Good morning. Produce supplier Taylor Farms is stopping iceberg lettuce sales from central Mexico between May 1 and Aug. 31, starting next year, after a widespread cyclospora outbreak sickened thousands in the U.S., The Wall Street Journal's Jesse Newman reports in an exclusive.
The latest news about the health scare, which sickened 12,000 people and was linked to two deaths, is relevant for U.S. corporate leaders-and retail and restaurant companies, specifically.
I asked Jesse about the impact.
In response to the outbreak, Taylor Farms closed its regional processing facility, cut ties with a local grower and said it is indefinitely suspending lettuce sales to the U.S. and Canada during a key four-month period. What are the estimated financial costs?
The vast majority of Taylor Farms' lettuce is grown in the United States and Canada, so the suspension during peak cyclospora season is manageable, according to a company spokeswoman.
This is the latest twist for the U.S. produce industry, which was rocked by the cyclospora outbreak last summer. What measures is the Food and Drug Administration taking to boost confidence in the U.S. food supply chain?
The FDA unveiled a 10-part plan to mitigate and prevent future cyclospora outbreaks. The plan includes working with Mexico to expand food safety education and training in that country's produce industry and expanding lab capacity in Mexico to collect, analyze, and process cyclospora samples.
Further Reading:
-- How 10 Billion Pounds of Lettuce Travel From Farms to Dinner Plates
-- CDC Declares Cyclospora Outbreak Linked to Iceberg Lettuce as Over
What Else Matters to CFOs
The AI investment boom is serving as the primary driver behind a multiyear surge in global goods trade, pushing trade-to-GDP growth ratios toward levels last seen just before the 2008 financial crisis.
That's according to new forecasts released Thursday by the World Trade Organization. However, that expansion is being driven by a small number of economies, with significant parts of the world missing out, while trade in services is set to grow more slowly than previously expected as a result of the war between the U.S. and Iran.
The latest data: The Geneva-based body raised its growth forecast for the global trade in goods this year to 3.9% from 1.9%, and lifted its projection for next year to 4.1% from 2.6%. Following growth of 4.2% in 2025, if realized, those projections would leave volumes more than 12% higher in 2027 than they were in 2024.
Quotable: "Since the financial crisis, it has not been very common to grow like this over a three-year period," said Robert Staiger, the WTO's chief economist. "AI is very trade intensive, and the AI investment boom is bringing us back to a ratio of trade growth to GDP growth that is closer to what we used to have."
Meanwhile, Eurozone wages are not rising at a rate that would trigger inflation alarms, European Central Bank Chief Economist Philip Lane said Thursday.
The annual rate of inflation in the currency area rose to a three-year high in September, and investors expect the central bank to add to the two rate rises it has announced since June, the Journal's Paul Hannon reports.
But for policymakers, the key question is whether the rise in energy prices since the start of the U.S.-Iran war in late February will lead workers to secure larger pay rises, prompting businesses to raise their prices and extending the period in which inflation is above target.
The Day Ahead
Earnings
-- Delta Air Lines
Economic Indicators
The University of Michigan releases its Consumer Sentiment index for October.
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Media
Spotify has reupped with star podcaster Joe Rogan, securing licensing rights and ad sales for his show in a multiyear deal, the Journal's Anne Steele reports in an exclusive.
The renewal is for similar terms to Rogan's previous deal with the streaming service, which allowed "The Joe Rogan Experience" to be distributed broadly and for an estimated earnout of $250 million, according to people familiar with the matter.
"The partnership with Spotify has been an amazing fit, and they're incredible to work with," Rogan said. "I'm extremely happy and excited to continue with them for years to come."
-- Conservative Podcasters Can't Stop Talking About Affordability
Other headlines
-- Why the Battered Bond Market Is Finally Getting a Reprieve
-- Tanker Attacks Push Deeper Into Gulf, Rattle Oil Markets
-- For Walmart, Replacing Humans With Robots Is a Multibillion-Dollar Struggle
-- Vance Says U.S. Will Suspend Microsoft and Other Firms From Green Card Program
-- Volkswagen Fined $1.3 Million by German Financial Watchdog Over Forecast Disclosure
-- Scrapped IPO of Nvidia-Backed Company Points to Limits of AI Boom
-- Nvidia's Subtle Change to How It Counts Cash Flow Has Big Implications for Buybacks
-- SpaceX Makes Big Play to Become a Wireless Carrier
-- Arini, Hedge Fund Known for Bold Bets, Loses 16%
-- American Airlines Is the Worst for Bumping Passengers. Now It Says It Will Stop.
-- China Is Offering Half Measures to Its Mounting Economic Problems
Earnings wrap-up
-- American Oil Refiners Are Printing Money as Wars Shrink Global Energy Supplies
-- Uniqlo Owner Posts Record Annual Profit, Expects Further Growth
-- Porsche Deliveries Fell 16% in First Nine Months of Year
-- 7-Eleven Owner Reports Lower Quarterly Profit
For more earnings news, click here.
The Big Number
$2 Trillion
The U.S. budget deficit for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, according to the Congressional Budget Office, deepening the federal government's persistent red-ink trend. The $1.993 trillion deficit was 12% above the 2025 level in nominal dollars, reaching the highest level since 2021.
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