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The Morning Ledger: New Target CFO Will Have to Keep Turnaround Pace |
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Target reported higher holiday sales, a testimony to the retailer's transformation program. PHOTO: JOE RAEDLE/GETTY IMAGES
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Good day. Target Corp. is launching its search for a new finance chief at a crucial time: After a strong holiday season, the Minneapolis-based retailer needs to keep the momentum going while experimenting with new ways to reach its customers to compete with e-commerce rivals.
More time for the family: The store operator announced Thursday that Chief Financial Officer Cathy Smith plans to step down once a successor has been named and move on to an advisory role until May 2020. Ms. Smith became CFO in 2015 and contributed to the transformation program launched by Chief Executive Brian Cornell the year before.
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Sales success: Similar to rivals Walmart Inc., Costco Wholesale Corp. and Bed Bath & Beyond Inc., Target reported higher sales during the crucial Christmas shopping period. Sales rose 5.7% between Nov. 4 and Jan. 5, up from 3.4% sales growth reported during the same period last year.
Sales struggle: Macy’s Inc. and other mall-based retailers said sales petered out at the end of the year as they continued to lose customers to discounters and e-commerce, highlighting how not all chains are positioned to benefit from a strong U.S. economy.
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Hurricane Maria passing through San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 2017. PHOTO: HECTOR RETAMAL/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
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CFOs Should Provide More Insight Into Disaster Risks, Analysis
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Finance chiefs world-wide could do a better job communicating the risks from natural disasters, according to an analysis of nearly 100 filings by FM Global, a mutual insurance company.
Climate change exacerbates the need for CFOs to spell out the risks for their companies and future cash flow and market valuations, said Eric Jones, global manager for business risk consulting at FM Global. “CFOs really need to think about how vulnerable their businesses are,” he said.
FM Global analyzed 94 regulatory filings covering the 2017 reporting period that were submitted by U.S. businesses to the Securities and Exchange Commission. All of these filings mentioned either Hurricane Irma, Harvey or Maria—three major storms that occurred in 2017 and contributed to $144 billion in insured losses globally, according to FM Global.
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Apple takes a shot at rivals regarding data privacy at the CES tech show in Las Vegas. PHOTO: GLENN CHAPMAN/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
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Apple Inc. is planning to release three new iPhone models again this fall, including one with a triple rear camera.
Amazon.com Inc. launched its first advertising-supported streaming-video channel, the e-commerce giant’s latest effort to grab a larger share of the ad market.
Slack Technologies Inc. is planning to go public through a direct listing, potentially making it the second big technology company after Spotify Technology SA to bypass a traditional IPO.
BlackRock Inc. is cutting about 500 jobs as the world’s largest money manager looks to simplify parts of its business and focus more on areas such as technology, retirement and alternative investments.
Edward Lampert, the billionaire who led Sears Holdings Corp. into bankruptcy, has increased his offer for the company to more than $5 billion, in a last-ditch effort to keep the ailing retailer alive.
A long freeze in the junk-bond market thawed as midstream energy company Targa Resources Partners LP became the first business to sell below-investment-grade bonds since November.
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An advertisement for a Huawei mobile phone in Warsaw, Poland. PHOTO: JAAP ARRIENS/NURPHOTO/ZUMA PRESS
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Polish authorities detained and charged the sales director of Huawei Technologies Co.’s local office, a Chinese national, for allegedly conducting high-level espionage on behalf of a Chinese spy agency, amid widening global scrutiny by Washington and its allies of the technology giant.
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Carlos Ghosn was hit with new charges by Tokyo prosecutors who accused him of misreporting his compensation through 2018 and abusing his position at Nissan Motor Co. for personal gain, a crime called breach of trust in Japan.
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Short-video platforms that have exploded in popularity in China will face more explicit censorship and potentially higher costs after an industry group issued new rules that forbid 100 content categories.
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Chinese Vice Premier Liu He in Hamburg, Germany, in November. PHOTO: CHRISTIAN CHARISIUS/ZUMA PRESS
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China and the U.S. are set to hold a round of higher-level talks to resolve the trade conflict, with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He scheduled to visit Washington in late January—though the plan could be delayed by the U.S. government shutdown.
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U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell reiterated Thursday the central bank would be patient in raising interest rates this year after global growth worries gripped financial markets in recent weeks.
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The partial shutdown of the U.S. government is making it harder for Federal Reserve officials, investors, trade negotiators and others to read the economy at a critical moment.
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Mortgage rates fell again in the latest week, hitting their lowest point in the past nine months, a move that could propel more activity in the U.S. housing market by prompting more consumers to buy or refinance.
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CBS Corp. appointed David Byrnes, the New York-based media company's current senior vice president for internal audit, to be senior vice president, controller and chief accounting officer, effective Feb. 20.
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Mr. Byrnes succeeds Lawrence Liding, the company's current controller and accounting chief who has been named as head of CBS' China operations, effective Feb. 20. Compensation details weren't disclosed.
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Every weekend we select a handful of in-depth articles we think are worth a bit of your time, either because they peel back the layers on a compelling business story, or somehow make us look at business in a different light.
A biologist who works for the Forest Service in rural Nevada talks to the New Yorker about the potential impact of a prolonged U.S. government shutdown on her personal finances.
Creativity is learnable providence, argues Harvard Business Review. Find out how you can be creative on demand.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is throwing out Obama-era school nutrition standards. Bloomberg Businessweek takes a closer look at what this means for American school lunches.
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