NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are rising Wednesday, led by technology and media companies, as global markets let go of some of their fears about the growing trade dispute between the U.S. and China. Still, investors are favoring the companies they think are less vulnerable to tariffs. Twenty-First Century Fox is jumping after Disney agreed to buy Fox's entertainment businesses for more than $71.3 billion, topping an offer from Comcast. Investors are hoping that will be followed by other deals.

2. Fred's Prepares to Sell Retail Pharmacy Business - Friday, June 15, 2018

Memphis-based Fred’s Inc. wants to sell its retail pharmacies, which would effectively reverse much, if not all, of its efforts to shed its discount-store identity in a transition to personal health care. Fred’s has hired an adviser to talk with potential buyers of its retail pharmacy business, company leaders announced Thursday, June 14, as it reported quarterly financial results to analysts.

3. Grocer Albertsons Eyes Rite Aid Deal in Health Care Push - Wednesday, February 21, 2018

The owner of Safeway and other grocery brands is buying the drugstore chain Rite Aid as retailers continue to plunge deeper into health care and adjust to swiftly changing shopping habits.

Albertsons Companies executives said Tuesday that their purchase of Rite Aid's more than 2,500 remaining stores will help the combined company become a "leader in food, health and wellness."

4. CVS Bulks Up Delivery Service; Tops 3Q Earnings Expectations - Tuesday, November 7, 2017

CVS Health is cranking up prescription deliveries to customer homes or workplaces, as the drugstore chain tries to squeeze more of an edge from a massive store network that puts 70 percent of the U.S. population within three miles of one of its locations.

5. Walgreens, Rite Aid Revise Store Purchase Deal to $4.38B - Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Walgreens and Rite Aid have finally devised a combination of the nation’s largest and third-largest drugstore chains that will get past antitrust regulators.

The companies said Tuesday, Sept. 19, that they have Federal Trade Commission clearance for a slimmer version of a store-purchase agreement announced in June. Walgreens will now spend $4.38 billion on 1,932 stores, three distribution centers and inventory.

6. Fred’s OKs Short-Term Shareholder Rights Plan - Saturday, July 1, 2017

Memphis-based Fred’s Inc., also called Fred’s Pharmacy now, announced Wednesday, June 28, that its board of directors has adopted a short-term shareholder rights plan that will expire on Sept. 25.

7. Fred’s Cut Out of New Walgreens, Rite Aid Deal - Friday, June 30, 2017

Walgreens Boots Alliance has struck a new deal with Rite Aid to buy 2,186 of the chain’s stores for $5.18 billion, an agreement that replaces the two rivals’ planned merger. It also nixes the component of the merger involving Memphis-based Fred’s Inc. buying hundreds of Rite Aid stores to help the now-defunct merger pass regulatory muster.

8. Fred’s Approves Short-Term Shareholder Rights Plan - Thursday, June 29, 2017

Memphis-based Fred’s Inc., also called Fred’s Pharmacy now, announced Wednesday, June 28, that its board of directors has adopted a short-term shareholder rights plan that will expire on Sept. 25.

9. Fred’s Reports Q1 Loss, Says Changes are Working - Wednesday, June 7, 2017

During many of its recent quarterly earnings presentations, Memphis-based discount retailer and drugstore company Fred’s Inc. essentially had to ask analysts and investors to be patient – to stick with the company through a turnaround in which the only good news to report seemed to be the kind that was coming but not here yet.

10. Fred’s May Buy Up to 1,200 Rite Aid Stores - Friday, April 7, 2017

Memphis-based Fred’s Inc. is “the right buyer” of hundreds of Rite Aid stores that need to be divested so Rite Aid and Walgreens Boots Alliance can win Federal Trade Commission approval for their pending merger.

11. Fred’s Could Buy More Rite Aid Stores - Friday, February 3, 2017

Fred’s Inc. may end up buying more than the 865 Rite Aid stores it’s already planned to acquire as part of the merger of two drugstore chains.

In December, Memphis-based Fred’s said it would buy those 865 stores from Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. and Rite Aid Corp. on the heels of Walgreens working to satisfy regulatory concerns for its purchase of Rite Aid. Since then, the two chains have said they may divest more stores to overcome concerns from regulators.

12. Walgreens Slashes Offer for Rite Aid, Pushes Back Deadline - Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Walgreens substantially lowered its offering price for drugstore rival Rite Aid and, facing resistance from U.S. regulators, raised the number of stores it would be willing to unload to ease monopoly concerns.

13. Fred's, A Small Drugstore Chain, May Become National Player - Monday, December 26, 2016

NEW YORK (AP) – Fred's, a small regional drugstore chain from Memphis, Tennessee, had a very good week last week.

