All Latest News Wires
- Wall Street rallies on China stimulus
Tech stocks rallied on Monday as China's central bank's efforts to stimulate its economy prompted cautious optimism on Wall Street.
Will Federal Reserve start raising interest rates soon?Minutes from a Fed meeting in January released Wednesday show that officials struggled to determine the appropriate timing for a rate hike. The Fed's benchmark interest rate has been at a record low near zero since December 2008.
US housing starts fall in January, but construction is speeding upUS housing starts slipped 2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.07 million last month, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. Despite the monthly decline, the broader economy should help boost home sales and apartment construction this year.
Is Snapchat really worth $19 billion?Snapchat, the mobile messaging app, is seeking funding at a $19 billion valuation, according to a report from Bloomberg. Snapchat is aiming to raise $500, making it the third most highly-valued tech startup backed by venture capitalists.
Confidence slides, but US homebuilders still optimisticUS homebuilder confidence took a dip in February, according the NAHB's monthly sentiment index. Despite the decline, homebuilders remain relatively optimistic a month before the start of the spring buying season
Starwood CEO resigns as resort company reorganizesStarwood Hotels CEO Frits van Paasschen has resigned by mutual agreement, the resort giant said Tuesday. Starwood shares were up over 2 percent in morning trading on the decision.
Obamacare enrollment ends: Is an extension preferable to penalties?Congressional Democrats are arguing that the approximately 4 million uninsured – who now owe tax penalties – should get a second chance to sign up for Obamacare. For 2014, the fine for remaining uninsured was $95 or 1 percent of household income, due with 2014 returns, but the fine goes up for 2015 and 2016.
US imports take biggest slide since 2008US import prices tumbled 2.8 percent in January as the cost of petroleum and a range of other goods fell, according to the Labor Department. It was the biggest monthly drop for import prices in over six years.
Elon Musk 'secret weapon' comments irk Tesla investors. Stock plunges.Tesla reported a fourth quarter loss of $108 million dollars, which was worse than analysts expected. But CEO Elon Musk was confident as ever, even as his cryptic comments during an earnings call sent Tesla shared into free fall Thursday.
Expedia to buy rival Orbitz for $1.33 billionExpedia announced Thursday that it would buy rival online travel site Orbitz for about $1.33 billion, further consolidating the travel booking industry. Shares of Orbitz are up more than 23 percent in premarket trading and Expedia is up 5 percent on the announcement.
Coca-Cola gets good news: Soda sales are upCoca-Cola reported a slightly higher-than-expected profit on Tuesday as sales in North America, its biggest market, rose for the first time in four quarters. Analysts say US consumers are still drinking less soda but are paying more for it, boosting Coca-Cola sales.
Qualcomm to pay $975M fine over Chinese anti-monopoly claimThe mobile technology giant will pay the Chinese government what may be the country's biggest every corporate fine.
- Death toll for faulty GM ignition switches rises
Initially, General Motors had said at least 13 people had died in crashes caused by the switches. Currently the total is 52. Legislators have estimated that at least 100 people were killed. GM set aside $400 million to make payments, but conceded that could grow to $600 million.
McDonald's sales slide is a global affairMcDonald's Corp's worldwide same-restaurant sales fell a steeper-than-expected 1.8 percent in January, as the company struggles to shake off the after-effects of food scandals in Asia. January marked the eighth straight month of worldwide same-restaurant sales declines at McDonald's,
Is your Samsung Smart TV spying on you? Probably.Samsung's Smart TV may be a little too smart for its own good, collecting potentially sensitive information through its voice recognition software. The Samsung Smart TV's capabilities may add fuel to the debate over how much control humans are willing to relinquish to automation for convenience.
The job market may be better, but looking for work is as frustrating as everDespite a strengthening US job market, the unemployed face an unavoidable economic reality: Even in the best times, the number of job seekers is typically twice the number of job openings.
TWTR: Twitter earnings impress, but worries lingerTwitter (TWTR) beat Wall Street's profit and revenue targets in the fourth quarter. User growth weakened in the quarter, but picked up in the new year, Chief Executive Dick Costolo said in a statement. Twitter (TWTR) stock has rallied roughly 10 percent in the past several days.
Intuit stops TurboTax filings in all states after fraud outbreakIntuit has halted the transmission of all state e-filing tax returns through its TurboTax software on worries of rampant fraud. Intuit said that the company and some states have noticed an increase in 'suspicious filings' with TurboTax and attempts by to use stolen information to file fake state tax returns
Amy Pascal, Sony co-chair, steps down after hacking fiascoAmy Pascal, one of the most powerful women in Hollywood and the force behind such critical and commercial hits as 'The Social Network' and 'American Hustle,' will launch a major new production venture at Sony.
- Anthem hit by computer hackers; millions of customers could be affected
The company said information the hackers gained access to included names, birthdates, Social Security numbers, and street addresses of people who are currently covered or have had coverage in the past.
