Mexico's Becle shares surge after profit rises fourfold
The Jose Cuervo maker posted a fourfold rise in second-quarter profit on Wednesday, bolstered by foreign currency exchange gains even as thirst for its spirits dipped in its largest market.
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Daily Mail
40 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
New study reveals crippling impact of California's minimum wage hike
California 's dramatic fast food wage hike may have backfired, according to a new economic study – wiping out an estimated 18,000 jobs across the state in just one year. The research, published this month by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), analyzed the impact of Assembly Bill 1228, which mandated a $20 hourly minimum wage for fast food workers at large chains starting April 1, 2024. According to the economists behind the study, fast food employment in California dropped by 3.2 percent, while jobs in the same sector grew slightly across the rest of the U.S. 'Our median estimate translates into a loss of 18,000 jobs in California's fast–food sector relative to the counterfactual,' wrote researchers Jeffrey Clemens, Olivia Edwards, and Jonathan Meer. Before the law took effect, California's fast food industry was tracking the same employment trend as the rest of the country, the study found. But after AB 1228 was passed, the sector began to shrink. 'Following AB 1228's enactment, employment in the fast food sector in California fell substantially,' the paper states, citing declines 'even as employment in other sectors of the California economy tracked national trends'. Critics say the figures confirm what many feared: that a massive one–size–fits–all pay hike would push jobs out of reach for the workers it was meant to help. 'When it comes to central planning, history keeps the receipts: Wage controls never work,' wrote Heritage Foundation economist Rachel Greszler in a column reacting to the findings. 'That's because policymakers can set wage laws, but they can't outlaw the consequences.' She warned the law should serve as a wake–up call for other cities – especially Los Angeles, which recently voted to raise wages for hotel and airport workers to $30 an hour by 2028. 'The consequences of that wage hike on the fast–food industry should be a warning sign,' she said. The Wall Street Journal editorial board echoed that message, slamming politicians for 'magical thinking' around wage hikes. 'The Democratic Party's socialist nominee for New York mayor, Zohran Mamdani, has called for increasing the city's minimum wage to $30. Andrew Cuomo, his supposedly more moderate competitor, wants a $20 minimum,' the board wrote. 'These guys will never learn because they don't want to see the world as it really is.' But Governor Gavin Newsom's office has pushed back hard – questioning the integrity of the NBER paper and insisting California's wage law is working as intended. Tara Gallegos, Newsom's deputy director of communications, dismissed the study as politically motivated, telling Fox News Digital that it was 'linked to the Hoover Institution,' which she claimed had previously published 'false or misleading information' about the state's wage policies. She pointed to an October 2024 report in the San Francisco Chronicle, which said the early effects of AB 1228, 'defy a lot of the doom–and–gloom predictions' made when the bill was signed. Gallegos also cited a February 2025 study by a UC Berkeley professor, which looked at fast food employment trends through December and found 'no negative effects.' 'Workers covered by the policy saw wage increases of 8 to 9 percent, with no negative wage or employment effects on non–covered workers,' she said. 'No negative effects on fast–food employment.' She added: 'The number of fast–food establishments grew faster in California than in the rest of the U.S.' As for prices, the Berkeley study claimed menu costs rose by only 1.5 percent - about six cents on a $4 hamburger. The NBER paper also looked at whether the law had a knock-on effect in full-service restaurants, which weren't subject to the $20 mandate but compete for the same workers. The authors found smaller but still negative employment effects - a median drop of 2.12 percent. And while critics were quick to blame the law for economic pain, the researchers warned against cherry-picking isolated data.
BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
Allianz Life: Insurance giant says most US customer data stolen in cyber-attack
Hackers have stolen personal information of a majority of insurance firm Allianz Life's 1.4 million customers in North America, its parent company said."On July 16, 2025, a malicious threat actor gained access to a third-party, cloud-based CRM system used by Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America (Allianz Life)," Allianz said in a statement to the BBC. The German parent company added that the hackers were "able to obtain personally identifiable data related to the majority of Allianz Life's customers, financial professionals, and select Allianz Life employees, using a social engineering technique".The data breach was only related to Allianz Life, according to the company. The insurance company disclosed the data breach in a legal filing with the attorney general in the US state of Maine. It did not specify how many people had been affected. In the statement, the insurance company said it had taken "immediate action" to contain the breach and had notified the FBI. It said that there was "no evidence the Allianz Life network or other company systems were accessed, including our policy administration system". Allianz - which has over 125 million customers globally - added that it was in the process of contacting and assisting the individuals affected by the data breach. A social engineering cyber-attack is when hackers pressure or trick users into giving away sensitive information, such as by impersonating a trusted company or person.
