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Tag: Consumer Products

  • Apple and Google’s app stores wield ‘gatekeeper’ power and should be reined in, Commerce Department says | CNN Business

    Apple and Google’s app stores wield ‘gatekeeper’ power and should be reined in, Commerce Department says | CNN Business

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    Washington
    CNN
     — 

    The Biden administration on Wednesday took its biggest swipe yet at app stores run by Apple and Google, with a new report accusing the two tech giants of exercising “gatekeeper” power that has led to “suboptimal” levels of competition in digital markets.

    The report published by the Commerce Department finds that Apple

    (AAPL)     and Google

    (GOOG)     “play a significant gatekeeping role by controlling (and restricting) how apps are distributed,” and that the various fees and rules they impose on app developers has created an uneven playing field.

    “All of these factors translate to potential losses for consumers: prices that are inflated due to the fees collected by gatekeepers, innovation that is hampered by policy decisions to limit access to smartphone capabilities, and the loss of choice of apps that are not featured or even accessible for smartphone users,” the report said.

    Adobe Stock

    The 48-page report throws the White House’s weight behind mounting public criticism of dominant app stores, which in recent years has led to multiple private lawsuits against Apple and Google as well as investigations by antitrust regulators in Europe and reports of a probe by the Justice Department.

    In a statement, Apple said its app store has benefited developers and supports hundreds of thousands of jobs. In the past, Apple has argued that its control over iOS app distribution helps promote users’ privacy and security.

    “We respectfully disagree with a number of conclusions reached in the report, which ignore the investments we make in innovation, privacy and security,” an Apple spokesperson said, “all of which contribute to why users love iPhone and create a level playing field for small developers to compete on a safe and trusted platform.”

    Google has said its Android operating system, unlike Apple, allows for competing app stores.

    “We disagree with how this report characterizes Android, which enables more choice and competition than any other mobile operating system,” a Google spokesperson said. “[The report] recognizes the importance of interoperability, multiple app stores and sideloading, which Android’s open system already supports – all while ensuring privacy and security.”

    Wednesday’s report, published by a Commerce Department office charged with advising the president on technology issues, does not launch a regulatory process. Instead, it provides policy recommendations, such as limits on the apps Apple and Google can pre-install or set as defaults on their respective operating systems, or giving users the right to install apps from any source.

    The report also called for boosting budgets for US antitrust enforcers; a ban on some app store restrictions surrounding in-app payments; and a federal privacy law establishing clear standards for data privacy.

    Many of the report’s recommendations echo provisions in federal legislation that received bipartisan support last Congress, but that failed to become law.

    The findings had been informed by public comments submitted to the Department in the months leading up to the report.

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  • CDC advises against using EzriCare eye drops as it investigates dozens of infections and one death in 11 states | CNN

    CDC advises against using EzriCare eye drops as it investigates dozens of infections and one death in 11 states | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is urging health care providers and consumers to stop using EzriCare Artificial Tears as it conducts an investigation into at least 50 infections in 11 states that have led to instances of permanent vision loss, hospitalization and one death.

    Most of the people with these infections reported using artificial tears, and EzriCare was the most common brand, the agency says. These eye drops are preservative-free, meaning they don’t have ingredients to prevent bacterial growth.

    Testing of open EzriCare bottles identified Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria that were resistant to carbapenem antibiotics as well as the antibiotics ceftazidime and cefepime. Testing of unopened bottles is ongoing, the CDC says.

    “CDC recommends that clinicians and patients immediately discontinue the use of EzriCare Artificial Tears until the epidemiological investigation and laboratory analyses are complete,” the agency says.

    New Jersey-based EzriCare says in a statement dated January 24 that it has not received any consumer complaints or adverse event reports.

    “We have not been asked to conduct a recall. EzriCare does not manufacture the Lubricant Eye Drops,” the statement says.

    “Nevertheless, and in an abundance of caution, EzriCare recommends that during this evolving situation you discontinue use of any portions of EzriCare Artificial Tears Lubricant Eye Drops you may have until we can discover more details about any potential safety concerns.”

    Pseudomonas bacteria are common in the environment, such as in soil and water. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is usually spread in health care settings, the CDC says, and is increasingly difficult to treat because of antibiotic resistance. It caused more than 32,000 infections in hospitalized patients and about 2,700 deaths in the US in 2017.

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  • Samsung profits sink to 8-year low as smartphone and PC demand drops | CNN Business

    Samsung profits sink to 8-year low as smartphone and PC demand drops | CNN Business

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    Hong Kong
    CNN
     — 

    Samsung’s quarterly profits have plunged to their lowest level in eight years as customers snapped up fewer cell phones and laptops.

    The tech giant reported operating profit of 4.3 trillion Korean won ($3.5 billion) on Tuesday for the three months ended December, down 69% from a year ago. Revenue fell 8% to just under 70.5 trillion won ($57.3 billion), it said in a statement.

    It was the company’s weakest quarterly profit since the third quarter of 2014, when its smartphone business lost serious ground to competitors.

    “The business environment deteriorated significantly in the fourth quarter due to weak demand amid a global economic slowdown,” Samsung noted in the statement.

    The dreary results were anticipated. Samsung

    (SSNLF)     had flagged the lackluster performance in a pre-earnings forecast earlier this month, with analysts citing falling memory chip prices and fewer orders of consumer devices.

    In a presentation to investors, the electronics maker confirmed that “mobile and PC demand was weak,” and its memory chip business had also suffered “as customers continued to adjust their inventories amid deepening uncertainties.”

    Samsung expects some of those problems to continue in the coming months due to global economic uncertainty, though it anticipates overall demand to start recovering in the second half of the year.

    Smartphone demand will likely slide again this quarter compared to the same period a year ago, “due to the economic slowdown in major regions,” it said.

    Samsung’s shares dropped 3% in Seoul on Tuesday.

    There were some bright spots. Samsung said it took in 302.2 trillion won ($245.7 billion) in revenue for the full year of 2022, up from 279.6 trillion won ($227.4 billion) in 2021, and a record high.

    Analysts have said, however, that they expect the company’s profits to drop again this quarter because of a continued decline in memory chip prices.

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  • ASML says ‘rules are being finalized’ on chip export controls to China | CNN Business

    ASML says ‘rules are being finalized’ on chip export controls to China | CNN Business

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    Hong Kong
    CNN
     — 

    ASML, a Dutch maker of semiconductor equipment, says “rules are being finalized” on export controls, amid reports that the Netherlands and Japan have joined the United States in restricting sales of some computer chip machinery to China.

    “It is our understanding that steps have been made towards an agreement between governments which, to our understanding, will be focused on advanced chip manufacturing technology, including but not limited to advanced lithography tools,” the company told CNN late Friday in response to questions about export controls to China.

    “Before it will come into effect it has to be detailed out and implemented into legislation which will take time.”

    ASML is known for its prowess in making lithography machines, which uses light to print patterns on silicon. The firm says that step is crucial in the mass production of microchips.

    The company’s response came as Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times reported over the weekend that the United States had persuaded the Netherlands and Japan to agree to curb exports of certain chipmaking equipment to China, citing anonymous sources.

    A deal was reached at the White House on Friday, though it was not officially announced, partly due to “concerns by Japan and Netherlands about potential retaliation by China,” according to the Journal, which cited a person familiar with the matter.

    Bloomberg reported that the deal “would extend some export controls the US adopted in October” to Dutch and Japanese companies, including ASML

    (ASML)    , Nikon

    (NINOY)     and Tokyo Electron.

    The Biden administration had banned Chinese companies from buying advanced chips and chipmaking equipment without a license. It also restricted the ability of American citizens to provide support for the development or production of chips at certain manufacturing facilities in China.

    The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside US business hours. Nikon and Tokyo Electron declined to comment.

    On Saturday, Japan’s Economy and Trade Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura told reporters that he would “refrain from commenting on diplomatic negotiations.”

    Asked about the three-way talks in Washington, Nishimura said “we would like to respond appropriately while taking into consideration the regulatory trends in each country.”

    Because of its dominance in the market, ASML has been cited by experts as a bellwether of the growing rift between China and the West over access to advanced technology.

    In recent months, the Dutch government has faced pressure from the United States to limit chip-related exports to China, particularly from ASML, according to Xiaomeng Lu, director of geo-technology at the Eurasia Group.

    In its Friday statement, the company said that based on what has been said by government officials and current market conditions, it did not expect any material impact on its financial projections for 2023.

    But ASML said its knowledge of the new rules was still limited, making it difficult to map out “the medium and long-term financial, organizational and global industry-wide impact of new export control rules.”

    “While these rules are being finalized, ASML will continue to engage with the authorities to inform them about the potential impact of any proposed rule in order to assess the impact on the global semiconductor supply chain,” it said.

    It noted that it mainly sold “mature” products to China, and its most advanced lithography technology had already been restricted since 2019.

    Those machines had been prohibited from being sent to China because the Dutch government had “refused to grant it a license under US pressure,” Lu previously told CNN.

    — CNN’s Emiko Jozuka contributed to this report.

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  • Trader Joe’s asked customers to rank their nine top products. Here they are | CNN Business

    Trader Joe’s asked customers to rank their nine top products. Here they are | CNN Business

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    New York
    CNN
     — 

    Trader Joe’s asked its customers a simple question: If you were to spend the rest of your life on a deserted island, which nine Trader Joe’s products would you take with you?

    More than 18,000 customers responded to its 14th annual survey ranking the grocery store’s most popular items in nine different categories.

    There were some caveats this year: Gone from the running were five products that have won many times in the past (think Mandarin Orange Chicken and dark chocolate peanut butter cups), and instead are featured in its Product Hall of Fame.

    The first Trader Joe’s opened in Pasadena, California, in 1967. Its founder Joe Coulombe (yes, Joe was a real guy), was a convenience store owner who wanted to open a grocery chain to appeal to a niche market of well-educated, well-traveled consumers. The idea led him to create a cult-favorite grocery empire.

    Here are the products customers voted their favorites, in categories from cheese to entrees.

    Chili & Lime Flavored Rolled Tortilla Chips, spicy corn chips, swept the competition this year, taking home the top prize. Runners-up included the hash browns, chicken soup dumplings, Everything but the Bagel sesame seasoning blend, and chocolate croissants.

