Amazon Reports Best Holiday Yet With Record Orders for Echo

Amazon.com Inc. said it had its best holiday season yet, having shipped more than 1 billion items through its Prime and Fulfillment services, and receiving a record number of orders for its own Alexa devices. Sales for Echo speakers based on Alexa’s voice-recognition software were nine times more than the 2015 holiday season, Amazon said in a statement Tuesday.

What Happened in the Stock Market Today

Fitbit shares spiked 7% following a rare piece of encouraging news about the fitness device maker’s holiday sales trends. Its activity tracking software was the second most-popular download among free apps on Apple ‘s iTunes this past week, beating such heavyweights as Snapchat, YouTube, and Instagram.

Seattle Genetics Plunges After Drug Studies Halted on Deaths

Seattle Genetics Inc. plunged the most in five years after U.S. regulators halted several early-stage blood cancer studies following the deaths of four patients who suffered from liver damage. The Food and Drug Administration halted the trials testing Seattle Genetics’s acute myeloid leukemia, or AML, therapy, called SGN-CD33A.

ECB Says Paschi Needs $9.2 Billion, More Than Bank’s Plan

The European Central Bank said Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA needs about 8.8 billion euros to bolster its balance sheet, almost twice the amount the Italian lender had sought to raise in a failed capital increase. The calculation is based on the results of a 2016 stress test, the Italian bank said in a statement late Monday, citing two letters from the ECB.

Pleasanton: Ex-employee claims Versace store used a codea for black customers

A former employee at Versace’s outlet store here is suing the global retailer for discriminatory practices, alleging that employees of the store used a “code” to notify each other when black customers walked into the store. Christopher Sampino, 23, the plaintiff in the case, alleged in the lawsuit that he was fired around Oct. 1 for being mixed race after working at the store for two weeks.

Work-life balance

Every Christmas, Today on BBC Radio 4 invites people from different walks of life to “guest edit” the programme, choosing the topics and interviewees they want in it. Here Helena Morrissey, non-executive chair of Newton Investment Management and a campaigner for greater gender diversity in the boardroom, gives her take on a subject close to her heart.

The motion picture literary agent’s clients include Jon M. Chu, Michael Bay and Adam F. Goldberg.

Carlson’s filmmaker clients at WME include Jon M. Chu, Michael Bay, Adam F. Goldberg, Richard Tanne , Wash Westmoreland , Mike Lesslie , Clay Kaytis , Mark Burton , Jeff Wadlow , Paul Tibbitt and television directors David Slade, Matt Shakman, Tom Harper and Colm McCarthy. Carlson also represented Hasbro, for whom he negotiated a cinematic universe deal with Paramount .

Most Popular New ETF Strategies of 2016

The exchange traded fund universe has steadily expanded with many new additions and strategies this year. There are now 1,961 U.S.-listed exchange traded products, which include both exchange traded funds and exchange traded notes, with a little over $2.5 trillion in assets under management.

Airbus’s A380 Woes Deepen as Jets Delayed for Top Buyer Emirates

Airbus Group SE’s struggles with its A380 superjumbo jet are deepening as the planemaker delays deliveries of a dozen aircraft over the next two years to Emirates, the double-decker’s biggest customer. To make up for the financial drag from the tardier handovers, Airbus will accelerate cost cuts, according to an e-mailed company statement Tuesday.

TSP Contribution Limits in 2017

The Thrift Savings Plan, or TSP, is the defined contribution retirement plan offered to U.S. civil service employees and retirees, as well as members of the uniformed services. With nearly five million participants, the TSP is one of the most popular retirement programs in America.

The Oil Industry’s 5 Biggest Surprise Winners of 2016

My hand isn’t up, and I’ll bet most who follow the industry closely didn’t tap it as their top pick this year, either. In fact, I’d be willing to bet that few expected that the five best-performing large-cap energy stocks would be ONEOK, Continental Resources ONEOK’s success in 2016 was partially due to its poor performance in 2015, when the stock got cut in half over concerns about its direct exposure to commodity prices, which were in a tailspin.

Is Danaher Corporation Stock a Buy for 2017?

A heavy exposure to healthcare and environmental solutions used to make it the go-to stock when analysts were concerned about an economic downturn. Furthermore, the more cyclical bits of the business have been bundled together and spun off into a new company called , leaving Danaher even more exposed to non-cyclical end markets.

Industrials Keep Dow Away from 20,000

U.S. stocks pared some gains in afternoon trading on Tuesday, pulling the Dow Jones Industrial Average away from the elusive 20,000 mark as losses in industrials slightly offset gains in technology and financial shares. The blue-chip index, which came within 20 points of hitting the milestone earlier, was trading near session lows.

2 Dividend Stocks That Are Too Unsafe

To sidestep that imminent sell-off, investors should be very choosy with their dividend plays next year. Dividend stocks with poor earnings growth, unsustainable payout ratios, or inconsistent dividend hikes should be avoided at all costs.

Star Wars Actor Carrie Fisher Dies at 60

Carrie Fisher, who rose to fame as Princess Leia in the “Star Wars” films and later endured drug addiction and stormy romances with show business heavyweights, died on Tuesday, her daughter said through a family spokesman. “It is with a very deep sadness that Billie Lourd confirms that her beloved mother Carrie Fisher passed away at 8:55 this morning,” Lourd said in a statement issued by Simon Halls.

Airbus to Slow A380 Production in 2017 in Accord With Emirates

Airbus Group SE will put off a dozen deliveries of the A380 plane in the next two years following an agreement with Emirates, its largest customer for the model, as demand continues to fade for the double-decker. Handovers of six A380s apiece that were originally planned for 2017 and 2018 will be shifted to a year later following an agreement with Emirates and engine supplier Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc, the Toulouse, France-based planemaker said Tuesday in an e-mailed statement.

Toshiba Says Nuclear Writedown May Reach Billions of Dollars

The Japanese company, which paid a record fine a year ago for its bookkeeping practices, warned that it may now have to take another charge of several billion dollars related to an acquisition made by U.S. unit Westinghouse Electric. The company’s shares fell 12 percent to 392 yen at the close in Tokyo on Tuesday, the biggest decline since December 2015, after earlier reports that it may book a loss of as much as 500 billion yen .

China Invites Investors, Including Foreigners, Into Space Effort

China is looking to draw private investors, including those from outside the country, into its aerospace program to supplement funding from the government for commercial satellite launches. Investment is welcome for commercial rocket development, satellite research, manufacturing and for applying aerospace technologies to public welfare, Wu Yanhua, vice minister of China National Space Administration, said at a press briefing in Beijing on Tuesday.

Monte Dei Paschi Needs $9.2 Billion to Avert Potential Shortfall

Troubled Italian lender Monte dei Paschi says a potential capital shortfall identified by the European Central Bank has widened to 8.8 billion . Troubled Italian lender Monte dei Paschi remains solvent, a requirement for a government bailout under European Union rules, but its potential capital shortfall has widened to a 8.8 billion .

ECB Says Paschi Needs $9.2 Billion of Capital, More Than Target

The European Central Bank said Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA needs about 8.8 billion euros to bolster its balance sheet, almost twice the amount the Italian lender had sought to raise in a failed capital increase. The calculation is based on the results of a 2016 stress test, the Italian bank said in a statement late Monday, citing two letters from the ECB.

Market Recon: You Can’t Put Your Head in the Sand

Going forward, investors will have to measure the extent that the President-Elect’s proposed policy shifts have pulled forward into 2016, the gains that otherwise might have been realized in 2017. Measure against what, exactly? Currently, the S&P 500 is trading at more than 22x 12 month trailing earnings.