Reckitt Benckiser unit recalls possibly contaminated baby formula powder, FDA says

Enfimil infant formula, made by Mead Johnson Nutrition Co., sits on display in a supermarket in New York, U.S. Daniel Acker | Bloomberg News | Getty Images Baby formula maker Reckitt Benckiser’s Mead Johnson Nutrition has voluntarily chosen to recall certain batches of baby formula powder due to possible bacterial contamination, according to the U.S. … Read more

Companies losing pricing power after years of unbridled spending

Pedestrians carrying Nike and Allbirds shopping bags in the SoHo neighborhood of New York on Oct. 24, 2021. Nina Westervelt | Bloomberg | Getty Images After years of unbridled consumer spending on everything from home improvement to dream vacations, some companies are now finding the limits of their pricing power. Shipping giant FedEx last week … Read more

Why cars lose their value so quickly

It is often said that a car begins losing its value as soon as you drive it off the lot. The reasons why boil down to some Nobel Prize-winning insights about human behavior and some quirks of the automotive industry. Everyone in the automotive industry keeps a close eye on depreciation: owners and buyers concerned … Read more

Strong holiday spending is great news for 3 of our stocks

Holiday spending held up this year, despite all the economic uncertainty and high inflation. It’s welcome news for a few of our stocks. New data released Tuesday shows U.S. retail sales increased 3.1% year over year from Nov. 1 through Dec. 24, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse . The report, which excludes auto sales and is … Read more

Why America will never give up on Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts

Sixty years after their invention, Pop-Tarts remain beloved by consumers who bought about three billion of them in 2022. “We didn’t realize that this thing was going to go as well as it did,” said 96-year-old Bill Post, who helped develop Pop-Tarts in the early 1960s. “It went beyond any expectations we had.”  Post remembers … Read more

Last-minute holiday shoppers face fraud risks. These 5 tips can help

Betsie Van der Meer | Getty If you’re a last-minute holiday shopper still checking off the remaining gifts on your list, beware: You could be putting yourself at risk for fraud. “Procrastination is, quite frankly, one of the keys to success for crooks,” Paul Fabara, chief risk officer at Visa, recently told CNBC. “They assume that … Read more

Nike, Foot Locker shares plunge on weak sales outlook

A shopper leaves a Nike store along the Magnificent Mile shopping district in Chicago with a purchase on Dec. 21, 2022. Scott Olson | Getty Images Nike shares plunged Friday after the athletic apparel maker cut its revenue outlook for the fiscal year, with sneaker retailer Foot Locker also feeling the blow. The stock was … Read more

Chick-fil-A stronger than ever amid more competition

A Chick-fil-A meal is displayed at a Chick-fil-A restaurant in Novato, California, on June 1, 2023. Justin Sullivan | Getty Images Every restaurant chain from McDonald’s to Popeyes wants to take down Chick-fil-A, but its hold over customers is tighter than ever. Since its founding in 1967, Chick-fil-A has grown to become the third-largest restaurant … Read more

Nike (NKE) earnings Q2 2024

A customer enters a Nike store along the Magnificent Mile shopping district on December 21, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois.  Scott Olson | Getty Images Nike on Thursday unveiled plans to cut costs by about $2 billion over the next three years as it warned about a “softer” revenue outlook for the second half of the … Read more

AI is giving Santa a boost this holiday season

Manonallard | E+ | Getty Images For many Americans, it’s the first holiday season when most of the family may know the term “artificial intelligence” if it comes up during Christmas dinner. Just don’t expect AI to do the heavy lifting for Santa quite yet. The rise of generative AI — and the use of … Read more