    See the all-time favorites included in Trader Joe’s Hall of Fame

    The chips also won in the poll’s favorite snack category. Customers were also fans of the Organic Elote Corn Chip Dippers, Organic Corn Chip Dippers, World’s Puffiest White Cheddar Corn Puffs and Crunchy Curls, which were all among the top vote-getters.

    The Sparkling Honeycrisp Apple Juice was the fans’ favorite beverage, though it is seasonal. The canned drink is a simple three-ingredient blend of apple juice, water and bubbles.

    Following is the Triple Ginger Brew, Sparkling Peach Black Tea with peach juice, Sparkling Cranberry & Ginger Beverage and the Non-Dairy Brown Sugar Oat Creamer.

    Trader Joe's Cheddar Cheese with Caramelized Onions

    Now that Hall of Famer Unexpected Cheddar is no longer an option in the poll, the store’s cheddar cheese with caramelized onions took home top accolades.

    See the full list of customer choice award winners

    Runners-up included Syrah Soaked Toscano, seasonal Baked Lemon Ricotta, Blueberry & Vanilla Chèvre and its various bries.

    Replacing the longtime Mandarin Orange Chicken is Trader Joe’s Butter Chicken – spiced chicken in a tomato and cream sauce with basmati rice.

    Indian is popular with Trader Joe’s customers. Second runner-up was Chicken Tikka Masala, followed by Kung Pao Chicken, Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese and BBQ Teriyaki Chicken.

    Seasonal candles won out in this category. Its seasonal scents include Peony Blossom, Cedar Balsam, Honeycrisp Apple and Vanilla Pumpkin.

    Runners-up: Daily Facial Sunscreen, Ultra-Moisturizing Hand Cream, Tea Tree Tingle Shampoo & Conditioner, and Shea Butter & Coconut Oil Hair Mask.

    Unsurprisingly, customers voted bananas as their top choice. The chain is known for its 25-cent organic bananas and 19-cent regular bananas. Following choices were Teeny Tiny Avocados, Honeycrisp Apples, Brussels Sprouts and Organic Carrots of Many Colors.

    The tiny and crunchy Hold the Cone! Mini Ice Cream Cones won top dessert, followed by Danish Kringle, Sublime Ice Cream Sandwiches, Chocolate Lava Cakes and Brookie.

    Trader Joe's Vegan Kale, Cashew & Basil Pesto spread onto a grilled Portabella mushroom burger, topped with roasted red peppers and fresh greens

    Among its many vegan and vegetarian options, the Vegan Kale, Cashew & Basil Pesto came out on top. Vegetable Fried Rice, Beefless Bulgogi, Palak Paneer, Cauliflower Gnocchi followed.

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  • Jobs report to give further clues about where economy is headed | CNN Business

    Jobs report to give further clues about where economy is headed | CNN Business

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    A version of this story first appeared in CNN Business’ Before the Bell newsletter. Not a subscriber? You can sign up right here.


    New York
    CNN
     — 

    The Federal Reserve is going to raise interest rates again on Wednesday. But will it be another half-point hike or just a quarter-point increase? And what about the rest of the year?

    The Fed’s actions beyond this week’s meeting will depend primarily on whether inflation is truly slowing. Investors will get another clue when the January jobs report is released on Friday.

    Economists predict that 185,000 jobs were added last month, a slowdown from the gain of 223,000 jobs in December and 263,000 in November. A further deceleration in the labor market would likely please the Fed, as it would show that last year’s rate hikes are successfully taking some air out of the economy.

    The Fed knows it’s in a tough situation. Inflation pressures are partly fueled by wage gains for workers. In an environment where the unemployment rate is at a half-century low of 3.5%, employees have been able to command big increases in pay to keep up with rising prices of consumer goods and services.

    Along those lines, average hourly earnings, a measure of wages that is also part of the monthly jobs report, are expected to increase 4.3% year-over year. That’s down from 4.6% in December and 5.1% in November.

    As wage growth cools, so do price increases. The Fed’s favorite measure of inflation – the Personal Consumption Price Index or PCE – rose “just” 5% over the past 12 months through last December, compared to a 5.5% annual increase in November.

    That is still uncomfortably high, but the trend is moving in the right direction.

    The problem for the Fed, though, is that it may need to keep raising interest rates until there is further evidence that the labor market is cooling off enough to push the rate of inflation even lower.

    Several other job market indicators continue to show that the US economy is in no serious danger of a recession just yet. The number of people filing for weekly jobless claims dipped last week to 186,000, a nine-month low. Investors will get the latest weekly initial claims numbers on Thursday.

    The market will also be closely watching reports about private-sector job growth from payroll processor ADP and the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) from the Department of Labor this week. The last JOLTS report showed that more jobs were available than expected in November.

    Still, some expect that wage growth should continue to fall, which should take pressure off the Fed somewhat.

    “Wage growth has been on a slowing trajectory, and we suspect that softer wage growth will be a trend in 2023 as jobs available contract,” said Tony Welch, chief investment officer at SignatureFD, a wealth management firm, in a report.

    Not everyone agrees with that assessment. Organized labor has been winning bigger pay increases lately in the transportation industry. And more workers at tech and retail giants have been unionizing as of late.

    “Workers will be loath to relinquish the bargaining power they perceive to have gained over the past year,” said Jason Vaillancourt, global macro strategist at Putnam, in a report.

    Vaillancourt also pointed out that many consumers are still flush with cash that they saved up during the early stages of the pandemic. That could mean that inflation isn’t going away anytime soon.

    And even though the pace of jobs gains may be slowing, it’s not as if economists are starting to predict monthly job losses like the US has had in previous recessions.

    “Combine a strong labor market with a still substantial reserve of excess savings, and you have all the components in place to keep the Fed up at night,” Vaillancourt said.

    So as long as hopes for an economic “soft landing” persist, the Fed will have to keep worrying that inflation is too high. That increases the chances the Fed could go too far with rate hikes and ultimately lead to a recession.

    Wall Street is clearly buying into the “soft landing” argument. Just look at how well tech stocks have done so far this year, despite a series of high-profile layoff announcements from top Silicon Valley companies in the past few months.

    The Nasdaq is up 11% so far in January, putting it on track for its best monthly performance since July.

    Some argue that more tech layoffs won’t be a problem. Investors seem to be (somewhat perversely) taking the view that companies cutting costs is a good thing for profits and that revenue likely won’t be impacted in a negative way because consumers are still spending.

    “A theme that can’t go unnoticed this month is how traders are rewarding firms for cutting jobs. With corporate layoffs making headlines each evening, you might think the consumer is strained. Maybe not so much. It turns out that demand is decent,” said Frank Newman, portfolio manager at Ally Invest, in a report.

    But a continuation of the Nasdaq’s surge may depend a lot on how well a quartet of tech leaders do when they report fourth quarter earnings next week: Facebook and Instagram owner Meta Platforms, Apple

    (AAPL)    , Google owner Alphabet

    (GOOGL)     and Amazon

    (AMZN)    .

    “A set of much weaker-than-expected reports from these firms could dent the market’s strong start to 2023,” said Daniel Berkowitz, senior investment officer for investment manager Prudent Management Associates, in a report.

    So far, tech earnings season is not off to an inspiring start, with Microsoft

    (MSFT)    , Intel

    (INTC)     and IBM

    (IBM)     all reporting weak results. But it’s important to note that that trio is part of the “old tech” guard while Apple, Amazon, Alphabet and Meta all have more rapidly growing businesses.

    Tesla

    (TSLA)     reported strong results last week, which could be a sign of good things to come from other more dynamic tech companies.

    Monday: IMF releases world outlook; earnings from Philips

    (PHG)    , GE Healthcare, Franklin Resources

    (BEN)    , SoFi, Ryanair

    (RYAAY)    , Whirlpool

    (WHR)     and Principal Financial

    (PFG)

    Tuesday: China official PMI; Europe GDP; US employment cost index; US consumer confidence; earnings from Exxon Mobil

    (XOM)    , Samsung

    (SSNLF)    , GM

    (GM)    , Phillips 66

    (PSX)    , Marathon Petroleum

    (MPC)    , UPS

    (UPS)    , Pfizer

    (PFE)    , Sysco

    (SYY)    , Caterpillar

    (CAT)    , UBS

    (UBS)    , McDonald’s

    (MCD)    , Spotify

    (SPOT)    , Mondelez

    (MDLZ)    , Amgen

    (AMGN)    , AMD

    (AMD)    , Electronic Arts

    (EA)    , Snap

    (SNAP)     and Match

    (MTCH)

    Wednesday: Fed meeting; US ADP private sector jobs; US JOLTS; China Caixin PMI; Europe inflation; earnings from AmerisourceBergen

    (ABC)    , Humana

    (HUM)    , T-Mobile

    (TMUS)    , Novartis

    (NVS)    , Altria

    (MO)    , Peloton

    (PTON)    , Meta Platforms, McKesson

    (MCK)    , MetLife

    (MET)     and AllState

    (ALL)

    Thursday: US weekly jobless claims; US productivity; BOE meeting; ECB meting; Germany trade data; earnings from Cardinal Health

    (CAH)    , ConocoPhillips

    (COP)    , Merck

    (MRK)    , Bristol-Myers

    (BMY)    , Honeywell

    (HON)    , Eli Lilly

    (LLY)    , Stanley Black & Decker

    (SWK)    , Hershey

    (HSY)    , Sirius XM

    (SIRI)    , Penn Entertainment

    (PENN)    , Ferrari

    (RACE)    , Harley-Davidso

    (HOG)    n, Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Ford

    (F)    , Qualcomm

    (QCOM)    , Starbucks

    (SBUX)    , Gilead Sciences

    (GILD)    , Hartford Financial

    (HIG)    , Clorox

    (CLX)     and WWE

    (WWE)

    Friday: US jobs report; US ISM non-manufacturing (services) index; earnings from Cigna

    (CI)    , Sanofi

    (SNY)    , LyondellBasell

    (LYB)     and Regeneron

    (REGN)

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  • Madison Square Garden CEO doubles down on use of facial recognition tech | CNN Business

    Madison Square Garden CEO doubles down on use of facial recognition tech | CNN Business

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    CNN
     — 

    The chief executive of the Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corporation has doubled down on using facial recognition at its venues to bar lawyers suing the group from attending events.

    Speaking to Fox 5 on Thursday, MSG Executive Chairman and CEO James Dolan said Madison Square Garden is a private company and therefore entitled to determine who is allowed to enter its venues for events.

