Axios

Uber's "latest misbehavior involving a data breach cover-up revealed this week could be the impetus for people to ride elsewhere," according to AP's Tom Krisher in Detroit and tech writer Barbara Ortutay:

"With the jobless rate at a 17-year-low of 4.1% and consumer confidence stronger than a year ago, analysts project healthy sales increases ... The National Retail Federation ... expects sales ... to at least match last year's rise of 3.6% and estimates online spending and other non-store sales will rise 11 to 15%," per AP.

Consolidation is the name of the game in semiconductors right now, particularly with Broadcom weighing a hostile takeover bid for Qualcomm.

Why it matters: If Broadcom buys Qualcomm — combined with Qualcomm's pending purchase of Dutch rival NXP — it would expand the chip-making market's Big Two into its Big Three:

Full versions of the stories cited above:

• Amazon's next targets: FedEx and UPS
• The smart money on Wall Street is shorting Amazon's rivals
• Toymakers depend on Amazon for holiday survival
• A brick-and-mortar juggernaut in the Amazon economy
• E-commerce is concentrating jobs, not killing them
• Automation is raising pay before it cuts jobs
• Ebay: The future of retail is virtual reality
• Can the death of brick-and-mortar retail be stopped?
• Who's thriving in the retail bloodbath

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