It all started Tuesday, Dec. 20, when Fred's said it would pay $950 million to buy 865 stores that Rite Aid needed to sell in order to appease anti-trust regulators and close its $9.4 billion buyout deal with Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.

14. Analyst: Rite Aid Buy ‘Good Deal’ for Fred’s - Thursday, December 22, 2016

Memphis-based Fred’s Inc. got a “really good deal” on the 865 Rite Aid stores it’s agreed to buy for $950 million in a deal that takes the company beyond its core market and marks a significant new chapter in its story.

15. $950M Deal Would Make Fred's No. 3 Nationwide - Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Memphis-based Fred’s Inc. has agreed to buy 865 Rite Aid stores from Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. and Rite Aid Corp. for $950 million, which will make Fred's the third-largest drugstore chain nationwide.

16. As US Puts Breaks on Megadeals, Walgreens Prepares to Unload - Friday, September 9, 2016

Walgreens believes that it will probably have to unload more stores than expected to ease antitrust concerns over its pending, $9.41 billion acquisition of Rite Aid, a deal that would make the nation's largest drugstore chain even larger.

17. UPS Invests in Same-Day Delivery Company Deliv - Thursday, February 25, 2016

NEW YORK (AP) – UPS, looking for ways to get goods to shoppers faster, is investing in same-day delivery company Deliv.

Deliv, founded nearly four years ago, works with Macy's Inc., Kohl's Corp. and other retailers to deliver online orders within the same day. Shoppers select same-day delivery when they're about to buy something from the retailer's website and Deliv's workers get it delivered. Retailers pay Deliv for its service and the stores usually charge customers. At Kohl's, for example, shoppers pay $9.95 for same-day deliveries on orders above $75 and $14.95 for orders below $75.

18. Report: Walgreens Nears Deal to Buy Rite Aid - Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Shares of Rite Aid jumped nearly 40 percent Tuesday afternoon on a report that it may be gobbled up in the next major acquisition by Walgreens, the biggest U.S. drugstore chain.

The Wall Street Journal said Walgreens Boots Alliance is in advanced talks to buy Rite Aid, which is based in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. The deal would combine the largest and third-largest U.S. drugstore chains, based on store counts.

19. CVS Health Launches Health, Beauty Makeover for Drugstores - Thursday, June 18, 2015

CVS drugstores that quit tobacco sales last year are now getting health and beauty makeovers and a shot of ethnic diversity in some cases to attract customers who want more than a prescription refill.

20. Walgreens, Insurers Push Expansion of Virtual Doctor Visits - Thursday, June 11, 2015

Millions of people will be able to see a doctor on their smartphones or laptops for everyday ailments once the nation's largest drugstore chain and two major insurers expand a budding push into virtual health care.

21. Walgreens Aims to Close About 200 US Stores - Friday, April 10, 2015

Walgreens will shutter about 200 U.S. stores as part of an expanded cost reduction push, but the nation's largest drugstore chain has no plans to shrink in the wake of its combination with European health and beauty retailer Alliance Boots.

22. Walgreen Completes Alliance Boots Deal - Saturday, January 3, 2015

Walgreen completed its purchase of European health and beauty retailer Alliance Boots and on the final day of 2014, the combined company's stock will begin trading under the ticker symbol "WBA."

The nation's largest drugstore chain said Wednesday that shares long traded under the symbol "WAG," have been converted to the ticker symbol of the new company called Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. Walgreen is now a subsidiary.

23. Walgreen Completes Alliance Boots Deal - Thursday, January 1, 2015

Walgreen completed its purchase of European health and beauty retailer Alliance Boots and on the final day of 2014, the combined company's stock will begin trading under the ticker symbol "WBA."

The nation's largest drugstore chain said Wednesday that shares long traded under the symbol "WAG," have been converted to the ticker symbol of the new company called Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. Walgreen is now a subsidiary.

24. Walgreen Shareholders OK Alliance Boots Deal - Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Walgreen shareholders have voted in favor of the nation’s largest drugstore chain spending nearly $16 billion to complete the final step in its purchase of European health and beauty retailer Alliance Boots.

25. Walgreen Turns Down Inversion to Cut Tax Bill - Thursday, August 7, 2014

Walgreen plans to keep its roots firmly planted in the United States, saying it will no longer pursue an overseas reorganization that would have trimmed its U.S. taxes but drew political scorn.

The nation's largest drugstore chain – which bills itself as "America's premier pharmacy" – said Wednesday that it will buy the remaining stake in Swiss health and beauty retailer Alliance Boots that it does not already own.

26. Walgreen, Express Scripts Sign New Agreement - Friday, July 20, 2012

The Walgreen pharmacy chain will begin filling prescriptions from customers in the Express Scripts network again starting in September under a new multiyear contract that ends a costly impasse between the companies.