Good morning. The Federal Trade Commission is seeking information from Amazon.com Inc., Procter & Gamble Co., Walmart Inc. and others about how they are handling supply-chain snarls, part of a study into whether the problems have led to anticompetitive behavior and higher prices.

The document request isn’t part of any law-enforcement action, the FTC said in a press release. Instead, the agency said it is looking to understand the reasons behind the widespread supply-chain problems that have crimped economic growth.

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The agency is also seeking documents and information from Kroger Co., C&S Wholesale Grocers Inc., Associated Wholesale Grocers Inc., McLane Co., Tyson Foods Inc., and Kraft Heinz Co. The companies have 45 days to respond.

The order will require the companies to detail how they are navigating the supply chain crisis, including how it has affected the availability of transportation, delayed orders and led to increased prices. The FTC also wants to know what companies are doing to fix the problems and how they allocate products among stores when products are scarce.

Companies have been struggling with delays to import goods and move them around the country this year, as Covid outbreaks have disrupted ports, manufacturing sites and left many logistics companies short-handed. Dozens of boxships have been waiting for weeks to unload at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif. Before the pandemic, it was unusual for any ships to wait.

Theranos founder says Balwani berated, abused her. In tearful and intense testimony, Elizabeth Holmes recounted from the witness stand Monday how she had been raped as a Stanford University student and not long after entered an abusive relationship with the man who would become her top deputy at Theranos Inc.

The stunning testimony is likely to cap Ms. Holmes’s direct questioning from her lawyers, during which she endeavored to fill out a picture of her now-defunct startup as a company with bold ambitions and an admirable vision that struggled to meet technology deadlines.

SEC issues guidance on ‘spring-loaded’ stock awards. The Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday issued new guidance on how companies should recognize and disclose compensation costs associated with spring-loaded awards, which are stock options or other awards granted to executives shortly before market-moving news is announced.

The U.K.’s top competition regulator directed Meta Platforms Inc., formerly Facebook, to sell social-media animated-images company Giphy, saying its acquisition could limit competition among platforms and U.K. advertisers.

The latest on Covid-19 Omicron variant:

• The global economy could suffer a modest blow from the Omicron variant of Covid-19, though the scale of damage will hinge on the potency of the strain itself, economists say. Tourism spending will likely weaken, and perhaps so too will restaurant spending and shopping at stores.
   
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention strengthened its Covid-19 booster-shot recommendations, reflecting the potential threat the new Omicron variant poses to the pandemic response in the U.S. and world-wide.
   
• Israel, the United Arab Emirates and the U.K., all early adopters of the Covid-19 vaccine, are urging their residents to get a booster shot as governments globally consider options to help fend off the coronavirus’s new Omicron variant.
   
• Many countries across Asia were only just beginning to ease strict border controls and coronavirus restrictions that had been in place for much of the pandemic. The new Omicron variant is now disrupting those reopenings.
   
• Drugmakers raised the prospect that existing Covid-19 vaccines might be less effective against the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus, which could create a need for modified vaccines that better target the concerning new strain.

Workers quit jobs in droves to become their own bosses. The pandemic has unleashed a historic burst in entrepreneurship and self-employment. Hundreds of thousands of Americans are striking out on their own as consultants, retailers and small-business owners.

The move helps explain the ongoing shake-up in the world of work, with more people looking for flexibility, anxious about covid exposure, upset about vaccine mandates or simply disenchanted with pre-pandemic office life. It is also aggravating labor shortages in some industries and adding pressure on companies to revamp their employment policies.

• Related: Goldman Sachs Rolls Out New Worker Benefits to Combat Employee Burnout

Some hospitals prepare to lose staff over Covid-19 vaccination mandate. Some hospitals, nursing homes and other healthcare providers are preparing to operate without up to a third of their staff at the start of next year, if those workers don’t comply with a federal mandate to get vaccinated against Covid-19.

The Biden administration is requiring facilities that receive funding from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to have workers vaccinated by Jan. 4.

Twitter’s Jack Dorsey steps down. Twitter Inc. said Monday that Chief Executive Officer Jack Dorsey is stepping down, a departure driven in part by investors uncomfortable with his roles running two large, publicly traded companies, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Twitter co-founder, one of Silicon Valley’s most prominent figures, is also CEO of digital payments company Square Inc. His split duties and outside hobbies have long drawn criticism, and last year activist investor Elliott Management Corp. pushed for changes at Twitter, including potentially adjusting Mr. Dorsey’s role, the people said.

Lululemon hits back at Peloton. Lululemon and Peloton used to make workout clothes together. Now, they’re locked in a legal battle.

The first lawsuit came last week, when Peloton Interactive Inc. pre-emptively sued Lululemon Athletica Inc. in the Southern District of New York, asking a federal court to declare that it didn’t infringe on Lululemon’s designs.

On Monday, Lululemon hit back with its own lawsuit against Peloton, alleging the exercise bike maker copied the designs of its workout leggings and bras to launch its own clothing line. 

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