Which Stocks Will Be Winners? Employees Spill the Beans
Wondering how a company is really doing? Ask its rank-and-file employees. Glassdoor has done just that; here's how you can use their answers to buff up your portfolio.
whole foods market
Mom and Pop Businesses that Made It Big
It's National Mom and Pop Business Owners Day, a day to honor family-run businesses. But they don't all stay small: Some popular national brands grew out of humble beginnings.
What to Watch This Week: Buffett and Credit, Autos and Newbies
Let's go over some of the items that will help shape the week that lies ahead on Wall Street: Warren Buffett talks; plastic wins; organic food does too; GM reads its odometer; and recent IPOs check in.
Cross Pollution and Child Labor Off Your Grocery List
Take a look at the receipts in your wallet. They show what you paid for the items you bought, but what's missing are the true costs -- to people and the environment. But, good news: Sustainable and fair trade products don't have to cost you more. Consider, for example, a banana ...
American Express, Twitter Team Up to Offer Daily Deals
American Express is making a bid to bring cardholders its own version of Groupon-like daily deal offers, joining forces with Twitter in an attempt to turn America into a "couponless nation." The program will undoubtedly offer good discounts -- but can it last in the long term?
Tiny Loans, Huge Returns: Why Microlending Works
Sometimes, small gestures can make huge differences in people's lives and livelihoods. That's the premise -- and the power -- of microlending. For proof, one need look no further than the stories of Marcia and Karen, two entrepreneurs in Costa Rica.
McDonald's Works to Take Animal Cruelty off the Menu
McDonald's has finally caught up with consumer sentiment on the subject of factory farming and the inhumane treatment of animals. The fast food giant is using its massive leverage to push its pork suppliers to phase out cruelly confining gestation crates for their pigs.
Walmart's New Health Food Push: Too Hard to Swallow?
Walmart, which has long been associated with cheap, high-calorie, low-nutrition foods, wants to get healthy: Its new "Great for You" initiative aims to show shoppers it can help them eat healthy on a budget. But can the retail tiger change its spots -- or it's rep?
Doing Good to Do Well Gets a Legal Boost in California
You might not yet have heard of "B corporations" -- these companies with the dual missions of boosting social good and generating profits are a relatively new idea. But thanks to a recent California decision to make that social mission legally binding, the idea is poised to really take off.
Stores Go Both High-Tech and Homey to Lure You In
Retailers are spicing up their brick-and-mortar stores to keep you walking through the door. Their game plan? To design environments that are equal parts high-tech and homespun. But will the changes be enough to keep physical stores from being reduced to showrooms for e-commerce sites?
Some Whole Foods Stores Stop Accepting Paper Checks
If you're one of the many people planning to start using more paper checks to avoid incurring a monthly debit-card fee, think again. While many merchants continue to accept paper checks, some are moving in the opposite direction, among them national grocery store chain Whole Foods.
Wealthy Shoppers Pay Premiums for Preferred Companies
By now we're all accustomed to hearing about the "two-speed economy," in which the wealthy flourish and the less affluent fall farther and farther behind. The widening gap between rich and poor has not been lost on the stock market: The valuations of luxury goods companies are much higher than those of lower-end firms.
Whole Foods Works to Eradicate Rotten Bananas
The sweet taste and sunny hue of the banana contrast sharply with the high environmental and social costs its cultivation extracts in Latin America: pollution, deforestation, poor working conditions. Whole Foods Market is working to change that, in partnership with a non-profit international school in Costa Rica called EARTH University.
Do-Good Firms Brighten a Dismal Economy
Do you get a warm fuzzy feeling when you open your cupboards? If you use products made by companies like Method, King Arthur Flour Company, and Seventh Generation, you're supporting businesses officially certified as do-good corporations by the nonprofit B Lab -- where the "B" stands for "benefit."