Neiman Marcus and Target join brands for unusual Christmas collaboration: 50 limited-edition American designer items, plus $1M donation to the CFDA.

Starbucks rolls out low-cal Refreshers drinks.

Marks & Spencer fires clothing head following worst sales in three years.

American Airlines and U.S. Airways keep dancing around a merger.

Apple removes green electronics certification from products.

Chase launches Chase Liquid reloadable card.

Coca-Cola takes stake in Mexican juice company Jugos del Valle.

Conde Nast confirms London location of namesake fashion college.

DirecTV could drop 26 Viacom channels in dispute.

Dodge places major ad push behind new Dart.Continue reading...

The eponymous discovery engine, StumbleUpon, just unveiled a major redesign including improvements in recommendations, a streamlined user interface with a new logo and the launch of brand channels.

“Really this is the biggest refresh in terms of look and feel that we’ve ever had on the web,” StumbleUpon CEO Garrett Camp told Mashable.

Key to the site's redesign, its channels feature  is a dedicated, non-invasive feature for brands (about 250 at launch, Fast Company notes), celebrities and publications to promote themselves in an environment that previously eschewed such accounts.

“Users had the expectation that they would see an individual acting on good will to share a piece of content rather than a for-profit company promoting a piece of content for selfish reasons,” Camp says. “Now we have a place where it’s OK for users to publish their own things.”Continue reading...

Japan assesses damage from the quake and tsunami as officials battle the continued threat from destruction at nuclear plants, US. nuclear-energy interests ponder the ramifications for America, the Nikkei falls and the central bank of Japan promises liquidity to help the economy, and Japanese auto plants remain closed.

General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt also vows help for Japanese dealing with reactor woes, as GE designed 23 U.S. nuclear reactors similar to the troubled ones in Japan.

Amazon is pressured by states wanting it to collect sales taxes.

Apple chalks up strong sales for iPad 2, seeing 70% first-time buyers.

Bank of America is the latest WikiLeaks target.

BP dispute over Russian JV intensifies.Continue reading...