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New York CNN —Walgreens on Friday said it will not distribute abortion medication in 20 states, bowing to pressure from anti-abortion lawmakers and lawsuits targeting the legality of medication abortion. The company said it will not dispense mifepristone, the first of two drugs in the medication abortion process, in 20 states following a February 1 letter from GOP attorneys general in those states. Companies are loath to antagonize lawmakers in states where they may face politically motivated reprisals. The US Food and Drug Administration had previously said that pharmacies that become certified to dispense mifepristone can do so directly to someone who has a prescription from a certified prescriber. Medication abortion, which now accounts for a majority abortions obtained in the United States, has become a flashpoint in the fallout from the Supreme Court’s decision last year overturning Roe v. Wade.

☆ Kroger sees annual profit above estimates
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 2 (Reuters) - Kroger Co (KR.N) forecast annual profit above Wall Street estimates on Thursday, as the supermarket chain benefits from higher prices, easing cost pressures and steady demand for its groceries and other essentials. Shares of Kroger, which has inked a $25 billion deal to buy smaller rival Albertsons Companies Inc (ACI.N), climbed about 3% in premarket trading. Kroger forecast adjusted earnings per share of between $4.45 and $4.60 for fiscal 2023, while analysts on average expected a profit of $4.20 per share, according to Refinitiv IBES data. Still, the company projected same-store sales growth, excluding fuel, of 1% to 2% in fiscal 2023, below analysts' estimate of a 2.23% increase. Reporting by Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'SilvaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ The US dollar is at a crossroads
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

New York CNN —Wall Street investors are reaching for their neck braces in preparation for yet another volatile swing in stock markets: A surging US dollar. What’s happening: The US dollar “finds itself at a significant crossroads yet again,” said Krosby. Don’t forget the debt ceiling: Another significant threat to the dollar is looming in Congress — the ongoing debt ceiling fight. “It would certainly undermine the role of the dollar as a reserve currency that is used in transactions all over the world. Initial claims have come in lower than expected in recent weeks and remain well below their pre-pandemic levels.

☆ Morning Bid: Ten-four, Treasury yields soar
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The remarkable sight of 10-year Treasury yields back above 4% for the first time in almost four months is only matched by two-year yields at 15-year highs stalking 5%. Weekly jobless claims on Thursday and the latest Fed speakers take on unusual importance in such a febrile rates market. And 6% Fed rates that seemed fanciful only a month ago are now being openly discussed by banks. Despite year-on-year oil prices now tracking declines of 25%, European inflation fears are a key feature of this week's nervousness. Benchmark German 10-year bond yields soared to 11-year highs at 2.77%.

NEW YORK, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Retailers have a new sweet spot: products that cost $3 to $5. Target said on Tuesday that it would be stocking its shelves with more products priced under $10 as the retailer tries to appeal to more cost-conscious consumers dealing with once-in-a-generation inflation. This comes a little more than a year after dollar store chain Dollar Tree (DLTR.O) said it would launch more discretionary products including seasonal items and apparel priced between the $3 and $5. Many, including high-income households, are buying more store-label brands as budgets stretch in the face of higher interest rates. Target said it plans to launch or expand more than 10 owned brands, adding thousands of new products.

☆ Memphis drag queen fears Tennessee drag ban bill would empower strangers to call the cops on her for how she dresses
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Yelena Dzhanova | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A bill that would outlaw drag is poised to head to Tennessee Gov. Bella DuBalle, a Memphis-based drag queen, said the bill is "terrifying" and puts her at risk. The bill identifies "male and female impersonators" — drag kings and drag queens — as adult cabaret performers. Tennessee's public drag ban proposal is one of the latest anti-LGBTQ bills making their way through legislatures across the country. Outside of drag, DuBalle identifies as nonbinary and said she worries the way she dresses could run her afoul of the law if it's passed.

☆ Inflation takes a back seat to earnings next week as stocks look to bounce back
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Matthew J. Belvedere | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

The latest Fed projection for the so-called terminal rate — the level where the rate hikes stop — was just over 5%. Before this past week, those intraday levels hadn't been seen since November 2022. ET: ISM Services Looking back January's hot reading on core PCE on Friday was the most influential economic number of the past week. In Club earnings this past week, Nvidia (NVDA) was certainly the highlight. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade.

☆ Stocks are reversing course as inflation looks sticky with more retail earnings on deck
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Jesse Pound | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The optimism about inflation and the U.S. economy is quickly waning on Wall Street, and the early 2023 rally for stocks is fading. The market was under pressure again on Friday after a hotter-than-expected reading for personal consumption expenditures, sending rates higher and stocks lower. Economic updates Next week brings a new round of economic indicators to see how the sticky inflation is affecting consumers and business. Other looks at the economy will come through key earnings reports. Speech by Fed Governor Christopher Waller Friday: 9:45 a.m. Markit Services PMI 10:00 a.m. ISM Services PMI 3:00 p.m.

