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Having a favorite item at Costco puts you at risk of being upset when that item goes away.

While the warehouse club does have some items it always stocks, like coffee, toothbrushes, paper towels, and breakfast cereal, the exact item you bought there last week may be gone from shelves just days later.

It’s part of the charm of the chain, but it can also be frustrating.

Costco rotates its merchandise and generally does not make any formal announcement when an item is being sold off and won’t be restocked. Some members, however, know to look for what many call the “Death Star,” or the star of death.

“When you stumble across a product you love, take a quick look at the shelf tag. If the large white price sign has a small asterisk in the upper-right corner, you’ve spotted what’s known as Costco’s ‘star of death,’” Food & Wine reported.

That tag has been spotted on a key Pepsi product that marked the brand’s entry into a whole new part of the soda market. It has not been confirmed by Costco, but the appearance of the fabled mark on the soda packaging suggests it’s being discontinued by the members-only shopping club.

Costco’s own employee orientation material says the asterisk indicates an item is pending deletion, recently discontinued, or inactive.

Coca-Cola and Pepsi both offer functional beverages

Sometimes called “functional beverages” or even “good for you” drinks, a new kind of soda has been growing in popularity, designed to be more than just a drink.

When Coca-Cola entered that space with its Simply Pop line in Feb. 2025, Fortune described the category as “an emerging but still niche category that analysts say has doubled in size over the past year but remains just 2% of the $42.4 billion U.S. soft drink market.”

“The size has more than doubled in the last year but remains relatively small,” Citi lead beverages analyst Filippo Falorni told Fortune.

While Coca-Cola has yet to introduce a functional version of any of its signature brands, Pepsi launched a prebiotic version of its namesake brand. The company described Pepsi Prebiotic Cola on its website, noting that it tastes like classic Pepsi.

“A balanced sweetness and bubbly carbonation highlight nostalgic cola notes, finishing clean and crisp. This category-defining prebiotic soda tastes like only Pepsi can and contains no artificial sweeteners, only 30 calories, 5g of sugar, and 3g of prebiotic fiber, offering people a prebiotic drink that blends functional ingredients with the best-tasting Pepsi flavor,” the company shared.

It comes in 12-ounce cans in both a classic and a Cherry Vanilla flavor.

Costco changes it merchandise regularly.Shutterstock

Costco appears to have dropped Pepsi Prebiotic Cola

Costco’s website shows Pepsi Prebiotic Cola as being out of stock in every warehouse I checked and not available for two-day delivery. I looked at stores all around Florida, as well as spot-checking my former zip codes in Massachusetts and Connecticut.

That follows social media reports of members finding the “Death Star” symbol on the remaining inventory of Pepsi Prebiotic Cola in their local stores.

SmashBrand shared a video on YouTube showing the soda boxes with the star of death/Death Star mark.

More Costco:

Costco keeps discontinuing popular products

Discontinued Costco member favorite returns to shelves

Costco’s new service beats Amazon at its own game

“When you see an asterisk in the upper right-hand corner of a Costco tag, that means it’s done. They’re moving through it. It’s not coming back. It’s going to be discontinued. And in fact, it’s discontinued now. It is not going to return. You’re out,” she shared. “I’m not so sure that mainstream America wants prebiotic cola.”

Pepsi’s Product Locator page does not show Costco as a place that sells the prebiotic flavors.

Discontinued may not mean forever

Costco does use the Death Star code on seasonal items it intends to bring back. There are other situations where this may not be the final end for Pepsi Prebiotic Cola at the warehouse club.

“That doesn’t mean that it’s always going to be discontinued forever,” said David Schwartz, co-author of “The Joy of Costco: A Treasure Hunt from A to Z,” in an interview with Delish. “That could mean that it’s gonna be given a rest for three months, and then come back.”

Schwartz, who wrote the book with his wife Susan, also suggested one tactic that could help the item make a return.

“Costco strongly considers what customers want, so the best way to ensure that your favorite snacks return to warehouse shelves is to let them know. The Schwartzes suggest stocking up on products with Death Stars so the inventory reflects the demand and indicates that it shouldn’t be retired permanently,” they added.

The warehouse club does listen to its members, according to RTM Nexus CEO Dominick Miserandino.

