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The Food and Drug Administration for the first time cleared a lab-grown meat product developed by a California start-up as safe for human consumption.
The decision marks a key milestone for cell-cultivated meats to eventually become available in U.S. supermarkets and restaurants.
The FDA cleared Upside Foods, formerly known as Memphis Meats, to use animal cell culture technology to take living cells from chickens and produce cultured animal cell food.

Uma Valeti, CEO and founder, UPSIDE Foods speaks at the 2021 Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, October 18, 2021.
David Swanson | Reuters

The Food and Drug Administration for the first time cleared a lab-grown meat product developed by a California start-up as safe for human consumption, marking a key milestone for cell-cultivated meats to eventually become available in U.S. supermarkets and restaurants.
The FDA cleared Upside Foods, formerly known as Memphis Meats, to use animal cell culture technology to take living cells from chickens and grow the cells in a controlled environment to produce cultured animal cell food.

The agency said it evaluated Upside Food’s production and cultured cell material and has “no further questions” about the safety of its cultivated chicken filet. The company will be able to bring its products to market once it’s been inspected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“The world is experiencing a food revolution and the U.S. FDA is committed to supporting innovation in the food supply,” FDA Commissioner Robert Califf and Susan Mayne, director of the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, said in a statement.

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The global cultivated meat industry, which is backed by more than $2 billion in investments, would play a major role in making the food system more sustainable and mitigating climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions from animal-based food production.
While the FDA’s safety sign-off only applies to Upside products, the agency said it’s ready to work with additional firms developing cultured animal cell food and production processes. The agency said it’s engaged in discussions with multiple firms about different types of products made from cultured animal cells, including those made from seafood cells.
“This is a watershed moment in the history of food,” Uma Valeti, CEO and founder of Upside Foods, said in a statement. “This milestone marks a major step towards a new era in meat production, and I’m thrilled that U.S. consumers will soon have the chance to eat delicious meat that’s grown directly from animal cells.”

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On December 18th the winners of the football World Cup in Qatar will lift the famous golden trophy. Several rituals will then unfold. The final entry will be made on fans’ wall charts. Pundits will share their lists of players of the tournament. In the victors’ home country, cars will clog the streets and drivers will lean on their horns. And in the days that follow, leadership coaches will post drivel about the secrets to be learned from the successful manager. Listen to this story. Enjoy more audio and podcasts on More

It is hard to think of two more different firms than GE, a once-exalted symbol of American inventiveness, and FTX, a Bahamas-based fly-by-night crypto exchange. Besides high-pitched voices, it is hard to think of two people with less in common than the late Jack Welch, GE’s legendary former CEO, and Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX’s disgraced founder. The former, son of working-class parents, was fiendishly competitive about profits, had a frat-boy approach to life, and was as much at home on a golf course as he was on the factory floor. The latter, son of Stanford law professors, is scruffy, nerdy, a player of “League of Legends”, and claims to be motivated to make money only so that he can give it away. Listen to this story. Enjoy more audio and podcasts on More

“Twitter is the worst! But also the best,” Elon Musk tweeted recently. Not everyone agrees with the second sentiment. Soon after he purchased the social network for $44bn on October 27th, the hashtag #TwitterMigration started trending. Concerned with what Mr Musk has planned for the social-media platform, some are searching for alternative spaces to swap news, views and pictures of pets. Along with renewed interest in established platforms such as Tumblr, Discord and Reddit, newcomers are under consideration. What chance do they have of pecking away at Twitter’s 240m users?Listen to this story. Enjoy more audio and podcasts on More

As is the fate of anyone running a hotel in Kerala these days, Bijoy George is a man with too much to do. Before pandemic-induced lockdowns began in 2020, he managed 40 employees at the Eighth Bastion Hotel near the old Dutch cemetery in the charming historic quarter of Kochi, a bustling coastal city. Now that business is back to pre-covid levels he needs the same number of staff again. But he has only 20 workers. His plight is shared with every other hotel, café and bar. It is a result of the state’s hospitality employees moving en masse to Qatar, not to watch football but to take up employment tied to the World Cup.Listen to this story. Enjoy more audio and podcasts on More

The U.K. government on Thursday unveiled a sweeping fiscal plan aimed at plugging a gaping hole the public finances and restoring Britain’s economic credibility.
Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt, in his hotly anticipated inaugural Autumn Statement, outlined spending cuts and tax hikes worth £55 billion.
The measures will increase financial hardship on millions of Britons as they confront the country’s worst cost-of-living crisis in decades and its longest-ever recession.

Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt, in his hotly anticipated inaugural Autumn Statement, unveiled a sweeping £55 billion ($66 billion) fiscal plan.
Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

LONDON — The U.K. government on Thursday unveiled a sweeping £55 billion ($66 billion) fiscal plan as it seeks to plug a gaping hole in the public finances and restore Britain’s economic credibility, even as the country teeters on recession.
Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt, in his hotly anticipated inaugural Autumn Statement, outlined around £30 billion in spending cuts and £25 billion in tax hikes.

The measures included a six-year freeze on income tax thresholds and a lowering of the top rate of income tax to £125,000 — moves directly opposed to the major cuts touted in September’s catastrophic mini-budget.
“Unfunded tax cuts are as risky as unfunded spending,” Hunt told the House of Commons.
Hunt said the measures would reassure markets that the government and the Bank of England are now working in in “lockstep.”
“We need fiscal and monetary policy to work together,” he said. “That means the government and the Bank working in lockstep. It means, in particular, giving the world confidence in our ability to pay our debts.”

A recessionary fiscal plan

The measures will increase financial hardship on millions of Britons as they confront the country’s worst cost-of-living crisis in decades and its longest-ever recession.

However, Hunt said they were necessary to limit 41-year-high inflation and recover the U.K.’s reputation; dubbing the plan the “ultimate growth strategy.”
“We must continue a relentless fight to bring (inflation) down, including a rock-solid commitment to rebuild our public finances,” Hunt said.
Among the other measures announced were a 10% increase in the state pension, benefits and tax credits — in line with September’s inflation figure — and an increase in the National Living Wage to £10.42 an hour for those aged 23 and above.
The dividend allowance and the annual exception for capital gains tax, meanwhile, will be cut over the next two years, the finance minister said.
He also confirmed that the energy industry will face an expanded windfall tax of 35% up from 25%.
Thursday’s statement was accompanied by a long-awaited set of projections from the U.K.’s independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), which painted a gloomy economic picture for Britain.
Hunt said the government’s plan will ensure the downturn is shallower and unemployment lower than previously forecast.

A major test for the government

The U.K.’s new strategy sets the tone for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s premiership, as he presides over an era of fiscal austerity and dwindling Conservative Party support.
It also marks a defining moment for Hunt, who was installed last month to recover the U.K.’s credibility after predecessor Kwasi Kwarteng’s now-infamous mini-budget of unfunded tax cuts unleashed market chaos and emergency intervention.
Though Hunt’s then-boss Liz Truss resigned in short order — becoming the U.K.’s shortest-serving prime minister — he was kept on by successor Rishi Sunak in a bid to ensure stability following months of political turmoil.

Shadow finance minister Rachel Reeves said Thursday that the new plans will leave the U.K. still worse off than it was earlier this year.
“Here we are at the end of 2022, three prime ministers, four chancellors and four budgets later,” Reeves said. “And where do we find ourselves? In a worse place than we started the year.”
The U.K. is the only Group of Seven (G7) country yet to return to its pre-pandemic size, having suffered a decade of near-stagnant income growth.
The Bank of England warned earlier this month that the U.K. is now facing its longest recession since records began a century ago.
Official data released Friday showed that the economy shrank by 0.2% in the third quarter of 2022. A second consecutive quarter of negative growth going forward would indicate that the U.K. is in a technical recession.

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Macy’s reported third-quarter revenue and earnings that topped Wall Street expectations.
The company stood by its revenue guidance as it faces a tougher sale backdrop this holiday season.

Macy’s flagship store in Herald Square in New York, Dec. 23, 2021.
Scott Mlyn | CNBC

Macy’s on Thursday raised its earnings forecast for the year after the department store operator said it has fresh merchandise and is ready for the holiday shopping season.
The company stood by its revenue guidance as it faces a tougher sales backdrop during the retail industry’s most crucial quarter. The updated outlook came after Macy’s reported third-quarter revenue and earnings that topped Wall Street expectations.

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Shares of Macy’s were up 7% in pre-market trading.
In an interview with CNBC, Macy’s CEO Jeff Gennette said company can hold the line on prices because it has fresh merchandise. That has allowed it to bring in new apparel, home goods and other gift-giving items. He said it is not seeing customers trade down to cheaper brands.
However, he said Macy’s did see a drop in sales in the final weeks of October and early November. Store and website visits remained the same — but the browsing did not lead to buying. In the past week, he said, Macy’s has seen a return to a better performance.
“Is that a slowdown in the consumer confidence that we are going to take all the way through the fourth quarter?” he said. “Or is it going back to the 2019 buying patterns when those weeks I’m quoting were actually consistent with the trend we had before ramping into Christmas this year? Right now, we are watching it very carefully.”
Here’s how Macy’s did in its fiscal third quarter compared with what analysts were anticipating, based on Refinitiv estimates:

