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Tag Archives: Packaging
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Founders Edition packaging leaks out
NVIDIA has reference design for RTX 4070 and possibly RTX 4060 Ti as well
YouTuber RedGamingTech shared exclusive photos of box for yet unannounced RTX 4070 box. While there was no card inside, it confirms that NVIDIA might once again offer their design alongside board partners.
NVIDIA RTX 4070 Founders Edition box, Source: RedGamingTech
The picture above supposedly confirms NVIDIA’s earlier plans RTX 4070 Founders Edition GPU, that’s despite not offering a higher-end RTX 4070 TI model with their in-house design. The box that was pictured shows no card, which means that the card was either not ready at the time, or this was just a box design being prepared for a card that may come out.
Another leaker (kopite7kimi) came forward by saying that the same cooler design might be used by another AD104 GPU called RTX 4060 Ti. Both SKUs are expected in the first half of 2023. It would be a logical decision to reuse an existing board design and cooler for two cards.
NVIDIA RTX 4070 Founders Edition box, Source: RedGamingTech
The data written on the box confirms that the card would require a 2×8-pin to 1×16-pin power adapter, and it would be 112mm wide. For comparison, the RTX 4080 is 140mm wide, so this Founders Edition GPUs is considerably smaller.
As long as speculation is considered, RTX 4070 is using AD104-250 or AD104-251 GPU with 5888 CUDA Cores. This model is to feature 12GB GDDR6X memory and 192-bit memory bus, so the same configuration as RTX 4070 Ti. Reduced core count allows NVIDIA to lower the power consumption to 200-250W level.
The latest information indicates that the mass production of AD104-250 GPU is set for the second half of February, which typically means market availability a few weeks later.
| RUMORED NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 Series Specs | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| VideoCardz.com | RTX 4070 Ti | RTX 4070 | RTX 4060 Ti |
| Picture |  |
 |
 |
| Board-SKU | PG141-SKU331 | PG141-SKU345/344/343 | PG190 |
| Architecture | Ada (TSMC 4N) | Ada (TSMC 4N) | Ada (TSMC 4N) |
| GPU | AD104-400 | AD104-250/251 | AD106-350 |
| CUDA Cores | |||
| Boost Clock | TBC | TBC | |
| Memory | |||
| Memory Bus | |||
| Default TGP | |||
| Release Date | January 5th, 2023 | Production Feb/March | TBC |
Source: RedGamingTech
20 dividend stocks with high yields that have become more attractive right now
Income-seeking investors are looking at an opportunity to scoop up shares of real estate investment trusts. Stocks in that asset class have become more attractive as prices have fallen and cash flow is improving.
Below is a broad screen of REITs that have high dividend yields and are also expected to generate enough excess cash in 2023 to enable increases in dividend payouts.
REIT prices may turn a corner in 2023
REITs distribute most of their income to shareholders to maintain their tax-advantaged status. But the group is cyclical, with pressure on share prices when interest rates rise, as they have this year at an unprecedented scale. A slowing growth rate for the group may have also placed a drag on the stocks.
And now, with talk that the Federal Reserve may begin to temper its cycle of interest-rate increases, we may be nearing the time when REIT prices rise in anticipation of an eventual decline in interest rates. The market always looks ahead, which means long-term investors who have been waiting on the sidelines to buy higher-yielding income-oriented investments may have to make a move soon.
During an interview on Nov 28, James Bullard, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and a member of the Federal Open Market Committee, discussed the central bank’s cycle of interest-rate increases meant to reduce inflation.
When asked about the potential timing of the Fed’s “terminal rate” (the peak federal funds rate for this cycle), Bullard said: “Generally speaking, I have advocated that sooner is better, that you do want to get to the right level of the policy rate for the current data and the current situation.”
In August we published this guide to investing in REITs for income. Since the data for that article was pulled on Aug. 24, the S&P 500
SPX,
-0.50%
has declined 4% (despite a 10% rally from its 2022 closing low on Oct. 12), but the benchmark index’s real estate sector has declined 13%.
REITs can be placed broadly into two categories. Mortgage REITs lend money to commercial or residential borrowers and/or invest in mortgage-backed securities, while equity REITs own property and lease it out.
The pressure on share prices can be greater for mortgage REITs, because the mortgage-lending business slows as interest rates rise. In this article we are focusing on equity REITs.
Industry numbers
The National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (Nareit) reported that third-quarter funds from operations (FFO) for U.S.-listed equity REITs were up 14% from a year earlier. To put that number in context, the year-over-year growth rate of quarterly FFO has been slowing — it was 35% a year ago. And the third-quarter FFO increase compares to a 23% increase in earnings per share for the S&P 500 from a year earlier, according to FactSet.
The NAREIT report breaks out numbers for 12 categories of equity REITs, and there is great variance in the growth numbers, as you can see here.
FFO is a non-GAAP measure that is commonly used to gauge REITs’ capacity for paying dividends. It adds amortization and depreciation (noncash items) back to earnings, while excluding gains on the sale of property. Adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) goes further, netting out expected capital expenditures to maintain the quality of property investments.
