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"I believe it was a series of unprecedented events that all came together in the fastest bank run in history," Becker told the Senate Banking Committee. "I was the CEO of Silicon Valley Bank, I take responsibility for what ultimately happened," Becker said. Executives from Signature Bank also testified alongside Becker on Tuesday, pushing back on assertions from lawmakers that the bank had weak corporate governance. "I don't believe that there was mismanagement at the bank," said Eric Howell, the former president of Signature Bank. The bank tried to cover the loss by raising capital, but in announcing the transaction helped fuel a bank run.

☆ Ackman's Pershing Square reveals new $1 billion bet on Alphabet
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management opened a new position in Alphabet totaling nearly $1.1 billion during the first quarter, according to securities filings released Monday. The hedge fund bought more than 10 million shares — about 2.2 million class A and 8.1 million class C — of the Google search engine parent as the company benefited from artificial intelligence tailwinds and investors deeming tech giants as defensive stalwarts. Alphabet shares have gained 32% year-to-date. Elsewhere, Ackman trimmed his positions in Lowe's Companies , Hilton Worldwide and Chipotle Mexican Grill . The hedge fund maintained its stake in Restaurant Brands International and made only a nominal change in Canadian Pacific .

☆ This Tool Pushes the Limits of Outdoor Cooking
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Steven Raichlen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

In the early 2000s, Roger Dahle attended an outdoor pancake breakfast cooked on a commercial flattop at his local Rotary Club, a civic organization, in Utah. “I love cooking breakfast outdoors, but you couldn’t buy an outdoor griddle for home use,” Mr. Dahle said. He experimented with a variety of cooking surfaces, settling on the same material used in woks: carbon steel. He mounted it on a cart like a gas grill, with propane to fire the burners, and named it Blackstone, after a favorite local restaurant. “People originally bought the Blackstone to cook breakfast,” Mr. Dahle said.

☆ Former Silicon Valley Bank CEO: ‘I am truly sorry’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

“I never envisioned myself or SVB being in this situation,” former CEO Greg Becker writes, adding that he is “truly sorry for how this has impacted SVB’s employees, clients, and shareholders.”Becker is scheduled to testify at 10 a.m. ET Tuesday alongside two former executives of Signature Bank, which collapsed two days after SVB. But SVB’s collapse rumbled across global financial markets and sparked a selloff that has gripped US regional banks for more than two months. In its autopsy of the bank’s collapse, the Fed, which was SVB’s primary regulator, blamed both the central bank’s supervisory shortcomings and SVB management’s missteps. “You have nobody to blame for the failure at your bank but yourself and your fellow executives,” Warren wrote in a letter to Becker in March.

May 15 (Reuters) - Greg Becker, the former chief executive officer of Silicon Valley Bank, is set to appear before the U.S. Congress on Tuesday, two months after the collapse of his bank sparked panic among bank customers and investors, forcing the government to backstop deposits. California banking regulators moved quickly to shut down Silicon Valley Bank on March 10 after depositors withdrew $42 billion in 24 hours. Becker will testify before the Senate Banking Committee alongside Scott Shay and Eric Howell, the former chair and president, respectively, of Signature Bank. When his manager left to work for Silicon Valley Bank, Becker followed, he said on a 2021 Bloomberg podcast. Before becoming president and CEO of SVB Financial Group, Becker co-founded SVB Capital, the company's investment arm.

Both sides blame each other for high drug prices. Senator Bernie Sanders, who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, is a fierce critic of both industries and will likely grill the executives. Optum Rx CEO Heather Cianfrocco will say manufacturers alone set the drug prices and abuse patent protections to stifle competition, her written testimony shows. Lilly, Novo Nordisk, and Sanofi all said in March they were cutting list prices by more than 70% for some insulin products. Uninsured people often have to pay full list prices, an average of $900 a month, forcing many to ration or skip doses.

☆ Consumers are finally pushing back against 'greedflation' and rejecting pricey charcoal
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Clorox's Kingsford raised prices on charcoal early this year as it prepared for grilling season. Most consumers are wary of "greedflation," or when companies raise prices to pad their profit. That included price hikes on Kingsford, Clorox's charcoal brand, CFO Kevin Jacobsen told Reuters. According to Reuters, eight pounds of Kingsford Original Charcoal briquettes, for instance, cost $7.92 on Walmart's website this week. As a result, Kingsford lost market share to competitors, Jacobsen told Reuters.

☆ Olive Garden parent Darden Restaurants bets on fine dining with $715 million Ruth's Chris deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Amelia Lucas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Olive Garden owner Darden Restaurants is betting on fine dining with its $715 million acquisition of Ruth's Chris Steak House . The average check at Ruth's Chris is $97, according to Darden's investor presentation. For comparison, the average check at Olive Garden, which accounts for roughly half of Darden's revenue, was $21 in fiscal 2022. Still, Darden executives emphasized that the Ruth's Chris acquisition is a long-term bet, and the decision wasn't made based on the current economic cycle. Cardenas also said third-party data shows that there is little overlap between Ruth's Chris customers and those who frequent The Capital Grill and Eddie V's.

