>>Cigna Drops Merger Plan With Humana
(Bloomfield, CT) -- Health insurer Cigna is dropping its plans to merge with competitor Humana. The Wall Street Journal reports the two companies couldn't reach an agreement after working on the idea for weeks. A Cigna-Humana merger would have led to a company with a value exceeding 140 billion dollars.
>>Congress Introduces Fans First Act To Address Exploitative Ticket Pricing
(Washington, DC) -- Fans of artists may be able to more easily secure tickets to shows thanks to new legislation. A bipartisan group of senators has introduced the Fans First Act, to "address flaws in the current live event ticketing system by increasing transparency in ticket sales, protecting consumers from fake or dramatically overpriced tickets, and holding bad actors who engage in illegal ticket sale practices accountable." That's according to the announcement from Congress. It's the latest move from the group, which led Washington's effort to address exploitative ticket pricing for live entertainment since 2022, when Ticketmaster prices for Taylor Swift and Bruce Springsteen soared in response to high demand.
>>Consumer Sentiment Jumps 13% In December
(Ann Arbor, MI) -- Consumer sentiment is sharply higher this month as inflation fears ease. The University of Michigan's early reading for December jumped 13 percent after four months of declines. The survey noted improved sentiment across all age and income groups, with inflation expectations for the year ahead plunging to their lowest level since March 2021. Consumer sentiment is now nearly 40 percent above its all-time low measured in June of 2022.
>>Dollar General Reverses Track On Self-Checkout
(New York, NY) -- Dollar General is reversing track on self-checkouts. The company's CEO Todd Vasos said on an earnings call late last week that it began to "rely too much on self-checkout" in stores. According to Retail Dive, Dollar General invested hard in the technology in 2022, adding them to more than half of its nearly 20-thousand stores. Now, the stores are re-assigning workers to the checkout counters. Vasos says the move should help sales because of the human interaction and it will also likely shorten lines.
>>"The Boy And The Heron" Tops Box Office
(Hollywood, CA) -- A Japanese animated film that's dubbed in English has topped the weekend box office. "The Boy and the Heron" took in an estimated 12-point-eight-million-dollars to finish just ahead of the "Hunger Games" prequel. "The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" was second with nine-point-four-million-dollars. Beyonce came up short in her bid to join Taylor Swift in having a concert film top the box office for two straight weeks. Last week's number one, "Renaissance: A Film By Beyonce," dropped to sixth place this week.
