Category: Business News

Staples Stock Falls Premarket on Earnings Miss

Staples stock was falling nearly 2% premarket after the office supply retailer reported fourth quarter earnings of 25 cents per share on revenue of $4.6 billion. Analysts on average were expecting the company to report earnings of 26 cents per share on revenue of $5 billion.

Bayer, Monsanto Initiate $2.5 Billion Asset Sale

Artificial crop and chemical manufacturers Bayer and Monsanto are selling off assets worth about $2.5 billion as they seek regulatory approval for their $66 billion merger. The divestiture is about $1 billion more than the $1.6 billion they had previously said they expected to have to divest.

Crude Futures Slip Below $50

Crude futures fell below the $50 mark Thursday, extending the largest decline in the price of oil in over a year as the industry continues to battle a supply glut. U.S. crude inventories rose to 528.4 million barrels, an all-time high, after building up by 8.2 million barrels over the past week.

Carrefour Continues to Struggle on its Home French Turf

France’s major retailers are taking significant hits from domestic markets on their bottom lines amid a persistently weak consumer environment in Europe’s second-largest economy. France’s major retailers are taking significant hits from domestic markets on their bottom lines amid a persistently weak consumer environment in Europe’s second-largest economy.

Cramer: Do Not Sell Cisco

“I would hate to see you out of it,” Cramer said Wednesday in an exclusive conference call with members of his Action Alerts PLUS club for investors. Cisco’s share price took a hit in November on disappointing guidance and sat out the market’s post-election surge until February, when the stock began to rally.

European TV Giant RTL Group Reports Record Full-Year Earnings

The parent company of Germany’s RTL, France’s M6 and ‘Young Pope’ producer FremantleMedia saw profits and revenue hit new highs thanks to German TV and digital expansion. Its annual results published Thursday saw RTL post record revenue and profits, thanks mainly to a still-booming German TV market and to strong growth in the company’s digital operations.

Us FCC to probe at&T 911 call outage

AT&T’s mobile subscribers in some U.S. states were not able to make 911 emergency calls late Wednesday, leading to complaints from police departments and emergency agencies in various parts of the country. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai wrote on Twitter that his agency was receiving reports of widespread AT&T 911 call outages and its public safety staff were investigating.

Oil Inches Back From $50 Ledge as U.S. Supply Stymies OPEC Cuts

Oil halted losses after the biggest drop in more than a year as record U.S. crude stockpiles began to raise doubts about the effectiveness of OPEC-led efforts to ease a global glut. Futures gained as much as 0.9 percent in New York after losing 5.7 percent the previous three sessions and threatening to slip below $50 for the first time since December.

Military-Grade Tech to Monitor Eggplants Rather Than Explosives

On a rooftop in the Jewish-Arab Tel Aviv neighborhood of Jaffa, a former military technologist and an ex-journalist sit in a transparent bio-dome where their robot is busy learning how to grow food. Flux IoT’s Eddy, a robot measuring less than a foot tall and resembling a life buoy, is built with military-grade sensors and armed with image-processing technology.

Oil Rises on Output Cuts

Oil prices climbed on Thursday after sharp losses the session before, buoyed by strong compliance with touted international production cuts, although a surge in U.S. crude inventories continued to drag. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other oil producers reached an agreement last year to cut output by almost 1.8 million barrels per day in the first half of 2017, with investors paying close attention to levels of compliance with the landmark deal.

Nikkei Gains Helped by Weaker Yen; Toshiba Dives

Japan’s Nikkei share average snapped a four-day losing streak on Thursday, helped by a weaker yen as the dollar gained after a private jobs report cemented expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve will raise interest rates next week. Toshiba Corp dived 7.2 percent and was the fourth most traded stock by turnover after sources told Reuters Westinghouse Electric Co LLC, the U.S. nuclear power plant developer it owns, has brought in bankruptcy attorneys from law firm Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP.

China Stocks Close at 2-Week Lows on Slumping Oil Prices

China stocks closed at two-week lows on Thursday, as energy shares tumbled on diving oil prices while global investors turned cautious ahead of a widely expected hike in U.S. interest rates next week. Renewed weakness in the yuan currency also dampened confidence, though China’s state banks stepped into the market to keep the currency from falling too fast.

European Stocks Called Lower After Wall Street Declines; ECB Meeting in Focus

European stocks are expected to open lower Thursday following three consecutive session declines on Wall Street as investors await a key policy meeting from the European Central Bank. European stocks are expected to open lower Thursday following three consecutive session declines on Wall Street as investors await a key policy meeting from the European Central Bank .

