Micron’s Stock Surges After Profit, Sales Beat Expectations

Shares of Micron Technology Inc. ran up 7.4% in after-hours trade Wednesday, after the memory chip maker reported its first quarterly profit in a year, that beat expectations. Earnings for the quarter to Dec. 1 were $180 million, or 16 cents a share, down from $206 million, or 19 cents a share, in the same period a year ago.

Clinton Ends Up With 2.9 Million More Votes Than Trump

Hillary Clinton received the most votes of any losing presidential candidate in U.S. history, according to the final and certified election results announced late Wednesday. Clinton ended up with 65,844,954 votes compared to Donald Trump’s 62,979,879 , beating the president-elect by 2.9 million votes.

Bed Bath & Beyond Drops After Disappointing Earnings, Forecast

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. shares fell more than 5% in late trading Wednesday after the retail chain announced earnings and a forecast that came in lower than expectations. The company said it had net income of $126.4 million, or 85 cents a share, on sales of $2.96 billion in its fiscal third quarter, reflecting a stark decline in profit from $1.09 a share in the same period a year before.

Clamping soars for unpaid car tax

The number of drivers whose cars have been clamped because they’ve failed to pay vehicle tax has soared by 80% since the paper tax disc was scrapped two years ago. Some drivers say they forgot to renew because they don’t have a disc in the windscreen to remind them.

A Surprise ETF can Keep Soaring

Some other single-country emerging markets exchange traded funds have delivered more jaw-dropping performances this year, but the iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF undoubtedly impresses with a year-to-date gain of almost 19%.

Some Caution is Warranted With Homebuilder ETFs

The SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF and the iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF , the two largest exchange traded funds focusing on homebuilders and related fare, are up an average of 3% this year. Even with those tepid gains, some traders believe homebuilder equities could be vulnerable to some near-term downside.

Oil Slips As EIA Report Shows Larger-than-expected Climb In Inventories

Oil futures trade modestly lower Wednesday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that domestic-crude supplies climbed, but inventories of gasoline and distillates, which include heating oil and diesel, declined in the week ended Dec. 16. Crude supplies rose 2.2 million barrels. That was contrary to the 2.3-million-barrel fall expected by analysts polled by The Wall Street Journal.

InvenSense’s Stock Soars To Lead NYSE Gainers After TDK Merger Deal

InvenSense Inc.’s stock soared 17% toward a 16-month high in morning trade Wednesday, enough to be the top gainer on the NYSE, after the sensor platform maker agreed to be acquired by Japan’s TDK Corp. in a deal valued at $1.3 billion. Under terms of the deal, TDK will pay $13 for each InvenSense share, a 20% premium to Tuesday’s closing price of $10.84.

Holiday Rush: FedEx Says Deliveries Running on Schedule

In this Jan. 5, 2016 photo, a FedEx truck drives past the skyline in San Francisco. Two giants, the U.S. government and FedEx, are set to do battle in a federal court over the explosive claim that the shipping company knowingly delivered illegal … prescription drugs such as Ambien from pill mills to dealers and addicts, some of whom fatally overdosed.

Boeing Stock Upgraded: What You Need to Know

Are you looking to invest in the booming aerospace and defense industry ? Then boy, does Seaport Global Securities ever have a deal for you! This morning, analysts at Seaport initiated coverage of three big names in the aerospace sector. Topping the banker’s list of picksis Boeing , which Seaport says is a buy at today’s price of just $158 and change.

FINRA Fines Wells, Others $14M for Records’ Changeable Format

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority said it fined several Wells Fargo & Co businesses, RBC Capital Markets, LPL Financial and others a combined $14.4 million on Wednesday for record-keeping problems that may have allowed company and customer documents to be altered. The securities industry’s self-regulator found that the firms failed to keep hundreds of millions of electronic documents in a “write once, read many” format, which would have made it impossible to alter or destroy records after they were written.

Oil Seen at $100 by End 2018 in Lottery Ticket Options Trade

Call it a pre-Christmas lottery ticket, but someone in the oil market has been busy making a bold bet, buying contracts that will be profitable if oil surges again to $100 a barrel. The $100 December 2018 call option — a contract that gives the right to buy Dec. 2018 futures at $100 per barrel — was the most traded contract on Tuesday across the whole ICE Brent market, the latest sign of resurgent optimism in oil.

