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Tag: Retail

  • Tim Cook has been an excellent leader for Apple — these numbers prove it

    Tim Cook has been an excellent leader for Apple — these numbers prove it

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    How good is a company’s chief executive officer at investing your money most efficiently? This is an important question for long-term investors. It may underline the difference between a steady long-term performer and a flash in the pan.

    And Apple Inc.
    AAPL,
    -4.24%
    now makes up 7% of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust
    SPY,
    -1.03%    ,
    the first and largest exchange-traded fund (with $360 billion in assets), which tracks the benchmark S&P 500
    SPX,
    -1.06%    .
    That’s close to an all-time record, and the iPhone maker has a whopping 14.1% position in the Invesco QQQ Trust
    QQQ,
    -1.95%    ,
    which tracks the Nasdaq-100 Index
    NDX,
    -1.98%    .
    Looking at the full Nasdaq Index
    COMP,
    -1.73%    ,
    which has 3,747 stocks, Apple takes a 13.5% position.

    Apple now makes up 7.3% of the S&P 500 by market capitalization, close to the 8% record it set late in September.


    FactSet

    This is very much an Apple stock market, with the company topping the broad indexes that are weighted by market capitalization. You are likely to be invested in the company indirectly. You also might be feeling Apple’s impact in other ways. Apple’s App Store ecosystem drives more than $600 billion in annual revenue for developers.

    Tim Cook’s tenure as Apple’s CEO has been nothing short of breathtaking when measured by the company’s financial performance. Apple is not one of the fastest-growing companies when measured by sales or earnings — it is too big for that. But its excellent stock performance has reflected Cook’s ability to deploy invested capital with improving efficiency. Cook has also been a market trendsetter in other important ways. He has Apple repurchasing $90 billion of its shares annually, setting the pace for stock buybacks in the market. Cook’s steady hand has also helped Apple withstand the market’s tech wreck and remain a stable pillar for the teetering Nasdaq Composite index generally. For all these reasons, Cook has earned a spot on the MarketWatch 50 list of the most influential people in markets. 

    Apple keeps improving by this important measure

    Investors in the stock market are looking for growth over the long term. The best measure of that is whether or not a company’s share price goes up or down. But Cook isn’t just managing Apple’s stock. Digging a bit deeper into the company’s actual operating performance can provide some insight into what a good job Cook has done.

    What should a corporate manager focus on? The stock price? How about the most efficient and most profitable way to provide goods and services? There are different ways to do this, and Apple has focused on quality, reliability and excellent service to build customer loyalty.

    Apple’s commitment can be experienced by anyone who calls the company for customer service. It is easy to get through to a well-trained representative who will solve your problem. How many companies can say that at a time when it seems many companies cannot even handle answering the phone? 

    Getting back to actual performance, Cook took over as Apple’s CEO in August 2011 when Steve Jobs stepped down. The chart below shows the company’s quarterly returns on invested capital from the end of 2010 through September 2022.

    Apple’s returns on invested capital have increased markedly over the past six years.


    FactSet

    A company’s return on invested capital (ROIC) is its profit divided by the sum of the carrying value of its common stock, preferred stock, long-term debt and capitalized lease obligations. ROIC indicates how well a company has made use of the money it has raised to run its business. It is an annualized figure, but available quarterly, as used in the chart above.

    The carrying value of a company’s stock may be a lot lower than its current market capitalization. The company may have issued most of its shares long ago at a much lower share price than the current one. If a company has issued shares recently or at relatively high prices, its ROIC will be lower.

    A company with a high ROIC is likely either to have a relatively low level of long-term debt or to have made efficient use of the borrowed money.

    Among companies in the S&P 500 that have been around for at least 10 years, Apple placed within the top 20 for average ROIC for the previous 40 reported fiscal quarters as of  Sept. 1.

    As you can see on the chart, Apple’s ROIC has improved dramatically over the past five years, even as the wide adoption of the company’s products and services has led to an overall slowdown in sales growth.

    A quick comparison with other giants in the benchmark index

    It might be interesting to see how Apple stacks up among other large companies, in part because some businesses are more capital-intensive than others. For example, over the past four quarters, Apple’s ROIC has averaged 52.9%, while the average for the S&P 500 has been a weighted 12.1%, by FactSet’s estimate.

    Here are the 10 companies in the S&P 500 reporting the highest annual sales for their most recent full fiscal years, with a comparison of average ROIC over the past 40 reported quarters:

    Company

    		 Ticker

    		 Annual sales ($mil)

    		 Avg. ROIC – 40 quarters

    		 Total Return – 10 Years
    Walmart Inc.

    		 WMT,
    -0.02%         		$572,754

    		 11.0%

    		 142%
    Amazon.com Inc.

    		 AMZN,
    -3.06%         		$469,822

    		 6.8%

    		 693%
    Apple Inc.

    		 AAPL,
    -4.24%         		$394,328

    		 33.0%

    		 721%
    CVS Health Corp.

    		 CVS,
    +1.03%         		$291,935

    		 6.8%

    		 161%
    UnitedHealth Group Inc.

    		 UNH,
    +0.03%         		$287,597

    		 13.7%

    		 1,031%
    Exxon Mobil Corp.

    		 XOM,
    +1.36%         		$280,510

    		 9.9%

    		 85%
    Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Class B

    		 BRK.B,
    -1.94%         		$276,094

    		 8.2%

    		 233%
    McKesson Corp.

    		 MKC,
    -0.61%         		$263,966

    		 6.6%

    		 353%
    Alphabet Inc. Class A

    		 GOOGL,
    -4.07%         		$257,488

    		 16.6%

    		 405%
    Costco Wholesale Corp.

    		 COST,
    +0.57%         		$226,954

    		 16.2%

    		 558%
    Source: FactSet

    Among the largest 10 companies in the S&P 500 by annual sales, Apple takes the top ranking for average ROIC over the past 10 years, while ranking second for total return behind UnitedHealth Group Inc.
    UNH,
    +0.03%
    and ahead of Amazon.com Inc.
    AMZN,
    -3.06%    .
    UnitedHealth has been able to remain at the forefront of managed care during the period of transition for healthcare in the U.S., in the wake of President Barack Obama’s signing of the Affordable Care Act into law in 2010.

    Here’s a chart showing 10-year total returns for Apple, UnitedHealth Group, Amazon and the S&P 500:


    FactSet

    Apple is only slightly ahead of Amazon’s 10-year total return. But what is so striking about this chart is the volatility. Apple has had a smoother ride. During the bear market of 2022, Apple’s stock has declined 18%, while the S&P 500 has gone down 20%, the Nasdaq has fallen 32% (all with dividends reinvested) and Amazon has dropped 45%.

    The broad indexes would have fared even worse so far this year without Apple.

    TO SEE THE FULL MARKETWATCH 50 LIST CLICK HERE

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  • How the Federal Reserve’s rate hike impacts your holiday spending plans: ‘It’s not the time to overspend’

    How the Federal Reserve’s rate hike impacts your holiday spending plans: ‘It’s not the time to overspend’

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    It is three weeks before Black Friday, but the Federal Reserve is about to make the post-holiday debt hangover a little more intense.

    By the time the latest rate hikes filter through the very rate-sensitive credit card industry and pump up customers’ annual percentage rates a little more, experts say it will be some point in December 2022 or January 2023. Right in time for many holiday gifts and expenses to post on credit cards bills — and there to make the costs of a carried balance a little extra expensive.

    Every year, many people accumulate credit card debt through the holiday season, pay it off in the early part of the following year and then repeat the process.

    What’s different now is the presence of four-decade high inflation, coupled with fast-rising interest rates that the Fed hopes will ultimately cool those rising prices, although without sending the economy to a recessionary thud.

    Wednesday’s rate move is the fourth straight 75-basis-point rate hike to the federal funds rate, taking it to the 3.75% -4% range, when it was near zero last year’s holiday season. By now, Americans are all too acquainted with 2022’s fast-rising interest rates. They just haven’t gone through a Christmas and Hanakkuh with it yet.

    “It’s not the time to overspend and have a problem with paying your bills later. We know the economy is sending mixed messages,” said Michele Raneri, vice president of financial services research and consulting at TransUnion
    TRU,
    -4.31%    ,
    one of the country’s three major credit reporting companies.

    It’s extra important to think through a holiday budget and how much relies on credit, she said. “People need to think about how much they can afford to repay and how long it will take to repay it.”

    Holiday spending could be the same as 2021 for many people — but not everyone

    Last month, third-quarter earnings from major banks like JPMorgan Chase & Co.
    JPM,
    -0.92%    ,
    Wells Fargo
    WFC,
    -0.15%    ,
    Citibank
    C,
    -1.45%
    and Bank of America
    BAC,
    -0.30%
    indicated consumer finances, on the whole, are not yet showing cracks under inflation’s strains. (Other numbers show the strain, like the personal savings rate that’s been dwindling.)

    Now, two forecasts suggest many people ready to spend the same amount for this year’s holiday cheer as they did last year.

    People are planning to spend an average $1,430 on gifts, travel and entertainment this year, which is around the $1,447 spent last year, according to PwC researchers. Three-quarters of people said they were planning to spend the same or more than last year and respondents said credit cards were one of their top ways to pay.

    “ Compared to last year, credit card balances are getting bigger, more people are sitting on balances and debt costs are getting pricier.”