“Costco’s willingness to actively solicit member feedback is part of why its loyalty is so difficult for competitors to replicate,” he told TheStreet.

ALSO READ: Kroger shoppers stopped trusting one key part of the store

Face it, America. We are all each other’s BFFs.

‘Cause if misery loves company, we are not alone. 

The federal government’s own official U.S. Misery Index is ticking up as Main Street is getting ticked off by persistent price pressures. 

Yes, this is a real monthly economic indicator, calculated by adding a country’s annual unemployment rate to its inflation rate.

According to the U.S. Labor Department, the U.S. Misery Index is at a current level of 7.50, unchanged from 7.50 last month and up from 7.20 one year ago.

This is a change of 0.00% from last month but up a whopping 4.17% from one year ago.

“If you’re the average American household, you’re probably wondering, ‘What did I do to deserve this?’ ” RMS Chief Economist Joe Brusuelas told The Wall Street Journal. 

Ya got that right, Joe.

Even Dollar General sales are in distress mode, as my colleague Madison Troyer reported Sept. 4 .

Here’s what the Misery Index measures

The U.S. Misery Index can be used as a gauge at how the economy is doing. Because of the components, this indicator tends to be highest when inflation or unemployment increases.

For example, one of the most notable time periods with regard to high inflation was the 1980s. 

The U.S. Misery Index went as high as 21.98 in 1980 — no wonder we needed disco music and big hair.

TheStreet

Misery Index gauges inflation, jobs

The U.S. Misery Index was devised by noted economist Arthur Okun who served on President John F. Kennedy’s Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) and later led President Lyndon Johnson’s CEA.

The simple metric is designed to measure the economic well-being of the average citizen. It provides a quick, accessible snapshot of average financial discomfort. 

Higher scores indicate greater economic distress for everyday consumers.

Here’s the economic equation that’s easy enough for English majors to master: 

{Misery Index} = {Unemployment Rate} + {Annual Inflation Rate}.

Fed rate hikes, affordability and inflation

So these kitchen table challenges that we battle daily are being counted.

Plus, the buzzword “affordability” vibrating from our chapped lips is definitely sweeping political circles this midterm election year in all 50 states.

There was an audible groan in many homes and businesses when the Federal Reserve raised short-term borrowing costs on Sept. 11, thus impacting consumer loans like credit cards and student loans directly and indirectly, whacking Treasury yields, which influence those nearly 7% mortgages now on the books.

But the reason for the hike was to try to reduce some of these high prices inflating our lives.

It’s tricky, as I’ve reported, because:

The Fed’s dual mandate from Congress requires maximum employment and stable prices.

Lower interest rates support hiring but can fuel inflation. This risks fueling further inflation, potentially leading to an inflationary spiral.

Higher rates cool prices but can weaken the job market. This increases the cost of borrowing and further stifles economic activity.

Even without the recent tariffs from trade wars and the energy shocks from the Iran War, the underlying inflation concerning Fed policymakers took awhile to climb to current levels. 

Hence, it’s probably going to take a few more rate hikes to take effect, even as the stock market soars and corporate earnings are fat and happy with artificial intelligence dreams that hijack the financial headlines.

Wages lagging behind rising prices 

So, thanks to the U.S. Misery Index, we know it’s not just our raw emotions boiling over. 

We’re all becoming more unhappy if not a tad unhinged by higher prices as shown by the August Consumer Price Index for energy, groceries, airline tickets, cell phones, child care — well, everything. Plus a sack of kitty litter or bird seed. Even the price of food served at U.S. elementary and secondary schools has nearly doubled since August 2006. 

While the most recent U.S. jobs report remains stable at 4.1%, our wages are not keeping up with the costly demand to support ourselves and our families.

As my colleague Robert Powell, CFP(r), RMA(r)  pointed out to me Sept. 15,  wages are not keeping pace with prices, according to the Labor Department.

Labor share — the fraction of economic output that accrues to workers as compensation in exchange for their labor — in the nonfarm business sector was 52.8% in the second quarter of 2026, the lowest level ever recorded.

Related: Gas Prices are about to defy everything drivers expect

The labor share of income measures the percentage of economic output in the nonfarm business sector that flows to workers as compensation (wages, salaries, and employer-paid benefits) rather than to owners of capital (corporate profits, dividends, interest, and retained earnings).

