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Macy’s on Monday delayed its third-quarter results after finding that an employee hid as much as $154 million in expenses over years, instead issuing preliminary sales figures that fell short of Wall Street expectations.

The surprise announcement deprives the market of a key department-store bellwether’s outlook ahead of a potentially uncertain holiday season that favors retail giants such as Walmart and Amazon.

A single employee “intentionally” made wrong accounting entries to hide about $132 million to $154 million of delivery expenses between the fourth quarter of 2021 through third quarter of 2024, Macy’s said. It had recorded about $4.36 billion as delivery expenses in this period.

That employee is no longer with the company, Macy’s said, though the revelation, along with the preliminary sales figures, sent shares down 3.5%. The department store chain was set to report results on Nov. 26 and will now publish it by Dec. 11.

“It looks bad… It indicates that they were caught off guard by this,” Morningstar analyst David Swartz said, adding that the error should not worry investors as the amount over three years does not seem significant for Macy’s.

Macy’s preliminary results showed net sales fell 2.4% to $4.74 billion compared to $4.77 billion based on estimates compiled by LSEG, a sign that steep promotions failed to draw customers who have turned selective on purchases for the holidays. The company said an independent investigation showed no involvement by any other employee, and there was no sign of the error affecting cash management activities or vendor payments. Along with its full third-quarter results, Macy’s said it will provide fourth quarter and annual outlooks, as well as hold its earnings call.

CEO Tony Spring said November comparable sales were trending ahead of third-quarter levels in the run-up to the crucial shopping season when retailers offer big discounts.

Target and several other department store chains may see muted sales as they are skewed toward more slightly pricey non-essential items.

“While we work diligently to complete the investigation as soon as practicable and ensure this matter is handled appropriately, our colleagues are focused on…executing our strategy for a successful holiday season,” Spring said.

Held off on taking a summer vacation? You may still be able to squeeze in one on the cheap.

Record numbers of travelers have been flooding airports since the pandemic, but U.S. airlines now face a surplus of empty seats after racing to add capacity. Many are slashing prices to fill them, making bargain flights more readily available than they have been in years, travel agents and industry experts say.

“Deals are easier to find this summer since prices are already so low,” said Hayley Berg, lead economist at the travel booking site Hopper.

Flights overall were at least 5% cheaper as of June than the year before, government inflation data shows. Hopper estimated domestic airfares for August are down about 6% since a year ago, and it flagged supercheap domestic round-trip deals this month — like $69 for Chicago to Baltimore and $82 for New York to Nashville.

And it’s not just airfares — costs are cooling off for car rentals and hotel rooms too. They were down roughly 6% and 3% year over year, respectively, in the federal data and are now about flat in most cities on Priceline.

The discounts expand the map for late-season travelers and coincide with a broader value push this summer. Restaurant chains from McDonald’s to P.F. Chang’s are dangling promotions to hang on to frugal customers. The gambit is largely working, with major retailers’ recent sales helping prop up consumer spending and the economy as a whole.

Vacation-planning procrastinators are having better luck this year.

On July 26, Debra Banton, 61, and her 26-year-old daughter Rachel booked a trip overseas departing in two weeks.

“We usually plan way in advance, never last minute,” said Banton, who lives in Charleston, South Carolina. But Rachel works full time while attending school, leaving little down time, and since she’s never been to Europe and is getting married next May, they figured now’s their best shot.

“With just four weeks’ planning time, I was able to secure the last few rooms at some fabulous resorts in Greece and get them a great deal on business-class air to Athens,” said Kimberly Hilliard, their Annapolis, Maryland-based travel adviser with Front Porch Travel.

While prices typically come down heading into the fall, the current end-of-summer season is a “unique window” for travelers who haven’t booked far in advance, said Jesse Neugarten, the CEO and founder of Dollar Flight Club.

The flight alert site said the average international airfare from the U.S. over the next three months is $401, and the average domestic flight costs $212 — collectively down an average of 29% from the same period a year ago.

“For clients with a little flexibility in their travel dates, I’ve been able to get very low airfare for last-minute trips,” said Ashley D’Aristotile, the owner of Orlando, Florida-based Flyaway Travel.

Lousson Smith, a flight expert at the travel site Going, agrees: “At this point in the summer, if you’re flexible, you can find something really nice under $150 nonstop from major markets, but anything under $200 this late in the game is a decent deal.”

While the costs of U.S. flights to Europe soared during the post-pandemic travel boom, Hopper estimates international airfares have fallen 9% since last summer. Round trips from Boston to Dublin, for example, have been going for as low as $415 this month, Hopper said, and there are $461 options between Chicago and Paris.

Domestically, the Southeast is seeing some of the best bargains, according to Priceline, with both Miami and Nashville making its “most affordable” list for August.

One in six adults worldwide experience infertility. Some turn to IVF — or in vitro fertilization — which averages around $20,000 for one round in the U.S., according to Fertility IQ. Other women freeze their eggs, and despite the cost of about $10,000, nearly 30,000 egg freezing cycles were performed in the U.S. in 2022, which is up from just 7,600 in 2015.

In the book, “Grief is Love,” author Marisa Renee Lee revealed in an interview on “CBS Mornings” how she found joy and fulfillment after experiencing grief that came with infertility and pregnancy loss before adopting her son, Bennett.

