1. SMUCKER'S FIRST QUARTER PROFITS UP 25 PERCENT
The J.M. Smucker Company — owner of the name-brand jelly, Jif peanut butter, Folgers, and other deliciousness — saw profits jump 25 percent in the first quarter, thanks to increased sales of coffee and consumer foods. Growth in Jif, Folgers, and Pillsbury frostings more than made up for decreases in its flour brands, Sara Lee food services, and Crisco. Smucker's profit of $130.3 million, or $1.22 a share, was up from $104.1 million, or 93 cents a share, for the same quarter a year earlier. [The Wall Street Journal]
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2. SODASTREAM SHARES SPIKE ON RUMOR
Shares of the Israeli beverage company Sodastream shot up 30 percent in pre-market trading after Israeli business site Calcalist reported that Pepsi offered to buy it for $2 billion. Pepsi CEO Indra Nooyi was quick to gun down the rumor, telling CNBC it was "totally and completely untrue." By the time markets opened in New York, gains for the morning were down to 4.5 percent. But gains for the year are still impressive: 54 percent year-to-date. [Forbes]
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3. WELLS FARGO SETTLES FORECLOSURE COMPLAINT
The National Fair Housing Alliance announced that Wells Fargo has agreed to pay $42 million to settle claims that it neglected maintenance and marketing on foreclosed homes in black and Latino neighborhoods. A year-long investigation found that homes in minority neighborhoods were more likely to have "broken windows, unkempt yards, or water damage" than homes in white neighborhoods. The neglected homes were less likely to sell at auction, so they remained abandoned, dragging down property values for the rest of the neighborhoods and attracting crime. [The Washington Post]
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4. AMAZON TAKES THE STAND IN E-BOOK CASE
On Wednesday, Russell Grandinetti, Amazon's VP of Kindle content, took the stand in the Apple e-book trial. Grandinetti testified that Amazon's contracts with publishers contained the same "most favored nation" agreements that the prosecution has criticized in Apple's contracts. "We made it very clear to the publishers," Grandinetti testified, "that we would not sign without price parity." [Fortune]
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5. GOVERNMENT GRANTED ACCESS TO ALL VERIZON RECORDS
A top secret court order issued in April allowed the National Security Agency to collect phone records from all Verizon customers, "indiscriminately and in bulk — regardless of whether they were suspected of wrongdoing," reported The Guardian. Information handed over includes location data, unique identifiers, and the time and duration of all calls. [The Guardian]
