More registers ringing this holiday season

Shoppers may have boosted retailers with slightly better sales this year. But only when compared to a disastrous 2008. And that’s no guarantee that consumers’ shop ’til you drop mentality is back.
Most retailers won’t report their December sales results until next month, but early forecasts indicate things could be less awful than last year. […]

Sovereign wealth funds on the hunt

After months of relative silence, sovereign wealth funds, the huge, state-owned vehicles that export-rich countries use to invest their reserves, are on the prowl again.
"[Funds] are researching deals and trying to get things lined up," says R.P. Eddy, CEO of Ergo, a research firm that advises some of the world’s biggest sovereign wealth […]

Yacht brokers see fairer seas ahead

Yacht exporters are riding a weaker dollar and reduced prices to new markets, while domestic sellers are seeing signs that the market’s doldrums are coming to an end.
Yacht exports to Northern Europe were healthy before the recession since the dollar was still weaker than the Euro. But the international financial tidal wave left fewer buyers, […]

Luxury prices: To cut or not to cut?

Step into Nordstrom a year ago for handmade Italian pumps and flats from designer Anyi Lu and you’d be shelling out as much as $595 a pair. This season, everything in the spring collection that hits stores next month goes for under $400. For CEO David Spatz, adjusting prices downward simply made sense: "The […]

Holiday crowd boosts Best Buy

Customers snapping up electronics and gift cards for the holidays boosted Best Buy’s third-quarter profit, but the nation’s largest electronics retailer said Tuesday that shoppers are focused on prices, particularly of TVs and computers.
Best Buy predicted consumers will stay that way in the fourth quarter, squeezing its profit margin. That forecast sent […]

California cities losing millions in sales tax receipts

Cities and counties in California are losing millions of dollars in sales tax receipts due to slower retail sales, compared with last year.
In the most recent data available from the state Board of Equalization, jurisdictions around the state got $244 million in October, 14.5 percent less than they got in October 2008 as their share […]

Valley Transportation Authority cuts $15M

The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority will reduce its operating budget $15 million next year and defer purchase of new buses as it continues to grapple with a $70 million budget deficit over the next two years.
Members of the board of directors of VTA — which provides bus, light rail and paratransit service throughout Santa […]

Goldman nixes cash bonuses for top execs

Top executives at Goldman Sachs will not be paid cash bonuses this year, the company said Thursday.
In the face of public outrage over Wall Street bonuses, the company said that its 30-member management committee will receive restricted company stock instead.
Goldman Sachs’ (GS, Fortune 500) bonus pool is currently on track to hit $21 billion […]

U.K. Treasury chief hints at tax hikes

LONDON–Britain’s Treasury chief said Sunday that the government must make difficult choices on spending cuts as it seeks to slash the country’s growing deficit.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling is expected to announce tax hikes and public-sector spending cuts in a pre-budget review on Wednesday.
The government has said it wants to halve […]

The Frank factor

His neck turns red. His cheeks become flushed. Frank Stronach is close to erupting again in another row over one of his ideas.
The physical changes are cues for anyone else to leave the room. Come back later. Fight another day. Perhaps.
The entrepreneurial atmosphere can get hot and heavy behind closed doors at the elegant headquarters […]