“I think that people don’t understand when you lose a pregnancy, it’s not about the physical loss,” Lee said. “It’s so much more about the loss of hope, the loss of the plans that you and your partner perhaps had for your family. It is very, very challenging to wrap your mind around.”

Lee said those losses are often in private, and feelings of shame, failure or anger may emerge.

“You feel like you should be able to do this very natural and normal thing that we all grow up believing is easy for everyone, and when it doesn’t work out, it’s incredibly challenging.”

In her book, Lee stressed grief doesn’t have a timeline and that everyone grieves differently, even couples. In the context of her marriage, she said her miscarriage and infertility journey were difficult, as she and her husband had to develop their own ways of coping while also finding the space to share their grief.

On a personal level, Lee said she gave herself permission to cry whenever she needed, describing the hardships of returning to everyday life after a loss.

“The number of times I would be in the grocery store and see a child run into their mother’s arms and just feel heartbroken, you know, it was real,” she said. “It wasn’t about, ‘I’m jealous that they have this thing that I don’t have,’ it was more about my own loss.”

Lee said if you have a family member or friend experiencing infertility or loss, there are things you can do to help. She explained that grief has an impact on the body and brain and suggested doing something to make their life easier, like make a meal for them or walk their dog. She also suggested doing something that reminds them they will be OK and that brings a smile to their face.

Lee said she wants to normalize the challenges in life, and said she’s learned that grief and joy can coexist.

“No one’s walking around wearing a T-shirt that says, ‘I just lost a pregnancy,’ or ‘I’m grieving.’ This concept of grief versus joy, I think we have to get rid of that and recognize that you can experience joy independent of grief, and you can experience joy in the midst of grief. It’s OK for these things to be commingled.”

Throughout the pandemic-fueled housing boom and in the aftermath, housing affordability deteriorated at its fastest pace. Home prices skyrocketed, rents soared, and mortgage rates followed, to put it simply. A lot of people can’t afford to buy a home and some can barely afford rent, and that’ll influence voters when they head to the polls. We’re already seeing it unfold: 91% of adult Gen Zers say housing affordability is top of mind as they consider who to vote for in November’s presidential election, according to a Redfin-commissioned survey released today.

It’s the key issue for the generation, surpassing the strength of the overall economy, education, gun control or gun rights, and abortion. Housing affordability came ahead of preserving democracy, immigration, student debt, and foreign wars or geopolitical conflict, too. And these are all topics Gen Z has been vocal about, but it’s no surprise housing is a focal point. Last year was the least affordable year for housing on record, according to Redfin. Only 26% of Gen Z adults (those between 18 and 27 years old) own a home, per Redfin, and others are paying costly rents.

“Housing affordability is a cornerstone of this year’s presidential election because even though the economy is fairly strong, unemployment is low, and wages are rising, buying a home feels impossible for many Americans,” Redfin senior economist Elijah de la Campa said alongside the survey findings.

He continued: “This is particularly the case for young people, who have seen the cost of starter homes increase twice as fast as incomes. Young people care about other political issues, like immigration and abortion rights, but they’re more likely to cite housing affordability as a factor in their vote because it directly impacts the roof over their head, their lifestyle and their ability to build wealth.”

Millennials, Gen Xers, and baby boomers all chose the strength of the overall economy as the top factor or concern influencing their presidential pick, the survey found. “Still, at least 80% of every generation said housing affordability is an important factor,” according to Redfin. Housing affordability was third on millennials’ list of issues, fourth for Gen Xers, and both unsurprisingly and surprisingly, sixth for baby boomers (unsurprisingly because baby boomers are probably generally concerned about housing affordability for their children; and surprisingly, because a lot of them own their homes outright and have seen their values soar). 

A separate Redfin-commissioned survey from earlier this year, which took a broader look at the landscape, found more than half of homeowners and renters said housing affordability is influencing who they plan to vote for in the upcoming presidential election. Almost two-thirds of homeowners and renters said housing affordability makes them feel negatively about the economy. 

At the time, Redfin chief economist Daryl Fairweather, said: “Housing affordability is top of mind for voters because elevated mortgage rates and home prices, along with an acute housing shortage, have pushed the dream of homeownership out of reach for many Americans. While the economy is strong on paper, a lot of families aren’t feeling the benefits, because they’re struggling to afford the house they want or already live in. As a result, many feel stuck, unable to make their desired moves and life upgrades.”

That sentiment has only swelled in recent months; the survey findings released today prove that. An independent analysis conducted by a former Barclays analyst and Substack writer Aziz Sunderji, that Fortune previously covered, found homeowners are twice as likely to identify themselves as strongly Republican than renters—and renters far more often identify themselves as strongly Democrat. Another study found swing counties, where home prices increased substantially in the four years leading up to an election, were more likely to vote for the incumbent candidate. Still, we’ll see if those dynamics shift this year, or how they’ll play out. For now, welcome to the housing election.  

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Amid a landscape where political discourse often leads to exhaustion, a recent CBS News poll reveals over 40% of Americans dread the potential Biden-Trump rematch, labeling it “depressing.” As the November elections draw near, Harvard Professor Arthur C. Brooks, an expert on happiness and co-author with Oprah Winfrey, offers guidance on navigating the murky waters of political engagement with well-being in mind.