The slowing FFO growth numbers point to the importance of looking at REITs individually, to see if expected cash flow is sufficient to cover dividend payments.
Screen of high-yielding equity REITs
For 2022 through Nov. 28, the S&P 500 has declined 17%, while the real estate sector has fallen 27%, excluding dividends.
Over the very long term, through interest-rate cycles and the liquidity-driven bull market that ended this year, equity REITs have fared well, with an average annual return of 9.3% for 20 years, compared to an average return of 9.6% for the S&P 500, both with dividends reinvested, according to FactSet.
This performance might surprise some investors, when considering the REITs’ income focus and the S&P 500’s heavy weighting for rapidly growing technology companies.
For a broad screen of equity REITs, we began with the Russell 3000 Index
RUA,
-0.18%,
which represents 98% of U.S. companies by market capitalization.
We then narrowed the list to 119 equity REITs that are followed by at least five analysts covered by FactSet for which AFFO estimates are available.
If we divide the expected 2023 AFFO by the current share price, we have an estimated AFFO yield, which can be compared with the current dividend yield to see if there is expected “headroom” for dividend increases.
For example, if we look at Vornado Realty Trust
VNO,
+1.01%,
the current dividend yield is 8.56%. Based on the consensus 2023 AFFO estimate among analysts polled by FactSet, the expected AFFO yield is only 7.25%. This doesn’t mean that Vornado will cut its dividend and it doesn’t even mean the company won’t raise its payout next year. But it might make it less likely to do so.
Among the 119 equity REITs, 104 have expected 2023 AFFO headroom of at least 1.00%.
Here are the 20 equity REITs from our screen with the highest current dividend yields that have at least 1% expected AFFO headroom:
| Company | Ticker | Dividend yield | Estimated 2023 AFFO yield | Estimated “headroom” | Market cap. ($mil) | Main concentration |
| Brandywine Realty Trust |
BDN, +1.82% |
11.52% | 12.82% | 1.30% | $1,132 | Offices |
| Sabra Health Care REIT Inc. |
SBRA, +2.02% |
9.70% | 12.04% | 2.34% | $2,857 | Health care |
| Medical Properties Trust Inc. |
MPW, +1.90% |
9.18% | 11.46% | 2.29% | $7,559 | Health care |
| SL Green Realty Corp. |
SLG, +2.18% |
9.16% | 10.43% | 1.28% | $2,619 | Offices |
| Hudson Pacific Properties Inc. |
HPP, +1.55% |
9.12% | 12.69% | 3.57% | $1,546 | Offices |
| Omega Healthcare Investors Inc. |
OHI, +1.30% |
9.05% | 10.13% | 1.08% | $6,936 | Health care |
| Global Medical REIT Inc. |
GMRE, +2.03% |
8.75% | 10.59% | 1.84% | $629 | Health care |
| Uniti Group Inc. |
UNIT, +0.28% |
8.30% | 25.00% | 16.70% | $1,715 | Communications infrastructure |
| EPR Properties |
EPR, +0.62% |
8.19% | 12.24% | 4.05% | $3,023 | Leisure properties |
| CTO Realty Growth Inc. |
CTO, +1.58% |
7.51% | 9.34% | 1.83% | $381 | Retail |
| Highwoods Properties Inc. |
HIW, +0.76% |
6.95% | 8.82% | 1.86% | $3,025 | Offices |
| National Health Investors Inc. |
NHI, +1.90% |
6.75% | 8.32% | 1.57% | $2,313 | Senior housing |
| Douglas Emmett Inc. |
DEI, +0.33% |
6.74% | 10.30% | 3.55% | $2,920 | Offices |
| Outfront Media Inc. |
OUT, +0.70% |
6.68% | 11.74% | 5.06% | $2,950 | Billboards |
| Spirit Realty Capital Inc. |
SRC, +0.72% |
6.62% | 9.07% | 2.45% | $5,595 | Retail |
| Broadstone Net Lease Inc. |
BNL, -0.93% |
6.61% | 8.70% | 2.08% | $2,879 | Industial |
| Armada Hoffler Properties Inc. |
AHH, -0.08% |
6.38% | 7.78% | 1.41% | $807 | Offices |
| Innovative Industrial Properties Inc. |
IIPR, +1.09% |
6.24% | 7.53% | 1.29% | $3,226 | Health care |
| Simon Property Group Inc. |
SPG, +0.95% |
6.22% | 9.55% | 3.33% | $37,847 | Retail |
| LTC Properties Inc. |
LTC, +1.09% |
5.99% | 7.60% | 1.60% | $1,541 | Senior housing |
| Source: FactSet | ||||||
Click on the tickers for more about each company. You should read Tomi Kilgore’s detailed guide to the wealth of information for free on the MarketWatch quote page.
The list includes each REIT’s main property investment type. However, many REITs are highly diversified. The simplified categories on the table may not cover all of their investment properties.
Knowing what a REIT invests in is part of the research you should do on your own before buying any individual stock. For arbitrary examples, some investors may wish to steer clear of exposure to certain areas of retail or hotels, or they may favor health-care properties.
