A daily morning look at the financial stories you need to know to start the day. STOCKS/ECONOMY -Stock futures are mixed after Tuesday’s losses and another big drop for tech stocks. -Mortgage applications fell 6.2 percent last week. OIL/ENERGY -U.S. crude prices are down, but holding at the $44 a barrel level after Tuesday’s gains. […]
Read moreDALIAN, China — China should double its military spending in order to shore up both national and regional security, an international relations expert said Wednesday. “They should double it — I think China spends too little right now,” said Yan Xuetong, dean of Tsinghua University’s Institute of International Relations. At the very least, the world’s […]
Read moreCheck out which companies are making headlines before the bell: General Mills – The food maker earned an adjusted 73 cents per share for its latest quarter, two cents a share above estimates. The company beat on the top line as well, benefiting from fewer promotions and expense controls. General Mills also raised its quarterly […]
Read moreWhen you think about qualities that make a successful Silicon Valley CEO, the first thing that comes to mind isn’t usually “cautious.” However, it’s one of the top personality traits among tech leaders, according to a recent study by job search firm Paysa using IBM data. And the most cautious is apparently SpaceX CEO Elon […]
Read moreCurrency, United States Finance
Forget fake news, investors should realize the markets are fake, says asset manager
The global rally in financial markets is unsustainable because it only seems to respond to changes in the real economy when it fits a certain narrative, according to the CIO of investment firm Fasanara Capital. “I call it fake markets… you know, these days they talk about fake news (but) these are fake markets in […]
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Italy has been forced to bail out two banks at a cost of as much €17bn euros ($19 bn). Is that the end of the bleeding in Italy’s financial sector? Also, as the iPhone turns ten, we look at how Apple is evolving. And Catherine Mann, Chief Economist at the OECD, tells us how to […]
Read moreCurrency, United States Finance
Hackers have made just 3.7 bitcoin – or less than $10,000 – with the latest cyberattack
Those behind the recent cyberattack affecting businesses around Europe have successful received a total of nearly 4 bitcoins, worth around $9621 at today’s price. On Tuesday, reports emerged of a ransomware virus affecting businesses and governments throughout Eastern Europe. Ukraine and Russia have been particularly affected. The malware, which has been identified as a modified […]
Read moreCurrency, United States Finance
‘NATO is important for Europe but it’s also important for the US', says NATO Sec Gen
NATO’s secretary general Jens Stoltenberg has insisted that the defense alliance’s commitment to support each other militarily is just as crucial for U.S. security as it is for that of Europe and Canada. “NATO is important for Europe but it’s also important for the United States,” Stoltenberg told CNBC Wednesday in a bid to preserve […]
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IMAGINE an industry where the average profit margins were 36%, where the regulator found little evidence of price competition and where the average person did not get the benefit of the lower charges available to the wealthiest customers. You would probably expect the regulator to throw a book the size of Thomas Piketty’s “Capital” at […]
Read moreGoogle is ready to accept that some big enterprises need help getting their critical workloads to the cloud. Its parent Alphabet on Wednesday announced a partnership with Nutanix, whose data center hardware and software provides a hybrid approach that bridges the gap between on-premise servers and machines in big cloud data centers. The deal is […]
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