Retail Sales Rebound in August With 0.7% Gain

Consumers in the United States shrugged off the delta variant in August, delivering an unexpected gain in retail sales as a surge in online purchases helped offset continuing weakness in auto sales.The Commerce Department reported Thursday that retail sales rose 0.7% last month after a revised de...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 16, 2021

FTC Releases Study of Big-Tech Mergers

In another sign that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission is seeking to beef up antitrust enforcement, the agency has released a study of Big Tech mergers that fly “under the radar” of reporting requirements.The FTC has been studying Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Microsoft since February 20...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 16, 2021

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Tax policy shifts: What CFOs need to know to stay ahead

Discover how evolving tax policies are creating new opportunities and challenges for CFOs.

By CFO.com staff

Mastercard to Buy CipherTrace in Crypto Bet

Mastercard said Thursday it has agreed to acquire blockchain analytics startup CipherTrace in a move to expand its push into digital assets.CipherTrace’s solutions enable banks, exchanges and other financial customers to screen blockchain transactions for fraud and money laundering.“The ability t...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 9, 2021

Workday Buys Zimit to Add Price Quote Solution

Workday said Wednesday it had agreed to acquire Zimit to add a “configure price quote” platform to its offerings for services industries.Zimit’s software, one of the first commercial solutions specifically developed for services CPQ, expedites the creation of price quotes and proposals, helping r...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 8, 2021

Workers Feeling More Hopeful About Jobs

More people in the U.S. are searching for a job and switching jobs amid growing confidence in the labor market, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.The New York Fed reported in its latest labor market survey that the proportion of individuals who reported searching for a job in the ...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 7, 2021

Ida’s Economic Toll Seen as Relatively Modest

Hurricane Ida is expected to be a lot less harmful to the U.S. economy than Hurricane Katrina although extended oil production shutdowns could increase the toll.Analysts at financial consultancy Boenning & Scattergood estimate losses for the insurance industry will hit around $10 billion, one...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 31, 2021

Powell Remains Cautious on Stimulus ‘Tapering’

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has confirmed that the Fed is moving toward winding down its emergency economic stimulus program, citing progress in meeting its inflation and employment goals.The Fed has pledged to maintain reducing its monthly $120 billion asset purchase program until it ...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 27, 2021

U.S. Factory Orders Decline 0.1% in June

New orders for U.S.-made goods fell slightly in July but were generally strong outside the transportation sector despite supply constraints.The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that orders for manufactured goods dipped 0.1% to $257.2 billion last month following a 0.8% gain in June. Demand ...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 25, 2021

Topps SPAC Merger Dies After Loss of MLB Deal

The $1.16 billion deal to take Topps public through a merger with a SPAC has collapsed after Major League Baseball decided to end its 70-year relationship with the trading-card company.A day after MLB notified Topps it would be not be renewing their licensing agreement when it expires in 2025, th...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 20, 2021

U.S. Housing Starts Decline 7% in July

Construction of U.S. homes fell more than expected in July as the housing market continued to struggle with high supply costs and home prices.The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that housing starts dropped 7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.534 million units last month. Economist...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 18, 2021

China Retail Sales Increase Only 8.5% in July

Retail sales in China grew far less than expected last month in another indication that the country’s economic recovery from the pandemic is slowing.The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said retail sales increased 8.5% in July from a year ago, much lower than the forecast 11.5% rise and June’s...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 16, 2021

Census Shows Historic Decline in White Population

The first detailed data from the 2020 U.S. census showed the second-slowest population growth on record, with the total number of white people declining for the first time in history.The fall in the white population came as the Hispanic and Asian populations boomed, increasing by around a third a...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 13, 2021

Adidas Sells Reebok to Authentic Brands

Adidas has agreed to sell Reebok to Authentic Brands Group for up to $2.5 billion after spending more than a decade trying to turn around the sneaker and sportswear brand.Adidas had announced in December it was exploring a possible sale of Reebok, which it acquired for $3.8 billion in 2006 to bul...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 12, 2021

