1.35 billion wings eaten is forecast
Nearly 1.35 billion chicken wings are projected to be eaten on Super Bowl Sunday, according to the National Chicken Council, up 1.5 percent from last year's game.
This year council spokesman Tom Super assured consumers that "there will be no wing shortage."
Average chicken wing prices slumped 28 percent from September to December, Bloomberg reported, compiling Department of Agriculture data. Average prices fell from $2.20 to $1.58 per pound.
Leading chicken producer Sanderson Farms reported lower than expected earnings in its fourth quarter, citing hurricane-related disruption and weakened chicken prices.
Increased meat production across the board has softened prices going into 2018, but this time of year often yields increased demand for chicken wings, "so those prices could be up," said Travis Justice, chief economist at the Arkansas Farm Bureau.
Tyson Foods declined to comment on its production or sales activity as wing prices dropped. The company's earnings report for the fiscal quarter ending Dec. 2017 is scheduled for Feb. 8.
-- Nathan Owens
YouTube readies government-funded tag
In another bid to quell criticism that its platform is overrun with misinformation, YouTube said Friday that it would start labeling news broadcasters' videos that receive at least some government or public funding.
The move comes a year after the Office of the Director of National Intelligence detailed how Russian state broadcaster RT racked up hundreds of millions of views on YouTube promoting Kremlin propaganda.
YouTube yanked RT from its list of premium channels marketed to advertisers in October amid growing congressional pressure. The Russian broadcaster, which produced a wealth of reports critical of Hillary Clinton and promoted the viewpoints of figures such as Julian Assange, was the first news organization to surpass 1 billion views on YouTube in 2013.
RT, along with other state broadcasters such as PBS and New China TV, will see notices directly below their videos, above their titles, YouTube said.
Links to the broadcasters' Wikipedia pages will also be included below their videos.
-- Los Angeles Times
Best Buy to tap tax cut, pay ranks bonus
NEW YORK -- Best Buy Co., the nation's largest consumer electronics retailer, says it will be handing out bonuses to more than 100,000 employees, joining a list of companies sharing a part of their windfall from the corporate tax reform law with employees.
The Minneapolis-based chain says that this month it will pay one-time bonuses of $1,000 to full-time workers and $500 to part-time employees.
Company spokesman Jeff Shelman said full-time salaried employees on a bonus plan will not get the extra funds.
Best Buy joins a list of others including Walmart Inc., Walt Disney Co. and Starbucks Corp., adopting measures such as giving out bonuses, enhancing maternity benefits and raising wages in the wake of the tax overhaul.
The Best Buy bonuses were first reported by the Star Tribune in Minneapolis.
-- The Associated Press
Altria workers getting tax-windfall share
RICHMOND, Va. -- Altria Group Inc., one of the world's largest tobacco- and cigarette-makers, is giving its employees a $3,000 bonus with a fraction of its windfall from the federal corporate tax cut.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports the one-time payout to 7,900 nonexecutive employees totals about $24 million. Altria posted a $10.3 billion profit for 2017, almost half of it in the fourth quarter as the company adjusted deferred taxes to benefit from the lower rate.
The Richmond-based corporation also announced plans Thursday to set aside $35 million over the next three years for donations to philanthropic programs, mostly centered on youth development and workforce preparedness, in communities where it operates.
-- The Associated Press
Oldest nuke plant in U.S. to close earlier
LACEY TOWNSHIP, N.J. -- The oldest active nuclear power plant in the United States will shut down in October in New Jersey, more than a year ahead of schedule.
Chicago-based Exelon Generation says the Oyster Creek plant in Lacey Township will close this fall. It had a deadline of Dec. 31, 2019, under an agreement with state authorities. The plant went on line Dec. 1, 1969.
The company says it is becoming too costly to operate the plant amid low power prices. In a release announcing the early shutdown, Exelon said the new timetable will help it "better manage resources as fuel and maintenance costs continue to rise amid historically low power prices."
Bryan Hanson, Exelon's president and chief nuclear officer, said the company will offer jobs to all 500 Oyster Creek workers elsewhere in the company.
-- The Associated Press
Business on 02/03/2018