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☆ How big companies are contending with a frenzy of demand for Ozempic from their workers
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Demand for expensive weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy is soaring. Companies that foot the bill for their workers' health coverage are mulling whether to pay for them. Across the US, companies are facing a critical decision: whether to foot the bill for the expensive weight-loss drugs that have exploded in popularity in recent months. Andrews estimated that more than half the companies in the alliance covered weight-loss drugs. Andrews' comments offer a window into how big US companies are grappling with the rising demand for and high costs of weight-loss treatment.

☆ Drone maker Zipline, on track for 1 million deliveries, adds vitamins, pizzas and prescriptions to cargo
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Carolyn Chun | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

watch nowDrone technology company Zipline, which rose to prominence flying critical medical supplies like blood bags and vaccines over rugged terrain in Rwanda, has seen the commercial side of its business boom. Deals with Walmart, and a new drone design, are making Zipline a bigger player in the world of retail and home delivery, and not only in hard-to-reach places. On Wednesday, the company announced new delivery deals in the U.S., with nutritional supplement and wellness retail company GNC for Salt Lake City, and Seattle-area pizza chain Pagliacci Pizza for the greater Seattle metro area. Pagliacci and Zipline have created a new custom-designed pizza box to fit two 13" pizzas and side dishes in Zipline drones. Rinaudo Cliffton said that Zipline has already delivered in urban cities across the U.S. where people don't expect this technology to start.

☆ Ukraine's special operators have been 'taking it to the Russians,' the head of US Special Operations Command says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Stavros Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Ukrainian special operators have been putting their US-provided training to use against Russia. Ukrainian special-operations forces will also have a key role in the outcome of those battles. Ukrainian commandos on the jobRomanian, Ukrainian, and US Army Green Berets train in Romania in May 2021. Roxana DavidovitsAs Russian forces poured into the country at the start of the war, Ukrainian special operators went hunting. SOCOM had also incorporated a focus on unconventional warfare, a specialty of US Army Special Forces, into its training.

☆ Zipline: 2023 CNBC Disruptor 50
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Cnbc.Com Staff | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

But with the release of its latest drone, Zipline is spreading its unmanned wings far beyond medicine. Zipline also has relationships with medical providers in the country, and in recent years has conducted long-range medical drone flights in challenging geographies including the Appalachian regions of North Carolina. In 2022, Zipline became the first company to receive FAA Part 135 approval for long-range drone delivery in the U.S., a huge step towards greater domestic expansion. From lunch deliveries with Sweetgreen to health prescriptions from Walmart, Zipline can maneuver peak order times by creating its Zips in a way that automatically redistributes the drones from dock to dock for loading and launching. Zipline has already completed 540,000 deliveries to customers, which is more than what Alphabet and Amazon have delivered combined.

Jefferies says specialty plumbing and appliances distributor Ferguson is a high-quality business "poised to take [market] share." Its new price target of $181 implies shares rallying 28% from Monday's close. "FERG is uniquely positioned to service compared to smaller competitors due to its scale & breadth of products," analyst Philip Ng wrote in a Tuesday note. "FERG should be resilient in a downturn, driven by its pricing power, high variable cost structure and capital light model. FERG's pricing power & limited exposure to commodity products drive stable gross margins through the cycle."

☆ Who’s a Good Boy? Ask These Westminster Judges.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Emily Anthes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

On a cold February day more than two decades ago, Ted Eubank, a dog breeder from Texas, stepped into the ring at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show for the first time. The crowd around the ring was 10 people deep, he recalled recently. In the years since, Mr. Eubank has become a seasoned Westminster competitor; his Cavaliers, including one indomitable champion named Rocky, have been named the best of their breed several times. But on Monday, Mr. Eubank will be a rookie again when he makes his debut as a Westminster judge. He expects to feel a familiar flutter when he steps into the ring.

