Exxon to Take Record Writedown, Slash Spending

Exxon Mobil announced it would take its largest-ever writedown and slash capital spending amid the continuing fallout from the sharp decline in oil demand and prices from the COVID-19 pandemic.The biggest U.S. oil producer by volume said it would write down the value of natural gas properties in ...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 1, 2020

Facebook Adds CRM Platform With Kustomer Buy

Facebook has agreed to acquire Kustomer, a customer relationship management startup, in a move to boost its offerings to businesses that communicate with customers through its messaging apps.Kustomer’s omnichannel CRM platform enables businesses to manage customer conversations across multiple se...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 1, 2020

Explore the Trendline➔

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

U.S. Consumer Spending Growth Slows to 0.5%

U.S. consumer spending started the fourth quarter with another gain but economists expect the pace of growth will slow as the coronavirus surges and federal aid expires.The Department of Labor reported that spending rose 0.5% in October — the sixth straight monthly increase but the smallest since...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 30, 2020

Core Capital Goods Orders Rise 0.7% in October

A key measure of U.S. business investment rose for a sixth straight month in October, fueling optimism over the health of the manufacturing sector despite the current surge in coronavirus infections.The Department of Commerce reported Wednesday that orders for non-defense capital goods excluding ...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 27, 2020

Merck Buys OncoImmune in COVID Treatment Move

Merck has agreed to acquire biotech firm OncoImmune for $425 million to add a promising treatment for serious COVID-19 infections to its assault on the virus.The acquisition comes two months after a late-stage clinical study showed OncoImmune’s CD24Fc drug, also known as Saccovid, reduced the ris...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 23, 2020

Mnuchin to Let Emergency Credit Programs Lapse

Over the objections of the Federal Reserve, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has decided to allow several emergency lending programs to expire, prompting warnings of market instability amid the worsening of the coronavirus pandemic.Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell had urged Mnuchin to extend ...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 20, 2020

China’s Negative Yield Bond Gets Positive Response

China’s first-ever sale of a negative-yield bond drew strong demand from investors seeking exposure to an economy that is returning to pre-pandemic growth rates.The five-year, 750 million euro bond offering a yield of minus 0.152% was part of a 4 billion euro sale of debt by the Chinese governmen...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 20, 2020

Norwegian Air Files for Bankruptcy in Ireland

Norwegian Air has filed for the Irish equivalent of bankruptcy after struggling to make its low-cost business model viable even before the coronavirus pandemic.Norwegian’s filing for examinership in Ireland, where its aircraft assets are held, makes it Europe’s biggest airline casualty yet from t...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 19, 2020

U.S. Housing Starts Increase 4.9% in October

U.S. housing starts rose more than expected in October as low mortgage rates continued to fuel construction, particularly in the single-family home sector.Reuters warned, however, that the housing market’s “momentum could slow amid a resurgence in new COVID-19 infections that is putting strain on...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 18, 2020

Retail Sales Growth Slows to 0.3% in October

U.S. retail sales advanced for the sixth month in a row in October but hopes for a strong holiday shopping season may be fading amid the surge in coronavirus infections.The Commerce Department reported that retail sales rose 0.3% last month. It was the smallest gain since the economic recovery fr...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 18, 2020

Airbnb IPO Filing Shows Rebound From Virus Shock

Airbnb filed paperwork for an initial public offering that says it has rebounded strongly from the initial shock of the coronavirus pandemic, showing the resilience of its business model.In its IPO prospectus, the home rental startup said its business declined by nearly 80% as the pandemic disrup...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 17, 2020

Home Depot Eyes Pro Market With HD Supply Buy

Home Depot said Monday it will acquire HD Supply for about $8 billion in a major move to boost its offerings to professional customers.HD Supply is a wholesale distributor of electrical, plumbing, janitorial and other supplies that Home Depot sold in 2007 to a consortium of private-equity firms i...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 16, 2020

Inflation Flat in October as Coronavirus Surges

U.S. consumer prices were unchanged in October, indicating the spike in inflation over the summer has receded amid a resurgence of the coronavirus pandemic.The flat reading for last month followed four straight months of gains in the consumer price index as states lifted pandemic-related business...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 12, 2020

