Business

Walgreens to Close 1,200 Locations

The plan is to close all 1,200 by 2027.

It’s always been the battle of Walgreens vs CVS… well, turns out, they might both be losing.

Walgreens just announced that they’ll be closing nearly 1,200 stores over the next three years, as part of its plan to turn things around. That accounts for 14% of stores across the country (or, 1 in 7). Walgreens has cited retail competition and lower prescription payouts as challenges they’ve been facing lately.

CEO Tim Wentworth said that almost 25% of the company’s stores are unprofitable! They’ve already begun shutting down some stores, while also shaking up leadership and renegotiating its deal with insurers, as they continue their $1 billion cost-cutting spree. 

Despite sales growing 6% for Walgreens last quarter, they still reported a net loss of $3 billion… which was actually better than expected.

But, unfortunately, Walgreens is not alone. CVS also announced its closing of nearly 900 stores, the laying off of numerous employees, and also looking for a way out of its merger with Aetna and Caremark. Rite Aid is closing 500 stores, a month after emerging from bankruptcy. 

They’ve been losing customers to Amazon, Walmart, Costco and even grocery and dollar stores. Many of these places also fill prescriptions now, stealing pharmacy customers, as well.

“I’m very confident that over a two-to-three year period, we will have reset the framework for reimbursement discussions,” Walgreens CEO Wentworth told investors on Tuesday.

He also said that Walgreens will focus on adding more store-brand products, something that has been far more successful in Britain than here. Wentworth also said they will work to re-hire workers from stores that will be closing and that “many of our actions across this turnaround will take time.”

Around the Water Cooler:

🔋 Amazon and Google invest in small, modular Nuclear power.

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Tech

Scammers Pose as Google to Steal Your Info

They send fake email recovery messages, don’t click on them.

As technology gets more sophisticated, so, too, do the scammers. And the latest one involves using AI to try and hack into your Gmail account.

Hackers are using AI to trick users into thinking they are communicating with Google. They even spoof Google phone numbers and email addresses to make it seem legitimate. 

According to IT consultant Sam Mitrovic, who was a target of this scam, it begins with a notification to approve a Gmail account recovery attempt. This request originated in the U.S. Once Mitrovic denied it, he received a phone call from an Australian number with a Google caller ID. He ignored the call, as well.

However, the same thing happened about a week later, and this time, Mitrovic picked up the phone call. An American voice greeted him, claiming to be from Google, and explaining that they had noticed suspicious activity on his Gmail account. When Mitrovic googled the phone number, he found it in Google’s official list of numbers from where people can expect to receive calls from Google Assistant. 

The caller told Mitrovic that he had sent him an email, which also seemed to originate from a Google domain. The giveaway, though, was that Mitrovic noticed another email address in the “to” section of the email: GoogleMail at InternalCaseTracking dot com. This was concerning to Mitrovic, who later revealed the “Google representative” he thought he was talking to, was actually using an AI voice. 

Fortunately, he did not fall for the scam, but does want to warn others. If you receive a similar call, make sure to investigate thoroughly before taking any action. 

What’s Happening:

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Politics

Harris is Really Ramping Up Her Efforts

Specifically with the African-American demo.

With less than three weeks until Election Day, Vice President Kamala Harris is really ramping up efforts to gain the support of African American voters. Specifically men. 

The campaign issued an “opportunity agenda” on Monday that is “focused on equipping Black men with the tools to achieve financial freedom, lower costs to better provide for themselves and their families and protect their rights.”

The plan included a proposal to provide 1 million loans of up to $20,000 to African American entrepreneurs to help get their business off the ground. As well as launching a National Health Equity Initiative focused on African American men to address sickle cell disease, diabetes, mental health and other health challenges.

Harris appeared at a church Sunday in the swing state of North Carolina in an attempt to further address her campaign’s concern.

The Harris-Walz campaign Co-Chairman Cedric Richmond said, “this agenda is a further realization of Vice President Harris’ Opportunity Economy… Where Black men are equipped with the tools to thrive: to buy a home, provide for our families, start a business and build wealth.”