Largest REITs
Several of the REITs that passed the screen have relatively small market capitalizations. You might be curious to see how the most widely held REITs fared in the screen. So here’s another list of the 20 largest U.S. REITs among the 119 that passed the first cut, sorted by market cap as of Nov. 28:
| Company | Ticker | Dividend yield | Estimated 2023 AFFO yield | Estimated “headroom” | Market cap. ($mil) | Main concentration |
| Prologis Inc. |
PLD, +1.29% |
2.84% | 4.36% | 1.52% | $102,886 | Warehouses and logistics |
| American Tower Corp. |
AMT, +0.68% |
2.66% | 4.82% | 2.16% | $99,593 | Communications infrastructure |
| Equinix Inc. |
EQIX, +0.62% |
1.87% | 4.79% | 2.91% | $61,317 | Data centers |
| Crown Castle Inc. |
CCI, +1.03% |
4.55% | 5.42% | 0.86% | $59,553 | Wireless Infrastructure |
| Public Storage |
PSA, +0.11% |
2.77% | 5.35% | 2.57% | $50,680 | Self-storage |
| Realty Income Corp. |
O, +0.26% |
4.82% | 6.46% | 1.64% | $38,720 | Retail |
| Simon Property Group Inc. |
SPG, +0.95% |
6.22% | 9.55% | 3.33% | $37,847 | Retail |
| VICI Properties Inc. |
VICI, +0.41% |
4.69% | 6.21% | 1.52% | $32,013 | Leisure properties |
| SBA Communications Corp. Class A |
SBAC, +0.59% |
0.97% | 4.33% | 3.36% | $31,662 | Communications infrastructure |
| Welltower Inc. |
WELL, +2.37% |
3.66% | 4.76% | 1.10% | $31,489 | Health care |
| Digital Realty Trust Inc. |
DLR, +0.69% |
4.54% | 6.18% | 1.64% | $30,903 | Data centers |
| Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc. |
ARE, +1.38% |
3.17% | 4.87% | 1.70% | $24,451 | Offices |
| AvalonBay Communities Inc. |
AVB, +0.89% |
3.78% | 5.69% | 1.90% | $23,513 | Multifamily residential |
| Equity Residential |
EQR, +1.10% |
4.02% | 5.36% | 1.34% | $23,503 | Multifamily residential |
| Extra Space Storage Inc. |
EXR, +0.29% |
3.93% | 5.83% | 1.90% | $20,430 | Self-storage |
| Invitation Homes Inc. |
INVH, +1.58% |
2.84% | 5.12% | 2.28% | $18,948 | Single-family residental |
| Mid-America Apartment Communities Inc. |
MAA, +1.46% |
3.16% | 5.18% | 2.02% | $18,260 | Multifamily residential |
| Ventas Inc. |
VTR, +1.63% |
4.07% | 5.95% | 1.88% | $17,660 | Senior housing |
| Sun Communities Inc. |
SUI, +2.09% |
2.51% | 4.81% | 2.30% | $17,346 | Multifamily residential |
| Source: FactSet | ||||||
Simon Property Group Inc.
SPG,
+0.95%
is the only REIT to make both lists.
U.S. Army Grounds Entire Fleet of Chinook Helicopters
The Army has about 400 Chinook helicopters in its fleet, a U.S. official says. Soldiers approach a Chinook during a training exercise in Pirkkala, Finland, earlier in August.
Photo:
Roni Rekomaa/Bloomberg News
The U.S. Army has grounded its entire fleet of CH-47 Chinook helicopters because of a risk of engine fires, U.S. officials said.
Army officials are aware of a small number of engine fires with the helicopters, and the incidents didn’t result in any injuries or deaths, the U.S. officials said. One of the officials said the fires occurred in recent days.
The U.S. Army Materiel Command grounded the fleet of hundreds of helicopters “out of an abundance of caution,” but officials were looking at more than 70 aircraft that contained a part that is suspected to be connected to the problem, officials said.
The grounding of the Chinook helicopters, a battlefield workhorse since the 1960s, could pose logistical challenges for American soldiers, depending on how long the order lasts.
The grounding was targeted at certain
Boeing Co.
-made models with engines manufactured by
Honeywell International Inc.,
people familiar with the matter said. The grounding took effect within about the last 24 hours, these people said. The Army has about 400 helicopters in its fleet, one of the U.S. officials said.
Boeing declined to comment, referring questions to the Army.
A Honeywell spokesman said the engine maker worked with the Army to determine that certain components known as O-rings didn’t meet the company’s design specifications. He said the parts were installed during routine maintenance at an Army facility. While he declined to name the company that made the parts, the Honeywell spokesman said the company is working to supply the Army with replacements.
An Army spokeswoman said the service has identified the root cause of fuel leaks that caused “a small number of engine fires among an isolated number” of the helicopters. She said the Army is taking steps to resolve the issue.
“The safety of our soldiers is the Army’s top priority, and we will ensure our aircraft remain safe and airworthy,” the spokeswoman said.
