SUCCESS

There have been more than 220 suspected deaths since the start of the Ebola outbreak.

The largest specialty apparel company in the U.S. has enjoyed success since it launched as a denim jeans retailer in 1969.Mid-1970s rock and roll radio commercials featured the successful Gap chain that sold Levi’s, vinyl records, and tapes (likely 8-track and cassettes) for young Americans.My memory from that era was the apparel chain’s radio jingle, “Fall into The Gap.”The Gap later launched its sister specialty apparel chain, Old Navy, in 1994, which was so popular that it was the first retailer to hit $1 billion in annual sales in less than four years after launching.Old Navy is still doing well, but sometimes it needs to close underperforming stores.

The Gap Inc. closes Old Navy stores in Pennsylvania and New York.Reuters Connect/USA Today

Old Navy closes Pennsylvania storeRetail giant The Gap Inc. will permanently close its Old Navy store in the Logan Valley Mall in Altoona, Pa., on June 23, according to WTAJ-TV.The retail chain did not give a specific reason for closing the store and did not reveal the number of employees affected by the closing.Customers can still visit its nearest Old Navy store in State College, Pa., the company said in a note posted outside the store.Queens store also closesThe closing of the Altoona store comes five months after The Gap closed its Old Navy store at 48th Street and Northern Boulevard in Queens, N.Y., with a similar notice on Jan. 22, Queen’s Gazette posted on Facebook.The retail chain also did not state a reason for closing the Queens store.The Gap Inc. operates 3,477 store locations under the Old Navy, Gap, Banana Republic, and Athleta brands in 35 countries.About 2,477 stores are company-operated units, with 1,241 Old Navy locations in the portfolio, according to a Gap statement on its earnings report.Disappointing seasonal dress businessWhile The Gap did not say why it closed the Pennsylvania and New York Old Navy stores, the specialty apparel store chain said it began the year with disappointing results from its seasonal women’s dress business, despite reporting a 1% increase in comp sales in its 2026 first quarter, during its earnings call on May 28.”Overall, results for Old Navy were primarily impacted by the women’s dress business, wherein reviewing the season, we did not execute as effectively, and as a result, customers did not respond to our assortment the way we had intended,” The Gap Inc. CEO Richard Dickson said in the earnings call.”Entering Q2, the seasonal women’s dress business continues to underperform our expectations, with weakness visible across the broader seasonal product assortment as well,” Dickson said.Chain refocuses strategyOld Navy refocused on sharper price points and stronger customer messaging to turn around the seasonal categories’ performance, Dickson said. The company saw some improvement in mid-May, is monitoring the progress, and continues to make adjustments.”While we are encouraged by the recent improvement, we also recognize that this level of performance does not reflect our full potential,” Dickson said. “There is a clear opportunity to do better. And we are working closely with the team to sharpen our focus and strengthen execution,” he said.Gap closes Oakland storeThe Gap Inc. will also close a store in its Gap chain when it shutters its location on Lakeshore Avenue in Oakland, Calif., in summer 2026 when its lease expires, according to KGO-TV.Gap did not state a specific reason for closing the store, which had operated for about 26 years. It also did not reveal the number of employees affected by the closing, but said workers will have the opportunity to transfer to nearby locations. Related: 47-year-old high-end steakhouse chain closes 80 locations

Money can’t buy happiness — and spending an exorbitant amount of money on an item you later regret can teach you that the hard way.
While making flashy purchases is understandably tempting, big-ticket items can drain your savings for long-term goals such as retirement. It can also lower the amount of money you have to spend on things that may become more important to you later in life, like traveling for quality time with your family and friends.

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Luxury purchases you may regret later
Here are three luxury purchases that will tempt you to swipe your card, but that you may regret down the road.
1. The fancy car
Expensive, high-end cars attract eyes on the road, but they also may not be worth the cost. A fancy car will require maintenance and repair costs just like an ordinary car, and if you focus on buying an expensive car with impressive features instead of features that will actually improve your driving experience — like fuel efficiency — you may not get what you need with the purchase. You might also have to pay more in insurance than you would with a less expensive car.
Remember that a car’s value depreciates significantly the moment you drive it out of the dealership. A used or less expensive vehicle can probably offer what you need with a smallr bite out of your budget.
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2. The too-big house
A house is the largest purchase many families will make, and it’s important to choose one that fits your needs and budget. While buying a mansion may be tempting, large homes are more expensive to maintain, take more time to clean and can come with higher property taxes.
Being efficient with the space you have can help a smaller, less-expensive home provide all you and your family need. A smaller house can come with a lot more financial flexibility, putting more money back in your pocket to pay for vacations and other wants.
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3. The expensive membership
Membership to exclusive country and yacht clubs are enticing, but they can also take a huge chunk out of your budget. And that’s not money you’ll get back later by selling, like you could with a house.
Before buying one of these memberships, consider how often you are likely to go to the club and whether the club has offerings you can’t get elsewhere at a lower price.
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How to avoid purchases you’ll regret
Focusing on experiences and traveling can be more rewarding — and more affordable — than the fancy car, large house and expensive memberships that may be out of your budget.
Before making a purchase you may regret, consider what you could buy instead with that money. For example, if you opt for a smaller, less expensive house, you may be able to afford to hire cleaners and lawn care. It’s also critical to consider what extra costs are coming with the purchase that you may not be considering, like taxes and insurance.