Carrefour Posts Solid Full-Year Earnings, Sees Stronger Sales Gains for 2017

Carrefour, the world’s second largest retailer, posted full year earnings that were largely in-line with analysts’ forecasts and reiterated plans to float is Carmila property division sometime later this year. Carrefour SA , the world’s second largest retailer, posted full year earnings that were largely in-line with analysts’ forecasts and reiterated plans to float is Carmila property division sometime later this year.

RadioShack Bankruptcy Protection Part Deux

U.S. electronics chain RadioShack filed for bankruptcy on Wednesday for the second time in a little over two years, faced with a challenging retail environment and an unsatisfying partnership with wireless provider Sprint Corp. The Chapter 11 filing comes after RadioShack, owned by General Wireless Operations, tried to revitalize its business by co-branding stores with the wireless carrier in an effort to compete against their largest rivals. General Wireless, which acquired the RadioShack brand in 2015, listed assets and liabilities in the range of $100 million to $500 million in the U.S. bankruptcy court for the Delaware district.

Bull Market in U.S. Stocks Turns 8

The run of gains on Wall Street turns 8 years old on Thursday and, despite its advanced age, is expected to rage on, with perhaps a few hiccups, based on a combination of stronger company earnings, lower taxes and a corporate-friendly administration in Washington. Strategists, however, warn that a correction of as much as 10 percent should be expected as the market is richly valued.

Congress looks to overturn Obama internet privacy rules

PanARMENIAN.Net – Republicans in the U.S. Congress are moving to repeal regulations adopted by the Obama administration in October that would have subjected internet service providers to stricter scrutiny than websites to protect customers’ private data , Reuters reports. Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona introduced a resolution on Tuesday, March 7 backed by 34 other senators to undo the regulations under a provision that allows Congress to repeal recently approved federal regulations.

China Said to Plan Stricter Bank Capital Rules to Curb Risks

China’s central bank plans to apply a stricter method for assessing banks’ capital as part of efforts to contain financial-sector risks, people with knowledge of the matter said. Under the proposed change to the so-called Macro Prudential Assessment framework, the People’s Bank of China will remove an intermediary category in its evaluation of banks’ capital adequacy, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private.

From V-necks to handcuffs

He had just been elected to the board at Samsung Electronics, and one of the few images we could trace showed him as a younger man, smiling, with a name badge clipped to a preppy lilac V-neck sweater. There are no shortages of pictures now, but smiles and upbeat knitwear are in limited supply.

Google spent $30 billion on its cloud and is making some…

If there’s one question that the top brass at Google are sick of being asked it’s this: How are you going to catch up in the cloud market to Amazon and Microsoft? Google’s answer is pretty straightforward: the old-fashioned way. It plans to build out its tech, making it reliable, affordable, with just enough differentiation to attract customers.

China Said to Plan Stricter Bank Capital Rules to Contain Risks

China’s central bank plans to apply a stricter method for assessing banks’ capital as part of efforts to contain financial-sector risks, people with knowledge of the matter said. Under the proposed change to the so-called Macro Prudential Assessment framework, the People’s Bank of China will remove an intermediary category in its evaluation of banks’ capital adequacy, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private.

Congress May Overturn Obama-Era Rules on Internet Privacy

Republicans in the U.S. Congress are moving to repeal regulations adopted by the Obama administration in October that would have subjected internet service providers to stricter scrutiny than websites to protect customers' Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona introduced a resolution on Tuesday backed by 34 other senators to undo the regulations under a provision that allows Congress to repeal recently approved federal regulations. Representative Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, who chairs a House panel on telecommunications, introduced a companion measure on Wednesday.

TopBuild: Cramer’s Top Takeaways

When companies break up, they can create enormous value, and nowhere is that more evident than with TopBuild , the former services arm of Masco that began trading as an independent company in July 2015. Since the spinoff, shares of TopBuild have rallied 50% and Cramer said the move is not yet over.

Avangrid: Cramer’s Top Takeaways

For an “Executive Decision” segment, Cramer sat down with James Torgerson, CEO of Avangrid , the wind-power utility which just posted a three-cents-a-share earnings beat. Shares of Avangrid are up 10% for the year with a 4% dividend yield.

6 changes the FCC has made in just six weeks

Check out this story on USATODAY.com: http://usat.ly/2mI3xq2 One of the FCC’s moves under the new administration was the removal from the agenda an order that would require pay-TV providers make free apps so subscribers could watch programming without a set-top box. In just six weeks under the Trump administration, the Federal Communications Commission has quickly made its mark on issues such as Net neutrality and online privacy.