On Amazon buying Whole Foods: 'The ramifications for all of retail are seismic'

For Amazon, Whole Foods is about so much more than selling groceries.

Auxiliary Lighting Makes Nighttime Fuel Deliveries Safer

MAC Liquid Tank Trailers has developed an auxiliary lighting system for gasoline trailers intended to improve safety during nighttime filling station deliveries. The Total Area Lighting Kit (TALK) provides bright white LED light strips above the discharge tube area and on the steps of the ladder to help drivers better see what they are doing in darkness.

The TALK system also includes two 8-foot-long light bars that swing out from stowed mounting positions along the body of the trailer. These have red LED on the front and back to provide a very obvious work-zone barrier to help keep cars from wandering into the area while the driver is unloading. White LED strips along the bottom of the bars light up the work area. There are strobe lights on the tips of the bars to provide additional awareness of the driver's work area.

MAC LTT President Jim Marion said the idea came from customers who were looking for solutions keep their drivers safe while they are unloading. "We had heard stories of drivers getting mugged and backed into while they were unloading at night," he explained. "We wanted to provide a way to make that work environment safer and better lit so drivers can better see what they are doing."

Because the TALK system uses only LED, the current draw will be minimal and won't compromise healthy batteries during the unloading process.

The TALK system is available on new trailers from MAC and Marion says it will also be available retrofit through the aftermarket.

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Economic Watch: Housing, Consumer Confidence Down as Industrial Production Stalls

Newly issued economic reports show housing starts in the U.S. declined for the third straight month in May, while consumer confidence slipped and industrial production was unchanged due to a drop in manufacturing.

Led by a drop multifamily production, nationwide housing starts fell 5.5% in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.09 million units, according to figures released Friday by the Commerce Department.

Multifamily starts fell 9.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 289,000 units, while single-family production edged down 3.9% to 794,000.

“After a strong start for single-family building this year, recent months have recorded softer readings,” said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz. “However, on a year-to-date basis, single-family starts are up 7.2% as builders add inventory to the market.”

Overall permit issuance in May was down 4.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.17 million units. Single-family permits inched down 1.9% to 779,000 units, while multifamily permits fell 10.4% to 389,000.

This came as a separate and preliminary report showed consumer confidence fell in June and is up only marginally compared to the same time a year ago, according to the University of Michigan Survey of Consumers.

The modest early June drop of 2.6 points in the Sentiment Index to 97.1 masks a much larger decline since June 8. Prior to then it averaged 97.7, but since June 8, the index fell to 86.7, a decline of 11 points.

While this date corresponds with former FBI Director James Comey's testimony over his firing, only a few consumers spontaneously referred to him or his testimony when asked to explain their views, according to Surveys of Consumers chief economist, Richard Curtin.

“Importantly, the decline was observed across all political parties, but the loss in confidence among self-identified Republicans since June 8 was larger than among Democrats, with Independents showing the greatest falloff,” ...Read the rest of this story

Pharmacies take a $10 billion hit as Amazon lands Whole Foods deal

Amazon is buying Whole Foods for $13.7 billion, and pharmacy stocks are feeling the heat...

Stocks dip as Amazon-Whole Foods deal hammers grocery stores

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are slightly lower Friday as Amazon's $13.4 billion deal for Whole Foods Market is sending grocery stores, big retailers, and food makers and distributors plunging. Amazon and Whole Foods are both climbing, and energy companies are rising as the price of oil moves higher.

Bison folk walk, eat and workout to the tune of $162 K

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