Haggen Sues Albertsons Over Supermarket Deal

Only seven months after acquiring 146 grocery stores from Albertsons, Haggen has accused the grocery chain of attempting to eliminate it as a competitor by hamstringing its ability to successfully operate the stores.Albertsons divested the stores in January after regulators raised antitrust conce...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 2, 2015

Private Sector Adds 190,000 Jobs in August

Private-sector job growth in the U.S. continues to be strong across the board — except within the energy sector, according to a report released Wednesday by ADP and Moody’s Analytics.Private payrolls rose by 190,000 jobs last month, falling short of the 200,000 increase predicted by economists su...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Sept. 2, 2015

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. Oil Output Lower Than Previous Estimate

Using new survey methodology, the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Monday lowered its previous estimate of U.S. oil output.The EIA now estimates that 9.3 million barrels of U.S. crude oil was produced per day in June, a decrease of about 100,000 barrels per day from the revised May 2015 ...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Aug. 31, 2015

Core Capital Goods Orders Up Again In July

A closely watched proxy for business spending plans rose 2.2% in July, its biggest increase since June 2014, the U.S. Commerce Department said Wednesday, bolstering analysts’ expectations that the U.S. economy can withstand global strains.The increase last month in non-defense capital goods order...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Aug. 26, 2015

Ex-JPMorgan Analyst Charged With Insider Trading

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has charged a former JPMorgan Securities investment bank analyst with tipping a college friend to two impending tech mergers as part of an insider trading scheme that netted more than $672,000 in profits.Ashish Aggarwal, 27, learned of the mergers from ...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 26, 2015

The Sparsely Populated Path from Medical Degree to CFO

Leland Gershell is a doctor twice over, having earned both a medical degree and a PhD in organic chemistry from Columbia University.He’s also a CFO.But Gershell didn’t decide at some point after his scientific training to simply drop what he’d learned and go into finance instead. His career path ...

By David McCann • Aug. 21, 2015

Consumer Prices Rise Slightly in July

While U.S. consumer prices were only slightly up in July, but economists don’t expect low inflation to deter the Federal Reserve from raising interest rates later this year.The Consumer Price Index in July rose 0.1% from the previous month and 0.2% from a year ago, the Labor Department said Wedne...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Aug. 19, 2015

Auto Industry Boosts Manufacturing Output

Improved automotive production fueled a 0.6% increase in industrial output in July, but production elsewhere in the manufacturing sector edged up only 0.1%, according to the U.S. Federal Reserve.The increase in industrial output was the largest gain since November and the second straight increase...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Aug. 14, 2015

Oil Glut to Continue Through 2016

With supplies still growing at “breakneck speed,” the global oil glut will continue though 2016 despite the strongest demand growth in five years, the International Energy Agency predicted Wednesday.While output growth from countries outside OPEC has shrunk from 2014 highs and contributed to the ...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Aug. 12, 2015

How to Get More Value from Mobile Service Workers

To some employees of its customers, Fleetmatics may be viewed as something like Big Brother (that is, the societal-control regime in the Aldous Huxley novel Brave New World, not the current reality television show).The $230 million, publicly held company is in the fleet-management business. It ma...

By David McCann • Aug. 12, 2015

Hackers Accused in $100M Insider Trading Scheme

U.S. authorities said Tuesday they had broken up an “unprecedented” cybercrime ring that used information stolen from corporate news services to generate more than $100 million in insider trading profits.A complaint filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission said two Ukrainian men hacked int...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 12, 2015

Guggenheim Settles Disclosure Case for $20M

A unit of Guggenheim Partners has agreed to pay $20 million to settle charges it failed to disclose that a senior executive borrowed $50 million from a client so he could participate in a Guggenheim deal.The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said Monday that after the executive obtained the...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 10, 2015

Unemployment Rate Steady at 5.3% in July

While the U.S. unemployment rate in July was unchanged at 5.3%, 215,000 new jobs were created, the Labor Department said Friday, raising speculation that the Federal Reserve will begin raising interest rates this fall.Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected a seasonally adjusted 220,000 i...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Aug. 7, 2015

3 Things CFOs Should Know about Project Management

Project management — a structured approach to driving business results through a strategic focus on a company’s most important initiatives — is essential for any organization’s success. It’s also a powerful tool for CFOs, whether they act primarily as stewards of their organizations’ financial po...

