ResidentialBusiness

Burger King is getting into the Halloween spirit. The fast food chain just introduced its first-ever Monster Menu to kick off spooky season. According to a news release, the vamped up menu will drop on Sept. 30. “BK fans have come to expect something spirited from us during the Halloween season, and each year we try to bring even more fun to families,” said Joel Yashinsky, chief marketing officer, Burger King US&C in the release. Yashinsky continued, “This year, we’ve dialed up the fun and flavor, not only with our ‘Monster Menu’ line-up complete with themed menu innovation, packaging and a special crown, but also with collectible buckets and Scooby-Doo toys—creating even more experiences for everyone.” The menu will feature Halloween-themed twists on fan-favorites, such as the Jack-o-Lantern Whopper, which comes on a bright orange bun topped with black sesame seeds, Vampire Nuggets which come in the shape of fangs, Mummy Mozzarella Fries, and a Franken-Candy Sundae. Of course, there’s a special-edition meal just for kids coming too. The King Jr. Meal, featuring Vampire Nuggets is coming, too, along with a line-up of spooky collectible toys. To make the Monster Menu drop even more exciting, guests can also leave BK with a limited-edition Monster Menu-inspired Halloween Bucket, but not until starting October 13. BK is not the first fast food brand to get in on spooky season. McDonald’s announced it will bring back its Boo Buckets and its Halloween-themed menu this year, too. Wendy’s also introduced Wednesday-inspired Meal of Misfortune, as well as a Frosty Frights Kids’ meal. Last year proved to be a big one for brands sinking their teeth into Halloween. Even businesses like Chipotle and Bush’s Baked Beans had a case of the seasonal scaries, as they sold costumes of their own beloved food items—many of which even turned out to be popular selections for the scariest day of the year. View the full article

Multi-manager firm says performance has not kept pace with expectations and cites cost of attracting tradersView the full article

AstraZeneca laid out plans on Monday to switch to a direct listing of its shares in the United States, as the drugmaker seeks to maximise gains from a booming U.S. stock market, even as it said it was not exiting London. The decision to remain UK-based and listed there will be of some relief to British investors after media reports suggested the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker—London’s most valuable company—was considering ditching its UK listing in favour of the U.S. London’s stock market has been shrinking due to companies moving away for higher valuations and access to deeper capital markets elsewhere, particularly the U.S., prompting listing reforms from regulators to score some wins. AstraZeneca said it would list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange and move away from the current depositary receipts structure, with trading expected on February 2, 2026. Trading in fully listed stocks is generally more liquid than in ADRs, attracting more investors. The company will remain headquartered in the UK and listed in London and Stockholm, with the plan subject to a shareholders’ vote on November 3. Its London-listed shares rose roughly 1% on Monday, taking the company’s gains for the year to about 6%. They have underperformed domestic rival GSK, which is up 13.6%, and the UK’s broader, blue-chip FTSE 100 index which has gained 14.2%. Commitment to UK Nearly 22% of AstraZeneca’s shareholder base is from North America, its biggest, according to LSEG data, in line with other top UK-based blue-chip companies. Iain Pyle at Aberdeen Group, a shareholder, said the main takeaway from the announcement was AstraZeneca’s “re-commitment” to the primary listing in the UK. “From our point of view, (AstraZeneca) remains an attractive investment on a fundamental basis, with a broad pipeline still undervalued by the market – the listing location doesn’t alter that view.” AstraZeneca Chair Michel Demare said the proposed “harmonised listing structure” would support the company’s long-term growth strategy. “Enabling a global listing structure will allow us to reach a broader mix of global investors,” he said. A spokesperson for Britain’s Treasury welcomed AstraZeneca retaining its London listing, while the London Stock Exchange said that there would be no change to the drugmaker’s place on the FTSE 100 following the switch. Peel Hunt analysts viewed AstraZeneca’s plans to stay in the UK as positive in the short term, but cautioned that U.S. success might prompt others to follow suit. U.S. investment and visibility Over the past decade, the FTSE 100 has severely underperformed U.S. markets, gaining only 53% while the S&P 500 more than tripled in value. Wall Street indices, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite, hit multiple record highs this month, broadening the market’s appeal. Companies are also ramping up U.S. investments to avoid hefty tariffs threatened by President Donald The President’s administration. AstraZeneca has pledged to invest $50 billion by 2030 in manufacturing in the U.S., its biggest market by sales. It has also said it will cut some direct-to-patient U.S. drug prices as drugmakers face pressure from the The President administration to reduce prices. The U.S. market remains pivotal for AstraZeneca, accounting for more than 40% of revenue in 2024. The company is betting on its U.S. expansion and expected launches to reach $80 billion in annual revenue by 2030 and offset generic competition. Earlier this month, AstraZeneca paused a planned 200 million pound ($268.80 million) investment in its research site in Cambridge, England, the latest drugmaker to pull back from the UK, citing a tough business environment. ($1 = 0.7440 pounds) —Pushkala Aripaka; Additional reporting by Maggie Fick, Josephine Mason, Sarah Young, Charlie Conchie, and Danilo Masoni, Reuters View the full article

UK carmaker plans to resume manufacturing this week following month-long shutdownView the full article

Rare joint statement with US Treasury seen as ‘green light’ for further currency intervention by Swiss central bankView the full article

