Walgreens’ weakness can continue during painful post-COVID recovery, analysts say
By Henry Ren Medill Reports Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. has traded near a seven-year low since executives said in early April that comparable sales started to decline due to the coronavirus pandemic, reflecting Wall Street’s concerns about the company’s post-shelter-in-place recovery in what is likely a recession. Walgreen’s comparable sales rose 26% in the first […]
Suburban Airbnb pivots to long-term renting after coronavirus hit
By Henry Ren Medill Reports Panic crept in as Airbnb host Samuel Szobody lost $48,000 worth of guest bookings in the two weeks that followed Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker announcing a statewide lockdown on March 20. “From April through June, all my calendars just went completely empty,” he said. Szobody manages nine Airbnb listings in […]
Travelers struggle to get refunds after canceling flights amid coronavirus pandemic
By Henry Ren Medill Reports Genie Schwartz canceled her late April flight from West Haven, Connecticut, to Wilmington, North Carolina, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged Connecticut residents to eliminate non-essential travels in late March. She then called American Airlines to refund her $400 airfare, only to be offered a travel voucher […]
From China to the US: Tracking 14 days in exile
By Henry Ren Medill Reports Two days after Xu Wu retrieved his passport in Shanghai, the Silicon Valley software engineer boarded a plane to Cancún after a 21-hour overnight layover at Frankfurt Airport. It was Feb. 18, just over two weeks after the Trump administration barred the entry of foreign citizens who had visited mainland […]
Zoom shares up 7% amid strong earnings and coronavirus concerns
By Henry Ren Medill Reports Shares of Zoom Video Communications Inc., the company known for its videoconferencing platform, soared 7% Thursday as concerns over the COVID-19 outbreak intensified and the company reported quarterly earnings that beat expectations. Backed by stronger demand for videoconferencing products as more companies and their employees work remotely, Zoom’s stock price […]
Illinois braces for potential coronavirus outbreak
By Henry Ren Medill Reports Illinois is preparing for a potential coronavirus outbreak after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned on Tuesday that some spread of the virus in the U.S. is expected. Coronavirus cases have been confirmed in 53 countries, infecting more than 6,000 people outside of China, according to the World […]
Research hub at Northwestern powers next-generation solar cell research
By Henry Ren Medill Reports Next-generation solar cells might power personal electronics such as watches and backpacks that could recharge your cell phone. These solar cells are being tested and prototyped in a research hub launched this year by the Institute for Sustainability and Energy at Northwestern University. The ISEN research hub, named Glovebox Inert […]
The Doomsday Clock sends a message: The world is closer to catastrophe than ever since World War II
By Henry Ren Medill Reports The hands of the Doomsday Clock moved to 100 seconds to midnight on Thursday, indicating that the world is closer to catastrophe than ever since The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists debuted the symbolic clock in 1947. The Bulletin announced the move to 100 seconds from a mere 2 minutes to […]
