UNITED STATES NEWS ON FASTMOVING

Hong Kong - Asian markets mostly rose on Monday, with sentiment buoyed by last week's deal in Washington to avert a default as well as a record close on Wall Street. read more

Washington - The US debt jumped above $17 trillion for the first time in history, the Treasury Department has said.  read more

Goodlettsville, Tenn. – Dollar General is opening its first fuel station, as part of a test pilot project. The new fuel pumps are located at the Dollar General Market in Hanceville, Ala. read more

Johannesburg - Markets across the world on Thursday gave a lukewarm reaction towards the US debt deal, due to fears that the scenario will repeat itself early next year. read more

Bentonville, Ark. - Wal-Mart Stores detailed a number of moves, including opening smaller stores in the United States, cutting back on overseas growth and increasing its investments in technology and e-commerce, on the occasion of the company’s 20th annual investor meeting. read more

Port Washington, N.Y. -- The majority of consumers intend to spend the same as or more than last year, with fewer saying they plan to spend less, according to The NPD Group’s Holiday Spending Survey, the twelfth annual survey of consumers’ holiday spending intentions. read more

Matthews, N.C. -- Family Dollar has elevated Jason Reiser to the position of senior VP/lead merchandising officer at Family Dollar, according to an internal memo from company president and COO Mike Bloom. read more

Seattle -- The global retail real estate market rebounded in the first half of the year, with international and luxury brands expanding to new markets and high street properties growing in popularity, according to a new report from Colliers International.  read more

New York, Shoppers in the United States intend to spend an average of $646 on gifts this holiday season, representing an 11% increase over the $582 they planned to spend, on average, in 2012, according to Accenture’s annual holiday shopping survey. The forecast uptick is more optimistic than other holiday surveys released to date. read more

New York -- Consumer Confidence decreased in September amid resurfacing concerns about the short-term outlook for both jobs and earnings, according to The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index. The index, which had increased slightly in August, now stands at 79.7, down from 81.8 in August. Analysts had expected the index to fall to 79.9 this month. read more

New York -- Holiday sales are expected to climb to between $963 and $967 billion, representing a 4% to 4.5% increase in November through January holiday sales (excluding motor vehicles and gasoline) this year from last year’s season, according to the new Deloitte holiday sales forecast. The growth rate is on par with last year's 4.5% gain. read more

New York – Saks Inc. plans to open seven new Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th stores in 2014: The Outlets at Bloomfield in Pearl, Miss.; Potomac Mills in Woodbridge, Va.; Palm Beach Outlets in West Palm Beach, Fla; Outlet Shoppes at Louisville/Lexington, Ky.; Twin Cities of Eagan in Minneapolis, Minn.; The Mayfair Collection in Mayfair, Wis.; and Easton Gateway in Columbus, Ohio.  read more

Los Angeles -- Grocery chain Fresh & Easy confirmed reports that its British parent Tesco LLC has sold the brand to private equity firm The Yucaipa Cos., following months of uncertainty about the 200+-unit chain’s future. read more

Seattle -- Nordstrom is expanding its partnership with Britain’s fashion-forward women’s apparel brand, Topshop, as well its men’s unit, Topman. Beginning in September, Nordstrom will add 28 Topshop departments and eight Topman departments in stores across the country. read more

San Francisco -- Gap Inc. reported net sales of $3.87 billion for the second quarter of 2013, up 8% from $3.58 billion for the second quarter last year. Net sales for July of this year totaled $1.12 billion, close to 6% higher than $1.06 billion in July of the previous year. read more

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- Sears Holdings has selected HighJump Software, a global provider of supply chain management software, to help the company manage its distribution network. read more

New research conducted in the US finds that mobile-TV viewers are more focused on TV content when viewed on their smartphones than on larger devices. read more

New York - Microsoft on Monday knocked $100 off the price of high end versions of its Surface tablet, which is competing against Apple's iPad and devices that use Google's Android system. read more

New York -- Rabeanco, known for quality leather accessories and fashion forward styles, opened its first American storefront, in the Westfield Santa Anita Mall, Arcadia, Calif. It is the first of three U.S. locations the company plans to open in 2013.  read more

