Amazon is bringing its Echo speaker and Alexa smart personal assistant to India and Japan, the company said on Wednesday, marking its first foray into Asia with those products. The U.S. e-commerce giant said that Alexa and Echo are now available by invitation in India, and are coming to Japan later this year. Echo, Echo […]
Read moreThere are too many blockchain “tourists” using the term as a “buzzword” rather than developing real world use cases, the chief executive of cryptocurrency start-up Ripple has said. “Blockchain is like the new big data or AI (artificial intelligence) — too many people are using it as a buzzword and not focused solving a real […]
Read moreA cryptocurrency firm co-founded by U.S. rapper Ghostface Killah hopes to raise $30 million in a digital coin sale. Cream Capital said Wednesday it would raise the funds through an initial coin offering (ICO) — a method of crowdfunding that has been met with much scrutiny from regulators recently. It claims it was co-founded by […]
Read moreNEW YORK — For more than a year, Puerto Rico has clashed with investors who hold slivers of its $73 billion debt, and who have pushed the United States territory to pay up. On Tuesday, during his visit to the hurricane-struck island, President Trump raised a prospect that could cheer the island’s residents but send […]
Read moreRising interest rates and rising home prices are cutting into mortgage demand, as fewer consumers have the incentive to refinance or buy a home. Total mortgage application volume slipped 0.4 percent last week from the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted report. Volume now stands 24 percent lower than a year […]
Read moreEurope’s political leaders are calling for a quick and meaningful solution to the constitutional crisis enveloping Spain following the Catalonia region’s “illegal” referendum vote Sunday, with fears that the vote could spread uncertainty throughout the continent. As the situation stands, Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont said Tuesday that his government is ready to declare independence “in […]
Read moreCurrency, United States Finance
The EU is taking Ireland to court for failing to recover taxes from Apple
The European Commission is taking Ireland to court for failing to recover taxes from Apple. The executive arm of the EU ordered Ireland last year to recover 13 billion euros ($15.28 billion) back from Apple after it said the U.S. multinational firm benefited from sweetheart tax deals. “Ireland has to recover up to 13 billion […]
Read moreAmazon has been ordered to pay 250 million euros ($294 million) back to Luxembourg after the European Commission found that the online retailer had received illegal tax benefits. According to the European Commission, Amazon received tax advantages between 2006 and 2014. The European Commission opened its investigation into Amazon and Luxembourg’s tax arrangements in October […]
Read moreThe high-end tire maker Pirelli saw a difficult comeback to the stock market on Wednesday, but its CEO told CNBC that it’s too early to fully assess the reaction from investors. Speaking to CNBC after Pirelli’s market debut, CEO Marco Tronchetti Provera promised to deliver margin growth of 9 percent until 2020. “I think the […]
Read moreCurrency, United States Finance
Lithium has investors in a ‘frenzy’ — and soon you’ll be able to trade it too
The future of electric vehicles has led several investors to view lithium as the hot new commodity. Governments and car manufacturers alike have taken steps to electrify fleets and further phase out the combustion engine. In turn, a number of traders now believe lithium to be a high-return investment as demand soars. This is no […]
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