Raphael Stevens

Prices at both Disney World and Disneyland are jumping, effective immediately.
All-day “Park Hopper” access will resume beginning Jan. 9.
Parking prices at both theme parks has also increased.

People walk toward an entrance to Disneyland on April 24, 2023 in Anaheim, California.
Mario Tama | Getty Images

It’s about to get a bit more expensive to experience the magic of Walt Disney World and Disneyland.
The parks are increasing a wide variety of prices for passes, effective immediately, including parking and annual passes.

The parks’ most basic tickets, date-based day passes, will remain unchanged and vary based on the busyness of the date. At Disneyland, that least expensive option will run you $104 — consistent since before the pandemic — and at Disney World it’ll cost $109.
At Disney World in Orlando, annual price passes jumped by nearly 10%, with the most expensive Incredi-Pass now selling for $1,449.
Parking at the theme park will also rise by $5 to $30 total, but it’s free for hotel guests. And beginning Jan. 9, “Park Hopper” tickets will return, allowing vacationers to travel between parks at any time of day.
At Disneyland in Anaheim, the highest daily pass increased to $194, a nearly 9% increase from earlier prices. The cost of the Magic Key pass and Genie+ add-ons also jumped.
Parking at the California park will also see higher pricing.

“We are constantly adding new, innovative attractions and entertainment to our parks and, with our broad array of pricing options, the value of a theme park visit is reflected in the unique experiences that only Disney can offer,” a Disney spokesperson said in a statement.
The price hikes come a week after Disney announced promotions for child tickets as low as $50 as theme parks report a slowdown in attendance.
Disney recently said it plans to nearly double its investment in its park division as it emerges from shutdowns that devastated the industry during the pandemic.
“As Disney considers future growth opportunities, there is a deep well of stories that have yet to be fully explored in its theme parks,” the company said in a September presentation.
Clarification: This story was updated to specify how the price increases affect admission at each park. More

Samsung SDI and automaker Stellantis plan to invest more than $3.2 billion in a new electric vehicle battery plant in Kokomo, Indiana.
The announcement was made in the middle of contentious U.S. labor strikes and contract negotiations between the automaker and the United Auto Workers union.
Battery plants have become a main issue in the labor talks, as UAW views EV battery jobs as crucial to the union’s long-term viability.

The Dodge Charger Daytona SRT Concept all-electric muscle car is shown at its world reveal during Dodge’s Speed Week at M1 Concourse in Pontiac, Michigan, Aug. 17, 2022.
Bill Pugliano | Getty Images

DETROIT — Samsung SDI and automaker Stellantis plan to invest more than $3.2 billion in a new electric vehicle battery plant in Kokomo, Indiana.
The facility — Stellantis’ sixth battery plant announced globally — was largely expected, but the location and timing are notable. The announcement Wednesday was made during contentious U.S. labor strikes and contract negotiations between Stellantis and the United Auto Workers union, led by UAW President Shawn Fain, who is from Kokomo.

Battery plants have become a main issue in the labor talks, as the UAW views EV battery jobs as crucial to its long-term viability. General Motors last week agreed to include workers at its EV battery plant in the company’s national contract with the union, which Fain called a “transformative win.”
Fain said the union expects Stellantis and Ford Motor to follow suit, including battery plant workers in eventual contract agreements.
“The plan was to draw down engine and transmission plants and permanently replace them with low-wage battery jobs,” Fain said Friday. “We had a different plan, and our plan is winning at GM. And we expect it to win at Ford and Stellantis as well.”
Stellantis declined to comment on details of the ongoing negotiations or timing of the announcement.

United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain during an online broadcast updating union members on negotiations with the Detroit automakers on Oct. 6, 2023.
Screenshot

EV battery plants are key to the automaker’s plans to build models such as electric versions of its Ram pickup truck and Dodge muscle car.

