Month: January 2017

Chinese Chipmaker Plans Overseas Buying Spree to Get Mobile Tech

Goodix, a supplier of mobile chips to Amazon.com Inc. and major Chinese smartphone makers, plans to begin shopping abroad for semiconductor and software developers to gain an edge in an increasingly competitive market. The company wants to become the world’s biggest supplier of fingerprint sensors, Chief Executive Officer David Zhang said in an interview at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

VW Ordered to Face U.S. Investor Suit Over Diesel Cheating

Volkswagen AG must face claims it misled U.S. investors after installing so-called defeat devices in diesel vehicles used to cheat emissions tests. A San Francisco federal judge also rejected a request to dismiss shareholder claims against former VW Chairman Martin Winterkorn, who said investors in VW’s American depositary receipts couldn’t prove he knew the extent of the company’s “diesel issue.”

Vanguard’s $305 Billion Take From Investors in 2016 Sets Record

Vanguard Group, the world’s largest mutual fund manager, said it attracted a record $305 billion last year — an annual total that some firms need decades to reach. Vanguard’s take, which tops the firm’s previous record of $276.4 billion in 2015, includes $93 billion that went into exchange-traded funds, up from $76 billion the year before, spokesman John Woerth wrote in an e-mail.

Tableau Software, Inc. May Have a Tough 2017 Ahead

Shares lost over half of their value, with most of that decline occurring in February when the data-visualization specialist reported disappointing earnings alongside weak guidance. A handful of big-data stocks got crushed that day, as investors feared Tableau’s woes were not isolated to the company itself, but instead potentially spelled trouble for the sector.

How to Sign Up for a Robinhood Brokerage Account: A Step-by-Step Guide

As part of The Motley Fool’s mission to help the world invest better, we’re putting together a list of some of the top online investment brokers and giving you step-by-step guides on how to sign up for accounts. For this how-to, we’re focusing on Robinhood’s The company’s site says it takes less than four minutes to set up an account, which I found to be pretty accurate.

Dolby Vision Keeps Gaining Momentum

Of course, Dolby still strives to ensure its core audio technologies play a central role fulfilling the world’s entertainment needs. But Dolby Vision promises to supplement its solutions by delivering arguably the most compelling true-to-life visual experience ever by closely mimicking the way our eyes see the world.

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The world’s largest theme park operator has reinvented the theme park experience with wearable tech, and now the planet’s biggest cruise line operator is following suit on the high seas. Carnival is unveiling Ocean — a small quarter-sized medallion that allows guests to enhance their cruising experiences — during this week’s CES expo.

Why Amazon.com, Inc. Shares Gained 11% in 2016

If you bought Amazon shares at the 52-week lows in early February and sold them at the October peak, you would have seen a staggering 79% return in just eight months. And if you’re that lucky, I would advise you to stock up on lottery tickets, stat .

Samsung profit surges despite Note 7 battery fiasco

Despite the fiasco with its flagship Galaxy Note 7 phone, Samsung Electronics is forecasting a 50% surge in profits for the fourth quarter. In October, the world’s largest smartphone maker had to scrap the Note 7 after batteries caught fire and even replacement devices went up in smoke.

Free tuition Q&A: Could New York’s plan spread across US?

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, right and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders wave at the audience as they arrive onstage at an event at LaGuardia Community College, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2017, in New York. Gov. Cuomo announced a proposal for free tuition at state colleges to hundreds of thousands of low- and middle income residents.

Prosecutor: Keep venue for Cosby trial, jury from outside OK

In this Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2016 file photo, Bill Cosby leaves after a hearing in his sexual assault case at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown, Pa. A prosecutor says Cosby’s trial should remain at a suburban Philadelphia courthouse despite the comedian’s argument there’s been widespread negative press coverage of the sexual-assault case against him.

GOP Won’t Say If People Will Lose Insurance in Obamacare Repeal

Top Republicans in Congress are refusing to promise that their plans to replace Obamacare won’t result in more uninsured Americans, putting them on a possible collision course with President-elect Donald Trump. “Look, I’m not going to get ahead of our committee process,” House Speaker Paul Ryan told reporters Thursday when asked if he can guarantee a GOP replacement would cover as many people as the Affordable Care Act.

Amgen Wins Ban on Sanofi’s Praluent Cholesterol Drug Sales

Amgen Inc. won a court ruling blocking rivals Sanofi and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. from selling their cholesterol-lowering drug Praluent in the U.S. because it infringes Amgen’s patents covering a rival treatment. U.S. District Judge Sue Robinson in Delaware ordered Sanofi and Regeneron to halt Praluent sales for 12 years because the drug infringes patents on Amgen’s Repatha medication.

