Tyson Foods, Inc. Recalls Chicken Strip Products Due to Possible Foreign Matter Contamination - USDA.gov

EDITOR’S NOTE: This release is being reissued as an expansion of the March 21, 2019 recall, which consisted of 69,093 pounds of frozen, ready-to-eat chicken strip products. The scope of this recall expansion now includes more information and an additional 11,760,424 pounds of product.

WASHINGTON, May 4, 2019 – Tyson Foods, Inc., a Rogers, Ark. establishment, is recalling approximately 11,829,517 million pounds of frozen, ready-to-eat chicken strip products that may be contaminated with extraneous materials, specifically pieces of metal, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.

The frozen, ready-to-eat chicken strip items were produced on various dates from Oct. 1, 2018 through March 8, 2019 and have “Use By Dates” of Oct. 1, 2019 through March 7, 2020. The chart contains a list of the products subject to recall.[View Labels (PDF only)]

The products subject to recall bear establishment number “P-7221” on the back of the product package. These items were shipped to retail and Department of Defense locations nationwide, for institutional use nationwide and to the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The problem was discovered when FSIS received two consumer complaints of extraneous material in the chicken strip products. FSIS is now aware of six complaints during this time frame involving similar pieces of metal with three alleging oral injury.

Anyone concerned about an injury or illness should contact a healthcare provider.

FSIS is concerned that some product may be in consumers’ freezers. Consumers who have purchased these products are urged not to consume them. These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase.

FSIS routinely conducts recall effectiveness checks to verify recalling firms notify their customers of the recall and that steps are taken to make certain that the product is no longer available to consumers. When available, the retail distribution list(s) will be posted on the FSIS website at www.fsis.usda.gov/recalls.

Consumers with questions about the recall can contact Tyson Foods Consumer Relations at 1-866-886-8456. Members of the media with questions about the recall can contact Worth Sparkman, Public Relations Manager, Tyson Foods, Inc., at Worth.Sparkman@Tyson.com (479) 290-6358.

Consumers with food safety questions can "Ask Karen," the FSIS virtual representative available 24 hours a day at AskKaren.gov or via smartphone at m.askkaren.gov. The toll-free USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline 1-888-MPHotline (1-888-674-6854) is available in English and Spanish and can be reached from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Eastern Time) Monday through Friday. Recorded food safety messages are available 24 hours a day. The online Electronic Consumer Complaint Monitoring System can be accessed 24 hours a day at: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/reportproblem.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/recalls-and-public-health-alerts/recall-case-archive/archive/2019/recall-034-2019-exp-release

2019-05-04 05:48:16Z
CBMijgFodHRwczovL3d3dy5mc2lzLnVzZGEuZ292L3dwcy9wb3J0YWwvZnNpcy90b3BpY3MvcmVjYWxscy1hbmQtcHVibGljLWhlYWx0aC1hbGVydHMvcmVjYWxsLWNhc2UtYXJjaGl2ZS9hcmNoaXZlLzIwMTkvcmVjYWxsLTAzNC0yMDE5LWV4cC1yZWxlYXNl0gEA

Soft Wage Growth, Short Hours Mar April Jobs Report; Dow Jones Rises - Investor's Business Daily

The U.S. economy added 263,000 jobs in April as the unemployment rate fell to 3.6%, a half-century low, the Labor Department reported on Friday. The headline jobs numbers looked stellar, but the jobs report looked pretty lousy below the surface. Wage growth came in on the soft side for a second straight month, even as workers clocked fewer hours. So why did the Dow Jones and broader stock market add to modest stock market gains after the April jobs report?

X

Wall Street may have dismissed the bad news as a likely statistical quirk. Or else, investors celebrated the not-too-hot report as welcoming for Goldilocks — and a dovish Fed.

The bottom line for any jobs report is the aggregate change in weekly pay. That factors in net hiring, average hourly wage growth and the change in total hours worked across the economy. In April, aggregate weekly payrolls rose just 0.1%, matching the low since late 2016. But official data suggest this wasn't just a one-month blip: The year-over-year change in weekly payrolls slowed to 4.9%. That matches the weakest growth in a year and is down a half-percentage-point from average growth in the second half of 2018.

Has Job Growth Slowed?

