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WASHINGTON, June 1 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday gave a boost to whistleblowers in their bid to revive lawsuits accusing pharmacy operators of knowingly overbilling government health insurance programs for prescription drugs at taxpayers' expense. Whistleblower advocacy groups as well as a number of states had said a Supreme Court ruling against the whistleblowers would make it easier for fraudsters to evade accountability for filing false claims to the government and risked undermining state-administered Medicaid programs. They also said both companies knew they were defrauding the government and worked to conceal their pricing practices. President Joe Biden's administration backed the whistleblowers in their appeal to the Supreme Court. Lawyers for the administration urged the justices to reverse the 7th Circuit, saying the ruling undermined the False Claims Act.

Persons: Clarence Thomas, Thomas Proctor, Tracy Schutte, Michael Yarberry, SuperValu, Joe Biden's, John Kruzel, Will Dunham Organizations: U.S, Supreme, Safeway Inc, Albertsons Companies Inc, SuperValu Inc, United Natural Foods Inc, Government, Conservative, Safeway, Circuit, Lawyers, Thomson Locations: Chicago

☆ How the 'water bed effect' is costing you at the grocery store
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

But that habit creates a "water bed effect," putting pressure on small grocers, an NYT opinion says. For the food industry, the consequences of the water bed effect have included consolidation and less competition, Mitchell wrote. Walmart commanded about one-quarter of US grocery sales in 2021, according to Euromonitor. The subject of grocery consolidation was a concern to small grocers before the most recent merger proposal. Independent grocers represent up to one-third of US grocery sales, according to a 2021 estimate from the National Grocers Association.

☆ Amazon is abandoning several of its Fresh stores and seeking tenants to sublease them and one landlord is suing over rent
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Amazon is trying to sublease several planned Amazon Fresh stores in the Midwest. Amazon has opened fewer Fresh stores for months, but grocery remains a priority for the company. Amazon is also facing a lawsuit from its landlord at a planned Amazon Fresh location in Philadelphia, according to the Philadelphia Business Journal. Amazon has been slowing the pace of new Amazon Fresh store openings for the better part of a year. Do you work at an Amazon Fresh store and have a story idea to share?

☆ Here's why retailers are staying upbeat about the year despite cautious views on this quarter
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Robert Hum | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Retailers continue to post better-than-expected earnings in the latest quarter – with Walmart , Bath & Body Works and Canada Goose topping estimates. Bath & Body Works' guidance is lacking , too, at 27 cents to 32 cents per share after adjustments versus the 32 cents estimate. Bath & Body Works also raised its earnings guidance and reaffirmed its full-year forecast. Bath & Body Works highlighted better merchandise margin and benefits from cost savings initiatives. BBWI YTD mountain Bath & Body Works shares soared more than 7% after its earnings report.

☆ Target wants shoppers to think of it for groceries as retailer braces for leaner spending
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Melissa Repko | In Melissa-Repko | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

The big-box retailer also hopes by drawing shoppers for essentials like gallons of milk, it can nudge purchases of discretionary items that shoppers otherwise would not have bought. A 'Tarzhay' spin on groceriesOn a recent trip to a Minneapolis area grocery store, Gomez surveyed displays of colorful fruits and vegetables. In each of the past two fiscal years, Target has had double-digit sales growth in the food and beverage category. Target's grocery sales matter more as shoppers pull back in other areas. Grocery competition gets tougherCompetition for grocery shoppers has heated up, especially as consumers stretch their budgets.

☆ Trader Joe's long-time CEO and the brains behind the 19-cent banana announces his retirement
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Trader Joe's CEO Dan Bane will retire in July, the grocery store chain said on Monday. "I take great pride that together we have made Trader Joe's the best grocery store in America," Bane said, according to Trader Joe's. With Bane's retirement will come the promotion of Bryan Palbaum to Chairman and CEO and Jon Basalone to Vice CEO, Trader Joe's said. Under Bane, Trader Joe's stuck to a leaner operating strategy than most other US grocery stores. California-based Trader Joe's is owned by the same family who owns Aldi Nord, a German chain of discount grocery stores.