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“Friendliness alone is not a sufficient reason to trust someone with your finances.”

Reputation becomes Taylor Swift’s second album to spend 400 weeks on the Billboard 200. It joins 1989, which hit that number years ago.

As work crews put up a temporary arena on the White House grounds for a UFC event next month tied to America’s 250th anniversary, supporters and critics of the event are in agreement that its prime placement in front of an American icon is an unprecedented opportunity for a company.

Most people buy stocks the way they buy umbrellas. They want one when it is already raining and forget it the moment the sun comes out.The crowd chases what is hot and runs from what is cold, which is usually the opposite of what builds wealth over time.For about two years, one of America’s most familiar brands sat firmly in the cold pile. Customers griped about long waits and steep prices. Same-store sales kept shrinking. A new chief executive arrived from Chipotle (CMG) promising a fix that would take time, and Wall Street treated the stock like a patient nobody wanted to visit.The skeptics had a case. Coffee is a small luxury, and when shoppers feel squeezed, a six-dollar latte is an easy thing to cut. Investors who had ridden the name for years started to wonder whether the magic was gone for good.Then one of the loudest voices on Wall Street decided he was finished waiting. “Just go buy Starbucks already,” Jim Cramer wrote on X on Thursday, May 28. The five-word post from the “Mad Money” host was not subtle. It was a flat order to stop overthinking a stock he has held for years and start buying it.

Jim Cramer tells followers in a one-line post to stop waiting and buy Starbucks stocks.Photo by SOPA Images on Getty Images

What Cramer’s Starbucks call means for your moneyWhen I read that post, what struck me was the absence of hedging. Cramer usually wraps a buy call in caveats. This time, there were none.Cramer has reason to trust the man running the company. Brian Niccol turned around Chipotle after a food-safety crisis gutted the stock, and Cramer has pointed to that track record for months as a reason to stay patient rather than sell.More Restaurants 30 year old restaurant has closed all restaurantsAfter bankruptcy, Hooters closes restaurants, fights for survivalIconic Las Vegas Strip restaurant closes without warningThat matters because Starbucks (SBUX) is not some obscure ticker. It is one of the most widely held consumer stocks in America, tucked inside countless index funds, 401(k) plans, and retirement accounts. When a high-profile bull stops qualifying his enthusiasm, the people who own the stock without realizing it have a reason to pay attention.Cramer is not talking about this stock from the outside. His Charitable Trust counts the coffee chain among its holdings, according to CNBC, and he has spent recent months telling viewers the turnaround was real but slow. The shift in tone, from be patient to just buy it, is the actual news here.For a reader, the translation is simple. If you already own Starbucks, one of the market’s most quoted voices thinks the worst is behind it. If you do not, the easy money may already be gone.Related: Starbucks mounts comeback after costly backlashHow the Back to Starbucks turnaround changed the numbersA loud call means little without numbers behind it. The numbers have finally started cooperating.The fall was not a mystery. Years of pushing customers toward mobile ordering left stores understaffed and slow, and in China, cheaper rivals such as Luckin flooded the market. Niccol’s fix was almost old-fashioned. He put more workers back behind the counter and bet that faster service, not another app feature, would bring people back.In its fiscal first quarter, reported in late January, Starbucks said global comparable sales rose 4%, and U.S. transactions grew for the first time in eight quarters. Revenue climbed 6% to $9.9 billion. “We believe we’re ahead of schedule,” chief executive Brian Niccol said in a company statement.The momentum did not fade. When I pulled the company’s two most recent earnings releases, the trend was hard to argue with. In the fiscal second quarter, comparable sales jumped 6.2% and revenue rose 9% to $9.5 billion, and management raised its full-year guidance, according to a securities filing.The company also cleaned up its biggest overhang. Starbucks agreed to sell a 60% stake in its China business to Boyu Capital at a $4 billion enterprise value, reported Bloomberg, and the joint venture closed in April. Starbucks values the full China operation at more than $13 billion once its retained stake and future licensing fees are counted.Here is the timeline that turned the story around:Late 2024: Brian Niccol leaves Chipotle to become Starbucks chairman and chief executive and launches the Back to Starbucks plan.Fiscal first quarter 2026: Global comparable sales rise 4% and U.S. transactions grow for the first time in eight quarters, according to a company statement.Nov. 3, 2025: Starbucks agrees to sell a 60% stake in its China business to Boyu Capital at a $4 billion enterprise value, reported Bloomberg.Fiscal second quarter 2026: Comparable sales jump 6.2% and management raises full-year guidance, according to a securities filing.The stock has noticed. Starbucks traded near $102 in late May, up about 20% so far in 2026 and near the upper end of its 52-week range. Wall Street’s consensus leans toward a moderate buy, with an average price target only a few dollars above the current quote.What patient Starbucks investors should watch nextThe blunt call comes with a catch. At roughly 43 times forward earnings, Starbucks is priced like a company that has already won, even though the turnaround is maybe halfway done. Margins are still healing, and the average analyst sees only single-digit upside from here.Owners are at least paid to wait. The company still sends out a quarterly dividend yielding roughly 2.5%, which softens the sting if the recovery takes another year to fully show up.So the question for anyone weighing Cramer’s order is not whether the brand is back. It is whether the daily habit is back.The metric that broke first was transactions, the simple count of people walking in and buying something. That number is now growing again, and it is the one I would watch above the share price. A faster-moving line at your local store is the same data point that is moving the stock.That is the quiet payoff inside a five-word post. Cramer is not betting on a logo or a latte. He is betting that millions of small, boring, repeated purchases have started climbing again, and that the market has not fully priced what happens if they keep climbing into 2027.Related: Starbucks investors get tough-luck news on AI inventory bet