San Jose, Calif. -- Retailers are cautiously optimistic about the 2013 holiday season, with 60% forecasting revenue growth in excess of 10%, in line with industry forecasts, according to a survey by Baynote, a provider of personalized customer experience solutions. read more

New York -- Cache Inc. announced that Anthony DiPippa (“Tony”) will join the company as executive VP, CFO, on Aug. 7.  read more

Austin, Texas -- Whole Foods Market reported that its net income in the third quarter increased 21% to $142 million, better than analysts had expected. The company also sounded a bullish note about expansion. read more

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- Kmart is offering members of its Shop Your Way loyalty programme the option to reserve items online, pay at their local Kmart store using their cash, check, debit, loyalty points, credit or gift card, and pick up the item onsite if available. Called Pay in Store, the programme launches nationally this month and allows online shoppers to select the Pay in Store option and reserve an item for 48 hours. read more

Microsoft is cutting the price of its Surface RT tablet by as much as 30 percent as the device struggles to lure customers.  read more

Deerfield, Ill. -- Walgreens on Wednesday reported June sales of $5.79 billion, an increase of 2.5% from the year-ago period.  read more

New York - US stocks Friday opened higher following a better-than-expected US jobs report, even as US Treasury yields spiked.  read more

Wallingford, Conn. -- Edible Arrangements, known for its fresh fruit arrangements, has launched a format, called Edible To Go, specifically designed for shopping malls and other high-traffic venues. read more

London - Tesco, the world's third-biggest retailer, could face a revolt over executive pay at its annual shareholders' meeting on Friday after an advisory group urged investors to oppose the supermarket group's remuneration report. read more

San Francisco - Microsoft on Thursday announced that it is expanding its real-world retail push with mini-shops inside 600 US and Canadian stores operated by consumer electronics chain Best Buy.  read more

Goodlettsville, Tenn. -- Dollar General reported record net income and sales during for the first quarter, but still reduced the top end of its profit forecast due to moderating same-store sales.  read more

New York -- A recent report by Bloomberg said that U.S. consumer confidence for the week ended May 19 advanced, indicating that Americans’ outlook on the economy is optimistic. read more

Austin, Texas. Whole Foods Market on Tuesday reported that its second-quarter net income rose to $142 million from $118 million a year earlier, beating analysts estimates. The chain also raised its full-year forecast. read more

Johannesburg - South African corn futures rose the most in more than two months after US prices gained as a government report showed cold and wet weather slowed planting.  read more

Unilever’s breadth of businesses and markets would enable it to ride out the tough environment in Europe, the Anglo-Dutch consumer goods company said yesterday as it reported weaker-than-expected first-quarter growth. read more

Berghoff Brewing will revive its brands this summer with updated recipes, and a move to contract brewing the beers at Stevens Point Brewery. read more

New York - U.S. retail sales fell 0.4% in March, the biggest decrease in nine months, amid a slowdown in hiring and higher taxes. Excluding sales of autos, gas and building materials, core sales dropped 0.2% in March, following a 0.3% increase in January. read more

Cape Town - Fast growing Africa could be a dominant force in the world's economic landscape for decades to come if the continent gets its act together, top Goldman Sachs economist Jim O'Neill said on Tuesday.  read more

Lisbon - No matter how Cyprus's financial drama ends, its troubles show yet again that rich countries enfeebled by the great financial crisis remain a weak link in the world economy. read more

Paris - Economic growth in G20 countries climbed by 0.5% in the fourth quarter of 2012, slowing only slightly from the 0.6% pace recorded in the previous three-month period despite heavy contractions across Europe, preliminary estimates from the OECD showed on Wednesday. read more

Mastercard unveiled its bid to dominate the mobile payments market on Monday with a ‘virtual wallet’ allowing customers to keep personal payment details in their phone and avoid checkouts by scanning bar codes in-store to pay. read more

Geneva - The World Trade Organization on Monday established a dispute resolution panel to probe allegations of unfair trade practices lodged against Argentina by the United States, the EU and Japan. read more

Los Angeles -- A report released Tuesday by CBRE Group found that Hong Kong and New York City rank number one and two as the world’s most expensive prime retail markets. read more