    “At Madison Square Garden, if you’re suing us, we’re just asking of you – please don’t come until you’re done with your argument with us,” he said. “And yes, we’re using facial recognition to enforce that.”

    His comments come after New York Attorney General Letitia James on Wednesday sent a letter to MSG Entertainment requesting information regarding its use of facial recognition technology to prohibit legitimate ticketholders from entering venues. The letter said the attorney general’s office has reviewed reports MSG Entertainment has used facial recognition to identify and deny entry to multiple lawyers affiliated with law firms involved in ongoing litigation with the company. The letter indicates thousands of attorneys from around 90 law firms may have been impacted by the policy, and said the ban includes those holding season tickets.

    The attorney general’s letter raised the concern that banning individuals from accessing venues over ongoing litigation may violate local, state, and federal human rights laws, including laws prohibiting retaliation. The letter also questions whether the facial recognition software used by MSG Entertainment is reliable and what safeguards are in place to avoid bias and discrimination.

    In a press release, James said, “MSG Entertainment cannot fight their legal battles in their own arenas. Madison Square Garden and Radio City Music Hall are world-renowned venues and should treat all patrons who purchased tickets with fairness and respect. Anyone with a ticket to an event should not be concerned that they may be wrongfully denied entry based on their appearance, and we’re urging MSG Entertainment to reverse this policy.”

    MSG Entertainment owns and operates several venues in New York, including Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, the Hulu Theater, and the Beacon Theatre. Madison Square Garden is the home of the New York Knicks, Rangers, professional boxing, and college basketball teams.

    In a statement Thursday, an MSG spokesperson told CNN, “To be clear, our policy does not unlawfully prohibit anyone from entering our venues and it is not our intent to dissuade attorneys from representing plaintiffs in litigation against us. We are merely excluding a small percentage of lawyers only during active litigation.”

    “Most importantly,” the spokesperson added, “to even suggest anyone is being excluded based on the protected classes identified in state and federal civil rights laws is ludicrous. Our policy has never applied to attorneys representing plaintiffs who allege sexual harassment or employment discrimination.”

    In the Fox 5 interview Thursday, Dolan said when the attorneys suing MSG finish their litigation, they will be welcome back to the venues. “If your next door neighbor sues you, if somebody sues you, right, that’s confrontational. It’s adversarial and it’s fine, people are allowed to sue,” he said. “But at the same time, if you’re being sued, right, you don’t have to welcome the person into your home, right?”

    Dolan defended the use of facial recognition technology, saying it’s useful for security and noting that he believes Madison Square Garden to be one of the safest venues in the country. “Basically, anytime that you go out in public, you’re on camera,” he said. “Believe me, you walk down the street, you’re on camera, you’re on 10 cameras. What facial recognition does is looks at, you know, recognizes your face, and says you know, are you someone who’s on this list.”

    Dolan claimed the State Liquor Authority has threatened MSG’s license over its use of facial recognition technology. The New York State Liquor Authority told CNN it issued a “letter of advice” to MSG, after receiving a complaint in mid-November over attorneys engaged in litigation against the company not being allowed to enter its premises.

    “After receiving a complaint, the State Liquor Authority followed standard procedure and issued a Letter of Advice explaining this business’ obligation to keep their premises open to the public, as required by the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law,” Joshua Heller, a State Liquor Authority spokesperson, told CNN.

    The SLA told CNN an investigation into the matter is “ongoing”.

    During the Fox interview, Dolan apparently threatened to shut down sales of liquor during an unspecified upcoming New York Rangers game, and said he would direct any upset patrons to the liquor authority to complain.

    Dolan also pushed back at the suggestion that he’s being “too sensitive.”

    “The Garden has to defend itself,” Dolan said. “If you sue us, right, you know we’re going to tell you not to come.”

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  • Prices rose at a slower pace last month, the Fed’s favored inflation gauge shows | CNN Business

    Prices rose at a slower pace last month, the Fed’s favored inflation gauge shows | CNN Business

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    Minneapolis
    CNN
     — 

    The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge showed prices rose at a slower pace last month, indicating further progress in the central bank’s battle with higher prices.

    The Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, or PCE, rose by 5% in December, compared to a year earlier, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

    In December alone, prices rose 0.1% from November.

    On a month-to-month basis, prices for goods decreased 0.7% and prices for services increased 0.5%, according to the PCE price index for December. Within those categories, food prices increased 0.2% and energy prices decreased 5.1%.

    Core PCE, which doesn’t include the more volatile food and energy categories, increased by 4.4% annually, down from November’s annual rate of 4.7%. On a monthly basis, it was up 0.3%.

    Core PCE, which is now at its lowest level since October 2021, is the Fed’s favored inflation gauge as it provides a more complete picture of consumer costs and spending.

    “It’s clear, continued progress on the inflation front — which is something we expected, but good to see,” Joe Davis, Vanguard’s global chief economist, told CNN. “I think you’re seeing continued softening across the entire report.”

    The data showed that consumers pulled back in December, with spending falling by 0.2% from the month before. Personal income rose 0.2% last month, the smallest increase since April.

    Through much of 2022, consumer spending remained robust in spite of high inflation, rising interest rates, and simmering recession fears. However, as the months dragged on, economic data suggested that consumers were running out of dry powder: Reliance on credit grew and delinquencies started to tick up, while savings levels declined.

    Retail sales fell 1.1% in December, the Commerce Department reported earlier this month.

    In Friday’s report, the personal saving rate as a percentage of disposable income increased to 3.4% from 2.9% in November. The savings rate is now up 1 percentage point from its September low.

    The increase is “a sign that consumers are growing cautious after rapidly drawing down their savings last year,” Lydia Boussour, senior economist for EY Parthenon, said in a statement.

    Separately on Friday, a closely watched measurement of consumer attitudes toward the economy showed increased confidence in January for the second consecutive month. The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index landed at 64.9 for January, up nearly 9% from December.

    Despite the uptick, the director of the school’s Surveys of Consumers cautioned that there are “considerable downside risks” to sentiment and that two-thirds of consumers surveyed said they expect an economic downturn to occur in the next year.

    Massud Ghaussy, senior analyst of Nasdaq IR Intelligence, said consumer sentiment hinges heavily on the labor market.

    “The big question this year so far is, ‘is the jobs market the next shoe to fall?’” he told CNN. “The economic picture is still quite murky, and the reason why we’re seeing consumer confidence still relatively strong is because of a strong job market.”

    Friday’s PCE report is the last key inflation data before the Federal Reserve meets next week for its first policymaking meeting of 2023.

    Economists and investors are expecting the Fed to raise its benchmark rate by just quarter of a point, signaling another downshift following a spree of blockbuster rate hikes last year.

    The Fed is not expected to pivot simply because inflation is cooling, Davis said, noting that PCE isn’t yet at the Fed’s 2% target.

    The labor market, which has remained strong and tight despite inflation and interest rate hikes, remains a crucial area of focus in the Fed’s inflation fight. The latest data on employment turnover as well as job growth will be released next week.

    “The labor market is clearly Exhibit A in this debate between a soft landing or a mild recession,” Davis said. “The bigger wild card is, do the modest layoffs that we’re seeing in the technology sector in particular spread to other parts of the economy?”

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  • Hasbro plans to lay off 15% of workforce and warns of holiday-season loss

    Hasbro plans to lay off 15% of workforce and warns of holiday-season loss

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    Hasbro Inc. late Thursday said it plans to lay off about 15% of its workforce and warned Wall Street to brace for a quarterly loss and a drop in revenue after a disappointing holiday season.

    Hasbro
    HAS,
    -0.50%
    reported preliminary losses between $1 a share and 93 cents a share for its fourth quarter, and an adjusted loss of between $1.29 a share and $1.31 a share in the period.

    That runs counter to FactSet consensus of an adjusted profit of $1.52 a share for the quarter.

    The maker of My Little Pony, Baby Alive and other toy brands also reported preliminary fourth-quarter revenue of about $1.68 billion, down 17% year-over-year. That compares with FactSet consensus for revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter.

    Hasbro stock fell more than 8% in the extended session after ending the regular trading day down 0.5%.

    Hasbro’s “consumer-products business underperformed in the fourth quarter against the backdrop of a challenging holiday consumer environment,” despite “strong growth” for digital gaming and other areas of the company, Chief Executive Chris Cocks said in a statement.

    Several retailers have posted lower-than-expected fourth-quarter sales as concerns about the economy simmer. Layoffs have also been widespread, with International Business Machines Corp.
    IBM,
    -4.48%
    and SAP
    SAP,
    -1.77%
    among the latest announcing cuts.

    The global job cuts will start in the next few weeks, Hasbro said. The toy maker employed 6,640 people worldwide as of December 2021, according to its most recent annual filing with securities regulators.

    Hasbro said that the layoffs and “ongoing systems and supply-chain investments” will keep the company on track to hit its goal of between $250 million and $300 million in cost savings by the end of 2025.

    Until then, however, 2022 and “particularly” the fourth quarter were a “a challenging moment for Hasbro,” the company said.

    Earlier this month, analysts at BMO said they expected Hasbro’s holiday-season sales were likely among “the weakest in the North American toy industry.”

    Hasbro’s stock has fallen about 29% in the last 12 months, compared with a decline of around 7% for the S&P 500 index
    SPX,
    +1.10%    .

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  • Classic ‘GoldenEye 007’ game is coming to Nintendo Switch and Xbox | CNN Business

    Classic ‘GoldenEye 007’ game is coming to Nintendo Switch and Xbox | CNN Business

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    CNN
     — 

    James Bond fans may be waiting on the next actor who will play the British spy onscreen, but a beloved Bond adventure of yore is making its return.

    “GoldenEye 007,” a classic first-person shooter made for Nintendo 64 in 1997, is being revived for Nintendo Switch and Xbox more than 25 years later. For fans who subscribe to additional content on both gaming systems, the game will be available on Friday.

    Based on the 1995 film “GoldenEye,” the game follows a block-like version of Pierce Brosnan’s 007 as he shoots his way through various locales, all while a synthy version of the signature Bond theme plays. The Xbox version has been “faithfully recreated and enhanced,” said one ad for the re-release, while the Switch game features an online multiplayer mode.

