Former Fed Chair Janet Yellen is “poised to become the first female Treasury secretary and one of few people to ever have wielded economic power from the White House, the Federal Reserve and the president’s cabinet.” If confirmed, Yellen would face “the economic fallout created by a pandemic that continues to inflict damage” - NYTimes and WSJ and Bloomberg and MarketWatch and Marketplace and Law360
Dick’s Sporting Goods CEO Ed Stack is stepping aside after “decades at the helm of the sporting-goods company he built into a national chain and led into the debate over gun violence.” Current president and former CMO Lauren Hobert will take over the top spot on February 1, and Stack will remain Board Chair and chief merchant - WSJ
A week after announcing its massive investment into electric cars and trucks, General Motors has reversed course and will abandon its support of the legal fight to “nullify California’s strict fuel economy rules, signaling that it [is] ready to work with President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. to reduce climate-warming emissions from cars and trucks” - NYTimes and WSJ and HuffPost and TechCrunch
Macy’s and other retailers are experimenting with dark stores and make-shift fulfillment centers as e-commerce continues to boom in this Covid-influenced economy that analysts expect will carry over even after the coronavirus slides to the back burner - NYTimes
Not that all mall mainstays are shutting it down. Because surging virus be damned, Americans have deals to pursue - WSJ
While others are really embracing the virtual experience - WSJ
In well-timed food news, spice-meister McCormick is reportedly closing in on a deal to buy hot-sauce maker Cholula from PE firm L Catterton in a deal that would value the company around $800 million - WSJ
The Department of Justice has asked a California federal judge for more time to prepare for trial over the “proposed $5.3 billion tie-up” between Visa and Plaid, calling the current schedule “infeasible” and accusing the companies of trying to deny it a “’fair chance’ at pursuing the merger challenge” – Law360
A year of outrageous Tesla stock performance has helped power founder Elon Musk to the position of world’s second-richest person. Indeed, Musk has added a staggering $100 billion to his net worth in 2020 alone - Bloomberg and MarketWatch
BlackRock is acquiring equity-index provider Aperio in an all-cash deal worth $1 billion as part of an effort by “the world’s largest money manager to add more personalization to its offerings” - WSJ and Bloomberg
Yet another parting shot from the White House, this time aimed squarely at Beijing? Perhaps, if an ambitious plan to “create an informal alliance of Western nations to jointly retaliate when China uses its trading power to coerce countries” comes together in the final two months of the administration - WSJ
The Times is done messing around, folks. Here’s your course-by-course menu of options for Turkey Day. No excuses - NYTimes
Stay safe.
