Popeyes launches new $5 deal as fast food competition heats up
(NEW YORK) — As fast food chains continue to drop prices on popular menu items in hopes of enticing hungry customers, Popeyes is entering the arena with a new $5 deal.
The popular fried chicken chain announced new value offers on Monday, which includes an order of three pieces of its signature bone-in chicken for just $5.
The fast food franchise, which first started in New Orleans in 1972, timed the news in tandem with National Chicken Month.
“We first saw the ‘Value Wars’ taking off early in the summer, as consumers were looking for ways to indulge in their favorite foods, without the high price tag,” the company wrote in a blog post Monday. “This made our team think, how can we continue to serve our food, without compromising on the quality we are known for, but at a price our customers will be happy with?”
“This new promotion celebrates what Popeyes does best — Fried Chicken,” the company continued. “Each piece is expertly marinated in Popeyes signature blend of savory Louisiana herbs and seasonings, then battered in a crunchy southern coating and fried to golden brown perfection.”
According to Popeyes, the $5 deal is available at participating locations nationwide in restaurant, through the Popeyes app, or online.
“As consumers look for more ways to enjoy their favorite meals without breaking the bank, Popeyes is excited to join this conversation centered around guest satisfaction,” the company wrote.
The news comes on the heels of McDonald’s extending its $5 value meal and similar offers from competitors like Wendy’s, Burger King and even Chili’s.
(RALEIGH, N.C.) — When Vice President Kamala Harris unveils her economic policy proposals in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Friday, it will include a proposal to provide up to $25,000 in down payment support for first-time homebuyers, according to a campaign official.
The campaign is vowing that during its first term, the Harris-Walz administration would provide working families who have paid their rent on time for two years and are buying their first home up to $25,000 in down-payment assistance, with more generous support for first-generation homeowners.
In a preview statement obtained by ABC News, the campaign says, “Many Americans work hard at their jobs, save, and pay their rent on time month after month. But they can’t save enough after paying their rent and other bills to save for a down payment — denying them a shot at owning a home and building wealth. As the Harris-Walz plan starts to expand the supply of entry-level homes, they will, during their first term, provide working families who have paid their rent on time for two years and are buying their first home up to $25,000 in down-payment assistance, with more generous support for first-generation homeowners.”
“The Biden-Harris administration proposed providing $25,000 in downpayment assistance for 400,000 first-generation home buyers — or homebuyers whose parents don’t own a home — and a $10,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers. This plan will significantly simplify and expand the reach of down-payment assistance, allowing over 1 million first time-buyers per year – including first-generation home buyers – to get the funds they need to buy a house when they are ready to buy it,” the Harris campaign said.
Prior to Harris’ speech on Friday, an official also released more details on the housing component of Vice President Harris’ lower costs plan to “help end the housing supply shortage” that includes calling for the construction of 3 million new housing units and stopping Wall Street investors from buying homes in bulk.
Officials said she will propose a new $40 billion innovation fund — doubling that of the $20 billion Biden-Harris proposed innovation fund — that will be used for local governments to fund local solutions to build housing and support “innovative” methods of construction financing. It will also allow for certain federal lands to be eligible to be repurposed for new housing developments.
“Harris will work in partnership with workers and the private sector to build the housing the country needs, both to rent and to buy, and take down barriers that stand in the way of building new housing, including at the state and local level. This will make rents and mortgages cheaper,” according to the campaign.
Harris is also proposing two acts, the Preventing the Algorithmic Facilitation of Rental Housing Cartels Act and the Stop Predatory Investing Act to help bring down the cost of rent. These acts aim to take on “corporate and major landlords” to stop them from “jacking” up prices.
(NEW YORK) — The Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate a half of a percentage point on Wednesday in a landmark decision that dials back its years-long fight against inflation and could deliver relief for borrowers saddled with high costs.
The central bank’s first rate cut since 2020 came after a recent stretch of data had established the key conditions for a rate cut: falling inflation and slowing job gains.
In theory, lower interest rates help stimulate economic activity and boost employment. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 200 points in the immediate aftermath of the announcement on Wednesday afternoon.
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq also climbed following the news.
Speaking at a press conference in Washington D.C. on Wednesday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell described the rate decision as a shift in policy at the central bank.