In the absence of stronger federal regulation, some states have begun regulating apps that offer AI “therapy” as more people turn to artificial intelligence for mental health advice. But the laws, all passed this year, don’t fully address the fast-changing landscape of AI software development. And app developers, policymakers and mental health advocates say the resulting patchwork of state laws isn’t enough to protect users or hold the creators of harmful technology accountable. “The reality is millions of people are using these tools and they’re not going back,” said Karin Andrea Stephan, CEO and co-founder of the mental health chatbot app Earkick. ___ EDITOR’S NOTE — This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org. ___ The state laws take different approaches. Illinois and Nevada have banned the use of AI to treat mental health. Utah placed certain limits on therapy chatbots, including requiring them to protect users’ health information and to clearly disclose that the chatbot isn’t human. Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and California are also considering ways to regulate AI therapy. The impact on users varies. Some apps have blocked access in states with bans. Others say they’re making no changes as they wait for more legal clarity. And many of the laws don’t cover generic chatbots like ChatGPT, which are not explicitly marketed for therapy but are used by an untold number of people for it. Those bots have attracted lawsuits in horrific instances where users lost their grip on reality or took their own lives after interacting with them. Vaile Wright, who oversees health care innovation at the American Psychological Association, agreed that the apps could fill a need, noting a nationwide shortage of mental health providers, high costs for care, and uneven access for insured patients. Mental health chatbots that are rooted in science, created with expert input, and monitored by humans could change the landscape, Wright said. “This could be something that helps people before they get to crisis,” she said. “That’s not what’s on the commercial market currently.” That’s why federal regulation and oversight are needed, she said. Earlier this month, the Federal Trade Commission announced it was opening inquiries into seven AI chatbot companies — including the parent companies of Instagram and Facebook, Google, ChatGPT, Grok (the chatbot on X), Character.AI and Snapchat — on how they “measure, test and monitor potentially negative impacts of this technology on children and teens.” And the Food and Drug Administration is convening an advisory committee Nov. 6 to review generative AI-enabled mental health devices. Federal agencies could consider restrictions on how chatbots are marketed, limit addictive practices, require disclosures to users that they are not medical providers, require companies to track and report suicidal thoughts, and offer legal protections for people who report bad practices by companies, Wright said. Not all apps have blocked access From “companion apps” to “AI therapists” to “mental wellness” apps, AI’s use in mental health care is varied and hard to define, let alone write laws around. That has led to different regulatory approaches. Some states, for example, take aim at companion apps that are designed just for friendship, but don’t wade into mental health care. The laws in Illinois and Nevada ban products that claim to provide mental health treatment outright, threatening fines up to $10,000 in Illinois and $15,000 in Nevada. But even a single app can be tough to categorize. Earkick’s Stephan said there is still a lot that is “very muddy” about Illinois’ law, for example, and the company has not limited access there. Stephan and her team initially held off calling their chatbot, which looks like a cartoon panda, a therapist. But when users began using the word in reviews, they embraced the terminology so the app would show up in searches. Last week, they backed off using therapy and medical terms again. Earkick’s website described its chatbot as “Your empathetic AI counselor, equipped to support your mental health journey,” but now it’s a “chatbot for self care.” Still, “we’re not diagnosing,” Stephan maintained. Users can set up a “panic button” to call a trusted loved one if they are in crisis and the chatbot will “nudge” users to seek out a therapist if their mental health worsens. But it was never designed to be a suicide prevention app, Stephan said, and police would not be called if someone told the bot about thoughts of self-harm. Stephan said she’s happy that people are looking at AI with a critical eye, but worried about states’ ability to keep up with innovation. “The speed at which everything is evolving is massive,” she said. Other apps blocked access immediately. When Illinois users download the AI therapy app Ash, a message urges them to email their legislators, arguing “misguided legislation” has banned apps like Ash “while leaving unregulated chatbots it intended to regulate free to cause harm.” A spokesperson for Ash did not respond to multiple requests for an interview. Mario Treto Jr., secretary of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, said the goal was ultimately to make sure licensed therapists were the only ones doing therapy. “Therapy is more than just word exchanges,” Treto said. “It requires empathy, it requires clinical judgment, it requires ethical responsibility, none of which AI can truly replicate right now.” One chatbot company is trying to fully replicate therapy In March, a Dartmouth University-based team published the first known randomized clinical trial of a generative AI chatbot for mental health treatment. The goal was to have the chatbot, called Therabot, treat people diagnosed with anxiety, depression or eating disorders. It was trained on vignettes and transcripts written by the team to illustrate an evidence-based response. The study found users rated Therabot similar to a therapist and had meaningfully lower symptoms after eight weeks compared with people who didn’t use it. Every interaction was monitored by a human who intervened if the chatbot’s response was harmful or not evidence-based. Nicholas Jacobson, a clinical psychologist whose lab is leading the research, said the results showed early promise but that larger studies are needed to demonstrate whether Therabot works for large numbers of people. “The space is so dramatically new that I think the field needs to proceed with much greater caution that is happening right now,” he said. Many AI apps are optimized for engagement and are built to support everything users say, rather than challenging peoples’ thoughts the way therapists do. Many walk the line of companionship and therapy, blurring intimacy boundaries therapists ethically would not. Therabot’s team sought to avoid those issues. The app is still in testing and not widely available. But Jacobson worries about what strict bans will mean for developers taking a careful approach. He noted Illinois had no clear pathway to provide evidence that an app is safe and effective. “They want to protect folks, but the traditional system right now is really failing folks,” he said. “So, trying to stick with the status quo is really not the thing to do.” Regulators and advocates of the laws say they are open to changes. But today’s chatbots are not a solution to the mental health provider shortage, said Kyle Hillman, who lobbied for the bills in Illinois and Nevada through his affiliation with the National Association of Social Workers. “Not everybody who’s feeling sad needs a therapist,” he said. But for people with real mental health issues or suicidal thoughts, “telling them, ‘I know that there’s a workforce shortage but here’s a bot’ — that is such a privileged position.” ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. —Devi Shastri, Associated Press health writer View the full article

Do you suffer from time anxiety? Before you answer, consider if any of the following scenarios sound familiar: You get a late start, and the whole day you’re running behind. You always feel rushed, to the point that you start to get panicky. You look at your task list at the end of the day, and you’ve only finished half of what you planned. You constantly feel that time is slipping away. In other words, you’re constantly battling the feeling that there’s simply not enough time. But what if you could reframe the way you think about time? Well, you can. It involves learning a little ancient Greek, and getting to know that society’s approach to time. As you do, you’ll have an emotionally intelligent tool that allows you to see time through a different lens. I like to call this tool the “Kairos Rule.” What is the Kairos Rule? And how can it help you manage your emotions, reduce anxiety, and make the most of your time? To answer those questions, let’s take a lesson in ancient Greek. (Sign up here for my free email emotional intelligence course.) Chronos, Kairos, and the ancient Greek view of time In her book Tiny Experiments, neuroscientist Anne-Laure Le Cunff explains how the ancient Greeks had not one, but two words to speak of time: Chronos refers to quantity. This is the time of clocks and calendars, productivity tools, and linear goals. Then, there’s kairos. Kairos expresses the quality of time, as opposed to the quantity. It recognizes each moment as unique, rather than a fixed, mechanical unit. Le Cunff describes moments of kairos as those instances “suspended in time,” where you are caught up in a moment with loved ones, or when you’re deeply engaged in self-reflection. “Kairos,” she says, “is when you feel like this moment, right now, is perfect.” (Interestingly, the Japanese have a similar expression: Ichi-go ichi-e, or “once in a lifetime.”) The Kairos Rule, then, basically says this: Not all moments are created equal, and the value of time depends on the situation. The Kairos Rule is helpful because of the world we live in—a world that idolizes productivity, but the wrong kind of productivity. Toxic productivity “Nobody really wants to live a productive life,” writes Le Cunff in Tiny Experiments. “We want to express ourselves, connect with others, and explore the world. Productivity is just a means to those ends; it should certainly not come at the expense of actually living life.” Le Cunff argues somewhere along the way society’s ideas of productivity went bad, to the point where we downplay the meaning of rest, reflection, and meaningful engagement. “Each project needs a clear outcome,” writes Anne-Laure. “Conversations become transactional. So-called unproductive moments of playful curiosity and quiet contemplation where our most profound insights can arise are eliminated.” It’s this broken view that causes many today to measure productivity in the short term, versus looking at the big picture—which is why we see so much stress-related sickness and burnout, and so many mental health issues. In contrast, the Rule of Kairos encourages you to make the most of those “moments of playful curiosity” and “quiet contemplation.” It empowers you to prioritize and maximize the minutes, hours, and days with friends and loved ones. So, how can you use the Rule of Kairos to reframe the way you think about time? I recommend using the following questions: How much time am I taking for the things that really matter—like spending time with loved ones? Or taking time to reflect, recover, and recharge? Do I really need to get everything on my task list done? If I do, will it come at the expense of more important things? What changes can I make to use my time more wisely, with the big picture in mind? Remember: Not everything you do will feel productive. And that’s OK. Instead of focusing on productivity, strive to see the unseen. See the kairos moments. If you do, you’ll start to realize something important: You’re not running behind at all. In fact, you’re right on time. — By Justin Bariso This article originally appeared on Fast Company‘s sister publication, Inc. Inc. is the voice of the American entrepreneur. We inspire, inform, and document the most fascinating people in business: the risk-takers, the innovators, and the ultra-driven go-getters that represent the most dynamic force in the American economy. View the full article