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

Founded in 2015 in New York City, Bowery is among several urban plant factories that are changing food supplies, and attracting substantial funding. The need to grow produce more efficiently, and closer to end markets, is represented in Bowery and the concept of vertical agriculture. Early last year, Bowery secured a $150 million credit investment from KKR & Co. Overall, Bowery increased its retail distribution 40% in 2022, with supermarket chains Albertsons, Giant Food, Walmart and Whole Foods on board. Almost a decade on from its founding, the idea behind Bowery remains novel, but skeptics say vertical farming remains closer to a DIY niche than a grown up, globally scalable agtech industry.

☆ GrubMarket: 2023 CNBC Disruptor 50
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Cnbc.Com Staff | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Despite the scale of industrial farming, the produce supply chain, in which wholesalers and distributors get their produce to customers via grocers, local markets or restaurants, has remained fragmented. The goal, according to CEO Mike Xu, is to digitally transform the American food supply chain industry, while reaching $100 billion in sales — it is nowhere near that today — along the way. The company works directly with farmers and growers, as well as buyers, with a suite of software solutions that include inventory, warehouse management, grower accounting and mobile apps for food wholesalers and distributors. GrubMarket is now one of the largest suppliers of South American produce in the U.S. Last year, it was in the top 10% of suppliers for meat, peppers, cucumbers, squash, tomatoes and oranges in the country. It supplies 5% of all grapes and is the country's largest distributor of South American cherries.

☆ Macy's top retail media exec reveals the company's plan to use The Trade Desk to propel its surging $144 million ad business
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Macy's has signed a deal with adtech firm The Trade Desk to sell targeted programmatic ads. Macy's data can also find people who are likely to be luxury shoppers and buy big-ticket products. Advertisers pay for those ads using their trade marketing budgets that brands spend in exchange for selling products at Macy's. That spend is typically handled by ad agencies that purchase ads using digital ad buying platforms like The Trade Desk. The Macy's deal is significant for The Trade Desk as well and shows how the adtech company is expanding its influence within retail media.

☆ Biggest Grocery Union Opposes $20 Billion Kroger-Albertsons Deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Jaewon Kang | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Kroger says it wouldn’t lay off front-line workers from stores that might need to be divested as part of a deal to acquire Albertsons. Photo: Asa Featherstone, IV for The Wall Street JournalThe United Food and Commercial Workers International Union said it opposes the planned merger between Kroger and Albertsons , adding to tensions over the $20 billion supermarket deal. UFCW International, the biggest U.S. union representing grocery workers, is concerned about what President Marc Perrone said was a lack of information provided by the companies about the merger, including on potential store divestitures. The labor group is also worried about the viability of stores that could be sold and whether buyers might be saddled with heavy debt loads, he said.

☆ Kroger CEO reflects on how customer spending is adapting to current economic conditions
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

In this videoShare Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailKroger CEO reflects on how customer spending is adapting to current economic conditionsKroger CEO Rodney McMullen joins 'Squawk on the Street' to discuss customer spending changes, Kroger's effort to increase employee wages, and the regulatory response to Kroger's acquisition of Albertsons.

☆ Instacart, Walmart, and others are rushing to power streaming TV ads to capture a $5.6 billion opportunity for retail media
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

They hope to use shopper data to prove that streaming ads are more effective than linear TV ads. Instacart, Walmart, Kroger, and Best Buy are racking up partnerships with streaming TV companies like Roku and Disney. By partnering with retailers, streaming TV ad sellers can gun for the big budgets that CPG brands spend on linear TV, she said. Streaming ads are often pitched as being more targetable and measurable than linear ads. Both Walmart and Albertsons works with the Trade Desk to target streaming ads.

