The Daily Feather — The Squeeze is On

Record squeezes assume many forms. Guinness World Records lists the largest glass of freshly squeezed orange juice at 1,525 liters (a little more than 335 gallons). The feat took place at Hotel Las Arenas in Valencia, Spain in November 2016. Lasting exactly one hour, 400 participants squeezed their hearts – uh, oranges – out. In 2012, Guinness Editor-In-Chief Craig Glenday visited Nepal to take the measure of Chandra Bahadur Dangi, who nature had squeezed into the world’s shortest man. While staying in a local hotel, Glenday chanced upon Thaneswar Guragai, a super-flexible fellow who proceeded to set a record for the most times a person could squeeze through a tennis racket in three minutes. Then there’s the Squishmallows superfan, Sabrina Dausman of Mascoutah, Illinois, who squeezed 1,523 of the super soft plushies into her home in December 2023. Dausman’s commitment to the cuddly characters was unwavering – she once stood in the cold for two hours after an equally lengthy drive to score the newest release.

Since tariff terror put the squeeze on investors, QI Research has been on its own margin squeeze vigil. Fully passing on higher costs to today’s end consumers is a high hurdle. Yesterday, Walmart announced it was already raising its ‘everyday low prices’ to combat tariffs, citing bananas, for which it now charges 54 cents a pound, up from 50 cents prior. The caveat, as reported by The Wall Street Journal: “Walmart didn’t share a profit forecast for the current quarter, in part because the company may absorb some tariff costs to keep prices lower than competitors.”