Business

Black Friday draws fewer US shoppers as many shun stores for online

Bargain hunters ventured out in chilly weather to buy Christmas gifts on Black Friday only to discover that many US retailers offered smaller price markdowns this year amid tight supplies.

COVID fears and fewer “doorbuster” sales thinned crowds the day after the US Thanksgiving holiday, which kicks off the year-end holiday shopping season.

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On the same day, the World Health Organization named the newly identified omicron variant of the coronavirus as a “variant of concern,” triggering worldwide alarm and a selloff in the US stock market.
Stores on Black Friday had the lowest level of clearance goods for sale in five years or more, Cowen analysts said in a note. Many shoppers chose to pick up merchandise curbside rather than venturing inside stores.
Black Friday retail sales are up 29.8 percent versus 2020 through 3 p.m. ET, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse.
Consumers spent $6.6 billion up until 9 p.m. ET on Friday, according to Adobe Digital Economy Index, which expected total spending of between $8.8 billion and $9.2 billion for the day.
Walmart and Target stood to outperform other retailers in part because of their buy-online-pick-up-at-store services, Cowen said. Target added more than 18,000 “drive-up” parking spaces, more than doubling spots versus last year. The company said its most popular Black Friday deals included
$219.99 for a KitchenAid professional stand mixer that regularly sells for $429.99, and savings of up to $60 on Apple Watches and AirPods.
Several retailers — including Walmart, Target, and Best Buy — are expected to post lower fourth-quarter profit margins because of tight inventory and higher costs for raw materials, freight and labor. “Even though the holiday season should be okay from a sales standpoint — because retailers are discounting less — the margins won’t necessarily be higher because of inflation,” said Forrester Research analyst Sucharita Kodali.
US consumers are entering the holiday season flush with cash thanks to a still-hefty pile of savings from multiple rounds of government pandemic relief and double-digit wage increases as businesses compete for workers.

Yet retailers had lured shoppers to make holiday purchases as early as September this year, because the supply chain logjam has prevented them from quickly replenishing year-end merchandise.
A Deloitte survey showed people had spent 80 percent -85 percent of their holiday gift budgets even before Black Friday. For November and December, online sales are estimated to hit a record $207 billion, up 10 percent from last year, according to Adobe Digital Economy Index.
The National Retail Federation has forecast combined brick-and-mortar and online holiday sales to reach between $843.4 billion and $859 billion, 8.5% to 10.5 percent higher than last year.
Elver Gomez, a 21-year-old student in Chicago, said he didn’t find the Apple and Microsoft laptops he wanted while shopping at a Best Buy store Friday morning. “It seems like this year it’s either out of stock” or for sale at what he said was “not that great of a price.” Best Buy added a message to its website warning of “limited qualities” and “no rainchecks.”
Electronics – in short supply due to a global chip shortage — had the highest out-of-stock levels, followed by personal care, and home and garden, according to Adobe. Through most of November, out-of-stocks were up 261 percent versus 2019.

Business

Credit Suisse managers could face disciplinary action, Swiss regulator says

Swiss financial regulator FINMA said it was considering whether to take disciplinary action against Credit Suisse managers after Switzerland’s second largest bank had to be rescued last week by UBS.
FINMA President Marlene Amstad told Swiss newspaper NZZ am Sonntag it was “still open” whether new proceedings would be started, but the regulator’s main focus was on “the transitional phase of integration” and “preserving financial stability.”

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UBS agreed to buy Credit Suisse for 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.26 billion) in stock a week ago and to assume up to 5 billion francs in losses in a merger engineered by Swiss authorities during a period of market turmoil in global banking.
Credit Suisse on Sunday declined to comment on the FINMA President’s comments when asked by Reuters for a response.
Asked whether FINMA is looking into holding current Credit Suisse managers accountable for the collapse of Switzerland’s second-largest bank, Amstad said it is “exploring the options”.
“CS had a cultural problem that translated into a lack of responsi-bilities,” Amstad was quoted as saying by NZZ, adding: “Numerous mistakes were made over several years”.
FINMA had conducted six public “enforcement proceedings” against Credit Suisse in recent years, Amstad said.
“We have intervened and used our strongest instruments,” she said of its previous moves.
Amstad also defended Switzerland’s decision to write down 16 billion Swiss francs of Credit Suisse Additional Tier 1 (AT1) debt, to zero as part of the forced rescue merger.
“The AT1 instruments contractually provide that they will be fully written off in the event of a trigger event, in particular the granting of extraordinary government support,” Amstad said.
“The bonds were created precisely for such situations.”

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Business

Aramco affirms support for China’s energy security

Saudi Arabian oil giant Aramco affirmed on Sunday its support for China’s long-term energy security and development, the company’s CEO Amin Nasser said in remarks made before a forum in Beijing.

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Nasser said that the company has partnerships and emission-reducing technologies with China to make lower carbon products.

Oil prices hit lowest in 15 months on banking fears

European Commission to revamp power market rules, aiming to blunt price spikes

Business

Kuwait Oil Co dealing with ‘limited fire’ at well where oil leak occurred last week

Kuwait Oil Company said on Sunday it is dealing with a “limited fire” that erupted at a well where oil leaked last week.
The company said in a statement that no injuries had been reported at the scene.
“The company’s operations in the area have not been affected,” the statement read.
Kuwait Oil Company declared a state of emergency last Monday due to an oil leak in the west of the country.

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