☆ Amazon could buy 100s of grocery stores being divested by Kroger and Albertsons, according to a top research firm
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Gloria Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Amazon has also shut some Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh locations. In a note published this week, the firm suggested Amazon could buy some or all of the divested stores from the planned Kroger and Albertsons merger. "Buying the divested Kroger/Albertsons stores should definitely be on the table at Amazon," the analysts wrote. That presents an opportunity for Amazon, Bernstein analysts wrote. The authors described several scenarios for the company, such as quickly rebranding stores or focusing on stores in particular regions.

Lawyers for Kroger said in a filing in California federal court that the grocery store shoppers who sued over the deal have failed to define the relevant market necessary to evaluate grocery store competition and to identify how the acquisition would hurt consumers. The attorneys said the lawsuit was lacking "real-world facts." U.S. competition law "does not turn every grocery store consumer in the country into a roving antitrust enforcer," lawyers for Kroger told U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria. State antitrust enforcers also are looking at the deal. The case is Whalen v The Kroger Co, Albertsons Companies Inc et al, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No.

April 11 (Reuters) - Mark Shafir, one of Citigroup Inc's (C.N) top dealmakers, is retiring after a career spanning over three decades during which he advised some of the world's largest corporations on several landmark deals. Shafir, who has led Citi's global mergers and acquisitions unit since joining the bank in 2008, will stay on till mid-May to help with the transition, according to an internal memo sent on Tuesday by Tyler Dickson and Manuel Falco, Citi's global co-heads of banking, capital Markets and advisory. Cary Kochman, who has served as co-head of global M&A at Citi alongside Shafir since 2017, will continue to lead the franchise. "(Mark) has been one of the lead drivers of our M&A business and has played a central role developing the franchise, which grew significantly under his leadership," Dickson and Falco said in the memo. Shafir was instrumental in shaping Citi's M&A franchise during his tenure and advised on several landmark transactions.

☆ Albertsons Earnings Shrink Amid Difficult Consumer Environment
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Dean Seal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

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☆ The Fed warned of a looming credit crunch. Americans say it’s already arrived.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

We just saw a more extreme distribution play out in the stock market, too. Just 20 names drove 90% of the gains in the S&P 500 over the first three months of the year. The Fed has been warning of tightening credit conditions since last month's handful of bank failures, but policymakers spoke as if it were some future event. Remember, a so-called credit crunch means lenders raise the bar for borrowers, and people have to meet stricter parameters to get a loan. "The credit crunch has started," Torsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo Global Management, said in response to the report.

☆ Wall Street says bad news is no longer good news. Here’s why
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-09 | by ( Krystal Hur | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

New York CNN —There’s been a seismic shift in investor perspective: Bad news is no longer good news. Markets teetered after a slew of economic reports signaled that the red-hot labor market is finally cooling (more on that later), flashing warning signals across Wall Street. Now that Wall Street is in “bad news is bad news and good news is good news” mode, it will be looking for signs that the economy remains resilient. President Joe Biden said in a statement Friday that the March data is “a good jobs report for hard-working Americans.”The March jobs report revealed that US employers added a lower-than-expected 236,000 jobs last month. The jobs report was also the first one in 12 months that came in below expectations.

☆ 3 reasons big bank earnings are super important to the stock market in the week ahead
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( Zev Fima | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

There are two big watchers on our list for the week ahead, and one of them — believe it or not — is not an inflation reading. The consumer price report (CPI), which calculates the average change over time in prices shoppers pay for goods and services, comes out Wednesday before the opening bell. Other data next week includes the producer price index report on Thursday and the retail sales report on Friday. ET: Consumer Price Index 2:00 p.m. The most important macroeconomic update of the week came on Friday while the market was closed for Good Friday.

