Canada’s Canopy Growth said Thursday it will buy rival Supreme Cannabis for C$323.3 million ($256.85 million), as the world’s biggest cannabis producer bolsters its portfolio to tap surging demand. US-listed shares of Canopy rose 1.3 percent to $30.33 after it announced the cash-and-stock deal for Supreme, which owns pot brands including 7ACRES and Blissco. Easing … Read more
Tesla chief Elon Musk expressed support for COVID-19 vaccines despite previously raising questions about their safety and saying he wouldn’t get the jab himself. The world’s second-richest man tried to clear up his vaccine views on Twitter after drawing ire last month for his vocal skepticism about two-dose regimens. “To be clear, I do support … Read more
GameStop announced plans Thursday to make activist investor Ryan Cohen its chairman, a move that drew praise from Reddit traders and boosted its stock price. The Texas-based video-game retailer said its board of directors would elect Cohen — the Chewy.com founder who took a stake in GameStop last year — to the post following its … Read more
The number of workers seeking unemployment benefits stubbornly jumped again last week even amid hopes that the labor market was getting back on track, the feds said Thursday. Last week’s 744,000 initial jobless claims brought the total for the COVID-19 pandemic to about 79 million — a number more than triple the size of North … Read more
The IRS has finally delivered about $31 billion worth of COVID stimulus checks to federal benefit recipients who waited weeks for the money. People relying on Social Security and other federal programs received most of the more than 25 million payments in the fourth round of checks that went out this week, tax officials said. … Read more
The coronavirus pandemic has sparked a nationwide ketchup shortage that has restaurants scrambling to get ahold of America’s most popular condiment, a new report says. In especially short supply are ketchup packets, a hot commodity for eateries that have relied on takeout orders over the past year as COVID-19 crimped their dining room capacity, according … Read more
The cryptocurrency market’s total value climbed past $2 trillion for the first time this week as big-name corporations continued to embrace the digital assets. Cryptocurrency’s market capitalization crossed the milestone Monday evening before dropping to about $1.99 trillion late Tuesday morning, according to crypto data tracker CoinGecko.com. That puts cryptocurrencies on par with the value … Read more
Forbes’ annual world’s billionaires list includes a record-breaking 2,755 billionaires, with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos topping it for the fourth consecutive year, the media company said on Tuesday. The ranks of the ultra-wealthy are expanding after a year in which the coronavirus pandemic upended world economies and threatened the livelihoods of people across the globe. … Read more
A trade group claims New York City movie theaters may not survive the pandemic unless Gov. Andrew Cuomo lifts state restrictions on seating capacity. The National Association of Theater Owners said Tuesday it has been lobbying for New York City cinemas to be allowed to raise their capacity to 50 percent from the current 25 … Read more
Desk clerks are poised to become the latest coronavirus casualty at some Marriott hotels. The world’s biggest hotel chain said it is testing automated kiosks equipped with touch screens that can check in guests and spit out room keys, as well as giant vending machines it calls “grab-and-go marketplaces” that can dispense everything from coffee … Read more