    By another measure, Americans will pay an average $1,455 on holiday-related gifts and experiences, essentially flat from last year, say Deloitte researchers.

    More than one-third of surveyed consumers say their financial outlook is worse than the same point last year. Nearly one-quarter of people were concerned about credit card debt as of late September, Deloitte’s numbers show in an ongoing tracking of consumer mood.

    It’s understandable to see the concern with households amassing a collective $890 billion in credit card debt through the second quarter. Compared to last year, balances are getting bigger, more people are sitting on balances and debt costs are getting pricier because the interest rates applied to those balances are rising.

    When people were carrying a credit card balance month to month, the sum was $5,474 on average, according to Raneri. That’s through the end of September and it’s a nearly 13% rise year over year, she said. The 164 million people carrying a balance is a 5% increase from last year, she noted.

    Credit cards carrying a balance during the third quarter had an average 18.43% APR, Federal Reserve data shows. That’s up from 16.65% in the second quarter and up from 17.13% in 2021’s third quarter.

    How the Fed influences credit card rates

    Credit card issuers typically determine their rates by applying a “prime rate” — typically three percentage points on top of the federal funds rate — and the issuer’s profit margin, said Ted Rossman, senior industry analyst at Bankrate.com.

    By late October, the rate on new card offers was 18.73%, according to Bankrate data. At this point last year, it was 16.31%, Rossman said. In a few weeks, the rates on new offers should beat the all-time record of an average 19% APR, exclusive to new offers, he added.

    While it can take a billing cycle or two for a higher APR to make its way to an existing credit card account, Rossman noted the APRs on new offers could rise in a matter of days.

    Here’s a hypothetical to show how much more expensive credit card debt becomes with every extra hike. Suppose the $5,474 balance is on a credit card with the current 18.73% average. If a person has to resort to minimum payments, Rossman said, they’d be paying $7,118 just in interest to pay off the debt.

    “ In a few weeks, the rates on new credit card offers should beat the all-time record of an average 19% APR.”

    What if the 18.73% APR gets kicked up 75 basis points to 19.48%? If that same borrower has to pay minimums, they are now paying $7,417 in interest to snuff the principal debt of $5,474, Rossman said.

    The example has its limits because people may pay more than the minimum and they may incur more credit card debt as they pay off the old one. But it shows a bigger point: “Unfortunately, anybody dealing with credit card debt is a loser from the series of rate hikes. It was already expensive. It’s getting more so,” Rossman said.

    When do rate hikes stop?

    While decisions during the Fed’s November meeting can have a ripple effect on holiday-time borrowing costs, observers say the real question about Wednesday is the clues Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell drops for what’s next. The central bank’s committee voting on interest rate increases reconvenes in mid-December.

    On Wednesday, the Fed said in a statement it expected further rate increases, but also said it would be watching to see if there were lag effects with its tightening policies, which could slow or limit the total amount of increases.

    “People, when they hear lags, they think about a pause. It’s very premature, in my view, to think about or be talking about pausing our rate hike. We have a ways to  go,” Powell told reporters at a Wednesday afternoon press conference.

    The economy is strong enough to handle higher rates, Powell said. For one thing, households have “strong balance sheets” and “strong spending power,” he noted.

    Stock markets first jumped higher after the latest interest rate announcement. But they gave up the gains — and then some — by the end of the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
    DJIA,
    -1.55%
    was down more than 500 points, or 1.6% while the S&P 500
    SPX,
    -2.50%
    was down 2.5% and the Nasdaq Composite
    COMP,
    -3.36%
    closed 3.4% lower.

    Top economists in major North American-based banks forecasted the Fed will keep raising interest rates “until the first quarter of next year before potentially lowering rates through the end of 2023,” Sayee Srinivasan, chief economist at the American Bankers Association, the banking sector’s trade association, said ahead of Wednesday’s latest rate hike.

    “Top economists polled as part of a banking industry panel expect Fed rate increases through at least the first quarter of 2023.”

    The forecast, coming through an ABA advisory committee, is no sure thing. “Everything depends on the ability of the Fed to bring inflation down, so that will remain their clear priority,” said Srinivasan.

    Meanwhile, rising costs may cause more people to put the holiday cheer on plastic, even their decorations. The majority of Christmas tree growers in one poll are expecting wholesale prices to climb 5% to 15% for this season.

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  • Amazon closes below $1 trillion valuation for the first time since 2020

    Amazon closes below $1 trillion valuation for the first time since 2020

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    The swift recent decline in Amazon.com Inc.’s stock has brought the company’s closing market value below $1 trillion for the first time in more than two years.

    Amazon shares
    AMZN,
    -0.82%
    fell 5.5% in Tuesday action, finishing with a market value of $987 billion. This marked the first time since April 6, 2020 that Amazon closed out of trillion-dollar territory, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

    Amazon’s valuation fell below the trillion-dollar milestone Tuesday.


    Dow Jones Market Data

    Amazon shares have tumbled 19.74% over the most recent five-session stretch. That five-day decline was the worst five-day loss for Amazon since its 22.03% plunge during the period that ended Nov. 20, 2008.

    The e-commerce giant has come under recent pressure after the company’s latest earnings report highlighted a slowdown in AWS cloud-computing revenue growth. Additionally, Amazon disappointed with the forecast it offered for the holiday quarter.

    “Combined with wobbles on revenue momentum for both AWS and retail, and suddenly the Amazon hiding place doesn’t look good,” Bernstein analyst Mark Shmulik wrote following Amazon’s earnings report last Thursday. “The good news here is that the story isn’t broken, it’s just pushed out into 2023, while Q4 may get worse before it gets better.”

    When looking at companies worth more than $200 billion, Amazon is currently closest to seeing its stock hit its pandemic-era low, according to Dow Jones Market Data. Amazon shares closed Thursday at $96.79, 15.5% above their pandemic low of $83.83. Only shares of Meta Platforms Inc.
    META,
    -2.30%
    have actually plunged below their pandemic low, among this grouping of the largest U.S. companies.

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  • 20 dividend stocks that may be safest if the Federal Reserve causes a recession

    20 dividend stocks that may be safest if the Federal Reserve causes a recession

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    Investors cheered when a report last week showed the economy expanded in the third quarter after back-to-back contractions.

    But it’s too early to get excited, because the Federal Reserve hasn’t given any sign yet that it is about to stop raising interest rates at the fastest pace in decades.

    Below is a list of dividend stocks that have had low price volatility over the past 12 months, culled from three large exchange traded funds that screen for high yields and quality in different ways.

    In a year when the S&P 500
    SPX,
    -0.40%
    is down 18%, the three ETFs have widely outperformed, with the best of the group falling only 1%.

    Read: GDP looked great for the U.S. economy, but it really wasn’t

    That said, last week was a very good one for U.S. stocks, with the S&P 500 returning 4% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average
    DJIA,
    -0.32%
    having its best October ever.

    This week, investors’ eyes turn back to the Federal Reserve. Following a two-day policy meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee is expected to make its fourth consecutive increase of 0.75% to the federal funds rate on Wednesday.

    The inverted yield curve, with yields on two-year U.S. Treasury notes
    TMUBMUSD02Y,
    4.540%
    exceeding yields on 10-year notes
    TMUBMUSD10Y,
    4.064%    ,
    indicates investors in the bond market expect a recession. Meanwhile, this has been a difficult earnings season for many companies and analysts have reacted by lowering their earnings estimates.

    The weighted rolling consensus 12-month earning estimate for the S&P 500, based on estimates of analysts polled by FactSet, has declined 2% over the past month to $230.60. In a healthy economy, investors expect this number to rise every quarter, at least slightly.

    Low-volatility stocks are working in 2022

    Take a look at this chart, showing year-to-date total returns for the three ETFs against the S&P 500 through October:


    FactSet

    The three dividend-stock ETFs take different approaches:

    • The $40.6 billion Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF
      SCHD,
      +0.15%
      tracks the Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Indexed quarterly. This approach incorporates 10-year screens for cash flow, debt, return on equity and dividend growth for quality and safety. It excludes real estate investment trusts (REITs). The ETF’s 30-day SEC yield was 3.79% as of Sept. 30.

    • The iShares Select Dividend ETF
      DVY,
      +0.45%
      has $21.7 billion in assets. It tracks the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index, which is weighted by dividend yield and “skews toward smaller firms paying consistent dividends,” according to FactSet. It holds about 100 stocks, includes REITs and looks back five years for dividend growth and payout ratios. The ETF’s 30-day yield was 4.07% as of Sept. 30.

    • The SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 High Dividend ETF
      SPYD,
      +0.60%
      has $7.8 billion in assets and holds 80 stocks, taking an equal-weighted approach to investing in the top-yielding stocks among the S&P 500. It’s 30-day yield was 4.07% as of Sept. 30.

    All three ETFs have fared well this year relative to the S&P 500. The funds’ beta — a measure of price volatility against that of the S&P 500 (in this case) — have ranged this year from 0.75 to 0.76, according to FactSet. A beta of 1 would indicate volatility matching that of the index, while a beta above 1 would indicate higher volatility.

    Now look at this five-year total return chart showing the three ETFs against the S&P 500 over the past five years:


    FactSet

    The Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF ranks highest for five-year total return with dividends reinvested — it is the only one of the three to beat the index for this period.