I vividly remember the first time that I buckled my 8-year-old son into a 4,000 pound, AI powered robot, pressed a button, and sent us careening through the streets of San Francisco with no one behind the steering wheel. We were riding a Waymo, one of the first self-driving cars to offer public rides in selected U.S. cities, our own city of San Francisco included. After a few minutes of riding, I asked my son what he thought. “I feel . . .” he said, taking a long pause before responding, “. . . uncomfortable. But, it’s really cool!” I suspect he’s not alone in feeling that way. According to data from AAA, 61% of Americans consider themselves “afraid” to ride in a self-driving car, with only 13% saying that they fully trust the technology. Yet people are immensely fascinated by these AI-powered machines–and surprisingly inclined to use them. A study in the journal Science and Public Policy explored early public dialogue around self-driving vehicles, finding that “The investment and excitement surrounding self-driving vehicles are huge.” That’s borne out by real-world data. In cities like San Francisco that adopted self-driving tech, autonomous rides now account for over 25% of all rideshare trips, surpassing the market share of companies like Lyft. Waymo has nearly 1,000 self-driving cars cruising the city’s streets on any given day. I ride self-driving Waymo vehicles 2–3 times per week, and here’s what I can tell you: They’re surprisingly boring. And that’s their superpower. Summon the robots When I tell friends and colleagues from other cities about my Waymo habit, they usually assume that summoning a self-driving car requires some kind of high-tech, sci-fi-like process. Perhaps there’s a glowing pendant you hold up in the sky, or some kind of supercomputing device that the company secretly issues to its cabal of riders. Maybe there are incantations. In reality, the process of calling up a Waymo is almost exactly like booking an Uber or Lyft. Waymo has an app with a user interface that looks entirely cribbed from the apps of its human-driven competition. You specify your destination, enter a credit card, and watch as a little animated car slowly approaches you on a map. Except instead of meeting John in a Kia Optima with a 4.93 rating, your vehicle is an anonymous robot with a rapidly spinning laser scanner on top. When your Waymo arrives, it pulls to the side of the road, trying its best not to block traffic. As annoyed human drivers curse under their breath and assertively careen around you (just like with a real Uber!), you climb inside, buckle your seatbelt, and press a button on the dashboard. Its steering wheel spinning as if controlled by some benign, rideshare-giving poltergeist, your Waymo turns into traffic, and you’re off. During my first Waymo trip, I felt much like my son—nervous, excited, in awe of the tech. By my second Waymo ride, it was already starting to feel old-hat. Today, after more than a year of riding the cars all over San Francisco, it feels entirely normal. The fact that I’m being chauffeured around town by an AI-powered, laser-studded robot barely registers. What does register is the surprisingly delightful sensory experience of riding in one of these super high-tech cars—and the immense, almost subversive pleasure of being totally alone. No person, please Sartre famously said “Hell is other people.” He was talking about the existential angst of the human condition. But he could just as easily have been describing a bad Uber ride. As a professional news and travel photographer, I’ve taken a lot of Ubers. And while most drivers are great, I’ve had some truly bad experiences. I’ve had drivers who appear to be on substances, who ask me probing questions about my life (one demanded to know, point-blank, “How much do you make per year?” and was unwilling to accept a noncommittal answer without a dollar figure attached), and drivers who seem to believe my airport ride across the Bay Bridge is secretly a time trial on the Nuremberg ring. And I’m lucky—many experiences are far worse. Data from the Government Accountability Office shows that over 4,600 people were sexually assaulted in rideshare vehicles in 2019. At least 19 people were killed in rideshare-related assaults. Both drivers and riders are at risk. To be clear, the vast majority of traditional rideshare trips end well, and rideshare companies are doing more and more to keep people safe. Still, even if a trip isn’t outright dangerous, there are times where you simply don’t feel like sharing space with another person–smelling their cologne, breathing their air, and answering their questions about your life. Without a human driver, Waymos offer something that no rideshare vehicle can provide—solitude. As you cruise through your city in one of the company’s cars, you’re present in the world around you. Yet simultaneously, you’re totally alone. Relaxing spa music plays over the car’s speakers. The leather-wrapped seats are clean and cool to the touch (Waymo uses Jaguar I-Pace vehicles, a luxury electric SUV that retails for over $75,000). A map shows your surroundings and ride time, complete with cheerful icons representing cyclists, pedestrians and fellow drivers. It’s pleasant, almost meditative. And people appear to love it. Again, when given the choice between Waymo and traditional rideshare vehicles, San Franciscans are increasingly choosing Waymo–even though a study by the rideshare data company Obi shows Waymo rides cost up to $11 more. Why? As Obi’s Chief Revenue Officer told TechCrunch, they like being alone. Back to the future Self-driving car skeptics usually criticize the tech on safety grounds, or claim that it’s an overhyped, faddish technology that riders will try once and abandon. Most critics compare the tech to traditional rideshares. What they’re missing is the fact that riding in a self-driving car isn’t like a traditional rideshare at all. Indeed, the whiz-bang sci-fi coolness of the tech quickly becomes boring. It’s the unique solitude and independence of the experience—not the fancy AI tech—that makes it an entirely new way of traveling. As with public transit, you’re moving through your city without needing to directly move yourself. Yet on public transit, you’re always surrounded by other people. Here, you’re not. In a private car, you’re alone. But you can never direct your attention away from the road for long enough to truly notice and experience your surroundings. During a recent Waymo ride, I realized that the technology reminded me most of a far older piece of transportation tech—the horse. If you’ve ever ridden on horseback, you know that you can never truly control your horse—you can merely suggest to it where you’d like it to go, and trust that the horse—an autonomous entity capable of acting on its own–will decide to act on your suggestions. You also can’t crash a horse. If you direct your attention away from the task of riding—or even drop the reins entirely—your horse will keep right on following its path. It can sense the space around it, and wants to walk into a tree even less than you do. As a kid, I even remember riding on old rental horses that knew their trails and routines so well, they’d turn around and head back to the stable of their own accord when your 60 minutes of riding time was up. Riding a Waymo feels similar. You’re in charge to a degree, but ultimately you’re ceding the task of moving your body to an independent, non-human intelligence. You give up control, yes. But you gain something else—the ability to move through the world while fully experiencing it. Alone and freed from the task of directing your own movement, you can open the window and watch city life unfold around you in an almost cinematic way—or just close your eyes and truly tune out for a moment. The AI is the boring part If the AI powering your Waymo constantly made its presence known, it would distract from this experience. Instead, the fact that the AI tech quickly becomes mundane—unnoticable, even–facilitates this entirely new way of moving. Last month, I took another first-time rider on a Waymo trip; my Boomer-age mom. Seated behind the non-existent driver, my mom told me she quickly forgot we were riding in an AI robot. We could chat and catch up without another person eavesdropping on—or perhaps joining in—our conversation. It was a pleasant ride. Waymo’s AI facilitated the experience, but nothing about it felt especially high-tech or futuristic. Ultimately—beyond the economics, or the novelty, or the safety—that’s why self-driving cars will succeed. They’re a uniquely pleasant way to get around. Their technology is boring, fading into the background. And that’s what makes them great. View the full article

How decisions in construction and property oversight can reshape multifamily loan performance. View the full article

From volunteer trips to virtual costume parties, lenders are looking for new ways to boost employee wellness to keep their teams happy and healthy. View the full article

The pharma group may not be planning to up sticks. But it is putting the UK on noticeView the full article

Did you know you can customize Google to filter out garbage? Take these steps for better search results, including adding my work at Lifehacker as a preferred source. It's an exciting time to be an iPhone user. There's iOS 26, of course, which brings a number of major changes to the platform. For the daring, there's the iOS 26.1 beta, which continues to build upon the foundation of Apple's latest OS. If that weren't enough, however, it seems Apple is also working on yet another iPhone update—this time intended mostly to fix problems with the last one. The update, iOS 26.0.1, could drop any time in the coming days. These types of updates aren't necessarily unusual: Apple released iOS 18.0.1 three weeks after iOS 18 last year. The intention here is not to introduce new features or add changes; rather, you should notice bugs fixed and less instability. Per MacRumors, we may see four key bugs squashed with iOS 26.0.1. Those could include the following: A patch for a bug affected the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air's cameras A patch for a bug that causes wifi to disconnect and reconnect on the iPhone 17 series. Reportedly, this bug can also disconnect CarPlay in some cars. A patch for a bug that affects search in the Calendar app. A patch for a bug that stops some users from downloading Apple Intelligence models on the iPhone 17 series. This is not an exhaustive list by any means. We won't know exactly what Apple has planned for 26.0.1 until the update comes out. It's possible there will be other bugs patched here, as well as security updates not included in this list. You usually can tell how monumental an Apple update is by the numbers in its name: An update like iOS 26, a round number, indicates a major, one a year update; an update like iOS 26.1, with one decimal, denotes a minor update that still introduces new features; and an update like iOS 26.0.1, with two decimals, indicates a stability or security update. When Apple does release iOS 26.0.1, you can install it from Settings > General > Software Update. View the full article

