Biden and Trump get enough delegates: President Biden and Donald Trump both picked up enough delegates to their respective party conventions yesterday to secure their parties’ presidential nominations. If the Democrats again nominate Biden and the Republicans again nominate Trump at their conventions this summer it would be the first time since 1956 that there has been a rematch of presidential candidates. It was in 1956 that, for the second time, Democrat Adlai Stevenson faced Republican Dwight Eisenhower for the presidency. Eisenhower won both contests.
Putin on nukes: In an interview on Russian television today, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin again warned the world that his finger is on the nuclear trigger. Putin said that if Russia’s independence or sovereignty is threatened he would not hesitate to use nuclear weapons to defend the country. He also said that right now he sees no need to use tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine. He also said that he believes President Biden is smart enough not to escalate tensions to the point where a nuclear war could start.
Store closings: Dollar Tree announced plans this morning to close about 1,000 stores. About 600 of the stores using the Family Dollar brand are to be closed in the first half of 2024 and the remainder would be closed as their leases expire in the future. The company reported net sales for the 53 weeks ended February 3rd of this year totaled $30.5 billion with a loss of $881.8 million. The company reported same store sales under the Dollar Tree brand went up 6.3% compared with the previous fiscal year. The company’s Enterprise brand store sales went up 3% and Family Dollar brand sales went down 1.7%.
Drone strikes: Ukrainian drones have hit two Russian oil refineries, causing one of them to be shut down. Ukrainian drones also hit two Russian military air bases. Russian dictator Vladimir Putin accused the Ukrainians of trying to interfere with the upcoming Russian presidential election through the attacks. The Russians said that about 60 drones had been intercepted yesterday before they could hit their targets.
Music videos: The Sweden-based streaming service Spotify today announced that it is doing a beta test of music video feeds. The full-length music videos will be available to premium Spotify subscribers in 11 markets: the U.K., Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Brazil, Colombia, Philippines, Indonesia, and Kenya. The service will not immediately be available in the U.S. The number of music videos will be limited at first but Spotify says it plans to add many more artists to the playlist in the future.
Adidas loss: Adidas, the German sportswear company, has posted its first loss since 1992. The 2023 loss was $82 million on sales of $23.8 billion. The company’s CEO Bjorn Gulden said that the company has reduced its inventories everywhere but in the U.S. He said that 2023 ended better than what he had expected at the beginning of the year. Late in 2022, Adidas ended its dealings with rapper Kanye West, who now goes by the name Ye and found itself with a large inventory of Yeezy branded of footwear. West, who has embraced Donald Trump, had posted a series of antisemitic comments on social media.
