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☆ First Abu Dhabi Bank says not currently evaluating offer for StanChart
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SINGAPORE, Feb 10 (Reuters) - First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB.AD) (FAB), the United Arab Emirates' biggest lender, said on Friday it was not currently evaluating an offer for Britain's Standard Chartered (STAN.L). News of the potential offer first came on Jan. 5, when FAB said it had considered a bid for London-listed Standard Chartered but was no longer doing so. StanChart's shares rose by 11% on Thursday after Bloomberg News reported that the Abu Dhabi lender is considering reviving the bid once a lock-up period that prevents it immediately doing so expires, offering $30 billion to $35 billon. "First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC notes the recent press speculation in relation to Standard Chartered and re-iterates that it is not evaluating a possible offer for Standard Chartered," the lender said in Friday's statement. It, however, added that it and related parties reserve "the right to announce an offer or possible offer for the company or make or participate in an offer or possible offer for the company," within six months of the date of this announcement.

☆ First Abu Dhabi Bank says it is not currently evaluating offer for StanChart
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

First Abu Dhabi Bank, the United Arab Emirates' biggest lender, said on Friday it was not currently evaluating an offer for Britain's Standard Chartered . News of the potential offer first came on Jan. 5, when FAB said it had considered a bid for London-listed Standard Chartered but was no longer doing so. StanChart's shares rose by 11% on Thursday after Bloomberg News reported that the Abu Dhabi lender is considering reviving the bid once a lock-up period that prevents it immediately doing so expires, offering $30 billion to $35 billion. "First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC notes the recent press speculation in relation to Standard Chartered and re-iterates that it is not evaluating a possible offer for Standard Chartered," the lender said in Friday's statement. It, however, added that it and related parties reserve "the right to announce an offer or possible offer for the company or make or participate in an offer or possible offer for the company," within six months of the date of this announcement.

☆ Steve Wozniak's warning: No matter how 'useful' ChatGPT is, it can 'make horrible mistakes'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Megan Sauer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

On Wednesday, the Apple co-founder made an impromptu appearance on CNBC's "Squawk Box" to talk about the increasingly popular artificial intelligence chatbot. Wozniak said he finds ChatGPT "pretty impressive" and "useful to humans," despite his usual aversion to tech that claims to mimic real-life brains. Wozniak pointed to self-driving cars as a technological development with similar concerns, noting that artificial intelligence can't currently replace human drivers. By multiple measures, ChatGPT's artificial intelligence is impressive. The Webb telescope did take photographs of such planets, called exoplanets, in September.

☆ Walmart's experiment with pickup-and-delivery stores appears to be over as the last two prepare to close
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Ben Tobin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Walmart opened up its first pickup-and-delivery-only store in its headquarters city of Bentonville, Arkansas, in 2014. The retailer appears to be abandoning the model by closing the concept's last 2 remaining stores. But less than nine years after this launch, Walmart appears to be abandoning the concept as it closes the only two remaining standalone Walmart pickup and delivery stores in the country. In addition to the locations in Lincolnwood and Bentonville, a Walmart pickup and delivery only store opened in Metairie, Louisiana, in 2017 and closed last year. Walmart's decision to close these stores, where customers placed orders on walmart.com or the Walmart app, comes as the company has seen ecommerce growth slow greatly.

☆ Why China's and Russia's 5th-generation stealth jets don't quite live up to the hype, according to a former US Navy pilot
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Peter Suciu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Those jets have advanced features but aren't quite as advanced as US stealth jets, a former Navy pilot says. However, a copy of a fifth-generation fighter does not actually make it one. Russia's Sukhoi Su-57Russian Su-57 fighter jets. A Russian Su-57 fighter jet. Associated PressThough the Chinese and Russian aircraft are likely highly capable warbirds, some US aviation experts have suggested they shouldn't rightfully be considered "fifth-generation."

StanChart declined to comment on the reports of a fresh bid, while FAB did not respond to requests for comment. While StanChart's balance sheet, staff numbers and global footprint dwarf FAB's, it is worth half as much. StanChart's shares rose by 11% on Thursday after Bloomberg News reported that a possible FAB bid would value its target at $30 billion to $35 billion, a significant premium to the Asia-focused banking powerhouse's $24 billion market value. A second shareholder questioned whether FAB's shares would be attractive to British-based holders of StanChart stock. "I can't think shareholders would relish adding a small Gulf bank to Stan's current geographic mix," the investor added.

