Hello, friends and Fortune readers.
A relatively quiet morning in the business world, as executives are no doubt enjoying late August at the beach before a busy fall. But even on a slow day information is king, so here’s what you need to know in business news today.
1. Dollar store saga continues
Honestly, who can keep the three dollar chains — Family Dollar, Dollar Tree and Dollar General — straight? Well, this morning Dollar Tree, who thought they had a deal to buy Family Dollar before Dollar General came in with a counteroffer, reported earnings. In the release, Dollar Tree said it wouldn’t raise its offer for Family Dollar. That may be because Family Dollar has just rejected Dollar General’s takeover bid citing antitrust concerns. Should be an interesting earnings call.
2. Apparently, tech CEOs love Burning Man
Burning Man isn’t just for your college dropout friends anymore. According to a story in the New York Times, tech superstars — including Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, and Larry Page and Sergey Brin — have all attended the arts festival in the desert before. The article points out that the executives aren’t exactly living like most at the festival, flying in private chefs and putting up air-conditioned yurts. This year’s Burning Man starts next week.
3. The party is starting in Jackson Hole
The annual conference of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyo., gets started today, although the main attraction will be U.S. Fed Chair Janet Yellen’s speech tomorrow. Other economic news today: existing home sales numbers and weekly jobless claims, which fell to 298,000 last week.
4. Not everyone with a Lululemon bag is going to yoga class
The Wall Street Journal reports that even as sales of athletic gear are increasing, fewer Americans are participating in sports. Yoga actually saw a 4.5% increase in participation last year, but that’s nowhere near the 45% growth in yoga gear sales. B.K.S. Iyengar, the Indian guru who brought yoga to America and died Wednesday would surely disapprove.
5. SeaWorld is not having a very good week
Following last week’s news that the theme park is building bigger orca habitats, SeaWorld has received some bad news this week. First, PETA bought more SeaWorld shares, ensuring the animal rights group can continue to attend investors meetings and have Jessica Biel ask the executives questions. Then the company announced it won’t appeal a ruling barring trainers from being in the water with orcas during shows.
