Macy's Doubles Down on Its 'Omnichannel' E-Commerce Future

Macy's E-Commerce PlansMacy's (M) is bullish on e-commerce.

Online sales for the department store chain grew more than 30% in 2010, and Macy's is heavily investing in infrastructure upgrades, such as e-commerce product fulfillment centers, to support an acceleration of that advance.

The retailer is also determined to attract top talent as it doubles the number of employees at Macys.com and Bloomingdales.com, the online arm of its upscale sister chain, over the next three years, Macy's executives said during Goldman Sachs' (GS) dotCommerce Day conference in New York on Tuesday.

Today, e-commerce accounts for about only about 6.5% of Macy's $25 billion in sales, according to Goldman Sachs' estimates.

But the company is quickly moving from being a multichannel retailer to an "omnichannel" company, said Peter Sachse, chief marketing officer of Macy's, and chairman and CEO of Macys.com com, during the conference.

Vying for Talent with Facebook and Groupon

Being a truly omnichannel retailer means "the consumer can choose whatever channel she wants to interact with you on, any device that she'd like to do that with, and [still] get a very consistent [shopping] experience," Sachse said. "It also means that you have to figure out a way to leverage inventory across all those channels."

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Source: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/06/23/macys-doubles-down-on-its-omnichannel-e-commerce-future/

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Do the Shorts Know Something You Don't?

Don't let it get away!

Keep track of the stocks that matter to you.

Help yourself with the Fool's FREE and easy new watchlist service today.

Since everyone loves a winner, it's reasonable to assume that everyone hates a loser -- everyone but short sellers, at least. These contrarian investors bet that hot stocks are primed to fall and aim to turn their pessimism into potential profits.

These companies on the American Stock Exchange were among those with the largest percentage increases in shares short. Combining that with the collective intelligence of Motley Fool CAPS, we'll see which of these companies Fools believe have the power to make short work of short-sellers.

Company

Shares Short, May 31

Shares Short, May 13

% Change

%   Float

CAPS Rating (out of 5)

Neoprobe (AMEX: NEOP  )

7.7

6.0

28.2%

9.2%

*

VirnetX Holding (AMEX: VHC  )

8.7

7.5

15.1%

24.5%

*

Paramount Silver & Gold (AMEX: PZG  )

4.0

3.5

14.8%

3.6%

***

Source: wsj.com. Share counts in millions.

Of course, this isn't a list of stocks to buy -- or short! These stocks could have serious problems that warrant their short interest, but they might also be stricken by short-term troubles. Only Foolish due diligence will tell you for certain; our 170,000-strong CAPS community offers just such a good place to start.

The short list
Hedge funds are already a widely despised group of investors because of their short-selling strategies, but one hedgie is taking the practice a significant notch higher by actively trying to make the stock fall to achieve a profit.

MSMB Capital Management is trying to thwart Neoprobe's effort to get an FDA review of its lymph node mapping agent Lymphoseek. The hedge fund says there were "severe deficiencies and flaws" in two late-stage clinical trials, so it filed a "citizen petition" with the FDA to undermine the application review process. A successful challenge would undoubtedly cause Neoprobe's shares to crater.

MSMB isn't winning its industry any fans by doing this, but in reality it's a fairly common process. Teva Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: TEVA  ) , Pfizer (NYSE: PFE  ) , and ISTA Pharmaceuticals have all filed citizen petitions over the years to try to derail FDA reviews that might have had an impact on their own profits. It's just MSMB's direct, financial gain that appears so unseemly.

Others have raised questions about Neoprobe's trials, and more than two-thirds of the CAPS All-Stars rating it have doubts about the probability of its success. Let us know in the comments section below whether you think the Neoprobe can test higher levels again.

You, sir, are no Qualcomm
Short sellers are probably disagreeing with the analysts at Cowen & Co. who characterize VirnetX Holdings as a latter-day Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM  ) . The idea is that the patent portfolio of the 4G security specialist is similar to the trove held by the wireless telecom services provider at the dawn of the 3G age. Much has been made of its wrangling $200 million out of Microsoft in a patent-litigation settle, but the piling on here would suggest that it's much ado about nothing.