The private sector added 236,000 jobs. That's the number to key in on in coming months as the government ramps up hiring for the decennial census.

Wall Street economists expected 180,000 new jobs, including 178,000 in the private sector. The consensus forecast called for 3.8% unemployment and 3.3% average hourly wage growth.

After a combined 16,000 upward revision to job gains for March and April, the economy averaged a pretty solid 169,000 new jobs per month over the past three months. But the monthly pace of private-sector hiring has slipped to 154,000.

In April, the private sector added 33,000 construction jobs and 202,000 service-sector jobs. But there were two weak spots. Automakers shed 1,500 jobs, while retailers cut 12,000.

The economy is still adding more than enough jobs for new labor market entrants, allowing for more declines in unemployment. But it does look like job growth is slowing. Still, three months is too short of a period to make any conclusions. Recall that the economy added 300,000 jobs during a mild January, which contributed to February's weak print.

Blame Soft Wage Growth On The Calendar?

Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Economics, suggested that the jobs report's soft wage growth shouldn't be taken at face value. He noted that the survey week didn't include the 15th and April had an extra work day. "When both quirks come in the same month, AHE (average hourly earnings) tends to be depressed," Shepherson tweeted.

Yet that doesn't explain the shorter average workweek, which slipped to 34.4 hours from 34.5 hours.

Still, it's best not to make too much of a single month's data.

Dow Jones And Treasury Yield Reaction

In Friday's stock market trading, the Dow Jones rose 0.4%, the S&P 500 0.6% and the Nasdaq composite 1.1%, near session highs. The 10-year Treasury yield, which rose to 2.56% ahead of the report, fell to 2.52% after the data.

The bond market seemed to key in on the soft wage and hours worked data, and stocks took their cue from the bond market. Slowing job growth, if it continues and inflation stays muted, could raise the odds of a Fed rate cut later this year.

Wage Growth, Labor Market Slack Key To Outlook

Wage growth has shown no sign of letting up. After Amazon (AMZN) hiked its minimum wage to $15 an hour starting November, Costco (COST) followed suit in March. Last month, Target (TGT) raised its minimum wage to $13 an hour, up from $12.

Now that the tax-cut boost to consumer incomes has begun to fade, a key question is whether companies will slow hiring. That depends, in part, on whether employers can attract sidelined workers back into the labor market. As an example, McDonald's (MCD) is teaming up with AARP as it turns to seniors to help fill 250,000 summer jobs.

Faster productivity growth also could help sustain higher wage growth, as worker output rises. On Thursday, the Labor Department reported that productivity rose 2.7% from a year ago in the first quarter, the biggest jump since 2010. It's not yet clear whether that's a blip or higher productivity is here to stay.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:

IBD Stock Of The Day: Can This Cybersecurity Leader Reach New Buy Point?

After 3 Blowout Earnings Reports, This FANG Stock Has A New Buy Point

IBD Digital: Unlock IBD's Premium Stock Lists, Tools And Analysis Today

How To Invest In Growth Stocks: Read This Column Daily

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.investors.com/news/economy/blowout-april-jobs-report-263000-jobs-3-6-unemployment-dow-jones/

2019-05-03 15:22:30Z
52780284893176

Buffett says Berkshire is sticking with Apple and he's pleased with latest earnings report - CNBC

Berkshire Hathaway is sticking with its sizable Apple stake, Warren Buffett said.

"We haven't changed our [Apple] holdings," Buffett told CNBC's Becky Quick on Thursday, on the eve of the kickoff of Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meeting in Omaha this weekend.

Apple shares are up more than 32% this year, including a boost from the iPhone maker's better-than-expected first-quarter earnings report this week.

"I was pleased with what they reported," Buffett said, while noting he never makes investment decisions based on a single quarterly report. "What they talked about and reported is consistent with the reason we own $50 billion-plus of Apple."

Berkshire owned more than $40 billion worth of the tech giant as of end of last year, according to its 2018 annual letter. The conglomerate decreased its stake in Apple by nearly 3 million shares in the fourth quarter of 2018, but Buffett said at the time that the selling wasn't under his direction.