The drop to 52.8% — the lowest reading on modern record — signals that the division between labor and capital has skewed further toward capital than at any point since data collection began in 1947.

Workers generally have a higher marginal propensity to consume (they spend a larger fraction of every dollar earned on immediate living expenses) compared to high-net-worth capital owners and corporations.

A declining share going to workers can dampen baseline consumer spending over time, creating a drag on domestic economic demand unless offset by increased household borrowing or capital expenditure.

Misery Index creates a big tent

For many working Americans, all of this means less money to save, less money to invest, less money period.

I’m still steaming over what I just paid to fill my aging Honda Fit’s tank and pick up some whitening toothpaste plus shelling out my remaining cash for a pound of fresh (because it’s low-cholesterol friendly) Atlantic salmon.

Yet now there’s economic proof that not only measures my shrinking personal financial status but puts a name on it, I feel a tad empowered knowing I’m counting my pennies next to you in a really, really big tent.

Maybe it’s time to cue the disco music.

Related: Dollar General has a plan to help customers find more deals

Most office workers know Slack as the app that never stops buzzing. It is where colleagues swap links, chase updates, and argue about lunch.

Salesforce (CRM) now wants that same app to do something far bigger. Slack has become a hub for communicating with AI agents over the past three months, said Alexa Vignone, the company’s president and chief revenue officer, according to CNBC.

Salesforce sells customer relationship management software, the systems sales and service teams use to track customers.

Its stock became a test case this year for whether AI destroys or feeds business software, a fear CNBC calls the SaaSpocalypse.

The headline from Dreamforce, the company’s annual conference, was a $63 billion revenue target for fiscal 2030. But that figure isn’t new. The Slack shift deserves more attention.

Related: Salesforce unveils AIforce as Benioff takes shot at Microsoft

Slack is the one front door Salesforce owns

Salesforce’s new AIforce layer lets customers use its data and workflows inside other tools, including Anthropic’s Claude and Slack. The company is deliberately placing its product in interfaces it does not control.

Slack is the exception. Salesforce paid $27.1 billion for it in 2021, according to CNBC. Its earnings release shows Slackbot users grew by more than 150% from the prior quarter, and Slack posted its fastest quarterly growth in new annual order value since the acquisition.

That matters because Claudeforce lets Claude access Salesforce data without a Salesforce screen. If workers stop opening Salesforce, Slack becomes the one place the company can still meet them.

The $63 billion target is a repeat, not a raise

Salesforce first set the goal in February, lifting it from more than $60 billion, CNBC reported. Analysts polled by LSEG expected $59.2 billion, according to CNBC, almost unchanged from $59.07 billion in February. Bloomberg shows a higher consensus of $61.4 billion, so the beat depends on who does the counting.

The target also includes an acquisition. The earnings release shows Informatica added $456 million to the latest quarter’s $11.3 billion in revenue. Without it, growth was roughly 6% instead of 11%, a calculation from Salesforce’s own figures.

Chief Financial and Operating Officer Robin Washington said in the release that organic revenue is on track to reaccelerate in the second half. This promise, not the $63 billion figure, is the real test.

Salesforce says Slackbot users grew more than 150% in a single quarter as Slack becomes a hub for AI agents, according to its latest earnings release.wdstock / Getty Images

Analysts stay bullish, but hold ratings are piling up

Shares closed at $250.54 on Wednesday, Sept. 16, up 67% from their June 22 low but still 5.4% below the start of the year, according to Bloomberg. They ended Friday, Sept. 18, at $237.92, about 5% lower.

The slide came despite a target that beat estimates, which suggests investors saw it as a repeat.

StockAnalysis.com, using S&P Global data, shows 56 analysts with a consensus Buy rating and an average price target of $275.87, about 16% above the Sept. 18 close. However, buy and strong buy ratings fell to 39 from 44 since April, while holds rose to 15 from 11.

Targets rose this week even as ratings split, StockAnalysis.com confirmed:

A $250 target at Wells Fargo, raised from $230, still carries only a Hold rating.

A $260 target at UBS, up from $240, also comes with a Hold.

A $295 target at Freedom Capital Markets, up from $230, arrives with a Buy.