    “GoldenEye 007” was a hit upon its release: IGN gave it a 9.7/10 in 1997, praising its graphics as “superb.” Contemporary players used to the lifelike visuals of popular games like “The Last of Us” and “Red Dead Redemption” may beg to differ, but the game still holds a nostalgic appeal for fans who spent their youths lasering their way through surfaces using Bond’s watch. Not to mention, its soundtrack remains iconic.

    To access the game, Switch users will have to subscribe to its Online membership plus its expansion pack, which includes some Nintendo 64 games and downloadable content for popular games like “Mario Kart 8 Deluxe” and “Animal Crossing: New Horizons.” Xbox players must subscribe to Xbox Game Pass, a service that allows players to access hundreds of games from its server.

    The return of “GoldenEye 007,” often referred to as one of the greatest video games of all time, has been years in the making. The Verge reported last year that rights issues blocked developers from releasing it on newer consoles, including Xbox, since at least 2008. Undeterred N64 fans even attempted to remake the game themselves on several occasions, though the original rights holders usually shut them down. Now, Rare, the game’s original developer, has recreated it for Xbox with “a few modern touches,” while Nintendo is re-releasing the original on its Switch console.

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  • Microsoft quarterly profit falls 12% but cloud computing business shows strength | CNN Business

    Microsoft quarterly profit falls 12% but cloud computing business shows strength | CNN Business

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    CNN
     — 

    Microsoft on Tuesday posted weaker-than-expected revenue and a double-digit percentage drop in profit for the final three months of last year amid broader economic uncertainty and reduced demand for personal computers and software.

    The tech giant reported revenue of $52.7 billion for the quarter, a modest 2% increase from the year prior but slightly less than analysts had expected. It reported net income of $16.4 billion, a 12% decline from the year prior.

    The earnings results come at a turbulent moment for Microsoft, and the tech industry as a whole. Microsoft said last week that it plans to lay off 10,000 employees as part of broader cost-cutting measures. In his explanation of the cuts, CEO Satya Nadella pointed to changing demand for digital services years into the pandemic as well as looming recession fears.

    Demand for personal computers, and the Microsoft operating systems that power them, has pulled back after experiencing a boom early in the pandemic. Consulting firm Gartner said earlier this month that worldwide PC shipments fell more than 28% in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to the same period the prior year. This marked the largest quarterly shipment decline since Gartner began tracking the PC market in the mid-90s.

    On Tuesday, Microsoft reported revenue declines from its Windows OEM operations and from its Xbox content and services lines. Microsoft also said it would incur $800 million in severance expenses from the layoffs announced this month, as well as charges from “changes to our hardware portfolio, and costs related to lease consolidation activities.”

    But the earnings report had some bright spots. Revenue from its cloud computing division, a key area of focus for Microsoft in recent years, increased 22% from the prior year. An analyst at Evercore described the results as “a sigh of relief.”

    Shares of Microsoft rose 4% in after-hours trading Tuesday on the news.

    “The next major wave of computing is being born, as the Microsoft Cloud turns the world’s most advanced AI models into a new computing platform,” CEO Satya Nadella said in a statement accompanying the results. “We are committed to helping our customers use our platforms and tools to do more with less today and innovate for the future in the new era of AI.”

    Earlier this week, Microsoft confirmed it is making a “multibillion dollar” investment into OpenAI, the company behind the viral AI-powered chatbot tool ChatGPT. The deepening partnership between the two companies – Microsoft was an early investor in OpenAI – could help catapult Microsoft as an AI leader and pave the way for the company to incorporate elements of ChatGPT into some of its hallmark applications, such as Outlook and Word.

    In his memo to staffers announcing the job cuts, Nadella said the company will continue to invest in “strategic areas for our future” and pointed to advances in AI as “the next major wave” of computing.

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  • There’s actually a presale for Oreo’s newest flavor | CNN Business

    There’s actually a presale for Oreo’s newest flavor | CNN Business

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    New York
    CNN
     — 

    In the past, Oreo has partnered with Lady Gaga, Pokémon and Ritz on new limited-time flavors. Now, it’s working with … itself. And Martha Stewart.

    The cookie brand’s latest limited-edition cookie is an Oreo stuffed with Oreos.

    Dubbed “the Most OREO OREO,” the cookie is made with the usual chocolate wafers, filled (to the “Most Stuf” extreme) with a creme that has Oreo bits mixed in, for a meta cookies-n-creme experience. The flavor is available for pre-sale through the Oreo website starting Tuesday, and will hit shelves at major retailers nationwide starting on January 30 for a suggested retail price of $4.99.

    The packages come with a QR code that allows buyers to access online games and chances to win prizes in the so-called Oreoverse — Oreo’s entrée into the metaverse, a virtual space where people interact through avatars. Those with VR headsets can use them to access the Oreoverse. Others can just use their phones or computers.

    For brands, the metaverse promises a whole new way to reach young customers, and Oreo isn’t the only brand trying to market to people using new online spaces.

    Coca-Cola

    (KO)     has paired its high-concept limited-edition flavors like Starlight, Byte and Dreamworld with online experiences including virtual concerts, digital outfits and custom places within video games like Fortnite. Kraft Heinz

    (KHC)     has placed Lunchable logos in Roblox, and Heinz-sponsored rest areas in Call of Duty.

    Oreo sees it as a new way to reach consumers, and for them to interact.

    Martha Stewart with the Most Oreo Oreo.

    “We love to create new opportunities for our fans to connect with each other,” said Julia Rosenbloom, Oreo’s senior brand manager, in a statement announcing the new flavor, noting “we’re so excited to enter the metaverse!”

    To help launch the Oreoverse, Oreo tapped Martha Stewart and Ryan McCallister, her gardener and quarantine buddy. On Monday, Stewart and McCallister will share their Oreoverse experiences on Oreo’s social media channels.

    Stewart also recently partnered with Tito’s Handmade Vodka on a tongue-in-cheek campaign that offers those observing dry January other ways to make use of vodka, llke putting a splash (or two) in a marinara sauce or deodorizing stinky boots.

    — CNN’s Jordan Valinsky contributed to this report.

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  • Asia’s richest man Gautam Adani is addicted to ChatGPT | CNN Business

    Asia’s richest man Gautam Adani is addicted to ChatGPT | CNN Business

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    New Delhi
    CNN
     — 

    Asia’s richest man Gautam Adani says he is addicted to ChatGPT, the powerful new AI tool that interacts with users in an eerily convincing and conversational way.

    In a LinkedIn post last week, the 60-year-old India tycoon said that the release of ChatGPT was a “transformational moment in the democratization of AI given its astounding capabilities as well as comical failures.”

    The billionaire admitted to “some addiction” to ChatGPT since he has started using it.

    The tool, which artificial intelligence research company OpenAI made available to the general public late last year, has sparked conversations about how “generative AI” services — which can turn prompts into original essays, stories, songs and images after training on massive online datasets — could radically transform how we live and work.

    Some claim it will put artists, tutors, coders, and writers out of a job. Others are more optimistic, postulating that it will allow employees to tackle to-do lists with greater efficiency.

    “But there can be no doubt that generative AI will have massive ramifications,” Adani wrote in his post, adding that generative AI holds the “same potential and danger” as silicon chips.

    “Nearly five decades ago, the pioneering of chip design and large-scale chip production put the US ahead of rest of the world and led to the rise of many partner countries and tech behemoths like Intel, Qualcomm, TSMC, etc,” Adani, who has businesses in sectors ranging from ports to power stations, wrote.

    “It also paved the way for precision and guided weapons used in modern warfare with more chips mounted than ever before,” he added. The race in the field of generative AI will quickly get as “complex and as entangled as the ongoing silicon chip war,” he said.

    Chipmaking has emerged recently as a new flashpoint in US-China tensions, with Washington blocking sales of advanced computer chips and chip-making equipment to Chinese companies. Some Chinese investments in European chipmaking have also been blocked.

    The Indian infrastructure magnate believes that China has an edge over the United States in the AI race because Chinese researchers published twice as many academic papers on the subject as their American counterparts in 2021, he wrote in the post published on Friday after attending the World Economic Forum in Davos.

    Back home, Adani is also considering taking five new businesses to the stock market in the next five years, according to his conglomerate’s chief financial officer Jugeshinder Singh.

    Speaking to reporters on Saturday in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad — where the Adani empire is headquartered — Singh said the group’s metals and mining, energy, data center, airports, and roads businesses will likely be spun off between 2025 to 2028.

    Adani Enterprises, the conglomerate’s flagship company, functions as an incubator for Adani’s businesses. Once they have matured, they are often given their independence via a stock market listing. Many of Adani companies have become leading players in their respective sectors.

    Later this month, Adani Enterprises is also raising 200 billion rupees ($2.5 billion) by issuing new shares. It would be India’s biggest ever follow-on public share offering.

    A college dropout and a self-made industrialist, Adani is worth over $120 billion, making him the world’s third richest man, ahead of Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates.

    Shares of Adani’s seven listed companies — in sectors ranging from ports to power stations — have seen turbocharged growth in the last few years. But some analysts fear that this growth comes at a huge risk as Adani’s $206 billion juggernaut has been fueled by a $30 billion borrowing binge, making his business one of the most indebted in the country.

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  • As egg prices rise, so do attempts to smuggle them from Mexico, say US Customs officials | CNN

    As egg prices rise, so do attempts to smuggle them from Mexico, say US Customs officials | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    High prices are driving an increase in attempts to bring eggs into the US from Mexico, according to border officials.

    Officers at the San Diego Customs and Border Protection Office have seen an increase in the number of attempts to move eggs across the US-Mexico border, according to a tweet from director of field operations Jennifer De La O.

    “The San Diego Field Office has recently noticed an increase in the number of eggs intercepted at our ports of entry,” wrote De La O in the Tuesday tweet. “As a reminder, uncooked eggs are prohibited entry from Mexico into the U.S. Failure to declare agriculture items can result in penalties of up to $10,000.”

    Bringing uncooked eggs from Mexico into the US is illegal because of the risk of bird flu and Newcastle disease, a contagious virus that affects birds, according to Customs and Border Protection.

    In a statement emailed to CNN, Customs and Border Protection public affairs specialist Gerrelaine Alcordo attributed the rise in attempted egg smuggling to the spiking cost of eggs in the US. A massive outbreak of deadly avian flu among American chicken flocks has caused egg prices to skyrocket, climbing 11.1% from November to December and 59.9% annually, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

    The increase has been reported at the Tijuana-San Diego crossing as well as “other southwest border locations,” Alcordo said.

