>>Trading Week Winding Down
(New York, NY) -- The opening bell rings this morning on Wall Street after Thursday trading ended in mixed territory. At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 81 points to 39-935. The S&P 500 fell by 27 points to 53-99. The Nasdaq lost 160 points to 17-181. Investors today will be keeping an eye out for data on personal income and spending as well as consumer sentiment.
>>Boeing Finalizes Plea Agreement With Justice Department
(Washington, DC) -- Boeing is finalizing a plea agreement with the Justice Department that involves the plane manufacturer pleading guilty to conspiracy and paying nearly 250-million-dollars in penalties. This comes after the DOJ concluded a years-long investigation into Boeing crashes in 2018 and 2019. Federal investigations said software errors caused the crashes that resulted in close to 350 deaths. Boeing was accused of misleading the FAA about the safety of its software.
>>Southwest Airlines Nixes Open Seating System
(New York, NY) -- Southwest Airlines' is getting rid of its open seating system. For the first time in its history, the low-fare carrier will move to assigned seats, allowing it to charge a premium for some seats on its planes. The airline said passengers were hoping for the change. According to Southwest, when customers switch to one of their competitors, the number one reason they cite is Southwest's open seating. It will also begin to offer overnight red-eye flights for the first time.
>>Meta's Oversight Board Wants Policy Changes Regarding AI-Generated Explicit Images
(Menlo Park, CA) -- Meta's Oversight Board wants policy changes regarding sexually explicit, AI-generated images. Among the changes, the semi-independent Board wants Meta to drop the word "derogatory" and replace it with "non-consensual." The Board also wants references to these images moved from the "Bullying and Harassment" section of its user policies and placed in the "Sexual Exploitation Community Standards" section.
>>TikTok Challenge Forces Chipotle To Increase Portion Size
(Newport Beach, CA) -- A viral TikTok challenge is forcing Chipotle to address complaints about small portion sizes. The "Chipotle Camera Trick Challenge" started trending after a Chipotle customer posted a video of an employee who added more food to his bowl because he was being filmed. The video got over two million views, and has inspired similar videos to get bigger portions. Now the head of Chipotle says they are training and coaching their employees to make sure they are consistently making bowls and burritos correctly. CEO Brian Niccol said Thursday, "There was never a directive to provide less to our customers."
>>Conn's HomePlus Files For Bankruptcy
(The Woodlands, TX) -- Conn's HomePlus is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The 134-year-old Texas-based home goods store will close 71 of its 170 stores across the southern United States. It also is holding a site wide sale with between 30 and 50-percent off along with going-out-of-business sales at in-store locations. They're set to close by Halloween.