Valuation has slipped, too. Salesforce’s market value was about $198 billion on Sept. 18, down 14% from a year earlier, according to StockAnalysis.com.

The share price is down only about 2%. Buybacks explain most of the gap, cutting the second quarter average share count to 820 million from 956 million, based on the earnings release.

Earnings carry a caveat. A $2.6 billion gain on Salesforce’s Anthropic stake added $2.53 to second-quarter adjusted earnings per share of $5.90, according to Salesforce’s release and CNBC.

Analysts expect $16.65 for the fiscal year, StockAnalysis.com confirmed, which puts the stock near 14 times earnings. Without this year’s investment gains, the multiple is closer to 17, a calculation based on Salesforce’s guidance.

Justifying a higher multiple depends on whether Salesforce can successfully monetize the massive volume of AI activity happening under the hood.

More Salesforce:

Salesforce unveils AIforce as Benioff takes shot at Microsoft

Salesforce CEO warns AI companies not to repeat this costly mistake

Salesforce just got the signal bulls were waiting for

Software vendors now compete on data, not screens

Salesforce now counts agentic work units, tasks completed by AI agents across Agentforce and Slack. Those reached 3.2 billion in the second quarter, up 97% from the first, according to the release.

The same release shows core apps, including Slack, grew 8% after adjusting for currency, while data and platform products grew 20%. Growth is faster in the data layer that feeds agents than in the apps workers see.

The first checkpoint comes in October, when Salesforce expects to settle a $25 billion share repurchase, the release noted.

CEO Marc Benioff told Dreamforce that the company will probably sell its Anthropic stake, bought for hundreds of millions of dollars and likely worth tens of billions, to pay off the related debt, CNBC reported.

Other software makers now face the choice Salesforce just made: give up the screen to protect the data.

Related: Salesforce CEO warns AI companies not to repeat this costly mistake

Lennar Corp. (LEN) is one of the largest home-building companies in the United States. Lennar’s earnings report for its fiscal third quarter, released on Sept. 16, showed the company missed revenue expectations. But the results say as much about the housing market as they do about Lennar.

In Q3 2026, Lennar’s year-over-year new orders fell 9%, deliveries dropped 3%, and it had a backlog of 16,857 homes valued at $6.3 billion, according to the SEC-filed earnings release.

How do these numbers affect homebuyers in the current housing market? Lennar Executive Chairman, CEO, and President Stuart Miller broke it down in the earnings call transcript obtained by StockAnalysis.

“Fewer families can afford to both produce a down payment and qualify for a mortgage,” Miller said. “As in many of our markets, almost 50% of our visitors cannot immediately qualify.”

Lennar says mortgage affordability is hurting demand

The United States has been experiencing a prolonged housing affordability problem, and high mortgage rates are adding to the pressure.

The average sales price of newly built homes sold in Q2 2026 was $502,700, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 6.95% as of Sept. 17, according to Freddie Mac data. That was a 19-basis-point jump from the week prior and the highest rate since January 2025.

More Housing Market:

Zillow predicts mortgage rate, housing market change

Fannie Mae predicts where home prices are headed next

Redfin finds major U.S. housing market change

With high home prices, potential homebuyers may need larger mortgage loans than a few years ago. And since mortgage rates are hovering near 7%, their monthly payments would also be higher. If they don’t have high enough salaries or cash reserves, they might not qualify for a mortgage.

Even if they do qualify, coming up with the cash for a down payment could prove difficult.

“Buyers are clearly stretching to try to afford the stability of a home, and of course, we are adjusting our price and incentives in order to enable them,” Stuart said.

Essentially, poor housing affordability leads to less home-buyer demand. To support demand, builders such as Lennar are using incentives and adjusting prices.

Lower demand also leads to fewer homes being sold and fewer deliveries from home-building companies. If those trends persist, they can take a toll on builders.

Weak demand could threaten future housing supply

The relationship between home-building companies’ low revenue and an unaffordable housing market creates a feedback loop.

Prolonged weak housing demand can continue to hurt earnings for companies like Lennar. If weaker demand eventually leads builders to reduce construction, that could limit future housing supply if demand later recovers.

Miller has said Lennar is intentionally cutting prices and offering buyer incentives to improve affordability. But that doesn’t mean builders can provide discounts forever.

