Forbes

2022-06-11 21:05:01 Senator John Barrasso criticizes President Biden for inflation. Watch the video. Open / Comment

2022-06-11 17:05:01 Gas Now Tops $5 A Gallon In These 13 States

Average U.S. gas prices are now more than $5 per gallon in over a dozen states, according to the latest American Automobile Association data, as prices continue to climb to new record levels during the busy summer driving season.

Maine ($5.00 per gallon), Massachusetts ($5.00) and New Jersey ($5.02) all topped the $5 mark Tuesday, according to AAA.

The three states join 10 others where gas prices are over $5, AAA reported: California ($6.37), Nevada ($5.53), Hawaii ($5.48), Oregon ($5.46), Washington ($5.46), Illinois ($5.45), Alaska ($5.42), Michigan ($5.17), Arizona ($5.16) and Indiana ($5.15).

Overall, AAA estimates national average gas prices are $4.919 Tuesday, a five-cent increase from Monday and a 61% jump compared to a year ago. Open / Comment

2022-06-11 14:05:01 Trump Tower Loses Longtime Tenant Starbucks

Starbucks has abandoned its location inside Trump Tower, becoming the latest tenant to leave the building.

The Fifth Avenue skyscraper once hosted dozens of retailers on six floors, but the place now looks mostly like a monument to Donald Trump. Inside, there’s the Trump Store, Trump Grill, Trump Café, Trump Sweets, a second Trump Store and 45 Wine & Whiskey, a bar named in honor of America’s 45th president, Donald Trump.

A handful of independent operators still rent office space upstairs, and Gucci continues to pay big money for a storefront that customers enter from the street. But Starbucks had been the last big brand renting space inside the building’s atrium, where Donald Trump famously rode down the escalator and announced he was running for president.

The shop shut down during the pandemic. Last month, however, it seemed apparent that Starbucks was gone for good. Access to the location was still roped off, and the Starbucks sign had come down. Open / Comment

2022-06-10 21:05:01 Stocks Rally As China Reopening Boosts Markets, But Investor Sentiment Remains ‘Precarious’

Markets moved slightly higher on Monday as stocks tried to rebound from a losing week; investor sentiment rose thanks to positive news out of China, which looks to be easing coronavirus lockdown restrictions and regulatory crackdowns on its tech sector.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1%, less than 100 points, while the S&P 500 gained 0.3% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite 0.4%.

Investor sentiment was up early on Monday after news that China would be rolling back more of its Covid-19 restrictions, with the reopening news providing a boost to global markets.

U.S. tech stocks largely moved higher and led the market gains on Monday: Shares of Apple rose nearly 1% and Google parent Alphabet 2%, while e-commerce giant Amazon saw its stock jump more than 2% on the first day of trading after a 20:1 stock split took effect. Open / Comment

2022-06-10 17:05:01 Mattel Continues Its Efforts To Be Greener By Expanding Its Toy Recycling Program

Mattel has added Fisher-Price toys to its free toy recycling initiative, as part of the toy giant’s ongoing effort to deal with the toy industry’s plastics problem.

Mattel a year ago launched Mattel Playback, a progam that lets parents print out free shipping labels and use them to send old Barbie dolls, Mega Bloks, and Matchbox cars and games to Mattel collection sites for recycling and reuse.

Mattel now has expanded that program to include non-electronic Fisher-Price toys. The Fisher-Price division of Mattel includes Little People, Laugh & Learn, Imaginext and other brands.

Mattel in late 2019 set a goal for itself of using 100% recycled, recyclable, or bio-based plastics in all of its toys and packaging by 2030. This April it announced a new green goal of reducing plastic packaging by 25% per product by 2030. Open / Comment

2022-06-10 14:05:01 Ex-Janitor Becomes A Billionaire, Pandemic Recovery Boosts His Korean Travel Superapp

South Korean travel superapp Yanolja posted strong first-quarter sales growth in its first-ever quarterly report as it prepares to go public. The report also revealed founder Lee Su-jin’s stake in the company, officially making the former janitor a billionaire.