☆ Kroger knows every purchase you've ever made – and says it could make millions of dollars selling your data
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Grocers like Kroger are gathering consumer data and selling it, The Markup reported. Kroger says that selling the data to advertisers could help it realize $1 billion in new profit. But the information, even without names attached, could violate customers' privacy. Both Kroger and Albertsons say that they give aggregate "de-identified" shopper data to their clients. Kroger, for instance, touts its data set on Hispanic consumers, among other "ethnic panels," on the website for its marketing arm.

☆ Analysis: To raise prices or not? Consumer goods makers weigh bets on buyer strength
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( Jessica Dinapoli | Thomson Reuters | New York-Based Reporter Covering U.S. Consumer Products Spanning Paper Towels To Packaged Food | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

But, there are small signs the pressure is easing, with U.S. consumer prices a month earlier declining for the first time in two-and-a-half years, due in part to gas prices. Price hikes - or halts - are set to take center stage at the Consumer Analyst Group of New York annual conference on Feb. 20 in Boca Raton, Florida. DIFFERENT PREDICTIONSAfter more than a year of consistent price hikes, some consumer goods makers such as Kraft Mac & Cheese manufacturer Kraft Heinz Co (KHC.O) are pressing pause as they weigh consumer demand for their items. Frozen pizza prices have risen about 14% in the last year, according to IRI data. "Retailers cannot truly push back on prices … if the company has an important brand," Bernstein analyst Bruno Monteyne said.

☆ Kroger is texting and emailing former staff to try to make them 'boomerang' back after leaving, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-19 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Kroger is texting and emailing ex-workers to encourage their return amid a wider labor shortage. Associated Wholesale Grocers is messaging former workers on Facebook and LinkedIn to get them back. Manufacturer General Mills has a pilot program to bring retirees back to fill staffing gaps. Associated Wholesale Grocers is messaging ex-workers on Facebook and LinkedIn and the average number of rehires has increased four-fold. Kroger, General Mills and Associated Wholesale Grocers didn't immediately respond to requests for comment from Insider made outside normal working hours.

☆ Food Companies to Ex-Employees: Come Back, Please
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Jesse Newman | Jaewon Kang | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Kroger has been reaching out to some ex-employees via text and email, helping lift the company’s staffing to near its prepandemic level. The U.S. food industry is tapping a new pool of workers to staff plants and grocery warehouses: their former employees. Kroger Co., the biggest U.S. supermarket operator by sales, is staying in touch with ex-employees and bringing some back. Cereal maker General Mills Inc. has persuaded some retirees to return to plant jobs, and other food-company recruiters have combed social media for former workers who might be open to coming back.

☆ Companies Are Slow to Adopt Robot-Operated ‘Dark’ Warehouses
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Liz Young | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

More companies are exploring ways to staff warehouses with robots but may have to wait a few years for the technology to catch up. It makes the automation much easier to justify,” said Sean Wallingford, president and chief executive of the Americas region for warehouse technology company Swisslog Holding AG. A robotic arm picks and packs orders at online pharmacy company Apo.com’s automated warehouse in the Netherlands. Photo: RIGHTHAND ROBOTICSAbout 20% of warehouses in 2022 used some form of robotics, up from 15% in 2018, according to research firm Interact Analysis. Mr. Jensen said the company made changes after the first fire in 2019, limiting damage from later fires.

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File PhotoFeb 16 (Reuters) - Walmart Inc's (WMT.N) results on Tuesday will provide Wall Street with new details on what items American shoppers are buying as rising grocery prices squeeze their wallets. In December, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said "we do not like" that some suppliers were hinting at raising prices further in 2023. He warned that Walmart would allocate space to private and tertiary brands if prices got too high. KitKat maker Nestle on Thursday said further price hikes were necessary to offset commodity costs. Still, Wall Street expects Walmart sales and revenue to rise in 2023 as its shipping and logistics costs moderate, even as labor expenses go up.

☆ Eli Lilly recruits Black patients for Alzheimer trial as drugmakers seek more diversity in clinical studies
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Bertha Coombs | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Eli Lilly drove two mobile labs to the Black women's gathering, to recruit older Black women for a new trial. The drug maker developed the labs on wheels in 2020, to keep its clinical trials going in the first year of the Covid pandemic. A study by the Alzheimer's Association found that 62% of African Americans think clinical research is biased against people of color. Decentralized trialsFinding and enrolling patients can be among the most costly and time-consuming part of clinical trials. By 2021, while advertising remained the top source, social media replaced doctors as the second most-likely way trial participants learned about clinical studies.

☆ Uber and Lyft Claim Big Gains for Their Ad Businesses
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Patrick Coffee | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +4 min

Ride-hailing companies Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. each say their nascent advertising businesses have grown significantly in recent months. PREVIEWThe ride-hailing rivals’ ad businesses are also important for the companies’ growth. Uber said increased ad revenue in the latest quarter was a key growth driver for its overall business. Lyft ad revenue increased “nearly seven times” in the fourth quarter compared with the previous quarter, according to Mr. Greenberger. But the companies’ ad prices offer a glimpse at their respective positions in the market.

