US housing construction jumps 16.9% in December at AP. "Construction of new homes surged in December to the highest level in 13 years...Housing construction has been rising since July...For the year, builders started work on a total of 1.29 million homes, the best showing since 2007." Read more   U.S. manufacturing output rises unexpectedly at Reuters. "The Federal Reserve said on Friday that manufacturing production rose 0.2% last month after a downwardly revised 1.0% increase in November. Overall industrial output fell 0.3% in December after a downwardly revised increase of 0.8% in November." Read more   Procrastinators abounded this [...]

  Mexico union threatens Home Depot strike at Reuters. "Spurred on by labor protections in the new North American trade deal, a top Mexican trade union has accused Home Depot of blocking union activity and threatened strikes next week if the U.S. home improvement chain does not improve pay and benefits for workers." Read more   Peter Navarro puts Amazon and eBay on notice: The China trade deal cracks down on counterfeits at CNBC. "The Amazons and the Alibabas, Shopify, they have been facilitators of the Chinese counterfeiting. So, if we’re going to enforce this deal, it’s going to be [...]

  Target, like other retailers, did not have a Merry Christmas at AP. "Comparable sales climbed 1.4% in the November-December period, compared with a very strong 5.7% increase a year earlier. Digital sales rose 19%, also down from last year’s jump of 29%." Read more   ...Target said it found strength in apparel and beauty, while lackluster performance in key holiday categories like electronics, toys and parts of its home business offset those gains. at CNBC. Read more   Holiday sales may have been better-than-expected, up nearly 5%, Bank of America economists say at CNBC. "The lowest income group, with [...]

  Instacart holds firm on its tipping policy as contract workers call for national boycott at CNBC. "Nilam Ganenthiran, Instacart’s president, said the current 5% rate is appropriate as the default, though customers have the option of giving more. “I truly think it’s right for our shoppers, right for our customers and right for the ecosystem,” Ganenthiran told CNBC." Read more   Walmart Expands Its Robotic Workforce to 650 Additional Stores by Matthew Boyle at Bloomberg. "...bringing its fleet to 1,000. The six-foot-tall Bossa Nova devices, equipped with 15 cameras each, roam aisles and send alerts to store employees’  handheld [...]

  Instacart holds firm on its tipping policy as contract workers call for national boycott at CNBC. "Nilam Ganenthiran, Instacart’s president, said the current 5% rate is appropriate as the default, though customers have the option of giving more. “I truly think it’s right for our shoppers, right for our customers and right for the ecosystem,” Ganenthiran told CNBC." Read more   Walmart Expands Its Robotic Workforce to 650 Additional Stores by Matthew Boyle at Bloomberg. "...bringing its fleet to 1,000. The six-foot-tall Bossa Nova devices, equipped with 15 cameras each, roam aisles and send alerts to store employees’  handheld [...]

  Grubhub insists it's not exploring a sale by John Pletz at Crain's Chicago Business. "Grubhub: 'In fact, we believe that given the current pressure on profits across our public and private competition, there will likely be strategic opportunities to acquire share this year— given that our profitability is secure.'" Read more   ...Walmart, other grocers are considering acquiring Grubhub by Lisa Fickenscher at NY Post. "Insiders at Walmart, Kroger, Albertsons and Ahold-Delhaize, the owner of Hannaford and Stop & Shop, have been reviewing how buying the Chicago company could help them with food delivery and groceries, according to ex-Amazon [...]

  Costco December comp sales +9.0% / E-com +43.1% "For the 18 weeks ended January 5, 2020, the Company reported net sales of $56.99 billion, an increase of 7.5 percent from $52.99 billion during the similar period last year." Press release   Bed Bath & Beyond Q3 comp sales -8.3% Press release   ...Bed Bath & Beyond still plans to close 60 stores but officials say 20 closures will be delayed by Charisse Jones at USA Today. "It's clear we have some heavy lifting to do,'' (Mark) Tritton said. "We're experiencing short-term pain, some of which has been self-inflicted.'' Read [...]

  Macy’s holiday same-store sales fall 0.6%. Smaller-than-expected decline sends shares higher at CNBC. Read more   ...Macy's is closing at least 19 stores in the next couple months at USA Today. Read more   Walgreens’ shares fall after company misses earnings expectations at CNBC. "Earnings per share: $1.37 adjusted, vs. $1.41 expected. Revenue: $34.34 billion, vs. $34.6 billion expected...Same store sales increased by 1.6% from the same period a year earlier." Read more | Press release   Alibaba undercuts Amazon in Europe to woo wary brands at Reuters. "A flood of small businesses have joined its European platform, AliExpress, [...]