    For the most part, travelers bringing eggs have declared the eggs while crossing the border. “When that happens the person can abandon the product without consequence,” said Alcordo. “CBP agriculture specialists will collect and then then destroy the eggs (and other prohibited food/ag products) as is the routine course of action.”

    In a few incidents, travelers did not declare their eggs and the products were discovered during inspection. In those cases, the eggs were seized and the travelers received a $300 penalties, Alcordo explained.

    “Penalties can be higher for repeat offenders or commercial size imports,” he added.

    Alcordo emphasized the importance of declaring all food and agricultural products when traveling.

    “While many items may be permissible, it’s best to declare them to avoid possible fines and penalties if they are deemed prohibited,” he said. “If they are declared and deemed prohibited, they can be abandoned without consequence. If they are undeclared and then discovered during an exam the traveler will be subject to penalties.”

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  • Best drip coffee maker in 2023 | CNN Underscored

    Best drip coffee maker in 2023 | CNN Underscored

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    CNN
     — 

    There are so many brewing methods to choose from (French press, the currently trendy dalgona whipped, pour-over), but many coffee lovers still rely on the classic, automatic drip for their daily fix. That’s why we tested the best-rated drip coffee makers using a wide range of criteria (outlined below) over the course of several weeks. Bags upon bags of dark roast, light roast and medium roast coffee beans were ground and brewed. We made full carafes, half carafes and single cups. And we tasted the results black, with cow’s milk, almond milk, sweetened condensed milk, cold-brew strength over ice — you name it.

    Many, many pots of coffee later, we settled on four standout drip coffee machines.

    Best drip coffee maker overall

    The Braun KF6050WH BrewSense Drip Coffee Maker produced consistently delicious, hot cups of coffee, brewed efficiently and cleanly, from sleek, relatively compact hardware that is turnkey to operate, and all for a reasonable price.

    Runner-up with a modern bent

    CNN Underscored_drip coffee makers_cuisinart product card

    This was, to our eye, the most handsome and minimally designed of the straightforward auto-brewers, delivering a clean, tasty cup. It lost first place only because the touchscreen may not be for every consumer, and brew time is significantly longer than the other machines we tried out.

    Luxury pick for the design-obsessed

    CNN Underscored_drip coffee makers_moccamaster product card

    In just near five minutes, the Technivorm Moccamaster 59636 KBG Coffee Brewer turns out a whole pot of pretty perfectly brewed coffee, and the process is as entrancing as a targeted Netflix trailer.

    Best affordable drip coffee maker

    CNN Underscored_drip coffee makers_mr coffee product card

    One of the cheapest options we tested, the Mr. Coffee 12-cup brewer is compact, simple to operate and yields a very competitive cup. ​

    CNN Underscored_drip coffee makers_braun body

    We brewed countless pots of coffee with the BrewSense, ranging from light to dark roast, and each one yielded a strong, delicious cup with no sediment, thanks to the gold tone filter, designed to remove the bitterness from coffee as well reduce single-use paper-filter waste. The machine we tested was white — a nice option for those with a more modern kitchen design — but it also comes in black, and it’s compact enough to fit under the cabinets in a smaller space compared to some of the more cumbersome machines we tested.

    The BrewSense is straightforward to operate: It’s designed like a traditional automatic drip machine with manual operating buttons, but with a sleek, modern upgrade. The hardware is a sophisticated combination of brushed metal and plastic, with a glass carafe that feels comfortable in the hand.

    The BrewSense doesn’t have a lot of bells and whistles compared to some of the machines we tested, and that functional ease helped elevate it to the top of our list. You could unbox this machine, flush it through with water once, and be drinking a freshly brewed cup within 15 minutes, all without reading the manual. Brewing is also a nearly silent process, which can be pleasing on early mornings. Some consumers may want a machine loaded with special features, but for those who just want delicious, hot coffee every morning, without spending over a hundred bucks, this is your best bet.

    The BrewSense isn’t perfect: It’s not the fastest we tested — to brew a full pot of 12 cups took upwards of 11 minutes. And we found an annoying error in the instruction manual around how to program the clock (call us rigid, but we insisted on programming the time before using each of the machines!); the directions read to press and hold CLOCK and then SET, but that didn’t work. We had to simply press and hold the CLOCK button and then sort of trial and error our way through the hours and minutes. Meanwhile, the auto-program setup is not as obvious as we’d have liked; though once we got it, it worked like a dream. But otherwise, we found this machine intuitive and easy to operate even without the instruction manual.

    Cleanup could at times be a little messier than some of our other machines. The hot water comes up through the filter basket and spreads the grounds up to the top of the cone, and during one brewing, a tiny bit rose up outside the cone so the top of the brew apparatus needed a little wipedown. Overall, though, for less than $80, this machine delivers the best bang for your buck of anything on the market.

    CNN Underscored_drip coffee makers_cuisinart body

    Coming in just a few points behind the Braun BrewSense was one of the three Cuisinart automatic drip machines we tested: the Touchscreen 14-Cup Programmable.

    We rated all three Cuisinarts highly, but the Touchscreen ranked highest for its combination of progressive design and everyday efficacy. All the Cuisinart products we encountered were well designed, but this one feels special, like when you unbox a brand-new Apple product: Its all-black, shiny surfaces and touchscreen control panel look and feel next-level for an everyday coffee maker (and the price, $235 at Macy’s, more than three times that of the Braun, reflects that).

    But this isn’t just a fancy, aesthetically pleasing machine: It brewed strong, delicious coffee that tasted cleanly filtered but rich. It’s also relatively easy to program and use, given its tech-centric platform. The touchscreen panel features cute little icons signifying one-touch commands to help customize your brew: If you like your coffee bolder, you can select the BOLD feature; if you’re brewing less than half a pot, select the 1 to 4 cups feature for a slower brew with the proper extraction time; adjust the hot plate temperature to low, medium or high; turn the audible brew-cycle-finished tone on or off.

    That tech-centric design is also one of the reasons this didn’t come in at number one, however. As exciting and different as it felt, we did feel that this machine — the only touchscreen model we tested — would feel less intuitive and more laborious than some consumers would want as part of their morning coffee routine. The touchscreen goes dark during the brew process, which yes, is nice-looking, but also feels a bit jarring, like you’re literally in the dark, asking yourself, “What’s going on? Is coffee brewing?” The settings and operating buttons are clear enough when illuminated, but it did take us a few times brewing to get used to how much pressure you need to apply with your fingertip to the touchscreen. We could easily think of people in our own lives who would be flummoxed by this machine if left alone with it and a bag of coffee — and for that, it lost a few points in functionality.

    Also, like its Cuisinart cousins we tested, this one’s a slower brewer. We clocked 11 minutes for eight cups, and if you’re watching your coffee maker brew like, well, a watched pot, it seems like it … takes forever. We understand the appeal of a slower brewing process (pour-over and Chemex fans, we hear you!), but 12 to 14 minutes for a full pot of coffee seems like a long time to wait when you’re thirsty for your morning Joe and you’re not doing it by hand. Finally, not everyone will want to spend more than $200 on a coffee maker. But many may.

    While some consumers might be flummoxed by the technology of this higher-end product, others will embrace it and make it a centerpiece of their kitchen, and rightly so. Form plus function equals morning happiness here.

    CNN Underscored_drip coffee makers_moccamaster body

    We had heard about the Technivorm Moccaster, a machine beloved for its innovative and old-school industrial design, handmade and tested in the Netherlands since 1968, even before we received it for this story. Multiple friends reached out upon hearing that we were testing a Moccamaster, singing the brand’s praises, and one declared it superlative via Instagram DM: “Moccamaster? Test over!” And the Moccamaster arrives with its own best PR too. Its user manual applauds buyers: “Congratulations on your purchase of the World’s Finest Coffee Brewer!” (If you’re spending more than $300 on a coffee maker, perhaps the enthusiasm feels validating.)

    Once we got the apparatus set up — which takes a little focus and time, to be honest — it really did pay off, with possibly the most delicious, hot, fresh cup of coffee we have ever tasted from a home-brewed machine. What’s more, you barely have time to peruse the morning news headlines before the process is done. The Moccamaster brewed 10 cups in less than six minutes, and, on a second trial, six cups in under four minutes. The brew function is almost jarringly fast: Once you turn on the machine, the brewing starts immediately. Then, seeing the water heat in the tank and bubble up through the water transfer tube into the brewer was a throwback to middle-school science experiments in the most pleasing way, like if a lava lamp produced fresh hot coffee after a few mesmerizing undulations.

    We discovered much to love about the Moccamaster, but there also were elements we didn’t adore. Perhaps ironically, they’re about the design. Some love a more hands-on coffee-making process, but some might find that there are just too many moving parts here, literally. We needed to read the directions pretty closely to assemble the parts. Once assembled, and once we digested what was happening brew-process-wise, the machine became fairly easy to operate.

    But each time you use this machine, you have to take the brew basket apart to add a new paper filter (yes, it requires a paper filter, if that makes a difference to you) and coffee grounds, and that basket removal sometimes disrupts the outlet arm and the reservoir lid — not a huge deal, but it could feel like you have to put your coffee maker back together from scratch every morning. Also, the basket lid and outlet arm, through which the hot water travels from the tube to the brew basket, get very hot during the process. It’s fine if you’re aware and cautious, but you wouldn’t want someone to wander up and unknowingly touch the hot part of the brewer.

    And finally, perhaps our most significant beef with this model: When you return the glass carafe to hotplate in between pours, the glass scrapes the warmer in a slightly cringey way.

    The coffee that this striking machine yields, though, may diminish other distractions — we found ourselves moving this maker back to the kitchen counter time and again, because the brew process and its results were superior. If you, like us, are a fan of the Moccamaster, you’re likely to be one for many years to come, which will amortize the steep price tag accordingly.

    CNN Underscored_drip coffee makers_mr coffee body

    We won’t go on and on about the Mr. Coffee 12-Cup, but it brewed a very workable 12 cups, in both taste and temperature, in just nine minutes. The machine came packaged in some pretty intense plastic and cardboard — the unboxing took a full five minutes and a pair of scissors — but once separated from its packaging, this machine’s a breeze to put together. The hardware is very easy to use (and to program to brew at a specific time), even without reading the directions. It’s compact — one of the best small drip coffee makers we tested — and durable, and the lid, brew basket, carafe and removable top half are all dishwasher safe, which wasn’t common among the machines we tested.