Small Business Optimism Declines in July

Small business optimism over the U.S. economy declined in July, reflecting concerns over labor shortages and supply-chain disruptions, according to a closely-watched survey.The National Federation of Independent Business said its Small Business Optimism Index fell 2.8 points last month to 99.7, r...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 10, 2021

CBO Says Infrastructure Bill Would Add to Deficit

The Congressional Budget Office has cast doubt on the claim of supporters of the $1 trillion infrastructure bill that the measure would pay for itself.In an analysis released on Thursday, the CBO estimated that over the next 10 years, the bill would decrease direct spending by $110 billion, incre...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 9, 2021

Moody’s to Buy Risk Modeling Firm RMS for $2B

Moody’s has agreed to acquire the RMS analytics unit of the publisher of the Daily Mail for about $2 billion in a move to add disaster and climate-change risk modeling to its solutions for the insurance industry.RMS, which stands for Risk Management Solutions, is a pioneer of the catastrophic ris...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 5, 2021

Services Industry Index Hits All-Time High

The Institute for Supply Management’s measure of U.S. services industry activity hit a record high in July as the strong recovery in consumer demand boosted companies that took a major blow from the pandemic.The ISM’s non-manufacturing index rose to 64.1 last month from 60.1 in June, beating the ...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 4, 2021

Workiva Buys OneCloud to Add Functionality

Workiva has acquired OneCloud in a move to expand the functionality of its reporting compliance platform.The acquisition comes two years ago after Workiva began working with OneCloud as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) partner, gaining access to a pioneering integration platform as a serv...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 3, 2021

Square to Buy Installment Lender Afterpay for $29B

Payments firm Square has agreed to buy Australia’s Afterpay in a $29 billion deal that reflects the boom in “buy now, pay later” lending to consumers.Afterpay, which was founded in 2014, pioneered BNPL services in Australia, charging merchants a fee to offer small point-of-sale loans that shopper...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 2, 2021

U.S. Economy Surges Back to Pre-Virus Levels

The U.S. economy grew in the second quarter at one of the fastest rates in decades but shortages of workers and supplies of crucial products could slow growth for the rest of the year.The Commerce Department reported Thursday that the nation’s gross domestic product expanded at an annual rate of ...

By Matthew Heller • July 29, 2021

IMF Says Price Pressures Could Be ‘More Persistent’

The International Monetary Fund has warned that the transitory inflation pressures resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic could become “more persistent,” forcing central banks to take “preemptive action.”Echoing the U.S. Federal Reserve, the IMF said in its latest World Economic Outlook that the re...

By Matthew Heller • July 28, 2021

U.S. Factory Orders Climb 0.8% in June

New orders for U.S.-made goods increased in June, signaling that confidence in the economy remains strong despite supply chain issues.The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that orders for manufactured goods rose 0.8% to $257.6 billion in June following a 3.2% gain in February. Demand for durab...

By Matthew Heller • July 27, 2021

Bill.Com Buys Invoice2go to Boost AR Offerings

Payment automation software provider Bill.com has agreed to buy Invoice2go for about $625 million to enhance its accounts receivable offerings.Invoice2go allows business owners to send and track invoices through a mobile app or desktop dashboard while Bill.com supports a range of back-office oper...

By Matthew Heller • July 26, 2021

ECB Keeps Interest Rates Unchanged in Eurozone

With the latest wave of the COVID-19 pandemic pushing its inflation target further into the distance, the European Central Bank has pledged to keep interest rates at record lows.After a meeting of its 25-member Governing Council, the ECB said interest rates will remain unchanged in the 19 eurozon...

By Matthew Heller • July 23, 2021

Uber Freight Bulks up With $2B Transplace Buy

Uber has agreed to buy logistics planner Transplace for about $2.25 billion in a move to create one of the biggest platforms for arranging and tracking the shipment of goods.Freight accounted for just $302 million in gross bookings of Uber’s overall revenue of $19.5 billion in the quarter ended M...

By Matthew Heller • July 22, 2021