The Chinook is a heavy-lift utility helicopter that is used by both regular and special Army forces, ferrying more than four dozen troops or cargo. It has been a staple of the Army’s helicopter fleet for six decades.
Write to Andrew Tangel at Andrew.Tangel@wsj.com and Gordon Lubold at Gordon.Lubold@wsj.com
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
Appeared in the August 31, 2022, print edition as ‘Army Grounds Entire Chinook Helicopter Fleet.’
Procter & Gamble Sounds a Warning After Strong Quarter
Procter & Gamble Co.
PG -6.18%
, maker of Tide detergent and Pampers diapers, is predicting the slowest sales growth in years as consumer belt-tightening is beginning to hit household staples.
The outlook comes after the Cincinnati-based consumer-products giant on Friday reported its biggest annual sales increase in 16 years because of the price increases that it placed on mainstays from toothpaste to toilet paper.
P&G’s organic sales, a closely watched metric that strips out deals and currency moves, rose 7% for the year ended June 30, the most since 2006. Shoppers paid substantially higher prices.
But consumers are beginning to cut back amid mounting inflation, executives said. They are using up products they stockpiled during the pandemic or holding off on replenishing supplies. Sales volumes declined 1% in the most recent quarter.
“For us, the downturn is not yet visible,” P&G finance chief
Andre Schulten
said. “We’re also not naive, we see the pressure on the consumer.”
P&G expects organic sales growth of 3% to 5% for the current year, the lowest since 2019 when the company notched a 5% increase. The company predicts consumer-goods industry growth will slow by a percentage point or more from the last fiscal year’s 5% growth.
P&G Chief Executive
Jon Moeller
said in an interview that consumers are beginning to shift to cheaper, private-label alternatives, a trend already under way in food and beverages. He called the shift small but noticeable.
Mr. Moeller said he is confident that growth, though more muted relative to the past few years, will remain solid as high employment levels coupled with healthy household balance sheets enable consumers to keep spending on necessities while they cut costs elsewhere.
“There is no inherent reason why people are just going to stop buying modestly priced consumer products, daily-use essentials where performance matters,” he said. “You have to look elsewhere to get signals of consumer stress.”
P&G shares fell more than 6%.
P&G’s results and outlook largely echo the messages coming from other big consumer brands. Companies including
Coca-Cola Co.
,
McDonald’s Corp.
and
Kimberly-Clark Corp.
this week reported sales gains driven by higher prices, and executives said they would keep passing along increased costs to shoppers for now. Yet some executives also said consumers are starting to show signs of stress, trading down to cheaper brands or cutting back on how much they buy.
The world’s biggest consumer packaged goods company by sales, P&G has largely outpaced competitors amid the pandemic, especially in the U.S.
Rivals are showing signs of gaining ground.
Colgate-Palmolive Co.
on Friday said it now expects bigger-than-expected organic sales gains, predicting an increase of 5% to 7% for the calendar year, up from 4% to 6%. Last week,
Kimberly-Clark
and
Unilever
PLC also raised sales outlooks for the calendar year.
Church & Dwight Co.
Chief Executive
Matthew Farrell
said on Friday that demand is accelerating for low-cost laundry detergent, while people are giving up electric toothbrushes for manual options. “Consumers are making choices to make their budget stretch further,” he said.
A central question is how consumers and retailers respond to further price increases. P&G said Friday that it had announced to retailers another round of price increases, in mid-single-digit percentages, which will take effect toward the end of summer.
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P&G, after more than four years of market-share gains, lost share in the four-week period ended July 16 compared with a year ago, Bernstein analyst Callum Elliott said in a research note analyzing retail data. Losses are in every category except for beauty, he said.
“While prices spiral, the consumer also continues to adjust to the new reality,” he said.
Mr. Moeller said P&G continues to gain market share broadly in the U.S. and globally.
Organic sales rose 7% in the quarter ended June 30, with prices up 8% on average. P&G attributed the 1% decline in sales volume primarily to Covid-related shutdowns in China and intentional downsizing of its business in Russia amid the war in Ukraine.
P&G reported $19.5 billion in revenue for the quarter, up 3% from a year ago. Diluted net earnings per share were $1.21, up 7%.
The company expects diluted net earnings per share will be between flat and up 4% for the fiscal year as it faces an anticipated $3.3 billion hit tied to foreign-exchange rates and higher costs for materials and freight.
Write to Sharon Terlep at sharon.terlep@wsj.com
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
Boeing Profit Falls as Executives Point to Turnaround
The company said its second-quarter results showed it was making progress in stabilizing its operations after a series of production and regulatory problems have prevented it from delivering commercial aircraft on time and without quality issues.
“We do believe we’re in the middle of a momentum shift,” Chief Executive
David Calhoun
said in a call with analysts Wednesday.
Boeing shares were recently trading around even, having climbed more than 3% at one point.
Production of the 737 MAX has reached 31 planes a month, up from 16 a year ago, as it deals with supply-chain challenges such as engine shortages that are also affecting rival Airbus SE, which reports quarterly earnings later Wednesday. Boeing has said it stepped up 737 deliveries in June.