Lennar’s Q3 2026 revenue missed the mark, partly because the company is lowering prices to help buyers afford homes.The Good Brigade / Getty Images

Zillow: Homebuilders are pulling back as demand softens

Actually, some homebuilders are already completing fewer construction projects and obtaining fewer building permits, according to Zillow research.

“In response to a softer market, homebuilders are pulling back,” economist Kenny Lee wrote for Zillow. “Single-family completions fell 10.4% from July to 816,000 SAAR in August — the lowest since February 2019.”

“Authorized single-family permits declined 1.8% to 878,000 SAAR,” Lee continued. “Recent declines in permits indicate completions will likely slow further.”

Zillow research also shows that the U.S. is experiencing a deficit of 4.7 million homes. And that’s just to meet current housing demand, not to mention any demand that builds up later.

If builders slow down construction efforts now, it could set the housing market up for a bigger shortage down the road, when demand picks back up. A persistent shortage of homes can put upward pressure on prices when demand starts to outpace supply.

Homebuyers struggle to qualify for and afford mortgages now, hurting homebuilders. If builders slow down because revenue cools, housing could become even less affordable down the road. It’s a vicious cycle.

Related: Zillow reports crucial housing market shift for buyers

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Why we love this deal

Cabinetry isn’t necessarily the first thing most people consider when moving into a new home, but maybe it should be. We could all use more storage space, no matter how much we may have. That’s why standalone storage cabinets have become so popular in recent years. Whether you opt for a wooden farmhouse pantry or a more modern metal cabinet will depend on your storage needs and personal style. We found a beautiful farmhouse model that’s currently on sale at Amazon, and it’s a deal you shouldn’t ignore.

The Walker Edison Cass Farmhouse Storage Cabinet is on sale for only $90. That’s 60% off the regular price of $225. If you want to add a storage cabinet to your home that’s not too big and not too small, then this Goldilocks option is ideal.

Walker Edison Cass Farmhouse Storage Cabinet, $90 (was $225) at Amazon

Courtesy of Amazon

Shop at Amazon

Why do shoppers love it?

This cabinet offers the best of both worlds. While it’s spacious, beautiful, and practical, it also won’t take up much space in your home. The overall dimensions of the piece are 30 inches long by 15.5 inches wide by 33 inches tall. That makes it the perfect size for almost any room in the home. It can be an overflow cookware cabinet in the kitchen, linen storage in the bathroom, or even a winter clothing wardrobe in the bedroom. There’s no limit to how this spacious cabinet can be used. On the inside, it has two adjustable and removable shelves, and the top drawer is, well, a top drawer.

Constructed of durable and relatively lightweight laminate, the surface of the cabinet has a woodgrain finish, allowing it to blend in with all sorts of design schemes. The deep walnut color is neutral but beautiful, and it’s easy to keep looking clean. You can wash it with basic soap and water, thanks to the waterproof construction. The two exterior barn doors give the cabinet dimension and depth that only adds to its visual appeal. Metal hinges and corner accents add a nice vintage look that makes it feel as if it had a history before ever arriving at your home.

The value of a cabinet like this one isn’t only in its size or aesthetics, but in its overall versatility and adaptability. Storage space that can be used in any room of the home, is fully waterproof, and has multiple adjustable and removable shelves typically can’t be found for less than $100. This piece has all that and more. Thanks to the current sale price, we might even recommend purchasing two and utilizing them as oversized nightstands for your bedroom. It’s a stealthy way to add extra storage space where it might never be suspected, hiding in plain sight.

Related: Walmart’s bestselling $200 farmhouse shoe cabinet is on sale for 47% off

Amazon shoppers raved about this convenient little cabinet. One called it “a very solid, well-constructed cabinet,” before adding, “The assembly instructions are very easy to follow.”

Shop more deals 

Vasagle Tall Storage Cabinet, $76 (was $90) at Amazon

Homleke Tall Storage Cabinet, $76 (was $80) at Amazon

Hawkrown Tall Storage Cabinet, $76 (was $90) at Amazon

If you’re looking for standalone cabinetry that can serve almost any purpose in your home, then the Walker Edison Cass Farmhouse Storage Cabinet is the perfect choice. It’s currently on sale for just $90, meaning you should put one in your cart ASAP if you want to get yours before they sell out.