Cincinnati-based retailer Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE: M) announced Jan. 8 that it is closing 14 more stores and laying off an average of two to three employees to refocus its staffing in its 830 remaining retail locations.

The 14 stores, expected to close by early spring, account for $130 million in annual sales. The company expects some of that to be retained by nearby stores and online sales.

In 2014, Macy’s closed these stores in reorganization and laid off about 2,500 employees as part of the retailer’s plan to cut about $100 million in costs:

• > Fiesta Mall, Mesa, Ariz. (159,000 square feet; opened in 1979; 98 associates);
• > Metcalf South Shopping Center, Overland Park, Kan. (216,000 square feet; opened in 1967; 88 associates);
• > Jamestown Mall, Florissant, Mo. (200,000 square feet; opened in 1994; 88 associates);
• > Medley Centre, Irondequoit, N.Y. (129,000 square feet; opened in 1990; 96 associates);
• > Fashion Place Mall, Murray, Utah (26,000 square feet; opened in 1988; 42 associates, and will close on Jan. 12.)

While announcing closures of these 14 stores, Macy’s also announced two new stores: a Bloomingdale’s in San Jose, Calif., and a Macy’s in Los Angeles, which will replace an existing one in Westfield Century City.

Once the stores close and new ones open, Macy’s will operate about 830 Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s stores in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam.

The store closings and reorganizations are expected to generate $140 million in annual savings beginning in 2015. That money is to be reinvested into technology.

The 14 stores that will be closing by spring 2015 are:

• > Metro Center, Phoenix
• > Cupertino Square Mall, Cupertino, Calif.
• > Promenade (main store), Woodland Hills, Calif.
• > Promenade (furniture gallery), Woodland Hills, Calif.
• > Gulf View Square, Port Richey, Fla.
• > Northland Center, Southfield, Mich.
• > Wendover, Greensboro, N.C.
• > Ledgewood Mall, Ledgewood, N.J.
• > ShoppingTown Mall, DeWitt, N.Y.
• > Rotterdam Square, Schenectady, N.Y.
• > Kingsdale Shopping Center, Columbus, Ohio
• > Richmond Town Square, Richmond Heights, Ohio
• > Upper Valley Mall, Springfield, Ohio
• > Southland Mall, Memphis

JC PENNEY TO CLOSE ABOUT 40 STORES
Struggling department store J.C. Penney on Thursday said it will close about 40 underperforming stores this year and slash approximately 2,250 jobs.

The announcement Thursday comes two days after J.C. Penney reported a rise in sales during the critical holiday shopping season, an encouraging sign as the company tries to recover from a botched plan to reinvent itself under former CEO Ron Johnson. It has tapped a new CEO, former Home Depot executive Marvin Ellison, who will replace current CEO Mike Ullman in August. Ullman was rehired as CEO in April 2013 after retiring from the top job in 2011.

J.C. Penney said all employees at stores being closed will be offered career training classes, including help writing resumes and filling out applications. The company said that some employees are eligible to receive separation benefits. Last January, the company announced plans to close about 33 stores and cut approximately 2,000 jobs.

Here’s the list of JC Penney stores closing

Real Estate Daily News Buzz is designed to give news snippets to readers that our (yet to be award winning) editors thought you could use to start your day. They come from various business perspectives, real estate, government, the Fed, local news, and the stock markets to save you time. Here you will find the headlines and what the news buzz for the day will be.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed higher on Friday, logging a seventh straight week of gains. The Dow rose 54.78 points, or 0.3%, to close at 16,064.77. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 8.91 points, or 0.5%, to 1,804.76. The NASDAQ composite rose 22.49 points, or 0.6%, to 3,991.65.
For the week: The Dow gained 103.07 points, or 0.7 percent. The S&P 500 index fell 6.58 points, or 0.4 percent. The NASDAQ composite declined 5.68 points, or 0.1 percent.
For the year: The Dow is up 2,960.63 points, or 22.6 percent. The S&P 500 is up 378.57 points, or 26.5 percent. The NASDAQ is up 972.14 points, or 32.2 percent.

J.C. Penney DROPPED FROM S&P 500 AFTER STOCK LOSES MORE THAN HALF ITS VALUE
NEW YORK, N.Y. – J.C. Penney is getting booted from the Standard & Poor’s 500 index after losing more than half of its market value this year. The retailer is being replaced by Allegion Plc, a provider of security for homes and businesses, according to a statement released Friday by S&P Dow Jones Indices, which runs the S&P 500 index. The retailer’s downward spiral began during an ill-fated transformation under former CEO Ron Johnson, who was fired in April after 17 months on the job.

US GOV’T LOSES $139M IN SALE OF LOAN MADE TO FISKER
WASHINGTON – The Obama administration said Friday it will lose $139 million on a loan to struggling electric car maker Fisker Automotive Inc. after selling part of the loan to a private investor that immediately took the company into bankruptcy. Hybrid Technology LLC, the California car marker’s new owner, said it plans to keep Fisker operating after it emerges from bankruptcy. The $139 million loss is the largest in the Obama administration’s green energy loan program since the 2011 failure of solar panel maker Solyndra. The government lost $528 million in the Solyndra collapse, triggering sharp Republican criticism of the loan program and President Barack Obama’s investments in green energy.

