Whatever work mistake you’ve recently made, remind your boss that it could’ve been worse. Macy’s was forced to delay reporting its full third-quarter earnings today after discovering that one worker covered up $132 million to $154 million in delivery expenses over three years, the department store announced yesterday.

What happened? An employee working in “small package delivery expense accounting” filed phony reports from Q4 2021 through this past Nov. 2 to intentionally hide expenses, Macy’s said. The retailer had reported $4.36 billion in delivery expenses over that period, meaning 3% of the total now appears to be unaccounted for.

Macy’s didn’t share much info other than 1) that dude (gender-neutral) is fired, and 2) completed Q3 earnings will probably be posted by Dec. 11, after an independent investigation.

Because Macy’s didn’t have enough to worry about

The retailer/parade host is in the midst of a massive brick-and-mortar overhaul that’ll reprioritize the Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury brands over its original—and struggling—business.

The plan: Macy’s is closing almost a third of its namesake stores (150 locations) by 2027 and investing in the remaining 350. It’s also planning to open more Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury stores. According to preliminary earnings Macy’s shared yesterday:

• Sales were down 3% last quarter at Macy’s brand stores, but up 1% at Bloomingdale’s and 3.3% at Bluemercury—the beauty offshoot’s 15th straight growth quarter.
• Sales at Macy’s First 50 stores—locations that have received extra renovation and customer service—increased 1.9%.

Zoom out: Macy’s stock is down 19% this year vs. a 26% gain for the S&P 500.

Looking (immediately) ahead…Macy’s, Walmart, Amazon, Target, and countless other retailers have stretched Black Friday into Black Fri-month to squeeze the most out of cautious consumers. The National Retail Federation forecasts that holiday sales will crack a new high of nearly $1 trillion, but that winter spending will grow at its slowest rate since 2018.—ML

Trump pledges to slap steep tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China. In posts on Truth Social yesterday evening, the president-elect vowed to place a 25% tariff on all products imported to the US from close allies Canada and Mexico, as well as an additional 10% tariff on all products imported by China. Trump suggested the tariffs would serve as punishment for migrants and illegal drugs, such as fentanyl, arriving in the US from some of those countries. Economists say blanket tariffs on the US’ biggest trading partners (Mexico is No. 1) would raise prices for American consumers and disrupt supply chains. Energy is Canada’s largest export to the US, and Mexico exports loads of autos, electronics, veggies, and plastics to its northern neighbor.

Special counsel moves to dismiss federal cases against Trump. Jack Smith, the attorney overseeing the DOJ’s two felony cases against the president-elect, asked federal judges to dismiss the charges, the New York Times reported. Smith’s hand was forced after Trump won the election, as Justice Department policy prohibits the prosecution of sitting presidents. While the indictments—which alleged Trump tried to subvert the 2020 election and illegally cached classified documents—were tabled for now, Smith left the door open to refile them after Trump leaves office again.

Israel and Hezbollah are reportedly on the verge of a cease-fire. The Israeli cabinet is expected to vote on—and pass—a US-backed cease-fire agreement with the Lebanese paramilitary group today, CNN reported. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly agreed “in principle” to the deal, which would give Israel 60 days to withdraw from Lebanon while Hezbollah moves its weapons north, further from Israel. More than 3,500 Lebanese and 140 Israelis have been killed since October 8 of last year, when Hezbollah began attacking Israel in solidarity with Hamas in Gaza.—AE

While some leaders work to get on the good side of the incoming administration, California Gov. Gavin Newsom is happy to play the villain. Yesterday, he pledged to restore the state’s electric vehicle rebate program if the Trump administration kills the federal EV tax credit, reigniting a squabble between the two foes.

Trump has vowed to eliminate the federal tax credit that offers as much as $7,500 to customers buying electric or hybrid cars, but Newsom won’t let that affect Californians. He’s prepared to ask the state legislature to revive CA’s Clean Vehicle Program, which provided rebates of up to $7,500 for more than 594,000 vehicles from 2010 to 2023.

Musk is the only exception. The program would exclude Teslas in order to promote competition, Newsom’s office told Bloomberg. The snub will likely heighten tensions between Elon Musk and California, which housed Tesla HQ until Musk moved the company to Texas in 2021, citing disagreements with the state’s policies.

Zoom out: Newsom and Trump have a contentious relationship dating back to 2019 when Trump revoked the state’s ability to set its own auto emissions rules. Newsom is reportedly gearing up for a boatload of litigation come January—the state sued the Trump administration over 120 times during the last term.—CC

SpaceX is no longer the sole option for cheaply sending cargo into space on reusable rockets: In a historic first, upstart rival Rocket Lab launched two rockets into orbit within 24 hours from two different hemispheres this weekend.

Rocket Lab’s stock—up 335% since the start of the year—rose another 16% early yesterday thanks to the rapid-fire launches, as well as news that it’ll get up to $23.9 million in CHIPS Act funding from Uncle Sam. It’ll use the federal grant to upgrade its New Mexico facility, where it produces solar panels for space telescopes and satellites used by NASA.

Space UPS

The same-day blast-offs this week in Virginia and New Zealand mark 52 successful orbital launches for Rocket Lab’s small Electron rocket, demonstrating it can give space rides as routinely and reliably as a soccer mom ferrying kids to practice.

Rocket Lab is also building a bigger rocket, Neutron, that could compete with SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launcher. Three space trips with customer cargo aboard Neutron are slated for 2026.

How does Rocket Lab do it? Led by eccentric New Zealander Peter Beck, who never went to college, the California-based company was able to outpace legacy aerospace giants Lockheed Martin and Boeing through nimble moves like skipping the prototype phase of Neutron’s engine development and buying launch sites on the cheap.—SK

Every time you stream that one Shaboozey song on Spotify, you are participating in a ~$45 billion economy. According to data from media consultancy Omdia, and reported by the Financial Times, annual copyrighted music revenue hit $45.5 billion last year—double the number from 2014, and higher than the global box office’s pre-pandemic peak of $41.9 billion in 2019.

But this is less about the longstanding decline of the movies and more about the eye-popping growth of the music business, particularly on digital platforms, which are powering the surge and now account for more revenue than that of broadcast and radio, per the FT. A decade ago, digital made up only 5% of music revenue. To be fair, that was before Shaboozey.—AE