"Unless — and I have no reason to think this is true — but there's one fellow that owns a little over 1% of our holdings in the office and I don't see what he does every day. I have no reason to think he's bought or sold Apple," Buffett added Thursday.

The "Oracle of Omaha" first announced Berkshire's investment in Apple in February 2017 despite Chairman Buffett's usual aversion to tech stocks. He told CNBC at the time that he clearly likes Apple, and "we buy them to hold."

Buffett also told CNBC on Thursday that Berkshire has been buying shares of Amazon.

Tens of thousands of investors are heading to Omaha for the annual shareholder meeting on Saturday to hear from Buffett about his succession plan, investment strategy and market outlook.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/03/warren-buffett-says-berkshire-is-sticking-with-apple.html

2019-05-03 14:22:48Z
52780282545353

Last time unemployment rate was this low, most Americans weren't born yet - Washington Examiner

The U.S. unemployment rate has gotten so low, that most Americans were not alive the last time it was at this level.

On Friday, the Department of Labor reported that the unemployment rate dipped to 3.6% in April, which was the lowest level since December 1969.

That means anybody younger than 49 years and four months hasn't been alive long enough to see the unemployment rate this low.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2017, the median age of all Americans was 38.1, meaning that half of the population was younger than that age.

A further breakdown of ages shows that 64% of Americans were aged 49 or under. While some of them would have been born before December 1969, primarily the age group would have been born after.

The robust economy is likely the biggest factor working in President Trump's favor in his reelection bid, even as other factors, such as his low approval rating, cut against him. If the numbers remain strong in 2020, it will become more challenging for Democrats to campaign against the him on economic issues. The arguments are going to have to be more structural, such as arguing that the boom has been unequally felt due to deeper flaws in the American economic model.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/last-time-unemployment-rate-was-this-low-most-americans-werent-born-yet

2019-05-03 13:49:00Z
52780284893176

Stocks Jump; Amazon Gets Buffett Boost, April Jobs Surge - Investor's Business Daily

Stocks popped out of the starting gate Friday, with a strong push from earnings news and a blow-out April jobs report.

X

The Nasdaq led the early advance, up 1% shortly after the starting bell. The Dow Jones industrials climbed 0.5% and S&P 500 rolled up a 0.6% gain.

MercadoLibre (MELI) and Monster Beverage (MNST) topped the Nasdaq, surging on earnings news. Weight Watchers (WW), Adidas (ADDYY) and Universal Display (OLED) also posted powerful early gains on earnings results. Arista Networks (ANET) led the downside, tanking nearly 18% on weak second-quarter sales guidance.

Amazon.com (AMZN) climbed more than 2%, leading its FANG stock peers in early trade, after a boost from Warren Buffett. Marijuana stocks were in motion, with Canopy Growth (CGC) and Tilray (TLRY) surging in early action. Beyond Meat (BYND), which spiked in its Thursday initial public offering, traded sharply higher early Friday.

Chip stocks were mixed Friday, with Cree (CREE) and Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) rising in morning trade. The iShares PHLX Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) dipped just below the breakeven line, giving it a 0.8% gain so far for the week.

Jobs Growth Soars; Services Data Mixed

U.S. non-farm payrolls swelled by 263,000 new workers in April, the Labor Department reported Friday. That was a full 34% above March's 196,000 new hires, confounding estimates for a drop to 189,000 hirings. Business services, construction and healthcare saw the largest growth, while manufacturing, retail and mining remained largely flat.

The unemployment rate slipped to 3.6%, from 3.8% in March. Average hourly earnings ticked up 0.2%, vs. a 0.1% increase a month earlier. The labor participation rate eased to 62.8%, from 63%.

Markets received a mixed dose of economic news just after the open. Researcher Markit reported the reading for its April services purchasing managers index decreased to 53. That was down from 55.3 in March, while holding just above expecttions for a drop to 52.9.

The Institute For Supply Management reported its April Non-Manufacturing ISM easing to 55.5 for the month, down from 56.1 in March and disappointing forecasts for an increase to 57.3.

Federal Reserve officials could provide some impact on afternoon trade, with speeches scheduled from Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans, Fed Vice Chairman Richard Clarida, New York Federal Reserve President John Williams and Fed Governor Michelle Bowman before the market's close.