    The testing process for these coffee makers was intensive, lasting more than a month. We evaluated each machine based on what would be most important to the user — namely, functionality, durability and design. We tested each machine at least twice (but four to eight times for some) with both dark and light roast freshly ground beans, did a programmed/timed brew when available, and tested the additional functions of the more specialty machines (single-cup, cold brew, tea, milk frothing). We jotted notes about every machine’s unboxing, read every instruction manual, handled and rehandled the hardware, timed the brew of each machine, noted the temperature of the resulting coffee, and tasted and had others taste and weigh in on user experience. We tried to get as acquainted as possible with each of these machines, became fond of a good many of them — and as a result, we drank way too much coffee over the month in question.

    Read on for the categories and their breakdowns.

    Brew function

    • Optimal temperature: We didn’t take the actual temperature of the coffee from each machine, because we don’t think that’s how the average coffee drinker evaluates home brewing — experts recommend that coffee be brewed at between 195 and 205 degrees Fahrenheit, and served immediately, at 180 to 185 degrees — but we scored the perceived temp of each brew against all the others. We tasted each cup immediately after brewing, black, and then with added cold milk, and recorded the results.
    • Taste: The taste of coffee is, obviously, subjective. Two people could spend a lifetime tasting the different coffee varietals and never agree on one. That being said, we tested each machine with both a dark roast and a light roast, keeping the amount of grounds consistent to the machine’s directions. As a result, some machines that recommended using more grounds yielded stronger brews — in those instances, we retested those with less grounds accordingly.
    • Time to brew: For each carafe brewed, we timed the process on an iPhone timer, both for a full carafe and half. For those machines that made single cups, we timed that process as well.
    • Heat retention: We noted whether the machine brewed into a glass or a thermal carafe, and how hot the coffee remained a half hour to an hour after brewing.
    • User-friendliness: We did an initial scan of each machine, evaluating whether a new customer would be able to brew coffee without reading the instruction manual. We then assessed whether the design of each machine is immediately intuitive, and on a more micro level, assessed the settings and buttons on the face of the machine, the markings on the water tank and carafe, how easy the carafe is to fill, and the design of the brew basket.
    • Volume yield: We noted how many ounces each machine can brew.
    • Programmability: We recorded whether you can program the machine to brew at a set time.

    Durability

    • Everyday durability: For this category, we assessed how the machine responded to being handled during setup, filling the water tank, adding the grounds, removing and replacing carafe to serve, cleanup, and how durable the hardware felt.
    • Build quality: We noted what materials the machine is built from, e.g., plastic, metal, brushed metal, glass, and the tangible feel of each machine in a user’s hands.
    • Serviceability: We noted the ease of opening and taking apart the removable parts of each machine, in the case it would need to be serviced.

    Setup and breakdown

    • Ease of assembly: We observed how long it took to unbox the machine, put it together, and do an initial water flush before the product could be used.
    • Size of machine: We assessed how much counter space each machine took up, and how easy it is to move and store.
    • Ease of clean: After each brewing, we took note of how easy it was to clean the brew basket, the carafe, and the surrounding hardware.

    Aesthetic

    • First impression: We observed our first impression of each machine, noting details of design, color, size, feel — whether this machine looked attractive on our counter.
    • Color options: We researched if the machine came in any colors besides black.

    Warranty

    • We checked the number of years of warranty of each machine.

    Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed System ($179.99, originally $199.99; amazon.com)

    We tested two Ninja machines, both of which have some very appealing features. The hot and cold brew system brewed an excellent pot of hot coffee in less than five minutes, as well as a very tasty single cup (in multiple sizes), a less easy feat to perfect. It also brews coffee intended to be served directly over ice, an option that lots of consumers will like. We love the cool, minimalist glass carafe, though the lid features a big hole in the middle for pouring, which can lead to some splashing.

    This machine, though prolific in function, lost points because the water tank — plastic with prominent ridges — feels cheap and devolves the user experience a bit (with this machine, thankfully, the plastic tank is in the back, hidden from view, but does need to be handled every time you add water). Another problem with this machine: The water tank doesn’t have marking measurements, only half carafe, and full carafe, and two sizes of single cup. Without ounce or cup markings, how does one know how much water to add versus amount of coffee grounds? The Ninja machines come with a special-sized coffee scoop, different amounts on each end of the scoop, but it was bothersome that the water and the coffee amounts couldn’t be more standardized without relying only on the provided removable accessories (which, for the record, are cute — there’s a removable frothing wand). A lot of performance features with this machine also means a busy control panel that also feels a bit high-maintenance.

    Ninja Specialty Coffee Maker with Glass Carafe ($159.99; amazon.com)

    The Ninja Specialty is similar to the hot and cold brewed one, with one major difference: The water tank is adjacent to the brew basket, and visible to the eye. This one also brews a very nice cup of hot fresh coffee, and has nifty added functions, too, like myriad sizes of individual cups, half and full carafes, and an over-ice option. The placement of the water tank front and center here, though, makes this one less appealing than the hot and cold option; the tank, similarly, feels flimsy and cheap, a factor that’s difficult to overlook in user experience. For those who like the Ninja brand products (they make blenders and other items), though, there’s a lot of function for your buck here.

    Cuisinart PerfecTemp 14-Cup Programmable Coffeemaker ($99.95, originally $185; amazon.com)

    The most basic of the Cuisinart options we tested, this one brewed a nearly perfect cup at, for this reviewer, a perfectly hot temp (even after adding significant cold milk, we still had a steaming hot cup), thanks to an adjustable carafe temp. This machine is solid and well-designed, with one downside (for us): Brewing time was 14 minutes for eight cups, nearly double the time of some of the other brewers we tested.

    Cuisinart Coffee Center 10-Cup Thermal Coffee Maker and Single Serve Brewer ($200.98, originally $229; amazon.com)

    Our third Cuisinart brews only 10 cups into a thermal carafe, but has the handy bonus feature of a single-serve brew — with an attachment to use prepackaged coffee pods, or an adorable mini filter to use fresh grounds. (Note: The mini filter is a bit of a chore to clean because it is so small.) Like its Cuisinart siblings above, this machine makes good coffee, but the single-serve brewer does make the whole of the hardware more cumbersome. One annoying design issue: There’s an on/off switch on the side of the machine, whose placement feels not intuitive.

    Breville BDC450 Precision Brewer ($299.95; amazon.com)

    We were giddy upon opening this fancy brewer with much to offer: standard brew, fast, gold (what even is that, I wondered at first glance!), cold brew, single cup (with a sold separately attachment), and a customizable to your preferences setting. The options are exciting, but also overwhelming. The user is prompted to enter the consistency of their water, on a hard to soft scale — do all home coffee drinkers know the texture of their tap water? Also, does the average coffee drinker know what Gold Cup certification is? These feel like niche details for an automatic drip machine.

    Big picture, the Breville brewed a good pot of coffee, quite quickly, but we didn’t find it hot enough. The whole apparatus is beautifully designed, with sleek brushed metal and a lightweight, handsome carafe lovely enough to join a brunch table. But digging in further, we found this machine just to be … too much. Too much hardware — it doesn’t fit easily under our cabinets. Too many options — we needed to read up on a bunch of coffee wisdom before we could even set up the machine to our preferences. There are lots of users who would find this machine the sweet spot of function and sophistication, and enjoy exploring all of its specialties, but for those looking for turnkey coffee-making, this is a little extra.

    Black+Decker 12-Cup Programmable Coffeemaker, Black, CM1160B ($19.99; target.com)

    The most affordable automatic drip machine we tested, the Black & Decker 12-cup, is also a solid choice. It brewed eight tasty cups in eight short minutes — overall a good user experience. Hardware-wise, it felt a bit less durable than its closest rival, the Mr. Coffee, but it’s programmable and super easy for near the cost of two lattes with an extra shot.

    Bonavita Connoisseur 8-Cup One-Touch Coffee Maker ($145.99; amazon.com)

    The Bonavita Connoisseur has its fans, but we had multiple issues with the machine. This pleasingly retro-looking apparatus brews a nice cup quickly and at a good temperature, but the user experience leaves much to be desired. Simply put, the design feels flawed. The lid of the carafe needs to be removed before brewing, so the coffee just brews directly into a wide-open carafe — this was so counterintuitive to us, even after three or four brew tries, that it diminished the experience of the brew process. The brewer also gets very hot during brewing — so hot that we wondered if it might actually be a safety issue. Lastly, after brewing, we screwed the carafe lid back on and tried to return the carafe to underneath the brewer — sure, maybe we were still sleepy, maybe not enough caffeine yet — but the carafe doesn’t fit under the brewer with the lid on; the entire top of the machine popped off. This affects storage of the machine, too; because the carafe lid and the brew basket don’t both fit into the hardware at the same time, there’s always one piece loose.

    Read more from CNN Underscored’s hands-on testing:

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  • Households earning $100,000 or more are cutting back more aggressively on spending. What’s going on?

    Households earning $100,000 or more are cutting back more aggressively on spending. What’s going on?

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    We want to hear from readers who have stories to share about the effects of increasing costs and a changing economy. If you’d like to share your experience, write to readerstories@marketwatch.com. Please include your name and the best way to reach you. A reporter may be in touch.

    Higher-earning households are feeling the inflationary pinch.

    Consumer spending slowed and household finances weakened across all income levels last month. But households earning $100,000 a year or more reported shaving more off their spending than less well-off households did, according to a report released this week by Morning Consult, a decision intelligence company.

    The report also found that real monthly spending among U.S. adults fell by 4.3% from November to December. Even so, 21.3% of U.S. adults said their monthly expenses exceeded their monthly income in December, up from 19.2% in November. 

    On average, households earning $100,000 a year or more said they spent about 10% less in real terms in December than they did the previous month. Households earning $50,000 to $99,999 and those earning less than $50,000 a year, meanwhile, reported that they cut their monthly spending bills by no more than 5% on average. 

    Across the board, households are cutting back on recreation, alcohol, vehicle insurance, and other services in December, while spending more on hotels, gas and airfares, the report found.

