For: May 2, 2025
>>Trading Week Winding Down
(New York, NY) -- The opening bell rings this morning as the trading week starts to wind down. Stocks closed higher on Thursday to start the month of May on word of positive quarterly earnings results from two major tech companies. Meta posted stronger than expected revenue and Microsoft also posted better than expected results. At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 83 points to 40-752 The S&P 500 gained 35 points to 56-04. The Nasdaq rose by 264 points to 17-710.
>>Monthly Jobs Report Due
(Washington, DC) -- The April jobs report is due to be released this morning. The consensus among most analysts is that today's report will show hiring slowed in the start of the second quarter. The forecast is for 133-thousand new jobs, versus 228-thousand in the month prior. The report comes out at 8:30am Eastern.
>>Cook Says Tariffs Could Cost Apple Almost $1B In June Quarter
(Cupertino, CA) -- Apple CEO Tim Cook says President Trump's tariffs could cost the company almost a billion dollars in the second quarter. During a Thursday earnings call, Cook said he was not able to estimate the impact of tariffs precisely, but assuming things do not change, it would add an additional 900-million dollars to costs. Trump has imposed a 145 percent tariff on China, where most of Apple's products are made, although he did partially exempt items such as smartphones and computers from the new reciprocal duty on imports.
>>Self-Driving Semi Is Making Round Trips On Texas Highway
(Pittsburgh, PA) -- A semi truck with no driver is making long-haul runs on a Texas highway. The Aurora company says their self-driving 18-wheeler has started making round trips between Dallas and Houston for its first two customers, Uber Freight and Hirschbach Motor Lines. The two companies had conducted test runs with Aurora using safety drivers to monitor the technology. Now the commercial service is running without a safety driver. In a press release Thursday, the CEO of Aurora said, "we are the first company to successfully and safely operate a commercial driverless trucking service on public roads."
>>Subway Downsizing
(Shelton, CT) -- Subway's footprint in the U.S. is declining, though it remains the largest restaurant chain in America. According to franchise disclosure documents, the sandwich chain closed 631 restaurants in 2024, leaving it with 19-thousand-502 locations in the U.S. Subway's footprint has gradually declined since reaching its peak of about 27-thousand locations in 2015. The chain has struggled with growing competition, shifting consumer preferences and its restaurants generating lower average sales compared to its rivals.
>>McDonald's Sales Decline
(Chicago, IL) -- McDonald's sales are dropping as customers pull back their spending due to economic uncertainty. In the U.S., same-store sales dropped three-point-six-percent in the beginning of the year, marking the second consecutive quarter of declines. McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski [[ kemp-chin-skee ]] says consumers are "grappling with uncertainty," but he remains optimistic in the company's ability to navigate market conditions and gain market share.
>>Lawmakers Plan To Introduce App Age Verification Bill
(Washington, DC) -- Republican lawmakers are planning to introduce legislation that would require age verification on app stores. The App Store Accountability Act would require app stores to verify the ages of all users, signaling the latest congressional push to boost online safety for kids.
>>Xbox Prices Are Going Up
(Redmond, WA) -- Microsoft has announced significant price increases for the Xbox. The company says market conditions are causing the increase. The consoles are made in China, and tariffs are making parts more expensive. Some of the price increases include an 80 dollar increase in the Xbox Series S and a 100 dollar increase in the price of an Xbox Series X. Some controllers will increase five dollars. First-party games will increase by ten dollars. Prices on other games will remain unchanged.
>>Kohl's CEO Fired
(Menomonee Falls, WI) -- There are changes in leadership coming to Kohl's after the company found its newly installed CEO engaged in unethical behavior. Ashley Buchanan, a former chief executive of arts and crafts chain Michaels, began as Kohl's CEO on January 15th with the hopes of turning around the struggling retailer. However, the company says his tenure has been cut short after an investigation from an outside counsel found that he "violated company policies by directing the company to engage in vendor transactions that involved undisclosed conflicts of interest." Michael Bender, the current chairman of the Kohl's board, will become interim CEO until a replacement is found.
