Category: Startups

Standard Life Eyes Aberdeen to Create $811 Billion Manager

Standard Life Plc, Scotland’s largest insurer, is in talks to acquire Aberdeen Asset Management Plc, creating one of Europe’s biggest fund managers overseeing 660 billion pounds . Under the terms of the potential deal, Standard Life shareholders would own 66.7 percent of the combined group, according to a joint statement on Saturday.

Standard Life, Aberdeen Said to Hold Merger Talks, Sky Reports

Standard Life Plc and Aberdeen Asset Management Plc, two of the U.K.’s largest fund managers, have been holding talks about an 11 billion-pound merger that would create one of the world’s biggest asset managers, Sky News reported on its website, without saying how it obtained the information. The merged company would manage more than 600 billion pounds and employ more than 9,000 people, with a possible annual cost savings of 200 million pounds, Sky said.

Standard Life, Aberdeen Said to Hold Merger Talks, Sky Reports

Standard Life Plc and Aberdeen Asset Management Plc, two of the U.K.’s largest fund managers, have been holding talks about an 11 billion-pound merger that would create one of the world’s biggest asset managers, Sky News reported on its website, without saying how it obtained the information. The merged company would manage more than 600 billion pounds and employ more than 9,000 people, with a possible annual cost savings of 200 million pounds, Sky said.

Yahoo Discloses Breach Affects 32 Million Users

Yahoo! disclosed the breach of the company expanded to 32 million user accounts which hackers accessed by using forged cookies after their revelation of 1.5 billion users were compromised. Yahoo! disclosed on Thursday the breach of the company expanded to 32 million user accounts which hackers accessed by using forged cookies after their revelation that 1.5 billion users were compromised in 2013 and 2014.

AT&T Agrees to Bring 3,000 Jobs Back to U.S. in New Labor Pact

AT&T Inc., the largest U.S. phone-service provider, will bring about 3,000 jobs back to the U.S. as part of a tentative labor agreement with union employees in Texas and four other states. The Dallas-based phone company has committed to adding the jobs in its Southwest district by the end of 2018, a spokesman said Friday.

Amazon is Pulling Out All the Stops Against Apple and Google in the Voice Assistant Wars

Echo home speaker/voice assistant has turned into a surprise hit and yielded a blizzard of positive media attention, the Alexa voice assistant powering Echo hardware is still in key respects at a strategic disadvantage relative to Alphabet /Google Google and Apple’s assistants each shipped with hundreds of millions of mobile devices last year, and Microsoft’s perhaps on close to 200 million PCs. By contrast, Echo sales were likely only in seven figures.

What Does Mr. Market Know? Not Much

Barron’s ran a story last week asking what recent stock price action was telling traders. Did February’s surge mean the economy was about to take off? Could it have indicated tax reform was certain to come quickly? Were this year’s gains just getting started, or about to reverse? Contrary to what many people think, more often than not “the market” knows absolutely nothing.

Overnight Tech: Tech firms back teen in transgender rights case |…

MORE TECH COMPANIES TAKE ON TRANSGENDER RULING: Major technology companies including Apple, Amazon, Twitter and Intel on Thursday officially signed an amicus brief in support of a Supreme Court case regarding protections for transgender students. The brief, organized by the Human Rights Campaign , is in favor of a suit brought by transgender student Gavin Grimm.

Whoa s heading for space on Muska s mysterious mission?

SpaceX’s Dragon cargo ship is captured by astronauts at the International Space Station on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017, a day after a GPS problem prevented the capsule from coming too close. The other day, we took a wild guess and came up with some names of possible ticket-buyers who want to circle the Moon on Elon Musk’s rocket.

Snap Jumps in Trading Debut After Year’s First U.S. Tech IPO

Snap Inc., maker of the disappearing photo app that relies upon the fickle favor of millennials, jumped in its trading debut after pricing its initial public offering above the marketed range. Shares opened at $24 and traded as high as $25.42 apiece Thursday, giving the company a market valuation of about $29 billion, based on the total number of shares outstanding after the offering in the deal prospectus.

No Changes Coming to Apple Charging Cable for iPhone 8

Apple is set to release the latest version of its popular smartphone, the iPhone 8, this fall and the latest rumors swirling around the device suggest there will be no changes made to the phone’s Lightening port connector. A recent Wall Street Journal report noted that Apple was moving away from the Lightning port in favor of the USB Type-C connector used on the company’s MacBooks.