☆ First Abu Dhabi Bank could renew $35 billion offer for StanChart -Bloomberg News
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Lawrence White | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Feb 9 (Reuters) - First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB.AD) (FAB), the United Arab Emirates' biggest lender, could renew a potential offer for Britain's Standard Chartered (STAN.L), once lock-up rules from its previous aborted bid expire, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday. A StanChart spokesperson declined to comment on the report, while FAB could not immediately be reached for comment. News of the potential offer first came on Jan. 5, when FAB said it had considered a bid for London-listed Standard Chartered but was no longer doing so. The Abu Dhabi lender is considering reviving the bid once a lock-up period that prevents it immediately doing so expires, offering $30 billion to $35 billon compared with StanChart's market value of $24 billion, Bloomnberg reported. Saudi National Bank in October announced it was investing up to $1.5 billion in Credit Suisse, representing a stake of up to 9.9%.

☆ Factbox: Which CVS rivals also own primary care services
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Here is a list of some big companies that are also providing medical services or have announced similar deals:UnitedHealth Group IncUnitedHealth's (UNH.N) Optum Health business provides services that range from primary care to specialty care such as cardiology and oncology. UnitedHealth last year also announced a deal to buy LHC Group (LHCG.O), which provides healthcare services at home, for about $5.4 billion. Walgreens Boots AlliancePharmacy chain Walgreens (WBA.O) in 2021 took a majority stake in primary care provider VillageMD, which has nearly 400 clinics in the United States including 200 co-located with Walgreens retails stores, as of the end of 2022. VillageMD completed the acquisition of urgent care provider Summit Health in a deal valued at $9 billion. Amazon.com IncAmazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) agreed to buy primary care provider One Medical for $3.49 billion in July to expand its virtual healthcare and add brick-and-mortar doctors' offices.

[1/2] A family shops at the Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market in Bentonville, Arkansas, June 4, 2015. REUTERS/Rick WilkingCompanies Walmart Inc FollowFeb 8 (Reuters) - A federal judge in Chicago has dismissed a proposed class action lawsuit accusing Walmart Inc (WMT.N) of deceiving shoppers by selling Fudge Mint cookies that lacked fudge and mint. Eugene DeMaso, of La Salle, Illinois, said packaging for the cookies sold under Walmart's Great Value label misled reasonable consumers because the cookies' "fudge" contained no milkfat and its "mint" contained no mint ingredients. Rowland also agreed with Walmart that "mint" promised a flavor, not actual mint. The lawsuit said Walmart's cookies sold for at least $1.89 for 10 ounces, and would have sold for less absent the alleged misleading representations.

☆ Walmart workers to begin seeing higher paychecks on March 2, but their minimum wage will still be below Amazon, Costco, and Target
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Ben Tobin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Walmart announced last month that it will increase its minimum wage from $12 an hour to $14 an hour. Several workers told Insider or wrote on social media that the new minimum wage is not sufficient. Up until the middle of last decade, Walmart's minimum wage matched the federal level at $7.25. One year later, Target also announced it would be raising its minimum wage to $15 per hour. Reach out to the reporter Ben Tobin by email at btobin@insider.com to let him know what you think of the minimum wage increase.

☆ Costs could rise even more in 2023—and thousands of CEOs blame climate change
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Natasha Piñon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Their reason: climate change. Such incidents have led environmental experts and economists to establish a link between climate change and inflation. Climate change isn't considered a primary driver of today's inflation, but economists say the connection will deepen as the planet continues to warm — making the link more noticeable and acute. At the corporate level, only CEOs who feel directly exposed to climate change are likely to take steps to address it, PwC's survey found. Many company-driven climate efforts aren't even particularly successful, the report noted.

☆ Meet the typical Costco shopper, a 39-year-old Asian American woman earning more than $125,000 a year
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Dominick Reuter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The wholesale club has similar customer loyalty as other big box stores, and it adds more new customers than it loses. The average Costco customer is a 39-year-old Asian American woman who's married and earns $125,000, Numerator found. The store operates as a wholesale club, with nearly 119 million cardholders representing households and small and midsize businesses. Roughly one-third of US shoppers are Costco customers, according to data from the analytics firm Numerator prepared for Insider. The typical customer visits Costco on a weekend day every two weeks or so — about 30 trips per year — and spends about $100 per trip.

