Marketplace®

Daily business news and economic stories

Ariana Rosas

Producer

Ariana is a producer for “Marketplace Morning Report.”

Latest from Ariana Rosas

  • One of India’s richest men plans a bid for Walgreen Boots British drugstores
    Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

    From the BBC World Service: The BBC understands that if Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, buys the drugstores, he plans to expand the U.K. brand into India, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Plus, a Samsung smartwatch commercial faces criticism from women. And, the “urban miners” looking to profit from electronic waste.

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  • A waiter serves food to customers dining indoors at Langer's Deli in Los Angeles, California on August 7, 2021. - The restaurant announced that proof of vaccination would be required to dine indoors at the restaurant as Covid-19 variant causes surge in the Los Angeles area. (Photo by Patrick T. FALLON / AFP) (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)

    Business owners are facing shrinking profit margins as they deal with higher costs for materials and rising wages. We take a look at what options businesses have, including raising prices. A look at why the stock market has been down in the past month. Businesses have been investing in new equipment, which can improve productivity at a time of labor shortages.

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  • According to the National Association of Realtors, sales of existing homes dropped 2.7% in March from the previous month and 4.5% from March 2021.
    Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

    Rental rates are rising faster than they have in years. According to one expert, rents are going up by an average of 15% per year nationwide, compared to just 3% before the pandemic. We take a look into what’s driving the increase and what it means for consumers. Russia has cut off natural gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria amid increasing tension over their support for Ukraine. A look into why markets have been down in the past month. House prices have been increasing rapidly over the pandemic, but the shortage has been building for years – even before COVID.

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  • The European Union is holding emergency gas talks to decide how to respond to Russia.
    Omar Marques/Getty Images

    From the BBC World Service: As the European Union holds emergency gas talks to decide how to respond to Russia, what does turning off the gas taps mean for Poland and Bulgaria? Plus, a Chinese drone manufacturer has halted sales to Russia and Ukraine to try and stop its products being used in the war. And, the “vampire devices” which are driving up our home energy bills.

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  • Heidi Larson, director of Vaccine Confidence Project, says people are most concerned about the safety of a new COVID-19 vaccine.
    David Dee Delgado/Getty Images

    More people will soon have access to Pfizer’s Paxlovid COVID treatment. After initial supply limits, the Biden administration says the country now has plenty available and that it wants more locations to offer the drug. We talk to Marketplace’s Nova Safo about how the drug may soon become widely available in pharmacies. Blackstone, one of the country’s largest investors, will purchase a massive office complex called PS Business Parks, signaling a shift back toward office work after the pandemic drove people to work at home. The negligent homicide case involving a nurse is being closely monitored by medical professionals who worry it could set a precedent of criminalizing medical mistakes.

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  • Melissa Delgado, left, and Rebecca Gollnick-Starr practice the proper way to hand off a hammer on a jobsite. Both are in the pre-apprenticeship program at Women In Non Traditional Employment Roles.
    Jill Replogle

    Few industries have been impacted by pandemic-driven disruptions quite like the construction business. Whether it’s a lack of building materials or a shortage of workers, construction companies have been wading through one challenge after another for years. For more on this, we take the “Economic” Pulse of Maurice Rahming, president of O’Neill Construction Group in Portland, Oregon. Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter has raised questions about what the tech billionaire is trying to accomplish — we speak to Erik Gordon, professor at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, about the deal.

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  • UN chief Antonio Guterres called for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine ahead of his talks with Vladimir Putin.
    MAXIM SHIPENKOV/AFP via Getty Images

    From the BBC World Service: What to do about the besieged city of Mariupol is expected to be top of the list of subjects the UN’s Antonio Guterres and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin are expected to focus on. Plus, is Beijing next for a citywide lockdown as China sticks to its zero COVID strategy? And, why U.K. drugstores are reporting shortages of hormone replacement therapy. 

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  • CNN pulled the plug on its new streaming operation, CNN+. That's deprived the news industry of an opportunity to see what streamed television news could look like.
    Spencer Platt/Getty Images

    CNN reportedly spent tens of millions of dollars on developing CNN+ before canceling it last week. Warner Bros. Discovery’s shuttering of the service could affect other companies in the video news industry, which may be less willing to invest in that type of news streaming service going forward. Markets in Asia are reacting to rising COVID-19 cases in Beijing, which some may say could lead to a city-wide lockdown as seen in Shanghai. Girl Scouts added an online story to sell cookies to during the pandemic: online stores, but some parents are concerned it isn’t the same when it comes to developing crucial skills.

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  • COLOMBO, SRI LANKA - APRIL 24: Riot police officers gather behind the barricade while university students protest amid the country's ongoing economic and political crisis on April 24, 2022 in Colombo, Sri Lanka.  Street protests have increased island-wide with pressure building for Sri Lanka’s president Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his government to resign. One protester was shot and killed by police on Tuesday in Rambukkana, during a demonstration against the shortage of fuel.  (Photo by Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Images)
    Buddhika Weerasinghe / Stringer

    The war in Ukraine is worsening debt risk in developing countries. Rising commodity prices, higher borrowing rates, and other factors are making the economic situation harder for countries like Sri Lanka. Many of the countries facing these challenges were previously considered risky, but the war is exacerbating poor conditions and may push some past the tipping point. Elon Musk and Twitter are reportedly in talks for the social media platform to be acquired by the SpaceX and Tesla billionaire. The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues convenes in New York City for a week of discussion on issues like indigenous rights related to business and the economy.

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  • Supporters of the re-elected French President Emmanuel Macron at the Eifel Tower in Paris.
    Getty Images

    From the BBC World Service: EU leaders breathed a sigh of relief as France’s centrist incumbent, Emmanuel Macron, warded off the challenge of far-right challenger Marine Le Pen to be re-elected as French president. Also today, panic-buying in Beijing over fears of a fresh lockdown, and English soccer is set to get a new regulator.

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