    Screening for the least volatile dividend stocks

    Together, the three ETFs hold 194 stocks. Here are the 20 with the lowest 12-month beta. The list is sorted by beta, ascending, and dividend yields range from 2.45% to 8.13%:

    Company

    		 Ticker

    		 12-month beta

    		 Dividend yield

    		 2022 total return
    Newmont Corp.

    		 NEM,
    -0.78%         		0.17

    		 5.20%

    		 -30%
    Verizon Communications Inc.

    		 VZ,
    -0.07%         		0.22

    		 6.98%

    		 -24%
    General Mills Inc.

    		 GIS,
    -1.47%         		0.27

    		 2.65%

    		 25%
    Kellogg Co.

    		 K,
    -0.93%         		0.27

    		 3.07%

    		 22%
    Merck & Co. Inc.

    		 MRK,
    -1.73%         		0.29

    		 2.73%

    		 35%
    Kraft Heinz Co.

    		 KHC,
    -0.56%         		0.35

    		 4.16%

    		 11%
    City Holding Co.

    		 CHCO,
    -1.45%         		0.38

    		 2.58%

    		 27%
    CVB Financial Corp.

    		 CVBF,
    -1.24%         		0.38

    		 2.79%

    		 37%
    First Horizon Corp.

    		 FHN,
    -0.18%         		0.39

    		 2.45%

    		 53%
    Avista Corp.

    		 AVA,
    -7.82%         		0.41

    		 4.29%

    		 0%
    NorthWestern Corp.

    		 NWE,
    -0.21%         		0.42

    		 4.77%

    		 -4%
    Altria Group Inc

    		 MO,
    -0.18%         		0.43

    		 8.13%

    		 4%
    Northwest Bancshares Inc.

    		 NWBI,
    +0.10%         		0.45

    		 5.31%

    		 11%
    AT&T Inc.

    		 T,
    +0.63%         		0.47

    		 6.09%

    		 5%
    Flowers Foods Inc.

    		 FLO,
    -0.44%         		0.48

    		 3.07%

    		 7%
    Mercury General Corp.

    		 MCY,
    +0.07%         		0.48

    		 4.38%

    		 -43%
    Conagra Brands Inc.

    		 CAG,
    -0.82%         		0.48

    		 3.60%

    		 10%
    Amgen Inc.

    		 AMGN,
    +0.41%         		0.49

    		 2.87%

    		 23%
    Safety Insurance Group Inc.

    		 SAFT,
    -1.70%         		0.49

    		 4.14%

    		 5%
    Tyson Foods Inc. Class A

    		 TSN,
    -0.40%         		0.50

    		 2.69%

    		 -20%
    Source: FactSet

    Any list of stocks will have its dogs, but 16 of these 20 have outperformed the S&P 500 so far in 2022, and 14 have had positive total returns.

    You can click on the tickers for more about each company. Click here for Tomi Kilgore’s detailed guide to the wealth of information available free on the MarketWatch quote page.

    Don’t miss: Municipal bond yields are attractive now — here’s how to figure out if they are right for you

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  • Hospitalizations on the rise in New York City as new COVID strains spread rapidly

    Hospitalizations on the rise in New York City as new COVID strains spread rapidly

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    Hospitalizations are rising again in New York City with the spread of new COVID-19 subvariants that are better at evading immunity. Cases of flu and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, are also increasing.

    State data show about 1,100 patients hospitalized with COVID as of Oct. 24, up from 750 in mid-September, as the New York Times reported. Case numbers have held steady, although with many people testing at home where data are not being collected, those numbers are not reliable.

    Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that the omicron sublineages named BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 accounted for 42.5% of all cases in the New York region in the week through Oct. 29, up from 37% the previous week.

    That was more than the BA.5 omicron subvariant, which accounted for 35.7% of new cases in the New York region in the latest week. The two sublineages were not even registering as recently as three weeks ago, demonstrating just how fast they are spreading.

    Experts are also concerned about a nationwide surge in RSV, which can cause breathing difficulties in small children and older adults and for which there is currently no vaccine.

    There was good news from Pfizer Inc., however, which said Tuesday that data from a late-stage trial of an RSV vaccine had proved effective in preventing severe illness in children up to 6 months old.

    The Phase 3 trial found that the vaccine, given to pregnant mothers, achieved vaccine efficacy of 81.8% in infants from birth through the first 90 days of life. The trial found efficacy of 69.4% through the first 6 months of life.

    Pfizer
    PFE,
    +3.14%
    said it expects to make its first U.S. regulatory application for the vaccine by the end of 2022 and to follow on with other regulatory bodies. It will also submit the results of the trial for peer review in a scientific journal.

    The daily U.S. average for new COVID cases stood at 37,665 on Monday, according to a New York Times tracker, which was flat as compared with two weeks ago. The daily average for hospitalizations was up 2% to 27,184, while the daily average for deaths was down 3% to 348. 

    Coronavirus Update: MarketWatch’s daily roundup has been curating and reporting all the latest developments every weekday since the coronavirus pandemic began

    Other COVID-19 news you should know about:

    • Apple 
    AAPL,
    -1.75%
    supplier Foxconn
    2317,

    said Tuesday it has quadrupled bonuses for workers at its Zhengzhou plant in central China as it seeks to quell discontent over COVID restrictions and retain staff at the giant iPhone manufacturing site, Reuters reported. Daily bonuses for employees, who are part of a Foxconn unit responsible for making electronics including smartphones, have been raised to 400 yuan ($55) a day for November from 100 yuan, according to the official WeChat account of Foxconn’s Zhengzhou plant. The move comes after workers fled the site over the weekend to avoid COVID curbs after complaining about their treatment and provisions via social media.

    Workers at the world’s biggest assembly site for Apple’s iPhones walked out as Foxconn has struggled to contain a COVID-19 outbreak. The chaos highlights the tension between Beijing’s rigid pandemic controls and the urge to keep production on track. Photo: Hangpai Xinyang/Associated Press

    • The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that Hong Kong stocks appeared to be rallying after an anonymous post on Chinese social media suggested that the government may intend to soften pandemic-related restrictions beginning in March. Other outlets also reported on the rumor. American depositary receipts for Chinese companies surged on the news.

    See: Alibaba and Nio among Chinese stocks surging as hopes build about potential reopening

    • Pfizer’s COVID antiviral Paxlovid brought in $7.5 billion in sales in the third quarter of the year, compared with a FactSet consensus of $7.6 billion. The drug company also reiterated guidance for Paxlovid revenues in 2022, saying it still expects $22 billion in sales for the year. The FactSet consensus is $22.5 billion. Pfizer raised its full-year revenue guidance for the company’s Comirnaty COVID vaccine by $2 billion to $34 billion. The guidance includes doses expected to be delivered in fiscal 2022, primarily under contracts signed as of mid-October.

    • AstraZeneca PLC’s
    AZN,
    +1.77%

    AZN,
    +0.90%
    COVID vaccine Vaxzevria has been granted full marketing authorization in the European Union, Dow Jones Newswires reported. The Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical giant said Vaxzevria has been shown to be effective against all forms of the virus. Vaxzevria was originally granted conditional marketing authorization due to the urgency of the COVID-19 pandemic, it said.

    Here’s what the numbers say:

    The global tally of confirmed cases of COVID-19 topped 630.6 million on Monday, while the death toll rose above 6.59 million, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University.

    The U.S. leads the world with 97.5 million cases and 1,070,429 fatalities.

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s tracker shows that 226.9 million people living in the U.S., equal to 68.4% of the total population, are fully vaccinated, meaning they have had their primary shots.

    So far, just 22.8 million Americans have had the updated COVID booster that targets the original virus and the omicron variants, equal to 7.3% of the overall population.

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  • Ocado signs partnership with South Korea’s Lotte Shopping

    Ocado signs partnership with South Korea’s Lotte Shopping

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    Ocado Group PLC
    OCDO,
    +34.46%
    said Tuesday that it and Lotte Shopping Co. have signed a partnership to develop Lotte’s online business in South Korea with the Ocado Smart Platform.

    The online grocer and retail-technology specialist said six customer fulfillment centers will be developed nationally by 2028, the first of which is expected to go live in 2025.

    In addition, Ocado’s customer-fulfillment center solution will be rolled out across Lotte’s store estate, the company said.

    “With this new partnership, our unique, proprietary technology will now power the online businesses of twelve major retailers across 10 countries worldwide,” Ocado Chief Executive Tim Steiner said.

    Write to Ian Walker at ian.walker@wsj.com

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  • New omicron subvariants accounted for more cases in New York region in latest week than BA.5, CDC data shows

    New omicron subvariants accounted for more cases in New York region in latest week than BA.5, CDC data shows

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    The omicron sublineages named BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 continued to spread in the U.S. in the week through Oct. 29, accounting for 27.1% of new cases nationwide, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.

    The two accounted for 42.5% of all cases in the New York region, which includes New Jersey, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, up from 37% the previous week. That was more than the BA.5 omicron subvariant, which accounted for 35.7% of new cases in the New York area in the latest week.

    The BA.5 omicron subvariant accounted for 49.6% of all U.S. cases, the data show.

    BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 were included in BA.5 variant data as recently as three weeks ago, because their numbers were too small to break out. BQ.1 was first identified by researchers in early September and has been found in the U.K. and Germany, among other places.

