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Kroger, Walmart, Trader Joe’s products recalled over Salmonella outbreak

Filed Under: SUCCESS, The Street

A food recall tied to a multistate Salmonella outbreak is hitting products sold at some of the country’s largest grocery chains.Taylor Farms is recalling dips, salsa, guacamole, sandwiches, and other prepared foods containing jalapeño peppers distributed to Walmart, Kroger, Target, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Hannaford, and Stop & Shop.The recall was announced after Coast Citrus Distributors recalled fresh jalapeños because of possible Salmonella contamination. Federal health officials have linked the peppers to an outbreak that has sickened 345 people in 27 states and hospitalized 36. No deaths have been reported.Taylor Fresh Foods said it is not aware of any illnesses specifically linked to its finished products.The recalled products were distributed to retail distribution centers in the following 26 states: AL, AR, FL, GA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, NE, NH, NY, OH, OK, SC, TN, TX, VT, WI, WV.They carry “Best If Used By” dates through August 16.Walmart, Kroger, and Target products recalledThe recall involves several store and private-label products.Kroger products include a Private Selection spicy roast beef sandwich, spicy Jarlsberg dip, and spicy pimento cheese dip.At Walmart, affected products include Freshness Guaranteed mild and spicy pico de gallo sold in several states.Target products include taco dip, mango pico de gallo, spicy guacamole, pico de gallo, and authentic guacamole.Trader Joe’s recalled its Fiesta Style Salad with Shrimp in Texas, while Whole Foods is affected through several salsa and pico de gallo products sold in Illinois and Texas.Hannaford and Stop & Shop are also affected by the following products: diced jalapeños, a rice-and-bean burrito, and pico de gallo salsa.Chipotle and fast-casual Mexican chain QDOBA also received jalapeños imported by Coast Citrus. Chipotle began switching suppliers at affected restaurants on July 20, while QDOBA stopped using the peppers on July 28. The FDA said neither chain is considered an ongoing risk after the products were removed.The fresh jalapeños at the center of the outbreak were distributed by Coast Citrus to wholesalers, restaurants, and food-service companies nationwide. The FDA said Coast Citrus does not appear to have supplied the peppers directly to grocery stores.Instead, retailers, including Walmart and Kroger, received downstream Taylor Fresh Foods products made with the recalled jalapeños.Look here at the complete FDA listing, which provides UPC codes, affected states, and best-by dates for each product.

Taylor Farms recalls finished products containing jalapeños. Smitt / Getty Images

Jalapeño outbreak linked to 345 illnessesFDA traceback identified a common grower in Sinaloa, Mexico, as the likely source of the outbreak.Taylor Fresh Foods has stopped sourcing products from the farmer and is filling orders from alternative suppliers.The outbreak has resulted in 345 illnesses across 27 states, including 36 hospitalizations so far.Illnesses began between June 19 and July 20.Of the 191 people interviewed during the investigation, 177 (93%) reported eating at a Mexican-style restaurant before becoming sick.The outbreak has also prompted the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service to issue a separate public health alert for certain meat and poultry products made with the affected jalapeños.The jalapeño recall follows another recent food-safety issue involving Taylor Farms.In July, TheStreet reported that Taylor Farms removed iceberg lettuce from its supply chain after federal investigators linked lettuce served at Taco Bell restaurants to a multistate Cyclospora outbreak.Consumers urged to throw away recalled productsTaylor Fresh Foods said consumers who have recalled products should discard them immediately and not eat them.Refunds are available at the location where the products were purchased.Salmonella infection can cause diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps, usually beginning 12 to 72 hours after exposure.Children younger than 5, older adults, and people with weakened immune systems face a greater risk of severe illness.The FDA said its outbreak investigation remains ongoing.Related: 24-year-old international barbecue chain closes all locations

Is SpaceX Worth More Than Earth? 

