Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is in talks to buy online discount retailer Jet.com Inc., according to people familiar with the matter, in what would mark a disappointing end for one of the most ambitious challengers to Amazon.com Inc. <(The Wall Street Journal)

The first time Black Enterprise compiled its annual report of the nation’s largest black-owned business in 1973, the "BE Top 100" list, the combined sales for the 100 companies totaled $473 million. According to BE Research of the 2016 annual rankings—representing seven different lists—industrial/services companies grossed $24 billion in combined revenues in 2015, employed 65,443 workers, and are located in 29 states and the District of Columbia. (Black Enterprise)

Looking for a well-paying job in a city with a low cost of living? Head South. Particularly to Texas. Six southern cities—four in Texas and one each in Arizona and North Carolina—are among the top 10 "Best Places to Live and Work," according to a report from CareerCast.com that ranked cities based on pay, career opportunities and living expenses. (careercast.com)

As we grow and learn in our jobs and in our careers, we’re constantly faced with situations where we need to adapt our behavior. It’s simply a reality of the world we work in today. And without the skill and courage to take the leap, we can miss out on important opportunities for advancement. How can we as professionals stop building our lives around avoiding these unpleasant, but professionally beneficial, tasks? (Harvard Business Review)

If you want to earn the big bucks, you may want to consider practicing medicine or law. According to a recent report by Glassdoor, doctors and lawyers are still the nation's top-earning professionals. (CNBC)

Our previous HBR articles outlined our research into what kind of vacations create a positive effect, debunking the idea that people who don’t take their vacation time get ahead. But a new research study, released this month by the U.S. Travel Association and Project: Time Off, presents a high-definition picture of how overwork affects our success rates and well-being. (Harvard Business Review)

How can you ensure that an interviewer sees you for who you are and your unique characteristics are noted? Through our research on how people form impressions about experts and how people manage envy, we identify four strategies to help you turn around an interview. (Harvard Business Review)

Hiring people to fit company culture is one of those things that sounds great in theory when you want to work in a place where everybody gets along and wants the same things.But there is increasing concern that cultural fit is also used as a lazy excuse for old-fashioned bias in recruitment. Jobseekers may find themselves judged too introverted, too rightwing, too working class, too money-focused, too unattractive, too female or too foreign to fit in. (The Guardian)

Nyenrode Business Universiteit in The Netherlands may be built on a 13th-century estate near Amsterdam, but it takes a distinctly forward-thinking approach to business education. (BUSINESS BECAUSE)

Apple Inc's $1 billion investment in car-hailing app Didi Chuxing in May helped accelerate Uber's decision to agree a halt to a costly two-year battle with its rival in China, people close to the companies and analysts said. (Reuters)

With grant support from Fund II Foundation totaling approximately $48 million, UNCF has announced its first class of Fund II Foundation UNCF STEM scholars. (Black Enterprise)

Irvin J. Ashford, Jr., who was honored by the National Black MBA Association for his leadership and support of programs benefiting low- to moderate-income individuals and communities in Dallas, and is a senior vice president at Comerica Bank Comerica Bank senior vice president Irvin J. Ashford, Jr. has been named national director of Financial Literacy. (Rolling Out)

Facebook built its fortune on the internet, that non-physical space where people share updates and digital videos with friends. But deep inside its Silicon Valley headquarters, engineers have stocked a new lab with computerized lathes, industrial mills and tools for making physical goods. (Cape Breton Post)

WSJ's Joanna Stern explains the transition to the new EMV chip cards for credit and debit, and why your smartphone is the real answer to all your payment problems. (The Wall Street Journal)

DeCharlene Williams' businesses appears to be about all that’s left of what used to be a center of Seattle’s Black economy and community along the East Madison corridor. (Seattle Globalist)

These successful small business owners know how difficult it can be for black founders to secure the cash to get their companies off the ground. They're working to change that—with their check books. (Co Exist)

Becoming a successful entrepreneur is not something that happens over night. It’s a daily battle and decision to be the best version of yourself all the time. It takes constant work, personal development, creating a plan, and following through with that plan. (blackentrepreneur.com)

The Journey Pillow, created by Anthony and Candace Williams, is a one-of-a-kind travel pillow with individualized support that attaches to your seatbelt or waistband. (BlackNews.com)

Even though consumer spending was one of the few bright spots in the shockingly poor gross domestic product report for the second quarter, there are growing signs consumers won't be able to keep propping up the economy for much longer. (CNN Money)

Just four companies in the S&P 500 -American Express Co, Merck & Co, Carnival Corp and Xerox Corp -are headed by African Americans, and that will drop to three when Ursula Burns steps down as chief of Xerox in the next few months. In 2007, the year before Obama first won the White House, there were seven. That was the peak. (Bloomberg)

Crude oil prices plunged 4% on Monday, sliding to $39.86 a barrel Monday. It's the first time the price has been below $40 a barrel in nearly four months. Oil prices are now down more than 22% since topping out above $51 a barrel in early June. That means the closely-watched commodity is officially back in a bear market. It's the latest setback for oil bulls who thought crude was on a straight shot back to $60 and higher following the crash that began in late 2014. The price had peaked at $107 in June 2014.(CNN Money)

More than two-thirds (67%) of African-Americans are now investing in the stock market, according to Ariel Investments' 2015 Black Investor Survey, released this year. That's not the all-time high in percentage terms. But it's up 7 percentage points from Ariel's last such survey in 2010. (Investor's Business Daily)

Americans have grown more confident about their financial acumen since the market meltdown that ended in 2009. Yet they seem to know less about the subject than they did then. And most people didn’t even know much about it in 2009. (The New York Times)

Most people have some debt — payments to make, loans to pay back. But for some Americans, debt has gotten to an extreme and dire level: all their debts, added up, cost more than all their assets combined. (Business Insider)

CANTON, Ohio — This city of 73,000 is known for a few things — the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the presidential library of William McKinley, a lively downtown arts scene. But in banking circles, it has gained a more distinct reputation: Canton is a nexus of the payday lending industry, in which people who have trouble making ends meet from one paycheck to the next take out high-interest loans from specialty lenders. <(i>The New York Times)

Time Warner, the media giant that owns HBO, CNN and Warner Bros., said Wednesday it bought a 10% stake in Hulu to broaden its video streaming distribution, following a dip in second quarter net income stemming from declining television licensing revenue and home video sales. (USA TODAY)

Begun as the government's response to the foreclosure crisis, the Treasury Department's Home Affordable Modification Program wasn't supposed to last forever. The Dec. 31 end of the foreclosure relief program, which offered a more affordable payment by adjusting interest rates, extending the loan term, and reducing or forbearing principal, will leave a gap that the government is trying to fill. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Visitors to the birthplace of America can soon climb aboard a life-size Revolutionary era privateer ship . . . which will act as one of the museum's primary immersive exhibits, explore maritime involvement in the Revolution and highlight 14-year-old James Forten, a free African-American boy who served on a privateer ship and later became a prominent abolitionist and wealthy Philadelphia businessman. (Business Insider)