Money Minute: Target IDs Cyberthieves; Advertisers Like Facebook Ads

Target now thinks it knows how hackers broke into its system.

Target (TGT) says hackers used stolen credentials from an unidentified vendor to invade the software program that controls its payment system. The hackers stole the credit and debit card information of 40 million customers. Separately, the Justice Department has begun a criminal investigation into the cyber break-in.

There have been several reports lately that teens are turning off to Facebook, but advertisers are still "friending" the company. Its net soared eightfold from a year ago, as revenue jumped. Mobile ads now account for more than half of Facebook's revenue. Facebook (FB) shares have jumped 74 percent over the past year, and are set to add to those gains today.

Google is getting out of the business of making smartphones. Just three years after acquiring Motorola Mobility, Google (GOOG) is selling the handset business to Lenovo of China for nearly $3 billion. But Google will retain most of the patents that are connected to its Android software. Google has already sold off other part of Motorola, but it won't recoup most of the $12.5 billion it paid in 2011.

The Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI) tumbled 189 points Wednesday, %VIRTUAL-article-sponsoredlinks%the Standard & Poor's 500 index (^GPSC) lost 18 and the Nasdaq composite (^IXIC) slid 46 points. There's concern the S&P has broken below a key technical level that could lead to more selling.

Can the Big Mac co-exist with a veggie burger? The Wall Street Journal says more than 80,000 people have signed a petition for McDonald's (MCD) to add a veggie burger to the menu. But McDonald's veggie burger experiment a decade ago was a flop.

Many of the young analysts and associates on Wall Street are highly paid, but they work unbelievably long hours that can take a heavy physical and mental toll. Well, Citibank (C) is trying to improve working conditions, telling these young employees to take off at least 36 straight hours on the weekend and to use all of their vacation days.

-Produced by Drew Trachtenberg.