“You sound cute, got a picture?” “Nicole, your [sic] beautiful, are you single?” “I love you, Jen.” Those may sound like messages from a dating app, but they’re actually real emails people have sent to customer service representatives at places like car dealerships, insurance companies and education firms. The problem: Those customer service reps aren’t […]
Read moreShares in US-listed steel companies rose sharply late on Thursday after Donald Trump accused China of dumping cheap steel in the American market and was considering imposing both tariffs and quotas on imports. The rally was part of a longer-run increase for the industry, which has been awaiting a US Department of Commerce report that […]
Read moreBanks are beginning to report earnings. All four banks reporting (JP Morgan, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, and PNC) beat earnings expectations and all but Wells Fargo beat on the topline. So why are they all trading down Friday? There’s two issues: fundamental and seasonal. First, the soft economic data we saw Friday — retail sales, but […]
Read moreFlat consumer inflation and a surprise drop in June retail sales triggered new doubts that the Federal Reserve will be able to raise interest rates again this year. “This is a game change for market expectations. Now it’s when does the Fed respond and what does transitory really mean,” said Ian Lyngen, head of U.S. […]
Read moreBillionaire Steve Ballmer said Friday that government data show it’s not clear whether tax policy will have an impact on business investment. Ballmer, founder of a nonpartisan database for government statistics, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that his USAFacts group looked at capital investment and research and development. “No matter what tax policy we’ve seen, it […]
Read moreCredit Suisse just raised its year-end forecast for the S&P 500 and told investors to “stick with equities.” In a note published Friday, its head of global equity said “the bull market will continue” because interest rates will remain low, earnings will come in stronger than expected and the normal signs of a peak in […]
Read morePolitics is a big topic at the annual Allen & Company conference in Sun Valley, with Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump attending the event for the first. And President Donald Trump’s policies and the political process have been in the spotlight in both the conversations on stage and off. CBS CEO Les Moonves said in […]
Read moreFew, if any, literary philosophers have had as much influence on American business and politics as Ayn Rand, especially now that Donald J. Trump occupies the White House. President Trump named Rand his favorite writer and “The Fountainhead” his favorite novel. Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson has cited “Atlas Shrugged” as a favorite work, […]
Read moreThe race to create A.I. and robotic technology that will change the way we work and live is dominating countless industries. But the chaos and disruption these ground-breaking fields are set to have on numerous areas of the economy, the job market, the banking system and the transportation industry have also incited fear. Alibaba Chairman […]
Read moreTwitter has been “on top of” product and monetization improvements, and the stock market is starting to take notice, Steve Ballmer told CNBC on Friday. “Twitter is a very good asset,” said Ballmer, a major investor in the social media company. “So improving the products some and improving and making the monetization better, I think […]
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