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This exceptional account by WSJ's Shira Ovide on Microsoft Windows 10 looks at ways CEO Satya Nadella is changing Microsoft's culture and old way of doing business. Microsoft is changing its culture and strategy of charging for all its products. It will let businesses and individual buyers upgrade for free to the new Windows 10 product. This means $500 million less in sales revenues in 2015, but opens up new oppoortunities in sale of add-on apps and services on more devices, such as health sensors and smartphones. The failure to penetrate the smartphone business- with a meager 3% penetration for Windows in smartphones - is a problem facing Microsoft as it competes with Apple, Google and other companies. Terry Myerson describing the thinking behind this change at Microsoft puts it in a cultural perspective, saying that it should result in a more engaged user base. There is a sense that the space Microsoft is in stretches way beyond PC's to all the new computing devices now in place, including smartphones and other devices, with Windows taking up only 15% of these devices. Founder Bill Gates calls this "exciting" and is excited to see the reaction in the market....

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The effects on Allianz and Pimco of the sudden departure of Bill Gross.

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Mercedes-Benz's efforts to improve sales and profit margins to catchup with Audi and BMW.

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Comcast buys the remaining 49% stake in NBCUniversal for $16.7 billion in Feb 2013. Comcast acquired a 51% interest in NBCUniversal in 2011 with the option of buying out G.E. in 3 and half to 7 year time frame. The deal was accelerated because it would have cost Comcast more if it waited longer.

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Glencore is faced with falling prices of copper and other metals, declining profits from commodities trading, and a high net debt load of $30 billion. CEO Glasenberg is losing credibility with investors with a sharp decline in the share price, especially as the commodities trading operations are not able to cushion the fall in commodities prices. Commodities trading division adjusted profits for the 1st half showed 29% decline to $1.1 billion. Its share price declined 10% on August 19, 2015. Glasenberg is the second largest shareholder after the Qatar sovereign wealth fund, Qatar Holding LLC. The company went public in 2011, and acquired Xstrata in 2013. Since 2014 Glencore has lost half its market value as prices of metals fell sharply. The company is based in Baar, Switzerland. Glencore's results for the first half of 2015 showed anet loss of $676 million compared to profit of $1.72 billion in the prior year. Revenue declined by 25% to $85.71 billion.

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Macy's story is told by figures showing an increasing share in a shrinking department store business. Macy's increased its share of department store sales to 44% in 2013, from 33% in 2006 by acquiring other department stores. As a result the improvement in recent years disguises some serious weakness in the company's strategies. It took Macy many years before launching an off price chain to carry discounted merchandise- only now getting off the ground under the Backstage chain. The change in consumer buying habits after the 2008 recession continues today, buyers are frugal and waiting for markdowns which take longer at Macy's and come quickly at TJ Maxx. As a result Macy's sales are declining in 2015. This benefits discount retailers carrying name brands at lower prices such as TJ Maxx, which has about the same sales as Macy's and over 3 times the market value. Macy's share price has fallen about 40% so far in 2015. As other stores such as J.C. Penneys have shifted and adopted strategies offering more value and everyday competitive pricing Macy's faces the risk of being too slow to change....