Category: Business News

Alphabet’s crazy balloon experiment has a new CEO after the…

Project Loon, the high-flying internet-delivering balloon subsidiary of Alphabet’s X semi-secret skunkworks, has a new CEO after the previous one only lasted about six months, reports Bloomberg’s Mark Bergen. Alastair Westgarth, formerly the CEO of wireless antennae company Quintel, will be the CEO of Project Loon.

Fox News reporter gets into heated exchange with Sean Spicer…

White House press secretary Sean Spicer got into a testy exchange with several reporters during Friday’s press briefing over former National Security Adviser Mike Flynn’s paid lobbying for Turkish interests. Flynn, who was fired from his White House job, registered as a foreign agent with the Justice Department earlier this week.

LendingTree: Cramer’s Top Takeaways

For his “Executive Decision” segment, Cramer sat down with Doug Lebda, founder, chairman and CEO of LendingTree , a stock that’s up 17% for the year after the company reported blowout earnings two weeks ago. Lebda first responded to questions about his company’s very successful stock buyback program by saying that it was a smart decision at a smart time and he remains committed to his shareholders.

Google’s Uber Lawsuit Reflects the High-Stakes Battles Over Intellectual Property

Alphabet unit Waymo’s request that a federal judge in California halt Uber from using its self-driving automotive technology reflects the high stakes placed on intellectual property that is fueling the emerging businesses of Silicon Valley. As Waymo charges that an ex-manager took IP to recent Uber acquisition Otto, Tesla has filed suit against the former director of its self-driving car unit for allegedly trying to poach staff and steal data for a rival startup.

Optical Component Stocks Might Deserve a Look Following Finisar’s Tumble

For all the good news that optical component suppliers have seen over the last 12 months or so, it’s been hard to forget the fact that many of the telcos that have historically accounted for a big portion of optical equipment spending aren’t seeing much growth, and spending accordingly. Or that the industry in the past has been quite cyclical, with major growth spurts followed by sharp downturns.

TCPA Petition Could Cause Multiple Industries to Break Laws, Trade Groups Find

ETA: Meghan M. Cieslak mcieslak@electran.org Washington, D.C. – The American Financial Services Association, the Consumer Bankers Association, the Credit Union National Association, the Financial Services Roundtable, National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions, and the Electronic Transactions Association today sent a joint letter to the Federal Communications Commission regarding the Petition for Rulemaking and Declaratory Ruling regarding prior express consent under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act . In the letter, the trade groups request a denial of the petition and lay out seven reasons why it would prove harmful in today’s economy.

Trump’s head-spinning shift on the economy has left his supporters behind

Interpretation of the news based on evidence, including data, as well as anticipating how events might unfold based on past events In this June 1, 2016, photo, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump wears his “Make America Great Again” hat at a rally in Sacramento, Calif. In the opening moments of his presidency, Donald Trump used his inaugural address to paint a picture of a bleak economy, where wealth was consolidated among a cadre of insiders while the Americans he promised to support were left to languish in “carnage.”

VW pleads guilty in diesel emissions case as part of $4.3 billion settlement

Volkswagen pleaded guilty Friday to fraud, obstruction of justice and falsifying statements as part of a $4.3 billion settlement reached with the Justice Department in January over the automaker’s diesel emissions scandal. It was the first time the company has pleaded guilty to criminal conduct in any court in the world, a company spokesman said, and comes as the automaker strives to put the most expensive auto industry scandal behind it.

Uber Deal Giving Drivers $1 Each Fails to Win Over Judge

Uber Technologies Inc. failed to persuade a judge to approve a settlement offering 1.6 million California drivers an average of $1.08 each to dispense with alleged labor-code violations that their lawyer earlier claimed might have been worth billions of dollars. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Maren Nelson issued a tentative ruling rejecting a deal aimed at resolving one of the dozen-plus U.S. lawsuits challenging the company’s contractor-based business model.

Bitcoin Plummets 18% as SEC Rejects Winklevoss ETF Proposal

Bitcoin’s price plummeted after U.S. regulators rejected a proposal by the Winklevoss twins for a publicly traded fund based on the digital currency, dashing hopes that a government-approved investment vehicle would lead to wider interest in virtual money. The Securities and Exchange Commission refused to grant an exemption that would have let the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust trade on the Bats BZX Exchange, according to a filing posted Friday on the regulator’s website.

Why Millennials Should Look for Blue Collar Jobs

On Friday, The Bureau of Labor revealed that the U.S. economy added 235,000 jobs in February. Despite the astounding job numbers, a study by the Job Application Center found that 69 percent of millennials are having a hard time finding jobs straight out of college.