Main Street Program Gets First Nonprofit Borrower

The $4.4 million loan that a college sports conference received last month was just a drop in the ocean of funds available from the Federal Reserve’s $600 billion Main Street Lending Program. But it was a milestone of sorts, marking the COVID-19 relief program’s first extension of credit to a non...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 12, 2020

OPEC Lowers Demand Forecast on COVID Concerns

OPEC has again lowered its forecast for world oil demand in 2020, reflecting concerns over the market’s recovery amid a resurgence in COVID-19 infections.In its latest monthly oil report, OPEC said Wednesday that demand will tumble by 9.8 million barrels per day this year, up 300,000 bpd from las...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 11, 2020

Banks Report Tightening Loan Standards in Q3

U.S. banks tightened standards for business and consumer loans in the third quarter amid continued uncertainty over the economic outlook.The Federal Reserve’s quarterly survey of senior loan officers found that significant net shares of banks reported having raised the bar for commercial and indu...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 10, 2020

Court Orders Release of PPP Borrower Details

A judge has ordered the Trump administration to provide more detailed information about businesses that received COVID-19 relief loans, ruling that the “powerful” public interest in disclosure “dramatically outweighs” privacy concerns.The decision was a victory for media organizations that sued t...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 9, 2020

U.S. Employers Add 638,000 Jobs in October

The U.S. economy added jobs for a sixth straight month in October and the unemployment rate fell more than expected but the labor market remains well below its pre-pandemic level as coronavirus cases surge.The Labor Department reported Friday that nonfarm payrolls increased by 638,000 last month,...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 6, 2020

Bank of England Boosts Bond-Buying Program

The Bank of England increased its bond-buying stimulus program to shore up the U.K. economy as the country entered a second lockdown.As Reuters reports, the BoE’s response to the coronavirus crisis has been “one of the most aggressive among the world’s central banks.” On Thursday, it announced it...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 6, 2020

Nebraska Voters OK 36% Cap on Payday Loan Interest

Nebraska has become the latest state to cap interest rates on payday loans that consumer activists say are exorbitant and predatory.In Tuesday’s election, roughly 83% of Nebraska voters approved Initiative 428, which puts a 36% annual limit on the interest payday lenders can charge.Previously, th...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 4, 2020

Arby’s Owner Bets on Fast Food With Dunkin’ Buy

In a major bet on quick-service restaurants, the owner of Arby’s is beefing up its lineup by acquiring the parent of Dunkin’ coffee shops and Baskin-Robbins ice cream stores for $11.3 billion.The sale of Dunkin’ Brands will bring its two restaurant chains under the same roof as Inspire Brands’ Ar...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 2, 2020

WarnerMedia Plans More Layoffs as Virus Bites

WarnerMedia is planning another round of layoffs to reduce costs by as much as 20% as the coronavirus pandemic and streaming continue to reshape the entertainment industry.The overhaul at the AT&T subsidiary, which houses HBO, TNT, TBS, and the Warner Bros. studio, would result in thousands o...

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 9, 2020

CFOs Skeptical About Recovery Before Next Year

U.S. finance executives remain more optimistic about the economy than they were in the spring but very few expect to return to pre-COVID levels of employment and revenue until at least 2021, according to The CFO Survey.The report, a collaboration of Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and ...

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 7, 2020

Caterpillar Buys Weir Group’s Oil and Gas Business

Caterpillar said Monday it has agreed to buy the oil and gas division of Scotland’s Weir Group for $405 million, making a bet on the energy sector amid a slowdown in demand for its heavy equipment.The deal covers more than 40 Weir Oil & Gas manufacturing and services locations and about 2,000...

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 5, 2020

U.S. Job Gains Slow to 661,000 in September

U.S. employers added fewer jobs than expected in September as the pace of the labor market’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic continued to slow.The Labor Department reported Friday that nonfarm payrolls rose by 661,000 last month and the unemployment rate was 7.9%. The jobs gain was the sma...

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 2, 2020