Heady days for US stocks may be ending

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AIRLINES

After more than four months of waging a public battle with activist investor Elliott Investment Management, low-cost airline pioneer Southwest may finally be headed toward a truce. The two sides have been discussing a potential settlement that would avoid a proxy fight for control of the airline’s board, according to people familiar with the matter. Elliott has proposed a framework that would give it representation but not control of the board, said some of the people, who asked to not be identified because the discussions aren’t public. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

PHARMACEUTICALS

Novo Nordisk’s Rybelsus diabetes pill, a tablet version of Ozempic, reduced the risk of heart attacks and strokes in a large study that may drive broader use of the drug. People with type 2 diabetes and pre-existing heart or chronic kidney diseases, or all three illnesses, were 14 percent less likely to suffer a cardiovascular event than those who took a placebo, the Danish drug maker said on Monday. The side effects were in line with previous studies, Novo said. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

TRAVEL

US consumers are planning shorter winter holiday trips and booking cheaper accommodations in a sign of how years of inflation continue to hammer family budgets. Among households earning less than $100,000 a year, 86 percent say they will alter their usual holiday plans this year, according to survey findings released on Monday by personal finance website Bankrate. More than three-quarters of those making $100,000 or more are doing the same, the September poll of roughly 2,500 US adults found. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

MEDIA

The Fox network is developing a new TV drama about the richest man on the planet fleeing to his private island with 200 employees amid a global financial crisis. The workers, whom the billionaire has “treated as afterthoughts for decades,” quickly realize he’s no longer rich or in charge, according to a summary of the program released on Monday. The series, which has the working title Billionaire Apocalypse, includes actor Hugh Jackman as an executive producer, although it hasn’t been cast. So far, the Fox Corp.-owned network has committed only to a script. In addition to Jackman, the project has an accomplished lineup of writers and producers including Jay Carson, the former political aide and creator of “The Morning Show.” Lawrence Bender, whose credits include “Pulp Fiction” and “An Inconvenient Truth,” and Kevin Brown, who produced the Starz series “Flesh and Bone,” are also involved. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

WORKPLACE

3M Co.’s new chief is recalling managers to the office, dialing back a remote-friendly policy that his predecessor had hailed as being “rooted in flexibility and trust.” The industrial giant, which has 85,000 employees globally, will expect — but not require — those at the director level and above to come into an office Tuesday through Thursday, which the company has deemed “collaboration days,” a 3M spokesperson confirmed. For those below the director rank, the new policy is voluntary. The new rules start next month at 3M’s Minnesota headquarters for employees who live within 50 miles of the office, and will expand globally over time in line with local labor laws, the spokesperson said. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

RECALL

An Illinois company is recalling frozen waffles sold by more than a dozen major retailers under multiple labels because of possible listeria contamination. Though no illnesses have been reported, TreeHouse Foods said Friday that the breakfast products were widely distributed throughout the United States and Canada, primarily as private label offerings by Walmart, Target, Tops, Harris Teeter, Publix, and other large merchants. Listeria is a bacteria that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, elderly people, or those with weakened immune systems. Symptoms include high fever, severe headaches, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. For pregnant women, it can cause miscarriages or stillbirths. — WASHINGTON POST

WORKPLACE

The top technology executive at Sam’s Club, Walmart’s club chain, is leaving the company due to a policy requiring thousands of corporate employees to relocate to headquarters in Arkansas, people familiar with the matter said. Cheryl Ainoa, chief technology officer of Sam’s Club, is declining to move to Bentonville, Ark., due to personal reasons, the people said. She’s departing the company after nearly five years. Walmart has asked many of its employees from smaller offices, as well as remote workers around the United States, to move to the company’s larger corporate offices. Most employees are going to Arkansas. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

SHIPPING

AP Moller-Maersk, a bellwether for global trade, increased its full-year guidance for a fourth time in less than six months, citing stronger demand and higher freight rates caused by supply chain disruptions from the attacks in the Red Sea. Maersk now sees underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization of $11 billion to $11.5 billion this year, compared with a previous forecast of $9 billion to $11 billion, the Copenhagen-based company said on Monday. Maersk had already raised its 2024 profit forecast in May, June, and August, as the Red Sea conflict was having a larger than previously expected impact on the world’s supply lines. The Houthi attacks have since late last year forced container vessels to sail south of Africa, absorbing some of the over capacity in the container industry, which in turn has helped boost container rates. — BLOOMBERG NEWS

FINANCE

EF Hutton, the storied Wall Street name that was reborn as a leading SPAC investment bank, is breaking up after the two partners who revived the brand agreed to drop lawsuits against each other and go their own ways. The firm said in a statement issued Sunday that Joseph Rallo and David Boral agreed to take their businesses “in different directions.” Rallo will keep the EF Hutton name and trademark, while Boral will retain control of the broker-dealer that operated under the brand, according to the statement. A spokesman for Rallo confirmed the agreement on Monday. — BLOOMBERG NEWS