Business news 2024

[Rewind]

Spirit Airlines, originally Charter One Airlines, was founded in 1983 in Detroit. JetBlue Airways Corporation, originally NewAir, was founded in 1999 in Forest Hills, New York. Shares of Spirit closed today at 7.92, a drop of 7.05 (47.09%). Shares of JetBlue closed at 5.13, a gain of 0.24 (4.91%).

Judge blocks JetBlue from buying Spirit Airlines
A federal judge said the $3.8 billion deal would reduce competition in the airline industry.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jetbl...b093ad7a0c77a6

[Rewind]

Burger King, originally Insta-Burger King, was founded in 1953 by Keith Kramer and Matthew Burns in Jacksonville, Florida. There are now more than 19,700 Burger Kings worldwide. Shares of parent company Restaurant Brands International closed today at 75.83, a drop of 2.62 (3.34%).

Burger King is buying its largest franchisee for $1 billion
Parent Restaurant Brands International plans to spend $500 million to remodel Carrols Restaurant Group's more than 1,000 locations before reselling them to smaller franchisees.

https://www.restaurantbusinessonline...-franchisee-1b

[Rewind]

Single-use plastic bags are banned in California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Hawai'i, Maine, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington and in hundreds of individual cities. Markets, drugstores and retailers happily charge their customers between five and 20 cents each for paper bags and for thicker, reusable plastic bags. They will also happily sell you – for as much as $2.95 – reusable bags made of canvas or fabric. Government officials insist the plastic bag bans are all about protecting the environment. In truth, the bans are all about forcing the stores to charge for bags which used to be free. Thus the stores make millions of extra dollars and have to pay taxes on that income – and that is what the plastic bag bans are all about: bringing in more tax revenue for states, counties and cities.

Aldi eliminates plastic shopping bags in all 2,300 US grocery stores

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money...d/72248373007/

[Rewind]

Between 1843 and 1855, Rowland Hussey Macy opened four dry goods stores in Massachusetts. They all failed. He moved to New York City in 1958 and opened R.H. Macy Dry Goods on Sixth Avenue. It succeeded. There are now 508 Macy's stores – soon to be 503 – in the United States, Guam and Puerto Rico. Shares of Macy's closed today at 17.63, a drop of 0.30 (1.67%).

Macy's to slash 2,350 jobs, close five stores in streamlining effort

https://www.reuters.com/business/ret...rt-2024-01-18/

[Rewind]

Shares of Microsoft hit a record high of $405.63 today, making Microsoft the second company to reach $3 trillion in valuation. On June 30, 2023, shares of Apple closed at $193.97, giving Apple a valuation of $3.05 trillion. Shares of Microsoft closed today at 402.56, a gain of 3.66 (0.92%).

Microsoft hits $3 trillion market value, second to Apple

https://www.reuters.com/technology/m...ue-2024-01-24/

[Rewind]

Over the past 26 months, Elon Musk's net worth has fallen from $320 billion to $205 billion. Let's have a show of hands: Who feels sorry for him? Only one person? Wow, who is that? Oh, it's you, Elon. Sorry, you don't count.

Elon Musk loses title as world's richest person to LVMH patriarch Bernard Arnault, paying the price for January rout in Tesla stock

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/elon-...130024053.html

[Rewind]

In an interview that aired on January 8 on the right-wing platform Lindell TV, Donald Trump said our economy is "fragile" and "running off the fumes" of the Trump administration. He predicted the stock market would crash and hoped it would happen "in the next 12 months" during Biden's Presidency. Well, the stock market is doing quite well, thank you – and today Trump is taking credit for it..

Trump claims credit for record-high stock market using bogus reasoning
The former President claimed his polls against Biden are "so good that investors are projecting that I will win, and that will drive the market up."

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump...b01c5c3a37c29b

[Rewind]

Johnson & Johnson had revenue of $85 billion in 2023; Pfizer had revenue of $58.5 billion; AbbVie, maker of Humira, had revenue of $54.3 billion; and Merck had revenue of $53.6 billion. Clearly that is not enough for them.

Pharma companies raise prices on 910 drugs amid 'historic' negotiations

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...e/72198152007/

[Rewind]

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration sets and enforces Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. One of those standards requires the font size on warning indicators to be at least 3.2 millimeters. Elon Musk apparently didn't know that. Shares of Tesla closed today at 181.06, a drop of 6.85 (3.65%).

Tesla recalling nearly 2.2 million vehicles for software update to fix warning lights that are too small

https://apnews.com/article/tesla-rec...6e51cd39627cf0

[Rewind]

The new streaming service, according to a press release, will offer "ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNEWS, ESPN+, SECN, ACCN, ABC, FOX, FS1, FS2, BTN, TNT, TBS and truTV." Shares of ESPN parent company Disney closed today at 99.14, a drop of 0.15 (0.15%). Shares of Fox closed at 27.44, a drop of 1.90 (6.48%). Shares of Warner Bros Discovery closed at 9.75, a drop of 0.32 (3.18).

ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros are launching a new sports streaming service. It could change TV forever.

https://www.businessinsider.com/espn...ange-tv-2024-2