The CAPS community is also skeptical, as just 55% of those rating it see it going on to beat the indexes, while All-Stars have lined up against it, with nearly three-quarters seeing it coming up short. You can add VirnetX to your watchlist if you're interested in learning more about its progress, and you can share your thoughts on the VirnetX Holdings CAPS page.

Glittering gains
Considering Paramount Gold & Silver has tripled off its 52-week lows, short sellers must be thinking it's come too far, too fast. But there are plenty of factors still in place that could drive precious metals higher.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has been left scratching his head over why the economy is stuck in a rut, even though he's unloaded his bazooka at it and kept interest rates near 0%. Now with inflation on the move, the Fed has scaled back its estimates on economic growth.

Paramount's wholly owned San Miguel project in Mexico is an extension of the world-class silver and gold Palmarejo mine owned by Coeur D'Alene Mines  (NYSE: CDE  ) . But CAPS member azpat0 has stated that one of Paramount's biggest assets is its management team, and the broader investor community apparently agrees, as 94% of those rating the precious-metals miner believe it will outperform the broad market averages.

Add the stock to the Fool's free portfolio tracker to find out how Paramount Gold & Silver hedges its bets in the future.

Don't sell yourself short
It pays to start your own research on these stocks on Motley Fool CAPS. Read a company's financial reports, scrutinize key data and charts, and examine the comments your fellow investors have made, all from a stock's CAPS page. Then share your views with the CAPS community: Squeeze 'em till it hurts, or short 'em till the sun don't shine? May the best argument prevail!

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Source: http://feeds.fool.com/~r/usmf/foolwatch/~3/64WChwedu9w/do-the-shorts-know-something-you-dont.aspx

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Will CM Punk Stay Or Leave The WWE On July 18?


For months it has been rumored and now it appears that CM Punk's contract with the WWE is indeed coming to an end over the next couple of weeks.

The current storyline heading into WWE Money in the Bank is a very interesting storyline for many wrestling fans as CM Punk proclaimed this past Monday Night on RAW that on July 17th (the date for M.I.T.B.) it will be his last day with the WWE and on July 18th he will be a "free man." The storyline also states that CM Punk plans on taking the WWE Championship with him wherever he may end up next whether it is another wrestling ring or maybe his own living room couch.

Instead of breaking down the actual beginning of the WWE Championship storyline that will take us into Money in the Bank, let's look at the big picture if it is true that Punk is after all leaving the WWE come Monday July 18th. Rumors believe that to be true while some may think that Punk could be staying longer or maybe even signing a new contract. The only people that actually know what CM Punk's next steps may be are Vince McMahon & CM Punk himself.

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/VBOG99rugZk/will-cm-punk-stay-or-leave-the-wwe-on-july-18-2011-6

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10 Things You Need To Know Before The Opening Bell (SPY, ORCL)


kim kardashian

Good morning. Here's what you need to know.

  • Asian indices were up in overnight trading with the Bombay Stock Exchange surging 2.89%. Major European indices are up and U.S. futures indicate a positive open.

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Is the Fed the World?s Largest Fixed-Income Hedge Fund?


The following data is taken from Congressional testimony of the well respected banking analyst, Bert Ely, illustrates how the Federal Reserve has gone from being a taxpayer subsidized monetary authority to one of the world?s largest and most profitable bank/fixed-income hedge funds.   Mr. Ely points out the pre-crisis Fed balance sheet (Table 1) consisted mainly of ?Fed-issued currency intermediated into Treasury securities with both of those items compromising 90% of their side of the Fed balance sheet.?     On the income side, Table 2 shows that in 2007, which Ely calls the last ?normal? year, the U.S. taxpayer provided a $5.7 BN indirect subsidy to the Fed by paying $40.3 BN (line 1) of interest of the Fed?s holdings of Treasury securities, of which a $34.6 BN surplus (line 17) was returned to the Treasury.