COMPROMISE ON CLIMATE TARGETS BREAKS DEADLOCK AT UN
WARSAW, Poland – Developed countries and fast-growing economies have reached a last-minute compromise to avert a breakdown of U.N. climate talks in Warsaw. China and India had clashed with the U.S. and other developed countries Saturday over the wording of draft decisions with guidelines on when countries should present commitments for a new pact to fight global warming. The talks were deadlocked after China and India insisted on wording that would keep a firewall between rich and poor countries that the U.S. and other developed countries want to get rid of. However, a compromise was reached in which the word “commitments” was replaced by the weaker “contributions,” allowing the talks to continue Saturday.

ANTI-AUSTERITY PROTESTS IN 55 SPANISH CITIES OVER THE WEEKEND CALL ON GOV’T TO RE-THINK BUDGET CUTBACKS
MADRID – Trade unions and anti-austerity groups angry at the effects of the financial crisis have held protest marches in 55 Spanish cities, calling on the government to re-think its policy of cutbacks in public services, education and health care. Thousands marched to Madrid’s Puerta del Sol Square — many wearing white medical scrubs — carrying banners reading “Health care is not for sale.” Saturday’s peaceful protests coincided with anti-fascist gatherings, including one outside El Valle de los Caidos, a giant mausoleum north of Madrid where dictator Gen. Francisco Franco is buried. Many protesters carried tri-color republican flags in commemoration of the democratically-elected government that Franco overthrew with the help of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy in an internecine 1936-1939 civil war.

SWISS REJECT PLAN TO LIMIT TOP MANAGERS’ PAY TO 12 TIMES THAT OF LOWEST-PAID WORKER
BERLIN – Swiss voters soundly rejected on Sunday a proposal to limit the pay of companies’ highest-paid managers to 12 times that of their lowest-paid workers, a plan that business leaders had warned could weaken the prosperous nation’s economy. A projection by the gfs.bern polling agency based on partial counting showed voters shooting down the plan by a margin of 66% to 34. The new “1:12 initiative” from Switzerland’s Young Socialists calling for a fixed legal cap on pay appeared to be a step too far for centrist and conservative voters. Switzerland is home to global business players such as pharmaceutical companies Novartis and Roche; insurance groups Zurich and Swiss Re; and banks UBS and Credit Suisse. Backers of the “1:12 initiative” argued that imposing a legal limit on salaries would ensure greater fairness while still giving top bosses the chance to earn more money than, for example, government ministers.

NEW RESEARCH AT PA. UNIVERSITY AIMS TO TEACH COMPUTERS COMMON SENSE THROUGH MAKING CONNECTIONS
PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Researchers are trying to plant a digital seed for artificial intelligence by letting a massive computer system browse millions of pictures and decide for itself what they all mean. The system at Carnegie Mellon University is called NEIL, short for Never Ending Image Learning. In mid-July, it began searching the Internet for images 24/7 and, in tiny steps, is deciding for itself how those images relate to each other. The goal is to recreate what we call common sense — the ability to learn things without being specifically taught. It’s a new approach in the quest to solve computing’s Holy Grail: getting a machine to think on its own using a form of common sense. The project is being funded by Google and the Department of Defense’s Office of Naval Research.

OIL PRICES DROP AFTER IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL INCREASES CHANCE OIL SANCTIONS WILL BE LIFTED
BANGKOK – Oil prices sank Monday as a nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers made it more likely that the sanctions choking Iranian oil exports will eventually be lifted. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils, was down $2.43 at $108.62 a barrel at midmorning Bangkok time in electronic trading on the ICE futures exchange in London. Benchmark U.S. crude fell 85 cents to $93.99 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. After marathon negotiations in Geneva, Iran on Sunday reached an agreement with the U.S., Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany to limit enrichment of uranium to 5 per cent, far below the level needed for nuclear weapons. Iran got limited relief from sanctions that have hobbled its economy, but an embargo on its oil exports remains in place while negotiations continue for a more enduring deal to ensure the country only uses nuclear technology for peaceful purposes such as power generation.

Real Estate Daily News Buzz is designed to give news snippets to readers that our (yet to be award winning) editors thought you could use to start your day. They come from various business perspectives, real estate, government, the Fed, local news, and the stock markets to save you time. Here you will find the headlines and what the news buzz for the day will be.

Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial average fell 32.43 points to close at 15,750.67. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 4.20 points to close at 1,767.69. The NASDAQ composite edged up 0.13 of a point to 3,919.92. Benchmark U.S. crude for December delivery fell $2.10, or 2.2%, to close at $93.04 a barrel in on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

GOV’T REACHED AGREEMENT TO ALLOW AIRLINE MERGER

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department says it has reached an agreement to allow American Airlines and US Airways to merge, creating the world’s biggest airline. The agreement requires the airlines to scale back the size of the merger at Washington’s Reagan National Airport and in other big cities. In August, the government sued to block the $17 billion merger, saying it would restrict competition and drive up prices for consumers on hundreds of routes around the country. The airlines have said their deal would increase competition by creating another big competitor to United Airlines and Delta Air Lines, which grew through recent mergers. The settlement reached Tuesday would require approval by a federal judge in Washington and eliminate the need for a trial that had been set to begin Nov. 25.

