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California-based KB Home is unveiling what it calls its first “wildfire-resilient” community, meeting standards that protect the homes against the three major sources of ignition during a wildfire.
As climate change causes more severe drought in more areas of the country, focus is shifting to fire-resistant homes and communities.
The homes range from $1 million to the low millions, which tends to be a move-up price in the area of Escondido, just outside San Diego.

KB Home’s new wildfire-resilient neighborhood in Escondido, California.

Just months after raging wildfires destroyed thousands of homes in the Los Angeles area, California-based KB Home is unveiling what it calls its first “wildfire-resilient” community.
The development, in Escondido, just outside San Diego, will have 64 single-family homes when completed that all meet the wildfire resilience standards developed by the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS), a nonprofit, scientific research and communications organization supported by property insurers. These standards are designed to protect the homes against the three major sources of ignition during a wildfire: Flying embers, flames and radiant heat.

A handful of homes in the development are now complete, with roughly 20 homes already sold. Three homeowners have moved in, according to KB Home.
The homes are built with covered gutters, enclosed eaves, noncombustible siding — like stucco and fiber cement — tempered-glass windows, and non-combustible patios, doors and roofing. They have six-inch vertical clearance using the concrete foundation, stucco and stone. They also incorporate defensible space with low-combustible vegetation at least 5 feet from the homes. Metal fencing is used throughout the neighborhood.
Steve Ruffner, regional general manager of KB Home’s coastal division, said he and his colleagues saw a fire-resistant home demonstration by IBHS at the Pacific Coast Builders Conference last summer and were impressed by the opportunity this type of community presented. Since KB Home had already broken ground on the development, they had to change gears quickly to incorporate the fire-resilient components.
“We had to change the architecture on the fly to a more stucco-oriented architecture with fire-resistant shutters, or fire-free shutters and doors and tempered windows. We were able to do that really quickly with the city, because they wanted to work with us. They really understood that this was important for their city,” Ruffner said.
He called it more of a research and development project to see what the costs might be and how to work with trade partners to lower that cost, although he wouldn’t say how much those costs increased.

KB Home’s new Wildfire-Resilient Neighborhood in Escondido, CA.

The homes range from $1 million to the low millions, which tends to be a move-up price in that area for single-family, detached homes.
“We’re trying to get the cost to a reasonable place, because we really specialize in first-time buyers and first-time move-up buyers. So we want to make sure we can get this in a good place where it’s affordable to do it and it’s also got a good payback to the customer in a form of safety,” he added.
As climate change causes more severe drought in more areas of the country, focus is shifting to fire-resistant homes and communities.
During the the Palisades Fire in January, some homes that had been specifically built to fire-resistant standards remained unscathed while everything around them was destroyed. These types of homes, however, are largely one-offs by custom builders.
There has been progress in California on a home-by-home basis, according to IBHS, but KB Home is the first big production builder in the country that has designed and is fully building out 64 homes all to meet the wildfire-prepared neighborhood standard.
Among the specifications, homes are spaced 10 feet apart to help slow the progression of a fire.

KB Home’s new wildfire-resilient neighborhood in Escondido, California.

“This subdivision built by KB Home, it’s really the test bed to show this and demonstrate it,” said Roy Wright, CEO of IBHS. “I know that KB Home already has two other projects here in Escondido, looking at duplexes and other kinds of town homes, and I do imagine that other builders are going to quickly follow suit. They’re going to be building the homes that Californians want to buy.”
Wright emphasized that part of the draw is not just to build a home that is survivable, but also one that is insurable. Insurance companies have been pulling out of California in droves, leaving homeowners with soaring costs and some without insurance entirely.
Though the homes are billed as fire-resilient, that doesn’t mean they are entirely risk-free. Homeowners and cities are going to have to make changes when it comes to non-combustible landscaping, elevations and even design. The real test will come in the future, should the community be in the line of a wildfire.
“Nothing is ever fireproof. We’re always just seeking to try to narrow those paths of destruction,” said Wright. More

Dollar Tree said it is winning over more high-income shoppers during a sustained period of high inflation.
The company said it could use negotiations with suppliers, manufacturing changes and price increases to mitigate the effect of President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Dollar Tree reported fourth-quarter earnings Wednesday and said it would sell its struggling Family Dollar chain.

Erin Scott | Reuters

Dollar Tree said Wednesday that it’s gaining market share with higher-income consumers and could raise prices on some products to offset President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
The discount retailer’s CEO, Michael Creedon, said the company is seeing “value-seeking behavior across all income groups.” While Dollar Tree has always relied on lower-income shoppers and gets about 50% of its business from middle-income consumers, sustained inflation has led to “stronger demand from higher-income customers,” Creedon said on an analyst call.