Executives said Wednesday Boeing appeared on the verge of receiving regulatory approval to resume deliveries of its wide-body 787 Dreamliner. A series of production issues has kept the plane maker from handing over that jet to customers for much of the last two years, leaving it with more than $25 billion of the aircraft in inventory.
A rebound in air travel has fueled airlines’ continued demand for new aircraft, which Mr. Calhoun said hasn’t slowed. “While we understand the sort of recession fears that are growing out there, so far it has not impacted the aviation industry or our customers,” Mr. Calhoun said.
The company on Wednesday reported a profit of $160 million, or 32 cents a share, for the three months to June 30, down from $567 million, or $1, during the same period a year earlier.
The adjusted per-share loss of 37 cents, which excludes pension charges, fell short of the 13-cent loss consensus among analysts polled by FactSet. Sales in the quarter fell 2% to $16.7 billion, with analysts expecting $17.6 billion.
Results of Arlington, Va.-based Boeing’s defense business continued to be weighed down by around $400 million in charges during the quarter. This included $93 million on its Starliner space capsule in the quarter. Boeing successfully launched the Starliner in May, but it has incurred higher costs after earlier failed attempts to launch and dock with the International Space Station. It also took a $147 million charge on its MQ-25 refueling drone as costs rose to meet requirements set by the U.S. Navy.
Boeing faces a possible strike at three of its defense plants from Aug. 1 after workers rejected a new contract, which Mr. Calhoun said on CNBC could disrupt deliveries.
The company said it had positive operating cash flow in the second quarter. It reiterated the target of generating surplus cash for the full year.
Over the last couple of years, Boeing has dealt with production and regulatory problems that have impeded a recovery from two crises: a nearly two-year grounding of its 737 MAX after two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019, and the pandemic’s hit to demand for new aircraft.
A year ago, Mr. Calhoun expressed optimism, telling analysts in July 2021: “We are turning a corner, and the recovery is gaining momentum.”
More recently, Mr. Calhoun has said this year would mark a turning point. “I can’t measure it week by week or month by month or even quarter by quarter, but I know the year is going to be substantially better,” he said at a June analyst event.
Airbus has been producing its A320 narrow-body family at a monthly rate of about 50, with a goal of reaching 75 by 2025. But Mr. Calhoun said Wednesday he couldn’t predict when Boeing would be in a position to increase its 737 MAX production rates, citing supply constraints as a barrier to ramping up.
“If I thought I had an engine supply, I’d do it today,” he said.
Boeing has had to slow production of its narrow-body aircraft this year due to supply bottlenecks, and getting stored MAX jets out of inventory has taken longer than the company anticipated. Scores of the planes have been in storage since the MAX grounding. Many of the MAX jets are bound for customers in China, which hasn’t allowed the aircraft to return to service in the country.
After previously saying it expected to deliver about 500 of 737 MAX jets by the end of the year, Boeing finance chief
Brian West
on Wednesday said the company now estimates it will deliver closer to 400 of the aircraft by the end of 2022. As of June 30, the company had handed over 181 of the aircraft to customers.
Write to Andrew Tangel at Andrew.Tangel@wsj.com and Doug Cameron at doug.cameron@wsj.com
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
Kanye West announces he is redesigning McDonald’s food packaging
Kanye West announces he is redesigning McDonald’s food packaging with visual of ‘reimagined’ burger wrapper… as he returns to Instagram after hate-speech ban
- Kanye West returned to Instagram on Monday by announcing his new redesign of McDonald’s food packaging
- It marked the first time he had posted on the platform following his suspension for hate speech
- West announced he had teamed up with Muji industrial designer Naoto Fukasawa to ‘reimagine’ the fast food chain’s packaging
- The rapper was suspended for 24 hours on Instagram after he attacked his ex-wife Kim Kardashian and her boyfriend Pete Davidson on the platform
Kanye West has announced he is redesigning food packaging for McDonald’s.
The rapper, 44, returned to Instagram on Monday after being suspended from the platform for 24 hours back in March with a photo of the crisp and clean new design.
‘Ye teams up with legendary Muji industrial designer Naoto Fukasawa to reimagine McDonald’s packaging,’ he captioned the photo.
I’m loving it! Kanye West has announced he is redesigning food packaging for McDonalds.
‘Next week it’s the fries,’ he wrote on his Instagram Stories, referencing his 2005 track Gold Digger where he rapped, ‘This week he moppin’ floors, next week it’s the fries.’
McDonald’s has yet to comment on the collaboration on their Twitter or Instagram accounts.
From its transparent wrapper to its boxy shape, the design definitely has the Kanye touch. Much like his Yeezy clothing line and infamous interior design style, the packaging was minimal and understated.
It is also a far cry from the traditional design, which sees food contained within brightly-colored packages emblazoned with the McDonald’s logo.