11 Big Tax Mistakes to Avoid

Mistakes are part of life, but try not to make them part of your tax return. One misstep could hold up your tax return – maybe even your refund – for weeks or months, and you might even end up on the hook for interest and penalties.

California Says Autonomous Cars Don’t Need Human Drivers

California relaxed several rules on self-driving cars as the state tries to maintain its status as a leading test bed for the future of transportation. The state’s Department of Motor Vehicles released proposed regulations Friday for autonomous vehicles, dropping an earlier requirement that a human driver had to be present while testing on public roads.

U.S. Subprime Auto Losses Reach Highest Level Since Crisis

U.S. subprime auto lenders are losing money on car loans at the highest rate since the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis as more borrowers fall behind on payments, according to S&P Global Ratings. Losses for the loans, annualized, were 9.1 percent in January from 8.5 percent in December and 7.9 percent in the first month of last year, S&P data released on Thursday show, based on car loans bundled into bonds.

Markets in ‘no doubt’ on US rate rise

Traders see it as almost “inevitable” the US Federal Reserve will raise its benchmark interest rate on Wednesday after strong jobs growth. Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen said last week that the central bank could raise rates in March if employment and inflation figures met their expectations.

Verizon Exempts Fios Mobile App From Data Caps

The offer applies to Fios customers who also use Verizon for their mobile phone service, with one exception: those on the new unlimited plan. With the worry over possible net neutrality violations now in its rearview , Verizon is pumping the gas on unlimited video streaming.

Wall Street Nearly Unanimous on U.S. Rate Hike Next Week: Poll

Wall Street’s top banks were nearly unanimous on the view the Federal Reserve will increase interest rates at its policy meeting next week following a stronger-than-forecast February U.S. payrolls report, a Reuters poll showed on Friday. A drop in unemployment, more people seeking jobs and a rebound in wage growth were other upbeat aspects of the report which economists at these top banks reckoned give the Fed a green light to raise rates by a quarter point to 0.75-1.00 percent.

Wall St Ends Up; Jobs Data Points to Economic Strength

U.S. stocks rose on Friday after a solid jobs report pointed to strength in the domestic economy and supported expectations the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates next week. Indexes ended lower for the week, however, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq breaking a six-week streak of gains.

U.S. Regulators Reject Bitcoin ETF, Digital Currency Plunges

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday denied a request to list what would have been the first U.S. exchange-traded fund built to track bitcoin, the digital currency. Investors Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss have been trying for more than three years to convince the SEC to let it bring the Bitcoin ETF to market.

U.S. Hopes to Launch NAFTA Talks in Just Over 90 Days: Ross

U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Friday that he hopes to launch formal talks to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico in a little over three months, setting in motion a campaign promise made by President Donald Trump. During his election campaign, Trump threatened to pull out of NAFTA, which he views as damaging to U.S. workers, unless it was renegotiated to his liking and reduced the U.S. trade deficit with Mexico.

AT&T Mum on 911 Service Outage

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Wall St Trims Gains as Jobs Data Paves Fed Path to Hike Rates

U.S. stocks were off session highs on Friday after a solid jobs report virtually sealed the deal for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates next week, and potentially set the course for an aggressive tightening path this year. Data showed 235,000 jobs were added in the public and private sectors in February, far exceeding economists’ average estimate of 190,000.

Facebook Now Has 4 Snapchat Clones

Facebook has four extremely popular apps. Its flagship Facebook app is quickly closing in on 2 billion active users, Messenger and WhatsApp have over 1 billion each, and Instagram has managed to attract 600 million users.

Facebook Now Has 4 Snapchat Clones

Facebook has four extremely popular apps. Its flagship Facebook app is quickly closing in on 2 billion active users, Messenger and WhatsApp have over 1 billion each, and Instagram has managed to attract 600 million users.

Caterpillar denies that it broke tax laws

Caterpillar is denying that it broke federal tax laws a week after its headquarters and other facilities were raided by the Internal Revenue Service and other federal agencies. The exact reason for the raids remains unclear, but Caterpillar told the Securities and Exchange Commission in a filing last month that the IRS had notified the company it owed $2 billion in additional taxes because of profits from a Swiss unit.

BofA’s Top Us Ipo Banker to Join LendingTree

JD Moriarty, Bank of America’s top U.S. IPO banker, will be leaving the company for a senior job at LendingTree , a company he helped take public nearly two decades ago, according to Financial Times . The move comes as there is rising hope that the IPO market will pick up again, after a slow 2015-16.

BofA’s Top Us Ipo Banker to Join LendingTree

JD Moriarty, Bank of America’s top U.S. IPO banker, will be leaving the company for a senior job at LendingTree , a company he helped take public nearly two decades ago, according to Financial Times . The move comes as there is rising hope that the IPO market will pick up again, after a slow 2015-16.