☆ Things to do in Nagoya, Japan
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( John Walton | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

In the years since, the city has proven the opposite is true, according to Nagoya residents Lena Yamaguchi and Elisabeth Lloris. Ruben Earth/Getty ImagesIf you’ve traveled by Shinkansen bullet train between Tokyo and Osaka, you’ve passed through Nagoya, and might even remember the skyscraper district around its central railway station. Just 45 minutes from Nagoya Station on the private (non-JR) Meitetsu railway, the area between Inuyama station and its castle has been sympathetically restored in recent years. Back in Nagoya, a few kilometers east of Nagoya Castle you’ll find the Tokugawa Art Museum, one of Japan’s finest private museums, which holds several National Treasures of Japan thanks to its connection with the Tokugawa clan dynasty. If cars are your thing, then the Toyota Automobile Museum, about 45 minutes east of Nagoya Station, features some 140 historical vehicles.

WASHINGTON, May 5 (Reuters) - The Biden administration on Friday launched a $4 billion effort to electrify U.S. ports and cut heavy duty truck emissions as the government looks to address disproportionate impacts on nearby communities. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it was seeking input in its $3 billion Clean Ports Program to reduce pollutants at U.S. ports and its $1 billion Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicle Program to reduce vehicle emissions near ports and other truck routes. EPA wants details about the availability, market price, and performance of zero-emission trucks, zero-emission port equipment, electric charging and other infrastructure needs for zero-emission technologies. The Senate voted 50-49 last week to overturn those rules that aim to drastically cut smog- and soot-forming emissions from heavy-duty trucks but President Joe Biden has promised to veto the measure. The EPA proposed in April new sweeping cuts to medium- and heavy-duty tailpipe emissions limits.

☆ Best rice dishes: 20 delicious specialties from around the world
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Terry Ward | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +16 min

And while famous rice dishes such as sushi, fried rice and paella are among the most prominent in the global spotlight, there are so many more rice recipes out there to put on your radar – and seek out on your travels. Wali wa kukaanga, KenyaWali wa kukaanga is Kenya’s answer to fried rice, and translates to just that in Swahili. So it’s no surprise that the Polynesian island country’s most popular rice dish, alaisa fa’apopo, has ties to the coconut, too. Thai fried rice (Khao Pad), ThailandThai fried rice uses the layering of flavors that's characteristic of the country's cuisine. ArenaCreative/Adobe StockWhen it comes to fried rice, the Chinese version tends to steal the spotlight.

OAKLAND, California, May 4 (Reuters) - Impact Nano, a Massachusetts-based startup that makes specialty chemicals for the semiconductor industry and others, said on Thursday it raised $32 million in funding from investors including Intel Capital and Goldman Sachs Asset Management. And they are made in regions of political instability," said Matthew Stephens, CEO and co-founder of Impact Nano. Stephens said Impact Nano is inventing new ways to produce chemicals that chip makers use. Stephens also said Impact Nano is looking to apply for some of the CHIPS Act funding that will support the suppliers for semiconductor manufacturing. Goldman Sachs Asset Management is part of Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) and Intel Capital is the investment arm of U.S. chip giant Intel Corp (INTC.O).

☆ Billionaire investor Howard Marks tells clients he is taking a leave of absence after a recent throat cancer diagnosis: 'I should be fully back in action around mid-summer'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Rebecca Ungarino | Kaja Whitehouse | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Howard Marks told clients that he is taking a leave of absence after a throat cancer diagnosis. Marks, who cofounded Oaktree, said he expects to be "fully back in action around mid-summer." Marks, 77, does not expect "any negative consequences from the treatment, or any lasting limitations on my activities." Billionaire investor and Oaktree Capital Management co-chairman Howard Marks said in a note to Oaktree clients on Wednesday that he is taking a leave of absence while he undergoes treatment after a recent throat cancer diagnosis. "I'm writing to let you know I was recently diagnosed with a relatively common form of throat cancer.

☆ Factbox: Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway at a glance
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

[1/2] Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett walks through the exhibit hall as shareholders gather to hear from the billionaire investor at Berkshire Hathaway Inc's annual shareholder meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, U.S., May 4, 2019. REUTERS/Scott Morgan/File PhotoMay 4 (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of people are descending on Omaha, Nebraska to attend the annual shareholder weekend for billionaire investor Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N). Susan Buffett and Howard Buffett are Berkshire directors. His Berkshire stock will go to philanthropy after he dies. (Interview with CNBC, April 12, 2023)Abel on Berkshire managers' relationship with him: "It's not the same as working for Warren.