Maker of Spectacles for Dior Expands Into Smart Glasses

Safilo Group SpA, the eyewear company that makes frames for Dior, Fendi and Hugo Boss, is looking to succeed in a high-tech category where even Google has struggled: smart glasses. The Italian company is debuting a set of Internet-connected spectacles next month at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Apple Tax Fight Looks More Difficult After EU Court Ruling

Apple Inc. and Anheuser-Busch InBev SA may face a tough battle in disputes over European Union demands for back taxes after the bloc’s top court partly backed regulators’ attempt to force Spanish firms to repay millions of euros in tax breaks. In a ruling that could ultimately add impetus to the region’s clampdown on special tax treatment for selected companies, judges at the EU Court of Justice in Luxembourg said a lower tribunal should re-examine a Spanish system that gave tax breaks to companies, including Banco Santander SA, for the acquisition of stakes in foreign firms.

Net Neutrality or Level Playing Field

It was announced on Dec. 15 that the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission , Thomas Wheeler, would be stepping down as of Jan. 20, 2017. Wheeler has been the lead arbitrator and backer of a concept called “net neutrality.”

Reverse Mortgage Line of Credit Could Fund Long-Term Care

There’s a 70% chance that people over 65 will need some kind of long-term care, including services such as home care, assisted living and skilled nursing, according to government statistics . There are lots of ways to pay for long-term care services, including Medicare, Medicaid, traditional health insurance, long-term care insurance , life insurance and annuities.

Ahead of the Bell: US home sales

The National Association of Realtors reports on November sales of existing U.S. homes Wednesday at 10 a.m. Eastern. SALES PULLBACK: Economists surveyed by the data firm FactSet predict that sales of existing home retreated 1.8 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.5 million.

Mistry Wants Ratan Tata Restrained From Attending Board Meetings

Cyrus Mistry, the ousted chairman of Tata Sons Ltd., wants an Indian court to restrain the family scion from attending board meetings, according to a filing made by the executive against his abrupt dismissal from the post. Mistry also asked the National Company Law Tribunal to appoint an administrator to manage Tata Sons, according to the filing seen by Bloomberg.

Merkel Said to Close Off Banks-for-Cars Brexit Deal Before Talks

Chancellor Angela Merkel is seeking to stiffen German resolve on Brexit, singling out the car industry as vulnerable to any British attempt to strike market-access deals ahead of the U.K.’s exit from the European Union. In a closed-door meeting with German lawmakers, Merkel said some industries might press for such accords with the U.K. government and that political leaders should oppose them, according to two people who attended.

Top Bond Manager Woolnough Rebounds With Bullish Call on Economy

Woolnough, whose 15.5 billion pound M&G Optimal Income Fund has beaten 83 percent of peers over the past five years, says low interest rates are working, economies are recovering, and investors have gotten too worked up about macroeconomic risks. He’s so bullish, he started buying equities for the first time in two years, saying they’re more attractive than bonds.

Net Neutrality Rule to Get Scrutiny From FCC Republicans ‘Soon’

Republicans poised to control the Federal Communications Commission next month said they’d revisit the net neutrality regulation “as soon as possible,” laying out plans to address a rule they’ve opposed and that Democrats support. The statement Monday from Commissioners Ajit Pai and Michael O’Rielly indicates that opponents of the rule such as top broadband providers AT&T Inc. and Comcast Corp. may not need to wait for Congress to grapple with the regulation that requires equal treatment of web traffic.

These Are The Robots Who Are Fulfilling Your Christmas Orders

Partly in response to an improving labor market that’s made seasonal warehouse worker shortages a staple of year-end news coverage for the past several years, more logistics operations are turning to robots to make operations more efficient. “What we find a lot of our customers are experiencing challenges in, especially as you think about what happens to an operation as you enter into the holiday season, is quite simply there’s not enough people to do the work that’s required,” says Matt Rendall, cofounder and CEO of Clearpath Robotics .

What Does Mom Have to Say About Dow 20K?

How do you feel about the circus that has come to surround this move on the Dow to 20,000? Because it really is like a circus, pure entertainment filled with animal spirits ! I am somewhat surprised that my mother hasn’t asked about it, but I suspect until it headlines the evening news it won’t be on her radar. Keep in mind that my mother makes such a great contrary indicator because she simply repeats what the “guy on the radio” says.

The Worst CEOs of 2016

Every year, Santa and I get together at his place , break out the nog and hash out a list of the naughtiest chief executives. They still get their outsized pay packages, but the fat man can’t resist filling their Christmas stockings with enormous lumps of coal.