Filed Under: SUCCESS, The Street

How do you value the assets of about 8.3 billion people and a livable planet that is 4.54 billion years old – give or take 50 million years? The question came up in an Elon Musk tweet on July 9:“SpaceX will be worth more than the rest of Earth if we accomplish our goals.” – Elon MuskThe key here is the little word “if” attached to his “goals.” That sure is a big “if,” the biggest “if” of any company trying to talk about the future. I like the fact that SpaceX wants to turn humanity into an interplanetary species. I like the fact he’s taking the fiction out of “science fiction.” Among his goals, they want to build a city on the Moon and later on Mars. That is fine and dandy, but I think it will take a few years, maybe decades, and share prices are about discounting future cash flows. Those cities on the Moon and Mars are hard to discount, to put it mildly, as they certainly won’t happen within the next year or two.Related: Louis Navellier sees uncommon August rebound after Palantir blowoutThe leveraged ETF community has noticed keen investor interest in SpaceX and has listed five 2X leveraged bullish single-stock ETFs on the company, and one bearish-inverse ETF. I find the idea of single-stock 2X exchange-traded funds absurd. What type of “fund” would hold only one stock? And piling this 2X leverage on top of an already volatile security is only going to make it more volatile.Musk wants to generate $1 trillion in revenue by 2030. If anyone can do it, Elon Musk can. He divulged more of his plans for how he will achieve that goal in SpaceX’s first earnings call. And yet, the stock did not rally.Will SpaceX follow Tesla’s trajectory?Many point out Tesla’s (TSLA) spectacular growth after it became public in 2010, but few bothered to look up Tesla’s market cap at its IPO price – it was only $1.7 billion, while SpaceX’s debut price was 1,000+ times higher, at $1.75 trillion. Tesla grew dramatically since 2010, while SpaceX is already at a huge market cap.SpaceX’s lockup expired on August 6, and investors will get a better grip on what SpaceX is worth after the August-December period, and after we get even more details on Musk’s interplanetary exploration plans. But right now, SpaceX has declined about 50% from its highs and is not expected to be profitable until late 2027 or 2028.I am not anti-Elon Musk and realize that he made a lot of people, including himself, rich. However, Tesla has never scored well in my 8-factor fundamental model.My stock grading system rates Tesla as a D.

For more information about my grading system, click here. SpaceX will not be in Stock Grader until it has traded for 52 weeks, but I can tell you already that SpaceX already scores poorly in my 8-factor fundamental model. All the fuss on the SpaceX initial public offering (IPO) was about 21 Wall Street underwriters collecting record investment banking fees and not about a good investment. Whether SpaceX will be worth more than the rest of Earth is anyone’s guess, but for now, its valuation is pricing in a future that remains a very big “if.”Related: Bank of America doubles down on SpaceX after earnings

Here’s Exactly How Much Retirement Income You Need for 6 Lifestyles, From ‘Lean’ to ‘Ultra-Rich’

Filed Under: Money.com, SUCCESS

The “comfortable” retirement lifestyle most Americans dream of may require an annual income of at least $100,000 in a couple’s golden years. To secure the essentials with less, you’ll have to compromise, like by driving a used car, limiting dinners out to birthdays and taking infrequent (or budget) vacations.
Envisioning weeklong cruises, all the dining and entertainment your city has to offer and helping the grandkids pay for college? You will need more. Much more.

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While financial firms are constantly publishing reports about the “magic number” needed for retirement in terms of net worth, experts say it’s often a more useful exercise to work backward. First, ask yourself about the lifestyle you want in retirement, then calculate the income you will need to afford it.
“One thing I’ve learned after nearly three decades of financial planning is that retirement is less about net worth and more about sustainable income relative to lifestyle expectations,” says certified financial planner Scott Bishop, partner at Presidio Wealth Partners.
The happiest retirees are those whose lifestyle expectations and retirement incomes are aligned, he adds.
So let’s do the math.

