Most notably this month, Donald Trump has been elected the 47th president of the United States. This has drawn the prices of crypto up dramatically, with the stock market rising as well.

Elon Musk's outlined his ambitious plans for Tesla's RoboTaxis. Elon Musk plans to leverage advanced AI and supercomputing technology to analyze existing footage from Tesla's on the road. This will then be used for the cars to drive themselves. This approach is different from other company's like Waymo, which let the car drive and then make small tweaks to fix issues and improve the technology. I wrote more about these in an opinion piece you should check out for more context.

The Federal Reserve lowered interest rates this month by a quarter point today as inflation continues to ease, according to AP News. The Federal interest rate is now 4.50% to 4.75%.

Amazon has launched a new section on there website called Amazon Haul in order to compete with competitors like Temu and Shien (The Wall Street Journal). This section will focus on items $20 or less and purchases over $3 would be eligible for free returns within 15 days of delivery. The items are expected to take one to two weeks to deliver. This section will also only be available on the mobile version of the app.

McDonald's is investing 100 million dollars to aid struggling franchises, after an investigation into the onions on McDonald's quarter pounders was found to be the likely cause of an E.coli breakout, leading to at least 104 sickness cases and 34 people being hospitalized. This development led to a decrease in store sales, but the company has allocated 65 million to the hardest hit stores (AP News).

Spirit Airlines officially filed for Chapter 11, causing its stock to drop over 70% as of the time of writing. Faced with heightened competition and a staggering $3.6 billion in debt, Spirit was forced to seek bankruptcy and is now working to restructure in order to remain solvent. As part of the restructuring process, the company plans to delist from the New York Stock Exchange (The Wall Street Journal).

Walmart reported a 5.3% increase in U.S. comparable sales for the quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, driven by strong demand for groceries, home goods, and toys (The Wall Street Journal). The company raised its full-year sales and profit forecasts, with e-commerce sales up 27%, now accounting for 18% of global revenue. Profit grew due to fewer discounts, lower delivery costs, and increased advertising revenue. Walmart executives are watching potential policy changes under the incoming Trump administration, especially regarding tariffs, and have started importing products early to mitigate risks. Despite economic challenges, Walmart remains confident about the holiday season and raised its forecast for comparable sales growth to 4.8%–5.1% for the year.

Sources

Why Elon Musk’s Robotaxi Dreams Are Premature, www.wsj.com/business/autos/elon-musk-robotaxi-end-to-end-ai-plan-1827e2bd. Accessed 3 Nov. 2024.

Amazon Launches Haul to Sell Sub-$20 Products to Compete with Temu, Shein, www.wsj.com/business/retail/amazon-launches-haul-to-sell-sub-20-products-to-compete-with-temu-shein-7ee9b3b7. Accessed 13 Nov. 2024.

Kraft Heinz Pulls Lunchables from School Lunch Programs, www.wsj.com/business/retail/kraft-heinz-pulls-lunchables-from-school-lunch-programs-528b3ca6. Accessed 12 Nov. 2024.

Rugaber, Christopher. “Federal Reserve Cuts Its Key Interest Rate by a Quarter-Point amid Postelection Uncertainty.” AP News, AP News, 7 Nov. 2024, apnews.com/article/federal-reserve-election-inflation-trump-economy-prices-e6b837fd85cff5ad71d4e40939b97237.

Press, The Associated. “McDonald’s Is Investing $100 Million to Bring Customers Back after E. Coli Outbreak.” AP News, AP News, 16 Nov. 2024, apnews.com/article/mcdonalds-e-coli-investment-franchises-837b91490d833ed17c2a852baacb267e.

“Walmart Earnings: Holiday Shopping Is Off to a Strong Start.” The Wall Street Journal, www.wsj.com/business/retail/walmart-wmt-q3-earnings-report-2025-6bde10d3?mod=business_lead_story.

Spirit Airlines stock price tumbled by more than 70%, going from $3.40 on the 11th of November, to $0.78 on December 12th

Kraft Heinze's plan to integrate Lunchables into schools has now been paused as the company says they will no longer be offering the meals this year but aim to revisit the plan in the future (The Wall Street Journal). Kraft Heinze created new meals to meet the National School Lunch Program's nutritional standards and pitched the idea as a way for schools to save on labor costs. This idea was criticized by parents and child nutrition advocates about the effects of highly processed food on children. This failed initiative has reportedly set the company back 1.4 billion dollars and has come with negative publicity (SherwoodNews). The company has struggled with increasing revenue, leading to a faltering stock price, that is down 2% over the past 5 years.

This graph shows the Federal Funds Rate, which is the interest rate that banks charge each other to borrow money overnight. This rate has a significant influence in the borrowing costs across various financial products like mortgages, credit cards, and loans