☆ In a health system in crisis, Britain's heart care suffers
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Alistair Smout | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +11 min

Britain's cardiology departments are a microcosm of the problems that have spread through the system. In November, around 8,000 people like Cogan had been waiting more than a year for heart treatment, up from a couple of dozen pre-pandemic. Reuters GraphicsTeams were still trying to restore cardiac services to pre-pandemic levels, NHS England said. Pandemic disruptions to diagnosis and treatment, in addition to delays in emergency care, had an outsized impact on cardiological care, she said. On one visit to his local Colchester hospital, staff could not find a working ECG machine to read his heart's electrical activity when he felt a twinge.

☆ Amazon's Prime Air reportedly has only made a handful of drone deliveries, as FAA restrictions have thwarted widespread use
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Lakshmi Varanasi | Katherine Long | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The FAA is blocking Amazon's drones from flying over people or roads without case by case permission, according to The Information. In 2020, Insider reported that Amazon's Prime Air was issued an approval certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration, FAA, to use "unmanned aircraft systems" in a commercial operation. That's curtailed the number of deliveries Amazon's Prime Air can make. One reason might be because Amazon's drones are pretty heavy, coming in at 80 lbs when empty, even though the packages it can carry have a weight limit of 5 lbs. Added to that, Amazon's drones have crashed several times during testing, with one igniting an "acres-wide brush fire" in 2021 Insider reported.

☆ Here are Wednesday's biggest analyst calls: Apple, Amazon, Target, AMD, Exxon, Snap, Nike & more
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Morgan Stanley reiterates PayPal as overweight Morgan Stanley said it's standing by shares of PayPal but that Apple Pay is a formidable competitor for the company. Morgan Stanley initiates Rocket Pharmaceuticals as overweight Morgan Stanley said in its initiation of Rocket Pharmaceuticals that it likes the company's pipeline. Morgan Stanley reiterates Amazon as overweight Morgan Stanley said it's bullish on Amazon's Buy with Prime service for merchants. Morgan Stanley reiterates Walmart as overweight Morgan Stanley said growth remains strong for the Walmart's subscription service, Walmart+. " Morgan Stanley reiterates McDonald's as overweight Morgan Stanley said the fast food giant is well positioned for 2023 after it reported strong earnings on Tuesday.

☆ Meta is killing Echo VR, one of its popular Oculus metaverse games
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Lakshmi Varanasi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

"After many discussions internally and with our partners at Meta, we have made the difficult decision to shut down Echo VR," the post stated. Over the past few years, Echo VR has catapulted into the league of an e-sport. Echo VR can be played using the Meta's Oculus Quest, Quest 2, Meta Quest Pro, and Rift S devices, according to the Oculus website. One fan on Reddit went as far as to describe Echo VR as "more than just an esport, Echo VR is a sport. A petition titled "Save Echo VR" has been created on change.org, and has already racked up 9,848 signers.

☆ Walmart throws shade at Amazon over new $150 minimum for free grocery delivery
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Ben Tobin | Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Amazon Prime members will soon need to spend $150 to get free grocery delivery via Amazon Fresh. Walmart wasted no time taking aim at its rival over the change to free grocery delivery. "That Fresh $150 free delivery minimum is looking pretty stale right about now," Walmart wrote in a tweet. In January, Amazon said that it would raise the minimum order amount for free delivery to $150 for Prime members. Founded in September 2020, Walmart+ offers members similar perks to Amazon Prime, such as free pickup and delivery from stores.

☆ Stripe, Reddit and Instacart valuations take a beating in Fidelity's latest markdowns. Here's how they fared.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Samantha Stokes | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Several other startups like Instacart and Reddit have fared poorly in terms of external valuations this year. Year-end numbers in mutual fund filings show that other late-stage startups like Instacart and Reddit also suffered throughout 2022. From November to December, Fidelity dropped the value of its Reddit shares nearly 9%. Its current share value, however, is a 1.5% improvement from the mutual fund's previous markdown in its holdings to $36.90 a share in May. But the public markets might not be the silver bullet needed to pull these companies out of their slumps: Many of Stripe, Instacart, and Reddit's public counterparts are also struggling.