Amazon Rises On Berkshire Stake

Amazon climbed 2%, retaking some ground after a four-day decline. Warren Buffett told CNBC Thursday that Berkshire Hathaway (BRKB) established a new stake in the e-commerce, cloud services giant.

Amazon shares touched their highest level since October on Monday. The stock has formed a seven-month cup base with a 2050.60 buy point. This week's pullback leaves the stock chart one day shy of a handle on that base pattern, which could potentially lower the buy point to 1956.44. The IBD Leaderboard stock also cleared an earlier entry for aggressive investors at 1736.51.

MercadoLibre Enters Gap-Up Buy Zone

Latin America e-commerce giant MercadoLibre rocketed 14% higher after reporting its first profit in six quarters. Earnings rose 145%, sales surged 48% — both above analyst targets. The stock had pulled back to test support at its 10-week moving average after a run-up that followed an February breakout.

MercadoLibre's big earnings gap-up set up a breakaway gap buying opportunity, beginning at the stock's opening price of 541.85.

Nasdaq, S&P 500 Pause At Prior Highs

The stock market slipped into May, after a strong April, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.9% for the week heading into Friday session. The Nasdaq is off 1.4%, and the S&P 500 is toting a 0.8% decline.

All four of the top stock market indexes rose for a fourth straight month in April. The Dow gained 2.6% for the month, the Nasdaq jumped 4.7% and the S&P 500 grabbed a 3.9% gain. That moved the Nasdaq and S&P 500 briefly to new highs early in the week. The Dow Jones industrials ended Thursday 2.4% below its October high.

The current stock market uptrend remains in good standing, logging a technical distribution day on Thursday, but flashing a number of bullish signals.

For more detailed analysis of the current stock market and its confirmed uptrend, study the Big Picture.

IPO Watch: Beyond Meat, Jumia Rise, Warrior Dives

Stock market newbie Beyond Meat spiked nearly 7% in early action. The maker of plant-based meat products soared 163% in its first day of trade on Thursday. IPOs can be highly volatile on both the up and down sides. Investors should wait until the stocks form a valid IPO base, which provide entry points that help reduce downside risk.

O'Neil Manager: Debut Of Google A 'Picture Perfect' IPO Template

Jumia Technologies (JMIA) traded 5.3% higher early Friday. The Germany-based e-commerce website tumbled more than 13% on Thursday, ending the session 23% below a 49.87 buy point in its IPO base. Shares are up 181% from their April 12 initial offering price.

Warrior Coal (HCC) tanked 12% in opening trade. The stock swung wildly Thursday, dropping more than 8% early, then ending 4.6% higher after its first-quarter report. Shares are up 73% from their April 2017 IPO.

Oil Prices In Flux

Oil prices remain on watch, after diving amid mixed news on Thursday. Energy stocks sold off as West Texas Intermediate swooned more than 3% to settle back below $62 a barrel. Rising U.S. stockpiles were widely cited as the cause for the price drop, even as expiring Iran oil purchase waivers should, in theory, have forced prices higher.

The Trump administration allowed the waivers to expire, putting China, India and six other nations in violation of U.S. sanctions if they purchase oil from Iran. The administration says it will attempt to drive Iran's oil exports to zero, and analysts are forecasting oil exports out of Venezuela — also under U.S. sanctions — are at risk of total collapse.

WTI oil prices inched higher Friday, up a fraction to $61.85. Europe's Brent crude benchmark eased a few pennies, to trade at $70.69 a barrel. The Citigroup Global Markets VelocityShares 3x Long (UWT) gained 1.6% in early trade.  The United States Oil Fund (USO) was up 0.5%.

Oil prices may see some impact from BakerHughes (BHGE) weekly rig count survey, due out at 1 p.m. ET.

Find Alan R. Elliott on Twitter @IBD_Aelliott

YOU ALSO MIGHT LIKE:

The Big Picture: Stock Market Shows This Subtle Improvement

O'Neil Portfolio Manager: Google Debut A 'Picture Perfect' Template To Buy IPOs

Best Growth Stocks To Buy And Watch: See Updates To IBD Stock Lists

IBD Digital: Unlock IBD's Premium Stock Lists, Tools And Analysis Today

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.investors.com/market-trend/stock-market-today/stock-futures-jump-amazon-gets-buffett-boost-april-payrolls-due/

2019-05-03 14:15:00Z
52780282545353

Beyond Meat soars 163% in biggest-popping U.S. IPO since 2000 - MarketWatch

Beyond Meat Inc. stock skyrocketed Thursday in the best-performing public offering by a major U.S. company in almost two decades.

