This isn't shaping up to be a good holiday shopping season for Target (TGT -0.70%), unless you happen to be a hacker.
The account information of more than 40 million credit and debit cards used during the first three weeks of the holiday shopping season was compromised for in-store customers at Target. The cheap-chic discounter has tried to play down the event. A spokeswoman on Friday claimed that there were "very few reports" of actual plastic fraud, but things could just be starting to simmer as hackers sell the credit and debit card information.
Target isn't stupid. It knows that this is going to snowball into a bigger problem, and even if it doesn't folks will be steering clear of the country's second largest retailer this season. Its website and call center have already been slammed with concerned shoppers.
As an olive branch, Target is extending a 10% discount -- the same price break that its employees get -- to all shoppers this weekend.
A deal is great, but sometimes shoppers get more than they bargained for.
Briefly in the news
And now let's take a quick look at some of the other stories that shaped our week.
- SolarCity (SCTY.DL) secured an additional $200 million in financing with a three-year credit facility. The move will help the solar-panel installer bankroll its goal of surpassing a million customers in five years.
- AMC Entertainment (AMC -3.25%) returned to the market this week as a publicly traded company. The multiplex operator has nearly 5,000 screens, and it's been profitable since 2011. AMC went public at $18, and didn't look back. It closed out the week 9% higher.
- BlackBerry (BB -0.69%) can't seem to get it right, but the market still bid the shares higher on Friday after a brutal report that saw revenue cut by more than half, with operating losses widening. BlackBerry recorded revenue on just 1.9 million smartphones during the quarter.
