Whole Foods will slash prices on hundreds of items starting Wednesday - NBCNews.com

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April 2, 2019, 10:44 AM GMT / Source: CNBC.com

By Lauren Hirsch, CNBC

Whole Foods is slashing prices on hundreds of items, starting Wednesday, extending its focus beyond enticing Prime shoppers.

The specialty grocer’s last major price cut for all customers was in November 2017. In the interim, it has been rolling out more perks catered to members of Amazon Prime, such as offering them an extra 10 percent off discounted products.

Amazon, which acquired Whole Foods in July 2017, had hoped to convert more Prime members into Whole Foods shoppers. The better Whole Foods is able to sync in-store shopping with Amazon Prime, the better it will be able to target its ads and promotions.

Prime’s ranks surpassed more than 100 million people last year. Prime members now qualify for two-hour delivery at Whole Foods, they can use Alexa to add groceries to their Prime Now cart and arrange for grocery pick-up within 30 minutes at some locations.

The price cuts planned for Wednesday, however, extend beyond Amazon prime customers. Whole Foods will slash its prices on hundreds of products, with a focus on produce, such as greens, tomatoes and tropical fruits. Customers will save an average of 20 percent on the new reduced-price items.

“Whole Foods Market continues to maintain the high quality standards that we’ve championed for nearly 40 years and, with Amazon, we will lower more prices in the future, building on the positive momentum from previous price investments,” Whole Foods Chief Executive Officer John Mackey said in a statement.

Whole Foods will continue to build on its special offers for Prime members, as well as efforts to promote sales online. The grocer is doubling the number of exclusive deals for Prime members, it said on Monday.

The company also hasn’t given up on trying to recruit more Prime members. In April, Amazon will offer Whole Foods customers $10 off a $20 purchase when they try Prime online. New members can try Prime free for 30 days.

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https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/whole-foods-will-slash-prices-hundreds-items-starting-wednesday-n989891

2019-04-02 10:44:00Z
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NHTSA Opens New Probes Into Kia, Hyunda Vehicle Fires - NPR

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The 2014 Kia Optima, pictured here in 2013, is one of the vehicles included in new probes by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. John Minchillo/AP hide caption

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John Minchillo/AP

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened new investigations into fires in five Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Motor Corp. vehicle models, following reports of thousands of fires and ­­more than a 100 injuries and one death.

The federal auto safety regulator announced on Monday that it had launched the two investigations into nearly 3 million vehicles in response to a petition from the Center for Auto Safety, a consumer advocacy group. The probes come on the heels of several years of recalls for both companies over fire risks.

The cars included in the scope of the new investigations by the NHTSA's Office of Defect Investigations are Hyundai's 2011-2014 Sonata and Santa Fe, Kia's 2011-2014 Optima and Sorento, and Kia's 2010-2015 Soul.

Altogether, the agency and the pair of South Korea-based vehicle manufacturers have received 3,125 reports of fires that were not sparked by a collision, according to the NHTSA. The agency's documents also show one recorded fatality.

According to the NHTSA, the investigations will "assess the scope, frequency, and potential safety-related consequences of alleged defects" relating to "non-collision" fires in the vehicles.

Jason Levine, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, said in a statement that the decision was overdue.

"It is long past time for the full power of the federal government to be brought to bear to answer why so many thousands of Kia and Hyundai vehicles have been involved in non-crash fires," Levine said.

The center originally asked the agency to look into the Optima, Sorento, Sonata and Santa Fe vehicles in June 2018, then added the Soul to the list of problematic vehicles the next month. It has also asked Congress to investigate the fires.

Prompted by the center's original petition, the Highway Loss Data Institute analyzed insurance records and found that certain years of the models under investigation had "significantly higher" rates of non-crash fire claims than comparable vehicles. The institute's findings suggested that the problem was related to the 2.0-liter and 2.4-liter "Theta II" engines, both of which were correlated with elevated claim rates in the Hyundai and Kia models.

The companies have issued several recalls since 2015 as a result of engine failures and fires. In February, the companies recalled more than 500,000 vehicles, bringing the total number of vehicles recalled to over 2.3 million, according to Reuters. February's number included several hundred thousand Kia Souls, The Associated Press reports, which Kia had been investigating after the center sent its petition to federal regulators last year.

