Business

Vanity Fair reports: For the first time in Donald Trump’s presidency, the West Wing soap opera appears to be in hiatus, with many of its starring characters (Gary Cohn, Hope Hicks) either permanently offstage or with much reduced roles (John Kelly, Jared Kushner). Currently, there’s one star—a situation Trump is obviously enjoying—and his new freedom is used to focus ever …

Reuters reports: Retailer Hudson’s Bay Co on Sunday disclosed that it was the victim of a security breach that compromised data on payment cards used at Saks and Lord & Taylor stores in North America. One cyber security firm said that it has evidence that millions of cards may have been compromised, which would make the breach one of the …

The Guardian reports: China has implemented retaliatory tariffs of up to 25% on $3bn in food imports from the US, raising uncertainty over the possibility of a trade war between the two countries. China’s ministry of commerce said it would be “suspending tariff concessions” on 120 US food products. Fresh and dried fruits, almonds, pistachios and wine would be subject …

Via Mediaite: Appearing on CNN’s State of the Union today, Sen. Bernie Sanders seemed to endorse some of what the president has said of the massive company. Asked by anchor Jake Tapper if he believed Amazon had gotten too big, the independent senator answered in the affirmative. “Yeah, I do. I do,” Sanders declared. “I think this is — look, …

Barron’s reports: News broke late Thursday that Walmart is in preliminary talks to buy the insurer Humana: Sources told The Wall Street Journal that the two companies are discussing a “range of options” that includes an acquisition. Although no details of the deal are known at the moment, it would be Walmart’s biggest acquisition on record. Humana’s market value is …

The Wall Street Journal reports: President Donald Trump criticized Amazon.com Inc. on Thursday, saying the e-commerce giant was “putting many thousands of retailers out of business.” Shares of Amazon.com slid on Wednesday amid speculation that the White House wanted to curb the company’s growing dominance. In a briefing on Wednesday, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that Mr. …

Axios reports: Capitol Hill wants Facebook’s blood, but President Trump isn’t interested. Instead, the tech behemoth Trump wants to go after is Amazon, according to five sources who’ve discussed it with him. “He’s obsessed with Amazon,” a source said. “Obsessed.” What we’re hearing: Trump has talked about changing Amazon’s tax treatment because he’s worried about mom-and-pop retailers being put out …

USA Today reports: The Federal Federal Trade Commission says it’s officially investigating the potential misuse of the personal information of as many as 50 million Facebook users by Trump-connected data analysis firm Cambridge Analytica. The agency’s action comes after it began a probe last week into the social network’s admission that it had suspended Cambridge Analytica, which had worked for …

The Associated Press reports: Remington Outdoor Company, the country’s oldest gun maker, filed for bankruptcy protection late Sunday. The company has faced lawsuits after the Bushmaster, an AR-15 style rifle, was used in the shooting that killed 26 people, including 20 first-graders, in the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting in Newtown, Connecticut in 2012. The company has seen falling sales for …

The Guardian reports: The first non-stop scheduled flight from Australia to the UK has landed in London – early – after a 17 hour, six minute journey across 9,240 miles (14,875km) from Perth. Qantas flight QF9, a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner with more than 230 passengers and crew on board, touched down at 5.03am at Heathrow on a chilly Sunday morning …

The Street reports: Stocks finished lower on Friday, March 23, as Wall Street fought to recover following sharp losses after Donald Trump moved to slap tariffs on up to $60 billion worth of China-made goods and China reciprocated saying it would target imports from the United States. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 424 points, or 1.77%. The S&P …

NBC News reports: Facebook’s mounting image problems hit a whole other orbit on Friday. Tech icon Elon Musk appeared to delete the official Facebook pages for two of his companies, SpaceX and Tesla, Inc. Musk’s moves come days after a whistleblower revealed that a data analysis firm tied to President Donald Trump’s campaign had harvested data off Facebook, resulting in …

CNBC reports: The world’s second-largest economy has responded to President Donald Trump’s controversial trade tariffs. China’s commerce ministry proposed a list of 128 U.S. products as potential retaliation targets, according to a statement on its website posted Friday morning. Beijing will take measures against the 128 U.S. goods in two stages if it cannot reach an agreement with Washington, the …

MarketWatch reports: The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished sharply lower as losses gathered steam Thursday, producing the worst loss in a single-session for the blue-chip gauge since Feb.8. Back then in early February, the Dow DJIA, -2.93% fell 1,033 points, or 4.2%, as inflation fears perked up. Thursday’s downtrend, which was broad based, came as investors fretted about the effect …

NPR reports: The Trump administration is preparing to impose at least $50 billion worth of tariffs on Chinese imports, in a major escalation of the president’s “America First” trade policy. President Trump is also calling for new limits on Chinese investment in U.S. technology, in an effort to protect what the administration calls America’s “economic seed corn.” Trump signed a …

Variety reports: Phil Anschutz, chairman of the live music giant Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), has taken no small amount of criticism since it was revealed that his private family foundation had donated to organizations with anti-LGBT agendas. But today the Elton John AIDS Foundation announced that Anschutz has donated $1 million dollars to support its LGBT Fund. According to Freedom …

Bloomberg reports: Claire’s Stores Inc., known for tween jewelry and ear piercing, has become the latest victim of the retail apocalypse. The company filed for bankruptcy Monday and said it reached an agreement with creditors including its private-equity backer, Apollo Global Management LLC, to restructure around $1.9 billion in debt. Its plan to survive rests on its reputation for trendy …

USA Today reports: Kroger said it will stop selling magazines that feature assault rifles as part of a tightening of its policies in the wake of the Parkland mass shooting and growing national anger over gun violence. The Cincinnati-based supermarket retailer said the new policy is being phased in now across its national chain. Kroger didn’t name specific titles, but …

NPR reports: The “substantial doubt” that iHeartMedia’s corporate leaders expressed around the company’s likelihood of surviving another year, mentioned in its quarterly financial report last November, has been put to rest. iHeartMedia, the country’s largest radio broadcaster with around 850 stations and a leading outdoor advertising company, is filing for bankruptcy after spending years trying to manage its $20 billion …

Yesterday it was reported that Toy R Us will close down all their stores in the US and Britain, prompting several of you to write with a reminder. From the New York Post last fall: Bain Capital has a knack for throwing big toy retailers into bankruptcy. The buyout firm founded by Mitt Romney — which got slammed this week …