888 Food Recalls Various Fish And Shrimp Balls And Cakes

888 Food Co. is recalling various fish and shrimp balls and cakes under Ho King and Giai Phat brands citing the potential to contain undeclared eggs, an allergen, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said.

The recalled products include Ho King brand’s Fried Fish Ball 10 oz and Fish Ball 11 oz. Further, Giai Phat brand products include Fried Fish Loaf 10 oz; Fried Fish Cake 12 oz; Fish Ball 11 oz; Fried Fish Ball 10 oz; Featherback Fish Ball 11 oz; Fried Featherback Fish Ball 10 oz; Shrimp Ball 7 oz; and Cuttle Fish Ball 8 oz with select lot numbers.

The recalled products were mainly distributed in California through distributor and direct delivery to retail stores. Small portions of these products were distributed to retailers in Indiana and Illinois.

The S. El Monte, California- based company initiated the recall after receiving a consumer complaint of anaphylactic reaction. Through investigation it was determined that the formulation of an ingredient was changed to include eggs.

People who have an allergy or severe sensitivity to eggs may get serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume these products.

Consumers are urged to return the product to the retailers for a full refund.

In recent recalls, Naperville, Illinois -based Wilton Industries, Inc. in early June called back select lots of two Sprinkle products citing the possible presence of undeclared milk. Further, Leonard Novelty Bakery recalled certain Carrot Cake Squares sold in its Bakery departments due to undeclared walnuts.

Oil Futures Settle Sharply Lower On Demand Worries

Crude oil futures settled sharply lower on Wednesday amid concerns about the outlook for energy demand due to slowing global growth following sharp interest rate hikes by central banks.

The Biden administration’s move to push for fuel cost cuts also weighed on oil prices. To curtail rising gas prices, Biden is expected to call for temporarily suspending the 18.4-cents a gallon federal tax on gasoline.

President Joe Biden called on Congress Wednesday to temporarily suspend the federal gas tax, aiming to quell the rapid surge in prices at the pump. The suspension is likely to provide some immediate relief, but a section of analysts feel the move could also keep demand elevated.

West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended lower by $3.33 or about 3% at $106.19 a barrel, the lowest settlement in six weeks.

Brent crude futures were down $3.25 or 2.82% at $111.40 a barrel a little while ago.

Weekly U.S. petroleum inventory data from the American Petroleum Institute is due later in the day, a day later than usual due to Monday’s holiday.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration is scheduled to release its weekly crude inventory data Thursday morning.

KB Home Profit Advances In Q2, Beats estimates

KB Home (KBH) announced earnings for its second quarter that increased from the same period last year and beat the Street estimates.

The company’s earnings came in at $210.67 million, or $2.32 per share. This compares with $143.36 million, or $1.50 per share, in last year’s second quarter.

Analysts on average had expected the company to earn $2.01 per share, according to figures compiled by Thomson Reuters. Analysts’ estimates typically exclude special items.

The company’s revenue for the quarter rose 19.4% to $1.72 billion from $1.44 billion last year.

KB Home earnings at a glance (GAAP) :

-Earnings (Q2): $210.67 Mln. vs. $143.36 Mln. last year.
-EPS (Q2): $2.32 vs. $1.50 last year.
-Analyst Estimate: $2.01
-Revenue (Q2): $1.72 Bln vs. $1.44 Bln last year.

European Economics Preview: Bank Of England Policy Announcement Due

The monetary policy announcements from the Bank of England and the Swiss National Bank are due on Thursday, headlining a busy day for the European economic news.

The BoE is widely expected to raise its interest rates for a fifth policy session in a row amid surging inflation. The Monetary Policy Committee is set to hike the bank rate by 25 basis points to 1.25 percent, the highest level since 2009. The announcement is due at 7.00 AM ET.

The Swiss National Bank is likely to continue its expansionary monetary policy stance. Markets widely forecast the central bank to retain the policy rate and interest on sight deposits at the SNB at -0.75 percent. The central bank releases the outcome of its policy meeting at 3.30 AM ET.

Other economic reports due for the day are as follows

At 2.00 am ET, the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association releases Europe new car registrations data for May. Registrations were down 20.6 percent in April.

At 3.00 am ET, the Czech Statistical Office issues producer prices for May. Producer price inflation is expected to rise to 28.0 percent from 26.6 percent in April.

At 4.00 am ET, Italy’s final consumer and harmonized inflation figures for May. The statistical office is expected to confirm the consumer price inflation at 6.9 percent.

At 5.00 am ET, Eurostat is set to release Eurozone labor cost data for the first quarter.

Uber Brings Back Shared Rides To Select Cities

Ride-hailing service Uber Technologies (UBER) is bringing back its Uber Pool service, after the company had suspended it for the past two years due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The company has now relaunched the feature under a new name, UberX Share. It is available in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Phoenix, San Diego, Portland, Oregon, Indianapolis and Pittsburgh. The company plans to expand UberX Share to even more cities this summer.

Under the revamped UberX Share feature, riders will receive an upfront discount if they choose UberX Share, and get up to 20% off the total fare, if matched with a co-rider along the way.

The feature will now only match riders heading in the same direction to prevent unexpected delays. The company claims that the updated service will make sure that UberX Share rides are no more than eight minutes longer than an equivalent solo ride.

Uber has also made several changes to make the feature driver-friendly as well. Unlike Uber Pool, drivers can opt-out of participating in Uber X Share.

Additionally, passengers can only request UberX Share rides for themselves, and only one other co-rider can join per trip. Uber Pool gave riders the option of booking up to two seats, and during very busy times could match drivers with more than one co-rider.