🗞️Starbucks employees strike

May 15th, 2025

What happened today 🇺🇸,

• Starbucks employees have gone on strike at 75 stores across the U.S. with more than 1,000 workers participating in the protests of the company’s new dress code for baristas…the new dress code, which went into effect on Monday, requires employees in the U.S. and Canada to wear a solid black shirt and khaki, black, or blue denim bottoms under their green apron

• UnitedHealth Group said they have not been notified by the Justice Department of the "supposed criminal investigation" reported by the WSJ…UnitedHealth said this was reported "without official attribution" and the WSJ's reporting is "deeply irresponsible”

• President Trump expressed confidence that the U.S. is very close to reaching a nuclear deal with Iran and that Iran has “sort of” agreed to the terms

• United Arab Emirates has said it will invest $1.4 trillion in the U.S. over the next 10 years primarily focused on AI, technology, and energy sectors

• Milwaukee County Circuit Judge, Hannah Dugan, pleaded not guilty to the charges of helping an undocumented immigrant evade U.S. immigration authorities and escape arrest

• Florida has officially become the second state in the country to ban fluoride from public drinking water

• Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the U.S., suffered a significant data breach…the incident involved cybercriminals bribing overseas support agents to steal sensitive customer data, Coinbase has started a $20 million reward fund for people to provide information that can help lead to the arrest of the criminals

• Dick’s Sporting Goods is set to acquire Foot Locker in a $2.4 billion deal that will maintain Foot Locker as a standalone brand, expanding Dick’s retail footprint internationally for the first time with Foot Locker’s 2,400 stores across 22 countries

• Gen Z college graduates expect to earn more than $100,000 at their first job even though on average that number is 68,000, per ZipRecruiter

• April PPI inflation came in at 2.4% year over year below the expectations of 2.5%, Core PPI inflation came in at 3.1% year over year which was in-line with expectations

• DOW up .65% / S&P up .41%

• Russia and Ukraine are set for their first direct peace talks since 2022 in Istanbul, Turkey but the process so far has been disappointing as Russian President Putin declined to attend and sent a lower-level delegation instead…now Ukrainian President Zelenskyy has also opted out and criticized the Russian team as not being decision makers…no breakthrough is expected to occur during the talks

Plus: A look at the top universities outside the U.S.

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Have a great night!

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