidu's open-source autonomous driving platform, Apollo.

The partnership with Baidu comes amid heightened trade tensions between the United States and China, a lot of which are centered around advanced technologies, and highlights how companies from the two countries continue to work together. The self-driving delivery vans will be used by other US companies in San Mateo and Houston.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/09/tech/...elv/index.html

[Rewind]

I am not surprised smartphone sales are declining. Judging by the percentage of people I see in public who are talking on a cell phone or texting or staring at the screen, I doubt there are many people who don't already own a smartphone.

Global smartphone sales fell for the first time ever in 2018. This year may be better.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/09/tech/...omi/index.html

[Rewind]

The growth of Amazon's Go stores has put a stop to any new 365 stores. (Hey, not all my story intros can be classics!)

Amazon-owned Whole Foods scraps smaller 365 store expansion
Yahoo Finance, Jan 11 2019

Whole Foods Market once had an ambitious plan to broaden customer appeal with its 365 stores but now it's saying goodbye to the cheaper and smaller store format. Whole Foods CEO John Mackey told employees the grocery chain will not open any new Whole Foods 365 stores. The existing 12 stores, the newest of which opened in Atlanta in December, will remain in business. Amazon has been rolling out discounts and weekly deals for Prime members who shop at Whole Foods stores. But in August, 40% of more than 2,000 Whole Foods shoppers surveyed by Yahoo Finance said they believe the prices of products in the stores aren't really lower.

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/whol...173614733.html

[Rewind]

MasterOfPuppets might also be a MasterOfScams. He posted the above ad, disguised as a news story, to eight different threads. My advice? Ignore it. Do not click on it. And now for some real news -- in fact, some scary news:

There's a simple reason why your new smart TV was so affordable: It's collecting and selling your data

https://www.businessinsider.com/smar...rtising-2019-1

[Rewind]

On January 9, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, whose net worth is $144 billion, announced he and MacKenzie were divorcing after 25 years of marriage. Hours later, we learned the reason: Bezos had been having an affair with news anchor and entertainment reporter Lauren Sánchez. MacKenzie's divorce papers were just delivered to him.

[Rewind]

President Trump promised to lower drug prices. It was a nice promise but one which he failed to keep. In fact, prices of more than a thousand drugs rose this month. Democrats, led by Bernie Sanders, Elijah Cummings and Ro Khanna, are determined to discover "why drug companies are increasing prices so dramatically, how drug companies are using the proceeds and what steps can be taken to reduce prescription drug prices." Good luck!

House Democrats launch drug-pricing probe into a dozen major health-care companies
The House Oversight Committee is investigating the actions of a dozen pharmaceutical companies. Chairman Elijah Cummings sent letters to AbbVie, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Celgene, Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson, Mallinckrodt, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Sanofi and Teva Pharmaceuticals.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/14/hous...companies.html

[Rewind]

This morning, CNN posted this story:

PG&E, California utility tied to wildfires, will file for bankruptcy

https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/14/busin...res/index.html

And moments ago CNN posted this shocking update -- and yes, that is another of my notoriously bad puns:

"Shares of Pacific Gas & Electric are down roughly 50% in early trading after the energy company said it will file for bankruptcy on January 29. California's largest utility is facing billions of dollars in claims over the deadly 2018 Camp Fire. It cited at least $7 billion in claims from the fire, which caused 86 deaths and destroyed 14,000 homes. Shareholders are generally wiped out in the bankruptcy process. Shares of PG&E were already down 63% since the start of the Camp Fire in November."

[Rewind]

Gort, Rosie, Robby, Marvin, Ultron, R2-D2, C-3PO and WALL-E could have used the work -- but no, the supermarket chains had to create new robots.

'Marty' the robot ready to roll at nearly 500 Stop & Shop, Giant Food and Martin's stores
CBS News, Jan 14 2019 6:26 PM ET

Robotic assistants will soon be deployed in nearly 500 Stop & Shop, Giant Food and Giant Martin's stores, parent company Ahold Delhaize USA announced today. Dubbed "Marty," the in-store robots will be used to identify potential safety hazards such as spills of liquid, powder or bulk food items in store aisles and to issue an alert for clean-up. Robots are performing many tasks at other retailers. Walmart plans to have 360 robotic mops scrubbing store floors starting this month and Amazon is using artificial intelligence to rid stores in Seattle and Chicago of cashiers and checkout lines.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/robots-...and-stop-shop/