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[1/2] Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., April 10, 2023. Chipmaker Intel Corp (INTC.O) gained 6.1% after it said gross margins will improve in the second half of the year. Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) fell 3.5% as the company signaled its cloud growth would slow further, overshadowing its better-than-expected quarterly results. Analysts expect first-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies to fall 2.4% year-over-year compared with a 5.1% fall expected at the start of April. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 3.01-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and a 2.01-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The main U.S. indexes ended up sharply on Thursday, with the benchmark S&P 500 (.SPX) logging its biggest one-day percentage gain since early January. Analysts expect first-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies to fall 2.4% year-over-year compared with a forecast for a 5.1% fall at the start of April. ET, Dow e-minis were down 115 points, or 0.34%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 10 points, or 0.24%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 14.75 points, or 0.11%. Chipmaker Intel Corp (INTC.O) gained 6.5% after it said gross margins will improve in the second half of the year. Colgate-Palmolive Co (CL.N) inched up 0.7% after the toothpaste maker lifted its annual organic sales forecast betting on consistent price hikes.

REUTERS/Brendan McDermidSummarySummary Companies Amazon down after signaling slower AWS growthPinterest, Snap fall on downbeat forecastsIntel gains on upbeat view on marginsMarch PCE index due at 8:30 a.m. ETFutures down: Dow 0.37%, S&P 0.37%, Nasdaq 0.28%April 28 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures dipped on Friday as Amazon's warning about a slowdown in its cloud business and downbeat forecasts from Snap and Pinterest dented Wall Street sentiment, while investors awaited a key inflation report later in the day. The main U.S. indexes ended up sharply on Thursday, with the benchmark S&P 500 (.SPX) logging its biggest one-day percentage gain since early January. Analysts expect first-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies to fall 2.4% year-over-year compared with a forecast for a 5.1% fall at the start of April. ET, Dow e-minis were down 127 points, or 0.37%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 15.25 points, or 0.37%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 37.25 points, or 0.28%.

☆ Viral TikTok shows a Target San Francisco store going to extreme measures to deter shoplifters, with an entire aisle locked up
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Dominick Reuter | Ben Tobin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A TikTok video showing an aisle of items including toothpaste and razors under lock and key has gone viral. News outlets cited it as further evidence of "a shoplifting crisis that has crippled retailers" in San Francisco. A recent study found low-cost items in the health and beauty section are a top target for retail thieves. The new TikTok video only shows one aisle and the rear of the store, and a Target spokesperson told Fox News that other aisles were not so heavily protected. "We're taking proactive measures to keep our teams and guests safe while deterring and preventing theft," a Target spokesperson said in a statement to Insider.

The benchmark S&P 500 has been generally stable over early stages of a first-quarter earnings season that investors expect to show tepid results. For the week, the S&P 500 slipped 0.1%, the Dow dipped 0.2% and the Nasdaq lost 0.4%. Amazon shares rose 3% on Friday after a research firm predicted the online retailer's business in North America would beat Wall Street's estimates. The materials group (.SPLRCM) fell 0.9%, most among S&P 500 sectors, weighed down by declines in Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX.N) and Albemarle Corp (ALB.N). So far, analysts have largely retained last week's expectations of a near-5% year-on-year fall in quarterly profits at S&P 500 companies, according to Refinitiv data.

☆ Consumers Keep Paying Higher Prices for Detergent, Toothpaste
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Sabela Ojea | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Photo illustration: Adele MorganConsumers continue to absorb higher prices for Pampers diapers and Tide detergent, boosting quarterly sales and profit at Procter & Gamble Co. as businesses and households battle elevated inflation. The company raised prices by about 10% across its various brands in the March quarter from a year earlier. It was the second straight quarter with a 10% year-over-year increase as the global company passed along higher costs and widened its profit margins.