    Last week, the World Health Organization said that BQ.1 and another sublineage dubbed XBB do not appear to have immune-escape mutations that warrant being designated as variants of concern. However, BA.5 is still a variant of concern that is being closely monitored, said a statement from the WHO’s Technical Advisory Group on SARS-CoV-2 Virus Evolution.

    Workers in a manufacturing facility that assemble Apple Inc.’s
    AAPL,
    -1.66%
    iPhone in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou appear to have left to avoid COVID-19 curbs, with many traveling on foot for days after an unknown number of employees were quarantined in the facility after a virus outbreak, the Associated Press reported. 

    Videos circulating on Chinese social media platforms showed people who are allegedly Foxconn workers climbing over fences and carrying their belongings down a road.

    Separately, visitors to Shanghai Disneyland were left stranded at the park on Monday after the resort halted operations to comply with COVID-19 restrictions amid a new outbreak of the virus.

    In the U.S., known cases of COVID are continuing to ease and now stand at their lowest level since mid-April, although the true tally is likely higher given how many people overall are testing at home, where data are not being collected.

    The daily average for new cases stood at 36,869 on Sunday, according to a New York Times tracker, down 2% from two weeks ago. The daily average for hospitalizations was up 3% to 27,415, while the daily average for deaths was down 6% to 352. 

    Coronavirus Update: MarketWatch’s daily roundup has been curating and reporting all the latest developments every weekday since the coronavirus pandemic began

    Other COVID-19 news you should know about:

    • With a downcast earnings season passing the halfway mark, results from financial-technology companies and vaccine makers will arrive this week amid questions about consumer spending as well as demand for COVID drugs, MarketWatch’s Bill Peters reported. Pfizer Inc.
    PFE,
    -1.82%
    will report earnings on Tuesday, followed by Moderna Inc.
    MRNA,
    -0.47%
    on Thursday. Analysts will have their eye on the state of COVID-19 vaccine and treatment sales and on what executives are anticipating for the full year, as they prepare for a private market for COVID medications and as more people shrug off the pandemic. Pfizer executives, during a call last week, said they intended to charge between $110 and $130 for a single-dose vial of the vaccine for U.S. adults when government purchases end. But they said they believe anyone who has health insurance shouldn’t have to pay anything out of pocket.

    The FDA authorized newly modified COVID-19 boosters to target the latest versions of the omicron variant. But as WSJ’s Daniela Hernandez explains, a key part of the decision-making process was changed with these new shots. Photo: Laura Kammermann

    • A number of young children are being hospitalized because of respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, and it’s happening at an unusual time of year and among older children than in years past, MarketWatch’s Jaimy Lee reported. COVID may be a contributing factor, in part because many children were not exposed to RSV last season and also because a prior COVID infection or exposure may change the way a baby’s immune system responds to RSV and may lead to more severe illness from an RSV infection, according to Asuncion Mejias, a principal investigator with the Center for Vaccines and Immunity at the Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

    • On Saturday, more than 3,000 people took part in the first Pride march in South Africa since the COVID pandemic , celebrating the LGBT community and defying a U.S. warning of a possible terror attack in the area, the AP reported. The U.S. government this week warned of a possible attack in the Sandton part of Johannesburg, where the march took place. The South African government expressed concern that the U.S. had not shared enough information to give credibility to the alleged threat. Police said all measures had been taken to ensure safety in the area.

    Here’s what the numbers say:

    The global tally of confirmed cases of COVID-19 topped 630.2 million on Monday, while the death toll rose above 6.58 million, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University.

    The U.S. leads the world with 97.5 million cases and 1,070,266 fatalities.

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s tracker shows that 226.9 million people living in the U.S., equal to 68.4% of the total population, are fully vaccinated, meaning they have had their primary shots.

    So far, just 22.8 million Americans have had the updated COVID booster that targets the original virus and the omicron variants, equal to 7.3% of the overall population.

     

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  • Dow hits 2-month high as blue-chip gauge heads for longest winning streak since May

    Dow hits 2-month high as blue-chip gauge heads for longest winning streak since May

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    The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose nearly 600 points on Friday to its highest level in two months as the blue-chip gauge remained on track for a sixth straight session in the green in what would be its longest winning streak since May 27, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

    All three major indexes were trading higher as expectations that the Federal Reserve will shift toward smaller interest-rate hikes after its November meeting have offset weak earnings this week from some of the market’s biggest megacap technology names.

    How are stocks trading?
    • The S&P 500
      SPX,
      +1.67%
      gained 59 points, or 1.6%, to 3,866.

    • The Dow Jones Industrial Average
      DJIA,
      +1.98%
      rose 589 points, or 1.8%, to 32,623.

    • The Nasdaq Composite
      COMP,
      +1.80%
      advanced 181 points, or 1.7%, to 10,974.

    Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were on track to cement their second weekly gain in a row on Friday, although the tech-heavy Nasdaq has substantially lagged after Thursday’s performance, where it was the only one of the major indexes to finish in the red following abysmal earnings from Meta Platforms Inc.

    Barring an intraday turnaround, the Dow is on track to log its fourth straight weekly advance. It remains down just 10.2% so far this year.

    The blue-chip gauge has risen 5% so far this week, while the S&P 500 is up 3.1% and the Nasdaq has risen 1.1%.

    What’s driving markets?

    All eyes were on the Dow Friday as the blue-chip gauge was the only major index to reach new notable highs late this week as its advance during the month of October has somewhat ameliorated its losses for the year so far.

    The Dow has risen 13.5% since the start of the month, leaving it on track for its best October performance since it was created in the late 19th century.

    Perhaps the biggest reason for the Dow’s rise this month is tied to its composition. The average is generally light on technology stocks, while including more of the energy and industrial stocks that have outperformed this year.

    “The Dow just has more of the winners embedded in it and that has been the secret to its success,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B.Reily Wealth.

    Despite some volatility in the premarket session, all three major indexes turned higher after the open as investors remained fixated on expectations for the Fed to down shift to smaller interest rate hikes after next week’s policy meeting — an expectation that endured after the latest reports on inflation and wage growth released Friday.

    See:Market expectations start to shift in direction of slower pace of rate hikes by Fed

    Brad Conger, deputy chief investment officer at Hirtle, Callaghan & Co., said Friday’s data didn’t interfere with mounting expectations that the Fed might soon pause its campaign of aggressive rate hikes.

    “Basically, the market is starting to price in a pause, not a pivot, but maybe a pause. The end is in sight,” Conger said.

    The September core personal consumption expenditures price index — the Fed’s preferred gauge of inflation pressures — came in roughly in line with economists expectations, while a more modest 1.2% gain in private wages and salaries in the third quarter was interpreted as a sign that wage growth may have finally peaked, according to Andrew Hunter, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics.

    “The Federal Reserve has not yet broken the persistent trend in core inflation and so will likely stay aggressive at next week’s meeting. However, some areas of the economy show significant weakness and could build the case that the Fed downshifts to smaller rate hikes in 2023,” Jeffrey Roach, Chief Economist for LPL Financial in Charlotte, NC, said.

    The final reading of the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index for October added 1.3 index points from 58.6 in September, and was up slightly from an initial reading of 59.8 earlier in the month.

    See: GDP looked great for the U.S. economy, but it really wasn’t

    Since the start of the week, investors have digested a batch of disappointing numbers from some of America’s largest tech companies, which helped to sully the overall quality of S&P 500 earnings this quarter.

    On Thursday night, Amazon.com
    AMZN,
    -9.29%
    joined Microsoft Corp.
    MSFT,
    +2.75%    ,
    Alphabet Inc.
    GOOGL,
    +2.76%
    and Meta
    META,
    +0.34%
    by publishing disappointing earnings for the quarter that ended Sept. 30.

    But despite the disappointing results reported this week, in aggregate, S&P 500 firms are beating earnings expectations by 3.8%, according to Refinitiv data. That’s compared to a long-term average of 4.1% since 1994. However, if energy firms are excluded, the picture darkens substantially.

    Opinion: The cloud boom has hit its stormiest moment yet, and it is costing investors billions

    Shares of Amazon were off 10% after the e-commerce giant, which dominates the consumer-discretionary sector, predicted slower holiday sales and profit while also reporting slower-than-expected growth in its key cloud-computing business.

    Peter Garnry, head of equity strategy at Saxo Bank, said investors were unnerved by Amazon’s guidance cut.

    “The outlook for Q4 was what terrified investors with the retailer guidance operating income in the range $0-4 billion vs est. $4.7 billion and revenue of $140-148 billion vs est. $155.5 billion,” he said in a note.

    One notable exception to the downbeat earnings news this week was Apple Inc.
    AAPL,
    +7.21%    ,
    which proved a bright spot after the iPhone maker’s revenue and earnings topped forecasts, helped by record back-to-school sales of Macs. Shares were up nearly 0.9% in premarket trading.

    Companies in focus
    • Oil giants Chevron Corp. CVX and Exxon Mobil Corp. XOM were climbing on Friday after reporting strong results. Chevron is a Dow component.

    • Pinterest Inc. PINS also saw strong sales and profit in the third quarter, beating Wall Street expectations. Its shares were up more than 14%.

    • Intel Corp. INTC shares advanced more than 8% after reporting an earnings beat. The chip maker said it would cut costs by $3 billion next year, and lay off employees, as it trimmed its outlook again.