U.S. Claims Thousands of D-Link Users Exposed to Hacking

A U.S. consumer protection watchdog sued a Taiwan-based maker of home-networking equipment over claims that lax security left its products vulnerable to hackers. The Federal Trade Commission alleged that D-Link Corp. and a U.S. unit failed to secure their routers and web cameras, exposing thousands of American consumers to targeted online security breaches.

Tillerson Discloses Global Assets of as Much as $400 Million

Rex Tillerson, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for U.S. secretary of state, disclosed assets worth as much as $400 million in a federal ethics filing that reflected investments spanning more than a dozen nations. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Tillerson will recuse himself for a year from government decisions involving Exxon Mobil Corp., where he served as chairman and chief executive officer until Jan. 1, according to a separate filing posted by the Office of Government Ethics on Wednesday.

OPEC Oil Output Slides in December Amid Nigeria Disruptions

OPEC’s crude production fell by 310,000 barrels a day in December, as unplanned disruptions in Nigeria reduced the group’s supply before deliberate cuts take effect this month. Nigeria’s daily output dropped by 200,000 barrels to 1.45 million in December, ending three months of gains as the African nation struggled to restore capacity after a year of militant attacks on oil infrastructure.

Samsung Beats Estimates as Chips Shake Off Note 7 Problems

Samsung Electronics Co. posted profit that beat estimates as buoyant memory chip prices helped the world’s largest smartphone maker bounce back from the death of its fire-prone Galaxy Note 7. Operating income rose 50 percent to 9.2 trillion won in the quarter ended December, its biggest profit in three years, the Suwon, South Korea-based company said in preliminary results Friday.

T-Mobile to simplify rate plan

At a press event here Thursday during the CES electronics show, John Legere, CEO of the self-proclaimed “Uncarrier,” announced the company will simplify its rate plans and the bills it sends out to customers. It also plans to reward customers who are frugal in their data usage by reducing their next month’s bills.

How Senator Rand Paul Would Replace Obamacare

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) weighs in on the Senate Democrats' push to block the Obamacare repeal. As the new Republican-controlled Congress moves forward with its goal of repealing the Affordable Care Act, the biggest question now is what will replace it.

Why Kohl’s, Gartner, and Constellation Brands Slumped Today

The stock market didn’t move much on Thursday, with major market benchmarks finishing the day mixed and with minimal changes from Wednesday’s close. The mood of the market was less positive than investors had seen in previous days, with various news items calling into question whether the upbeat attitude that market participants had had coming into 2017 will actually pan out with improved economic growth and corporate profits.

Trump Tells Confidant He Still Opposes AT&T-Time Warner 2 hours ago

Time Warner Inc. because he believes it would concentrate too much power in the media industry, according to people close to the president-elect, who has been publicly silent about the transaction for months. Trump told a friend in the last few weeks that he still considers the merger to be a bad deal, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the conversation was private.

Why Chemours Stock Dropped 10% in December

For the year, though, the stock was up more than 300%. A mid-month civil trial loss by Chemours’ former parent company, DuPont There wasn’t a single clear reason for the stock’s sharp December decline, although stocks of other companies selling titanium dioxide like Kronos and Tronox were down more modestly: One major event that could have a big impact on the company came mid-month, as DuPont was found liable in a civil trial related to the company’s manufacture of the toxic chemical PFOA.

Western Digital Stock Upgraded: What You Need to Know

As confirmed by TheFly.com , analysts at Chicago-basedinvestment banker Guggenheim initiated coverage of Western Digital with a buy rating and a $100 price target, calling the stock their “best idea in IT Hardware & Mobility.” This morning, we’re hearing Canadian banker BMO Capital chime in with a buy rating of its own — an upgrade from market perform to outperform, and a less ambitious $90 price target.

Altria Group Inc.’s Biggest Win in 2016

A host of challenges continues to face Altria, including ongoing pressure from regulators, consumer advocates, and plaintiffs’ attorneys seeking to cause difficulties for the tobacco giant. Yet even though some favorable moves with its core business were noteworthy in 2016, Altria’s biggest win came in avoiding an even bigger hassle from the IRS.

Alexa Could Be Amazon’s “Fourth Pillar”

All three have been instrumental to Amazon’s success over the past decade-plus and Bezos wrote, “I assure you that we also remain hard at work on finding a fourth [pillar].” It’s been two years since Amazon unveiled the Echo, which can serve as a hub for other smart-home devices like thermostats and lightbulbs, and its functionality has been extended through third-party “skills,” which function like voice-controlled apps.

The Latest at CES: Skydiving and zombies in virtual reality

Intel thinks the future of virtual reality is skydiving in the desert, watching live sports from a ringside seat and cringing as zombies attack – all powered by Intel chips. Wednesday’s demo featured leather chairs, Oculus sensors and headsets – and a barf bag, signaling this was not an ordinary press conference.