5 Most Important Things in Business Today

Revised figures from the U.S. Department of Commerce show that second-quarter gross domestic product rose 3.1%. There is worry about the third quarter. According to Reuters:

The U.S. economy expanded a bit faster than previously estimated in the second quarter, recording its quickest rate of growth in more than two years, but the momentum likely slowed in the third quarter due to the impact of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.

Volkswagen said its earnings would be hurt by the diesel scandal, which has undermined its financial results for several quarters. The total effect in the third quarter will be nearly $3 billion.

Whole Foods, the grocery division of Amazon.com Inc.  (NASDAQ: AMZN), was hit by hackers. The company announced:

Whole Foods Market recently received information regarding unauthorized access of payment card information used at certain venues such as taprooms and full table-service restaurants located within some stores. These venues use a different point of sale system than the company’s primary store checkout systems, and payment cards used at the primary store checkout systems were not affected. When Whole Foods Market learned of this, the company launched an investigation, obtained the help of a leading cyber security forensics firm, contacted law enforcement, and is taking appropriate measures to address the issue.

The company’s investigation is ongoing and it will provide additional updates as it learns more. While most Whole Foods Market stores do not have these taprooms and restaurants, Whole Foods Market encourages its customers to closely monitor their payment card statements and report any unauthorized charges to the issuing bank.

Rovio, the maker of Angry Birds, has set an IPO which could value it at $1 billion.

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Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) said it found roughly 200 Russian accounts that may have been used to influence elections. Congress criticized the company for lax systems that could have caught the activity.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ; AAPL) revealed the number of government security requests it had from the U.S. government in the first half of 2017. According to CNBC:

Apple received its highest ever number of U.S. government national security requests for data in the first half of the year, the company revealed Thursday.

The U.S. technology giant said it received between 13,250 and 13,499 requests affecting between 9,000 and 9,249 accounts, according to its transparency report. Apple is not allowed to disclose the specific numbers of requests received so has to do so in a range.

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