The retirement income you need, by lifestyle
Money asked Bishop to share retirement income levels that bracket six lifestyle tiers. Together, we tried to answer a central question: For a married couple retiring today at age 67, what approximate income would be needed to live each retirement lifestyle (lean, secure, comfortable, affluent, luxury and ultra-rich)?
Retirement income is defined to include all sources of money coming in for a retired couple to spend, including Social Security benefits, investment withdrawals, pensions, annuities, et cetera. The incomes are pre-tax figures.
Lean: $40,000 to $65,000
Some households have modest aspirations for retirement — for example, to pay off their mortgage in a low-cost-of-living area and maintain one older used car. This sort of lean retirement can cost less than you would think.
The bottom of this retirement income band is roughly double the poverty line for a couple, while the top is around three times the federal poverty level.
Retirees in the lean tier often rely heavily on Social Security, Bishop says. The average monthly Social Security benefit for these folks is about $2,086, meaning a typical couple receives nearly $50,000 per year from Social Security before taxes.
To the extent travel fits into this budget, it’s not lavish. Picture occasional road trips to visit relatives or quick trips on inexpensive airlines.
“Basic needs can generally be met, but spending flexibility is limited,” he says. “Unexpected healthcare or family expenses can create stress.”
At incomes under $40,000 per year in retirement, couples tend to be in survival mode, meaning most of their income goes toward food and necessities with little left over.
Secure: $65,000 to $100,000
A secure retirement typically pairs Social Security benefits with withdrawals from savings accounts like 401(k)s and individual retirement accounts (IRAs). This level of income can open up retiring in a medium-cost area or spending more on everyday enjoyments.
Disciplined spending is still essential, but retirees at this level have more financial peace of mind than those in the lean tier.
“Most core expenses are covered comfortably,” Bishop says. “There may be room for hobbies, entertainment and modest gifts to children or grandchildren.”
A couple with this income can afford to dine out several times per month at casual or medium-priced restaurants and take one domestic vacation per year with flights and hotels.
Comfortable: $100,000 to $175,000
At this level, retirees start to unlock the type of retirement they pictured when they were younger, Bishop says. In a city like his home base of Houston, this income can afford a good home in a desirable suburb, a real travel budget and an emergency fund that provides breathing room in case of a costly home repair or vehicle failure.
A common rule of thumb is to aim to replace 75% to 80% of your working income for a comfortable retirement. When workers rise to the manager or low-end executive levels, as Bishop describes it, the challenge becomes figuring out how to maintain a substantial share of that income into retirement. Social Security and your employer’s 401(k) match alone probably won’t get you to the comfortable level.
The lifestyle gap between secure and comfortable can be significant, which is a reason to start saving early and consistently. At the comfortable level, for example, a couple may be able to replace an aging vehicle with a new one instead of used.
“That’s where you can go on a cruise with your spouse, you can go vacation with the kids, have a couple vacations a year. All of your needs are met; many of your wants are met,” Bishop says. “That’s really the sweet spot for a lot of people.”
Affluent: $175,000 to $350,000
Relatively few retirees achieve this retirement income, which usually requires a multimillion-dollar nest egg. A couple with this retirement income could be considered “rich,” though the inclusion of two tiers above it recognizes that there are levels within rich.
So what is affluent? Bishop says that at this level, “multiple homes, extensive travel, charitable giving, family assistance and significant discretionary spending become possible.”
More precisely, charitable giving in the range of $10,000 to $30,000 per year is realistic, and a couple can fly in premium seats to international destinations several times per year, he says.
Affording essentials isn’t a concern, and there’s more wiggle room if the economy or stock market takes a turn. But managing your money doesn’t become any less complicated — sometimes the opposite.
“Tax planning, withdrawal sequencing, Roth conversion strategies and account location begin playing a much larger role in preserving spending power,” Bishop says.