☆ Pizza Hut-parent Yum Brands profit sliced by promotions
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Deborah Mary Sophia | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Shares of the KFC and Pizza Hut owner tumbled more than 4% after the company also warned of a $10 million to $20 million hit to current-quarter operating profit. However, along with higher food and labor costs, foreign exchange pressures and ramped up investments in automation and digital business, the aggressive promotions largely drove a 25% slump in profit. McDonald's Corp (MCD.N), Burger King parent Restaurant Brands (QSR.TO) and Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG.N) all topped quarterly sales and profit estimates on the back of price hikes and robust demand. Labor challenges were also easing, with the company seeing job application rates increase while staffing levels were either at or near 2019 levels. Excluding special items, it earned $1.06 per share, missing estimates of $1.13, according to Refinitiv data.

☆ Sam's Club is testing out a robot that can grill and assemble your burger. And you can order and pay for it without even speaking to a human.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Ben Tobin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Sam's Club recently unveiled a robot that can assemble a burger start-to-finish without humans. Walmart-owned Sam's Club is testing out a robot that can assemble your burgers — toppings, seasoning, and all — at a location in Fayeteville, Arkansas, not far from the company's headquarters of Bentonville. Sam's Club declined to comment when Insider reached out about the robot. Sam's Club does not have any current plans to roll out this robot nationwide, Tim Simmons, Sam's Club senior vice president and chief product officer, told Axios. Have you tried the Sam's Club burger or do you want to?

☆ Restaurant Brands beats quarterly estimates on higher pricing, traffic
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 2 (Reuters) - Restaurant Brands International Inc (QSR.TO) beat Wall Street estimates for first-quarter revenue and profit on Tuesday, boosted by higher prices and increased traffic at its Burger King and Tim Hortons chains. Restaurant Brands' Burger King chain has been able to attract younger customers to its restaurants through a newly released viral "Whopper Whopper" jingle. Restaurant Brands in February named its chief operating officer, Joshua Kobza, as CEO in a turnaround plan for its struggling Burger King brand. According to location analytics firm Placer.ai, Burger King saw positive week-over-week visit growth for the majority of weeks since January 2023. Excluding items, Restaurant Brands earned 75 cents per share, compared with estimates of 64 cents, according to Refinitiv IBES data.

☆ Chipotle’s CFO on Avocado Prices, Inflation and TikTok-Inspired Menu Items
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Jennifer Williams-Alvarez | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Lower-than-expected avocado costs have helped Chipotle Mexican Grill’s margins, offsetting higher costs for other items such as oils and tortillas. Photo: Brandon Bell/Getty ImagesChipotle Mexican Grill ’s shares hit a record high last week after the fast-food chain reported first-quarter results that beat analysts’ expectations. Quarterly and comparable sales were up, and its restaurant-level operating margin improved by roughly 25%. One reason behind the results: avocados.

☆ Starbucks earnings beat as China reverses same-store sales declines
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Amelia Lucas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Starbucks on Tuesday reported quarterly earnings and revenue that beat analysts' expectations, fueled by better-than-expected international sales. In China, the company's second-largest market, Starbucks saw its same-store sales increase for the first time since Starbucks' fiscal third quarter in 2021 as customers returned to its cafes following the rollback of the country's zero Covid policy. The company's same-store sales climbed 11% in the quarter, beating StreetAccount estimates of 7.1%. Outside the U.S., the coffee chain's same-store sales increased 7%. Last quarter, Starbucks said it is projecting revenue growth of 10% to 12% and adjusted earnings per share growth on the low end of 15% to 20%.

☆ Sales, spins and splits — what are the differences and why do they matter for investors like us?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Kevin Stankiewicz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +20 min

Investors may get one share in the spun-out entity for every share of the parent company they owned. What's left of J & J will be focused on pharmaceuticals and medical technologies, which were responsible for over 84% of the company's total 2022 revenue of $94.94 billion. It underscores that once free of the parent company tethers a divested company can chart its own destiny. Those priorities may not have necessarily been wrong when considering J & J as the overall enterprise. We believe J & J and Danaher are poised to deliver two more examples.

☆ Planning a solo trip to Seoul? Here are some places that cater to singles in Seoul
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Monica Pitrelli | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Source: Morgan AwyongOrders are placed and paid for with tablets. In her videos, she recommends solo travelers try restaurants such as Labap for fine dining, or Gimbap Cheongu and Pomato for their wide variety of Korean food. Earlier this year, South Korea announced a new visa for digital nomads is in the pipeline. Some residential buildings allow short-term lodging, which solo travelers can book. Source: Morgan Awyong

☆ How to support your loved one during the infertility journey
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( Chloe Melas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN's Chloe Melas, shown with her husband, Brian Mazza, and two sons, has been open about her journey with IVF to grow her family. Infertility affects about 1 in 6 people, according to a recent report from the World Health Organization previously covered by CNN. To find out what could be helpful for others, I talked to several people for their advice on what to do and not do when supporting a loved one going through infertility. She regularly covers the topic of infertility and recently published a piece about how to help people going through infertility. “Infertility treatments are often physically taxing.

