Market Watch

CHICAGO (CBS)– Flames engulfed a catering business on the Southwest Side near Midway Airport overnight. Heavy smoke and flames were shooting through the roof of a two-floor catering business, Georgis Catering, on Central Avenue just a block north of 65th Street. The building was severely damaged; no one was injured. Georgis Catering is a family-owned business that was started in the 19’40s. Georgis Catering provides 2,000 meals every day to seniors through Catholic Charities and other senior centers in the surrounding suburbs. A longtime employee told CBS 2 that 17 centers that rely on their meals have been impacted by the fire. "We do whatever we can for whoever. " said the employee, Becky. "Our world just went up in flames." She said the owner was already saying this morning that he hopes they can get into a nearby building quick to keep the business running and provide meals. Georgis Catering also provides meals for private planes leaving from Midway Airport. An overnight fire tore through a catering business on Central just SW of Midway. Spoke to an employee who says they provide 2,000 meals a day to seniors in surrounding suburbs through Catholic Charities and other senior centers. […]

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Source: Shutterstock While some investors are already well versed in financial metrics (hat tip), this article is for those who would like to learn about Return On Equity (ROE) and why it is important. By way of learning-by-doing, we’ll look at ROE to gain a better understanding of International Business Machines Corporation ( NYSE:IBM ). Return on equity or ROE is an important factor to be considered by a shareholder because it tells them how effectively their capital is being reinvested. In short, ROE shows the profit each dollar generates with respect to its shareholder investments. How Is ROE Calculated? Return on equity can be calculated by using the formula: Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders’ Equity So, based on the above formula, the ROE for International Business Machines is: 8.1% = US$1.8b ÷ US$22b (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2022). The ‘return’ is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. Another way to think of that is that for every $1 worth of equity, the company was able to earn $0.08 in profit. Does International Business Machines Have A Good ROE? One simple way to determine if […]

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Tesla’s energy storage business is booming with a record year, but it’s just the beginning as we could see volume hit new records quickly. With the release of its Q4 2022 financial results , the automaker released its energy division’s deployment number. Tesla Solar had a good quarter with 100 MW deployed, but the company really shined with its energy storage deployment: Powerwalls and Megapacks. Tesla confirmed that it deployed a record 2.4 GWh of energy storage in Q4. That’s up 152% year-over-year and 300 MW more than the previous quarter, which was also a massive record. It brought Tesla’s total deployment for the whole year to an impressive 6.5 GWn – up 64% versus 2021. Tesla wrote about its energy storage business in its Q4 shareholder’s letter: Energy storage deployments increased by 152% YoY in Q4 to 2.5 GWh, for a total deployment of 6.5 GWh in 2022, by far the highest level of deployments we have achieved. Demand for our storage products remains in excess of our ability to supply. We are in the process of ramping production at our dedicated 40 GWh Megapack factory in Lathrop, California to address the growing demand. This factory should help […]

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Third-party sellers account for the bulk of Amazon’s sales. But this new breed of small business is enmeshed in Amazon’s e-commerce infrastructure in ways that both benefit and exploit them, says Moira Weigel, assistant professor of communications studies at Northeastern University. Photo by Alyssa Stone/Northeastern University What do former U.S. Marines, stay-at-home moms, retirees and Chinese business veterans all have in common? You’ve probably bought something from them on Amazon. Third-party sellers, people who sell their products through Amazon’s marketplace, come from every walk of life and increasingly make up more and more of the online giant’s sales. Amazon launched its third-party marketplace in 2000, allowing small business owners to put their products on Amazon (for a price). There are now millions of third-party sellers on the site, and third-party sales make up about 60% of Amazon’s physical product sales, Jeff Bezos told the House of Representatives in 2020. Third-party sellers at the center of Amazon’s ecosystem––and the debate around the company’s complicated place in the world. Is Amazon exploiting these small businesses or lifting them up? Moira Weigel , an assistant professor of communication studies at Northeastern University, says it’s not that simple. Moira Weigel, Northeastern University assistant […]

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COMMENTARY BY They have the unintended side effects of discouraging people from going into business with people of another race and of discriminating against people in interracial marriages. Key Takeaways Government programs that give preferences to businesses owned by racial and ethnic minorities are popular tools among liberal politicians and bureaucrats. People agree that the government should not punish people for interracial marriage, and yet the government does just that. For now, at least in this one area, we can find common ground: Congress and state legislatures should redefine “owned and controlled” to be 50% instead of 51%. Government programs that give preferences to businesses owned by racial and ethnic minorities are popular tools among liberal politicians and bureaucrats. Their proponents defend them as necessary to advance “ racial equity ” and “social justice,” though they are morally wrong. But there’s another reason to reject these programs: They have the unintended side effects of discouraging people from going into business with people of another race and of discriminating against people in interracial marriages. Typically, these programs operate by giving special benefits to businesses that are “ owned and controlled ” by minorities. What that means, specifically, is that one […]

