Business news 2020

[Rewind]

In 2020 we can expect more concept stores, more pop-up stores, more "cord cutting," voice assistants in automobiles, huge growth in quantum computing and artificial intelligence, an increase in sales of secondhand goods and clothing, attempts to influence the Presidential election through deepfake videos.......and, possibly, the long-expected demise of Sears and Kmart. We shall see.

25 tech predictions for 2020
Much will be different, relative to ten years ago.

https://www.inc.com/christina-desmar...-for-2020.html

Here are Wall Street's favorite stocks for 2020

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/30/here...-for-2020.html

Experts reveal their biggest predictions for how retail will change in 2020

https://www.businessinsider.com/reta...s-2020-2019-12

[Rewind]

Amazon does not release sales figures but did report that holiday sales in 2019 "broke all records." Bezos lost $10 billion last year. He'll easily make it up this year. Heck, maybe he already has.

Jeff Bezos lost more than $10 billion in 2019 because of his divorce – but is still the richest person on the planet

https://www.businessinsider.com/jeff...ichest-2019-12

[Rewind]

Can flight attendants' uniforms really cause fatigue, nosebleeds and blurred vision? I highly doubt it. Anyone who believes that must have her head in the clouds.

Delta employees sue Lands' End alleging uniforms made them sick

https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/02/busin...uit/index.html

[Rewind]

Drug manufacturers raise prices every January just because they can. The price of 411 drugs just increased by an average of 5%. On July 31, 2019, the Department of Health & Human Services proposed a plan to lower costs by allowing imports of FDA-approved drugs from Canada. CEOs of American pharmaceutical companies immediately objected, warning that drugs imported from Canada could have been manufactured anywhere and may not even be safe to take. Their warnings are baseless. They just don't want to see their outrageously high profit margins diminished.

2020 is three days old and drug prices are already jumping

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/heal...ing/ar-BBYAZkv

[Rewind]

On January 30, Amazon will issue its earnings report for Q4 2019. Amazon's sales in 2018 totaled $232.89 billion, a 31% increase over the previous year. Total sales in 2019 are expected to be 25 to 30% higher than in 2018. So.......does Amazon really need to open brick-and-mortar stores? I think not.

Amazon considers opening stores in Germany: report

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-a...-idUSKBN1Z30G3

[Rewind]

The commercials proclaim, "Milk. It does a body good." A growing number of Americans no longer believe that and are switching to milk made from soy, rice or almonds. An estimated 2,700 dairy farms have shut down in the past 18 months. Dean Foods, the nation's largest milk producer, filed for bankruptcy last November. Borden, founded in 1857, filed for bankruptcy yesterday.

Borden becomes second big US milk producer to file for bankruptcy

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...for-bankruptcy

[Rewind]

Our nation's obesity epidemic is caused in large part by people's lack of physical activity. Many people no longer go shopping; they buy things online and they have groceries delivered. Many people no longer go out to eat; they have restaurant food delivered. Many people no longer go to movies; they stream films at home. Soon they won't even have to get out of their car to pay for gasoline. What next?

'Alexa, pay for gas': ExxonMobil and Amazon team up at the pump

https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/06/busin...xon/index.html

[Rewind]

The first Pier 1 store, originally known as Import Cargo, opened in 1962 in San Mateo, California. There are now more than 1,000 Pier 1 stores in the United States and Canada. Today, after Pier 1 announced plans to close hundreds of stores and distribution centers and lay off 40% of the staff (around 300 people) at its Fort Worth headquarters, its shares (NYSE: PIR) fell $1.05 and closed at $5.17, a loss of 16.93%.

Pier 1 Imports to close up to 450 stores amid widening losses

https://www.wsj.com/articles/pier-1-...es-11578360169

[Rewind]

Last August, President Trump bragged about his tariffs and his trade war with China: "We're collecting 25% on $250 billion of Chinese products and China is paying. Don't let anyone tell you we're paying. We're not paying." Let's leave Trumpworld for a few minutes and look at the real world:

American consumers, not China, are paying for Trump's tariffs

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/06/b...r-tariffs.html

Trump tariffs have hurt US manufacturing jobs

https://seekingalpha.com/article/431...facturing-jobs

US factory orders drop again amid manufacturing slump

https://markets.businessinsider.com/...0-1-1028800481

US manufacturing activity drops to weakest level since June 2009

https://markets.businessinsider.com/...0-1-1028793592

[Rewind]

Yum Brands – was their name picked by a 10-year-old boy? – is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky and owns more than 49,000 restaurants worldwide, including KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and WingStreet. Habit Burger Grill operates 245 restaurants in 12 states, China and the United Arab Emirates. The majority are in California.

Yum Brands buys Habit Burger Grill for $375 million, challenging McDonald's, Burger King

https://www.freep.com/story/money/20...king/40951167/