Shares  of the plant-based meat maker — which priced its IPO at $25 a share Wednesday evening — started trading at $46 a share shortly after noon on the Nasdaq, and surged to $65.75 by the end of the session, for a gain of 163%. Prices hit almost $73 a share at their intraday peak. Shares were up another 4% after hours.

It was the biggest-popping IPO for a U.S. company with a market cap of at least $200 million since 2000, according to Dealogic data. That was when Palm Inc. made its debut in March 2000, at the peak of the dot-com boom. The last comparable pop in U.S. markets came in December 2010, when Chinese internet company Youku.com rose almost 115% in its debut on the New York Stock Exchange.

Beyond Meat’s BYND, +6.75%   market cap jumped from about $1.5 billion Wednesday night to around $3.8 billion Thursday afternoon.

The company sold 9.5 million shares in the IPO to raise at least $240 million. Proceeds of the deal will be used to expand current manufacturing facilities and open new ones, to finance research and development and to boost sales and marketing, along with “general corporate purposes,” according to its prospectus.

Read: Beyond Meat IPO: 5 things to know about the plant-based meat maker

Beyond Meat was founded by vegan Ethan Brown in 2009, and its Beyond Burger is sold at Whole Foods and restaurant chain TGIF, among others.

While the company has never made a profit, it is expecting the alternative meat category to become a multibillion-dollar market over time and to take significant share from the $1.4 trillion global market for meat.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/beyond-meat-soars-163-in-biggest-popping-us-ipo-since-2000-2019-05-02

2019-05-03 12:51:00Z
52780282939150

Economy added 263,000 jobs in April, unemployment falls to lowest level since 1969 - NBCNews.com

Breaking News Emails

Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.

SUBSCRIBE

May 3, 2019, 12:41 PM UTC

By Lucy Bayly

The economy added a healthy 263,000 jobs in April, firmly beating analyst expectations of 190,000, according to Friday’s monthly snapshot from the Department of Labor.

The nation's unemployment level fell to 3.6 percent, the lowest since December 1969, and average hourly earnings grew by 0.2 percent, for an annual gain of 3.2 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

While some of those job gains can be attributed to government hiring of the first wave of temporary workers to carry out the 2020 Census — a number that will eventually hit 500,000 by early next year — April's figures are a firm indication that the economy remains on a robust growth track.

"With another strong employment report in April, we’ve gotten reassurance that the labor market is staying on a strong and steady course," said Steve Rick, chief economist at CUNA Mutual Group.

With more open positions than people available to fill them, it's still a job hunter's market, pushing wages higher as companies compete for the best workers. That higher pay, together with low inflation and low borrowing rates, are boosting the economy. The Federal Reserve announced on Wednesday that for the third time this year it would not raise interest rates, citing inflation below its target rate of 2 percent as one of the reasons for that decision.

Still, with an average of just 180,000 jobs added per month, 2019 lags behind 2018, when 225,000 jobs were added each month. February saw just 56,000 job gains — a number that was twice revised upwards by the BLS. Around 100,000 jobs must be added each month in order to balance out population growth.

The retail industry continues to bleed, having lost more than 30,000 jobs in just the first four months of this year. April's figures show an additional decline of 12,000 in that sector. Construction added 33,000 jobs, health care rose by 27,000, and manufacturing gained 4,000 positions.

"We shouldn’t expect eye-popping jobs numbers to continue throughout this year," cautioned Martha Gimbel, director of economic research at Indeed Hiring Lab. "The long-term unemployment rate remains almost twice what it was in the early 2000s, and the share of the labor that is working part-time but would prefer full-time work remains elevated above its low in the previous recovery."

Lucy Bayly

Lucy Bayly is the business editor for NBC News.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/economy-added-263-000-jobs-april-unemployment-falls-lowest-level-n1001541

2019-05-03 12:41:00Z
52780284893176