New York City Mayor Eric Adams ended his struggling reelection campaign Sunday, an acknowledgment that he was no longer a credible contender after a year of scandal and political turmoil. In a video released on social media, Adams spoke proudly of his tenure as mayor. But he said his now-dismissed federal corruption case left voters wary of him, and “constant media speculation” about his future made it impossible to raise enough money to run a serious campaign. “Despite all we’ve achieved, I cannot continue my reelection campaign,” he said. Adams did not endorse any of the remaining candidates in the race, but he warned of “insidious forces” using local government to “advance divisive agendas.” “That is not change, that is chaos,” Adams said. “Instead, I urge New Yorkers to choose leaders not by what they promise, but by what they have delivered.” Adams’ capitulation could potentially provide a lift to the campaign of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a fellow centrist who portrayed himself as the only candidate able to beat the Democratic Party’s nominee, state Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani. It is unclear, though, whether enough Adams supporters will shift their allegiances to Cuomo to make a difference. Mamdani, 33, would be the city’s youngest and most liberal mayor in generations if elected. He beat Cuomo decisively in the Democratic primary by campaigning on a promise try to lower the cost of living in one of the world’s most expensive cities. Mamdani, Cuomo and Sliwa remain in the race In a statement after Adams’ announcement, Mamdani took aim at Cuomo, who is trying to make a political comeback after resigning the governor’s office after being accused of sexual harassment by multiple women. “New York deserves better than trading in one disgraced, corrupt politician for another. On November 4th, we are going to turn the page on the politics of big money and small ideas and deliver a government every New Yorker can be proud of,” Mamdani said. Cuomo, in a statement on social media, praised Adams for “putting the well-being of New York City ahead of personal ambition.” “We face destructive extremist forces that would devastate our city through incompetence or ignorance, but it is not too late to stop them,” Cuomo said. Republican Curtis Sliwa also remains in the race, though his candidacy has been undercut from within his own party; The President in a recent interview called him “not exactly prime time.” Rough showing in polls Speculation that Adams wouldn’t make it to Election Day has been rampant for a year. His campaign was severely wounded by both the bribery case and liberal anger over his warm relationship with President Donald The President. He skipped the Democratic primary and got on the ballot as an independent. Polls conducted in early September illustrated his challenges. One poll by The New York Times and Siena University and another by Quinnipiac University showed likely voters favoring Mamdani over Cuomo, with Sliwa and Adams trailing further behind. The Quinnipiac poll suggested the gap between Mamdani and Cuomo could narrow if Adams dropped out. The Times/Siena poll suggested that if both Adams and Sliwa withdrew, Mamdani’s advantage over Cuomo could shrink even further. Sliwa, though, has repeatedly insisted he will not quit. “Curtis Sliwa is the only candidate who can defeat Mamdani,” his spokesperson, Daniel Kurzyna, said Sunday. In recent weeks, The President administration intermediaries interested in blocking Mamdani’s path to victory by getting him into a one-on-one matchup with Cuomo had approached Adams to see if he could be coaxed out of the contest with an offer of a government job. Amid reports on those discussions, Adams called a news conference where he pledged to keep running and derided Cuomo and Mamdani as “spoiled brats.” Later, on social media, Adams called Cuomo “a liar and a snake.” Indictment overshadows progress Adams, 65, is the city’s second Black mayor. A former New York City police captain and Brooklyn borough president, he took office in 2022 promising to crack down on crime and revitalize a city still bouncing back from the coronavirus pandemic. On his signature issue, he succeeded. Crime rates that ticked upward after COVID-19 hit the city have fallen back to pre-pandemic levels, though it’s unclear how much that had to do with Adams’ policies. But scandals and corruption probes have crippled Adams’ chances at another term. Over a head-spinning period of weeks last year, his police commissioner, schools chancellor and several deputy mayors resigned following a series of federal raids on their homes. None have faced criminal charges. Then, in late September, federal prosecutors brought fraud and bribery charges accusing Adams of accepting illegal campaign contributions and steep travel discounts from a Turkish official and others, and in exchange later accelerating the opening of Turkey’s diplomatic building, among other favors. The President intervenes Adams denied wrongdoing and pledged to remain in office. He also began speaking warmly about The President, then seen as having a growing chance of regaining the White House. He defended The President in media briefings, urged his party to tone down rhetoric against the Republican and refrained from criticizing him. After The President won, Adams met with The President’s border czar, Thomas Homan. Then, in February, The President’s Justice Department ordered federal prosecutors in New York to drop the charges against Adams so the mayor could assist with the Republican president’s immigration agenda. The extraordinary intervention triggered fresh tumult in City Hall and the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office, with some of Adams’ closest allies suggesting he had struck a deal with the White House for his freedom. Adams announced he would skip the June Democratic primary but would stay in the race. In late August, Adams former top adviser — who served as a campaign volunteer — was hit with fresh bribery charges. Another former aide was removed from the campaign after handing a potato chip bag full of cash to a local reporter. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, who has endorsed Mamdani, said after Adams’ announcement that she has been proud to have worked with him for the past four years, adding in her statement that he leaves the city “better than he inherited it.” This story has been corrected to reflect that Adams said “New Yorkers should choose leaders” by what they have delivered, not “leaders should choose leaders” by what they have delivered. —Jake Offenhartz and Anthony Izaguirre, Associated Press View the full article

Pending sales of US existing homes rose in August to the highest level in five months, as falling mortgage rates gave a much-needed lift to the sluggish housing market. View the full article

Today (Monday, September 29) is National Coffee Day. To celebrate, many coffee shops and eateries are promoting discounts and freebies. Keep these National Coffee Day deals and freebies in mind when stopping to get your daily dose of caffeine. Bruegger’s Bagels Rewards members can get a free hot or iced coffee with a purchase when ordering in the app. Burger King Burger King Royal Perks rewards members can get a free medium iced coffee with a minimum purchase of $1 when ordering through the Burger King app. Members must activate the offer before placing an order. Caribou Coffee On September 29, receive a free medium hot or iced classic latte with a purchase of another beverage when ordering in-store or through the Caribou Coffee app. Dunkin’ Dunkin’ Rewards members can get a free medium coffee with hot or iced coffee with a purchase when ordering in the Dunkin’ app. Dutch Bros On September 29, customers who buy a “Drink More Coffee” hat in-store will get any drink of their choice for free. Einstein Bros. Bagels On September 29, Einstein Bros. Rewards members can get any size free hot or iced coffee with purchase when ordering in-app or online. Krispy Kreme The donut chain that loves to give things away for free is getting in on the action. On September 29, get a free medium hot or iced coffee and a free donut of your choice, with no purchase necessary. Paris Baguette PB rewards members can get a free medium hot or iced coffee with purchase through September 29. To join, download the Paris Baguette app. Pret a Manger On September 29, get a free 16 oz. Barista-made drink for free. Drink options include hot or iced coffees, lattes, cappuccinos, and more. Starbucks Through September 29, when purchasing a hot or iced brewed coffee of any size, Starbucks Rewards members will earn 100 bonus stars, which can be redeemed for a free hot or iced brewed coffee or tea, bakery item, or packaged snack. Members must activate the offer within the Starbucks app before placing their order. View the full article

