US consumers are more optimistic than a month ago, in part due to improved outlooks related to the presidential election, according to preliminary data from the University of Michigan. The consumer sentiment index rose from to 67.8 from 66.4 a month earlier, and consumers' annual inflation expectations were unchanged at 2.9%. Improved sentiment was partially attributed to President Biden dropping out of the presidential race, with a sharp divide along party lines as sentiment jumped among Democrats and independent voters while falling among Republicans.

Residential building products distributor PrimeSource Brands has acquired Cobra Anchors, a Montreal manufacturer of hollow wall and masonry anchors. Cobra has more than 1,000 products and serves the US, Canadian and European markets, and the acquisition is expected to bolster PrimeSource's lineup of specialty building products and extend its market presence.

Foodservice distributor Performance Food Group will acquire Cheney Bros. in a $2.1 billion cash deal that will add Cheney's five high-capacity distribution centers to Performance Food's network and expand the distribution of PFG's private-label brands in the Southeastern US. The deal, which requires federal regulatory approval, is expected to close next year.

Almost 75% of organizations have made geographic changes to their supply chain networks in the last two years to become more agile, flexible and resilient, according to a Gartner report. "Successful companies have reconfigured their global supply chain networks to take advantage of new incentives, while diversifying away from concentration risk," said Vicky Forman, senior director analyst in Gartner's Supply Chain practice.

Organizations that use publicly available data along with AI tools to predict disruption, anticipate risk and make strategic decisions will benefit by satisfying customers' demand for sustainability and regulatory mandates regarding sourcing, writes executive adviser Venkat Maddila, along with Travis Wolf, Carl March and Anthony Mubarak from EY. Leaders should also prepare to create and maintain rigorous governance protocols as they implement AI-based tools, they write.

Business-to-business advertising that's perceived as creative results in decision-makers being 40% more likely to consider buying, and attracting 53% more viewing time and 61% more likes on LinkedIn, according to a report by Magna and LinkedIn. B2B ads are considered to be creative when they have a focus on storytelling, are humorous, diverse, feature nature or animals, incorporate AI or use eye-catching design and visuals, participants in the study said.

Chatbots like Airbnb's GamePlanner.AI concierge and Amazon's shopping assistant Rufus demonstrate AI's evolution toward personalized customer service, a feature with which 77% of European and US customers tell Econsultancy and Adobe they're comfortable, writes Jacob Bourne. Next steps may include AR integration of the sort Walmart uses for its showrooms.

Traders have curbed expectations of Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts for this year after the release of resilient economic data. Markets are pricing in less than 30 basis points of cuts next month and are expecting a total of 92 basis points of cuts for the rest of the year, down from over 100 before the data was released. The 2-year Treasury yield rose 16 basis points Thursday to nearly 4.12% in response to reports on retail sales and unemployment claims.

Filler words such as "um" and "like" can sneak into conversation despite your best efforts, while filler phrases such as "you know" also clutter up communications, writes Jeff Davenport. To avoid using meaningless sounds and words, Davenport advises pausing for a second or responding with, "That's a great question" if you need to think about your answer.

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