☆ Chipotle is launching Farmesa, a spinoff selling 'California-inspired' bowls of salmon, whipped potatoes, quinoa, and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Nancy Luna | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Chipotle is launching a virtual restaurant brand featuring "California-inspired" bowls. The virtual restaurant makes its debut later this month in a ghost kitchen in Santa Monica, California. Farmesa will operate at the Kitchen United Mix food hall at Third Street Promenade, a tourist-heavy outdoor retail center in Santa Monica. Kitchen United is a Pasadena, California-based ghost kitchen operator with locations all over the US. Chipotle's new concept, Farmesa, is opening later this month at ghost kitchen/food hall Kitchen United Mix.

☆ Household budgets are shredded: These stocks will benefit as consumers trade down to store brands
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Michelle Fox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +12 min

Shoppers are largely creatures of habit, but after two years of rising prices, a broader shift to private label brands is underway. 'A tailwind' for private label That is good news for store brands, otherwise known as private label. Yet the biggest pure play on private label brands is Treehouse Foods , Chappell said. "That's where you're going to see them lean into store brands," said Mary Ellen Lynch, principal of IRI's center store solutions. Americans forced to trade down due to supply chain constraints found store brands they enjoyed, she said.

☆ 5 reasons so many people are moving to Tennessee, according to a 25-year-old broker who's helped Californians and New Yorkers relocate there
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Jordan Pandy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Taxes are lowerPeople leaving states like California or New York often cite high income and property taxes as key motivations for their departure. (It's not all cheap: some new Floridians have been surprised by rising property taxes.) Like Florida, Tennessee has no income tax, as well as a property tax rate well below the national average. According to financial information and advice company SmartAsset, Tennessee's median annual property tax paid is $1,317, which is about half the national average. "One of the reasons why they're considering Tennessee is because of the affordability in terms of taxes," Foster said.

☆ DoorDash is headed to Super Bowl, pushing its on-demand grocery business again. Here are 7 key moves it is making to dominate retail delivery after conquering restaurants.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-12 | by ( Nancy Luna | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

In August 2020, DoorDash launched retail delivery with chains like 7-Eleven and Walgreens. Editor's note: On Sunday, DoorDash is airing its second Super Bowl commercial to promote its grocery delivery business. Lately, DoorDash has its sights set on a new prize — dominance in retail and grocery delivery. "We have more retail stores, grocery included, than any other platform in North America today." DoorDashDoubleDashA year after launching grocery delivery, DoorDash introduced DoubleDash.

The stores that Kroger and Albertsons may sell could be worth more than $1 billion, the sources said. Kroger and Albertsons will choose to proceed with the spin-off if they are unable to strike a deal with a potential buyer. Kroger, Albertsons and the FTC declined to comment. Haggen filed for bankruptcy months later and blamed the deal with Albertsons for its demise. Albertsons then agreed to buy many of the Haggen stores back for $300 million.

"Because the consumer is now under more pressure, and Walmart is under pressure, that sets up a dynamic where there's probably not a lot of pricing going forward." The clout Walmart holds over suppliers also means that Walmart would likely get the lowest percentage of any price hikes manufacturers implement, according to investors who track the company. In 2018, Walmart pulled Campbell Soup Co's (CPB.N) products during the key winter season over a dispute over prices and shelf space promotion. At the time, Tesco labeled Heinz's price hikes as "unjustifiable." After raising prices four times in 2022, he said, Clorox doesn't "have any additional plans" to hike prices this year.

☆ Shoppers at some Kroger, Lowe's, and Safeway stores may be able to unlock merchandise cases themselves — but only if they share their phone numbers first
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Ben Tobin | Dominick Reuter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Customers wait nearly two minutes on average to get assistance with locked-away items. New tech is rolling out at major brands to reduce the hassle in exchange for a cell phone number. Indyme says the Freedom Case is being tested at some Lowe's, Kroger, Safeway, and Family Dollar locations. Meanwhile, shopper Maureen Holohan told the Associated Press she's not quite sold on trading her phone number for access to buy beauty products. "If they're going to make it that hard to buy something, I'll find somewhere else to buy that."

☆ Beyond Meat Hires Marketing Executive, Revamps Retail Strategy
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Jesse Newman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Beyond Meat Inc. is revamping its retail sales strategy to center on five major grocers and hiring a new marketing executive as part of an effort to reinvigorate the plant-based food maker’s business. The California-based company is orienting its retail business around Kroger Co., Walmart Inc., Publix Super Markets Inc., Costco Wholesale Corp. and Whole Foods Market, according to internal company presentations and documents. Beyond is working to streamline its operations and reverse declining sales.

☆ Grocery consumers sue to block Kroger’s $25 bln buy of Albertsons
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Mike Scarcella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Kroger is the biggest grocer in the U.S. by revenue, and Albertsons is the second-largest supermarket chain. Nearly 5,000 grocery stores would be under one corporate umbrella if the deal, announced in October, goes through. A representative for Albertsons declined to comment on Friday, and a Kroger spokesperson did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. Kroger operates stores under banners including Harris Teeter, Pay Less and King Soopers. U.S. antitrust law lets private consumers sue over proposed mergers and acquisitions, apart from any enforcement action brought by a state or federal agency policing competition laws.

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