The campaign said that “in the final weeks of the campaign, Team Harris-Walz will take the vice president’s opportunity agenda on the road with programming specifically designed to engage Black men.”

Harris is traveling to Detroit this week for an event with Charlamagne tha God and to meet with African American entrepreneurs. The campaign also kicked off a series of “Black Men Huddle Up” NFL and college football watch parties across battleground states. 

This all comes after a New York Times/Siena College poll found that Harris trails President Joe Biden’s 2020 support among African American voters (by 10%). 

Around the Hill:

📈 Trump is gaining momentum in this election.

🫣 Elon is finding out why business and politics don’t mix.

Finance

Oil Futures Dip

Hopefully gas prices will follow am I right?

U.S. crude futures fell more than 4% on Tuesday, after Israel reportedly told the U.S. that it’s not planning to strike Iran’s oil facilities. This relieved the major fear of a disruption to their supply from the Middle East. 

Oil prices originally spiked earlier this month after Iran had launched a ballistic missile attack against Israel. However, three senior Biden administration officials told NBC News that Israel plans to limit its retaliatory strikes in Iran to military targets, which then led to the significant drop in oil prices recently.

However, if this is just the beginning of something… if the attacks DO escalate… that could still lead to an eventual oil disruption, which would then jack up the prices in this country. 

Currently, West Texas Intermediate is down 4.4% and, year to date, U.S. crude oil has fallen more than 1%. Brent is down 4.1% and the global benchmark has declined more than 3% year to date. And RBOB Gasoline is down 3.4% - gasoline has pulled back 3% year to date. 

From the Street:

🚀 The Dow jumps 300 points!

💰 Gold prices surge toward YTD high.

Sports

WNBPA Looks to Opt-Out of Current CBA

I’m sure all the players will give credit and thank Caitlin Clark for this.

The Caitlin Clark effect continues in the WNBA, as the league’s players association is likely to opt out of the current CBA in an attempt to get a better deal. They have until November 1st to do so.

The WNBA just had a record year in terms of growth in viewership and attendance, and now the players want a piece of that. The time to strike for the players is now, while the iron is hot, following the WNBA entering into a historic 11-year media rights deal with Disney, Amazon Prime and NBC for $200 million a year. Most, if not all, of this can be mostly traced back to the debut of basketball sensation Caitlin Clark.

There have been meetings within the player’s union recently, as the WNBA finishes up its postseason, to figure out their plan of attack. WNBA Commissioner, Cathy Engelbert, said last week that she has engaged with union leadership about the CBA throughout the year.

Engelbert pointed out that the league has made some concessions recently, with the addition of chartered flights this year for the first time and increasing playoff bonuses by more than 50%.

If the players union does opt out, the current CBA, which was set to expire in 2027, will still be in effect next season, allowing the two sides a year to work out a new agreement. 

Breanna Stewart, VP of the player’s union, said a few things the union would like to see in the next CBA include pensions, better child care benefits and increased salaries. Currently, a player must have eight years in the league to take advantage of the benefits. And the top salary is $250k.

However, the WNBA has never really been profitable.

Around the Leagues:

🥒 Drew Brees is in the Pickleball business, and business is good.

🏁 NASCAR and IMSA talk joint race weekend.

Entertainment

Joker 2: The Musical

More like Folly on 2.

Well, the Joker 2 has fallen victim to the decades old trope: the sequel is never as good as the original…

“Joker: Folie a Deux” is shaping up to be a box office disaster, as it is projected to lose $150-$200 million. The original, 2019’s “Joker,” earned more than $1 billion worldwide. However, for the sequel, they decided to do a far less popular musical version.

The movie was made for $200 million, but has only grossed $51 million so far in its first two weeks. It has also suffered the “worst decline in history for a comic book movie.” 

For comparison's sake, the original Joker generated $96 million domestically and $248 million globally… after only THREE DAYS. The sequel is projected to finish at $65 million domestically and $210 million globally, falling farrrrrr short of its predecessor.

That’s not even to mention the fact that the film currently holds a 33% on Rotten Tomatoes and an even worse 32% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. 

Let this be a lesson. If you’re going to do a sequel… don’t make it a musical… 

What to Know:

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