    One theory on the spending cutbacks: Higher earners typically have more discretionary income, and likely have decided to exercise more fiscal caution after seven interest-rate hikes by the Federal Reserve last year. (On Wednesday, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard told The Wall Street Journal in a live-streamed interview that the Federal Reserve should not “stall” on raising its benchmark rates until they are above 5%.)

    The Morning Consult report did cite inflationary pressures. “Heightened budgetary pressures brought on by persistently high inflation are forcing trade-offs for consumers, leading to reallocation across categories,” it said. “For instance, as food grew more expensive over the past year, U.S. households accommodated an increase in grocery purchases by spending less at restaurants.”

    Earlier last year, higher-income households led consumer spending  in the face of rising prices, said Kayla Bruun, an economic analyst with Morning Consult and co-author of the report. But household income, even for those earning six-figure incomes, has not been growing fast enough to keep up with inflation, she said.

    “They probably started to realize, ‘Hey, I can’t keep buying the same basket of goods each month and expect to continue adding to my savings,’” Bruun told MarketWatch. 

    At the same time, recent layoffs in the higher-earning tech and financial sectors may also have affected sentiment among wealthier households, Bruun said.

    The tech and financial sectors felt the impact of rising interest rates and economic headwinds, she added. Goldman Sachs
    GS,
    -0.25%
    and BlackRock
    BLK,
    -1.53%
    said earlier this month they were cutting jobs. Microsoft Corp.
    MSFT,
    -2.14%
    confirmed plans on Wednesday to lay off some 10,000 workers, equivalent to around 5% of the company’s global workforce. 

    Before Microsoft’s announcement, data compiled by the Layoffs.fyi website estimated that more than 25,000 global tech-sector employees have been laid off in the first few weeks of 2023. Last year, approximately 60,000 people in the tech industry were laid off, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas. 

    Still, there has been some good news: Inflation eased in December for the sixth consecutive month: The annual rate of inflation fell to 6.5% from 7.1% in November after reaching a four-decade-high of 9.1% last summer. 

    Also read:

    Microsoft will lay off 10,000 workers. If you get fired from your tech job, what should be your next move?

    Inflation hit rural, Hispanic, and Black people harder for one key reason

    High medical costs made more Americans delay care last year

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  • Retail sales continued to fall in December as shoppers battled inflation | CNN Business

    Retail sales continued to fall in December as shoppers battled inflation | CNN Business

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    Minneapolis
    CNN
     — 

    It was a ho-hum end to 2022 for spending in America.

    US retail sales continued their fall in December, dropping by 1.1% as inflation remained high, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.

    That’s the largest monthly decline since December 2021, and practically every category (except for building materials, groceries and sporting goods) saw sales drop from the prior month.

    Economists had expected sales to fall by just 0.8% for the month, according to Refinitiv. The November number was revised down to -1%.

    All in all, the final retail sales report for 2022 shows a muted finish to a holiday season that crept even further into October versus the traditional late-November and December.

    October was the last strong retail sales month of 2022, as discounting and slowing inflation prompted consumers to shop more then, said Kayla Bruun, economic analyst at Morning Consult.

    “I think the hope was that this was going to lead to a little bit more momentum heading into the holiday season,” she said. “But really, it turned out to be more of just an early bump that actually took away from some of the spending that otherwise might have happened in November and December.”

    The Commerce Department’s retail sales data is not adjusted for inflation, which reached a 40-year high in June before falling during the second half of 2022, hitting 6.5% for the 12-month period ending in December, according to the latest Consumer Price Index reading released last week.

    Wholesale price growth is also cooling significantly: The Producer Price Index for December measured 6.2%, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Wednesday.

    During the November and December holiday season, retail sales grew 5.3% over 2021 to $936.3 billion, the National Retail Federation reported Wednesday.

    The holiday total, which is not adjusted for inflation and excludes sales at auto dealerships, gas stations and restaurants, falls short of the trade association’s projections of 6% to 8% holiday sales growth.

    “We knew it could be touch-and-go for final holiday sales given early shopping in October that likely pulled some sales forward plus price pressures and cold, stormy weather,” said Jack Kleinhenz, NRF’s chief economist, in a statement. “The pace of spending was choppy, and consumers may have pulled back more than we had hoped, but these numbers show that they navigated a challenging, inflation-driven environment reasonably well. The bottom line is that consumers are still engaged and shopping despite everything happening around them.”

    Consumer spending has remained robust despite inflation, rising interest rates and recession fears. However, some economic data suggests that activity may be losing some steam and that Americans are running out of dry powder.

    “I think the consumers has gotten very active in managing their household budget and what they’re willing to spend on,” said Matt Kramer, KPMG’s national sector leader for consumer and retail. “They’re spending more time looking for the deals and being thoughtful about when they make purchases.”

    That’s seen in the monthly sales declines in categories like motor vehicles, which were down 1.2% from November; furniture, down 2.5%; and electronics, down 1.1%, according to Wednesday’s report.

    “Certainly on those large purchases, financed purchases where interest rates play in, the consumers are pushing those decisions out and extending their buying cycles around the larger categories,” he said.

    The next few months are traditionally the slowest for retailers, but headwinds like credit card debt and stubborn inflation may exacerbate that, said Ted Rossman, senior industry analyst for Bankrate.

    “A further slowdown in purchasing appears likely, at least in the near-term,” Rossman said in a statement.

    Discretionary spending is usually the first to go, with people typically cutting back on travel, eating out and other expenditures, said Amanda Belarmino, assistant professor of hospitality at the University of Nevada Las Vegas.

    However, the post-pandemic pent-up demand that fueled strong services spending in 2022 is still going strong. Spending on food services and drinking places was up 12.1% in December from the year before.

    “What we’ve seen in restaurants, tourism, hospitality is completely contrary to what we normally see in an economic slowdown,” Belarmino said. “We have seen consumers continue to make that spending. But where you’re seeing those slowdowns are things like people canceling their streaming services, canceling their Peloton, canceling their home services. So it seems that consumers are making those trade-offs.”

    However, shifts in tipping activity could be harbinger of shifts to come.

    “The average tip rate in the US had gone up to about 18% to 20%, and there are some indicators that’s going to be falling back down toward the 15% range,” Belarmino said. “It’s not a huge thing, but it’s a way for consumers to save money.”

    How spending activity holds up in the service industries will be a critical indicator in the coming months, Morning Consult’s Bruun said, adding that a strong labor market should help to prevent a dramatic collapse in spending.

    “That has been the component of consumer spending that’s been driving growth,” she said. “And it’s going to need to, going forward, because we’ve really seen that goods demand has been tapped out to a large extent.”

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  • The Federal Reserve is testing how climate change could hurt big banks | CNN Business

    The Federal Reserve is testing how climate change could hurt big banks | CNN Business

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    A version of this story first appeared in CNN Business’ Before the Bell newsletter. Not a subscriber? You can sign up right here. You can listen to an audio version of the newsletter by clicking the same link.


    New York
    CNN
     — 

    The largest six banks in the United States have been given until July to show the Federal Reserve what effects disastrous climate change scenarios could have on their bottom lines.

    Noting the risks could be “material,” the Fed said the banks will have to show how their finances fare under a number of climate stress tests, including heat waves, wildfires, floods and droughts, according to details of a new Fed pilot program released on Tuesday.

    “The pilot exercise includes physical risk scenarios with different levels of severity affecting residential and commercial real estate portfolios in the Northeastern United States and directs each bank to consider the impact of additional physical risk shocks for their real estate portfolios in another region of the country,” wrote the Fed.

    The Federal Reserve first announced the pilot program in September, noting that Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo would participate.

    Climate activists said that the project was long overdue (Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has been questioned about it multiple times over the last year), and that other central banks are far ahead of the Fed on climate risk assessments. The Bank of England ran a similar exercise in 2021.

    They also said the proposal lacked any real teeth. In its announcement the Federal Reserve stressed that the exercise “is exploratory in nature and does not have capital consequences.” It also said that it would not publish individual banks’ results.

    San Francisco Federal Reserve President Mary Daly told CNN in October Thursday that this was a learning and exploratory exercise for the Federal Reserve. It would be “incredibly premature to jump to the conclusion that any new policies or programs would come out of it,” she said.

    The other side: Critics of the pilot program have argued that the Federal Reserve was overstepping its boundaries and that they might soon begin to enforce financial penalties.

    “The Fed’s new ‘pilot’ program is the first step toward pressuring banks into limiting loans to and investments in traditional energy companies and other disfavored carbon-emitting sectors,” wrote former Republican Senator Pat Toomey, then a ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee. “The real purpose of this program is to ultimately produce new regulatory requirements.”

    Powell said last week that the central bank would not become a “climate policymaker.”

    “Today, some analysts ask whether incorporating into bank supervision the perceived risks associated with climate change is appropriate, wise, and consistent with our existing mandates,” Powell said last Tuesday. “In my view, the Fed does have narrow, but important, responsibilities regarding climate-related financial risks. These responsibilities are tightly linked to our responsibilities for bank supervision. The public reasonably expects supervisors to require that banks understand, and appropriately manage, their material risks, including the financial risks of climate change.”

    The discovery, movement and use of oil has played an outsized role in shaping geopolitics over the past century and a half. But over the next 50 years, global interaction and wealth are more likely to be influenced by microchips, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger told CNN Tuesday.

    “Where the technology supply chains are, and where semiconductors are built, is more important for the next five decades,” Gelsinger said in an interview with CNN’s Julia Chatterley at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

    Intel (INTC) is betting those predictions prove true. The company announced in 2021 it would invest $20 billion to build two new US chipmaking facilities, as well as up to $90 billion in new European factories, aimed at reasserting its position as the leader of the semiconductor industry, reports my colleague Clare Duffy.

    Gelsinger said the company’s investment in new manufacturing facilities in the United States, Europe and elsewhere is important not only for the company’s future, but for the “globalization of the most critical resource to the future of the world.”

    “We need this geographically balanced, resilient supply chain,” he said.

    The announcements also came amid concerns about the concentration of manufacturing for chips, in Asia, particularly China and Taiwan, during the Covid-19 pandemic and as geopolitical tensions grew. Issues in the chip supply chain in recent years have caused shortages and shipping delays of everything from desktop computers and iPhones to cars.

    “If we’ve learned one thing from the Covid crisis and this multi-year journey that we’ve been on it’s we need resilience in our supply chains,” Gelsinger said, adding that Intel’s manufacturing investments are aimed at “leveling that playing field so that good investment decisions can be made.”