☆ Elon Musk's free-speech agenda at Twitter is 'perpetuating racism,' McDonald's marketing chief reportedly says in leaked email
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Semafor reported that execs at some big advertisers had concerns about Elon Musk's "racist rhetoric." McDonald's marketing chief feared Musk was "perpetuating racism" under "the guise of freedom of speech." A Colgate-Palmolive exec said she was "mindful of the harmful and often racist rhetoric" of Musk, per Semafor. Colgate-Palmolive's consumer experience general manager, Diana Haussling, said she was "mindful of the harmful and often racist rhetoric of Elon Musk," according to the report. Semafor reported that Chris Riedy, Twitter's global sales and marketing chief, didn't defend Musk in his response but thanked the advertisers for their feedback.

☆ Key inflation data and earnings reports loom as labor market signals a slowing U.S. economy
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Jesse Pound | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Fed officials have been pointing to the tight labor market as an area of concern for inflation, using it as evidence that it hasn't tightened rates enough. After months of strategists and investors complaining that earnings estimates are too high, they've started to fall — but with a catch. If the trough in earnings is close, then the stock market could be in for a big year. ET - Producer price index Friday: Earnings: UnitedHealth, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, BlackRock, Citigroup, PNC Financial 8:30 a.m. ET - Fed H.8 data on assets and liabilities of U.S. commercial banks

☆ This Bernstein stock-picking model beats the market by 6% a year. Here are its top picks today
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Michelle Fox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Instead of relying on fundamental research or quantitative analyses alone to identify stocks that will outperform, Bernstein combines both models. The Wall Street firm used its Bernstein and Autonomous sell-side analysts' recommendations as a proxy for the fundamental stock picker. His $200 target price suggests nearly 26% upside from Tuesday's close. According to his $265 price target, the stock could rally 38% from Tuesday's close. Rosenblum's price target of $54 implies 10.4% upside from Tuesday's close.

☆ A New York grocery store is using biometrics including eye scanners and voice prints to identify repeat shoplifters. Some shoppers say that's creepy — even if it deters theft.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

New York City grocer Fairway is collecting biometric data on its shoppers to catch shoplifters, the New York Post reported. Fairway is gathering facial recognition and other biometric information, such as voice recordings, on shoppers at one of its Manhattan locations, the New York Post reported on Thursday. Fairway told the Post that its system will only be accessed by "trained asset protection associates." Nearly one-third of the arrests made for shoplifting in New York City last year involved the same 327 people, the Post reported in January. But an investigation that year by the San Francisco Chronicle found that the affected stores reported fewer than two shoplifting incidents per month leading up to the closures.

☆ Albertsons, Kroger reiterate store divestiture plan ahead of merger
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

March 14 (Reuters) - Albertsons Companies Inc (ACI.N) reiterated in a filing on Tuesday it would divest some stores owned by the company and Kroger Co (KR.N) to obtain the regulatory clearance needed to go ahead with the merger of the two firms. Last month, Reuters reported citing sources that the supermarket operators were advancing plans to sell between 250 and 300 stores, which they hope would alleviate U.S. antitrust concerns over their combination. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which is reviewing Kroger's proposed $24.6 billion acquisition of Albertsons, is under pressure from some U.S. lawmakers and consumer advocacy groups to block the deal on concerns it may lead to higher grocery prices. Reporting by Ananya Mariam Rajesh in BengaluruOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Senate Democrats urge Walmart, Costco, Albertsons and Kroger to sell abortion pill mifepristone
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Erin Hooley | Tribune News Service | Getty ImagesSenate Democrats called on Walmart , Costco , Albertsons and Kroger to sell the prescription abortion pill mifepristone and clearly let customers know how to get it at their pharmacies. The companies have not publicly stated yet whether they plan to sell mifepristone at their pharmacies. The 17 senators told Walmart CEO Doug McMillon, Costco CEO Craig Jelinek, Albertsons CEO Vivek Sankaran and Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen that they are frustrated the companies have not yet publicly indicated whether they will sell mifepristone. Major retailers in the U.S. have been thrust in the middle of the nation's deep divisions over abortion as they weigh whether to sell mifepristone. Walgreens has come under fire after it told the GOP attorneys general that it would not sell mifepristone in their states.

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