Introspection Leads Longtime Big Four Partner to CFO Role

Sticking with a top-tier accounting firm for decades before walking into a CFO post is hardly an unheard-of career arc, but it’s not what you’d call common. Most young accountants at such firms get a few years of audit experience under their belts before venturing into the corporate world, while ...

By David McCann • Jan. 21, 2016

CEO Confidence Takes Hit From China Slowdown

China’s economic slowdown and the global slump in oil prices is squashing the confidence of chief executives.Just 27% of CEOs expect global economic growth to improve over the next 12 months, compared with 37% at the same time last year, according to PwC’s Annual Global CEO survey released in Dav...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Jan. 20, 2016

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

Wal-Mart to Close 269 Stores, Cut 16,000 Jobs

Wal-Mart Stores said Friday it was closing 269 stores, including all 102 of its Walmart Express stores, a small-format concept that the retailer has struggled to make as profitable as Supercenters.The closures represent less than 1% of both Wal-Mart’s global square footage and revenue, but about ...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Jan. 15, 2016

Producer Prices Drop 0.2% in December

Plummeting energy prices drove down U.S. producer prices in December, lowering expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve’s 2% inflation target would be met this year.The Labor Department on Friday said its producer price index fell 0.2% after increasing 0.3% in November. For all of 2015, produce...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Jan. 15, 2016

Fight Heats up Over Facebook Service in India

Internet rights groups have accused Facebook of making “unfounded and divisive attacks” on critics of its program to bring low-end Web service to India’s rural poor.Since Indian regulators in late December requested that Facebook halt Free Basics until it turned over more information about the te...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Jan. 8, 2016

Growth Rate for Service Firms Slows in December

Service-oriented companies grew in December for the 71st consecutive month, but at the slowest rate since April 2014, according to the Institute for Supply Management.The Institute for Supply Management said Wednesday its non-manufacturing index (NMI) fell to 55.3% from 55.9% in November. Reading...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 7, 2016

Private-Sector Hiring Ends 2015 on Strong Note

In the latest indication of a strengthening U.S. labor market, private-sector employers added 257,000 jobs in December, the biggest gain of the year, according to ADP.The payroll processor said in its monthly employment report that the service sector fueled most of December’s gain, hiring 234,000...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Jan. 6, 2016

Manufacturing Activity Contracts Again

Economic activity in the U.S. manufacturing sector contracted in December for the second consecutive month, sending the Institute for Supply Management’s factory gauge to its lowest level in more than six years.The institute reported that its Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to 48.2 from 48....

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 5, 2016

Valeant to Take $150M Hit From Walgreens Deal

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International will take a $150 million hit to its revenues from its new 20-year distribution deal with Walgreens Boots Alliance, according to the Wall Street Journal.Analysts have generally applauded Valeant for finding a partner as respected as Walgreens to replace contro...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 23, 2015

Consumer Spending Buttressed Third Quarter U.S. Economic Growth

Buttressed by consumer spending, the U.S. economy managed to offset weak global growth to record a third-quarter boost, according to a Bloomberg survey.The Commerce Department revised  its quarterly growth rate for the U.S. gross domestic product downward to an annualized 2%, from a previously st...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Dec. 22, 2015

U.S. Job Cuts Running 19% Ahead of 2014

Job cuts are still on track to reach a six-year high in 2015, reflecting in large part the downturn in oil prices. But the pace of downsizing should slow next year, according to a new report.The global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas said employers announced 574,888 plan...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 22, 2015

Three Currency Predictions for 2016

The biggest currency story in 2016 will be the Chinese yuan becoming more closely tied to world currencies other than the U.S. dollar, and the very significant business risk that represents for multinational companies. But there will be other significant stories as well.Wolfgang Koester We are no...