SummarySummary Companies P&G beats sales estimates for 12th quarterHiked prices in U.S., Europe again in Jan-MarchShares up 2% premarketApril 21 (Reuters) - Procter & Gamble Co's (PG.N) customers continued to show little resistance to repeated price hikes, helping the Tide detergent maker boost its annual sales forecast and third-quarter margins. But shrinking consumer wallets in the face of high inflation have fanned concerns of how much longer rising prices will be tolerated before triggering a switch to cheaper, private-label brands. The fabric and home-care unit, P&G's biggest segment, saw sales volumes fall 5%, with average price rising to 13%. The company expects fiscal 2023 organic sales growth of about 6%, compared with its previous forecast for a 4% to 5% increase. P&G maintained its annual earnings forecast of flat to a 4% rise.

Inside these boxes: Approximately $20 million worth of detained solar panels by U.S. Customs & Border Protection over suspected ties to forced labor. Shipments coming directly from China represented about $80 million worth of goods, while Malaysia accounted for $461 million and Vietnam accounted for $370 million. "UFLPA allows us to presume [goods] were produced with forced labor, and therefore they'd be excluded from the United States," said Fox. "The cotton commodity coming out of the Xinjiang region has typically been tied to forced labor," Fox told CNBC. The companies then had 30 days to come back to CBP and prove that the items were produced without forced labor.

☆ Earnings from Club consumer, health and bank stocks will be our main focus in the week ahead
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-15 | by ( Zev Fima | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Corporate earnings won't have to share the spotlight with major inflation data in the week ahead as they did during this past week's up-and-down market. From Morgan Stanley, we suspect Friday's bank earnings foreshadow a good release. This past week, we spoke about the importance of listening to what industry players aside from those you're invested in as a way to analyze the competitive landscape. Here are some of those other earnings reports and the economic numbers out in the week ahead. Club trades of the week We made just one trade this past week, in a market that was overbought , purchasing 25 shares of Palo Alto Networks (PANW).

☆ Whole Foods closes San Francisco flagship store after one year, citing crime
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Jordan Valinsky | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —An enormous Whole Foods in downtown San Francisco that opened just last year is temporarily closing. Heralded as a “flagship store” following its March 2022 opening, the Whole Foods was one of the largest supermarkets in downtown San Francisco. A San Francisco Whole Foods store is closing a year after it opened. San Francisco Board of Supervisors member Matt Dorsey said on Twitter that he was “incredibly disappointed” by the closure. Meanwhile, violent crime statistics in San Francisco have remained relatively steady in recent years.

☆ The Next Frontier in Farming? The Ocean.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Somini Sengupta | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +10 min

For centuries, it’s been treasured in kitchens in Asia and neglected almost everywhere else: Those glistening ribbons of seaweed that bend and bloom in cold ocean waves. Far beyond South Korea, new farms have cropped up in Maine, the Faroe Islands, Australia, even the North Sea. But even as its champions see it as a miracle crop for a hotter planet, others worry that the zeal to farm the ocean could replicate some of the same damages of farming on land. “Seaweed is not going to replace all plastic, but seaweed combined with other things can tackle single use plastic,” he said. Seaweed farms are a far cry from the rows of corn and wheat that make up monoculture farming on land.

☆ Alex Jones is trying to swing a bankruptcy plan where he still gets paid $520,000 a year
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones filed for bankruptcy, but he wants to be paid $520,000 per year. Jones owes around $1.5 billion to the relatives of the Sandy Hook shooting victims. Jones and his company, Free Speech Systems — which he fully owns — filed for bankruptcy separately in December and July, respectively. As part of the bankruptcy proceedings, Free Speech Systems filed a reorganization proposal on Tuesday. It sources some of its products from a company called PQPR Holdings, to which Free Speech Systems owes $54 million.

