Transcript:
Conway Gittens: I’m Conway Gittens reporting from the New York Stock Exchange. Here’s what we’re watching on TheStreet today.
The benchmark S&P 500 traded in record territory on Wednesday. Tech led the pack after President Trump unveiled an AI initiative called Stargate AI. Meanwhile, good news for prospective home buyers. Mortgage rates nudged lower for the first time in six weeks, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
On Thursday, investors will get quarterly numbers from American Airlines and CSX.
Related: More national retailers drop self-checkout to fight retail theft
In other news, sometimes when an industry tries to solve one problem, all it does is create a new problem. Well, that’s what the retail sector is dealing with as a measure to stop theft creates its own money-losing problem.
I’m talking specifically about the pandemic-era practice of locking just about everything behind a glass case. It turns out that this is leading to lower retail sales. Walgreens admitted as much in a recent earnings call. “When you lock things up, for example, you don’t sell as many of them. We’ve kind of proven that pretty conclusively.”
Consumers are growing more frustrated with having to wait for a clerk to unlock a glass case for things as simple as toothpaste, mouthwash, deodorant, and razors. Instead of waiting, they’re walking out the store and ordering online from websites like Amazon.
Walgreen’s admits it is giving up sales to the Amazon’s of the world, but it’s not ready to get rid of those glass cases just yet. But what retailers gain in one part of the store they’re losing in another. Self checkout has become a major point of theft, leading many retailers like Target and Dollar General to either scale back their use or order fewer scanners altogether.
That’ll do it for your Daily Briefing. From the New York Stock Exchange, I’m Conway Gittens with TheStreet.
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