The new Stellantis battery plant is the second to be planned in Kokomo through a joint venture between the automaker and Samsung SDI called StarPlus Energy. The two plants are expected to create 2,800 new jobs, according to the company.
The first facility, a $2.5 billion plant, is under construction. It’s scheduled to begin production during the first quarter of 2025. The second plant is expected to begin production of battery cells in early 2027.
“Our battery ecosystem is the foundation of our electrification strategy and our great partners Samsung SDI, the State of Indiana, and the City of Kokomo have created a compelling case for locating our sixth gigafactory in Kokomo,” Mark Stewart, Stellantis COO North America, said in a statement. More

Consumers paying state sales tax on menstrual products will be able to get those costs on some period care purchases reimbursed.
The initiative is the result of a new coalition of period care brands August, Cora, LOLA, The Honey Pot, Rael, Here We Flo, Saalt and DIVA.
Twenty-one states in the U.S. tax menstrual items at standard rates like nonessential goods.

Source: August

Starting Wednesday, consumers paying state sales tax on menstrual products will be able to get those costs on some period care purchases reimbursed.
The Tampon Tax Back Coalition — an initiative of period care brands August, Cora, LOLA, The Honey Pot, Rael, Here We Flo, Saalt and DIVA — will reimburse consumers for the tax paid on eligible items sold by the eight participating brands.

The coalition aims to stop the “tampon tax,” a term used to describe the state sales tax imposed on products such as tampons, pads and menstrual cups in more than a dozen U.S. states. Many states exempt essential products such as food and medications from being subject to sales tax but leave out period care products, because their current state tax codes consider them nonessential goods.
“So much of the work that has to be done is changing public opinion, putting that public pressure on legislators,” said Nadya Okamoto, co-founder of August, an inclusive period care brand focusing on providing products for all menstruators, not just those who identify as female. “We’ve made some progress, but there’s still quite a bit of ways to go.”
Twenty-one states in the U.S. tax menstrual items at “standard rates,” meaning tampons and pads are taxed at the same rate as any other nonessential product you would pick up at your local retailer, according to data from the Alliance for Period Supplies.
The annual cost of the taxes to consumers totals roughly $80 million, according to Period Law, a group recruiting volunteer attorneys to help advance period equity legislation.
The Tampon Tax Back Coalition was born out of an initiative by August that launched in May. Now with seven additional brands on board, the coalition said it is prioritizing the customer and making the reimbursement process easier.

“This is something that shouldn’t exist,” Okamoto said. “A customer shouldn’t have to text multiple different places or figure out the logistics of how they get the ‘tampon tax’ back if they’re buying one brand of tampons, one brand pads.”

Nadya Okamoto, founder and executive director of Period, speaking during the 2019 Makers Conference in Dana Point, California, U.S., on Thursday, Feb. 7, 2019.
Bloomberg | Getty Images

Yanghee Paik, CEO of Rael, a clean feminine care and skincare startup, called the coalition a “big step” toward sending a message that period care products are essential to covering “basic medical needs.”
“Not many people really have the awareness of this issue in the country,” said Paik, adding the tax is “very, very backward.”
Beatrice Dixon, CEO at The Honey Pot, said it was not until she started her own period care brand that she learned about the tampon tax: “Before that, I didn’t even know that I as a consumer was even paying that.” 
Dixon described the decision to get involved in the coalition as a “no-brainer.”
To get reimbursed, customers can visit the coalition’s website and start a claim for reimbursement within 10 days of the date of purchase for eligible items sold by the eight participating brands. Customers will be refunded via Venmo or PayPal within 24 hours of their submissions, according to the coalition. More

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($726,200 or less) increased last week to 7.67% from 7.53%, for loans with a 20% down payment.
The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs decreased to 6.33% from 6.49%.
ARM demand increased 15% over the week.

A house for sale in Arlington, Virginia, in July of 2023.
Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images

The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage rose to the highest level since 2000 last week, but rates on adjustable-rate mortgages fell. That caused a run on these so-called ARMs, pushing total mortgage application volume very slightly higher, up 0.6% from the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($726,200 or less) increased to 7.67% from 7.53%, for loans with a 20% down payment. But the average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs decreased to 6.33% from 6.49%.

