Month: January 2017

How Facebook Leverages Artificial Intelligence

That small interaction provides a glimpse into the world of an emerging and powerful aspect of artificial intelligence in action — image recognition. With its treasure trove of words and pictures from 1.79 billion monthly active users,it is using that data, combined with recent advancements in AI, to propel this and other technological advances.

What “Good Omens” Can Teach Investors About the Content-Buying Tactics of Netflix and Amazon

The latest addition to Amazon Prime’s content quiver is going to provide brand new detail on what the two services have in common — and on their fundamental differences. Amazon’s latest Prime Video show comes from Britain, where the company is partnering with BBC Studios to produce a six-episode miniseries based on Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s classic book about Armageddon, Good Omens .Raising the curtain in 2018, Amazon holds the global subscription video-on-demand, or SVOD, rights.

How Investors Can Get In On an Oil Production Resurgence

Reports suggest that 2017 marks the end of the U.S. oil industry’s trend of declining production. In this clip from Industry Focus: Energy , Motley Fool analysts Sean O’Reilly and Taylor Muckerman talk about a few of the best oil and gas companies for long-term investors and a long list of companies that investors will want to look into.

4 Tax Mistakes That Could Lead to an Audit

If there’s one thing tax filers fear more than owing money to the IRS, it’s getting audited by the IRS. Though your chances of getting audited are statistically pretty slim from the start, you can lower your odds even further by avoiding these major mistakes.

Cuomo Says Insurers to Cover Birth Control Despite Trump

New York state ordered health insurers to cover birth control and abortions even if President Donald Trump signs a repeal of Obamacare that would lift federal mandates on the industry. The state will require commercial insurers to provide broad coverage of contraceptive drugs and devices, and cover medically necessary abortions at no cost to the patient, according to a statement on Saturday from the New York Department of Financial Services.

We’ve Changed Our Minds on Sanchez Energy

There’s been a lot of excitement regarding the recent OPEC agreement regarding the production of crude oil, in hopes of getting prices to stabilize and rise to higher levels. However, there is a lot of money to be made, and lost if not careful, in the energy sector that is largely unrelated to the now-impotent oil cartel.

Feds Arrest AFTRA Retirement Fund Exec in Alleged $3.4M Fraud

“Mexicans need burritos,” a co-conspirator allegedly texted a witness, purportedly meaning that “Papi” – allegedly executive Rick Rubano, whose attorney says he’s innocent – wanted a kickback deposited that morning. Federal agents arrested on Friday the former co-head of information technology at the AFTRA Retirement Fund, Enrico “Rick” Rubano, and an alleged co-conspirator and charged them with two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with an alleged bogus invoicing and kickback scheme that a Postal Inspector says netted at least $3.4 million from 2009-2015.

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The anchoring bias is a pretty cruel mechanism. In investing, this happens when we “anchor” to the price of a stock at a given time — and use that as a reference point out into the future.

3 Top Driverless Car Stocks to Buy Now

I bought a new-to-me car recently, and I realized that by the time I’m in the market for another one, we’ll likely be knee-deep into the driverless car transformation . That’s because IHS estimates that there will be 76 million partially to fully autonomous vehicles on the road worldwide by 2035.

3 Stocks Hit Hard By Downgrades This Week

After President Donald Trump’s inaugural speech, the markets managed a small rally Friday with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 clinging to narrow weekly gains of 0.48% and 0.34%, respectively. While much of the speech was rhetoric that we’ve already heard, it was made fairly clear that, by Monday, we’ll see actions in terms of executive orders that will set the tone for the administration.

Trump’s pick for labor secretary may have saved a fast-food…

“I gave more than 20 years of my life to CKE, and Mr. Puzder took a company that I loved and turned it into a business that makes money by stealing from its workers,” Laura McDonald, a former Carl’s Jr. general manager, said in a recent forum hosted by Senate Democrats. In June 2000, Andy Puzder was named president and CEO of CKE Restaurants, running Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. restaurant chains.

Why 2017 Is the Year to Invest in Gas Stocks

Natural gas prices were red-hot last year, jumping 63%. That said, despite the recovery, gas prices were still at their lowest level in nearly two decades, averaging just $2.49 per million Btu for the year, though they did end 2016 more than a dollar higher.