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
From Krispy Kreme to GoPro, has meme-stock trading frenzy returned?
Shares in struggling retailers and ageing consumer brands surged, as amateur traders cast aside Wall Street's skepticism and mobilized online. It's like 2021 all over again. But the latest meme-stock rally could be even bigger than its predecessor four years ago, when investors piled into recognizable but unloved stocks, such as the video games retailer GameStop and the movie theatre chain AMC, according to the founder of the Reddit forum that helped whip up the frenzy. Retailer Kohl's, camera firm GoPro, fast-food chain Wendy's and doughnut chain Krispy Kreme each staged rapid rallies this week, driven by abrupt surges in trading volume reminiscent of the the meme-stock craze of 2021, when social media memes boosted a collection of struggling stocks, triggering extraordinary and volatile leaps in value. Actress Sydney Sweeney helped bring clothing retailer American Eagle Outfitters into the mania after it was announced the Euphoria and White Lotus star would front the brand's latest marketing campaign. The company's shares surged about 10% in trading on Thursday. Meme stocks are 'about to leap-frog in size and scope and scale, so that retail traders are going to redefine what matters', according to Jaime Rogozinski, founder of the wallstreetbets Reddit forum behind many of the volatile rallies. 'The world of finance is clearly changing, with blockchain technologies encroaching, and AI agents that trade on their own,' he said. 'And the collective of retail traders is adapting along with it.' Rogozinski founded wallstreetbets in 2012, but said Reddit ousted him as a moderator in 2020. His bid to sue the social media company for trademark infringement was dismissed by the US court of appeals for the ninth circuit last month. The forum's users home in on stocks and share their own research. 'It's a decentralization of power of who can be financial analyst,' said Noor Al, a moderator on wallstreetbets. 'Great ideas can now come from anyone, anywhere. 'We're seeing the power of retail push stocks, sometimes to the tune of billions of dollars, through the power of ideas, the power of community and the power of the people,' he added. The meme-stock craze of 2021, which produced stars such as Roaring Kitty, was a product of the Covid era, when many amateur traders were stuck at home and flush with pandemic stimulus cash. Whether this latest frenzy produces similar winners is not yet clear. Kohl's finished the week up 32%, GoPro was up 66% and Krispy Kreme was up 41%. The rallies show some investors are willing to take on more risk, as stocks scale record highs and the market, dominated by big tech, becomes harder to beat. Often, meme-stock bets are unbound from economic fundamentals, as investors move to support a brand for romantic or ideological reasons. Donald Trump's Trump Media & Technology Group, home to Truth Social, is valued at more than $5bn on quarterly revenue of about $1m. The wallstreetbets ethos 'has always to some extent been about flaunting and exploiting the ironies, relevance or irrelevance' of the stock market, said Rogozinski, who pointed to Wendy's, the hamburger chain, as a good example. 'Wendy's has always been a meme that goes back a decade. It brings a smile to my face, because on Reddit there's always been this thing where they say: 'Sir, this is a Wendy's.' 'It's an inside joke, and I don't even get where it started. It's just a meme,' he added. The stock's fleeting rise – it rallied 10% in two days, but finished the week broadly flat – shows some retail investors do not necessarily care about the typical factors that drive the market, such as tariffs and war in the Middle East. 'It's this ability for us to almost make fun of the financial system.' Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion Long-term institutional players will always get the last laugh, Rogozinski conceded, because prices will return to normal valuations. 'But in the short term there's lot of money to be had with this volatility, and the fact that stocks are able to move up and down with such ease is but a mere showcase for how the financial system needs a facelift in relevancy.' While current market conditions do not replicate the low interest rates and retail investor buoyancy of the Covid era, market records and a robust economy have made meme stocks attractive once again for some. 'You see all these indications where this is full-blown meme mania,' Brent Kochuba, founder of derivatives-data firm SpotGamma, told Bloomberg. 'The macro economic environment really favors the retail and speculative plays,' agreed Al. 'I think were only going to see more speculation and excitement. It's a good time to tune in, because retail players can react and provide insight faster.' Days traders are not necessarily bothered by a company's financial performance, said Rogozinski. 'You have this activist, elective investor who is saying, 'I don't care what the financial statements look like, I don't care what the discounted cashflow is, I like the food, I like the video-game store, I like the meme. So dude, you can go back to Excel spreadsheets if you want, but I really like the chicken tenders,'' he said. There is now a 'third component' to investment, beyond supply and demand, he claimed, 'which is, 'dude, I don't care if you think it's going to go up or not, or if they have assets or liabilities. I care about this company and I'm going to help it out. I'm going to go buy my jeans from American Eagle.''