‘Ye teams up with legendary Muji industrial designer Naoto Fukasawa to reimagine McDonald’s packaging,’ he captioned the photo
Coming soon: West posted to his Instagram Stories, ‘Next week it’s the fries’
The choice to collaborate with McDonald’s may come slightly out of left field, but the rapper previously express his fondness for the fast food chain in the poem McDonalds Man.
Kanye and his then-wife Kim Kardashian were also featured in a McDonald’s Instagram post detailing their favorite meals back in 2020.
Kanye loved to order a milkshake, side of fries, Chicken McNuggets, and Tangy BBQ sauce while Kim went for Chicken McNuggets, shake, French Fries, hamburger, and apple pie.
Guilty pleasure! Kanye and his then-wife Kim Kardashian were also featured in a McDonald’s Instagram post detailing their favorite meals back in 2020
Yum! Kim went for Chicken McNuggets, shake, French Fries, hamburger, and apple pie
Iconic look: It is also a far cry from the traditional design, which sees food contained within brightly-colored packages emblazoned with the McDonald’s logo
The announcement also served as the first time Kanye had posted to Instagram following his temporary suspension for attacking Kim and her boyfriend Pete Davidson on the platform.
A spokesperson for Meta, the company that owns the social media platform, told TMZ that the rapper’s posts violated their policies on hate speech, harassment and bullying.
West, who has now legally changed his name to Ye, posted that he was ‘really concerned’ Davidson would get Kardashian ‘hooked on drugs’ and demanded the comedian ‘apologize to your family for being in your family.’
The rapper also took aim at talk show host Trevor Noah who weighed in on Kanye’s feud on an episode of The Daily Show, warning that the online fight between the former couple could get violent and was ‘terrifying to watch’.
In response, West posted images of Noah to his account with a caption that read in part: ‘All in together now… K**n baya my lord k**n baya.’ The racist post appears to have been removed.
West’s 24-hour suspension meant he was unable to post content, comment on posts or send direct messages.
Why is the stock market falling? Dow drops nearly 900 points as investors weigh Fed’s policy path, earnings
U.S. stocks fell sharply Friday, as investors continued to weigh hawkish comments on interest rates by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell a day earlier, as well as a fresh batch of corporate earnings that largely disappointed.
How are stocks trading?
-
The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
-2.18%
was down 879 points, or 2.5%, at 33,914. -
The S&P 500
SPX,
-2.18%
fell 107 points, or 2.4%, to 4,286, and was on track for a third straight weekly fall. -
The Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
-2.03%
shed 298 points, or 2.3%, to trade at 12,875.
On Thursday, the Dow shed 368.03 points, or 1.1%, reversing a gain of as much as 331.43 points in intraday trading. The more-than 700-point intraday swing was its biggest since March 8, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The S&P 500 fell 1.5%, while the Nasdaq Composite slumped 2.1%.
What’s driving the market?
Stock-market weakness picked up Friday where Thursday’s selloff left off, when equities tumbled into the afternoon after Powell added his support for moving faster on raising interest rates to cool inflation, measures that would include a possible 50 basis point interest rate hike in May.
“It would seem investors have been too complacent about the upcoming [Fed] meeting, which will need to change,” said Michael Kramer, founder of Mott Capital, in a note.
The Cboe Volatility Index
VIX,
+20.55%,
an options-based measure of expected volatility over the next 30 days, had been too low heading into the May 3-4 Federal Open Market Committee, or FOMC, meeting, Kramer said. It rose Thursday and was up another 19.5% at 27.1- on Friday, moving above its long-term average just below 20.
Powell’s remarks appeared to make a half percentage point rate hike the base case, with the central bank also likely to announce the beginning of the unwinding of its balance sheet, Kramer said.
Meanwhile, traders of fed funds futures have priced in a 94% chance that the Federal Reserve will deliver a 75 basis point rate hike in June, up from 70% on Thursday and 28% a week ago, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield
TMUBMUSD10Y,
2.895%,
meanwhile, pulled back slightly to around 2.89% after climbing about 8.1 basis points to 2.917% on Thursday, the highest since Dec. 4, 2018.
Read: How to invest as inflation, higher interest rates and war roil markets
And some are warning that the Nasdaq is looking particularly vulnerable. The week has delivered some big earnings news for the technology sector, with investors cheering Thursday’s results from Tesla
TSLA,
-0.12%,
on the heels of deeply disappointing Netflix
NFLX,
-0.91%
results.
The Fed’s hawkish shift and the relentless rise in Treasury yields may be sapping the previous appeal of equities, which had previously been seen as the only viable avenue for many return-seeking investors.
“Investors appear to be moving away from the TINA (There is no Alternative) narrative as of late when it comes to equities,” said Brian Price, head of investment management at Commonwealth Financial Network, in a note. “This is the second straight week of significant outflows from equity mutual funds and days like today are unlikely to change the sentiment moving forward. The one positive takeaway may be that sentiment has become too bearish and we could see a countertrend rally at some point in the coming weeks.”
In One Chart: Investors just pulled a massive $17.5 billion out of global equities. They’re just getting started, says Bank of America.
All 11 major S&P 500 sectors fell Friday, with healthcare stocks dropping the most after a downbeat profit forecast from HCA Healthcare Inc.