    The years following the peak of the Covid pandemic have not been good for wealth equality.

    The world’s wealthiest residents have been getting far richer, far faster than everyone else over the past two years, reports my colleague Tami Luhby.

    The fortune of the 1% soared by $26 trillion during that period, while the bottom 99% only saw their net worth rise by $16 trillion, according to Oxfam’s annual inequality report released Sunday.

    And the wealth accumulation of the super-rich accelerated during the pandemic. Looking over the past decade, they netted just half of all the new wealth created, compared to two-thirds during the last few years.

    Meanwhile, many of the less fortunate are struggling. Some 1.7 billion workers live in countries where inflation is outpacing wages. And poverty reduction likely stalled last year after the number of global poor skyrocketed in 2020.

    “While ordinary people are making daily sacrifices on essentials like food, the super-rich have outdone even their wildest dreams,” said Gabriela Bucher, executive director of Oxfam International.

    “Just two years in, this decade is shaping up to be the best yet for billionaires — a roaring ’20s boom for the world’s richest,” she said.

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  • Intel CEO: Chip supply chains will shape geopolitics more than oil over the next 50 years | CNN Business

    Intel CEO: Chip supply chains will shape geopolitics more than oil over the next 50 years | CNN Business

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    New York
    CNN
     — 

    Global politics will be dominated by the availability, trade and investment in microchips for the next several decades, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger told CNN Tuesday.

    The location of “oil reserves [has] defined geopolitics for the last five decades,” Gelsinger said in an interview with CNN’s Julia Chatterley at the World Economic Forum in Davos. “Where the technology supply chains are, and where semiconductors are built, is more important for the next 5 decades.”

    Gelsinger said the company’s investment in new manufacturing facilities in the United States, Europe and elsewhere is important not only for the company’s future, but for the “globalization of the most critical resource to the future of the world.”

    “We need this geographically balanced, resilient supply chain,” he said.

    Intel

    (INTC)     said last year it would invest $20 billion to build two new US chipmaking facilities, as well as up to $90 billion in new European factories, aimed at reasserting its position as the leader of the semiconductor industry. The announcements also came amid concerns about the concentration of manufacturing for chips, in Asia, particularly China and Taiwan, during the Covid-19 pandemic and as geopolitical tensions grew. Issues in the chip supply chain in recent years have caused shortages and shipping delays of everything from desktop computers and iPhones to cars.

    “If we’ve learned one thing from the Covid crisis and this multi-year journey that we’ve been on it’s we need resilience in our supply chains,” Gelsinger said, adding that Intel’s manufacturing investments are aimed at “leveling that playing field so that good investment decisions can be made.”

    Gelsinger — who took over as Intel’s chief executive two years ago during a difficult period for the company — acknowledged that the company’s investments in a decades-long strategy are coming during a difficult economic period.

    “It’s a touch economic environment in the near term — Covid and China, Ukraine and energy in Europe, inflation in the US — you look across that and ask, ‘Where’s the good news?’” he said. “But at the same time, we need to make long-term investments, three quarter economic environments cannot dictate five- and six-year capital investment cycles … It’s a challenge to be a CEO these days.”

    A US law passed last year to boost domestic chipmaking should help. The CHIPS and Science Act will invest more than $200 billion to help companies grow US domestic chip-making and research.

    Now, Gelsinger said, Intel and other chipmakers are just waiting for the funds from the law to get dispersed, after President Joe Biden last year directed a steering committee including Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to determine how to implement the law and deploy the funds.

    “We expect we’ll see those this year,” Gelsinger said of the CHIPS Act funds. “I’m investing, please show up with the money. Because we’re assuming they’ll help us make these massive investments.”

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  • Locally caught freshwater fish contain PFAS toxins, study finds | CNN

    Locally caught freshwater fish contain PFAS toxins, study finds | CNN

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    Editor’s Note: Sign up for CNN’s Life, But Greener newsletter. Our limited newsletter series guides you on how to minimize your personal role in the climate crisis — and reduce your eco-anxiety.



    CNN
     — 

    Fish caught in the fresh waters of the nation’s streams and rivers and the Great Lakes contain dangerously high levels of PFOS, short for perfluorooctane sulfonic acid, a known synthetic toxin phased out by the federal government, according to a study of data from the US Environmental Protection Agency.

    The chemical PFOS is part of a family of manufactured additives known as perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, widely used since the 1950s to make consumer products nonstick and resistant to stains, water and grease damage.

    Called “forever chemicals” because they fail to break down easily in the environment, PFAS has leached into the nation’s drinking water via public water systems and private wells. The chemicals then accumulate in the bodies of fish, shellfish, livestock, dairy and game animals that people eat, experts say.

    “The levels of PFOS found in freshwater fish often exceeded an astounding 8,000 parts per trillion,” said study coauthor David Andrews, a senior scientist at Environmental Working Group, the nonprofit environmental health organization that analyzed the data.

    In comparison, the EPA has allowed only 70 parts per trillion of PFOS in the nation’s drinking water. Due to growing health concerns, in 2022 the EPA recommended the allowable level of PFOS in drinking water be lowered from 70 to 0.02 parts per trillion.

    “You’d have to drink an incredible amount of water — we estimate a month of contaminated water — to get the same exposure as you would from a single serving of freshwater fish,” Andrews said.

    “Consuming even a single (locally caught freshwater) fish per year can measurably and significantly change the levels of PFOS in your blood,” Andrews said.

    Chemicals in the PFAS family are linked to high cholesterol, cancer and various chronic diseases, as well as a limited antibody response to vaccines in both adults and children, according to a report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

    “This is an important paper,” said toxicologist Linda Birnbaum, former director of the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences and the National Toxicology Program.

    “To find this level of contamination in fish across the country, even in areas not close to industry where you might expect heavy contamination, is very concerning. These chemicals are everywhere,” she said.

    Read more: Doctors should test levels of PFAS in people at high risk, report says

    It’s nearly impossible to avoid PFAS, experts say. Manufacturers add the chemicals to thousands of products, including nonstick cookware, mobile phones, carpeting, clothing, makeup, furniture and food packaging.

    A 2020 investigation found PFAS in the wrapping of many fast foods and “environmentally friendly” molded fiber bowls and containers.

    A 2021 study found PFAS in 52% of tested cosmetics, with the highest levels in waterproof mascara (82%), foundations (63%) and long-lasting lipstick (62%). Polytetrafluoroethylene, the coating on nonstick pans, was the most common additive.

    Read more: Makeup may contain potentially toxic chemicals called PFAS, study finds

    In fact, PFAS chemicals have been found in the blood serum of 98% of Americans, according to a 2019 report using data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

    “These chemicals are ubiquitous in the American environment. More than 2,800 communities in the US, including all 50 states and two territories, have documented PFAS contamination,” Dr. Ned Calonge, an associate professor of epidemiology at the Colorado School of Public Health and chair of the Academies committee that wrote the report, told CNN previously.

    Read more: Dangerous chemicals found in food wrappers at major fast-food restaurants and grocery chains, report says

    Scientists at the Environmental Working Group used data from the EPA’s own monitoring programs — the National Rivers and Streams Assessment, which has been periodically testing stream conditions since 2008, and the Great Lakes Human Health Fish Fillet Tissue Study, which tests lake water every five years.

    “The analysis focused on EPA wild-caught fish in rivers, streams and throughout the Great Lakes from 2013 to 2015 as that was the latest data available,” Andrews said.

    The contamination was widespread, impacting “nearly every fish across the country,” he said. “I believe there was one sample without detected levels of PFOS.”

    The EWG created an interactive map of the results with details for each state. Fish caught near urban areas contained nearly three times more PFOS and overall PFAS than those caught in nonurban locations, the study found. The highest levels were found in fish from the Great Lakes.

    The analysis showed PFOS accounted for an average 74% of the contamination in the fish. The remaining 25% was a mixture of other PFAS known to be equally damaging to human health, Andrews said.

    CNN reached out to the EPA for comment but did not hear back before this story published.

    Based on the study’s findings, people who fish for sport might “strongly” consider releasing their catch instead of taking the fish home for a meal, Andrews said.

    Yet many people in lower socioeconomic groups, indigenous peoples and immigrants in the US rely eating freshly caught fish.

    “They need it for food or because it’s their culture,” Birnbaum said. “There are Native American tribes and Burmese immigrants and others who fish because this is who they are. This is key to their culture. And you can’t just tell them not to fish.”

    Read more: Water- and stain-resistant products contain toxic plastics, study says. Here’s what to do

    The predominant chemical in the fish, PFOS, and its sister perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, are known as “long-chain” PFAS, made from an 8-carbon chain.

    Read more: Plastics and pesticides: Health impacts of synthetic chemicals in US products doubled in last 5 years, study finds

    Manufacturers agreed in the early 2000s to voluntarily stop using long-chain PFAS in US consumer products, although they can still be found in some imported items. Due to growing health concerns, the use of PFOS and PFOA in food packaging was phased out in 2016 by the US Food and Drug Administration.

    However, industry reworked the chemicals by making them into 4- and 6-carbon chains — today over 9,000 different PFAS exist, according to the CDC. Experts say these newer versions appear to have many of the same dangerous health effects as the 8-chain PFAS, leaving consumers and the environment still at risk.

    Many of these longer-chain PFAS can be stored for years in different organs in the human body, according to the National Academies report. Scientists are examining the impact of newer versions.

    “Some of these chemicals have half-lives in the range of five years,” National Academies report committee member Jane Hoppin, an environmental epidemiologist and director of the Center for Human Health and the Environment at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, told CNN previously.

    Read more: FDA must do more to regulate thousands of chemicals added to your food, petitioners say

    “Let’s say you have 10 nanograms of PFAS in your body right now. Even with no additional exposure, five years from now you would still have 5 nanograms,” she said. “Five years later, you would have 2.5 and then five years after that, you’d have one 1.25 nanograms. It would be about 25 years before all the PFAS leave your body.”

    That’s why it’s “no surprise” to find such high levels of PFOA in freshwater fish, said the director of environmental pediatrics at NYU Langone Health, Dr. Leonardo Trasande, who was not involved in the new study.

    “These truly are ‘forever chemicals,’” Trasande said. “This reinforces the reality that we need to get all PFAS out of consumer products and people’s lives.”

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