By Wolfgang Koester • Dec. 21, 2015

‘Cryptoshares’ Coming to the Bitcoin Blockchain

In another boost for alternative securities trading systems, online retailer Overstock.com has won regulatory approval to issue company shares on the Bitcoin blockchain.Overstock’s tø platform has been working on bringing equity trades and settlement to the blockchain since it was first announced...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 17, 2015

Fed Ends Seven Years of Zero Interest Rates

As expected, the U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday finally ended its zero-rate era, voting to raise interest rates by 0.25% but stressing that further tightening of monetary policy will be “gradual.”The interest rate hike is the first since 2006, concluding what Fed Chair Janet Yellen called “an ...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 16, 2015

Housing Starts Pick up 10.5% in November

Construction is picking up not just in apartments but in single-family homes, too, a sign that the economy is, indeed, steadily improving. U.S. housing starts in November were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,173,000 — 10.5% above the revised October estimate of 1,062,000 and 16.5% above...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Dec. 16, 2015

Wholesale Inventories Fall 0.1% in October

New data from the U.S. Commerce Department suggest inventories will be a more severe drag than expected on economic growth in the fourth quarter.Wholesale inventories slipped 0.1% in October as businesses stepped up efforts to reduce stockpiles of unsold durable and nondurable goods. September in...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 9, 2015

In Search of Certainty

The business environment, infused with uncertainty, has muted the growth of business confidence, according to the results of the Duke University/CFO Magazine Global Business Outlook survey for the fourth quarter of 2015. “Economic uncertainty” was the top business concern cited by executives arou...

By David W. Owens • Dec. 9, 2015

Executives Down on Growth Prospects for 2016

Business executives are pessimistic about the growth prospects next year for both their own companies and the overall U.S. economy, according to the fourth-quarter AICPA Economic Outlook Survey.The overall expectation for revenue growth next year was 2.9%, down from 3.3% last quarter and 4.7% a y...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Dec. 4, 2015

Strong Jobs Report Makes Rate Hike Likely

A positive jobs report for November “all but guarantees” the Federal Reserve will raise U.S. interest rates later this month, experts say.Total non-farm payroll employment increased by 211,000 in November, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 5%, the Labor Department said Friday. While the ...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Dec. 4, 2015

Job Growth Shows Biggest Jump in 5 Months

Private sector employers added 217,000 jobs last month, the largest increase in five months, according to payroll processor ADP.In its November employment report, ADP said Wednesday that small business accounted for 37% of the growth, adding 81,000 jobs. October employment growth was revised upwa...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Dec. 2, 2015

Cyber Monday Heading for Record $3B in Sales

Online shoppers were on pace to spend a record $3 billion on Cyber Monday, reflecting a boom in shopping on mobile devices and continuing a historic weekend for the retail industry.IBM projected that Cyber Monday online sales would grow by more than 18% compared to 2014, while Adobe Systems said ...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Nov. 30, 2015

Goldman Employee Accused of Insider Trading

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has charged a former employee of Goldman Sachs with trading on inside information that he obtained through his work monitoring other employees for potential misconduct.Yue Han, 34, was assigned to the surveillance analytics group within Goldman’s compli...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 30, 2015

Fed Officials Boost Rate Hike Expectations

U.S. Federal Reserve officials have backed investors’ expectations of an interest rate hike next month, expressing confidence that the U.S. economy is now ready for a modest tightening of monetary policy.Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said global financial markets have settled since the Au...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 19, 2015

Housing Starts Fall in October, Permits Surge

Housing data for October was mixed, but overall signs of a sustained housing recovery remain solid.U.S. housing starts fell 11% to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 1.06 million units, the lowest level since March, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. Economists polled by Reuters had foreca...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Nov. 18, 2015

Producer Prices Dip for 2nd Straight Month

U.S. producer prices declined for the second straight month in October, a sign of weak inflation that could complicate the Federal Reserve’s decision next month to raise interest rates.The Labor Department reported Friday that the producer-price index, which measures the prices companies receive ...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 13, 2015