    See also: Live Markets coverage:

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  • Consumer mood indicates ‘a recession ahead’ amid stock, housing market ‘tumult’

    Consumer mood indicates ‘a recession ahead’ amid stock, housing market ‘tumult’

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    The numbers: Consumer sentiment improved slightly in October to 59.9, though Americans perceptions of the economy remained historically negative as a weak stock market and ongoing inflation weighed on their finances.

    The University of Michigan’s gauge of consumer attitudes added 1.3 index points from 58.6 in September, and was up slightly from an initial reading of 59.8 earlier in the month.

    Economists were expecting at a reading of 59.8, according to a Wall Street Journal poll.

    Big picture: While the rate of inflation is no longer worsening, steady price increases for key items like food and shelter continue to weigh on the American mood.

    “With sentiment sitting only 10 index points above the all-time low reached in June, the recent news of a slowdown in consumer spending in the third quarter comes as no surprise,’ wrote the survey’s director, Joanne Hsu, in a Friday note.

    “While lower-income consumers reported sizable gains in overall sentiment, consumers with considerable stock market and housing wealth exhibited notable declines in sentiment, weighed down by tumult in those markets,” she added. “Given consumers’ ongoing unease over the economy, most notably this month among higher-income consumers, any continued weakening in incomes or wealth could lead to further pullbacks in spending that would reinforce other risks of recession.”

    Key details: A  gauge of consumer’s views of current conditions rose in October to 65.6 from 59.7 in September, while an indicator of expectations for the next six months fell to 56.2 from 58 last month.

    Market reaction: U.S. stocks were trading mixed Friday morning, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average
    DJIA,
    +2.59%
    TK and the S&P 500 TK
    SPX,
    +2.46%    .

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  • ‘Coats for Kids’ Launches for 12th Year in Partnership Between CD One Price Cleaners and the Infant Welfare Society of Chicago

    ‘Coats for Kids’ Launches for 12th Year in Partnership Between CD One Price Cleaners and the Infant Welfare Society of Chicago

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    “Coats for Kids” runs from October 29 to November 12, 2022 and strives to bring in 1,500 coats to benefit underserved children and families of the Angel Harvey Family Health Center.

    Press Release
    –

    Oct 28, 2022 04:45 EDT


    OAK BROOK, Ill., October 28, 2022 (Newswire.com)
    –
    For the 12th consecutive year, CD One Price Cleaners and the Infant Welfare Society of Chicago are teaming up to help local children stay warm this winter with “Coats for Kids.”

    “Coats for Kids” is a charitable coat-donation program benefiting underserved children and families of the Angel Harvey Family Health Center in Chicago. The program runs from Saturday, Oct. 29 to Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022.

    How it works: CD One Price Cleaners, Chicagoland’s leading dry cleaning and laundry franchise, will collect donated, gently used coats at all 36 locations in Illinois and Indiana, including Chicago city and suburbs. Donated coats will be cleaned at the CD One locations and picked up by the Infant Welfare Society of Chicago.

    “CD One is passionate about providing underserved youths in our community with proper clothing to navigate Chicago’s frigid winters,” said CD One Price Cleaners’ Vice President of Marketing Jonathon Reckles. “We’re excited to once again partner with the Infant Welfare Society to get these coats to those who need them the most.”

    Customers are encouraged to donate both child-sized and adult-sized coats and jackets.

    Before the pandemic, CD One and IWS teamed up to collect 1,439 coats in 2020. This year, CD One and IWS aim to gather more than 1,500.

    “We are pleased to again be working with CD One Price Cleaners — and marking the 12th anniversary of our partnership — in this year’s fall coat drive,” Auxiliary Co-Presidents Liz Berglund and Maria Enright said in a joint statement. “Providing these coats to children and families in need will make a big difference in their lives, especially in this financially challenging environment.”

    “Coats for Kids” donations never go unneeded, as over 200 new patients enroll monthly at The Infant Welfare Society. 

    About The Infant Welfare Society of Chicago

    The Infant Welfare Society of Chicago provides quality, community-based healthcare to uninsured, underserved children and their families who would otherwise lack access to essential medical services.

    About CD One Price Cleaners

    CD One Price Cleaners is based in suburban Chicago. Founded in 2001, the company operates over 38 franchise locations in the Midwest. Follow CD One Price Cleaners on Facebook and Twitter or visit http://www.cdonepricecleaners.com.

    ###

    CONTACT

    Jonathon Reckles
    Vice President of Marketing
    Phone: (708) 836-4614
    Email: jreckles@cleanersdepot.com

    Source: CD One Price Cleaners

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  • Amazon stock sinks after holiday forecast and cloud growth, profit disappoint; $150 billion in market cap at risk

    Amazon stock sinks after holiday forecast and cloud growth, profit disappoint; $150 billion in market cap at risk

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    Amazon.com Inc. predicted Thursday that holiday sales and profit would come in well lower than analysts expected as cloud growth slowed and Amazon Web Services profit missed expectations by nearly $1 billion, sending shares south in after-hours trading.

    Amazon
    AMZN,
    -4.06%
    executives guided for fourth-quarter operating profit of break-even to $4 billion and holiday sales of $140 billion to $148 billion, while analysts on average were expecting operating income of $5.05 billion on revenue of $155.09 billion, according to FactSet. AWS sales of $20.54 billion grew 27.5% from the year before, the lowest growth rate for the pioneering cloud-computing product in records dating back to the beginning of 2014, and lower than analysts’ average estimate of $21.2 billion; AWS operating income of $5.4 billion handily missed analysts’ average estimate of $6.37 billion, according to FactSet.

    “As the third quarter progressed, we saw moderating sales growth across many of our businesses, as well as increased foreign-currency headwinds … and we expect these impacts to persist throughout the fourth quarter,” Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky said in a conference call Thursday afternoon. “As we have done in similar times in our history we are also taking action to tighten our belt, including pausing hiring in certain businesses and winding down products and services where we believe our resources are better spent elsewhere.”

    Shares dove as much as 20% in after-hours trading immediately following the release of the results, after closing with a 4.1% decline at $110.96, but ended the extended trading period down 13%. After-hours prices could chop roughly $150 billion from Amazon’s market capitalization and send it lower than $1 trillion for the first time since April 2020 if they were to persist through Friday’s regular trading session, according to FactSet.

    Amazon reported its first quarterly profit of the year for the third quarter, and easily beat analysts’ expectations for the back-to-school period that included the company’s first Prime Day of the year, but earnings still declined from last year. Executives reported third-quarter profit of $2.87 billion, or 28 cents a share, down from 31 cents a share in the year-ago quarter after adjusting for Amazon’s 20-to-1 stock split.

    Revenue grew to $127.1 billion from $110.8 billion, in the middle of executives’ forecast for $125 billion to $130 billion but slightly missing analysts’ expectations; executives said revenue would have been $5 billion higher without the effects of the strengthening dollar. Analysts on average expected earnings of 22 cents a share on sales of $127.39 billion, according to FactSet.

    “There is obviously a lot happening in the macroeconomic environment, and we’ll balance our investments to be more streamlined without compromising our key long-term, strategic bets,” Chief Executive Andy Jassy said in a statement. “What won’t change is our maniacal focus on the customer experience, and we feel confident that we’re ready to deliver a great experience for customers this holiday shopping season.”

    Amazon had reported quarterly losses through the first half of the year, largely because of a rapid post-IPO decline in one of its investments, Rivian Automotive Inc.
    RIVN,
    +0.17%    .
    But the Seattle-based company has also been looking to cut costs after spending wildly during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic to keep up with spiking demand for its online store and Amazon Web Services cloud-computing products.

    Amazon’s stock has suffered as it faces comparisons to the headier days of last year, and will do so again in the holiday season, when it faces a comparison with a nearly $12 billion profit from its Rivian investment, which has declined more than 50% from its IPO price and stands at roughly one-fifth its peak post-IPO price.

    There were thoughts that Amazon would be cautious with its holiday forecast, as its attempts to cut costs run into the need to keep its giant logistics operation running smoothly. The company is looking to hire 150,000 workers to get through the holiday season, and recently announced increased pay for fulfillment workers.

    “On 4Q consensus estimates, we believe AMZN will likely err on the side of being more conservative, given the uncertain consumer spend environment,” MKM Partners Managing Director Rohit Kulkarni wrote in a note. “We believe recently announced wage hike, higher near-term content costs amortization (NFL & Lord Of Rings), and potentially greater merchandise discounting might weigh on 4Q Op Margins.”

    Amazon’s e-commerce operations were boosted in the third quarter by the company’s annual Prime Day event in July, and the company tried to replicate the event in October, but analysts saw the second Prime Day as less successful and potentially a sign of weakness.

    “We see Amazon’s decision to hold two Prime Day sales in one calendar year as a red flag for weak e-commerce sales; consistent with retailers, in general, holding more sales when their sales are under pressure,” D.A. Davidson analyst Tom Forte wrote in a preview of Amazon’s report.

    In the third quarter — with back-to-school sales and the first Prime Day event — quarterly retail sales in North America hit $78.84 billion, while overseas revenue totaled $27.72 billion. Analysts on average were expecting $77.24 billion and $29 billion respectively, according to FactSet. Sales in both locations were unprofitable from an operating perspective for the fourth consecutive quarter, losing a total of $2.88 billion.