ARMs usually offer much lower rates because they have shorter fixed terms. The difference between ARM rates and the 30-year fixed rate, however, has been unusually narrow recently. Last week, it widened.
“The level of ARM applications increased by 15% over the week, bringing the ARM share up to 9.2% of all applications, the highest share since November 2022,” wrote Joel Kan, MBA’s vice president and deputy chief economist, in a release. “The yield curve has become less inverted in recent weeks and ARM pricing has certainly improved.”
Applications to refinance a home loan inched up 0.3% from the previous week and were 9% lower than the same week one year ago.
Applications for a mortgage to purchase a home rose 1% for the week and were 19% lower than the same week one year ago.
“Application activity remains depressed and close to multi-decade lows, with purchase applications still almost 20% behind last year’s pace,” added Kan.

The average loan size is now at its lowest level since 2017. This indicates that most of the sales activity is happening at the lower end of the market. At the very high end, buyers tend to use all cash, and in the middle range affordability has been hit so hard that the market is essentially frozen.
At an open house in Washington, D.C., on Sunday, there were plenty of potential buyers looking, but most said that was all they were doing: just looking. The house was priced at $1.54 million.
“In this first two weeks of October, as anticipated, inventories have taken a jump, but then because interest rates have taken a jump too, we’re seeing less buyers. Lots of traffic, but not a lot of actual shoppers,” said Lisa Resch, a real estate agent with Compass who listed the home. More

Walgreens Boots Alliance has chosen veteran health care executive Tim Wentworth as the company’s new chief executive starting Oct. 23.
Wentworth is the former CEO of the nation’s largest pharmacy benefits management company, Express Scripts, which was acquired by Cigna in 2018.
Walgreens’ board has said they were intent on hiring an executive with deep health experience who could rein in all of its new services.

Tim Wentworth, former CEO of Express Scripts.
Getty Images

Walgreens Boots Alliance has chosen veteran health care executive Tim Wentworth as the company’s new chief executive.
Wentworth is the former CEO of the nation’s largest pharmacy benefits management company, Express Scripts, which was acquired by Cigna in 2018. He stayed on and served as chief of Cigna’s health services, before retiring at the of 2021.

“What made me decide to come back was a chance to lead this iconic brand and company at a time when it’s not in a steady state,” Wentworth told CNBC. “It’s a massive platform… they touch almost 10 million people a day.”
Wentworth will start on Oct. 23, almost two months after Roz Brewer stepped down as CEO, at a time when the company is facing a number of challenges in trying to transition to becoming a provider of health services beyond the pharmacy counter.
Under Brewer’s tenure, Walgreens took a major stake in primary care provider VillageMD, acquired specialty pharmacy provider Shields Health, as well as homecare provider CareCentrix. Trying to integrate and scale the businesses has pressured Walgreens’ earnings.
The transition has come at a time when pharmacy revenue has been pressured by falling demand for Covid vaccines and over-the-counter tests. In June, the company’s third-quarter profits missed Wall Street estimates for the first time in three years.

Walgreens’ board has said they were intent on hiring an executive with deep health experience who could rein in all of the new services.

“I came from one of the great efficiency companies at Express Scripts — I mean, we were built to drive out waste from health care and and we looked at everything through that lens. And that has to do by starting with our own cost structure, and there’s no question inside this company that’s every bit as important,” said Wentworth.
Walgreens’ executive chairman Stefano Pessina said Wentworth “is an accomplished and respected leader with profound expertise in the payer and pharmacy space as well as supply chain, IT and Human Resources. We are confident he is the right person to lead WBA’s next phase of growth into a customer-centric healthcare company.”
The company’s core pharmacy business is also facing challenges. This week, pharmacists in several cities have walked off the job to protest understaffing at pharmacies which the non-union workers say endangers patients. 

Wentworth says during Covid the drugstore chains pivoted quickly to become major providers of vaccines and supported patients with information.
“When you’re in a business that’s having to respond that quickly to something that is that unusual. You don’t get it all right. And I have no doubt that the leadership at Walgreens is taking a look and listening to their folks,” he said. “As a leader, I can tell you, there’s nothing that motivates me more than ensuring every employee feels like they’re supported in that mission.”
Walgreens is set to report fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday.  More