1. Cyber Monday sets online sales record
Online sales rose by more than expected on Cyber Monday, jumping by 10.2 percent over a year ago to hit a record $3.39 billion, according to Adobe Digital Insights. Earlier estimates had forecast a slightly lower total, $3.36 billion. Analysts had expected web sales would suffer due to decisions by many stores to start offering Black Friday and Cyber Monday discounts days before Thanksgiving, instead of starting the day after, to kick off holiday shopping early. That strategy helped push Black Friday online sales up by 22 percent to $3.34 billion, which was a record until Cyber Monday came around and narrowly beat it.
2. Oil prices fall on OPEC spat over output cuts
Oil prices fell by 2 percent early Tuesday after OPEC experts ended a Monday meeting without settling differences on a proposal to reduce output to be discussed by OPEC ministers starting Wednesday. The deal's prospects dimmed over the weekend when Saudi Arabia said the proposal, which would result in the first production cut in eight years, might not be necessary to stabilize prices. Iraq has balked at trimming its production, saying it needs oil revenue to finance its offensive against the Islamic State. Iran says it must be allowed to return to output levels it had reached before recently lifted sanctions were imposed over its nuclear program.
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3. Samsung considers restructuring to boost investor returns
Samsung Electronics said Tuesday that it is considering restructuring in a bid to boost investor returns. The South Korean electronics giant said it might split itself into a holding company and an operating arm in what would amount to the biggest shakeup in the company's 47-year history. The family-controlled company is the world's largest maker of smartphones, memory chips, and TVs. The company, reeling from the recall and cancellation of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphone last month, recently announced a 2016 dividend that fell short of expectations, and has faced pressure from an American hedge fund, Elliott Management, to boost its share price.
4. WTO calls Boeing tax break an illegal subsidy
The World Trade Organization ruled Monday that a tax break that Washington state gave aerospace giant Boeing to help it develop its new 777X jetliner amounted to an illegal subsidy. Washington agreed to cut Boeing's taxes in 2013, as the company was considering where to assemble its latest long-haul jet. The breaks required Boeing to keep production of the plane's wings in the state. The case marks the third time that the WTO has targeted tax issues involving Boeing or Europe's Airbus in the companies' ongoing rivalry. The U.S. is considering sanctions against the European Union over illegal Airbus subsidies.
The Washington Post The New York Times
5. Hamilton sets Broadway record
The hip-hop musical Hamilton last week set a record for the most money made by a Broadway show in a single, eight-performance week, hauling in $3.3 million. It was the first time any show grossed more than $3 million in a standard week, although Wicked made $3.2 million in a 2013 week with nine performances. Hamilton, which won this year's Tony Award for best musical, also set records for highest box office ticket price — $998 — and highest average ticket price — $303. Thanks to holiday crowds, Thanksgiving week is typically the second most lucrative period of the year on Broadway, after Christmas and New Year's.
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