☆ Here are the most overbought and oversold S&P 500 stocks, including several tech names
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( Michelle Fox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

One metric to determine if a stock is overbought or oversold is the "relative strength index," which measures the magnitude and speed of price moves. An equity with a 14-day RSI under 30 is considered oversold, which means it may be an opportunity to buy. Meanwhile, those with a 14-day RSI above 70 are considered overbought — and the names could be due for a pause. CNBC Pro screened for S & P 500 stocks in both the overbought and oversold territory, based on their RSI. Valero Energy has the lowest 14-day RSI on the list, at 16.67.

This week marked halfway point of the earnings season, with 50% of S & P 500 companies having now posted their quarterly results. The S & P 500 is up about 0.7% week to date through Friday afternoon trading. Here are of the stocks that saw the largest gains this week, and where analysts see them going forward. Almost 70% of analysts covering Hasbro are bullish on shares, according to FactSet dating. Meta shares rose 11.5% this week after the company reported its first sales increase in four quarters, as well as higher-than-expected quarterly earnings.

☆ Life on the Edge of the Menu and More: The Week in Reporter Reads
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Eric Kim has a strategy for how he approaches restaurants: Live life on the edge of the menu. Just because a restaurant is known for one thing doesn’t mean you can’t order something else. Sometimes the oddity on a menu might be the chef’s passion project, which is reason enough to order it. When Mr. Kim visited the city for a friend’s wedding in January, his eyes gravitated toward the citrus-glazed turnips. Who knew that the star of his seafood lunch would be a side dish of turnips?

☆ Domino's Pizza beats quarterly sales estimates on price hikes, steady demand
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 27 (Reuters) - Domino's Pizza Inc (DPZ.N) beat Wall Street estimates for first-quarter U.S. same-store sales on Thursday, boosted by higher prices as well as new promotional offers and menu items that helped draw more customers. Analysts have said the company's new menu item "Loaded Tots" that serves oven-baked potato tots with cheese and toppings in three varieties has helped boost sales during the January-March period. The world's largest pizza chain's U.S. same-store sales rose 3.6% in the first quarter, compared with analysts' estimate of a 1.96% increase, according to Refinitiv data. However, total revenue rose 1.3% to $1.02 billion but missed analysts' estimate of $1.04 billion hurt by a strong dollar. Reporting by Ananya Mariam Rajesh in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra EluriOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

SBUX mountain 2021-11-01 Starbucks (SBUX) China's reopening from last year's Covid lockdowns has progressed according to plan with no setbacks. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB.

☆ Chipotle just revealed a top reason customers demand refunds — and has a plan to prevent them
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Chipotle's app now lets customers know if they are going to the wrong location to pick up an order. Digital orders have slowed down for Chipotle since the early pandemic but remain a source of growth. The new notifications use improved technology to determine customers' locations as they order. Digital sales at the Mexican-grill chain reached $3.4 billion in 2021, thanks to improvements to its app and early-pandemic demand for delivery. Digital sales represented 39.4% of all sales in 2022, several percentage points lower than 46.2% in 2020.

☆ Deal hunters arrive at Bed Bath & Beyond store and can't find throwaway prices -- yet
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Parija Kavilanz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Bed Bath & Beyond has already shuttered 400 stores over the past year. If it’s able to find a buyer, Bed Bath & Beyond will halt store closings. Bed Bath & Beyond's 20% coupons will no longer be accepted beginning Wednesday. Scenes from outside the Bed Bath & Beyond store in Manhattan, New York on Tuesday, April 25, 2023. Bed Bath & Beyond did not immediately respond to request for comment on the timing and level of liquidation discounts.

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves premarket: Activision Blizzard, Chipotle, First Republic Bank & more
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Pia Singh | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The company said Tuesday its upcoming quarterly revenue will range from $700 million to $750 million, compared to the expected $765.2 million from analysts surveyed by StreetAccount. The company reported an adjusted loss of $1.27 per share and $17.92 billion in revenue. Activision Blizzard — Activision Blizzard shares dropped about 10.4% in the premarket after a UK regulator blocked Microsoft's purchase of the video game publisher. ServiceNow will be announcing its quarterly earnings Wednesday after the bell. The gain came after fellow tech-related giant Microsoft reported quarterly earnings that exceeded expectations, boosting sentiment for Amazon.

☆ Chipotle is trying to make life easier for its employees with digital tipping, fast-cooking grills, and streamlining a complicated TikTok menu hack
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Chipotle rolled out changes to its restaurants to make employees' jobs easier, its CEO said. The changes include faster-cooking grills, digital tipping, and a TikTok-inspired quesadilla. The chain unveiled the changes, from faster cooking times for meats to digital tipping, over the last few months. Jobs working the grill are "one of the hardest positions to train" at the average Chipotle restaurant, Niccol said when an analyst asked about the new grills. Chipotle also started offering digital tipping at its stores over the last few months "as part of our ongoing effort to enhance our crewmember benefits," Niccol said.

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