SAN FRANCISCO — Nearly every day, Amazon announces a new venture. 

It just bought an online education company and introduced a payment mechanism for Internet retailers that competes with PayPal. It started selling wine for the first time in New York, updated its line of tablets, gave the go-ahead to three new comedy pilots and began a design competition for its fashion division. It is setting up mini-warehouses inside suppliers like Procter & Gamble to ship goods faster. 

But one thing it will not be announcing this month: a significant profit. Read more...