It’s not every day an invention like blockchain comes along that people predict will “change the world” and become “bigger than the internet.” And before these pronouncements become reality, companies are scrambling to find applicants who understand the technology. Blockchain is basically a digital ledger of transactions that anyone on a network can see. On […]
Read moreNorth Carolina lawmakers are preparing a bid for a new Apple campus, according to a report in the Triangle Business Journal. Citing unnamed sources in real estate, law and the North Carolina government, the local business journal said the Research Triangle Park “tops Apple’s short list,” although the process is far from finalized — Apple […]
Read moreUber is deploying its top executive Dara Khosrowshahi in a series of national commercials — a rare Silicon Valley CEO spot appearance — to improve its reputation and, likely, its market share from rival Lyft. The shorter of two commercials features Khosrowshahi dispensing wisdom from his father and vowing that under his leadership, Uber will […]
Read moreCurrency, United States Finance
US/German bond yield spreads last hit these levels almost 30 years ago
The spread between the 2-year yield on U.S. and German bonds has hit its widest level since March 1989. At one point Wednesday, the spread reached 314 points. The last time that number happened, the Berlin Wall was still in place and Madonna’s “Like a Prayer” ruled the airwaves. Robust data in the United States […]
Read moreA difficult year for 3M shareholders will not get better anytime soon, according to Jefferies. The firm lowered its rating for the industrial company’s shares to hold from buy, predicting its valuation will decline in the latter part of the economic cycle. “We see less room for multiple expansion in a rising rate environment, and […]
Read moreOil prices may continue to rally past 3½-year highs and all the way to $85 a barrel as soon as July, according to Pulitzer Prize-winning author and closely followed energy analyst Dan Yergin. Prices in the oil market have been steadily rising since last year, fueled by strong demand and output caps imposed by major […]
Read moreMicrosoft and Google continue to invest in new email applications — Google just released a new version of Gmail, for example — but personal email is basically dead. I can think of two times in the last several years where I relied on using a personal email account: When I was buying a house and […]
Read moreSmall-cap indexes have been rising in recent years, and many outlooks for 2018 are rosy. Yet indexes aside, greater opportunities this year may await investors who can identify promising small companies laboring in relative obscurity. After negative returns in 2015, small caps delivered in both 2016 and 2017, as the S&P Small Cap 600 Index […]
Read moreMicrosoft is preparing to take on Apple‘s iPad with a line of low-cost tablets, according to a Bloomberg report. The new $400 tablets will feature 10-inch screens and rounded edges — closely mimicking the iPad — and could hit shelves as early as the second half of 2018, the news site said, citing anonymous sources. […]
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Square Cash, the mobile payment app developed by Square, is growing faster than PayPal’s Venmo, according to Nomura Instinet. Since early 2016, Square Cash app downloads have averaged 128 percent year-over-year growth each month versus Venmo’s 74 percent average monthly year-over-year growth, according to Nomura analysis. With roughly 28 million cumulative downloads, the number of […]
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