Arkansas-based Simmons Prepared Foods, Inc. recalled the items produced from October 21 through November 4 this year. They are 2,071,397 pounds of poultry products, including ready to cook chicken whole legs, boneless skinless chicken, halal chicken leg quarters and chicken tenderloins, the US Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service said Wednesday.
The products subject to recall have an establishment number "P-1949," "P- 486" or "P-5837" inside the USDA mark of inspection, and were shipped to Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Minnesota, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania.
Those who've purchased the products are urged to throw them away or return them to the store.
The EU slashed its growth forecasts for the euro zone Thursday, saying global trade tensions are set to weigh on the region and limit economic expansion.
The warning from the EU's executive arm, the European Commission, comes at time when the European Central Bank (ECB) has started a new round of stimulus to prop up fragile growth.
"The fact that growth is no longer expected to rebound meaningfully in the next two years is a major shift compared to previous forecasts and is based on the assessment that many features of the global slowdown will be persistent," the European Commission said Thursday in its Autumn Economic Forecasts report.
"Most importantly, the surge in trade tensions and record-high uncertainty about trade policies is likely to have inflicted lasting damage to world trade," the Commission added.
Uncertainties surrounding trade include: The future relationship between the U.K. and the EU as both need to establish new trading rules post-Brexit; new consumer preferences in the car industry and volatility in U.S.-China trade.
As a result, the Commission slashed its economic forecasts for the euro zone in 2019 and 2020. The 19-member region is now set to grow at a pace of 1.1% this year and 1.2% in 2020. In its previous forecasts, out in May, the European Commission had estimated a 1.2% growth rate for the euro zone in 2019 and 1.5% for 2020.
Google's parent company Alphabet is investigating how executives handled sexual harassment and misconduct charges.
It follows shareholder lawsuits filed earlier this year over the way Google allegedly dealt with misconduct claims.
The firm's board has formed a "special committee" to consider shareholder claims over past workplace misconduct.
Alphabet is also working with a law firm on the probe, which it launched earlier this year.
The way Google handled the incidents prompted demonstrations by staff and led to thousands walking out of their offices in co-ordinated protests in late 2018.
At that time, Google boss Sundar Pichai apologised for the way it had acted in the past over allegations of inappropriate behaviour and promised improvements.
"In early 2019, Alphabet's board of directors formed a special litigation committee to consider claims made by shareholders in various lawsuits relating to past workplace conduct," a spokesperson for the company said.
In January, it emerged that Alphabet was facing legal action over the way it allegedly handled sexual misconduct claims against two senior managers.
Two lawsuits have been filed by long-term shareholders which accuse the company's board of being involved in attempts to cover up the claims.
Both legal claims want Alphabet to do a better job of uncovering and responding to misconduct.
The legal action is believed to have been prompted by the way that Google handled misconduct allegations made against former Android boss Andy Rubin and former search head Amit Singhal.
Both men are believed to have received large payoffs after being investigated over the claims. Neither now works for Google.
SoftBank lost at least $4.7 billion by investing in WeWork after the shared-workspace group's IPO collapsed and its valuation plunged from $47 billion in January to below $10 billion.
"My own investment judgment was really bad. I regret it in many ways," CEO Masayoshi Son said at a news conference, according to the Wall Street Journal.
SoftBank reduced its overall valuation of WeWork to $7.8 billion.
SoftBank lost at least $4.7 billion by investing in WeWork after the shared-workspace group's IPO collapsed and its valuation plunged from $47 billion in January to below $10 billion.
In an earnings filing on Wednesday, the Japanese conglomerate slashed its estimated valuation of the embattled startup to $7.8 billion as of the end of September.
The WeWork writedown fueled an $8.9 billion operating loss at SoftBank's Vision Fund and Delta Fund in the second quarter — a sharp swing from their $3.6 billion profit in the same period last year. The upshot was an overall operating loss of $6.5 billion.
'I regret it'
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son shouldered the blame for the weak results, according to the Wall Street Journal. "My own investment judgment was really bad. I regret it in many ways," he said at a news conference.
Son also admitted to overlooking the controversial behavior of WeWork cofounder and former CEO Adam Neumann, who leased properties to his company, charged it nearly $6 million for the "We" trademark, and raised $700 million by selling and borrowing against company stock.
"I shut my eyes to a lot of his negative aspects," Son said, according to the Journal.
SoftBank agreed a $9.5 billion rescue package with WeWork last month in exchange for an 80% stake in the ailing business. The deal includes $1.5 billion in warrants, up to $3 billion in stock purchases, and $5 billion in debt financing. The company didn't assess the financial impact of the funding agreement in its latest earnings.
SoftBank has invested a total of $10.3 billion in WeWork, comprising $6 billion from a wholly owned subsidiary and $4.3 billion from its Vision Fund. It cut the estimated value of the subsidiary's stake by $4.7 billion to $1.3 billion, and more than halved the value of the Vision Fund's investment to $2.1 billion.
Pedestrians walk by a CVS store on November in San Francisco, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
CVS Health will close 22 "underperforming" drugstores early next year in addition to the 46 stores it shuttered earlier this year, the company said Wednesday in a regulatory filing.
Details of the locations of the stores weren't immediately disclosed. The company recorded a $96 million impairment charge on its third-quarter earnings related to the 22 stores. It recorded a $135 million charge in the first quarter related to the 46 stores it closed during the second quarter.
"We believe these decisions will generate enhanced longer term performance," CVS Chief Financial Officer Eva Boratto told analysts Wednesday on a call reviewing third-quarter results. "Our real estate footprint remained very productive, and we will look for opportunities to further improve the performance in our portfolio."
Drugstores are under threat as consumers buy more pharmacy items online and new competitors sell prescription drugs online. Rival Walgreens earlier this year said it would close 200 stores. Amid upheaval in the industry, CVS executives have said they do not expect "meaningful" store closures.
Pedestrians pass in front of a CVS location in New York.
Scott Mlyn | CNBC
CVS Health reported third-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street's estimates as its Aetna insurance business helped juice the company's profit by 10%.
Here's what the company reported compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by Refinitiv:
Earnings per share: $1.84, adjusted, vs. $1.77 expected
Revenue: $63.81 billion vs. $62.99 billion expected
CVS reported third-quarter net income of $1.53 billion, or $1.17 per share, up 10% from $1.39 billion, or $1.36 per share a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, such as a charge related to closing stores, CVS earned $1.84 per share, above the $1.77 per share expected by analysts surveyed by Refinitiv.
Revenue reached $64.81 billion, a sharp increase from the year earlier, before CVS acquired health insurer Aetna last November.
"As we approach the first anniversary of the Aetna acquisition, we are increasingly confident in the strength of our broad and differentiated assets as a combined company and our ability to deliver compelling value to our customers and the communities we serve," CVS CEO Larry Merlo said in a statement.
The company raised its full-year adjusted earnings forecast to between $6.97 to $7.05 per share from the previously guided range of $6.89 to $7 per share.
Shares of CVS rose by more than 2% Tuesday in premarket trading.
