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Walgreens is joining other retailers in cutting prices across the board in an effort to lure back inflation-weary shoppers turned off by high prices. Prices are dropping immediately on more than 1,500 items online and at its stores. In the past few weeks, competitors including Target, Walmart and Amazon slashed prices on thousands of household goods to rev up consumer spending. https://yhoo.it/3yAQm0G

The $18 Big Mac was real, but many of the viral tweets about the Big Mac's price growth were incorrect. McDonald's corrected the narrative with facts, which make up our Chart of the Week. But as we point out, it's a tough look when your executives are in an argument on the internet. Dive into why McDonald's is resorting to open letters in our latest edition of Chart of the Week.

The IRS said it will make permanent the free electronic tax return filing system that it experimented with this year and is asking all 50 states and the District of Columbia to help taxpayers file their returns through the program in 2025. The agency also is inviting all states with a state income tax to sign up and help people file their state returns for free. https://yhoo.it/3KsVYwA

Microsoft recently debuted a host of new AI features during its Build conference in Seattle, including OpenAI’s new GPT-4o, a trio of small language models, and Microsoft’s new Cobalt 100 CPU. The announcements come as Silicon Valley turbocharges its AI investments and tech giants like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Meta, and Apple race to outmaneuver one another during the biggest tech scramble in years. Microsoft offering OpenAI’s GPT-4o through its Azure AI Studio was the company's biggest announcement. The model, which OpenAI debuted during a live-streamed event last week, is multimodal and can understand inputs via text, audio, and video. That demo has since become embroiled in controversy after actress Scarlett Johansson on Monday demanded the company change the voice of its chatbot, which OpenAI featured answering questions. Microsoft’s news also comes a week after Google debuted a slew of AI products during its I/O developers conference, including a new version of Google Search with generative AI-based responses to users’ queries. More: https://lnkd.in/g_7s4i-q #yahoofinance #tech #ai #innovation #future

The US economy grew more slowly than initially thought during the first quarter. The Bureau of Economic Analysis's second estimate of first quarter US gross domestic product (GDP) showed the economy grew at an annualized pace of 1.3% during the period, down from a first reading in April of 1.6% growth and in line with economist estimates. https://yhoo.it/4dV40w1

The latest reading of the Fed's preferred inflation gauge showed inflation slowed in April as prices increased in line with Wall Street expectations. The core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index, which strips out the cost of food and energy and is closely watched by the Federal Reserve, rose 0.2% in April, in line with Wall Street's expectations but slower than the 0.3% increase seen in March. https://yhoo.it/3KmWcp0

US stocks endured more losses on Thursday as lingering concerns about higher-for-longer interest rates and a Salesforce sell-off dampened investors' spirits. Salesforce's shares slid nearly 20% after it said sales growth would stall to the slowest in its history, its most significant decline since 2004. https://yhoo.it/3R8zPrc

Costco posted another bulk-sized quarter as consumers look for wallet-friendly prices on everyday essentials. In the quarter, the wholesale retailer saw foot traffic go up year over year, beating the likes of Sam's Club and BJ's Wholesale Club, according to Placer.ai. https://yhoo.it/45bih3K

Shares of Salesforce fell on Thursday after the company reported its first quarter results, posting a revenue miss for the first time in nearly two decades. The company also slashed its subscription and support revenue forecast. https://yhoo.it/3VnwTd4

Are you a concert lover that's fed up with sky high ticket fees? Do you think the Justice Department's antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation is warranted? Should the ticketing company be broken up? If so, I want to hear from you for a story! Email me at alexandra.canal@yahoofinance.com or send me a message here on LinkedIn.