Finance & Capital Management

New York – Saks Inc. has settled lawsuits from investors related to its proposed buyout by Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC). According to Bloomberg, Saks has reached an agreement that reduces the termination fee it would pay HBC in the event the purchase does not happen and reduces the time Saks has to seek alternative offers

New York - Almost three-in-four Americans are holding back on spending, according to a new Bankrate.com report, with stagnant income the most frequent reason (32%), followed by the need to save more (24%) and worries about the economy (20%). Just 27% of Americans say they are not holding back spending at all.

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New York -- Coach reported a decline in first-quarter profit amid declining North America sales. The company had net income of $217.88 million, down from $221.38 million in the previous year.
 
Net sales for the quarter fell 1% to $1.15 billion from $1.16 billion a year ago, below analysts' estimate of $1.19 billion.

Pritzker Group Venture Capital, formerly New World Ventures, has invested $45 million in Chicago-based SMS Assist, a leading mobile and cloud-based facilities maintenance technology company.  
 

Fort Worth, Texas - RadioShack Corporation reported a net loss of $112 million during the third quarter of fiscal 2013, compared to a net loss of $47 million in the year-ago period. It was the retailer’s seventh straight quarter posting a net loss. The company also named Paul Rutenis, formerly senior VP, general merchandising manager for the home division of J.C. Penney Company, as its new chief merchant.

Plano, Texas – J.C. Penney Co. has reportedly been defending itself against anonymous allegations made on Twitter. According to Bloomberg, J.C. Penney recently had to publicly deny tweets saying the company had hired a bankruptcy attorney and no longer had Canadian credit.

Canton, Mass. – Dunkin’ Donuts is increasing its focus on opening stores in college campuses and other non-traditional locations. The list of universities that have recently opened new Dunkin' Donuts restaurants in 2013 or plan to open new locations by January 2014 includes Westfield University (second location), Norwich University, Merrimack College, University of Rhode Island (opening two locations), University of Alabama Huntsville, Brandeis University, and Wayne State University.

Washington, D.C. -- The National Retail Federation calculated retail industry job gains at 15,200 in September, and 289,000 jobs year-over-year, a 2.4% increase over the same month last year and 2.0% higher than total private sector jobs over the past year.