Food Fight

If Target Corp. is hungry to keep its newfound momentum going, there's an obvious place it should look: the grocery aisle. Target posted a comparable sales increase after four straight quarters of decline Target said this week that, in the latest quarter, comparable sales rose at all of its major departments -- except for food and beverage, which was essentially flat. Of course, food price deflation has long been weighing on many retailers that carry these kinds of goods, and surely that played a role in Target's weakness here. But Wal-Mart Stores Inc. reported on Thursday that it recorded its best quarterly comparable sales growth in grocery in five years against those same currents. It all

This Activist Investor Just Tried to Stick It to Billionaire Warren Buffett

According to the Journal report, Elliott Management, a hedge fund, has bought a portion of debt sufficient to allow it to block Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway's (BRK.A)   (BRK.B) plan to purchase Energy Future Holdings Corp. for $9 billion -- a deal that would give Berkshire Hathaway possession of Oncor, one of the biggest electricity transmission companies in the U.S. Berkshire Hathaway Energy, a division of Berkshire Hathaway, confirmed in early July that it planned to buy Oncor in a deal that valued the bankrupt unit's equity at $11.25 billion. The terms of that deal have Berkshire Hathaway Energy paying $9 billion in cash to Energy Future Holdings Corp., which Buffett invested in, via a corporate bond, back in 2013, resulting in one of the Sage of Omaha's rare losses. Representatives from Elliott Management and Berkshire Hathaway could not be reached for comment on the Journal report late Wednesday.

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  Billionaire Warren Buffett Won't Give Up on One of His Nastiest Battles Ever

  The Street
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  BRIEF-Berkshire Hathaway Energy stands firm on $9 bln offer to acquire Oncor

  Reuters

Diners in Mississippi and Arkansas are among the nation's most generous

According to new data, diners in Mississippi and Arkansas are much more generous tippers than those in Tennessee. Mississippi tied for No. 7 in a national study, with its diners tipping 17 percent on average; diners in Arkansas tied for No. 10, generally tipping 16.9 percent. But, Tennessee tied for No. 42, with diners tipping an average of 15.9 percent. That's according to data compiled by Square Inc., which provides transaction software and related credit card-processing equipment to retailers throughout the United States. The analysis looked at millions of transactions. More than two million sellers use Square across the country. The national average of a tip was 16.4 percent. The data came