Bad Bunny will bring his Latin trap and reggaeton swagger to the NFL’s biggest stage next year: The Grammy winner will headline the Apple Music Super Bowl halftime show in Northern California. The NFL, Apple Music and Roc Nation announced Sunday that Bad Bunny will lead the halftime festivities from Levi’s Stadium on Feb. 8 in Santa Clara, California. The Puerto Rican superstar’s selection comes amid another career-defining run: He’s fresh off a historic Puerto Rico residency this month that drew more than half a million fans and is leading all nominees at the Latin Grammys in November. He has become one of the world’s most streamed artists with albums such as “Un Verano Sin Ti,” an all-Spanish-language LP. Bad Bunny will host “Saturday Night Live” on Oct. 4. “What I’m feeling goes beyond myself,” Bad Bunny said in a statement. “It’s for those who came before me and ran countless yards so I could come in and score a touchdown… this is for my people, my culture, and our history. Ve y dile a tu abuela, que seremos el HALFTIME SHOW DEL SUPER BOWL.” Roc Nation founder Jay-Z said in a statement that what Bad Bunny has “done and continues to do for Puerto Rico is truly inspiring. We are honored to have him on the world’s biggest stage.” The 31-year-old artist born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio has won three Grammys and 12 Latin Grammys. He has become a global ambassador for Latin music, starred in films such as “Bullet Train,” “Caught Stealing” and “Happy Gilmore 2,” and collaborated with top fashion houses. He’ll enter the Latin Grammys as the leading nominee with 12, dethroning producer and songwriter Édgar Barrera. Roc Nation and Emmy-winning producer Jesse Collins will serve as co-executive producers of the halftime show. Hamish Hamilton will serve as director. “We know his dynamic performances, creative vision, and deep connection with fans will deliver the kind of unforgettable experience we’ve come to expect from this iconic cultural moment,” said Jon Barker, SVP of Global Event Production for the NFL. Last year, Kendrick Lamar shined with guest SZA in New Orleans, setting the record for the most-watched Super Bowl halftime show with 133.5 million viewers. His performance surpassed the audience for Michael Jackson’s 1993 show. “His music has not only broken records but has elevated Latin music to the center of pop-culture and we are thrilled to once again partner with the NFL and Roc Nation to deliver this historic performance to millions of fans worldwide,” said Oliver Schusser, the vice president of Apple Music and Beats. “We know this show will be unforgettable.” —Jonathan Landrum Jr., AP Entertainment Writer View the full article

US president boosts shares in sector by sharing video advocating medical use of hemp-derived cannabidiolView the full article

Uber’s latest announcement promises to revolutionize grocery shopping for families and small business owners alike, with improvements to its grocery delivery service via Uber Eats. Amid rising grocery prices, dubbed “veggie-flation,” Uber is stepping in to offer a solution. With new features rolling out, small business owners can expect tangible benefits while navigating potential challenges. Uber’s Fresh Days program stands out as a key feature, allowing customers to access substantial savings—up to 50% off—on a variety of fresh groceries including fruits, vegetables, meat, and dairy. For small business owners, particularly those in the food industry or hospitality sectors, this could mean more affordable supplies. Uber One members can leverage an exclusive 30% discount on Tuesdays for fresh produce, meats, dairy, and eggs, enhancing efficient inventory management by reducing costs. “Every week, Uber Eats customers can unlock Fresh Days—offering big savings,” said Susan Anderson, Global Head of Delivery at Uber. The program is currently available in several countries, including the U.S., Canada, and Spain, with ongoing expansion planned. By capitalizing on these savings, small retailers can manage tight budgets while ensuring quality offerings to their clientele. An exciting development is the integration of ALDI into Uber Eats, providing access to over 2,500 stores nationwide. This means small businesses can now source groceries more easily and inclusively, as ALDI is the first retailer on the platform to accept SNAP-EBT payments. This move not only broadens the grocery access but also aligns with the growing demand among consumers for inclusivity in shopping options. In terms of the shopping experience itself, Uber Eats has unveiled several features designed to enhance user satisfaction. Small business owners can customize their orders with replacement preferences. If an item is unavailable, users can choose how to replace it, with AI-powered suggestions tailored to individual preferences. The ability to edit orders in real time allows for seamless adjustments, ensuring small business owners can adapt as needed to maintain inventory without the hassle of returning unwanted items. Moreover, Uber Eats has introduced enhanced live order chat capabilities. This means shoppers can send photos of unavailable or subpar items, enabling real-time decision-making for refunds or substitutes. For a small business aiming to deliver the best to its customers, these features support quality assurance directly from the grocery delivery source. However, small business owners should also consider potential challenges that come with these enhancements. While the price reductions through Fresh Days are substantial, they could lead to variable supply availability. This fluctuation may complicate inventory planning for those depending solely on Uber Eats for grocery sourcing. There is also the need to stay updated on the frequent changes in the discount policies and offerings by Uber Eats to make informed purchasing decisions. The Fresh Guarantee policy adds an assurance of quality by allowing refunds for items deemed spoiled or substandard upon delivery. Though beneficial, it comes with specific requirements, such as the necessity to report issues within 48 hours and include photographic evidence. Small business owners would need to be diligent in managing this process to ensure they receive due compensation for any poor-quality goods. As Uber continues to innovate with technologies aimed at enriching the grocery experience, small business owners have a significant opportunity to benefit from enhanced savings and options. With adaptability and proactivity, they can leverage these deliveries to bolster their operations and meet customer expectations more effectively. For more detailed information and updates, read Uber’s full press release here. This article, "Uber Eats Launches Fresh Days Program for Discounted Grocery Delivery" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Uber’s latest announcement promises to revolutionize grocery shopping for families and small business owners alike, with improvements to its grocery delivery service via Uber Eats. Amid rising grocery prices, dubbed “veggie-flation,” Uber is stepping in to offer a solution. With new features rolling out, small business owners can expect tangible benefits while navigating potential challenges. Uber’s Fresh Days program stands out as a key feature, allowing customers to access substantial savings—up to 50% off—on a variety of fresh groceries including fruits, vegetables, meat, and dairy. For small business owners, particularly those in the food industry or hospitality sectors, this could mean more affordable supplies. Uber One members can leverage an exclusive 30% discount on Tuesdays for fresh produce, meats, dairy, and eggs, enhancing efficient inventory management by reducing costs. “Every week, Uber Eats customers can unlock Fresh Days—offering big savings,” said Susan Anderson, Global Head of Delivery at Uber. The program is currently available in several countries, including the U.S., Canada, and Spain, with ongoing expansion planned. By capitalizing on these savings, small retailers can manage tight budgets while ensuring quality offerings to their clientele. An exciting development is the integration of ALDI into Uber Eats, providing access to over 2,500 stores nationwide. This means small businesses can now source groceries more easily and inclusively, as ALDI is the first retailer on the platform to accept SNAP-EBT payments. This move not only broadens the grocery access but also aligns with the growing demand among consumers for inclusivity in shopping options. In terms of the shopping experience itself, Uber Eats has unveiled several features designed to enhance user satisfaction. Small business owners can customize their orders with replacement preferences. If an item is unavailable, users can choose how to replace it, with AI-powered suggestions tailored to individual preferences. The ability to edit orders in real time allows for seamless adjustments, ensuring small business owners can adapt as needed to maintain inventory without the hassle of returning unwanted items. Moreover, Uber Eats has introduced enhanced live order chat capabilities. This means shoppers can send photos of unavailable or subpar items, enabling real-time decision-making for refunds or substitutes. For a small business aiming to deliver the best to its customers, these features support quality assurance directly from the grocery delivery source. However, small business owners should also consider potential challenges that come with these enhancements. While the price reductions through Fresh Days are substantial, they could lead to variable supply availability. This fluctuation may complicate inventory planning for those depending solely on Uber Eats for grocery sourcing. There is also the need to stay updated on the frequent changes in the discount policies and offerings by Uber Eats to make informed purchasing decisions. The Fresh Guarantee policy adds an assurance of quality by allowing refunds for items deemed spoiled or substandard upon delivery. Though beneficial, it comes with specific requirements, such as the necessity to report issues within 48 hours and include photographic evidence. Small business owners would need to be diligent in managing this process to ensure they receive due compensation for any poor-quality goods. As Uber continues to innovate with technologies aimed at enriching the grocery experience, small business owners have a significant opportunity to benefit from enhanced savings and options. With adaptability and proactivity, they can leverage these deliveries to bolster their operations and meet customer expectations more effectively. For more detailed information and updates, read Uber’s full press release here. This article, "Uber Eats Launches Fresh Days Program for Discounted Grocery Delivery" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Democratic and Republican congressional leaders are heading to the White House for a meeting with President Donald The President on Monday in a late effort to avoid a government shutdown, but both sides have shown hardly any willingness to budge from their entrenched positions. If government funding legislation isn’t passed by Congress and signed by The President on Tuesday night, many government offices across the nation will be temporarily shuttered and nonexempt federal employees will be furloughed, adding to the strain on workers and the nation’s economy. Republicans are daring Democrats to vote against legislation that would keep government funding mostly at current levels, but Democrats have held firm. They’re using one of their few points of leverage to demand Congress take up legislation to extend health care benefits. “The meeting is a first step, but only a first step. We need a serious negotiation,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” The President has shown little interest in entertaining Democrats’ demands on healthcare, even as he agreed to hold a sit-down meeting Monday with Schumer, along with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, House Speaker Mike Johnson, and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries. The Republican president has said repeatedly he fully expects the government to enter a shutdown this week. “If it has to shut down, it’ll have to shut down,” The President said Friday. “But they’re the ones that are shutting down government.” The The President administration has tried to pressure Democratic lawmakers into backing away from their demands, warning that federal employees could be permanently laid off in a funding lapse. “Chuck Schumer said a few months ago that a government shutdown would be chaotic, harmful and painful. He’s right, and that’s why we shouldn’t do it,” Thune, a South Dakota Republican, said Sunday on “Meet the Press.” Still, Democrats argued The President’s agreement to hold a meeting shows he’s feeling the pressure to negotiate. They say that because Republicans control the White House and Congress, Americans will mostly blame them for any government shutdown. But to hold on to their negotiating leverage, Senate Democrats will likely have to vote against a bill to temporarily extend government funding on Tuesday, just hours before a shutdown — an uncomfortable position for a party that has long denounced shutdowns as pointless and destructive. The bill has already passed the Republican-controlled House and would keep the government funded for seven more weeks while Congress works on annual spending legislation. Any legislation to fund the government will need support from at least 60 senators. That means that at least eight Democrats would have to vote for the short-term funding bill, because Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky is expected to vote against it. During the last potential government shutdown in March, Schumer and nine other Democrats voted to break a filibuster and allow a Republican-led funding bill to advance to a final vote. The New York Democrat faced fierce backlash from many in his own party for that decision, with some even calling for him to step down as Democratic leader. This time, Schumer appears resolute. “We’re hearing from the American people that they need help on health care and as for these massive layoffs, guess what? Simple one-sentence answer: They’re doing it anyway,” he said. Democrats are pushing for an extension to Affordable Care Act tax credits that have subsidized health insurance for millions of people since the COVID-19 pandemic. The credits, which are designed to expand coverage for low- and middle-income people, are set to expire at the end of the year. Some Republicans are open to extending the tax credits but want changes. Thune said Sunday that the program is “desperately in need of reform” and Republicans want to address “waste, fraud and abuse.” He has pressed Democrats to vote for the funding bill and take up the debate on tax credits later. It remains to be seen whether the White House meeting will help or hurt the chances for a resolution. Negotiations between The President and Democratic congressional leaders have rarely gone well, and The President has had little contact with the opposing party during his second term. The most recent negotiation in August between Schumer and the president to speed the pace of Senate confirmation votes for administration officials ended with The President telling Schumer to “go to hell” in a social media post. The President also abruptly canceled a meeting that was planned with congressional leaders last week, calling Democrats’ demands “unserious and ridiculous.” Schumer argued that the White House coming back to reschedule a meeting for Monday showed that “they felt the heat.” —Stephen Groves and Mary Clare Jalonick, Associated Press View the full article

