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Amazon buying Target would 'accelerate an existing threat' to Walmart, says analyst who's doubling down on his call

In January, the venture capital firm Loup Ventures predicted #Amazon would acquire #Target in 2018, a forecast that hasn't come to fruition — at least not with three weeks left in the year. But the firm just doubled down on its forecast in a new note about Amazon. "We continue to believe the combination makes sense," managing partner Andrew Murphy wrote, pointing specifically to the physical retail presence Target could provide Amazon. Such a deal would also prove competitive to #Walmart, which currently has more than 5,000 locations in the US. On the first day of 2018, widely followed analyst Gene Munster of the venture capital firm Loup Ventures predicted Amazon would buy Target this year, a forecast that has yet to pan out with 22 days left. The firm just doubled down on that prediction, however, writing in a new note that the deal still makes sense. "Our prediction that Amazon would acquire Target in 2018 was wrong," Andrew Murphy, managing partner at

Amazon drops its free-shipping minimum for the holidays

Amazon is making rivals like Walmart sweat a bit more over the holidays by offering free shipping with no minimum purchase to everyone. The company announced that it's waiving the usual $25 minimum fee required for non-Prime customers in a US-only promotion -- the first time it's done that, according to Reuters. The deal is effective starting today and will last until just before Christmas when Amazon can no longer promise free delivery in time for Christmas. Amazon notes that it has the largest selection in the US of products available for free shipping, with "hundreds of millions" of items. To make sure it doesn't miff Prime clients who pay $120 for the same privilege, Amazon also seems to be extending free same day delivery to those folks on "over 3 million items," it said, on top of the regular two day free shipping (Engadget has reached out to confirm that). While over half of all US households have a Prime subscription (think about that for a