HCA,
-20.47%
sent its shares tumbling. Other hospital operators, including Tenet Healthcare Corp.
THC,
-13.49%,
Community Health Systems Inc.
CYH,
-17.36%
and Universal Health Services
UHS,
-12.70%
also fell between 10.4% and 13.2%.
However, of the 99 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings for the first quarter, 77.8% of them have beat market expectations. Typically, 66% of companies beat estimates, according to Refinitiv data.
Next week will mark another big week for earnings, with 558 companies reporting, Saxo noted. “It is the big test of companies’ ability to pass on costs to their customers,” they said.
Investors may also be skittish ahead of the final round of France’s presidential election on Sunday. An upset victory by far-right candidate Marine Le Pen over incumbent Francois Macron would likely spark market volatility, analysts said.
See: Here’s how markets are positioned for Sunday’s presidential election in France between Macron and Le Pen
What companies are in focus?
- HCA shares were down 19.6%, on pace for their largest percentage decrease since March 16, 2020, when they fell 19.02%, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
-
Gap Inc.
GPS,
-18.51%
stock tumbled nearly 19%, following a bigger-than-expected drop in sales and as the retailer announced the depature of Old Navy CEO Nancy Green. -
Shares of Qualtrics International Inc.
XM,
-9.41%
fell 9.5% after the experience-management software company reported fiscal first-quarter forecast-beating revenue. -
Snap Inc.
SNAP,
-0.27%
shares lost 0.7% after the social media group reported quarterly revenue that fell short of Wall Street’s expectations. -
Shares of American Express Co.
AXP,
-1.87%
fell 1.4% after topping earnings expectations Friday amid a continued rebound in travel and strong spending trends among younger consumers. -
Verizon Communications Inc.
VZ,
-5.30%
fell after its earnings report showed a net loss of postpaid phone subscribers in its latest quarter, calling out “competitive dynamics within the industry,” though it said it had its best quarter of broadband net additions in more than a decade.
How are other assets trading?
-
The ICE U.S. Dollar Index
DXY,
+0.56%
rose 0.7% to trade at its highest since March 2020. -
Bitcoin
BTCUSD,
-2.51%
fell 2.4% to trade near $39,500. -
The U.S. oil benchmark
CL.1,
-1.90%
fell $1.72, or 1.7%, to settle at $102.07 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, falling 4.1% for the week. -
Gold
GC00,
-0.60%
fell $13.90, or 0.7%, to settle at $1,934.30 an ounce, leaving a 2.1% weekly fall. -
The Stoxx Europe 600
SXXP,
-1.79%
dropped 1.5% while London’s FTSE 100
UKX,
-1.39%
fell 1.4%. -
The Shanghai Composite
SHCOMP,
+0.23%
rose 0.2%, while the Hang Seng Index
HSI,
-0.21%
slipped 0.2% in Hong Kong and Japan’s Nikkei 225
NIK,
-1.63%
fell 1%.
Yale professor monitoring companies still doing business in Russia ups the ante by highlighting those that are now ‘digging in’
The Yale professor who is monitoring companies that are still doing business in Russia following its unprovoked invasion of neighboring Ukraine has upped the ante by reclassifying the list into five categories with the fifth titled “digging in” — or defying public demands for exit.
Some 39 companies, including Koch Industries Inc., packaging company Ball Corp.
BLL,
+1.60%
and cybersecurity company Cloudflare Inc.
NET,
-3.91%,
remain in that category four weeks after the start of the attack.
More than 450 companies have announced plans to pull out or curtail their activities since the list was first published by Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and his research team at the Yale School of Management. The situation remains fluid for now, with the Yale team updating the list on a daily basis.
See: Yale professor is keeping tabs on companies still operating in Russia despite Ukraine invasion — and many have now pulled out
“The idea here is to bring the Russian economy to a standstill,” Sonnenfeld told MarketWatch. “That’s what Gandhi did [in India], it’s how Ceaușescu was removed from power in Romania, [and] it’s what led to the fall of P.W. Botha in South Africa and led to Nelson Mandela’s freedom.
“It was critical in all those cases to have voluntary business blockades work in tandem with economic sanctions, so the people can hear that they are becoming pariahs and things are not what their leaders are telling them. … It’s a much tighter circle when the whole global economy takes part.”
Koch, the Wichita, Kan., company run by billionaire Republican megadonor Charles Koch, was explicit about its intention in a statement last week signed by Chief Operating Officer Dave Robertson. The Robertson statement said Koch would continue to operate its two Russian glass facilities, which are owned by Guardian Industries, a company acquired in 2017.
“While Guardian’s business in Russia is a very small part of Koch, we will not walk away from our employees there or hand over these manufacturing facilities to the Russian government so it can operate and benefit from them (which is what The Wall Street Journal has reported they would do),” Robertson said.
See: Koch Industries breaks silence on Russia operations — and says it will continue to operate its two glass factories there
The executive acknowledged the “horrific and abhorrent aggression against Ukraine,” which he called an “affront to humanity.”