    Amazon’s profit largely comes from the fat margins of its AWS cloud-computing offering, but there have been concerns about growth leveling off for cloud after rival Microsoft Corp.
    MSFT,
    -1.98%
    reported a deceleration earlier this week and guided for a further decline in growth in the fourth quarter. AWS did provide enough profit in the third quarter to overcome the losses in e-commerce, but the result was the lowest quarterly operating income for Amazon overall since the first quarter of 2018, according to FactSet records.

    Opinion: The cloud boom is coming back to Earth, and that could be scary for tech stocks

    “The ongoing macroeconomic uncertainties have seen an uptick in AWS customers focused on controlling costs and we are proactively working to help customers cost-optimize just as we have done throughout our history, especially in periods of economic uncertainty,” Olsavsky said in Thursday’s conference call, before adding that revenue growth dipped to the mid-20s late in the period from an overall rate of 27.5% for the quarter.

    “So carry that forecast to the fourth quarter, we are not sure how it’s going to play out, but that’s generally our assumption,” he said, suggesting that Amazon expects the AWS revenue-growth rate to decline again in the fourth quarter.

    Amazon’s other higher-margin business is advertising, which has grown strongly in recent years as companies seeking to sell products on Amazon pay the company to list their products higher when consumers search for them on the e-commerce platform. Amazon reported third-quarter advertising revenue of $9.55 billion, up from $7.61 billion a year ago and topping the average analysts estimate of $9.48 billion.

    The results seemed to spread fears to other e-commerce companies and cloud-focused companies. Wayfair Inc.
    W,
    +0.37%    ,
    eBay Inc.
    EBAY,
    +0.71%
    and Etsy Inc.
    ETSY,
    -0.48%
    shares all fell roughly 5% or more in after-hours trading, as did cloud-software providers Snowflake Inc.
    SNOW,
    -0.20%    ,
    MongoDB Inc.
    MDB,
    -0.35%
    and Datadog Inc.
    DDOG,
    +0.81%
    Microsoft’s stock declined about 1.5%.

    Amazon stock has fallen 33.5% so far this year, as the S&P 500 index
    SPX,
    -0.61%
    has dropped 19.6%.

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  • Apple Earnings Are on Deck as Consumer Demand Softens

    Apple Earnings Are on Deck as Consumer Demand Softens

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    Apple


    shares have been remarkably resilient in the face of this year’s tech stock selloff, falling less than 15% since the end of December, and sharply outperforming rivals


    Microsoft



    Alphabet


    and


    Amazon


    which are all down from 26% to 28%.

    Apple (ticker: AAPL) sits with a $2.4 trillion market valuation—$500 billion more than Microsoft, $1 trillion more than Alphabet, and nearly double the size of Amazon.

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  • 4ocean and U.S. Polo Assn. Celebrate Ocean-Positive Partnership and 60,000-Pound Milestone on International Sustainability Day

    4ocean and U.S. Polo Assn. Celebrate Ocean-Positive Partnership and 60,000-Pound Milestone on International Sustainability Day

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    Press Release
    –

    Oct 26, 2022 07:00 EDT


    BOCA RATON, Fla., October 26, 2022 (Newswire.com)
    –
    4ocean, a purpose-driven B Corp dedicated to ending the ocean plastic crisis, and U.S. Polo Assn., the official brand of the United States Polo Association (USPA), are celebrating a milestone in their partnership on International Sustainability Day 2022. Together, the two entities have removed 60,000 pounds of trash from the world’s oceans through 4ocean’s Certified Cleanup Partnership Program.

    4ocean and U.S. Polo Assn. have been working together towards ocean-positive sustainability since October 2021 and set a goal to remove a total of 60,000 pounds of plastic from the oceans, rivers, and coastlines around the world. With the help of 147 crew members and 18 ocean vessels, most of the 60,000 pounds of waste were pulled in Indonesia and Guatemala across 17 locations. The amount of trash removed through the partnership is equivalent to the weight of approximately 60 polo ponies!

    This ocean-positive project is a component of U.S. Polo Assn.’s overarching sustainability initiative, USPA Life, which works towards reducing the environmental impact of our business for future generations. USPA Life offers a global and growing selection of U.S. Polo Assn. apparel, footwear and accessories with sustainable attributes. 

    “It’s 4ocean’s mission to work with companies who share a similar mindset towards the ocean plastic pollution crisis and to work together cleaning the world’s waterways and coastlines,” said Alex Schulze, founder of 4ocean. “Through this partnership, I’m stoked to say that U.S. Polo Assn. has successfully met their goal of pulling 60,000 pounds of trash from the ocean.”

    Earlier this month, USPA Global Licensing Inc., the company that manages the multi-billion-dollar U.S. Polo Assn. brand, participated in a Beach Cleanup hosted by 4ocean in Riviera Beach, Florida. With the help of 20 volunteers and cleaning supplies provided by 4ocean, almost 40 pounds of trash were removed from one of South Florida’s local beaches.

    “I am proud to share that our meaningful partnership between U.S. Polo Assn. and 4ocean hit the huge milestone of 60,000 pounds just as we approached International Sustainability Day 2022,” said J. Michael Prince, President and CEO of USPA Global Licensing Inc. “We want our consumers across 190 countries to know that U.S. Polo Assn.’s long-term sustainability journey includes activities around the world and here at home.”

    To learn more about the partnership, please visit uspoloassnglobal.com/4ocean. 

    About 4ocean

    4ocean is a purpose-driven business with a mission to help end the ocean plastic crisis by cleaning the ocean and coastlines while stopping the inflow of plastic. With the goal of creating an economy around cleaning the ocean, 4ocean has built a sustainable business model that allows the company to fund cleanups and utilize the latest innovative technology. Ocean cleanups are funded entirely through product purchases, removing one pound of trash for every item sold, for a total of over 25 million pounds to date. 4ocean prioritizes engaging coastal communities, which creates jobs and adds revenue to local economies while changing the demand from catching fish to catching plastic. The solution to ending ocean plastic pollution lies in stopping it on land before it enters the ocean, which is why 4ocean is educating consumers about ways to reduce their single-use plastic consumption.

    About U.S. Polo Assn. and USPA Global Licensing Inc. (USPAGL)

    U.S. Polo Assn. is the official brand of the United States Polo Association (USPA), the nonprofit governing body for the sport of polo in the United States and one of the oldest sports governing bodies, having been founded in 1890. With a multi-billion-dollar global footprint and worldwide distribution through some 1,200 U.S. Polo Assn. retail stores and thousands of department stores as well as sporting goods channels, independent retailers and e-commerce, U.S. Polo Assn. offers apparel for men, women, and children, as well as accessories and footwear in 190 countries worldwide. Today, U.S. Polo Assn. is ranked the 28th-largest licensor in the world and within the top five sports licensors, according to License Global’s 2022 list of “Top Global Licensors.” Visit uspoloassnglobal.com.

    Source: USPA Global Licensing Inc.

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  • New Non-Profit Organization Gives Grants to Amazon Employees in Need

    New Non-Profit Organization Gives Grants to Amazon Employees in Need

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    Press Release
    –

    Oct 25, 2022


    MUNCY, Pa., October 25, 2022 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Amazon Offsets, a new non-profit organization, gives consumers the opportunity to help Amazon employees in need. Using a model based loosely on the concept of carbon offsets, Amazon shoppers can donate to Amazon Offsets, which, in turn, gives grants to Amazon employees in need. The idea for Amazon Offsets came to Founder Kirsten Burkhart when she found herself working from home while taking care of her bedridden husband. 

    As Burkhart explains, “Like most people, I knew that I should shop at small, locally-owned businesses, but the reality was that I couldn’t. I began to order everything from cat food to shampoo from Amazon, but the more I heard about the company’s troublesome history of employee relations, the more conflicted I began to feel.” 

    Amazon Offsets, recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) organization, enables those shoppers to make voluntary, tax-deductible donations through the organization’s website, which will then be used to make grants to Amazon employees facing financial difficulties.

    Amazon Offsets, a private non-profit organization, is not affiliated with Amazon.com.

    For more information, visit www.OffsetHarm.org.

    Source: Amazon Offsets

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  • Microsoft stock slammed by cloud-growth fears, taking Amazon down with it

    Microsoft stock slammed by cloud-growth fears, taking Amazon down with it

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    Microsoft Corp. shares fell more than 6% in after-hours trading Tuesday as the company’s cloud-computing growth hit a sudden deceleration and executives guided for holiday-season revenue to come in more than $2 billion lower than expectations.

    The Azure cloud-computing business has grown into the largest and most important business for Microsoft
    MSFT,
    +1.38%    ,
    and there have been concerns about cloud growth as the U.S. faces a potential recession for the first time since the technology became ubiquitous. Microsoft executives said that Azure grew by 35% in their fiscal first quarter, a marked slowdown from Azure’s 40% growth rate in the previous quarter, as well as the 50% growth shown in the same quarter last year; analysts on average were expecting 36.5% growth, according to FactSet.

    Opinion: The cloud boom is coming back to Earth, and that could be scary for tech stocks

    In the current quarter, Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood suggested a similar sequential decline is in store for Azure, saying percentage growth should decline by five points on a constant-currency basis. Hood also suggested that more cost cuts could be coming to Microsoft, after the company confirmed layoffs of fewer than 1,000 employees earlier this month.

    “While we continue to help our customers do more with less, we will do the same internally,” she said. “And you should expect to see our operating-expense growth moderate materially through the year while we focus on growing productivity of the significant head-count investments we’ve made over the last year.”