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Luxury: $350,000 to $750,000
A luxury retirement allows a couple to spend freely and enjoy many of the finer things — think sports cars, a vacation home by the beach and first-class travel. Others focus on goals such as philanthropy or estate planning.
“Retirement becomes driven more by choices than by budget constraints,” Bishop says.
Getting to this lifestyle requires more than showing up to work every day, saving what you can and budgeting well. It usually takes extraordinary career success — such as starting a business or becoming a senior executive — or some luck, whether that’s an inheritance or a remarkable investment.
Ultra-rich: $750,000+
This tier is roughly the 1%, and it means living almost however you want without financial worry.
Ultra-rich retirees can afford to think not only about how they want to enjoy their wealth but also about their legacies — and what sort of fortunes they’d like to leave for their descendants.
The ultra-rich are funding 529 plans — tax-advantaged college savings accounts — for young grandchildren, creating trusts and making annual-exclusion gifts to children, potentially up to the maximum of $19,000 for each donor, Bishop says.
With this much income, you can even make financial mistakes without losing sleep over them.
For example, “if you’re in the ultra-affluent [tier], whether you maximize Social Security or not is irrelevant — it’s like a road bump in your financial plan,” Bishop says.
How to get the retirement lifestyle you want
The retirement income needed to enjoy a given lifestyle is not the same for everyone. These bands are meant to serve as ballpark figures of what it would take to enjoy the retirement lifestyle you want.
Geography, housing costs, healthcare costs and tax rates will all factor into the math when you’re thinking about your own retirement.
“A couple living in Manhattan, San Francisco, Beverly Hills or other very high-cost municipalities may require substantially more income than a couple retiring in Texas, Tennessee, Florida or much of the Midwest,” Bishop explains.
Likewise, a couple retiring with an expensive mortgage payment or student loans is in a different boat than the one imagined in this story. Social Security taxes, property taxes and income taxes also vary widely by state.
Take the sums in this piece as a launching point for more personalized research, whether that means hiring a financial professional or chatting with a free AI tool. You’ll be on your way to the retirement you envision in no time.

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Intel’s CFO called his shot, but shareholders pay the price

Filed Under: SUCCESS, The Street

Intel Corp. (INTC) priced an upsized $20 billion stock offering at $95 a share on Tuesday, Aug. 11, raising $5 billion more than the $15 billion plan it announced just one trading day earlier.Wall Street treated this as breaking news. It wasn’t. Intel’s own finance chief told investors this could happen three weeks ago, and almost no one flagged it as a warning.On the company’s July 23 earnings call, chief financial officer David Zinsner said Intel held roughly $40 billion in liquidity but that further success might require more.He put it plainly: Intel “may need to tap the capital markets to drive some more investment,” according to a Benzinga report on the offering. Three weeks later, that’s exactly what happened.The math behind the dilutionIntel sold 210,526,315 new shares Tuesday, Aug. 11, according to a statement from the company. Against roughly 5.04 billion shares outstanding, that works out to about 4.2% dilution before underwriters exercise any option.Underwriters have a 30-day window to buy 31,578,947 more shares at the same price. If they take the full allotment, total dilution climbs toward 4.8%. Every existing shareholder now owns a slightly smaller slice of a company that just raised $19.7 billion in net proceeds.The stock priced at a discount, and it had already been fallingShares closed Monday, Aug. 10, at $97.52, down 4.06% on the day. The $95 offering price landed 2.6% below even that lower close, according to Reuters.Investors who bought Monday’s dip still paid more than the company charged institutional buyers a day later.Related: TSMC is quietly borrowing a page from Intel’s playbookThat gap matters more than it looks. It signals underwriters needed a real discount to move 210 million shares in a single session, even with Intel’s stock still up sharply this year.As of Monday, Intel had nearly tripled year to date, outperforming AMD, Nvidia and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index’s nearly 75% gain, according to Reuters.

Intel priced an upsized $20 billion stock offering at $95 a share, a level its CFO effectively signaled three weeks earlier on the July earnings call.CHENG YU-CHEN / Getty Images

