Good News and Bad News for Fitbit, Inc.

Channel inventories could also potentially be a bit high, which would affect first-quarter results if retailers don’t need to restock all that much. Given an environment of pessimism, a little bit of good news could go a long way.

Does This Amazon Prime Offer Even Make Sense?

Prime membership programhas become something of the industry gold standard for retail loyalty programs. For $99 a year, members receive free two-day delivery on virtually everything they purchase on the site, including groceries, plus get access to movies, musics, e-books, and more.

Toshiba Falls by Record as Ratings Cut on Looming Writedown

Toshiba Corp. plunged by the most on record in intraday trade after the company’s credit ratings were cut following an announcement it may write down billions of dollars of an acquisition made by U.S. unit Westinghouse Electric. The shares fell as much as 26 percent, the most since 1974, according to available data, to 232 yen in Tokyo on Thursday.

China Banking Official Urges Cut to Required Reserve Ratio

China’s requirement for how much cash banks must hold as reserves is “very high” and should be reduced at an “appropriate time,” a senior banking regulator said, according to a media report. Other financing tools can be used to manage the money supply after easing the required reserve ratio, China Banking Regulatory Commission official Yu Xuejun said at an event in Beijing, Shanghai Securities News reported Wednesday.

3 Bank Stocks to Buy

Bank stocks have been on an absolute tear in the past month following the election of real estate mogul Donald Trump as president of the United States. Shares in JPMorgan Chase are up over 18% since Nov. 9, Bank of America is up a whopping 26%, and even the currently scandal-embroiled Wells Fargo has seen its shares rise 21% in anticipation of financial deregulation under President Trump.

Trump touts thousands of new jobs in deal with SoftBank CEO

President-elect Donald Trump says wireless carrier Sprint Corp will bring 5,000 jobs back to the United States. President-elect Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he has reached a deal with SoftBank chief executive Masayoshi Son that would generate thousands of jobs in the United States, the latest in a string of unusually direct negotiations between Trump and corporate America.

My ’15 Surprises for 2017′ List

It should come as no surprise that after pulling off U.S. political history’s greatest surprise ever, Donald Trump is the subject of — and catalyst for — the principal events that I’m putting on my annual “15 Surprises for the Coming Year” list. For those of you unfamiliar with this list, it’s my annual rundown of “possible improbables” that smart traders and investors should watch out for.

Holiday Phone Activations Bode Well for Apple’s iPhone 7-Plus Sales

But the numbers also suggest Apple’s smartphone sales mix improved for the better. Flurry, which relies on anonymized usage data from the thousands of mobile apps connected to its analytics tools, reports Apple products accounted for 44% of the smartphone and tablet activations it recorded from December 19 to December 25. That’s down from the 49.1% reported for the same week a year ago .

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George Primentas from London is behind The Missing Graph. He tells us that he’s been designing infographics inspired by business news since October.

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Most people focus on the income taxes they pay to their federal and state governments, spending countless hours preparing returns. But for many people, residential property taxes make up a sizable portion of their overall tax bill.

Will Spinraza Supercharge Biogen’s Top Line Next Year?

SMA is an inherited neurological disorder that results in progressive muscle wasting, impacting a person’s ability to move and even breathe. Although this disease is rare, with a U.S. incidence rate of 1 in 10,000 live births, it is the leading genetic cause of death in infants, and prior to Spinraza’s approval it lacked any form of effective pharmaceutical intervention.

Why Kate Spade & Co. Stock Jumped Today

The stock began surging this afternoon, when The Wall Street Journal reported that the company was exploring a sale. Activist hedge fund Caerus Investors had been pushing for a sale, noting the stock’s decline since a 2014 peak, as it’s lost half of its value since then.The Journal said buyout efforts were at an early stage, as it’s working with an investment bank to reach out to potential buyers.

No Happy New Year in China as Currency, Liquidity Fears Loom

The first day of 2017 is when an annual $50,000 quota to convert the yuan into foreign exchange resets, stoking concern there will be a rush to sell the local currency. With tax payments and a regulatory assessment also tightening liquidity in the money market toward year-end, January may bring scant relief as lenders prepare for stronger cash demand before Lunar New Year holidays, which are only a month away.

Fox News host with close ties to Trump discusses his dynamic…

While Trump continues to tap network personalities for top administration posts, one Fox News star who will remain at the network stands poised to also personally benefit from Trump’s ascension to the presidency: Eric Bolling. Along with Sean Hannity, Bolling emerged as one of Trump’s most vocal early supporters on Fox News, saying he knew the real-estate magnate would win as soon as he saw him descending the escalator at Trump Tower to deliver his announcement address.

Icahn Sees Doubts About Ethanol Mandate Among Trump’s Advisers

Billionaire Carl Icahn, a special adviser to Donald Trump and a skeptic of the U.S. ethanol mandate, said there are others on the president-elect’s team who have even deeper criticisms of the program. Icahn repeated criticism of the credit trading program that regulators and refiners use to track compliance with federal biofuel consumption quotas.

Mortgage Rates Today, Wednesday, Dec. 28: Slight Decreases;…

Thirty-year and 15-year fixed rates reversed course from yesterday and fell slightly, while 5/1 ARM rates notched up again Wednesday, according to a NerdWallet survey of mortgage rates published by national lenders this morning. November saw newly built, single-family home sales rise by 5.2 percent, according to data released last week by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Census Bureau.

It’s On! 2017 Is The Year The Virtual Assistant Wars Get Real

Amazon’s Alexa, Google’s Assistant, and Microsoft’s Cortana look to hardware partnerships and development deals to take on Apple’s Siri. The tech industry’s titans have been preparing for an all-out virtual assistant war in 2017-and it’ll be fought by Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa, Google’s Assistant and maybe even Microsoft’s Cortana.

Former Bundesbank president Hans Tietmeyer dies aged 85

He was a staunch proponent of keeping prices and currencies stable, as well as safeguarding the independence of central banks from political interference. “Hans Tietmeyer was an outstanding president, whose actions always followed clear and consistent lines aimed at maintaining monetary stability,” Bundesbank president Jens Weidmann said in a statement.

Giant walking robot showcased in South Korea

The Method-2 robot, which seems to be straight out of a science fiction movie, is 13 feet tall and weighs over a ton. The elegant 7,500-square-foot house in Northwest Washington, D.C., is home to Michael and Ally Banks – he a custom-home builder and developer, she a designer – and their four kids.

S&P 500 Analyst Moves: PWR

The latest tally of analyst opinions from the major brokerage houses shows that among the components of the S&P 500 index, Quanta Services is now the #53 analyst pick, moving up by 2 spots. This rank is formed by averaging the analyst opinions for each component from each broker, and then ranking the 500 components by those average opinion values.

Dow Analyst Moves: CSCO

The latest tally of analyst opinions from the major brokerage houses shows that among the 30 stocks making up the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Cisco Systems is the #6 analyst pick. Cisco Systems also comes in above the median of analyst picks among the broader S&P 500 index components, claiming the #144 spot out of 500.

Amazon Voted Best Stock for 2017 by Evercore

Amazon is Evercore’s top stock pick for the upcoming year, mainly due to its position in the data science field. Shares of Amazon were slightly higher in late morning trading on Wednesday, after Evercore named the company its top stock pick for 2017, in a note released earlier today.