ARIZONA 3^RD of 10 TOP STATES WITH HOME PRICES SURGING

In September, home prices across the nation increased on a year-over-year basis for the 19th consecutive month. According to CoreLogic, a property information and analytics provider, home prices jumped 12% in September from a year earlier. Home prices are still 17.4/% below their bubble peak in April 2006, but every state logged an annual increase in September. West Virginia and Arkansas posted the smallest gains at 0.9% and 1.3%, respectively. As they say in Real Estate 101, it’s all about location. Here are the top 10 real estate markets by state, according to year-over-year price gains from CoreLogic.

10. Utah — 11.9%

9. Washington — 12%

8. Florida — 12.1%

7. Idaho — 12.4%

6. Oregon — 13.6%

5. Michigan — 13.9%

4. Georgia — 14.4%

3. Arizona — 14.6%

2. California — 22.5%

1. Nevada — 25.3%

TYPHOON HIGHLIGHTS WEAK PHILIPPINE INFRASTRUCTURE

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Under a reforming president, the Philippines emerged as a rising economic star in Asia but the trail of death and destruction left by Typhoon Haiyan has highlighted a key weakness: fragile and patchy infrastructure after decades of neglect and corruption. Authorities fear that the storm that tore through Leyte province in the country’s east has killed thousands. More than 600,000 people have been displaced. Low rates of insurance in the Philippines mean the disaster is likely to sap government finances but analysts say it might not slow growth significantly because of the small role the affected region plays in the wider economy. Haiyan’s devastation, however, underlines the pressing need to spend more money to build hard assets such as more roads, ports and power lines — not only to improve living standards but also to better withstand the storms, earthquakes and other natural disasters that strike the country with numbing regularity.

ALL DAY SHOPPING FRENZY ON THANKSGIVING?

NEW YORK (AP) — Black Friday shopping, the annual rite of passage on the day after Thanksgiving, is creeping further into the holiday as more stores open their doors a day early. It’s a break with tradition. Black Friday, which typically is the year’s biggest shopping day, for a decade has been considered the official start to the busy holiday buying season. Stores open in the wee hours of the morning with special deals called doorbusters and stay open late into the evening. Meanwhile, Thanksgiving and Christmas remained the only two days a year that stores were closed. Now Thanksgiving is slowly becoming just another shopping day. Over the past few years, major retailers, including Target and Toys R Us, slowly have pushed opening times into Thanksgiving night to one-up each other and compete for holiday dollars. Some initially resisted, saying that they wanted their employees to be able to spend time with their families. This year, more than a dozen major retailers are opening on Thanksgiving, including a handful like Macy’s, J.C. Penney and Staples that are doing it for the first time. The Gap, which operates its Old Navy, Gap and Banana Republic, is opening half of its stores on Thanksgiving morning.

2nd APPLE –SAMSUNG TRIAL GETS UNDERWAY

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal judge and lawyers for the world’s two biggest smartphone makers have begun picking a jury to determine how much Samsung Electronics owes Apple for copying vital iPhone and IPad features. The retrial to determine damages began Tuesday morning in San Jose. A previous jury had awarded Apple $1.05 billion after determining 26 Samsung products had infringed six Apple patents. But a judge found the jury miscalculated $400 million in damages for 13 products and ordered a new trial for a recalculation. Samsung and Apple have been locked in bitter legal struggles around the world as they fight for supremacy of the more than $300 million smartphone market.

5-EX MADOFF EMPLOYEES ON TRIAL IN NYC FOR FRAUD

NEW YORK (AP) — In the many years he spent as a trader at Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, David Kugel learned that investments that Madoff claimed to be making for clients were fiction. Kugel knew that because he was instrumental in concocting the phony trades. But he always kept his mouth shut because Madoff was his boss. Prosecutors are seeking to use Kugel’s testimony — the first by a co-operator in the Madoff investigation — to show how he and other insiders purposely stayed blindly loyal to Madoff while becoming wealthy off his fraud. But the testimony this week also suggested some complexities in the don’t-ask-don’t-tell environment: there was a belief that Madoff was working his investment magic in ways he wasn’t revealing.

SPROUTS DELIVERS Q3 PROFIT BUT WILTS ON PLANNED STOCK SALE

Phoenix-based, Sprouts Farmers Market (SFM) rang up better-than-expected third-quarter earnings and sales last week. But the upscale grocer’s shares extended losses after hours on plans for a stock offering. Sprouts, a recent IPO that began trading Aug. 1, said adjusted diluted earnings rose 117% to 13 cents a share. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected 10 cents. Revenue jumped 24% to $633.6 million, beating estimates for $620.2 million. The grocer, opened seven new stores during the quarter after going public, with four in Texas, two in Arizona and one in Colorado. Sprouts has opened 19 stores so far this year, representing 13 percent growth.