Immediate spending on AI infrastructureIntel’s capital expenditures are projected to exceed $20 billion in 2026, driven by surging customer demand for AI computing power, according to a CNBC report.The stock sale essentially converts a paper rally into cash for the factories and packaging lines Intel needs to compete with TSMC.More Intel:5-star analyst aggressively resets Intel stock price target after earningsGoldman delivers a candid response after Intel’s stunning quarterIntel’s 14A chips aren’t built yet: Synopsys is already thereThis isn’t unique to Intel. Big tech capital spending on AI infrastructure is on pace to hit $765 billion this year and $1.2 trillion in 2027, according to Goldman Sachs estimates cited by CNBC.Companies with rising stock prices are increasingly using that currency to fund the buildout instead of taking on new debt.What this means for future AI fundingWhat separates Intel’s case is the paper trail. Zinsner told investors exactly what was coming, and the market still reacted like it was a surprise when the bill arrived.That gap between disclosure and reaction is worth watching at other AI-adjacent companies telegraphing similar plans on earnings calls.The next test comes when the 30-day underwriter option expires in September. If it’s exercised in full, dilution edges closer to 5%, and investors will find out whether Intel’s turnaround story is strong enough to absorb it.Related: Intel’s 14A chips aren’t built yet: Synopsys is already there

Walmart has $180 noise-canceling earbuds with a convenient sleep mode for 86% off

Filed Under: SUCCESS, The Street

TheStreet aims to feature only the best products and services. If you buy something via one of our links, we may earn a commission.Why we love this dealHeadphones used to be something that people used on occasion. Now, they’re often used multiple times a day, practically every day of the week. With that in mind, we think it’s important to find the right set of noise-canceling earbuds for your specific needs. At the moment, Walmart is selling a pair that has a pretty special feature, and we think it will speak to a lot of people. It’s also available at an impressive discount, so there’s good news all around!The Aptkdoe Noise-Canceling Sleep Earbuds are on sale for only $25, which is an unbelievable 86% off the original price of $180. If you were ever going to invest in a new pair of earbuds, this is definitely the time to do it. Aptkdoe Noise-Canceling Sleep Earbuds, $25 (was $180) at Walmart

Courtesy of Walmart

Shop at WalmartWhy do shoppers love it?While there are plenty of benefits to describe here, we think it’s best to start with the one that truly sets this product apart from the rest. Who among us hasn’t fallen asleep at least once with our earbuds in? Whether you’ve dozed off on a plane or have fallen asleep listening to your favorite music or podcasts, sleeping with earbuds in is far from rare. Most earbuds aren’t designed to handle this, leading to sore ears and drained batteries. Thanks to Walmart and Aptkdoe, these problems are no more. The noise-canceling sleep earbuds have a flat design that’s catered to those who sleep with their wireless headphones or earbuds. It allows you to lay your head flat, or rest it on a pillow if sitting upright and it won’t put undue pressure on your ear thanks to the low profile and lightweight construction. What’s more, they also have a sleep mode, which you can set with your personal specifications. It will turn off the audio when you set the timer, and it also disables the touch controls, so tossing and turning won’t skip a song or change the volume.While all of these features are fun, they say nothing of the sound quality. Luckily, there’s plenty to brag about in that department as well. The dual precision 13-millimeter drivers give you high-fidelity audio in a small but mighty package. The earbuds also offer a powerful low bass profile that creates a balanced sound to everything you listen to. They also have ENC noise-canceling capabilities, which is especially useful when making a phone call. The noise-canceling microphone weeds out unnecessary ambient sounds and ensures that whoever is on the other end of the line hears everything you say with crystal clear accuracy. Related: Walmart’s highly rated $179 pair of wireless earbuds is now 88% offDetails to knowDrivers: 13-millimeter precision drivers.Design: Low-profile sleep earbuds.Special modes: Sleep mode that turns off touch controls.Walmart shoppers were thrilled with these earbuds. One called them “totally awesome,” adding, “These totally exceeded my expectations, and I highly recommend them to anyone.”Shop more deals Xinwld Wireless Earbuds, $18 (was $60) at WalmartSupbs Open-Ear Earbuds, $23 (was $200) at WalmartIkt Noise-Canceling Headphones, $25 (was $200) at WalmartIf you want earbuds that fit like a dream, even when you’re dreaming, then the Aptkdoe Noise-Canceling Earbuds are a great buy. They’re only $25, which sounds absolutely amazing to us.