Dollar Tree’s success with higher-income shoppers follows similar gains from Walmart, which has made inroads with the cohort following the prolonged period of high prices.
Trump’s tariffs on certain goods from China, Mexico and Canada — and the potential for broad duties on trading partners around the world — have only added to concerns about stretched household budgets. While Dollar Tree will use tactics like negotiating with suppliers and moving manufacturing to mitigate the effect of the duties, it could also hike the prices of some items, Creedon said.
Dollar Tree has rolled out prices higher than its standard $1.25 products at about 2,900 so-called multi-price stores. Certain products can cost anywhere from $1.50 to $7 at those locations.
The retailer weighed in on higher-income customers and the potential effect of tariffs as it announced its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings. Dollar Tree also said it will sell its struggling Family Dollar chain for about $1 billion to a consortium of private equity investors.
Dollar Tree said its net sales for continuing operations — its namesake brand — totaled $5 billion for the quarter, while same-stores sales climbed 2%. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $2.11 for the period.

It is unclear how the figures compare with Wall Street estimates.
For fiscal 2025, Dollar Tree expects net sales of $18.5 billion to $19.1 billion from continuing operations, with same-store sales growth of 3% to 5%. It anticipates it will post adjusted earnings of $5 to $5.50 per share for the year.
Creedon said the expected hit from the first round of 10% tariffs Trump levied on China in February would have been $15 million to $20 million per month, but the company has mitigated about 90% of that effect.
Additional 10% duties on China imposed this month, along with 25% levies on Mexico and Canada that have only partly taken effect, would hit Dollar Tree by another $20 million per month, Creedon said. The company is working to offset those duties, but did not include them in its financial guidance due to the confusion over which tariffs will take effect and when.

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Stephen Curry and Michelle Obama have partnered to launch a new sports drink called Plezi.
Plezi is marketing the beverage as a healthier sports drink option.
It will come in three flavors, and be available nationwide on Amazon and in select grocery stores.

Plezi Nutrition, the public benefit company co-founded by Michelle Obama, has created a new sports drink with Stephen Curry.

Four-time NBA champion Stephen Curry is teaming up with former first lady Michelle Obama to release a healthier sports drink option.
Curry and Obama on Wednesday announced the launch of Plezi Hydration, through Obama’s public benefit company, Plezi Nutrition. The drink adds to Curry’s growing portfolio of off-court ventures as the 37-year-old nears the final years of his playing career.

The sports drink market is a crowded space, but Curry said the beverage’s focus on health and wellness makes it different. The drink touts no added sugar or artificial sweeteners, less sodium than leading rivals and a full daily dose of vitamin C.
“We’ve created something with smart ingredients and unbeatable flavor, so people can fuel their bodies the right way. No nonsense, no shortcuts — because the next generation deserves better,” Curry said in a statement.

Plezi will be available in three flavors

The sports drink category is largely dominated by three main players. PepsiCo’s Gatorade has 61% market share, followed by Coca-Cola’s Powerade at 14.5% and BodyArmor at 11.8%, according to data analytics company Euromonitor International.
Curry joins the growing list of athletes and celebrities investing in the sports and energy drink market from the late Kobe Bryant (BodyArmor) to LeBron James (Mtn Dew Rise) to fighter and influencer Logan Paul (Prime).
The overall demand for advanced hydration is very strong right now, according to Howard Telford, senior industry manager for soft drinks at Euromonitor.

In the ready-to-drink sports drink category, volume declined to 2024, but sales rose due to higher prices, Telford said.
The category faces pressure from the rise of powder mix concentrates and oral rehydration brands such as Pedialyte and Electrolit that are challenging the dominance of traditional sports drinks.
Plezi said Curry was not only as an investor in the product, but he also helped on everything from the actual beverage to the packaging. His wife Ayesha, who has a culinary background, also helped with the creation and taste of the drink.
Plezi, which means “fun” in Creole, will be available in three flavors: lemon lime, tropical punch and orange mango twist. Curry’s favorite flavor is the orange mango twist.
The drinks will be sold in California at Walmart, Albertsons and Safeway, and available nationwide on Amazon. The 16.9-ounce bottles will cost $2.29 each and contain 70 calories in a full bottle.
“We’re excited to provide a delicious, healthier option for everyone who’s trying to get active and stay hydrated,” Obama, co-founder and strategic partner at Plezi Nutrition, said in a statement.
Obama launched Plezi Nutrition in 2023, with the purpose to “help raise a healthier generation of kids,” following her “Let’s Move!” campaign during her time in the White House.
Curry has also been an advocate for health and nutrition through non-profit Eat, Learn, Play, which he and Ayesha created in 2019. Plezi said it has collaborated with ELP on various events by providing beverages. More

Chinese bubble tea chain Chagee filed to go public in the U.S. on the Nasdaq.
The company is planning to open its first U.S. store this spring in Los Angeles.
The fast-growing chain generated net income of $344.5 million from its more than 6,400 locations last year.

