What Slowdown? Target Just Signaled This Holiday Season Will Be Huge

October is right around the corner, and that means holiday shopping season is already gearing up. Target (NYSE: TGT) is launching its first holiday shopping event Oct. 6, and it plans to hire a lot of new employees to get it through the extended holiday season. The aggressive push adds more risk to Target's third- and fourth-quarter results, after profits took a massive hit from stores clearing out stale inventory in the second quarter.