Media

6 Most Important Things in Business Today

Douglas A. McIntyre

Published: May 7, 2018 5:42 am

Last Updated: January 12, 2020 12:00 am

Nestle will pay Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) over $7 billion to help the distribution of coffee worldwide by both companies. According to Reuters:

Swiss-based food giant Nestle will pay Starbucks $7.15 billion in cash for the rights to sell the U.S. coffee chain’s products around the world in a global alliance aimed at reinvigorating their coffee empires.

The deal on Monday for a business with $2 billion in sales reinforces Nestle’s position as the world’s biggest coffee company tries to fortify its place atop a fast-changing market.

Seattle-based Starbucks said it will use proceeds to speed-up share buybacks and the deal would add to earnings per share (EPS) by 2021 at the latest.

Crude oil has risen above $70 a barrel for the first time since 2014.

“Avengers: Infinity War” broke more box office records. According to Box Office Mojo:

 Disney and Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War continues its record pace, topping $450 million domestically in just nine days and the $1 billion mark worldwide in a record 11 days. Among the weekend’s new wide releases, MGM and Lionsgate’s Overboard remake delivered a solid debut in the runner-up position while Focus’s Tully and Electric Entertainment’s Bad Samaritan delivered disappointing debuts in the low single digits.

With an estimated $112.4 million, Disney and Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War is once again the king of the weekend box office, topping its nearest competitor by nearly $100 million, and delivering the second largest second weekend ever. The film’s domestic gross now stands at $450.8 million after just ten days in release, pacing behind only Star Wars: The Force Awakens which reached that mark in just nine days.

A volcano in Hawaii has begun to damage homes and infrastructure. According to the AP:

Hawaii officials said the decimated homes were in the Leilani Estates subdivision, where molten rock, toxic gas and steam have been bursting through openings in the ground created by the volcano.

Some of the more than 1,700 residents who have been evacuated were allowed to briefly return to gather medicine, pets, and other necessities.

Investor confidence in the stock market has fallen. According to CNNMoney:

Main Street’s confidence in the stock market is crumbling at the fastest pace since at least 1987.

Americans remain optimistic about the economy, but their attitude toward stocks has gone from euphoric to negative as turbulence has rocked Wall Street.

Just 33% of people polled by the Conference Board this month expected stock prices to rise over the next year.

That’s down dramatically from a record high of 51% who were bullish in January, back when the Dow was zooming beyond 26,000.

A record number of women are running for governor seats. According to Fortune:

More women are running for governor in the U.S. this year than ever before, spurred by a Democratic backlash against President Donald Trump and a whopping 18 states that are on the November ballot but have no incumbent in the race.

With some state filing deadlines still ahead, as many as 77 women are expected to run in almost all of the 36 states with a governor’s race this year, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. That would be more than double the record of 34 female candidates in 1994.