Earnings per share: 52 cents adjusted vs. 19 cents expected
Revenue: $5.23 billion vs. $5.2 billion expected

Comparable sales on an owned plus licensed basis fell 2.7% from a year ago. But Macy’s said the figure was up when compared to the the third quarter of 2019, before the pandemic.
Macy’s has seen a shift in what people are buying in the past few quarters. That pattern held in recent months, as shoppers bought dressier attire instead of the pajamas, workout clothes and home goods like bedding that they loaded up on earlier in the pandemic, Gennette said.
Shoppers turned to its beauty chain, Bluemercury, and higher-end department store chain, Bloomingdale’s, to buy new clothing, shoes and makeup. Those banners outperformed the rest of the company.
At Bloomingdale’s, comparable sales on an owned plus licensed basis were up 4.1%, as shoppers bought dressy clothing, women’s shoes and luggage.
At Bluemercury, comparable sales on an owned plus licensed basis rose 14%.
Gennette said the company benefits from having a wide array of price points — so shoppers can choose a high-end fragrance and then a lower-priced shirt from a private label.
Heading into the key holiday shopping season, however, Macy’s is facing inflation that’s hovering at a near four-decade high. The company cut its full-year revenue and earnings per share forecast in August, saying it anticipates shoppers may spend less on discretionary merchandise like apparel as they pay more for groceries, housing and gas.
For the three month period ended Oct. 29, Macy’s said Thursday that its net income fell to $108 million, or 39 per share, from $239 million, or 76 cents per share, a year earlier.
Macy’s stood by its revenue guidance from August, saying it still expects a range of $24.34 billion to $24.58 billion for the fiscal year. It raised its annual adjusted earnings per share forecast to $4.07 to $4.27 per share, up from its previous range of $4 to $4.20. 
Earlier this week, industry-watchers got fresh clues about the health of the consumer. Both Walmart and Target reported a noticeable pullback of sales in categories like apparel, electronics and home goods as shoppers spent more on necessities. Target slashed its forecast for the holiday quarter, saying weaker sales have continued into November.
As of Wednesday’s close, Macy’s shares are down about 25% so far this year. Shares closed Wednesday at $19.71, down about 8%.
This story is breaking. Please check back for updates.

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Kohl’s withdrew its guidance for the year, citing a volatile retail environment and economic pressures.
The retailer said earlier this month that CEO Michelle Gass would step down in December.
Kohl’s has been under pressure from activist investors as its sales have declined.

The Kohl’s logo is displayed on the exterior of a Kohl’s store on January 24, 2022 in San Rafael, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

Kohl’s on Thursday withdrew its full-year outlook, pointing to volatility in the retail environment and significant macroeconomic headwinds, on top of its “unexpected CEO transition.”
Kohl’s also reported third quarter earnings on Thursday, with revenue dropping 7% to $4.28 billion. The company warned investors of this drop in revenue earlier this month when it provided preliminary results for the quarter. Kohl’s also said it would not provide guidance for the holiday-shopping quarter.

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Shares of the company fell 4% in premarket trading.
Kohl’s has been under pressure from activist investors as its sales have declined and its stock has slumped. Over the summer, Kohl’s ended talks to sell its business to The Vitamin Shoppe owner Franchise Group, blaming the tough retail environment that worsened since the beginning of the bidding process.  
Activists Ancora Holdings and Macellum Advisors have also pushed for change at the leadership level. 
Earlier this month, Kohl’s said Chief Executive Michelle Gass would leave in December. She will join Levi Strauss to be its CEO in waiting. Gass will hand over the role of CEO to Tom Kingsbury, a Kohl’s board member, will serve as interim CEO beginning Dec. 2, while the retailer searches for a permanent leader. Ancora applauded Kingsbury’s appointment earlier in November.
“The Kohl’s board is focused on supporting the management team during this CEO transition period, as well as the board’s search committee in its pursuit of finding the next CEO to lead Kohl’s,” Peter Boneparth, the independent board chair, said in Kohl’s earnings release.

Still, the retailer has rejected criticism from activist investors, moving forward with plans to redesign stores, add new brands and offer more e-commerce options for customers.
Kohl’s has said in recent quarters that inflation has burdened its middle class customers, causing shoppers to visit the store less, and spend less, either buying fewer items or less expensive brands. 
Kohl’s pulled its guidance after cutting its forecasts in August, when it reported second-quarter earnings.
This story is developing. Check back for updates.

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