☆ Meet the typical Walmart shopper, a 59-year-old white suburban woman earning $80,000 a year
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Dominick Reuter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Walmart's average customer is a woman who is 59.5 years old, white, married, and earning $80,000 per year. Because of the retail giant's scale, the average Walmart shopper has a lot in common with the average US consumer, according to data from the analytics firm Numerator prepared for Insider. Roughly 95% of the shoppers in Numerator's survey visited Walmart two or more times in the past year. Numerator found that Walmart's typical shopper in the US is a white woman between 55 and 64 years old, who is married and living in the suburbs of the Southeast. Read more of our typical shopper profiles:

☆ 5 things to know before the stock market opens Monday, January 30
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Mike Calia | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

This week it will run into some big tests, given the earnings schedule dominated by big tech names (more on that below) and the Federal Reserve's next moves. Here's a look at the earnings week ahead: Tuesday: General Motors McDonald's UPS Pfizer Spotify Snap AMDWednesday: Peloton MetaThursday: Apple Alphabet Amazon Ford Starbucks Qualcomm3. Renault aims to cut Nissan stakeRenault and Nissan automobile logos are pictured during the Brussels Motor Show on January 9, 2020 in Brussels. France's Renault and Japan's Nissan have agreed to restructure their agreement, which they struck in 1999. The overall health and size of its business allows it to mix things up and try new things.

☆ Brittney Griner's return could be the unlikely catalyst that forces the WNBA to relent on its most contentious policy
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( Meredith Cash | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

WNBA free agency is underway, with teams receiving the green light to recruit stars as of this weekend. Top free agent Breanna Stewart has reportedly made charter flights a key issue for teams wooing her. Private flights are not covered by the league's CBA, but Brittney Griner's return may force policy changes. The 2018 MVP took to Twitter to announce that she's prepared to help "subsidize charter travel for the entire WNBA" by offering her "NIL, posts + production hours." Several current WNBA players, including Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike, Elena Delle Donne, Napheesa Collier, Alysha Clark, Erica Wheeler, Kahleah Copper, and Natalie Achonwa, offered their support in the comments.

☆ NHL roundup: Panthers rally late, nip Bruins in OT
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

Barkov also assisted on Brandon Montour's goal, and Sam Bennett scored for the Panthers. Anders Lee also scored for New York, which won its second straight game and prevailed for just the third time in 13 games (3-7-3). Carrier scored the only goal for Vegas, which lost its fourth straight game (0-2-2) and fell for the seventh time in eight games (1-5-2). Jaret Anderson-Dolan and Phillip Danault scored goals for the Kings, whose three-game winning streak ended. Colorado forward Valeri Nichushkin sat out for the second straight game with an upper-body injury.

☆ Bright lights and snazzy mannequins: Walmart rolls out sleek new store designs
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Melissa Repko | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

In company surveys, he said nearly every shopper said the store's displays and mannequins encouraged them to browse longer. Walmart's new store design includes displays that show off how a customer could decorate a nursery or kitchen. Melissa Repko | CNBCWashington declined to share data about Walmart's store traffic and sales at its Springdale store and other flagships that have opened in recent months. Visits to its Walmart store in Springdale, Ark. Victor Millan, of Ridgefield Park, New Jersey, makes weekly shopping trips to the Walmart in Teterboro for groceries and other items.

☆ Walmart, CVS Health adjust pharmacy hours amid labor crunch
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Mike Segar/File PhotoJan 27 (Reuters) - Walmart Inc (WMT.N) said on Friday it would adjust working hours for its U.S. pharmacy team and implement it nationwide in 4,600 locations, with drugstore operator CVS Health Corp (CVS.N) doing the same for about two-thirds of its retail pharmacies, amid a tight labor market. The United States has been experiencing a nationwide labor shortage since the COVID-19 pandemic which has forced retailers to offer attractive incentives and pay increases. Earlier on Friday, the Wall Street Journal first reported CVS Health Corp and Walmart were cutting pharmacy hours. CVS said the new hours of operation, which begin in March, at impacted pharmacies will vary, adding it periodically reviews operating hours to make sure peak customer demand was being met. Walgreens said in a statement that at times it had to adjust store or pharmacy hours at some places after staffing challenges impacted retailers and healthcare entities, among others, over the last 12 months.

☆ Walmart will now close most pharmacies at 7 p.m. because it can't find enough staff, while CVS is cutting or shifting hours at most locations
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

CVS and Walmart are cutting pharmacy hours, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday. Most Walmart pharmacies will close at 7 pm instead of 9, while CVS will adjust based on demand. "If a pharmacy is closed, a patient can visit any open CVS Pharmacy location for assistance with their immediate prescription needs." A Walmart spokeswoman told the Journal that it made the change after considering "feedback from our pharmacy associates and listening to our customers." Some retailers have offered benefits, such as free pizza or gift cards, to attract and keep pharmacists, Insider reported at the time.

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