The NHTSA said that prior recalls of vehicle models covered by the investigation have related to engine fires but that this probe "is not limited to engine components and may cover additional vehicle systems or components as well."

Both Hyundai and Kia told the AP that they're cooperating with the investigations and have been transparent with the NHTSA.

In a separate issue, Hyundai also recalled about 20,000 Veloster cars in the U.S. and Canada last week because of damage to the engines that can cause stalls and fires, The Washington Post reports.

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https://www.npr.org/2019/04/02/708986625/federal-auto-regulator-to-investigate-hyundai-kia-vehicle-fires

2019-04-02 09:07:00Z
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Singapore Airlines Grounds Two Boeing Planes for Engine Issue - Bloomberg

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Singapore Airlines Grounds Two Boeing Planes for Engine Issue  Bloomberg

Singapore Airlines Ltd. found “premature blade deterioration” on some engines during routine inspections, leading the carrier to ground two Boeing Co. 787-10 ...

View full coverage on Google News
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-02/singapore-air-grounds-two-planes-on-rolls-royce-engine-issue-jtzf5ex1

2019-04-02 06:46:00Z
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Bitcoin Price Surges 20% to $4,800 in Minutes: Is the Bear Trend Officially Over? - CCN

The bitcoin price recorded a massive surge from $4,200 to nearly $4,800 within minutes, demonstrating a 20 percent gain in a short time frame.

Bitcoin surges 20% in a matter of minutes, fueled by a short squeeze (source: coinmarketcap.com)

The $4,200 resistance level, which bitcoin has struggled to break out of for more than four months, was broken cleanly for the first time on early Tuesday morning, which led most technical indicators to turn and allow the dominant cryptocurrency to surge substantially.

Is the Bitcoin Bear Trend Over?

Earlier this week, economist and global markets analyst Alex Krüger said that a price movement of bitcoin above the $4,200 level will mark the end of the bear trend beginning January 2018, lasting 16 months.

“This is not a call. Not a matter of aging well or not. A break above $4,200 technically ends the bear trend that started Jan 2018. Facts don’t care about opinions. If strong selling resumes later on, that would represent a different trend,” he said.

The momentum of bitcoin from breaching the crucial $4,200 resistance level immediately led BTC to break out of $4,300, $4,400, $4,500, and to $4,800, which many analysts predict could go to as high as $5,500 in the upcoming days.

That's what no resistance looks like. Nothing but hot air above 4200. The longer the wait, the harder the break. This is what technical analysis is for. $BTC +20% in 45 minutes.

— Alex Krüger (@krugermacro) April 2, 2019

On Monday, a technical analyst in the cryptocurrency market said that an $80 million sell wall was awaiting above $4,200, and buyers had to absorb $80 million to push the bitcoin price above the highly anticipated resistance level.

Once the level was broken, it triggered a short squeeze on major trading platforms, intensifying the upside movement of bitcoin.

Can Bitcoin Rise Even Further?

Several traders have said that while bitcoin could retrace slightly to the $4,200 to $4,300 range in the near-term, the $5,000 to $5,500 range is a reasonable target for BTC.

One analyst wrote that as long as bitcoin remains above the $4,000 mark in the short-term, it will be en route to recovering to previous levels.

“This is why we’ve been long on BTC the past few months and remain so bullish regardless of price action. OBV found support near $3,300 and continues to trend up. If this trend breaks then we’ll change our position,” the analyst said.

Click here for a real-time bitcoin price chart.

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https://www.ccn.com/newsflash-bitcoin-price-surges-20-to-4800-in-minutes-is-the-bear-trend-officially-over

2019-04-02 05:57:32Z
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Lyft Drops Below I.P.O. Price in Second Day of Trading - New York Times

SAN FRANCISCO — Lyft’s debut on the stock market is off to a bumpy start.

The ride-hailing company went public in a blaze of glory on Friday, as its stock jumped 8.7 percent from its initial public offering price of $72 a share. But on Monday, its second day of trading, Lyft’s stock plunged more than 10 percent to below $72. It was trading at $68.94 as of 3:16 p.m. Eastern time.

