What we’re reading (10/1)
“Auto Sales Are Idling As Prices Remain High” (Wall Street Journal). “High new-vehicle prices and borrowing costs are keeping some shoppers on the sidelines, pointing to what is expected to be another lackluster sales year for automakers. Industrywide third-quarter U.S. vehicle sales fell 1.9% compared with a year earlier, according to an estimate from research firm Wards Intelligence. Most major automakers reported results for the July-to-September period on Tuesday.”
“Nike Withdraws Guidance, Postpones Investor Day As It Gears Up For CEO Change” (CNBC). “Nike on Tuesday said it was withdrawing its full-year guidance and postponing its investor day as it gears up for a new CEO to take the helm. Last month, the company announced that CEO John Donahoe would be stepping down in October and replaced with longtime company veteran Elliott Hill, effective Oct. 14. Given the impending CEO change, the company has decided to withdraw its full-year guidance and intends to provide quarterly guidance for the balance of the year, executives said.”
“Apollo Just Set A Goal To Manage $1.2 Trillion In Private Loans By 2029. These 7 Slides Show How It Will Get There.” (Business Insider). “The biggest player in non-bank loans has set a massive new goal for itself: more than doubling its $562 billion private lending business to $1.2 trillion in five years. The trillion-dollar goal has become a high watermark for asset managers generally. Blackstone became the first private-equity firm to manage $1 trillion in assets last year, while KKR set its own trillion-dollar goal this year.”
“How Chicken Tenders Conquered America” (New York Times). “Despite their local fame, fried chicken tenders were almost unknown outside New Hampshire for at least a decade. That changed for good in the 1980s, when Burger King, jealous of the McNugget, introduced its own hand-held morsels of fried chicken. A $20 million advertising campaign for the chain’s new Chicken Tenders worked too well. When locations around the country ran out of chicken, Burger King had to pull the ads.”
“Private Equity Is Taking Your Calls” (The American Prospect). “Two firms control the market for telecommunications assistance for deaf people. They have extracted higher rates for this government-funded service, while denying workers a union.”