“This recalibration of our policy stance will help maintain the strength of the economy and the labor market, and enable further progress on inflation,” Powell said.
“The U.S. economy is in good shape,” Powell added. “We want to keep it there.”
The Federal Open Market Committee, a policymaking body at the Fed, on Wednesday forecast further interest rate cuts.
By the end of 2024, interest rates will fall nearly another half of a percentage point from their current level of between 4.75% and 5%, according to FOMC projections. Interest rates will drop another percentage point over the course of 2025, the projections indicated.
Over time, rate cuts ease the burden on borrowers for everything from home mortgages to credit cards to cars, making it cheaper to get a loan or refinance one. The cuts also boost company valuations, potentially helping fuel returns for stockholders.
Earlier this year, mortgage rates reached their highest level in more than two decades; while the average rate for credit card holders topped anything on record at the Fed. Interest rates for car loans have soared to levels last seen at the onset of the 2008 financial crisis, Edmunds found.
Interest rate cuts will bring many of those payments down, delivering gains for borrowers.
However, borrowers should not expect immediate relief from the Fed’s initial rate cut, Elizabeth Renter, senior economist at NerdWallet, told ABC News in a statement prior to the decision.
“This initial rate cut will have little immediate impact,” Renter said. “I anticipate many consumers and business owners will take the beginning of this change in monetary policy as a sign of hope.”
Inflation has slowed dramatically from a peak of about 9% in 2022, though it remains slightly higher than the Fed’s target of 2%.
Meanwhile, the job market has cooled. A weaker-than-expected jobs report in each of the last two months has stoked concern among some economists.
“We will do everything we can to support a strong labor market as we make further progress toward price stability,” Powell said last month.
Prior to the decision, the chances of a rate cut were are all but certain, according to the CME FedWatch Tool, a measure of market sentiment.
Market observers, however, had been divided over whether the Fed will impose its typical cut of a quarter of a percentage point, or opt for a larger half-point cut. The tool estimated the probability of a half-point cut at 65% and the odds of a quarter-point cut at 35%.
A half-point cut risked overstimulating the economy and rekindling elevated inflation, while a quarter-point cut threatened to delay the type of economic jumpstart that may be required to avert a recession, Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management, told ABC News in a statement.
“Rarely have market expectations been so torn” on the eve of a rate decision, Shah added.
The rate cut on Wednesday went into effect less than 50 days before the November election.
The decision deviated from the policy approach taken by the Fed prior to many recent presidential elections, a Reuters analysis found. Policy rates were left unchanged for six to 12 months before the 2020, 2016, 2012 and 2000 U.S. presidential elections, according to Reuters.
To be sure, the Fed says it bases its decisions on economic conditions and operates as an independent government body.
When asked about the 2024 election at a press conference in Washington, D.C., in December, Powell said, “We don’t think about politics.”
(NEW YORK) — Shares in former President Donald Trump’s social media company fell to a record low Wednesday on the heels of Tuesday’s presidential debate, which a CNN poll indicated was won by Vice President Kamala Harris.
Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent company of Truth Social, closed down 10.5% Wednesday to end the day at a record low.
Shared dipped as much as 17% Wednesday before slightly improving at the close of trading.
For some investors, Trump Media serves as a bellwether for the former president’s odds in the upcoming presidential election. When Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts in New York in May, the company’s stock price tumbled — but the stock surged in the days following the July presidential debate and the assassination attempt on the former president.
Analysts have said that the company’s stock performance is removed from the financial outlook of the company, which reported losing more than $16 million over a three-month period ending in June during which it only brought in $836,000 in revenue.
The stock price has been buoyed by a number of passionate individual investors who bought shares in the company to support Trump or because they believe in the company’s mission.
Next week, Trump faces a pivotal choice about his investment in the company. The lockup provision that barred him from selling his shares for the first six months since the company went public expires next week, meaning that Trump could begin selling his shares in the company as early as Sept. 19.
According to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Trump owns approximately 115 million shares of the company, which are worth nearly $2 billion based on Wednesday’s stock price.
On paper, Trump has lost more than $4 billion in his stake over the last six months as the company’s stock price has declined.
A representative for Trump Media & Technology Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.