Costco

The holiday shopping season is looking pretty bleak for retailers. Best Buy recently announced that it plans to hire fewer holiday workers than it did last year, and now new data from the consumer research group NPD suggests that Best Buy won't be the only chain stuck in a holiday sales rut.

Next week's biggest news is all but certain to be Apple's introduction of the iPhone 5, led by new CEO Tim Cook. Beyond that, there will be quarterly reports from Darden Restaurants (Olive Garden, Red Lobster), Monsanto, and Costco, as well as a big-screen offering from IMAX.

Before you click "buy" at any e-commerce site this holiday season, be sure to surf on over to the return policy page. If your giftees aren't giddy about your presents, they certainly won't be happy if they have to shell out to return or exchange them. Here are some policies from noteworthy sellers.

It's hard not to sound like the Grinch these days: As we head into the holiday season, unemployment remains painfully high, and August 2011 saw a 47% increase in layoffs compared to last year, with no growth in hiring. Poverty stats are equally dismal, with the cost of living rising. Here's how retailers are responding.

Zero jobs were created in August. Does that, by itself, augur another recession? Not necessarily -- but add the state of consumer confidence, and top it off with Wall Street skittishness, and all signs point to trouble ahead. Government economists, however, are predicting growth. Here's why they may be wrong.

Announcements made late Wednesday and early Thursday revealed that three large companies -- Wendy's, Costco, and Bank of New York Mellon -- are losing their CEOs. And while the first two cases sound like they'll result in smooth transitions, the third comes as something of a shock.

Reading Keith Richard's much-praised autobiography "Life," and at the same time thinking about corporate leadership, the author came to a startling conclusion. Richards the retirement-shunning rocker and Costco CEO and founder Jim Singeal have an essential trait in common. Authenticity: the drive that can't be faked.