Table 1 also illustrates how, since the crisis began, the Fed has more than tripled the size of its balance sheet, increasing its Treasury holdings by $650 BN and purchasing of over $1 TN of MBS and Agency debt.   As of May, according to Ely, the Fed held 14 percent of the total debt and MBS issued or guaranteed by the three housing-finance GSEs and Ginnie Mae.   The balance sheet growth was financed almost entirely by the creation of bank reserves held as deposits at the Fed (line 10).   These reserves now account for almost 10 percent of total banking-industry assets, which, prior to the crisis was effectively a rounding error.

Table 2 shows the Fed?s net income has grown from $38.7 BN in 2007 to $81.7 BN in 2010 (line14).  Though the sharp decline in interest rates reduced the Fed?s interest income on Treasuries  from $40.3 BN to $26.4 BN, the more than $1 TN purchase of agency debt and MBS helped to generate $53 BN in interest income (line 3) in 2010, up from $.6 BN in 2007.  The Fed returned $79.2 BN to the Treasury in 2010 (line 17) and after accounting for the $26.4 BN of interest on Treasuries generated a $52.9 BN profit for taxpayers.

The risks?   Take a look the leverage ratio in Table 1 (line 13).  John Hussman points out the Fed?s leverage ratio in now higher than that of Bear Sterns and Fannie Mae with similar interest risk though less credit risk.  He writes,

The maturity distribution of these [Fed] assets works out to an average duration of about 6 years, which implies that the Fed would lose roughly 6% in value for every 100 basis points higher in long-term interest rates. Given that the Fed only holds 2% in capital against these assets, a 35-basis point increase in long-term yields would effectively wipe out the Fed’s capital?

To avoid the potentially untidy embarrassment of being insolvent on paper, the Fed quietly made an accounting changeseveral weeks ago that will allow any losses to be reported as a new line item – a “negative liability” to the Treasury – rather than being deducted from its capital. Now, technically, a negative liability to the Treasury would mean that the Treasury owes the Fed money, which would be, well, a fraudulent claim, and certainly not a budget item approved by Congress, but we’ve established in recent quarters that nobody cares about misleading balance sheets, Constitutional prerogative, or the rule of law as long as speculators can get a rally going, so I’ll leave it at that.

We?re not sure of the endgame and when and how all this is going to play out.  But we do agree with Mr. Hussman that ?the predictable outcome is instability.?   Toto, I have a feeling we?re not in Kansas anymore.

(click here if tables are not observable)


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Wen Jiabao: Yes We Can


Wen Jiabao, the Premier of China, wrote on Financial Times ahead of his European trip with his optimistic tone which sends stocks higher.

In the piece titled How China plans to reinforce the global recovery (sounds like very Gordon Brownesque, as Brown was keen to save the world), he wrote that he believes that China can control prices at the level they want, while at the same time maintain rapid economic growth.  That is, he believes that hard landing is out of the question.

Here, I quote:

China has made capping price rises the priority of macroeconomic regulation and introduced a host of targeted policies. These have worked. The overall price level is within a controllable range and is expected to drop steadily.  The output of grain, of which there is now an abundant supply, has increased for seven years in a row. There is an oversupply of main industrial products. Imports are growing fast. We are confident price rises will be firmly under control this year.

Apparently his comment has triggered rallies in Hong Kong and China equities market, probably as investors hope that the tightening is over because price level is ?controllable?.  So far, however, the data suggests the otherwise.  Inflation remains high and is expected to go higher before it subsides, possibly in the latter part of the year.  It is true that growth, while slowing, is still relative robust, but that means that the growth rate is not quite slow enough to bring down prices.

I do believe that price level will drop later, but before it drop enough, it is still unlikely to see Beijing loosening policy. 

This article originally appeared here: Wen Jiabao: Yes We Can
Also sprach Analyst - World & China Economy, Global Finance, Real Estate

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Debt Settlement Vs Credit Counseling

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Debt stricken often find themselves in a muddle, when they fail to decide amongst the debt removal programs that they should take up. Here the concerned article discusses the pros and cons of debt settlement and consumer credit counseling.

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