courtesy of KFCYum! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM) is not the first American company to stumble badly in China. It will not be the last, either. China is Yum! Brands’ most important market.…
courtesy Making Change at Walmart and UFCWOften forgotten among the publicity Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) gets for its red-hot growth, and the well-regarded marketing and pricing strategies of Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ:…
ThinkstockRetailers are announcing July same-store sales figures today. Research firm Retail Metrics projects an overall gain of 4.1% year-over-year, compared with a 4.3% gain in June and a 3.8% gain in May.…
ThinkstockMost of the big retailers had a “choppy” July, and many are hoping for a strong back-to-school selling season. Since school starts around the country anywhere from mid-August in the South to…
courtesy of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.Companies can return capital to shareholders in many ways. Dividends are one of the favored methods. So is retiring outstanding debt, as it decreases the amount of capital…
ThinkstockVery little in the Consumer Federation of America’s (CFA) “Nation’s Top Ten Consumer Complaints” was unexpected. The results of the survey show how hard it may be to operate in some of the businesses in which…
ThinkstockInvestors love dividends. Becoming one of the 30 members of the Dow Jones Industrial Average does not come with assurance that a company will pay a dividend, nor does it come with…
courtesy of KFCThe country’s largest fast-food chains are expected to see walkouts in seven cities today as workers protest the industry’s low wages at some the nation’s most profitable companies. Walkouts are…
ThinkstockThe rising price of crude probably already has done some damage to the economy. And in the future it is certain to do more. The costs of gas and heating oil will rise for…
ThinkstockIn what may be a Pyrrhic victory, Anglo-Dutch oil supermajor Royal Dutch Shell plc (NYSE: RDS-A) is the market leader among branded gasoline sellers in the U.S. for the first half of…
ThinkstockRetailers are announcing June same-store sales figures today. Research firm Retail Metrics projected an overall gain of 3.9% year-over-year, compared with a 3.5% gain in May and a 2.8% gain in April.…
courtesy Wal-Mart Stores Inc.Supporters of an effort by District of Columbia lawmakers to set required private company pay well above the national minimum will regret the day they passed a bill to do so. D.C. needs…
ThinkstockThe chief executive officer of Barnes & Noble Inc. (NYSE: BKS) never really ran the company. The family that has control of the book firm did. But someone had to be the…
courtesy of Leonid Mamchenkov, via WikimediaJust over a decade ago, Sony Ericsson was one of the hottest cell phone makers in the world. Similarly, Cingular was one of the most popular wireless…
ThinkstockBarnes & Noble Inc. (NYSE: BKS), like rival book company Borders before it, will not survive as a standalone company. That leaves its board and investors with the challenge of where it…
