Honest Company, the maker of green cleaning and baby care products co-founded by actress Jessica Alba, has named former Clorox COO Nick Vlahos as its new CEO. Vlahos is replacing co-founder Brian Lee, who will remain on the company's board and as an advisor.
Lee, who previously founded ShoeDazzle and LegalZoom, is the third departure from the management team. In December, president and co-founder Sean Kane and CFO David Parker stepped down.
Why it matters: Though Honest Company, which sells its products online and through retailers like Target, reached $300 million in sales last year, it also faced several lawsuits over chemicals in some of its products and closed its Austin office. There were also rumors that the company was in talks last year to sell to Unilever, which instead acquired Seventh Generation, another maker of eco-friendly cleaning products.
The percent share of employed Americans over 65 is now more than double that of just 15 years ago, Jill Mislinski of Advisor Perspectives points out in a recent blog post.
TJX, Ross, and Burlington are planning to open about 300 U.S. stores combined in 2017, according to CNBC.
Why this matters: That's about the same number that Macy's, Sears, and J.C. Penney are closing this year. This is further evidence that if retailers aren't offering extreme discounts or extreme convenience, they'll keep losing business to those who do. Plus, guess which retail chains have seen climbing stock prices over the past year? (Hint: the off-price stores).
The S&P 500 has now risen by 36.7% while Janet Yellen has been chair of the Federal Reserve, besting the 36.1% performance under predecessor Ben Bernanke. But both are well short of either Paul Volcker or Alan Greenspan. None of these folks has responsibility for public equities performance, but they do lead American monetary policy that impacts the global economy.
Data: S&P Global Intelligence, Yahoo Finance; Chart: Andrew Witherspoon / Axios
The Trump Rally has been on pause for two weeks, but its record since Election Day has nonetheless been close to historic. There's no doubt that investor euphoria is in part due to change in leadership in Washington and the promise in particular of less regulation.
Why it matters: Eliminating regulation is the most potent ways for government to boost economic growth, but the market may be overestimating what Trump can deliver without 60 votes in the Senate.
Jet, a online division of Walmart, has acquired ModCloth, an online retailer of women's fashion known for its quirky vintage aesthetic, as Jezebel first reported.
Why it matters: This latest acquisition is helping to paint a picture of Jet's—and by extension, Walmart's—strategy for online retail. Instead of building out every possible category in-house, Jet and Walmart are looking to cobble together specialized retailers with their own brands. Prior to its sale to Walmart in September, Jet acquired online furniture seller Hayneedle, and has since added shoe seller ShoeBuy and outdoor apparel retailer Moosejaw.
Verizon and CBS announced a multi-year carriage deal to continue to retransmit CBS content and distribute Showtime, Smithsonian Channel and CBS Sports Network on Verizon Fios TV. Verizon will also provide access to live streaming on CBS.com and the CBS App, as well as future digital platforms that have not yet been announced. Financial terms were not disclosed.
What's in it for CBS? Retransmission revenue fees will bolster diminishing TV ad revenues as audiences move towards TV content consumption on second screens and on social media platforms. Providing access to CBS digital platforms will help CBS grow its digital audience, which is part of the network's long-term goal.
What's in it for Verizon? Verizon will maintain its competitive edge in the race for telecom companies to team with content providers to win subscribers. Sprint is partnering with Spotify and Sling TV, AT&T is trying to merge with Time Warner and T-Mobile's Binge-on platform gives subscribers access to a plethora of content from PBS to Apple Music to Disney.
Trump announced he and the EPA are re-examining midnight hour Obama-era federal requirements on fuel economy standards requiring a fleet-wide average of 36 mpg in real-world driving by 2025 for cars and trucks. A rollback is expected no later than April 2018.
"The assault on the American auto industry is over," as Trump put it in his speech at a former GM plant that's part of the American Center for Mobility, which is a staging ground for self-driving vehicles.
Trump told auto CEOs that they "have to build plants here." He added, "I know I gave you a hard time but you have to build them here," according to The Washington Post. He also gave a classic campaign-style speech, harping on NAFTA and the TPP.
Trump is en route to Nashville to lay a wreath on Andrew Jackson's tomb to mark what would be his 250th birthday.
What to watch: Trump announced he will have a "big" auto industry announcements next week about jobs.
Sarah Kliff and Ezra Klein at Vox laid out the lessons Republicans can take away from the construction of Obamacare to help their quest to build Trumpcare. But since you probably don't have time to read 9,000+ words…
In health policy, every tweak is always going to create a winner and a loser.
Any serious and lasting changes to health policy are going to require 60 votes in the Senate.
Any party that tweaks the health system has to be ready to become both a savior and boogeyman.
People love the status quo when it comes to their health insurance, so changes must be incremental and transparent.
The private sector can help, but it can also decide that it no longer wants to play ball.
Americans want health care to personally cost less for them — they're much less concerned about overall costs.
Focus on bringing down medical prices; that's the key to bring down premiums and deductibles.
Their parting message for the GOP: "Don't overpromise and don't mislead."
It's Day 55 of the Trump presidency, and we still take the bait. MSNBC's Rachel Maddow tweeted before her show last night: "BREAKING: We've got Trump tax returns," implying a cache. It turned out to be two pages, and the White House preempted her by releasing the info first:
