Farmers across the Midwest are entering planting season under mounting financial pressure, as the Iran conflict drives up diesel and fertilizer prices — deepening an agricultural downturn that some say is the worst since the crisis of the 1980s.
Why it matters: Rising fuel and fertilizer costs threaten to push more family farms out of business, drive up food prices and further strain rural economies already battered by trade disruptions, inflation and extreme weather.
The era of ever-expanding workplace perks is ending. It's not just free kombucha and laundry — policies like paid parental leave and retirement matches are on the chopping block.
Why it matters: Corporate America spent the labor-shortage years competing to offer the most generous workplace benefits. Now, with health-care cost soaring, workers leverage shrinking and an AI reckoning, some employers are rolling them back.
Motor oil could become the next supply-chain headache as major companies warn that Middle East turmoil is squeezing key ingredients used in synthetic lubricants.
Why it matters: Drivers, repair shops and auto suppliers could soon see higher prices, reduced selection and temporary out-of-stocks for some synthetic motor oils.
Bed Bath & Beyond's comeback is entering its next phase with the opening Saturday of its first co-branded Container Store location in Texas.
Why it matters: The new Bed Bath & Beyond is betting shoppers still have an emotional connection to the brand after its last stores closed in 2023 — and that a smaller co-branded format can succeed where its sprawling big-box stores failed.
We knew the Cerebras IPO would whetpublic market appetite for new AI stocks, ahead of SpaceX next month, but not that it would look more like a nachos platter than an amuse bouche.
Shares opened at $350 — a whopping 89% above its IPO price — and climbed as high as $385 before settling at $311.
For context, it originally filed to price at between $115-$125, and just four months ago sold shares in a Series H round at $89.
Kimmeridge, an energy-focused private equity firm, on Friday announced that its Caturus unit will proceed with construction of its Commonwealth LNG project in Louisiana.
Why it matters: While Commonwealth has been planned for years, the go-ahead arrives as the Iran war is putting fresh focus on gas from outside the Middle East.
The CEOs of Meta, Alphabet, TikTok and Snap have been invited back to Capitol Hill for a broad oversight hearing in June, Axios has learned.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley is planning a June 23 hearing titled "Examining Tech Industry Practices and the Implications for Users and Families: Is This Social Media's Big Tobacco Moment?" per committee spokesperson Hannah Akey.
The stock market and the bond market are telling different stories about the economy: Bonds fear doom, while stocks see boom.
Why it matters: That's a bit confusing for investors and policymakers looking to these markets to make decisions — or for anyone trying to get a read on (waves hands) everything.
The flood of AI-generated writing unleashed by ChatGPT appears to have leveled off — a sign that AI content hasn't overtaken the web after all.
The big picture: The share of online news articles, blog posts and listicles that are primarily AI-generated has held near 50% for more than a year, according to a new analysis from digital marketing agency Graphite.
