Pantry-loading has extended into freezer-stuffing in the pandemic, and that means frozen food items like Stouffer’s Lasanga, Hot Pockets and Marie Callender’s pies are flying off shelves. Americans shelled out $15.5 billion in the frozen food aisles during the 11 weeks that ended on May 16, 2020, a 40.2% increase from the comparable year-ago period,…… MORE
Restaurants are starting to open their doors again as states ease pandemic-related regulations. But it’s far from business as usual. In addition to following new social distancing and hygiene rules, restaurants have to figure out how to get customers in the door. Understanding what consumers are looking for right now will help. Enter Tanya Spaulding,…… MORE
Carl Icahn believed in Hertz right up until the end. And it cost him $2 billion. Icahn was the largest shareholder in Hertz, which filed for bankruptcy late Friday night. The activist investor took a stake in Hertz in 2014 and held it through early March of this year — even as the Covid-19 outbreak…… MORE
President Trump loves to boast about how well the stock market has done during his tenure. That makes his recent threats to rein in big tech and social media firms all the more puzzling. Trump’s fury over being fact checked by Twitter about claims of election fraud with mail-in ballots has led him to threaten…… MORE
Plummeting demand for travel has forced two major US carriers — Delta Air Lines and American Airlines — to gut their workforces through voluntary exit programs and layoffs. In a letter addressed to employees, American said Wednesday that it needs to eliminate about 30% of its management and support staff because of its transition into…… MORE
America’s economy fared worse than initially reported in the first quarter, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. US gross domestic product, the broadest measure of the American economy, shrank by an annualized rate of 5% between January and March. A preliminary report estimated the first-quarter economy shrank by 4.8%. It was the worst performance…… MORE
The United States may soon terminate its special economic and trading relationship with Hong Kong. Experts say losing the status won’t cause an immediate exodus of big western companies from the global financial hub, but it could further erode what made Hong Kong so attractive in the first place. The latest blow to the city’s…… MORE
More than 40 million Americans have filed for first-time unemployment benefits since the coronavirus pandemic forced the US economy to shut down in March. One in four American workers has filed for unemployment insurance. Another 2.1 million people filed initial jobless claims last week, the Department of Labor reported Thursday morning. It was the tenth-straight…… MORE
US President Donald Trump is going to battle against Twitter and Facebook — a move that could weigh on companies whose shares have so far outperformed during the pandemic. What’s happening: Trump is set to announce an executive order targeting social media companies on Thursday, though it’s not clear what exactly the order will include.…… MORE
The bankruptcies are piling up. Hertz and JCPenney are two of the most high profile publicly traded companies to file for Chapter 11 protection since the Covid-19 pandemic hit the United States. They have plenty of company. Energy firms Diamond Offshore and Whiting Petroleum, retailers Tuesday Morning and Stage Stores as well as satellite firm…… MORE