LONDON, March 2 (Reuters) - Haleon (HLN.L), the world's biggest standalone consumer health business with brands such as Sensodyne toothpaste and Advil painkillers, reported its first full-year results on Thursday which analysts said were in line with expectations. Analysts said on Thursday that Haleon has had a strong start to 2023, and its full-year revenue growth forecast of 4% to 6% was in line or just ahead of consensus estimates. Rivals with consumer health operations, such as Bayer (BAYGn.DE) and Reckitt (RKT.L), have charged higher prices to partly offset broader falls in sales volumes. "Our organic (full-year) revenue growth ... was well balanced between volume and price, with two thirds of the business gaining or holding share," McNamara said. Haleon, which is made up of assets previously owned by GSK and Pfizer (PFE.N) reported organic revenue growth of 9% last year, just ahead of the 8-8.5% increase it predicted for 2022.

[1/2] Customers shop at a mall ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year, in Beijing, China January 15, 2023. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File PhotoLONDON/MILAN/FRANKFURT/NEW YORK, March 1 (Reuters) - The world's top consumer and luxury goods companies have seen sales of everything from cosmetics to condoms grow in China since Beijing ended strict COVID-19 curbs, another sign that the world's No. Tourism from China was helping sales in neighbouring Macau, Hong Kong, Taiwan and even Japan, he added. Reckitt Benckiser, which makes Nurofen tablets, cold remedy Lemsip and Durex, saw a pick-up in China after a decline in volumes because of lockdowns. U.S. retailer Walmart Inc (WMT.N), which operates nearly 400 retail and wholesale stores in China, reported strong traffic in its stores since reopening.

☆ P&G, Constellation Brands see solid U.S. demand, even as prices rise — a key reason we're shareholders
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Paulina Likos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Constellation Brands "Consumer demand for our products remains strong even in a challenging macro environment," Newlands said. Procter & Gamble Inflation continues to weigh on consumers and impact global sales volumes at P & G, CFO Andre Schulten said Thursday. P & G last month delivered solid fiscal second-quarter results , in part through raising prices by as much as 10% on some products. Constellation Brands, meanwhile, continues to demonstrate sustained demand for its leading beer brands. Trucks with Constellation Brands Inc. Corona and Modelo beer sit during a delivery in the Zona Rosa neighborhood in Mexico City, Mexico.

☆ The Wild World Inside Your Gut
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Alice Callahan | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +20 min

The Wild World Inside Your GutWe tackled everything from heartburn, stress, spicy foods and colon cleanses to antibiotics and more. So grab a kombucha, get comfortable and read on for everything you’ve wanted to know about the wild world inside your gut. 3 What are some simple things I can do to improve my gut health? That “really is going to have the strongest impact on our health, including gut health,” she said. (Though for general gut health, Dr. Rao said, most people living in the United States could benefit from eating fewer refined carbohydrates and more fiber.)

☆ We're having loyal Costco shoppers share their grocery lists with us. Here are their favorite things to buy there.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Business Insider | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +36 min

Read Abigail Abesamis Demarest's full Costco shopping list: I've shopped at Costco for over 10 years. AdvertisementRead Lisa Tanner's full Costco shopping list: I'm a mom of 10 who's shopped at Costco for almost 20 years. Read Tara Zeller's full Costco shopping list: I drive 4 hours and spend $500 for every Costco trip. AdvertisementRead Majed Kassis' full Costco shopping list: I run a Costco fan account with over 390,000 followers. Read Rachel MacPherson's full Costco shopping list: I'm a personal trainer who shops for a family of 6 at Costco.

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☆ I flew first class for the first time ever—here's why the upgrade from economy was worth it
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Celia Fernandez | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Flying first class for the first time has convinced me that it's worth the money for longhaul flights. I've been flying my entire life — to the Dominican Republic, to Italy, to Morocco — but it's always been in economy class. That all changed in January when my partner and I were traveling to San Francisco and got upgraded to first class. On our way to the airport, we got a notification that we'd be upgraded from economy to Delta's Comfort+. I got a free upgrade to fly in Delta's first class cabin on a recent flight to San Francisco, California.

"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.