Wall Street pushed higher early Monday despite growing anxiety over a possible U.S. government shutdown later this week. Futures for the S&P 500 rose 0.5% before the bell, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4%. Nasdaq futures climbed 0.6%. Prospects for a last-minute compromise between Republicans and Democrats appear rather bleak, with government funding set to run out Wednesday. Such political impasses have had limited impact on the market before, though a shutdown could delay the release of government data that traders, economists and the Federal Reserve rely on for clues about how the U.S. economy is faring. The government is scheduled to release its comprehensive September jobs report on Friday. The Federal Reserve cut its benchmark lending rate earlier this month largely due to concern about a cooling labor market, though officials are still paying close attention to inflation, which has remained above the U.S. central bank’s 2% target. On Friday, stocks got some help from the report showing inflation in the United States accelerated to 2.7% last month from 2.6% in July, offering some hope that the Fed could continue cutting interest rates in order to give the economy a boost. One factor threatening to push inflation higher, adding to consumer woes, is President Donald The President’s tariffs, and he announced more late Thursday. They include taxes on imports of some pharmaceutical drugs, kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities, upholstered furniture and heavy trucks starting on Oct. 1. In equities trading Monday, shares of British pharmaceutical giant GSK rose 2.8% after the company announced CEO Emma Walmsley will step down Dec. 31 after more than eight years leading the London-based drugmaker. Luke Miels, currently GSK’s chief commercial officer, will replace the 56-year-old Walmsley, who was the first woman to lead a major pharmaceutical company. Shares of Electronic Arts jumped 5.7% after it agreed to go private in a $55 billion buyout. In Europe at midday, the CAC 40 in Paris rose 0.2%, while Britain’s FTSE picked up 0.4%. The German DAX was unchanged. In Asian trading, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 was the regional outlier, giving up 0.7% to 45,043.75. Chinese markets advanced, with the Hang Seng in Hong Kong adding 0.9% to 26,622.88, while the Shanghai Composite index gained 0.9% to 3,862.53. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.9% to 8,862.80, while the Kospi in South Korea surged 1.3% to 3,431.21. China factory data are due out on Tuesday and a quarterly business sentiment survey by the Bank of Japan comes on Wednesday. In energy trading early Monday, U.S. benchmark crude oil lost $1.29, nearly 2%, to $64.43 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, declined $1.25 to $67.97 per barrel. Reports that the OPEC plus oil producing nations might raise their production limits next month have added to worries over oversupply, analysts said. Gold rose 1.2% to a record $3,854.60 an ounce. —Elaine Kurtenbach and Matt Ott, AP Business Writers View the full article