Should we fear the future of Facebook?

Mark Zuckerberg, chairman and CEO of Facebook, speaks at the CEO summit during the annual Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Lima, Peru, on Nov. 19, 2016. Zuckerberg hopes the platform can help its users become better informed and engaged in local and global politics.

How alleged ISIS videos are creating a headache for WordPress

A group that monitors extremist activity on Wednesday called for the parent company of WordPress.com to shut down Web sites the group says are used by ISIS and al-Qaeda affiliates to publicize “vile” and violent acts, including videos of beheadings and other atrocities. The Counter Extremism Project, a non-partisan research and advocacy group based in New York, said U.S.-based tech companies have been providing crucial infrastructure for the propaganda of anti-American militant groups, often unwittingly.

Dalio Jolts Bridgewater as Rubinstein Exits After 10 Months

Ray Dalio shook up management at his Bridgewater Associates for the second time within a year in a sign that the billionaire is grappling with succession planning at the world’s largest hedge fund. Dalio said he will step down as interim co-chief executive officer next month and will remain co-chief investment officer.

In Bid To Spur Growth of VR Market, Oculus Drops Price of Rift By $200

The consumer VR industry is currently in a bit of a chicken-and-egg loop, with most hardware makers seeing modest sales, in part because there’s not enough great VR content available-which of course is due to the fact that many developers are wary of building content for platforms that aren’t yet fully mainstream. Still, the market for VR hardware is expected to hit $3.6 billion this year, and $37.7 billion for hardware and software by 2020 .

Biotech Premarket Movers: Impax, Clearside Biomedical, Mylan

Shares of Impax Laboratories were down 19% to $11.50 in premarket trading on Wednesday after the company reported results and said it is not issuing 2017 guidance for total revenue and EPS because of ongoing revenue volatility in its generics unit. The Fort Washington, Pa.-based firm reported fourth-quarter adjusted earnings per share of 16 cents on revenue of $198.4 million.

Apple iPhone 8 Could Cost $1000

Apple’s highly anticipated 10th anniversary iPhone 8 could have a starting price of $1,000, according to a research note from Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst renowned Apple rumor site 9 to 5 Mac called the “most accurate Apple analyst in the world.” The new iPhone is expected to feature more screen space, an energy efficient high-resolution OLED screen, and wireless charging capabilities.

Under pressure, Apple may expand its US manufacturing base

New York, March 1 – Under pressure from the Trump administration to create more domestic jobs, Apple may soon broaden its $50 billion US manufacturing and supplier base, a media report said. According to a report in Financial Times on Wednesday, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company would also step in to defend net neutrality if the principle protecting even-handed management of internet traffic was threatened by the new head of the Federal Communications Commission, the US telecoms regulator.

Salesforce Revenue Forecast Falls Short as Cloud Rivals Gain

Salesforce.com Inc. gave a first-quarter revenue forecast that fell short of analysts’ projections, hampered by rising competition from rival business-software makers with their own cloud products. Revenue in the period ending in April will be $2.34 billion to $2.35 billion, the San Francisco-based company said Tuesday in a statement.

Netflix employees were personally affected by U.S. President Donald…

Netflix employees were personally affected by U.S. President Donald Trump’s attempt to ban people entering from seven Muslim countries, the company’s CEO said Tuesday. Reed Hastings has been a critic of the temporary travel ban, which Trump hopes to revive in a revised form this week, and told The Associated Press on Tuesday that some of his co-workers had gotten caught up in it.

Singapore’s GLP Said to Shortlist At Least 3 Bidder Groups

Global Logistic Properties Ltd. has shortlisted at least three groups in the bidding for the Singapore-based warehouse operator, people with knowledge of the matter said. GLP invited a management-backed consortium that includes Chinese investment firms Hillhouse Capital Management and Hopu Investment Management to study detailed information on the business, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private.

Workday: Cramer’s Top Takeaways

In an “Executive Decision” segment, Cramer spoke with Aneel Bhusri, co-founder and CEO of Workday , the cloud software provider that had a rough December quarter but has since seen its shares rally to near 52-week highs. Bhusri said that after a slow October and November, business bounced back in December and January and led to record quarter for the company.

Tesla stock tumbles on analyst doubts

An analyst at the investment bank dropped the company from neutral to sell, based on uncertainties about Model 3 production, SolarCity’s performance after its acquisition and the company’s likely need to raise more cash. Tesla set vehicle production records last year, but again struggled to post a full-year profit.