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Wal-Mart cuts profit outlook 08/15/2014 04:46am • ANNE D'INNOCENZIO AP Retail Writer BENTONVILLE, Ark. (AP) -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. cut its annual profit outlook on Thursday amid sluggish sales, higher-than-expected health care costs and the need to invest more in its e-commerce operations.The world's largest retailer eked out a 0.6 percent increas Entrepreneurship the answer for some with autism 08/14/2014 10:28am • JOYCE M. ROSENBERG AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) -- When Matt Cottle asked his boss to let him work in the supermarket's bakery, she told him he'd never do anything more than collect grocery carts.After six years of bagging groceries and pushing carts, Cottle wanted more. He had already learned h Entrepreneurship the answer for some with autism 08/14/2014 10:28am • JOYCE M. ROSENBERG AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) -- When Matt Cottle asked his boss to let him work in the supermarket's bakery, she told him he'd never do anything more than collect grocery carts.After six years of bagging groceries and pushing carts, Cottle wanted more. He had already learned h Entrepreneurship the answer for some with autism 08/14/2014 10:28am • JOYCE M. ROSENBERG AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) -- When Matt Cottle asked his boss to let him work in the supermarket's bakery, she told him he'd never do anything more than collect grocery carts.After six years of bagging groceries and pushing carts, Cottle wanted more. He had already learned h Macy's 2Q profit falls short; sales outlook cut 08/14/2014 09:34am • ANNE D'INNOCENZIO AP Retail Writer NEW YORK (AP) -- Macy's Inc. on Wednesday reported a 4 percent profit increase in its fiscal second quarter as business rebounded from slow sales earlier in the year.But the department store chain cut its full-year outlook for a key sales measure, saying it couldn' Investors face obstacles to optimism...Weekly jobless claims due 08/14/2014 09:14am • NEW YORK (AP) -- Investors appear to be briefly setting aside concerns about Ukraine, Iraq and earnings. There was a modest gain for the stock market yesterday pushing the Dow Jones industrial average back into the black for the year. The S&P 500 rose 13 points to end at 1,946. The Dow gained 91 poi Investors face obstacles to optimism...Weekly jobless claims due 08/14/2014 09:14am • NEW YORK (AP) -- Investors appear to be briefly setting aside concerns about Ukraine, Iraq and earnings. There was a modest gain for the stock market yesterday pushing the Dow Jones industrial average back into the black for the year. The S&P 500 rose 13 points to end at 1,946. The Dow gained 91 poi Investors face obstacles to optimism...Weekly jobless claims due 08/14/2014 09:14am • NEW YORK (AP) -- Investors appear to be briefly setting aside concerns about Ukraine, Iraq and earnings. There was a modest gain for the stock market yesterday pushing the Dow Jones industrial average back into the black for the year. The S&P 500 rose 13 points to end at 1,946. The Dow gained 91 poi Correction: Postal Service-Losses story 08/13/2014 06:30pm • WASHINGTON (AP) -- In a story Aug. 11 about U.S. Postal Service Revenues, The Associated Press reported erroneously that the agency blamed its $2 billion loss for the quarter ending June 30 on increases in compensation and benefit costs. Although those costs did increase slightly, the overall loss r Wal-Mart: Try, try again 08/13/2014 10:02am • ANNE D'INNOCENZIO AP Retail Writer NEW YORK (AP) -- Wal-Mart thought shoppers would like the opportunity to use a smartphone app to scan items they want to buy as they walk through store aisles. In theory, they could speed through self-checkout.But customers couldn't figure out how to work the "Scan Where to find the best back-to-school deals 08/11/2014 11:49am • WASHINGTON -- As the days of summer dwindle for D.C.-area students, many parents are salivating at the deals they can score while back-to-school shopping. This shopping season, they can find many deals, as retailers aim to please with more convenience, longer deals, bigger bonuses and price-matc Scientists make cheap, fast self-assembling robots 08/11/2014 10:32am • SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -- In what may be the birth of cheap, easy-to-make robots, researchers have created complex machines that transform themselves from little more than a sheet of paper and plastic into walking automatons.Borrowing from the ancient Japanese art of origa Maryland's sales tax-free week kicks off 08/10/2014 12:33pm • WASHINGTON -- Pay less and save more this week in Maryland starting on Sunday. It's the beginning of the state's sales tax-free week and it's the second busiest shopping period of the year. Consumers will get to keep more green in their wallets if they buy clothing or shoe items priced less than Japan architects sell a lifestyle on global stage 08/10/2014 01:32am • YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) -- A new generation of Japanese architects is scoring success by reinterpreting the past.Unlike their predecessors, who modernized Japan with Western-style edifices, they talk of fluidly defining space with screens, innovatively blending with nature, takin 5 tips for sensible back-to-school spending 08/08/2014 06:10pm • ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writer Students may not be thrilled about their summer break drawing to a close, but retailers couldn't be happier.That's because back-to-school shopping traditionally brings in a windfall that's second only to the December holiday season.The average family with kids in kinder