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The digital asset manager says Hyperliquid is emerging as a blockchain-based financial infrastructure platform with the potential to expand beyond crypto trading and challenge parts of traditional derivatives and exchange markets.

Costco does a lot of things right. The bulk savings, the treasure-hunt aisles, the rotating seasonal deals, and the consistently high-quality private-label products all help make it one of the best stores in all of retail. And the numbers back that up.During its most recent quarterly earnings report, Costco reported membership fee income of $1.37 billion. It also boasted a 92.2% membership renewal rate across the U.S. and Canada.But there’s one longstanding frustration that even the most devoted members quietly complain about — checkout. I should know. I’m one of them.I’ve been a Costco member for more than 20 years. And while I genuinely enjoy roaming the aisles and discovering new products I didn’t plan on buying, I’ve never enjoyed the final step of the trip. The checkout line at Costco can feel like a bottleneck that turns a quick run for essentials into a drawn-out wait.To make matters worse, I often shop during early store hours for Executive members, when the warehouse is supposed to be less crowded. In theory, that should mean faster trips. In practice, the checkout lanes can still feel understaffed during that window, creating long lines, even when the rest of the store is relatively calm. The result is the familiar Costco paradox of a great shopping experience followed by a frustrating exit experience. Thankfully, though, Costco is taking steps to fix that.Costco invests in technology to improve checkout speedCostco is increasingly leaning on technology to address one of its most persistent customer pain points: checkout congestion.During Costco’s third-quarter 2026 earnings call, CEO Ron Vachris highlighted that the company is actively seeing measurable improvements in checkout speed as a result of its investments.Related: Costco adds popular item to food court menu”As a result of our investments in technology… we are seeing a significant improvement in the speed of checkout,” Vachris said. “The enhancements we have made include improvements to the mobile wallet, the introduction of digital membership card with quick access on the Costco app, and the rollout of our shopping cart pre-scan tool internationally.”These upgrades may sound incremental, but together, they point to a broader strategic shift. Costco is slowly modernizing a traditionally low-tech shopping experience, where physical membership cards, paper receipts, and manual scanning have long defined the checkout process.The company has also been expanding its digital ecosystem more broadly. The Costco app now plays a larger role in the shopping experience. Mobile wallet integration is also crucial, as it shortens the checkout process. 

Costco aims to measurably improve checkout speed.Shutterstock

Why improving checkout is so important for CostcoCheckout speed isn’t just a convenience issue for Costco; it’s a loyalty issue. Warehouse clubs operate on a membership model, which means long-term customer relationships are key. In recent years, Walmart-owned Sam’s Club, Costco’s biggest competitor, has pushed aggressively on digital convenience.More Retail:Costco sees major shift in member behaviorRetail chain shuts all locations as legal changes hit industryCostco makes major investment in online shopping for membersSam’s Club has leaned heavily into scan-and-go technology through its app, allowing members to scan items as they shop and skip the traditional checkout line entirely. And not surprisingly, one in three Sam’s Club members uses that technology regularly, according to Grocery Dive.Sam’s Club has also expanded curbside pickup and delivery options. In fact, as I reported in April, Sam’s Club is now routinely delivering same-day orders in under an hour. Costco, meanwhile, has taken a more deliberate approach, prioritizing operational simplicity and in-warehouse efficiency over rapid digital transformation. Costco has also long relied on the strength of its Kirkland Signature brand to encourage member loyalty. And the company specifically has not invested in curbside pickup to encourage members to come into the store, shop, and walk away with unplanned purchases.But it’s clear that Costco recognizes it needs to do more. If checkout remains a pain point, Costco risks losing members. It’s that simple. Investing in a smoother checkout process is one of the smartest things Costco could do at a time when it’s abundantly clear that its biggest rival is stepping up its game.Maurie Backman owns shares of Costco.Related: Costco closure decisions to disappoint members