Lee is CEO and the second-largest shareholder, with a 16.54% stake. His wife and two daughters each own a 5.18% stake in Yanolja. The largest shareholder is SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2, which bought a 25.23% stake in July last year. Forbes estimates Lee and his family’s net worth at $2 billion.

Founded in 2005, Yanolja — which means “Hey, let’s play” in Korean — has expanded from short-stay hotels to transportation and, more recently, cloud-computing software that helps hotels and travel companies digitize business processes. The company reported that first-quarter revenue rose 19% year over year to 100.5 billion won ($80 million). Open / Comment

2022-06-09 21:05:00 Dagne Dover’s Three Female Cofounders Are Passionate About Sustainable Fashion

As the fashion industry moves increasingly in the direction of sustainability, Dagne Dover has emerged to meet consumer demand. The eco-conscious brand creates bags, backpacks and wallets with a functional minimalist design built for today's modern lifestyle, able to transition easily from work to play to travel.

It was founded in 2013 by three women – Melissa Mash (CEO), Deepa Gandhi (COO) and Jessy Dover (CCO) – all of whom have a passionate commitment to environmentally and socially conscious business practices.

All products from Dagne Dover’s signature + leather line feature Repreve recycled linings and dust bags created entirely out of plastic bottles. Many items are 100% vegan. The company focuses on ethical manufacturing, minimizing waste and avoiding toxic chemicals in production. Dagne Dover’s flagship store is in Soho, and products are also sold in all Nordstrom locations in the US and Canada as well as online. Open / Comment

2022-06-09 17:05:01 Lands’ End Slowdown Is Part Of Retail Malaise

Lands’ End said that first quarter 2022 sales fell 5.5% and blamed “unprecedented inflation in food and fuel”, according to CEO Jerome Griffith. “The customer was looking for comfortable, casual clothes a year ago since he was working at home.” That is true and created a spike in demand. However, that has now eased up and the current inflationary pressures have just reinforced the shift in consumer shopping patterns.

Walmart, Target, Ross Stores, and other retailers have all reported inventory that is too high and out of sync with current customer preferences. More traditional workwear is becoming part of the routine again for many.

Lands' End inventory rose about 11% compared with last year while revenues were dropping 5.5%. Gross margin dropped 42.5% due to incremental costs in the supply chain of $14 million. The company is optimistic that its inventory flow will soon normalize and that the company will better meet customer’s needs. Open / Comment

2022-06-09 14:05:01 Bill Gates And Melinda French Gates Both At Giving Pledge Gathering, But No Sign Of Warren Buffett Or MacKenzie Scott

For the first time in three years, members of the Giving Pledge – a promise that 236 of the world’s super wealthy have made to donate at least half their fortune to charitable causes – came together this past week for an in person retreat at a resort in the southern California town of Ojai.

Two of the three founders of the Giving Pledge were there, according to one attendee, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the gathering is confidential. Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates welcomed attendees at the opening cocktail reception.

Warren Buffett – who launched the Pledge with Bill and Melinda Gates in 2010 – did not make it to the gathering.

Altogether an estimated 100 people attended the event, including Airbnb cofounder Nate Blecharczyk, oil and banking tycoon George Kaiser, Carlyle Group cofounder David Rubenstein, former financier Michael Milken, 23andMe CEO Anne Wojcicki. Open / Comment

2022-06-08 21:05:01 OPEC Bows To Global Pressure To Increase Oil Supply

The price of crude oil continues to rise and hit new highs on the back of significant demand post-Covid19.

OPEC has agreed to increase their oil output to 648,000 barrels a day, up from the 432,000 barrels expected.

The 50% increase will likely help moderate prices in the short term.

OPEC ministers have been under pressure from President Biden and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to increase supply to allow for more significant sanctions on Russia.

Many oil producers adjusted, and now that life is returning to normal, they're struggling to keep up. The problem is exacerbated by the same supply chain and employment issues facing many other industries, with U.S. energy producers finding it difficult to increase production to meet demand. Open / Comment