Also egg prices are down, and McDonald's plans to beef up hiring
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Donald Trump went to Saudi Arabia yesterday along with the chief executives of major U.S. companies. Meanwhile McDonald's plans to beef up its hiring and egg prices are down!
President Donald Trump loves pageantry and to be the center of attention. That's a lesson not lost on Saudi Arabia.
Three Saudi jets accompanied Air Force One before it landed in Riyadh to mark the president's arrival. The Kingdom rolled out the red carpet (actually, purple) for Trump when he touched down and was greeted by Saudi leaders to much fanfare.
Trump said the Saudi government and companies based in the country would invest $600 billion in the United States. The Saudis said additional deals would bring the total up to $1 trillion. The details were vague but it gave Trump the opportunity to say he's dealmaking once again.
Saudi Arabia is looking to strengthen its economic and diplomatic ties with the United States after having a bumpy relationship with the Biden administration, which raised concerns about the Kingdom's human rights record. If Tuesday is any indication, the flattery the Saudis lavished on Trump is helping it achieve that goal.
"We are rocking: The United States is the hottest country, with the exception of your country," Trump said while pointing at Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during remarks at an investment conference that featured the president.
—Margaret Chadbourn
Some of the CEOs in Saudi Arabia for the investment conference:
Art Candee 🍿🥤 @ArtCandee
It's not just Elon Musk that went to meet MBS and the government in Saudi Arabia.
The CEOs of BlackRock, IBM, Amazon, Boeing, Google, Palantir, Halliburton, and more attended with Donald Trump.
Donald Trump froze the enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, so I'm sure
1:34 PM • May 13, 2025
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Rejoice, egg enthusiasts! Prices go down!
The long-awaited day of more affordable egg prices is finally here...well, sort of. According to recent data, the price for a dozen Grade-A eggs fell a miraculous 12.7% in April to a wallet-friendly $5.12. This is the first dip we've seen since October 2024, making this a landmark occasion for breakfast aficionados everywhere.
Don't not let an outrageous 79% year-over-year increase overshadow our celebration. After all, $5.12 is practically a steal compared to March's egg-stravagant $6.23 per dozen. Meanwhile bird flu has wiped out over 169 million birds in the U.S. since early 2022, so don't go counting your chickens thinking that the price downturn will continue.
Any time a bird gets sick, the entire flock is killed to help keep bird flu from spreading. In April alone, outbreaks on two farms in Ohio and South Dakota affected — or killed — more than 927,000 egg-laying hens.
Here's to a bright future where $5.12 feels like a bargain, I guess?
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McDonald's $MCD ( ▼ 1.04% ) — where the burgers are hot, the ice cream machines are broken, and now, where 375,000 new workers will soon have the privilege of earning for those five stars.
Yes, the Chicago-based burger empire announced plans to embark on its largest hiring spree in years. With over 13,500 restaurants already flipping patties across the country, the company is adding 900 more locations by 2027 because, obviously, it's what the world desperately needs.
U.S. Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer even joined the celebration, applauding McDonald's for "sparking a ripple effect of prosperity."
McDonald's also took time to boast about its Archways to Opportunity program, which offers tuition assistance and career services to its staff. It's given $240 million in tuition aid over the last decade alone.
This dramatic hiring spree comes amidst a slump, with U.S. same-store sales dropping 3.6% earlier this year — the largest decline since the early pandemic months. But it's all part of McDonald's optimism that hungry customers will soon come crawling back. Apparently, inflation and economic uncertainty related to the tariffs have caused even die-hard fans of the dollar menu to pause. But that's all over now, right?
Also, this:
Olga Nesterova @onestpress
Saudi Royal Court now has a mobile McDonald's serving Trump during his stay
Move over, cowhide and crocodile — there's a new contender in the leather game, and it's about 80 million years overdue for a comeback. Scientists have decided the best use of their groundbreaking protein-engineering skills is to create Tyrannosaurus rex leather.
"Lab-grown T-Rex leather" is the hot fashion trend you didn't know you needed. Forget sustainability or saving extinct species — now you can own a purse made from molecularly resurrected dinosaur skin.
The masterminds behind this venture, the Organoid Company and Lab-Grown Leather Ltd., promise that T-Rex leather is "eco-friendly" and "cruelty-free." While the leather doesn't actually contain any real dinosaur DNA (sorry, "Jurassic Park" fans), it's still "biomaterial inspired by prehistoric biology."
In other words, it's faux leather with a fancy science fiction marketing spin.
Of course, not everyone is roaring in approval. But hey, why let authenticity get in the way of selling "prehistoric" clutches at luxury prices?
Samsung $SSNLF ( ▼ 3.18% ) has taken the term "cutting-edge" to literal new heights — or rather, depths — with the launch of its slimmest flagship device ever, the Galaxy S25 Edge. Measuring an ultra-thin 5.8 millimeters, this sleek gadget is clearly designed to make us question whether we're holding a phone or a wafer. The appeal? To win over the elusive crowd of millennials and Gen-Zers who apparently want their smartphones as portable as their, okay, let's say their avocado toast. I can work a stereotype.
But let's not kid ourselves. This move screams "one step ahead of Apple $AAPL ( ▲ 1.02% ) ." With Cupertino expected to unveil a thinner iPhone later this year, Samsung seems determined to upstage them in the competition. Senior analysts confirm the timing of the release was strategically calculated to lure thin-tech enthusiasts before Apple could make its big play.
At a fat $1,099, the S25 Edge offers not just a slim design but the opportunity to go into debt for this thing.
Welcome to Newark Liberty International Airport: The place where delays are longer than your TSA line and cancellations are practically a sport. The FAA has officially proposed flight reductions at Newark because the airport "can't handle the current level of operations." Congestion, outdated infrastructure, and insufficient air traffic control staffing have turned Newark into the airline industry's version of rush-hour gridlock. I'm just glad I booked a flight out of there recently.
Following multiple telecom outages that disrupted Newark's air traffic control, the FAA is scrambling to fix the mess. They've relocated airspace control to Philadelphia — a decision that seems to have swapped one problem for another. "We are going to fix Newark," Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy vowed yesterday, comparing their outdated system to a "lemon" of a used car and blaming previous administrations for neglecting the problem. While finger-pointing might be entertaining, it's far from a quick fix.
Behold an emergency task force idea: The new proposal includes capping arrivals and departures at 28 per hour during construction on a Newark runway and limiting operations to 34 flights per hour through October. With major carriers like United Airlines scaling back flights and passengers enduring endless delays, chaos might be the only guarantee of a flight out of Newark for some time.
We asked whether you expect pharma companies to lower drug prices as a result of being asked to do so nicely, yesterday, by President Trump. You answered:
⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Oh, yes. Drug companies are renowned for lowering their drug prices when politicans ask them nicely without any legal authority. (19 votes)
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 No. This is not going to work. It's most likely just distraction from the fact that the president's colleagues want to cut Medicaid in the upcoming budget, and I ain't buying it. (617 votes)
⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Some other response which isn't quite one of the above. (85 votes)
721 total votes via @beehiiv polls
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