    Microsoft shares slid to declines of more than 6% in after-hours trading following Hood’s forecast, which was provided in a conference call. Shares closed with a 1.4% increase at $250.66.

    Concerns about cloud growth immediately spread to Azure’s biggest competitor, Amazon Web Services, as Amazon.com Inc. stock
    AMZN,
    +0.65%
    fell more than 4% in after-hours trading.

    Microsoft reported fiscal first-quarter earnings of $17.56 billion, or $2.35 a share, down from $2.71 a share in the same quarter a year ago, when the tech giant disclosed a 44 cent-per-share tax benefit. Revenue increased to $50.1 billion from $45.32 billion a year ago. Analysts on average were expecting earnings of $2.31 a share on sales of $49.66 billion, according to FactSet.

    For the fiscal second quarter, Hood guided for revenue of $52.35 billion to $53.35 billion, while analysts on average were expecting sales of $56.16 billion, according to FactSet. Hood said that “Intelligent Cloud” revenue should land from $21.25 billion to $21.55 billion, while analysts on average were projecting $21.82 billion heading into the print; Microsoft’s other revenue-segment forecasts were even further off analysts’ average expectations.

    Microsoft has also suffered from the strengthening dollar, as well as a sharp downturn in personal-computer sales, which spiked during the pandemic but are now showing record regression.

    For more: The pandemic PC boom is over, but its legacy will live on

    Microsoft reported PC revenue of $13.3 billion for the quarter, roughly flat from $13.31 billion a year before and beating the average analyst estimate of $13.12 billion, according to FactSet. While PCs have long been what consumers largely know Microsoft for, their importance to the company’s financials has declined in recent years as cloud computing has grown in importance.

    “Historically, Windows was a very large driver of Microsoft revenue and, given its strong margins, a disproportionate driver of earnings,” Bernstein analysts wrote in a preview of the report, while maintaining an “overweight” rating. “Over time other businesses, especially Microsoft’s commercial Cloud, have grown fast while the Windows business has grown quite slower, decreasing the relative impact of Windows.”

    The “Intelligent Cloud” segment reported first-quarter revenue of $20.3 billion, up from $16.96 billion a year ago but slightly lower than the average analyst estimate tracked by FactSet of $20.46 billion. Azure’s 35% growth was the slowest Microsoft has reported in records dating back through the prior two fiscal years; Microsoft only reports percentage growth for its Azure cloud-computing product, even as main rivals Amazon.com Inc.
    AMZN,
    +0.65%
    and Alphabet Inc.
    GOOGL,
    +1.91%
    GOOG,
    +1.90%
    report revenue and profit margin for their cloud-computing products.

    Microsoft’s other revenue segment, “Productivity and Business Processes,” reported revenue of $16.5 billion, up from $15.04 billion a year ago and higher than the average analyst estimate of $16.13 billion, according to FactSet. That segment includes Microsoft’s core cloud-software properties such as its Office suite of products — which is being officially renamed Microsoft 365 — as well as LinkedIn and some other properties.

    Microsoft stock has declined 25.5% so far this year, as the S&P 500 index
    SPX,
    +1.63%
    has dropped 20.3% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average
    DJIA,
    +1.07%
    — which counts Microsoft as one of its 30 components — has declined 13.3%.

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  • Flash PMI data show U.S. economic downturn ‘gathering significant momentum’ in October, says S&P Global

    Flash PMI data show U.S. economic downturn ‘gathering significant momentum’ in October, says S&P Global

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    The numbers: The S&P Global U.S. manufacturing sector rose slightly to 50.7 in October from 50.6 in the prior month, based on a “flash” survey.

    The flash U.S. services sector index, meanwhile, fell to 46.6 from 49.3.

    Readings above 50 signify expansion; below that, contraction.

    Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal had expected manufacturing to rise to 51.8 in October and for the service sector to rise to 49.7.

    Key details: In the service sector, the downturn was fueled by the rising cost of living and tightening financial conditions.

    New orders in the manufacturing sector fell back into contraction territory in October. Output remained resilient due to firms eating into backlogs of previously placed orders, S&P Global said.

    While price pressures picked up a bit in the service sector, the pace of the gain in inflation in the manufacturing sector was the slowest in almost two years.

    Big picture: Talk of a recession sometime in 2023 has picked up in the last week. Many economists are sounding more bearish on the outlook, especially since the Federal Reserve is now seen raising its benchmark rate to 5%. However, on Monday, economists at Goldman Sachs said that talk over a recession was overblown.

    What S&P Global said: “The US economic downturn gathered significant
    momentum in October, while confidence in the outlook also deteriorated sharply,” said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence.

    “Although price pressures picked up slightly in the service sector due to high food, energy and staff costs, as well as rising borrowing costs, increased competitive forces meant average prices charged for services grew at only a fractionally faster rate. Combined with the easing of price pressures in the goods-producing sector, this adds to evidence that consumer price inflation should cool in coming months,” he added.

    Market reaction: Stocks
    DJIA,
    +0.88%

    SPX,
    +0.58%
    were higher in early trading on Monday, while the yield on the 10-year Treasury note
    TMUBMUSD10Y,
    4.236%
    inched up to 4.24%.

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  • Jifiti Launches B2B BNPL Functionality, Augmenting Its Robust White-Labeled BNPL Platform

    Jifiti Launches B2B BNPL Functionality, Augmenting Its Robust White-Labeled BNPL Platform

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    Banks, lenders and merchants can now provide BNPL financing to business customers, in addition to consumers, through one platform.

    Press Release
    –

    Oct 24, 2022


    COLUMBUS, Ohio, October 24, 2022 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Jifiti, a leading fintech company, announced today the launch of its business-to-business (B2B) BNPL solution. Any bank, lender and merchant that caters to business customers can now offer BNPL in their own brand, embedded directly into the user journey, without a middleman. 

    With the addition of B2B financing, Jifiti now facilitates every Buy Now Pay Later option for leading banks, lenders and merchants globally, online and in-store, through a single platform. Merchants that would like to offer B2B-embedded financing can connect to Jifiti’s platform via e-commerce plugins, a simple API integration or use Jifiti’s zero-integration virtual card technology. 

    Jifiti is rolling out its B2B solution to multiple partners across international markets, including top retail brands and financial institutions. Merchants can now support their business customers easily and seamlessly, offering them more payment options that were not previously available to them. Business buyers require specialized BNPL solutions as the purchasing amounts are higher, approvals are more complex and they require different loan terms than consumers. 

    Jifiti’s modular platform supports every BNPL option, including split payments, installment loans, lines of credit and now B2B loans. As the platform is white-labeled, the financial institution and merchant retain full customer and data ownership and are able to build brand loyalty. 

    “The B2B market was the next logical step in our journey at Jifiti. We aim to give every customer the financing that best suits their needs. Now, we can help our bank and merchant partners extend that same level of customization to their business customers through specialized B2B-embedded finance,” stated Yaacov Martin, CEO and Co-Founder of Jifiti.

    About Jifiti

    Jifiti is a leading fintech company that powers point-of-sale financing for banks, lenders and merchants. The company’s white-labeled Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) platform provides banks and lenders with state-of-the-art technology to easily deploy and scale their competitive consumer loan programs at any merchant’s point of sale – online, in-store and via call center. 

    With its multinational presence, Jifiti provides end-to-end point-of-sale financing solutions to global brands in any international market. Jifiti works with leading financial institutions including Mastercard, Citizens Bank, CaixaBank, Credit Agricole, and retailers such as IKEA, Walmart and others worldwide. 

    Source: Jifiti

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  • Hong Kong stocks suffer worst single-day rout since 2008 as Xi consolidates power

    Hong Kong stocks suffer worst single-day rout since 2008 as Xi consolidates power

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    Hong Kong stocks suffered their worst single session since the 2008 financial crisis after Chinese leader Xi Jinping tightened his grip on power.

    The Hang Seng
    HSI,
    -6.36%
    ended more than 6% lower to a new 13-year low, with tech giants including JD.com
    9618,
    -13.17%

    JD,
    -0.02%    ,
    Baidu
    9888,
    -12.20%

    BIDU,
    -2.29%    ,
    Tencent
    700,
    -11.43%
    and Alibaba
    9988,
    -11.42%

    BABA,
    +0.22%
    dropping between 11% and 13% each.

    The local Shanghai Composite
    SHCOMP,
    -2.02%
    index fell a less dramatic 2%.

    Over the weekend, the 69-year-old Xi secured his third term as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party. Reporters captured video of former Chinese President Hu Jintao getting escorted out of the closing ceremony. Four of the seven standing committee members were replaced, all of whom are at least 60 years old.

    Analysts at Goldman Sachs say most of the new appointees worked with Xi at earlier stages of their careers. “We note that incoming leaders could arguably be more focused on ideological and political subjects while the retiring policymakers appear more economy/market-oriented,” they said.

    They added that for valuations to improve, more clarity on the zero COVID policy, stabilization of the property markets, and de-escalation of both cross-straits and U.S.-China tensions would be needed.

    China also reported delayed data, saying its economy grew at a 3.9% year-over-year rate in the third quarter, up from 0.4% in the second quarter.