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New York CNN — An apparent shortage of pharmacists is forcing CVS and Walmart to reduce the hours of its pharmacies, as they close earlier in thousands of locations. Beginning in March, both retailers will either cut or shift the hours that their pharmacies operate in response to staffing shortages and waning consumer demand as the height of the Covid-19 pandemic recedes. The Wall Street Journal first reported the news. Walmart, which has pharmacies in most of its 4,600 US locations, will close them two hours earlier, at 7 pm. CVS will shift or cut hours at about 6,000 US pharmacies. For CVS, adjusting its hours is an attempt to ensure its “pharmacy teams are available to serve patients when they’re most needed,” the company said in a statement to CNN. The changes are part of its “regular course of business,” it added, so its hours meet customer demand. In a statement to CNN, Walmart said the new hours are the result of “direct feedback” from its pharmacy employees and customers. “Walmart has a strong and incredible pharmacy team, and we are making this change to not only enhance their work-life balance but also to maintain the best level […]

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Here’s how to craft an organizational system that helps your business win. Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. From a logistical perspective, it can be surprising to find that many small businesses and startups need a sound organizational structure . How one structures their team, company leadership and the flow of information and communication within their organization can spell the difference between a business scaling successfully or one whose growth is stunted or outright fails. Organizational structures are crucial for any business. They outline who reports and is accountable to who, what each employee’s job is, the makeup of teams and help streamline the flow of information through the organization. The types of organizational structures Organizational structures are not all the same. Different types are applied for different purposes. Depending on the type and size of the business, one organizational structure may work better than the rest. There are seven known structures a business has to choose from. Hierarchical structure : This is the structure that most people likely picture when they hear the words "organizational structure." This pyramid-shaped chart is the most common structure and follows a typical top-down chain of command. Functional structure : This […]

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Each year the Philadelphia Business Journal recognizes the best in class for our suite of special publications, including Best Real Estate Deals, 40 Under Forty and Women of Influence. Nominations for all of our 2023 awards programs are now open. We’ve made some changes in 2023, including updating the parameters for Soaring 76 and adding a new program specifically celebrating the LGBTQ+ business community. Honorees in each awards program are selected by the Business Journal’s editorial board, and in select cases, by outside judges with expertise in the field. Awards like Best Places to Work use data supplied by the company and/or a third party. Here’s a look at this year’s awards programs and deadlines: Best Real Estate Deals and Dealmakers of the Year Best Real Estate Deals recognizes the top real estate deals of the past year and the companies and people behind those projects. Any one element of a transaction must have taken place between Jan. 1, 2022 and Dec. 31, 2022 to be eligible. Categories include Affordable Housing; Environmental, Social, and Governance; Higher Education/Health Care; Industrial; Apartments; Condos/Single-Family; Office; and Retail/Hospitality. Dealmakers and Rising Stars will also be recognized. Extended nomination deadline: Jan. 30, 12 p.m. […]

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LEXINGTON, Ky., Jan. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Valvoline’s global products business today launched a fixed-operations software service at the 2023 National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Show. The software, branded as Vision Service Lane Technology ™ , is available to Valvoline automotive dealership partners exclusively. Continue Reading Vision Service Lane Technology powered by Valvoline Vision is one of the industry’s most comprehensive fixed-ops software tools, leveraging relationships with partners to understand their pain points and missing opportunities in their current software. Utilized in the service drive or at the service desk, Vision helps advisors develop rapport, trust, and accountability with consumers. Vision’s ability to provide a tailored, VIN-specific menu of services provides a platform to increase revenue in the service department. In addition to service lane capabilities, Vision can be utilized to run day-to-day operations within the service department while keeping consumers informed every step of the way. Vision includes newly developed remarketing capabilities that serve up ads, messages, and reminders to keep consumers returning to dealerships for future services. In addition, Vision offers tools that can help speed up and streamline the reconditioning process for pre-owned vehicles. "We’re always looking for new ways to bring value and strengthen our […]

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MIAMI– ChatGPT is smart enough to pass prestigious graduate-level exams — though not with particularly high marks. The powerful new AI chatbot tool recently passed law exams in four courses at the University of Minnesota and another exam at University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, according to professors at the schools. To test how well ChatGPT could generate answers on exams for the four courses, professors at the University of Minnesota Law School recently graded the tests blindly . After completing 95 multiple choice questions and 12 essay questions, the bot performed on average at the level of a C+ student, achieving a low but passing grade in all four courses. ChatGPT fared better during a business management course exam at Wharton, where it earned a B to B- grade. In a paper detailing the performance , Christian Terwiesch, a Wharton business professor, said ChatGPT did "an amazing job" at answering basic operations management and process-analysis questions but struggled with more advanced prompts and made "surprising mistakes" with basic math. "These mistakes can be massive in magnitude," he wrote. The test results come as a growing number of schools and teachers express concerns about the immediate impact of […]

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