The rapid decline raises questions about investors’ appetite for fast-growing but unprofitable tech companies. While Lyft has been expanding and gaining new revenue, it lost nearly $1 billion last year. Ride-hailing companies often subsidize the cost of rides and pay incentives to drivers, which is expensive. And Lyft is also spending heavily on initiatives including electric bikes and self-driving technology.

Other tech companies that went public while recording heavy losses, such as Snap, Twitter and Groupon, also eventually fell below their offering prices.

“Everyone is taken up with the idea of the ride-hailing business; it’s exciting and high-growth,” said Kathleen Smith, a principal at Renaissance Capital, which manages an I.P.O.-focused exchange-traded fund that will include Lyft later this week. “But it’s hard to figure out their valuation.”

Lyft declined to comment.

Lyft’s performance could sway other high-profile tech companies that are planning to go public.

Uber, the world’s biggest ride-hailing company, is planning to go public in the next few months; it is also deeply unprofitable. Others are also stampeding toward the public market, including: Pinterest, the digital pin board; Slack, the messaging company; and Peloton, the home-fitness company.

“The ones following in the wake of Lyft will be priced more reasonably,” Ms. Smith said.

Even if Lyft eventually makes money, its margins might be low, she cautioned. Lyft is constantly dealing with new competitors, which means that it may have to continue subsidizing its drivers and cutting the prices that it charges passengers. That makes profits a faraway prospect.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/01/technology/lyft-stock.html

2019-04-01 19:25:51Z
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Amazon cuts Whole Foods prices and sweetens deal for Prime members — again - Chain Store Age

TECHNOLOGY

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Amazon is once again cutting prices at Whole Foods Market.

Amazon and Whole Foods are enacting the third round since Amazon purchased the specialty organic grocer in June 2017. The latest round of cuts comes amid intense competition in the grocery sector and the high-price image that still continues to plague Whole Foods. Customers will save an average of 20% on the new reduced priced items.

In addition to new lower prices on hundreds of items that start for all shoppers on Wednesday, April 3, Prime members will now have double the number of exclusive weekly Prime member deals and deeper discounts. Over the next few months, Whole Foods said it will roll out more than 300 Prime member deals on popular seasonal items.

“Whole Foods Market continues to maintain the high quality standards that we’ve championed for nearly 40 years and, with Amazon, we will lower more prices in the future, building on the positive momentum from previous price investments,” said John Mackey, Whole Foods Market co-founder and CEO. “We will continue to focus on both lowering prices and bringing customers the quality they trust and the innovative assortment they expect from our brand.”

Examples of exclusive Prime member deals in April that will rotate on a weekly basis include organic asparagus, organic strawberries, and spiral sliced ham. Prime members can also receive an additional 10% off hundreds of sale items throughout the store.

These price reductions will build on hundreds of lower prices that have been introduced to customers since the Amazon and Whole Foods Market merger, according to Whole Foods.

Starting Wednesday through the end of April, customers who try Prime can get $10 off their $20 purchase in-store at Whole Foods Market. New members can try Prime free for 30 days.

Since Whole Foods Market joined Amazon the companies have launched exclusive Prime member savings, as well as two-hour delivery on Whole Foods groceries for Prime members in 60 metro areas, grocery pickup in as little as 30-minutes at select Whole Foods Market locations, shopping via the Alexa voice-activated digital assistant, and Amazon Lockers in Whole Foods Market stores.

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https://www.chainstoreage.com/technology/amazon-sweetens-whole-foods-deal-for-prime-members/

2019-04-01 20:53:38Z
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Lyft: Lifting Animal Spirits - Seeking Alpha

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1. Lyft: Lifting Animal Spirits  Seeking Alpha
2. Why Lyft's stock is crashing just 36 hours after its IPO  Yahoo Finance
3. A Rough Week for Socialism  RealClearPolitics
4. Think you'll make millions on Lyft's IPO? Sorry, but 'It’s Probably Overpriced'  USA TODAY
5. Lyft sinks 12%, falls below IPO price  CNBC
6. View full coverage on Google News

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4252146-lyft-lifting-animal-spirits

2019-04-01 18:19:00Z
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