“Valley Of The Gods” Recounts The Wild Ride Of Peter Thiel’s Fellows

In a Q&A, author Alexandra Wolfe follows the lucky 20 who dropped out of college and were given $100,000 to become tech entrepreneurs. Back in 2011, the legendary PayPal founder and Silicon Valley investor launched an initiative he’d been thinking about for years-encouraging brilliant young students with a genius idea to skip college and start a company and maybe become the next Mark Zuckerberg or Elon Musk.

Will the Stock Market Crow in the Year of the Rooster?

The Lunar New Year is approaching on Jan. 28. We’re heading into the Year of the Rooster, after 12 months of the frisky monkey, and that means the brokerage CLSA is on hand with its annual Feng Shui Index to tell us what to expect in the year ahead. Specifically, this is a fire rooster year: each year also has one of five elements attached to it, the others being wood, water, earth and metal.

Will Apple Raise Its Dividend in 2017?

Recently, though, Apple has embraced dividends, and now, some income-hungry investors look to the iPhone maker for its quarterly payouts as well as its potential for stock-price increases. With tax reform proposals that could unlock some of Apple’s overseas cash stash, Apple might be in a better position than ever to consider a dividend boost this year.

Why Smart Mobility Services Are a Smart Move for Automakers

As the U.S. new-vehicle cycle peaks, everybody seems to be a Debbie Downer when it comes to automotive stocks, and few seem to be looking for out-of-the-box upside to these stocks. That’s not stopping Detroit executive from pursuing future ideas, of course, and while industry folk havetouted the enormous potential for smart mobility projects that could eventually resemble services such as Uber — once valued at more than $60 billion — we haven’t touched on exactly why those projects will help automakers evolve.

What Does 2017 Hold for Medicare?

Medicare faces substantial uncertainty in 2017, as the incoming Trump administration has already promised to make major healthcare reforms. Although the president said during his campaign that he would not make cuts to Medicare, members of his cabinet and lawmakers in Congress might well see things differently.

The Top Ten Financial Markets Questions for 2017

By Dr. Sonu Varghese via Iris.xyz Some events are true black swans – for example, the September 11th terrorist attacks or the tsunami in Japan – one-off events that create immediate financial panic, but may or may not exacerbate underlying economic vulnerabilities.

This Would Be a First for the Marijuana Industry

Heading into 2016, there were 23 states that had legalized medical cannabis and four that had legalized recreational pot. This in itself was impressive considering that, just two decades prior , California became the first state to legalize any form of marijuana with its Compassionate Use Act for a select few medical patients.

The Key to Keeping New Year’s Resolutions: Find a System That Works for You

Have you set your New Year’s resolutions yet? In this segment from Industry Focus , Motley Fool analysts Dylan Lewis and Michael Douglass share some of their best tips for staying on top of resolutions and not losing steam as the year wears on. Listen in to find out how to make a resolution that will “pay” you, how to keep motivated all year, and the benefits of writing down your goals.

Here Are the 4% Retirement Rule’s Major Flaws

While there’s no magic retirement savings number guaranteed to deliver financial security during your senior years, many near-retirees are advised to use the 4% rule to see if they’re on the right track. Although the 4% rule has a strong history of success, it’s far from perfect.

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Baby monitors have come a long way from the walkie-talkie-type devices that let you listen in on the coos and cries of your infant. Today they’re part of the Internet of Things in a connected home that let you wirelessly watch your child on your computer, laptop, or smartphone whether you’re at home, outside, or away.

What happened to virtual reality?

He later added that ” Over the past year, evidence has stacked up that VR isn’t as hot as everyone thought it’d be, and it feels poised to go the way of the smartwatch , a once-promising new computing platform that ultimately flopped once introduced into the real world. Following the launch of the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, we have yet to see a breakthrough game or app.

BERNSTEIN: ‘We are one tweet away from … well, almost…

When most President-elects take office, Wall Street analysts pay close attention to what proposed legislation could mean for companies, industries and the economy. The global quantitative strategy team at Bernstein plans to pay close attention not only to the President’s policies, but also to his tweets, especially when it comes to individual companies and industries.

Meet the power players who really run Uber

Like any chief executive, Kalanick leans heavily on his team and direct reports to manage all parts of the business, from people operations internally to putting out regulatory fires externally. As Uber faces challenges on all fronts in 2017, here’s who is leading the charge internally to make transportation “as reliable as running water.”