☆ Peloton, Allbirds and Lego: Best online sales right now
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Caroline Curran | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Today, you’ll find a deal on a Casper weighted blanket, a discounted Dyson Supersonic Hair Dryer and savings on Allbirds Trail Runners. Casper Weighted Blanket $189 From $99 at Casper Amazon Sleep soundly under a brand-new weighted blanket from the beloved DTC brand Casper. • Save on hair care from brands like Pantene, Aussie, Head & Shoulders and more right now at Amazon. • If the Casper weighted blanket is slightly out of budget, consider this alternative from Luna, now under $55 when you clip the on-page coupon. No matter which model you choose, you’ll save on a device perfect for athletes and anyone else who appreciates at-home relaxation.

☆ Unilever's new CEO will inherit a company in flux
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( Alex Bitter | Ellen Thomas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Two of the five divisions remain focused on food products, an area that CEO Jope said Unilever considered spinning off. Food brands like Ben & Jerry's and Hellmann's would have become a separate company. Unilever's decision last year to spin off its tea business into a new company, Ekaterra, left many workers inside Unilever's food division nervous, the former employee said. One former Unilever executive pointed to Fernando Fernandez, who will assume the top job at the company's new beauty and wellbeing division. Fernandez has been Unilever's executive vice president for Latin America since 2019 and held other jobs with the company in the region before that.

☆ Sustainable Packaging Is Sometimes Doubling as Easier-to-Open Packaging
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Katie Deighton | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +7 min

Sarah Ryan Hudson found the Barbie’s Dr. Jane Goodall packaging to be a welcome departure from the hard-to-open versions of her youth. The costs involved in overhauling packaging systems also made them reluctant to change for the benefit of a less-finicky opening experience. To be sure, shifts toward more sustainable materials haven’t made packaging easier to use across the board, and campaigners for widely accessible packaging say companies aren’t moving to provide it quickly enough. The company’s Gillette razor brand in 2021 began selling some razors in cardboard packaging with a pulp tray, rather than in plastic blister packs and trays. Colgate-Palmolive Co. in 2019 introduced a recyclable Colgate toothpaste tube, using a high-density polyethylene material without aluminum, said Greg Corra, Colgate-Palmolive’s worldwide director of global packaging and sustainability.

☆ U.S. FDA approves GSK's anemia drug
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 1 (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Wednesday approved GSK Plc's (GSK.L) drug to treat anemia in some patients with chronic kidney disease. The FDA approved Jesduvroq tablets as the first oral treatment for anemia caused by chronic kidney disease for adults who have been on dialysis for at least four months. The treatment is not approved for patients who are not on dialysis because its safety has not been established in that population, the FDA said. The health agency's decision comes after its advisory committee recommended the treatment for some kidney patients in October. The approval for the anemia drug also makes it GSK's first since it spun off its consumer health business, home to Sensodyne toothpaste and Advil pain killers, last year.

LONDON, Feb 1 (Reuters) - GSK (GSK.L) chief executive Emma Walmsley on Wednesday made replenishing the drugmaker's pipeline of vaccines and therapies her number-one priority. But analysts say there is not enough in the medicine cabinet to keep the momentum going even beyond the next few years. Meanwhile, analysts say the market for Shingrix will eventually become saturated, further limiting the company's growth prospects. GSK shares lagR&D SPENDGSK's spending on R&D has long lagged behind its peers, something activist investor Elliott highlighted in a 2021 letter pressuring the company to make sweeping changes. Lucy Coutts, investment director at wealth management firm JM Finn, which holds GSK shares, there is hope the company will eventually deliver a streamlined and specialist portfolio of blockbuster drugs.

☆ Ginny Redington Dawes Starred as a Writer of Advertising Jingles
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( James R. Hagerty | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

As a singer and songwriter in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Ginny Redington struggled to win attention in an extremely crowded field. When she began writing advertising jingles in the mid-1970s, she rapidly became a star in that smaller arena by writing a peppy tune for McDonald’s Corp.’s “You, You’re the One” campaign. Her greatest hits also included ditties for dozens of other products, including Colgate toothpaste and Holiday Inn .

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