To hear that sugary sodas may have contributed to the obesity epidemic probably would not come as much of a surprise to most people. But there are some studies that also suggest sugary drinks—like sodas—do not, in fact, cause obesity. How can that be? To have two studies on the same subject yield nearly opposite […]
Constellation Brands to Buy Up Mexican Brewery Grupo Modelo from Anheuser-Busch
On Monday, Constellation Brands (NYSE: STZ) announced its plan to submit a proposal to the US Department of Justice to acquire a brewery operation currently part of Grupo Modelo. This is a subsidiary, of course, of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV. The deal is reported to be valued at roughly $600 million. The Grupo Modelo brewery is […]
What Will it Really Take to Close the Gender Gap?
New research, released Tuesday, indicates that it could take upwards of 83 years to close the gender gap in the United States—and that is on all fronts: health, politics, education, and economics. The report was published in the 2016 Global Gender Gap Report, from World Economic Forum. The survey looked at the current gender gap […]
Consumer Markets Deciding Between Diamonds and White Sapphires
A lot of people think that the diamond is the definitive gem of the engagement ring but times are changing. People are looking for ways to be different and the tradition of giving offering a diamond in exchange for a hand in manage might be turning a bit blasé. That is not to say that […]
Average Social Security Benefits Will Increase by Less Than $4 Next Year
Retired folks have something to celebrate a little, today, as social security benefits are increasing. But don’t plan to throw a weekend bash: the increase is only about $3.92, or 0.3 percent. Currently, the average monthly social security benefit for a retiree is $1,305.30. This might be up from last year (when inflation kept social […]
Alcoa (NYSE:AA) Misses Expectations, Wall Street Reacts Negatively
Alcoa Inc (NYSE:AA) surprised Wall Street ahead of the open today by announcing results earlier than scheduled and that fell short of expectations. Alcoa Inc expected at $0.33 a share, missed analysts’ projections by $0.02 cents. Shares sank as much as 7% in pre-market activity, wiping out this year’s gain of 6.4% and then some. Investors had not expected […]
Walmart to Slow Brick-and-Morter Store Openings to Focus on E-Commerce and Other areas
The retail sector is struggling and that is no more apparent in the number of store closures reported throughout the market. One company has been largely immune to these metric—Walmart Stores, Inc, obviously—but it looks like they are also feeling the pinch. Now, the company has not necessarily reported that any stores will be closing […]
Olive Garden Sales Improving, Darden Shows Modest Growth (NYSE: DRI)
It has only been two years since the hedge fund Starboard Value took over control of the governing board of Darden Restaurants (NYSE: DRI). Since that time, though, 7 of the board’s 12 directors have stepped down, and that includes former chairman and activist investor Jeff Smith. Darden, of course, is the parent company of […]
National Retail Federation Reports Higher Sales Expectations For 2016 Holiday Shopping Season
On Tuesday, the National Retail Federation announced that it expects holiday spending to increase over last year. The NRF says retail sales in November and December—with the exception of gas, auto, and restaurant sales—will increase by a steady 3.6 percent, to reach $655.8 billion. This is notably higher than the 10-year average of 2.5 percent […]