But that was not enough to persuade Koch to pull out of Russia, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged companies to do when he addressed the U.S. Congress by video link last week.
“All American companies must leave [the Russian] market immediately because it is flooded with our blood,” Zelensky said.
See also: Facebook, Google, Amazon and more marked Black History Month with fanfare — after donating to lawmakers who blocked voting-rights bills
Sonnenfeld described the Koch statement as “pathetic” and said it “reveals that all they care about is the loss of assets.”
Outside of “digging in,” the Yale list’s other four categories are “withdraw,” which is used for those companies taking a clean break from Russia; “suspension,” for companies that are temporarily curtailing activities, while keeping their return options open; “scaling back,” or reducing some activities while continuing others; and “buying time,” for companies that are holding off on new investments, while continuing most business.
For the full list of companies: Visit the Yale School of Management website
Companies that opt to dig in are facing substantial reputational risk at a time when younger people, in particular, expect companies to reflect their values and are willing and able to mobilize against them when corporate behavior disappoints, said Sonnenfeld.
“Gen Z are very careful about where they shop, whom they buy from and where they invest,” he said.
When Yale first published its list in late February, the stock market was down about 5% on the day, but the stocks of the companies on the list were down anywhere from 12% to 32%, he said.
The response from companies was also unusual, in that the first to announce plans to withdraw from Russia were energy companies, “who have not always been on the right side of social-justice issues,” said Sonnenfeld.
That sector was followed by professional services, from the Big 3 accounting firms to Accenture, McKinsey and those engaged in the legal profession, “firms that would often rather jump off a cliff than get involved in political issues,” in Sonnenfeld’s view.
“It’s impressive that these companies have made these decisions independently — it was not mandated or even encouraged by trade associations, who have been disappointingly mute,” said Sonnenfeld.
Some of the international companies that have changed course this week and withdrawn from Russia include French car maker Renault
RNO,
+0.68%,
which announced it would halt operations at its Moscow plant on Wednesday. Renault, which has a partnership with AvtoVAZ, Russia’s biggest car maker, was facing calls for a boycott of its products on social media.
See: Production halted at AvtoVAZ factory making Russia’s iconic Lada cars
The Swiss-based global food company Nestlé
NESN,
-0.88%
bowed to similar pressure and said it would suspend sales of its KitKat and Nesquik brands in Russia. The company had said last week that it was not profiting from its Russian activities.
France bans plastic packaging for most fruits and vegetables | Environment News
France has banned the use of plastics to package most fruit and vegetables.
The ban came into effect on Saturday under new regulations that French President Emmanuel Macron’s government says are meant to phase out single-use plastics as pollution worsens globally.
Under the new rules, leeks and carrots, tomatoes and potatoes, apples and pears and about 30 other items can no longer be sold in plastic. Instead, they should be wrapped in recyclable materials.
Plastic will still be allowed for more fragile fruits such as berries and peaches, but is to be gradually phased out in the coming years.
Magazines and other publications will also need to be shipped without plastic wrapping, and fast-food restaurants will no longer be allowed to offer free plastic toys to children.
Later this year, public spaces will also be made to introduce water fountains to reduce the use of plastic bottles.
The government says the new regulation is expected to eliminate about 1 billion items of plastic waste a year.
Anne-Elisabeth Moutet, a French journalist and writer, told Al Jazeera that there has been mixed reaction to the new rules.
“It’s a bit schizophrenic because on the one hand, the French are very much aware of the need to reduce plastic use. There is broad support for not using so much plastic. At the same time, once you buy vegetables yourself, you realise that nothing has been done to find new ways of wrapping that stops the produce from decomposing too fast,” she said.
“The other thing is that this comes right in the time of COVID. And quite frankly, people were just happy not to have others pawing their vegetables, trying them and smelling them and buying or not buying them,” she said. “People do not know how exactly to take it. There’s pluses and minuses on this.”
France’s packaging industry meanwhile said it was dismayed by the new rules, particularly a ban on the use of recycled plastics.
“We were never consulted,” complained Laurent Grandin, head of the fruit and vegetable sector’s Interfel association.
He told the AFP news agency that the costs were “insurmountable” for small companies who would have to keep using plastic to protect exports, notably to the United Kingdom, a major client for French apples.
Elipso, an association that represents manufacturers, said in a statement that it has client firms “who will have to stop their fruit and vegetable packing activity, even though they have been working on alternatives using less plastic or recycled plastic for several years”.
Elipso and Polyvia, a union of 3,500 firms making packaging, have appealed to France’s State Council, which has jurisdiction over administrative disputes, against what they say is a distortion of European markets as the ban applies solely to France.
But Armand Chaigne, director of industrial markets at packaging firm DS Smith, sees the benefits, notably for cardboard manufacturers.
“It is estimated that in Europe, out of the eight million tonnes of plastic produced per year for single-use packaging, 1.5 million tonnes could already be removed,” he said.
“That represents about 70 billion units of single-use plastic packaging”, or “about seven billion euros ($7.9bn) of additional turnover potential for cardboard.”