I revisited my definition of strategy several years ago and realized recently that I hadn’t written about it—just presented it privately to executive teams in the context of my strategy work with them. I decided to rectify that oversight by writing this Playing to Win/Practitioner Insights (PTW/PI) piece on it called Revisiting my Definition of Strategy: Compelling Desired Customer Action. And as always, you can find all the previous PTW/PI here. Need for a DefinitionFor any field to develop, the terms used in the field must be defined. Otherwise, participants can’t discuss the field intelligently, and it is therefore hard for the field to advance. I experienced that phenomenon when I joined the founding board of the Skoll Foundation in 1999 (on which I served for 20 years). Its stated purpose was to invest in, connect, and champion social entrepreneurs, which sounded great. At my first board meeting, when we were reviewing candidates to receive the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship (which included $1M in funding for their organizations), I asked what I thought was an innocent question: OK, so what is a social entrepreneur? I was relatively taken aback by the multitude of answers I got. Generally, it boiled down to a vague notion of a person doing good for humanity—in an entrepreneurial kind of way. I asked if Mother Theresa was a social entrepreneur. No. Okay, how about Steve Jobs? No. How about Muhammad Yunus? Yes. In due course, I gave up and realized that we had a vague definition that provided little guidance as to what was in or out. I found the fuzziness unsatisfactory, so I worked hard with the brilliant founding Skoll CEO Sally Osberg to come up with a clear and actionable definition of social entrepreneurship to guide our field-building work. In due course, we wrote up our definition in a Stanford Social Innovation Review article called Social Entrepreneurship: The Case for Definition, which has gone on to be the most downloaded article in the history of that journal and the most cited article in social entrepreneurship. Its popularity demonstrated that people in the field needed a definition of the field to work productively in it. Need for a Strategy DefinitionDespite business strategy being a much older field than social entrepreneurship, it still suffers from a lack of consensus on a definition. I see every definition under the sun as I observe and practice strategy. The most common definition is a list of initiatives which the company plans to carry out—and is called a strategic plan. I am not fond of that definition, as I explain in my viral video (with just under six million views), A Plan is Not a Strategy. Another definition is an adjective connoting importance. So, strategic sourcing is more important than sourcing. Strategic HR is more important than HR, and so on. Yet another common definition of strategy is a dream – e.g., our strategy is to become the best life insurance company in the world. These, and many more definitions floating around out in the business world, are simply not helpful. A list of initiatives is just a list. An adjective is just a modifier of another word. And hope is, as my friend AG Lafley always says, is not a strategy. My Original DefinitionIn the mid-1990s, as I did a decade later with social entrepreneurship, I leaped into the breach to attempt to provide a useful definition that could guide the practice of strategy. I think I came up with my original defintion in 1995, but the earliest slide of mine that I could find with it is the one below from January 1998 (if you look at the lower-left footer). That served as my definition for a quarter-century. Funnily, I was prompted to look for the origin of this definition because I was recently asked to work alongside a consultant who parroted this exact, word-for-word definition of strategy in his presentation – without citing me as the source. This kind of thing happens frequently, so I was not terribly surprised. And the beneficial outcome of his plagiarism is that it gave me the impetus to write this piece. In any event, there are five important elements of my original definition. First, it is made up of choices – to do some things and not to do other things. You don’t have a strategy if it doesn’t identify what you are not going to do. Second, it is an integrated set. It is not a list. It is a set of choices that fit together and reinforce one another. At the same time as I was doing this work, I was helping Michael Porter with his landmark 1996 Harvard Business Review article, What is Strategy? It debuted the idea of the central importance of fit and reinforcement in strategy. Third, the set of choices positions the firm in its industry. This definition was designed to complement the five-question Strategy Choice Cascade, which I created contemporaneously, and this is a reference to the Where-to-Play choice. Fourth, the set of choices is designed to create sustainable advantage relative to competition, which is an obvious connection to the How-to-Win choice. Fifth is the payoff of doing the first four and that is superior financial returns, which are both the reward and the proof that choices accomplish the third and fourth elements. My New DefinitionI liked the definition a lot, which is why I kept using it for a quarter-century. But about three years ago, I started including a modified definition (shown at the head of the article) in the presentations I give to clients as I work them through exercises to create strategy. Elements Kept As is clear, I kept the first two elements exactly as they were in the old definition. Nothing changed in my thinking. These are both critical to a useful definition of strategy and counter to the conventional practice of what most executives and consultants call strategy. These many years later, strategy is still primarily a disconnected list of initiatives called a strategic plan. That is why integrated set and choices are so very important – and are still the opening elements of my definition. One aspect on which I have elaborated is the choice element. I have come up with what those working on strategy find to be a useful test for whether or not they have made a strategy choice. A strategy choice is one for which the opposite of the choice is not stupid on its face. For example, a choice to be customer-centric is not a strategy choice because the opposite – ignoring your customers – is stupid on its face and will result in abject failure. That doesn’t mean such a choice is not important. In fact, if the opposite is stupid on its face, then it is what I call an operating imperative – it is imperative that you make that choice. But choosing an operating imperative won’t generate advantage because it is so obvious that every competitor should – and will – choose to do it too. Elements Subtracted I removed the other three elements of my old definition and replaced them with one new element. I didn’t remove the third and fourth elements because I no longer believed they were relevant or appropriate. They – Where-to-Play and How-to-Win – are both still critical elements of strategy. But this definition is meant to accompany the Strategic Choice Cascade, and those specifics are covered precisely and thoroughly in it, so I don’t need either here in this definition – at least I don’t think so. However, for any practitioner using this set of tools, I would encourage you to link this definition directly and explicitly to the Strategy Choice Cascade. I could have continued to include superior financial returns in the new definition. But I didn’t because after using the original version for a long time, I wanted to simplify wherever possible. And it felt to me that this aspect is obvious. If a strategy produces crummy financial returns, it isn’t a strategy worth having. Plus, the added element below incorporates this financial aspect implicitly. Element Added Over the past decade or so, I have been thinking a lot about why I am so committed to strategy – especially when so many others (e.g. them and her) downplay its importance or even relevance. Companies have gotten so big, so rich, can’t they do anything they wish? What is wrong with just asking every business or function what it wants, assembling that list, then funding each initiative and calling that its ‘strategy?’ But so many big companies fail! Nearly once every two years of the 140-year existence of the Dow Jones 30, one of these 30 corporate giants gets kicked out of the index because it has fallen on hard times. It became clear to me that while they are big and powerful, and control lots of things, they don’t control everything. A company controls how many employees it hires, how much it pays them, how many factories/service operations it builds, how many dollars to spend on advertising, how much to invest in R&D, through which distribution channels to sell, and on and on. The lists of things companies control is exceedingly long. However, the one essential element over which the company has zero control is the customer. Customers can take whatever actions they please – unless the organization is a regulated monopoly like the Department of Motor Vehicles, which customers are forced to use if they want to drive a car. Normal customers can’t be forced to do anything. Companies can’t impose decisions on them. Hence, the task of strategy is to make choices in areas under the control of the company that together compel desired customer action. Generically, the desired action is for customers to buy enough of the company’s offering at sufficiently high prices to earn attractive returns over the short and long term. If many buy but are willing only at too low a price, that does not amount to desired customer action. If customers instead buy at the target price but there are too few of them, that is also a failed strategy. Quantity and price are both necessary aspects of customer action. Happily, since I am a Peter Drucker fan, this view of strategy is consistent with his view of the purpose of business – which is to create and keep a customer. (It is not completely clear that he actually included the and keep part of that definition, but I think it is logically implied). I see the purpose of the strategy that guides a company’s action is to compel potential customers to become customers – at prices and volumes that make the economics attractive. Practitioner InsightsA big enemy of strategy is fuzzy definitions that make the job of creating effective strategy harder than it really needs to be. Strategy can’t be anything you want it to be. You need to embrace and enforce a tight definition to assist you in creating a valuable strategy. My latest and tightest definition has three elements: choices, integrated set, and desired customer action. An essential feature of the choices is that the opposite of each choice is not stupid on its face. It is an integrated set if the choices across the five questions of the Strategy Choice Cascade fit with and reinforce one another. And the choices must be configured to compel the thing the company does not control, which is desired customer action. If you ensure that you are guided by those three elements of a tight definition, you will be able to create productive, winning strategies. View the full article

