Retailer Macy's to cut jobs, shut stores amid weak holiday sales

(Reuters) (Jan 6 16) - Macy's Inc (M.N) said it will eliminate more than 2,000 jobs and consolidate operations after reporting weak holiday sales, highlighting a downturn in apparel demand that has likely taken a similar toll on other department stores and clothing chains. Macy's said comparable sales at stores open for more than a year tumbled by 4.7 percent in November and December, far worse than what it had estimated in November, and it cut its earnings outlook for the second time in two months.

Macy's, which operates the upscale Bloomingdale's chain as well as its namesake Macy's department stores, estimated that 80 percent of the fall was due to unusually warm weather, which discouraged purchases of sweaters, coats and gloves. It also blamed the strong dollar for keeping tourists from visiting the United States and spending money at its flagship stores. The company's shares rose 2.8 percent to $37.15 in after-hours trading on Wednesday as investors cheered its plan to reduce costs by $400 million by consolidating regions and call-centers. The jobs to be eliminated include 3,000 store workers, though about half of those employees will be put in other positions, as well as hundreds of back-office and senior executive posts, the company said in a press release. “Macy’s is cutting the fat, becoming a leaner organization," said Lisa Haddock, marketing lecturer at San Diego State University, of why the shares rose. But Haddock said Macy's, like many other traditional bricks-and mortar retailers, faced an uncertain future as more and more consumer demand shifted online. "Macy's doesn't seem to have a unique spot in consumers' minds," she said. Macy's cut its earnings forecast for the full year to end-January to $3.85-$3.90 per share, excluding charges associated with the cost-savings program, from its previous forecast of $4.20 to $4.30 per share. In November Macy's had also blamed warm weather and low spending by tourists in cutting its guidance for the year and flagging a build-up of unsold apparel inventory. "The holiday selling season was challenging, as experienced throughout 2015 by much of the retailing industry," Macy's chief executive, Terry Lundgren, said in Wednesday's press release. The latest warning from Macy's also reflects ongoing shifts in the retail industry, analysts said. A growing number of consumers are refraining from buying discretionary items such as clothes and cosmetics, while spending more on electronics, cars, home goods and travel. At the same Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) has revolutionized shopping habits, conditioning shoppers to expect deeper discounts than what brick-and-mortar retailers can afford, while speeding up delivery in an effort to lure shoppers. "It's really concerning news that a company as well managed as Macy's is having such a tough time growing sales," said Burt Flickinger, managing director at retail consultancy Strategic Resource Group. "It's a broader issue. It's an acceleration of a retail ice age." Flickinger said other department stores and specialty clothing stores are likely facing similar troubles with apparel demand. Macy's said it expects a 2.7 percent drop in same-store sales for the year ending January, bigger than the 1.8 percent-2.2 percent decline it previously forecast. Macy's said it will close 36 of its 770 stores early this spring, in line with a previously announced plan. In addition to store employees, it said it would cut 600 back-office jobs, with about 150 of those positions to be reassigned. The company will shut its St. Louis call center in the spring, affecting about 750 employees, while adding 640 positions to other call centers. It will also offer a "voluntary separation program" for 165 senior executives at Macy's and Bloomingdale's. Macy's said it would record about $200 million in charges related to the cost-savings program. (Source)

Four ‘Super-Heavy’ Elements Added to Periodic Table

(wallstreetjournal) - Four recently discovered substances are joining the periodic table of the elements, filling in key blank spots in chemistry’s official compendium of the basic building blocks of the universe.

The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, which verified their existence, announced the entry of the four elements, the first since 2011 and the first to be found by scientists working in Asia.

These four radioactive “super-heavy” elements are known by temporary names based on the number of protons each contains in its nucleus: ununtrium, ununpentium, ununspetium and ununoctioum. Their discoverers now have the privilege of proposing a permanent name and symbol for each.

Three of the elements—designated with atomic numbers of 115, 117 and 118—were first detected more than a decade ago by researchers at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Russia and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. The fourth, with an atomic number of 113, was discovered in 2004 by the Riken research institute in Japan.

The researchers have considerable leeway in conceiving names for the new elements. International rules allow them to be based on mythological creatures, a mineral, a scientist, or a place, but the international governing body has the final say in approving them.

The most recent entrant to the periodic table was Element 112, formally named copernicium to honor Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus. (Full Story)

The Diet of the 1980s May Be Why Americans Are So Fat Today

(YahooNews) - Public health in America is in decline, and the culprit, according to experts, is what we’re eating—and our diets are turning deadly. “This is an epidemic that can be cured only by a massive change in lifestyle,” a leading doctor said when introducing new dietary recommendations.

We aren’t talking about obesity, however. Jeremiah Stamler, a cardiologist, was referring to the rash of heart attacks and heart disease that was killing American men in disconcerting numbers in the 1950s and ’60s. The massive change in lifestyle Stamler called for was to cut the amount of fat and cholesterol in the American diet. Nearly 40 years after the first federal dietary recommendations—and as a new, revised set of guidelines is set to be released—that change is looking less than successful. Many of Stamler’s contemporaries see the low-fat, low-cholesterol diet craze that eventually gripped the country as one of the primary causes of today’s obesity epidemic.

