Businesses that serve TV and film productions brace for effects of the writers strike

May 3, 2023
If it's anything like the last writers strike, it could halt production for 100 days.
Writers have been on strike for over twenty days. Streaming and AI big topics of contention between writers and major studios.
Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

How private equity creates a "circle of pain" in the US economy

Apr 27, 2023
Private equity "is a major driver of the enormous gulf between rich and poor in this country," says author Gretchen Morgenson.
The private equity firm Blackstone Group, led by Stephen A. Schwarzman (center) is among the top buyers in leveraged buyouts over the last several decades.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

With Tucker Carlson out, are Fox News' advertisers back in?

Apr 26, 2023
Whether or not mainstream ad dollars return to Carlson's time slot, the cable news business model isn't likely to change much.
Fox News personalities, including Bret Baier, Martha MacCallum, Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham, and Sean Hannity, adorn the front of the News Corporation building in New York City.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images

When will the tech giants' AI investments start paying off?

Apr 25, 2023
Microsoft and Alphabet both reporting earnings this week. Expect AI to play a big role in their earnings reports.
Jeenah Moon/Getty Images

Walmart’s store closures in Chicago highlight the challenges of urban big box retail

Apr 13, 2023
Walmart says that, collectively, its Chicago stores aren’t profitable. But academics point out they’ll still leave a hole when they’re gone.
A worker collects shopping carts at a Walmart store in Chicago. The company announced the closure of half of its stores in the city this week.
Scott Olson/Getty Images

What Tupperware’s money problems say about direct selling 

Apr 11, 2023
Tupperware's stock tumbled after the company said it needed more capital in order to keep going.
Tupperware's recent stock drop is indicative of larger problems with direct-selling business models.
ustin Sullivan/Getty Images)

The clock's striking midnight on some federal pandemic relief loans for small businesses

Mar 22, 2023
Businesses that received some federal pandemic loans could defer paying for two years, meaning most are coming due this year.
A small business owner fills out an online form for pandemic financial aid. Payments for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program are due this year.
Eric Baradat/AFP via Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Holding excess inventory keeps getting pricier for this manufacturer

As the global supply chain smooths out its kinks, warehouse costs are top of mind for the Legacy Companies.
For large manufacturers, storing excess inventory means paying growing warehouse fees.
Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images

Extra fees have conquered the airline industry. But there may be fewer going forward.

Feb 22, 2023
Customer and airlines like them better than higher airfares.
United Airlines moved recently to ease some of its fees after President Biden criticized the industry's fee practices in his State of the Union address.
Getty Images

Valentine's Day chocolate sales were strong ... but it'd be helpful if you shopped earlier

Feb 17, 2023
"It's fun but it's difficult to know how much to make when everyone comes in on the same day," said Kristin Thalheimer Bingham, co-owner of Dean's Sweets in Portland, Maine.
Of all the holidays, Valentine's Day is the biggest chocolate-seller for Dean's Sweets.
Courtesy Melissa Mullen Photography