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  • What Solana Spaces Means For The Future Of Crypto-Based Retail

    What Solana Spaces Means For The Future Of Crypto-Based Retail

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    Yesterday, a new retail experience launched in the heart of Miami’s Wynwood district. Surrounded by digital brands like Warby Parker and Marine Layer, boutique coffee shops, and some of the city’s best restaurants and nightclubs sits a 4,500-square-foot space called The Solana Embassy. It aims to attract similar customers to its neighbors, with Supreme-like exclusive merchandise drops, a cozy FTX co-working lounge, a Degen Ape Café NFT coffee shop, and a sound and light system that converts the space into a trendy Miami nightclub. However, its primary purpose is to lure the crypto inquirer, the Web3 enthusiast, and the purely inquisitive passerby. In essence, it unites the mysterious world of crypto with the familiar realm of physical retail.

    The Solana Embassy is the second location to open by a company called Solana Spaces, which, counter to the belief of many, has no direct association with the cryptocurrency Solana. It was founded earlier this year by Vibhu Norby in collaboration with The Solana Foundation, which funded and incubated the store. Norby is an entrepreneur known for co-founding B8ta, one of the first retail-as-a-service stores that charged a monthly fee to brands to showcase products in its store and receive data. Before the pandemic, B8ta had about 20 stores in the US, several abroad, and extensive funding from prominent investors like Macy’s. However, because of the pandemic’s effects on business, the company closed its doors earlier this year. Although Solana Spaces is new, it’s a concept Norby has been thinking about for some time and plans to expand domestically and internationally.

    Crypto Is Uniquely Prepared To Take Advantage of Experiential Retail

    The Solana Spaces locations act like B8ta in educating potential consumers and users on what is unknown to those not active in the crypto community. It has a similar purpose to the stores of most digitally native brands. For example, a study from 2019 called Customer Supercharging in Experience-Centric Channels found that these retail spaces “supercharge” customers, increasing spending per order by up to 60% and increasing the frequency of purchases. In another study looking at Warby Parker, the same professors found that about 80% of store visitors were new, and opening a store increased sales in the market by 7.4%. Although these examples refer to digital brands, they’re indicative of the power of the experiential concept.

    The variable that can alter this effect is the experience quality, which Norby and his team have thought through extensively. “Stores have to be interesting, fun, and engaging,” he said, adding, “The core idea behind crypto is what if the thing we use, we also own? That idea has some powerful notions for retail. In addition to being fun, there’s a huge component of loyalty and community.” While the company’s NYC store focuses on educating, the Solana Embassy is wholly unique, also acting as a physical gathering space for the existing community.

    Crypto Players Want and Need a Physical Presence

    The idea of crypto in the physical world may seem like an oxymoron, but the reality is it’s here. And there are many ways in which it’s tangible. For example, the Solana Embassy experience involves getting set up with a Phantom wallet (if a visitor doesn’t already have one) and going around the store to interact with different Solana blockchain players. In addition, visitors can collect NFT badges at each station for completing tutorials and exchange them for money – acting as both a game and an incentivized learning method. There’s also an NFT gallery that includes physical products available for purchase.

    News about big companies like Nike and Gucci entering the metaverse and creating NFTs has become ubiquitous. Still, little is being said about digital-first designers in the crypto space starting to make a mark with a lot to offer in the physical realm. As Norby said, “there are going to be a lot of NFT native communities breaking into the mainstream. You could argue Bored Ape did that, but there’s a lot more to come on that front, and many of them will end up being fashion brands and other types of viral experiences. We want to build a playbook for that to happen.”

    As Norby mentions, The Bored Ape Yacht Club has initiated some physical events for its community members, including various meetups and an event called “Ape Fest,” featuring famed musicians and comedians. However, it’s a highly exclusive, mainly wealthy, club, and there’s an opportunity for a more accessible and welcoming physical space—an opportunity Solana Spaces has grasped.

    The company’s two locations in New York and Miami are just the beginning. There will be more spaces and exciting developments announced later in the year. But, for now, crypto enthusiasts or skeptics, these spaces are likely the inception of crypto-based retail.

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    Brin Snelling, Contributor

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  • CDC shoots down false claims it will mandate COVID-19 vaccines for schoolchildren, saying states make that decision

    CDC shoots down false claims it will mandate COVID-19 vaccines for schoolchildren, saying states make that decision

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    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has refuted claims that it’s planning to add the COVID-19 vaccine to immunization schedules for schoolchildren, saying that the authority for that decision lies with states and other local entities.

    The false claim spread after it was shared by Fox News host Tucker Carlson in a tweet this week, as the Associated Press reported. 

    Carlson tweeted that the agency would make the vaccine mandatory in order for children to attend school, a claim the CDC quickly shot down. While an advisory committee to the CDC voted to recommend that the vaccine be added to immunization schedules, the CDC “only makes recommendations for use of vaccines, while school-entry vaccination requirements are determined by state or local jurisdictions,” CDC spokeswoman Kate Grusich told the AP.

    Grusich explained that the action was meant to streamline clinical guidance for healthcare providers by adding COVID-19 vaccines to a single list of all currently licensed, authorized and routinely recommended vaccines.

    “It’s important to note that there are no changes in COVID-19 vaccine policy,” she said.

    The news comes as U.S. known cases of COVID are continuing to ease and now stand at their lowest level since mid-April, although the true tally is likely higher given how many people overall are testing at home, where data are not being collected.

    The daily average for new cases stood at 38,077 on Thursday, according to a New York Times tracker, down 8% from two weeks ago. Cases are currently rising in 14 states, as well as Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.

    The daily average for hospitalizations was down 2% to 26,669, although hospitalizations are rising in almost all northeastern states as cold weather arrives. The daily average for deaths was down 7% to 360.

    Coronavirus Update: MarketWatch’s daily roundup has been curating and reporting all the latest developments every weekday since the coronavirus pandemic began

    Other COVID-19 news you should know about:

    • Pfizer
    PFE,
    +4.42%
    is planning to sell the COVID vaccine it developed with German partner BioNTech
    BNTX,
    +9.88%
    for $110 -$130 a dose once the U.S. market for COVID-19 shots becomes commercial, likely in the first quarter of next year, MarketWatch’s Jaimy Lee reported. Pfizer and BioNTech are currently paid $30.50 per vaccine dose by the U.S. government, which contracted with the companies, as well as with other vaccine makers like Moderna
    MRNA,
    +9.07%
    and Novavax
    NVAX,
    +11.35%    ,
    and then made the COVID-19 shots available at no cost to people in the U.S. during the public-health emergency. The emergency declaration in the U.S. isn’t expected to be renewed next year, which will lead to the formation of an official commercial market for COVID-19 vaccines, tests and treatments. 

    • Johnson & Johnson
    JNJ,
    +1.91%
    said the volume of surgical procedures is returning to prepandemic levels in many parts of the world, a trend that cheered Wall Street and could bode well for other medical-technology heavyweights like Stryker Corp.
    SYK,
    +0.57%
    and Zimmer Biomet Holdings
    ZBH,
    +0.18%    .
    J&J, which reported earnings this week, said its medical-technology business had a “strong September,” with U.S. sales of hip and knee implants and other surgical devices rising 7.7% to $3.3 billion in the third quarter of the year. “We are seeing procedures recovering,” Ashley McEvoy, worldwide chair of J&J’s MedTech business, told investors during this week’s earnings call. “In the U.S., we started to see surgical procedures tick up, predominantly at the latter part of the quarter.”

    The new bivalent vaccine might be the first step in developing annual COVID shots, which could follow a similar process to the one used to update flu vaccines every year. Here’s what that process looks like, and why applying it to COVID could be challenging. Illustration: Ryan Trefes

    • “As China’s ruling Communist Party holds a congress this week, many Beijing residents are focused on an issue not on the formal agenda: Will the end of the meeting bring an easing of China’s at times draconian ‘zero-COVID’ policies that are disrupting lives and the economy?” the AP reported. It appears to be wishful thinking. As the world moves to a postpandemic lifestyle, many across China have resigned themselves to lining up several times a week for COVID tests, restrictions on travel to other regions and the ever-present possibility of a community lockdown.

    • Fantasy Fest, a 10-day annual party, is kicking off in Key West, Fla., on Friday, with a full slate of events for the first time since the pandemic started, the AP reported. “Due to the COVID pandemic, this will be the first full Fantasy Fest since 2019,” the festival’s board chair, Steve Robbins, said. “So I know our guests and staff are excited about getting back to the real Fantasy Fest.” Dozens of themed events are set for the festival, including a nighttime parade Oct. 29 featuring floats and elaborately costumed marching groups. Participants are encouraged to draw costume ideas from the festival’s theme, “Cult Classics & Cartoon Chaos,” and to portray characters inspired by favorite cartoons and television or film productions with a cult following.

    Here’s what the numbers say:

    The global tally of confirmed cases of COVID-19 topped 626.9 million on Friday, while the death toll rose above 6.57 million, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University.

    The U.S. leads the world with 97.2 million cases and 1,067,190 fatalities.

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s tracker shows that 226.5 million people living in the U.S., equal to 68.2% of the total population, are fully vaccinated, meaning they have had their primary shots. Just 111.4 million have had a booster, equal to 49.1% of the vaccinated population, and 26.8 million of those who are eligible for a second booster have had one, equal to 40.6% of those who received a first booster.

    The CDC reports that some 19.4 million people have had a dose of the updated bivalent booster that targets omicron and its subvariants along with the original virus.

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