“If we reduce the amount of fat, you have to replace it with something,” Gary Taubes, the author of Why We Get Fat, said in a new episode of The Retro Report from The New York Times. In many instances, people turn to refined grains and sugar instead. “We put the whole country on a low-fat diet,” Taubes continued, “and lo and behold, we have an obesity epidemic.”

The scientific foundation for the low-fat, low-cholesterol diet championed by the likes of Stamler was based in large part of a study that used diet and cholesterol-lowering drugs to address cardiovascular health. Subsequent research has found no association between total fat intake and risk of heart attack or stroke.

But if cutting out fat and cholesterol did us little good, to say the least, cutting calories and portion sizes might not “solve” any of our larger public health problems either. New research suggests there’s not one ideal way to eat, and that while one person will respond dramatically to a certain diet, another person might see no changes at all after eating in the same way.

“It’s not just about fat and it’s not just about calories—it’s about the quality of the food that you eat,” said Taubes. (Source)

Japan: Abe Says Summit With Putin Needed to Resolve Territorial Row

TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Monday that summit talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin must take place in order for the countries to forge a peace treaty.

Japan and Russia never signed a peace treaty after World War II because of conflicting claims over islands north of the Japanese island of Hokkaido, which Japan calls its "Northern Territories."

When asked about Putin in a news conference, Abe said, "We both recognize that 70 years after the war's end, to not have concluded a peace treaty is abnormal."

"But without a summit meeting this Northern Territories problem cannot be resolved," Abe said.

He also said it was crucial that Russia play a constructive role in fighting terrorism and in the crises in Iran and Syria.

Since taking office in late 2012, Abe has sought to make progress on improved relations with Russia, but the conflict in Ukraine and other issues have complicated that effort.

Several tentative plans for a visit by Putin to Japan have been put off due to western concerns over Russia's involvement in such crises.

Tokyo views this as a good time to seek negotiations with Moscow over the territorial dispute, given Russia's desire to boost foreign investment in its Far East region and its currency economic straits, local media have reported recently.

The four disputed islands were seized by the Soviet Union in 1945.

Earlier speculation suggested a compromise might allow the countries to split control of the islands: Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan and the Habomai islet group.

Over the past few years, both countries have sought to encourage more development of the resource rich area, with limited success.

Outlining his achievements over the past few years, Abe also said Japan's often tense relations with China and South Korea are "normalizing" following a summit in Seoul and he hopes for further progress. (Source)

US: Militiamen Occupy Oregon Wildlife Refuge in Protest of Ranchers’ Prison Terms

#oregonunderattack

- A group of activists and militiamen protesting the federal prosecution of two ranchers occupied a remote federal building in the rural southeastern corner of Oregon, the authorities said.

The building seized by the group houses the offices of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, and is operated by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, about 30 miles southeast of Burns, in Harney County.

The occupation began after a demonstration in support of Dwight Hammond, 73, and his son Steven Hammond, 46, who were to report to California prison after a federal judge ruled that the sentences they had served for arson were not long enough under federal law.

Among the occupiers were Ammon and Ryan Bundy, two sons of Cliven Bundy, a Nevada rancher who became a symbol of anti-government sentiment in 2014, according to The Oregonian.

A lawyer for the Hammonds said, however, they did not welcome the Bundys’ help, according to The Associated Press

Related: FBI seeks peaceful end to occupation at Oregon wildlife refuge (Reuters)

Putin names United States among threats in new Russian security strategy

(Reuters) - A new appraisal names the United States as one of the threats to Russia's national security for the first time, a sign of how relations with the west have deteriorated in recent years.

The document, "About the Strategy of National Security of Russian Federation", was signed by President Vladimir Putin on New Year's Eve. It replaces a 2009 version, endorsed by then- President Dmitry Medvedev, the current prime minister, which mentioned neither the United States not NATO.

It says Russia has managed to heighten its role in solving global problems and international conflicts. That heightened role has caused a reaction by the West, it says.

"The strengthening of Russia happens against the background of new threats to the national security, which has complex and interrelated nature," the document says.

Conducting an independent policy, "both international and domestic" has caused "counteraction from the USA and its allies, which are striving to retain their dominance in global affairs."

That in turn is likely to lead to "political, economical, military and informational pressure" on Russia, the document says." (Full Story)

Rwandan president becomes Africa's latest to seek extended time in power

(latimes.com) - Rwandan President Paul Kagame will follow the well-worn path of autocrats by seeking a third term in office next year, after changes to the country's constitutional limit that had allowed only two terms.

Kagame announced in a televised New Year's Day address to the nation that he would seek a third presidential term after Rwanda's parliament (where the main opposition party has no seats) voted in favor of changes to the constitution that could allow him to seek additional terms and stay in power until 2034.

In a nation where dissent is crushed and opposition figures have been jailed, Kagame appears certain to win. Few Rwandans are willing to oppose his third-term bid.

More than 3.7 million people in the nation of 12 million signed a petition calling for the change to the constitution to allow Kagame a third term — equivalent to 60% of voters.

Kagame said Friday he "could only accept" Rwandans' call for him to lead the country beyond the presidential election in 2017.

"But I don't think that what we need is an eternal leader," he said in a televised address.