By Mark A. Langley • Aug. 6, 2015

Service Sector Activity Increases 1.6% in July

Economic activity in the U.S. service sector rebounded in July from a five-month low, but service providers’ confidence about the year ahead dipped to its lowest level since June 2012, the Markit research firm reported Wednesday.The Markit U.S. Services Business Activity Index rose 1.6% in July t...

By Matthew Heller • Aug. 5, 2015

Oil Prices Slide To New Lows on ‘Bearish’ Data

The benchmark Brent crude fell 2.2% on Monday to $51.08 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange as oil prices slid to new lows amid “bearish” supply and demand data are causing oil prices to slide to fresh lows.Demand from China — the world’s second-biggest oil consumer — may be slowing as the ...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Aug. 3, 2015

Producer Prices Rise for Second Month in a Row

The Producer Price Index rose 0.4% in June, after advancing 0.5% in May, the Labor Department said Wednesday, indicating that inflationary pressures could be on the rise.Nearly 60% of the broad-based advance in June was attributable to energy prices, which climbed 2.4%, the agency said. The index...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • July 15, 2015

Sustainable Products Fatten Corporate Coffers

Many large companies are deriving a growing portion of their revenues from portfolios of products and services designed to enhance sustainability, according to new research by The Conference Board.Among a sample of 12 S&P Global 100 companies, aggregate revenues from such products and service...

By David McCann • July 8, 2015

Private Sector Hiring Hits Six-Month High

In another indication that the U.S. economy is picking up after a slow start to the year, the ADP Research Institute reported Wednesday that private-sector employment rose by 237,000 in June, the largest increase in six months.The latest ADP National Employment Report beat the median forecast amo...

By Matthew Heller • July 1, 2015

Battling the Slow-Growth Blues

In Part 2 of a video chat with Tom Conine (see Part 1 here), the Fairfield University finance professor discusses the financial havoc that being in a slow-growth environment can cause, compromising everything from cash generation to credit lines, price-to-earnings ratio, shareholder return, and w...

By David McCann • June 26, 2015

U.S. Consumer Spending Shows Biggest Gain in Six Years

U.S. consumer spending rose $105.9 billion, or 0.9% in May, the Commerce Dept. said Thursday – the largest percentage increase since August 2009. In April, spending rose 0.1%.Economists polled by Reuters had forecast consumer spending rising 0.7% in May. The figures reflect more purchases of cars...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • June 25, 2015

Producer Prices Rise, Easing Deflationary Concerns

U.S. producer prices had their biggest gain since September 2012, easing concerns about possible deflation and bolstering the possibility that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates later this year.The Labor Department said Friday its Producer Price Index for final demand rose 0.5% in May,...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • June 12, 2015

Are Smaller Companies Poised to Self-fund Health Care?

The percentage of U.S. workers covered by health plans that are at least partially self-funded by their employers has been rising gradually for many years, reaching 61% in 2014, compared with 44% back in 1999, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.Based on anecdotal evidence and current event...

By David McCann • June 12, 2015

Hercules Technology Hires Mark Harris as CFO

Specialty finance lender Hercules Technology Growth Capital announced Wednesday it had appointed Mark Harris, formerly of Avenue Capital Group, to replace Jessica Baron as CFO.Baron’s departure became effective Tuesday. “While finding someone to replace Jessica was difficult, I am pleased to say ...

By Matthew Heller • June 10, 2015

Wage Pressures, Competition, Cyber-Security Temper U.S. Outlook

In the latest Duke University/CFO Magazine Global Business Outlook survey, finance executives expect wage hikes of more than 3 percent over the next year at U.S. companies, with full-time employment increasing by more than 2 percent. Wage and employment growth is predicted to be strongest in the ...

By David W. Owens • June 10, 2015