Are you old enough to remember talking to your friends on the phone all the time? A phone with a cord? Then welcome to the Out of Touch Adults’ Guide to Kid Culture, a guide to what's going down with all the youths out there. This week, the young 'uns are stealing each other's brainrots, guzzling heavy soda, (not) paying $500 for a rock, and being harassed by a rizzed-out robot. "Steal a Brainrot" If you know anyone under the age of 16, they are probably playing "Steal a Brainrot," and you are probably asking "Steal a what now?" so here's what it's all about: "Steal a Brainrot" is a multiplayer mini-game within maxi-games Roblox and Fortnite. In a game of Brainrot, up to eight players share a server, and each has their own base. The object of the game is to buy brainrots for your base and/or steal brainrots from other players' bases, while defending your own brainrots from thieves. Steal enough brainrots and you become more powerful and can make your base more defensible. The brainrots themselves are objects meant to reference "Italian brainrot," i.e.: low-quality internet memes. They vary in value and have vaguely Italian names, but they aren't based on actual brainrot memes. "Steal a Brainrot" is insanely popular, boasting a concurrent player count of over 20 million people, so you're probably asking, "Who is getting rich from this (and why isn't it me?)." The answer: Two groups are making most of the dough. The first is the game's developers, SpyderSammy and DoBig Studios, who get a cut of all the micro-transactions within "Steal a Brainrot" (players can spend real money for in-game items). The other beneficiary of all this brainrot is the Roblox Corporation, who provide the platform in exchange for the rest of the money from Brainrot micro-transactions. As for why it isn't you, it's because you don't have any good ideas. What is “heavy soda”?Unlike "heavy water," in which H2O's hydrogen atoms are replaced by deuterium atoms, heavy soda is pop with extra syrup—as hard as this is to believe, some people think Sprite and Mountain Dew just aren't sweet enough. Heavy soda comes from self-serve soda machines. Some, apparently, have a toggle to increase or decrease the amount of syrup in the resulting drinks, and many people on TikTok are great fans of the beverage that results from setting the machine on "maximum syrup." Sometimes called "dirty soda," heavy soda supposedly originated in gas stations on the Southern tip of Missouri. If your gas station drink machine looks like this: ... then you are probably at least 1,000 miles from a Whole Foods. But maybe not for long; thanks to boosters on TiKtok, heavy soda is spreading. Polaroid aesthetic making a comebackI've been messing around with Nano Banana, the image generator within Google's Gemini AI app, and so have the kids, but they're not using it for wrinkle-smoothing and paunch reduction. They're getting in touch with the 1970s aesthetic of the instant camera and creating Polaroid-style pictures of themselves with famous people, fictional characters, and everything else. One of the more popular variants of the trend involves combining a picture of your current self with your younger self, resulting in surreal-but-poignant videos like these: Making your own is easy: Install Gemini. Upload the current picture and older picture. Then write a prompt for Gemini like, "Generate a picture taken with a Polaroid camera, desaturated colors, with a camera flash as the single light source and a 1970s suburban tract house as a background." Are people really buying $1000 rocks from Anthropologie? A few weeks ago, TikTok user Phoebe Adams posted a video where she pranks her boyfriend by opening a box that contains a rock she said cost $150. "It's a special rock from Anthropologie," she explains to her angry boyfriend. "It’s gonna sit on our entryway table. It's a one-of-kind rock that they actually found on the ground," she adds. The video blew up and people started imitating it in videos like this: and this: But then things kicked up a notch when the real Anthropologie set up an actual rock display at a store so Phoebe could continue to gaslight her long-suffering boyfriend Dan: All of this leads to the question of whether this is a retailer cleverly taking advantage of an unexpected trend—or was the entire thing viral marketing from the beginning? I'm 50/50. Viral video of the week: RizzbotSpeaking of things that are probably guerrilla marketing campaigns, this week's viral video celebrity is Rizzbot. Formally known as “Jake the Rizzbot,” this four-foot-tall walking (and dancing) robot in a cowboy hat has been traveling all over the country for the past several months, rizzing people up with its robotic swagger and robotic Gen Z slang. Videos from the official Rizzbot channel has racked up hundreds of millions of views for videos like this, where Rizzbot goes off on a rando's fit: But Rizzbot can be a total jerk too and sometimes shouts obscenities at people for no reason: or promises a compliment only to deliver a roast, proving that no one should trust a clanker: Rizzbot is a decorated version of Unitree Robotics G1 "Humanoid Agent AI Avatar," a $16,000 robot that can joke around with people and sometimes keep from falling over. Despite appearances, Rizzbot is not acting autonomously. Someone is carefully controlling his every move and word, but we don't know who or why. The bot is most often seen in downtown Austin, and has some serious connections to the Texas Robotics lab at UT, though. View the full article

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has updated and expanded a food safety alert regarding possible Listeria contamination in several prepared pasta meal products. The extent of the outbreak is now known to have occurred in at least 15 states and has unfortunately resulted in multiple deaths. Here’s what you need to know. What’s happened? On Friday, the CDC issued a new alert along with an expanded list of prepared pasta meal products that may be contaminated with Listeria, a potentially deadly bacterium. According to an accompanying CDC tracking page, there have now been 20 cases of Listeria believed to be related to the outbreak. The first reported case happened back in August of 2024. An additional four cases, for a total of five for the year, were reported by that December. But in 2025, the number of cases for the year has so far tripled to 15, bringing the total number of those who have gotten sick from this outbreak to 20. The most recent confirmed sickness from the outbreak occurred on September 11. Of the 20 cases, the CDC says that 19 have resulted in hospitalizations. Unfortunately, four individuals have died due to consuming food linked to this outbreak. What products are included in the outbreak? A number of products have been associated with the Listeria outbreak. These products have been reported by both the CDC and the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). September 26: The CDC said the following product has been added: “FreshRealm held beef meatball marinara linguine meals” September 25: An FSIS notice said the following products were included: “Marketside Linguine With Beef Meatballs & Marinara Sauce” “Trader Joe’s Cajun Style Blackened Chicken Breast Fettucine Alfredo” June 2025: An FSIS notice said other ready-to-eat pasta meals were believed to be possibly contaminated with Listeria. Those included: “Marketside Grilled Chicken Alfredo With Fettuccine Tender Pasta With Creamy Alfredo Sauce, White Meat Chicken and Shaved Parmesan Cheese” “Marketside Grilled Chicken Alfredo With Fettuccine Tender Pasta With Creamy Alfredo Sauce, White Meat Chicken, Broccoli and Shaved Parmesan Cheese” “Home Chef Heat & Eat Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo with Pasta, Grilled White Meat Chicken, and Parmesan Cheese” All the products listed above have various sell-by dates and other marks listed in the notices that can help determine if the product in possession is one covered under a recall or alert. Where were the products sold? The products listed above were sold at various stores nationwide. Depending on the product, it could have been sold at: Kroger Walmart Trader Joe’s Some of the products may have expiration dates that have already passed, and may also no longer be on sale, yet they could remain in a person’s refrigerator. Where is the outbreak located? This Listeria outbreak has now spread to 15 states: California: 2 cases Florida: 1 case Illinois: 1 case Indiana: 1 case Louisiana: 2 cases Michigan: 2 cases Minnesota: 1 case Missouri: 1 case Nevada: 1 case North Carolina: 1 case Ohio: 1 case South Carolina: 1 case Texas: 3 cases Utah: 1 case Virginia: 1 case However, the CDC stresses that these are only the known cases and likely to not represent the full extent of the outbreak. “This outbreak may not have been limited to the states with known illnesses, and the true number of sick people is likely higher than the number reported,” the agency noted. What is Listeria and what are its symptoms? Listeria is a bacterium that can cause serious illness in individuals, according to the CDC. The agency says that about 1,250 people are infected with Listeria in America each year. Of those cases, about 172 die. Anyone can contract a Listeria infection, but the infection is particularly harmful for pregnant women, newborns, people with weakened immune systems, and those aged 65 or older. Symptoms of a Listeria infection can differ depending on whether an individual is pregnant or not and whether the illness is invasive (has spread to other body parts beyond the intestines) or not, according to the CDC. In pregnant individuals, invasive symptoms include fever and flu-like symptoms. In other individuals, invasive illness symptoms include the above plus headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, and seizures. Intestinal illness can include symptoms of diarrhea and vomiting. What should I do if I have the products included in the outbreak? You should not eat the affected food. The FSIS says the products should instead be thrown away or returned to their place of purchase. The CDC also has instructions on how to clean your refrigerator if it contains recalled food. Full details about the outbreak and the recalls can be found on the CDC’s notices here and here and the FSIS’s notices here and here. View the full article

Chancellor tells her party conference the government cannot ignore the bond marketView the full article