The Fortune 500 comes out just once a year, but the companies on it make headlines every day. Here then are today’s highlights of news and happenings coming from the biggest names in business.
By Shelley DuBois, reporter
SAVE MONEY, EAT BETTER After discussing the plan with First Lady Michelle Obama, Wal-Mart will shift the food that it sells towards healthier products, cutting out refined sugar, excess sodium and trans fats. The company intends to keep food prices low while changing its product line. The initiative could really make a difference–Wal-Mart (WMT) sells more groceries in the U.S. than any other company. [New York Times]
PROFIT DROPS AT GOLDMAN, meaning the Goldman Sachs (GS) business model may be in trouble. The firm reported poor fourth quarter earnings–down 53% from the same time last year. Goldman’s performance isn’t just a reflection of a poor economy, but an economy where investors, risk-averse from the recession, avoid high margin products. [New York Times]
TECH AT THE TOP of GM’s priorities. CEO Dan Akerson recently shifted Tom Stephens’ job to global chief technology officer, away from the head of product development. The latter, Akerson has identified as a problem spot for the car company. This is only the latest of many high-level executive shakeups for GM (GM), all in the effort to gear up the company to gain a more high-tech image. [Wall Street Journal]
CHINESE ENVIRONMENTALISTS CALL APPLE OUT for dangerous working conditions in Chinese plants, as environmental awareness in general grows in China. In this case, 36 Chinese environmental groups deemed Apple (APPL) unresponsive to concerns about the health of workers in plants supplying parts for Apple products. Specifically, the groups were upset with how Apple acted when 49 workers at a plant that supplies touchscreens were poisoned by a dangerous chemical cleaning agent. [Financial Times]
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS JPMorgan (JPM) confessed to overcharging 4,000 U.S. military personnel on their mortgages, as well as foreclosing 14 of their homes on accident. The company claims to have resolved all but one of the incorrect foreclosures, and plans to send $2 million worth of refunds to military members. [CNNMoney]
IS YOUR PATENT PATENTED? IBM (IBM) creates the novel meta-patent, a computerized system designed to defend companies from patent-infringement. [Slate]