After announcing on April 19 that it "welcome[s] transgender team members and guests to use the restroom or fitting room facility that corresponds with their gender identity," Target faced an instant and broad public backlash that led to a boycott petition being posted online by the American Family Association the next day. The petition currently has 1.24 million supporters, and undoubtedly a much larger share of the public disagrees with Target's policy. If stock prices are any indication, the boycott effort and other negative publicity have severely hurt Target's financials. Since late February, Target's market cap had been steadily increasing, reaching a peak of $50.39 billion on April 19 – the day the transgender policy was announced – which was its highest value since mid-August 2015. Immediately after the release of the transgender policy, the bottom has fallen out of Target's market cap.  As of close on Friday, it stood at...(Read Full Post)