The Week's Top Stories is a guided tour through the biggest market stories of the week, from winning stocks to brutal dips to the facts and forecasts generating buzz on Wall Street.
WALGREENS CEO OUT
After just 2 years, Rosalind Brewer resigned as the head of Walgreens Boots Alliance, parent company of the eponymous pharmacy chain. During Brewer's tenure, the company acquired preventative care providers, like VillageMD, expanding its focus from just providing medications to more medical care also. Now it sounds like Walgreens is seeking a new CEO with deeper healthcare experience. Prior to Walgreens, Brewer held high-ranking roles at Starbucks, Sam's Club, Walmart, and Kimberly-Clark Corporation. Walgreens stock was down 7 percent on the news and 37 percent for the year so far.
3M EARPLUG SETTLEMENT
3M has agreed to pay $6 billion for earplugs that service members say did not protect their hearing. People who used the devices to mitigate incredibly loud noises, like those of close-range gunfire, say the design actually made them come loose. 3M does not have to admit liability as part of the deal. The settlement seemed to be a pro for investors - the company's stock actually rose with this issue seemingly settled, although it has not been finalized and could end up reaching as much as $12.5 billion. It ended the week up 1 percent.
BEST BUY TRIMS FORECAST
Best Buy says Americans are not spending as much on its electronics these days as prices have risen, but even their drops in sales and profits last quarter were okay with investors. The stock rose as the company's earnings report beat expectations. The rest of the year isn't shaping up to be a slam dunk, though. Best Buy expects the slow-down to continue until 2024, when CEO Corie Barry says she expects the market to stabilize. Best Buy ended the week up 2 percent.
UBS' BILLIONS
UBS announced this week that it will save $10 billion as it integrates Credit Suisse's operation into its own and that will mean losing 3,000 staff members. This cost saving will come on top of the megabank's $29 billion profit last quarter, thanks to a fancy accounting move called negative goodwill. UBS stock ended the week up 7 percent.
JOBS REPORT
The August jobs report, which the Labor Department released on Friday, shows the labor market is still strong. While that has, at times, been bad news for investors, this time it seems to be giving them hope. Hiring is still growing - but at a slower rate - and the unemployment rate is rising - because people who had stopped looking for work are jumping back in. Stock markets rose after the report was released because signs that the labor market is stabilizing is providing hope that the Federal Reserve will rethink the future rate hikes Fed Chair Jerome Powell warned of in Jackson Hole last week.
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Spain's government has fined Airbnb 64 million euros or $75 million for advertising unlicensed tourist rentals. The consumer rights ministry announced the fine on Monday. The ministry stated that many listings lacked proper license numbers or included incorrect information. The move is part of Spain's ongoing efforts to regulate short-term rental companies amid a housing affordability crisis especially in popular urban areas. The ministry ordered Airbnb in May to remove around 65,000 listings for similar violations. The government's consumer rights minister emphasized the impact on families struggling with housing. Airbnb said it plans to challenge the fine in court.
Roomba maker iRobot has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, but says that it doesn’t expect any disruptions to devices as the more than 30-year-old company is taken private under a restructuring process. iRobot said that it is being acquired by Picea through a court-supervised process. Picea is the company's primary contract manufacturer. The Bedford, Massachusetts-based anticipates completing the prepackaged chapter 11 process by February.
Serbia’s prosecutor for organized crime has charged a government minister and three others with abuse of position and falsifying of documents related to a luxury real estate project linked to U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. The charges came on Monday. The investigation centers on a controversy over a a bombed-out military complex in central Belgrade that was a protected cultural heritage zone but that is facing redevelopment as a luxury compound by a company linked to Kushner. The $500 million proposal to build a high-rise hotel, offices and shops at the site has met fierce opposition from experts at home and abroad. Selakovic and others allegedly illegally lifted the protection status for the site by falsifying documentation.
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A rare magnum of Dom Pérignon Vintage 1961 champagne that was specially produced for the 1981 wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana has failed to sell during an auction. Danish auction house Bruun Rasmussen handled the bidding Thursday. The auction's house website lists the bottle as not sold. It was expected to fetch up to around $93,000. It is one of 12 bottles made to celebrate the royal wedding. Little was revealed about the seller. The auction house says the bids did not receive the desired minimum price.