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☆ Inside Wells Fargo's 'chaotic' journey to transform its services for the ultrarich
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Hayley Cuccinello | Reed Alexander | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +23 min

In late 2020, some 300 Wells Fargo employees were summoned to a conference call. "I actually welcomed that, although I did like Abbot Downing," he said of folding Abbot Downing into the private bank. One team of legacy Abbot Downing employees with $3.5 billion in assets left for Hirtle Callaghan in June 2021. Today, Ginter runs a registered investment advisor called Callan Family Office, which some former Abbot Downing employees refer to as "the new Abbot Downing." Are you a current or former client of Wells Fargo Private Bank or Abbot Downing?

Bunge reaffirmed its full-year 2023 outlook of adjusted earnings of $11 per share, citing likely weaker results from its Agribusiness and Milling divisions but improved profits in its Refined and Specialty Oils unit. Bunge and other supply chain middlemen, including Archer-Daniels-Midland Co (ADM.N) and Cargill Inc (CARG.UL), have generally benefited from strong global crop demand and tightening supplies, with record profits last year. The worst drought in decades has slashed grain and soy harvests in Argentina, depriving Bunge of the crops it needs to process. First-quarter adjusted profit in Bunge's Agribusiness unit, its largest in terms of revenue and volumes, dropped 18% on the year. Bunge said results were strong in all regions in its Refined and Specialty Oils division, with notable strength in North America and South America, reflecting favorable food and fuel demand trends.

☆ This is the best off-price retailer to own in this shaky economic environment
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Paulina Likos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Analysts at a major Wall Street research firm see multi-year growth and share gains ahead for off-price retailers. Under this scenario, lower-income consumers will choose to spend their money at off-price retailers. The analysts like Ross Stores (ROST) best, and called Burlington Stores (BURL) high-risk, high-reward, with a multi-year turnaround story. Bank of America, in a note this week, emphasized that the off-price retailers, including TJX, will be eager to take over the additional closed Bed Bath & Beyond locations. Bottom line We're encouraged to hear from Bernstein that lower-income consumers might be ready to spend more at off-price retailers, leading the analysts to say they would view "Q1 off-price weakness as an entry point" into the stocks.

☆ Amazon, Target, and Walmart will be the biggest winners from Bed Bath & Beyond's demise
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Dominick Reuter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Bed Bath & Beyond has filed for bankruptcy and is conducting an "orderly wind down" of its stores. 1 in several of the categories that Bed Bath & Beyond is best known for: kitchen and bathroom supplies, decor, storage, and bedding. Consumers will have fewer options with the demise of Bed Bath & Beyond, said Peter Greene, Numerator's Insights Practice Director for General Merchandise, in a statement. "Bed Bath & Beyond was slow to embrace and adopt the e-commerce boom, which was pioneered, advanced, and utilized to great success by direct competitors like Target, Walmart, and Amazon," Bed Bath & Beyond CFO Holly Etlin wrote in bankruptcy filings. Bed Bath & Beyond's sales plummeted from $11.1 billion in 2019 to an estimated $5.4 billion in 2022.

Wells Fargo's Legal Specialty Group reported a 1.5% drop in demand, calculated as the number of hours lawyers billed. Firms among the 50 highest-grossing U.S. law firms saw a 2% drop compared to the first quarter of 2022, the report said. The average number of hours lawyers billed in the first quarter of 2023 was down 6% from the same period last year, from 1,634 to 1,536 hours, Wells Fargo found. The survey included 66 of the top 100 U.S. law firms by revenue as identified by The American Lawyer. Owen Burman, a senior consultant in the Wells Fargo unit, said it was surprising to see any growth at all.

☆ Hedge funds bet consumers will rein in U.S. spending - Goldman Sachs
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Nell Mackenzie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

U.S. consumer spending plateaued in March, a sign that Americans may have become more averse to higher prices, data released last week showed. In Europe, stocks saw net buying by hedge funds for a fourth straight month in April, driven mainly by hedge funds buying to exit short positions in macro economic sectors, the Goldman Sachs note said. Goldman added that developed markets in Asia, especially Japan, saw net buying from hedge funds. Japanese stocks saw net buying by hedge funds for a fourth straight month and the largest level of notional net buying in two years, the note said. Global hedge funds that focus on buying and selling stocks posted a 0.58% increase in asset weighted returns, said the note.

