Few if any of the deals retailers have offered online during the recession have been as good as Best Buy Inc.’s sale price of $9.99 on a $1,800 52-inch TV. But it’s too good to be true. The electronics retailer said Wednesday that it will not honor the $9.99 price posted Wednesday morning for the 52-inch Samsung flat-screen TV. By early afternoon, it was listed at $1,799.99, almost half off the original $3,399.99 price. Bloggers and Twitterers lit up the Internet with posts about the offer, some insisting Best Buy must honor it, others making jokes. Best Buy, based in Richfield, Minn., said it has corrected an online pricing error and will not honor the incorrect price.
Trade deficit rises in June
The U.S. trade deficit edged up in June as imports rose for the first time in 11 months and exports rose for the second straight month, confirming that the global recession is easing its grip. The first back-to-back gains for exports in a year were especially good news for America’s manufacturing sector. Those companies benefited from higher shipments of semiconductors, aircraft and telecommunications equipment. The Commerce Department said the deficit rose 4 percent to $27 billion, from May’s $26 billion. The May imbalance had been the lowest in a decade.
Macy’s earnings beat expectations
Macy’s Inc. boosted its profit outlook after reporting that its second-quarter earnings beat expectations because it benefited from efforts to streamline its structure. Even though the department store operator said it doesn’t expect consumer spending to improve much in the critical months ahead, its shares rose 93 cents, or 6 percent, to close at $16.40 in Wednesday trading. Macy’s earned $7 million, or 2 cents per share, in the quarter that ended Aug. 1. That compares with $73 million, or 17 cents per share, in same period last year. Excluding restructuring charges related to division consolidations and its efforts to tailor merchandise to local markets, the company earned 20 cents per share, exceeding the profit of 15 cents per share that analysts forecast.
Judge bars DVD copying device
A federal judge has barred Seattle’s RealNetworks Inc. from selling a device that allows consumers to copy DVDs to their computer hard drives, pending a full trial. Walt Disney Co., Sony Corp. and Universal Studios, among others, filed suit in 2008, saying the RealDVD device is an illegal pirating tool. The Hollywood studios contend it would keep consumers from paying retail for movies on DVD that could be rented cheaply, copied and returned. RealNetworks has said its product legally meets growing consumer demand to convert their DVDs to digital form. RealNetworks lawyers have argued that RealDVD is equipped with piracy protections that limit a DVD owner to making a single copy.
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