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Walmart, the world's largest retailer, has seen better days. Yes, profits rose 22%, to $4.63 billion, in the fourth quarter of '09. Even coming out of the Great Recession, many consumers are trading down to shop at the discount superstore. However, for the third straight quarter the store saw negative same-store sales growth; during the last three months of 2009, same-store sales dropped 2%. Overall traffic in Walmart stores was down too. To Walmart executives and investors, this disturbing trend has to be reversed; despite the earnings growth, Walmart's stock fell 1.1% on the day earnings...
...narrower selection of brands and package sizes in its grocery section, which accounted for some 45% of its store space. This move had a two-pronged effect. Some shoppers, faced with a less robust grocery selection from Walmart, decided to make an extra trip to the neighborhood supermarket, or even dollar stores, to take care of their basic needs. Plus, brands that were spurned by Walmart ran into the arms of its competitors, who were willing to compete aggressively with the retailer on price. "Suppliers don't care about going to war with Walmart because they've been stiffed...
...Increase penalties for larger employers who do not offer health insurance and have at least one employee who qualifies for federal subsidies. Companies with more than 50 employees would have to pay an annual $2,000 penalty for each worker at the firm, even if only one qualified for subsidies. (Penalties assessed for the first 30 workers would be waived, however...
...Vancouver Games, the Russian team had its worst showing ever at a Winter Olympics, leading the head of the country's Olympic Committee to resign in disgrace. Now Moscow's big chance to redeem itself - hosting the Winter Games in Sochi in 2014 - is shaping up to be an even bigger embarrassment. In the past few weeks, a number of problems have exposed the deep rot at the heart of Russia's Olympic foibles: a shortage of funds, mismanagement and widespread public discontent...
...insists that everything in Sochi is fine. "So far, both the timeline and the financing [are] going according to plan," he told RIA Novosti last month. For him, the stakes are enormous, as he made it his personal mission two years ago to win the Olympics for Russia. He even delivered a speech to the International Olympic Committee in English - a first for a Kremlin leader before a Western audience - and promised members that the Sochi Games would be "safe, enjoyable and memorable." He even guaranteed that there would be snow. With the Olympics now seen as Putin...