Government officials, worried about a constrained labor force in a state where population growth has stalled, have taken a cover-the-waterfront approach. After raising starting wages from $17 an hour to around $24 and overhauling hiring strategies, Drees still has 200 open jobs at this and two nearby facilities, where he is hoping to add to current staffing of 1,200. That reshuffling may be one reason the Fed is finding it harder than expected to slow a job market struggling to match workers into open positions. Minnesota has had a particularly large imbalance: The 12-month moving average of available positions last year reached 2.75 for every unemployed person. "Nowadays you look online and there are just hundreds of day-shift job positions," he said.

☆ Why Tesla keeps making the Model S and X even as sales dwindle
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Production ramped up slowly, but by 2017, Tesla was selling more than 100,000 a year of the Model S and its SUV sibling, the Model X. Similarly, pricing for the Model X SUV starts at about $98,000 but the smaller Model Y starts at just $47,000. Still, much like the S-class for Mercedes-Benz, the Model S remains Tesla’s flagship model, representing the brand. In fact, within its competitive class, the Tesla Model S and X are good sellers. By this point in their long lives, the Tesla Model S and X have become a stream of fairly steady profits, said Cox.

☆ DuPont trims revenue forecast on slow electronics recovery, shares fall
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 2 (Reuters) - DuPont de Nemours Inc (DD.N) on Tuesday cut its full-year revenue forecast, citing slower-than-expected recovery in the electronics and industrial markets, sending its shares down nearly 5% in premarket trading. The materials and chemicals maker expects customer utilization in the electronics markets to bottom in the "near-term" and improve only in the third quarter. DuPont cut the top-end of its annual sales forecast to $12.50 billion from $12.90 billion, while retaining the lower end at $12.30 billion. "Within electronics markets, we continue to see weakness and channel inventory destocking in the near-term," Chief Financial Officer Lori Koch said in a statement. "We continue to expect ongoing strength throughout the year in areas such as water, automotive, aerospace and healthcare," Koch said.

☆ Banks are finally admitting they have a problem with billions of dollars in looming real-estate defaults
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Daniel Geiger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

This earnings season, some major banks bucked tumult in the sector by raking in record revenues and surpassing Wall Street expectations. The bank separately disclosed $725 million of "non-accrual loans" tied to office assets — debts that are already delinquent on payments. That was a nearly fourfold increase in dollar volume of bad office loans over the previous quarter held by the bank. Even some loans tied the nation's robust market for apartment buildings have faltered recently. Anderson said about $760 billion of office loans were held by banks, which amounts to roughly 35% of their commercial-real-estate debt.

☆ Big banks including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America asked for final bids on First Republic
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( Hugh Son | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

JPMorgan Chase and PNC are likely bidders for the ailing lender, which would be seized in receivership and immediately sold to the winning bank, according to people with knowledge of the situation. Bank of America is among several other institutions that are weighing a potential bid for First Republic, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Shares of the bank sank 90% last month, and then collapsed further this week after First Republic disclosed how dire its situation is. The biggest banks will bear the brunt of that expense, because member banks will likely be assessed fees to replenish the FDIC fund over several years. Wells Fargo , Goldman Sachs and Citigroup are each unlikely to make a bid, according to people with knowledge of the banks.

☆ What Bed Bath & Beyond, Toys ‘R’ Us and RadioShack have in common
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( Nathaniel Meyersohn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Staples is “a classic ‘category killer,’ like Toys R Us,” Mitt Romney, then Bain & Co.’s managing general partner, said in 1989. Another category killer fell this week, when Bed Bath & Beyond filed for bankruptcy. Once the go-to stop for everything in customers’ homes, Bed Bath & Beyond was brought down by shopping changes, competition and its own missteps. Founded in 1971 as Bed ‘n Bath as a small linen and bath store, the company changed its name to Bed Bath & Beyond in 1987 to reflect its expanded merchandise selection and built larger superstores. It’s somewhat ironic that there is now nostalgia for Bed Bath & Beyond and other once dominant chains that drove mom-and-pops out of business.

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