Pedestrians walk past a Chagee store in Shanghai, China, on March 14, 2025.
CFOTO | Future Publishing | Getty Images

Chinese bubble tea chain Chagee filed for a U.S. initial public offering on Tuesday, seeking to trade on the Nasdaq using the ticker “CHA.”
The IPO filing comes as the company prepares to open its first U.S. store in the Westfield Century City mall in Los Angeles this spring.

Since its founding in 2017, the company has grown to more than 6,400 teahouses across China, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, as of Dec. 31, according to a regulatory filing. Roughly 97% of its locations are in China.
Chagee said it generated net income of $344.5 million from revenue of $1.7 billion in 2024.
Founder and CEO Junjie Zhang created the chain to modernize tea drinking after being inspired by the success of international coffee companies, according to a regulatory filing. China is Starbucks’ second-largest market.
Looking ahead, Chagee wants to “serve tea lovers in 100 countries, generate 300,000 employment opportunities worldwide, and deliver 15 billion cups of freshly brewed tea annually,” according to the company’s website.
If Chagee goes public on the Nasdaq, it will join the dwindling number of Chinese companies seeking a U.S. listing. From January 2023 to January 2024, the number of Chinese companies listed on the three largest U.S. exchanges fell 5%, according to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission.

As relations between the U.S. and Beijing have grown frostier, political scrutiny has dashed some Chinese companies’ hopes of a U.S. IPO. Shein is now planning a London IPO for later this year after lawmakers pushed back on its plans to go public on a U.S. exchange.
U.S. investors might also be wary to invest in another Chinese beverage chain after the example set by Luckin Coffee.
Luckin was founded in 2017 and grew quickly. By 2019, it had outnumbered the number of Starbucks locations in China and gone public on the Nasdaq.
But in 2020, Luckin disclosed that it had inflated its sales, resulting in its delisting from the Nasdaq. The company filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy. Luckin emerged from bankruptcy by 2022, minus the executives that were responsible for the fraud.
Since then, it has overtaken Starbucks as China’s largest coffee retailer by sales.

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“There are no plans to do anything as it relates to the conforming loan limit,” said Bill Pulte, FHFA director.
It currently stands at $806,500, an increase of $39,950 (or 5.2%) from 2024.

A sign for Freddie Mac is seen at their corporate headquarters campus on Oct. 9, 2024 in Tysons Corner, Virginia. 
Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images

The newly confirmed director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Bill Pulte, who oversees mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, said he will not lower the conforming loan limit, or the maximum value for the loans the two firms will buy and guarantee.
That limit is calculated each year according to current home prices. It now stands at $806,500, an increase of $39,950 (or 5.2%) from 2024.

“There are no plans to do anything as it relates to the conforming loan limit,” Pulte said Tuesday.
The Trump administration has touted plans to reduce the federal government, and many have expected it will work to shrink the size of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The mortgage giants guarantee the vast majority of the nation’s $12 trillion mortgage market.
“Those close to it see a reduction in loan limits appeasing the populists irritated that the government is insuring million dollar mortgages, when in reality there’s ample supply of capital from banks and non-banks to support that activity,” said Eric Hagen, managing director and mortgage finance analyst at BTIG. “The question is how much mortgage rates for jumbo borrowers might need to increase to support it, all of which could be highly sensitive to timing and interest rates.”
The FHFA has overseen the two firms since they went into conservatorship in 2008. With the recent appointment of Pulte, questions have been swirling about what he intends to do with the two, including if he would move to lower their conforming loan limits. Pulte toured Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac offices last week, posting on social media a video of empty offices, desks and even the cafeteria.
In a recent report, the CATO Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, pushed the idea that Congress should limit the FHA’s single-family insurance portfolio to first-time homebuyers.
“Additionally, the FHA should decrease the value of loan limits eligible for FHA single-family mortgage insurance to (at most) the first quartile of home prices,” the report said. More

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