Facebook, Amazon Buoy Wall St. As Trade Concerns Cool

BUSINESSLeave a comment

Supported by

Business Day

Facebook, Amazon Buoy Wall St. As Trade Concerns Cool

(Reuters) – Facebook, Amazon and industrial stocks helped Wall Street extend its recovery on Thursday as fears over a trade war between the United States and China eased.
Technology stocks, which have taken a beating in the past three weeks, were higher.
Facebook, Amazon, Alphabet, Netflix – collectively known as the “FANG” group – were up between 0.8 percent and 2.6 percent.
Shares of Boeing, Caterpillar – hit the most on Wednesday after China retaliated with $50 billion in tariffs on U.S. goods such as soybeans, autos, chemicals and some types of aircraft – also rose more than 1 percent.
At 9:41 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.57 percent at 24,403.74. The S&P 500 rose 0.37 percent to 2,654.55 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.55 percent to 7,080.71.

Advertisement

Continue reading the main story

The Dow bounced back from a 500 point drop on Wednesday after President Donald T..

Google staff protest company's involvement with Pentagon drones programme

ECONOMYLeave a comment

Thousands of Google staff are protesting against the use of the company’s technology in the Pentagon’s controversial drones programme.
The US Department of Defense's Project Maven, commenced last April, utilises the Silicon Valley search giant's artificial intelligence system to analyse vast amounts of footage captured by the US Army’s unmanned surveillance planes around the world.
Around 3,100 staff are thought to have signed a letter to Google boss Sundar Pichai, demanding that the company pulls out of the project.
Read more Google's decision to build AI for Pentagon drones divides company Google confirmed last month that the Pentagon was using its technology, sparking outrage among some of its employees.
A copy of the letter published in the New York Times said: “We believe that Google should not be in the business of war.
“Therefore we ask that Project Maven be cancelled, and that Google draft, publicise and enforce a clear policy stating that neither Google ..

Tech Tip: Monitoring the Health of a Backup Drive

UncategorisedLeave a comment

Monitoring the Health of a Backup Drive Q. I’ve been backing up my computer to two different external hard drives — one made by Seagate and the other by Western Digital. The backup drives are now six years old. I know hard drives fail after a while, so when should I replace these drives with new ones?
A. The life span of hard disk drives, both internal and external, can be difficult to predict. The mechanical state of the drive’s motor, the number of hours the drive has been in use and its environmental conditions are just a few factors that could alter its condition. Manufacturer warranties on the hardware — often two or three years for consumer-focused products — are no guarantee of the drive’s life expectancy, either.
While it may not be possible to predict exactly when an external drive will fail, closely monitoring the device for grinding noises or other erratic behavior (like unusual slowness) can offer clues to its health. Many manufacturers, including Seagate and Western Digit..

A View from the Top: Anne-Marie Curtis, editor-in-chief of ELLE UK

ECONOMYLeave a comment

An advocate for the enduring value of print, Anne-Marie Curtis talks about her rise from intern to editor-in-chief
“When I bought the first issue, I was like, ‘This is my magazine’,” says Anne-Marie Curtis of discovering Elle UK back in 1985.
Curtis got her first taste of working for Elle as an intern in the early 1990s under the late Sally Brampton, who she describes as a “brilliant, brilliant editor”. Curtis’s commitment to Elle had secured a promising start to her career.
Fast-forward to 2018 and she’s talking to me in her office, just off London’s Carnaby Street, as the title’s editor-in-chief – Wednesday marks her first anniversary in the role.
Read more Ann Summers CEO Jacqueline Gold on the tough world of retail I ask if she expects new hires to possess her level of devotion. “I don’t want to hire me,” she says. “It’s about a sense of individuality and a point of view, as well as absolutely getting what Elle is.”
Curtis knows the power of plucky ideas and clear purpose…

DealBook Briefing: Are Facebook’s Latest Privacy Changes Enough?

BUSINESSLeave a comment

Supported by Are Facebook’s Latest Privacy Changes Enough?: DealBook Briefing Photo Credit Noah Berger/Associated Press Good Thursday morning. Here’s what we’re watching:
• Mark Zuckerberg has disclosed more on how much Facebook user data may have been accessed.
• The White House is still talking tough on trade with China.
• Blackstone’s infrastructure fund isn’t doing so well.
Get this in your inbox each morning. Sign up here.
‘That was a huge mistake, and it was my mistake’What emerged from Facebook yesterday — in Mark Zuckerberg’s conference call with reporters and in a company blog post — were revelations that users’ public data was more compromised than previously thought.
• Facebook said Cambridge Analytica harvested the data of 87 million users, not 50 million.
• A vulnerability in search and account recovery functions may have exposed “most” of Facebook’s 2 billion users to unauthorized harvesting of their public profile information.
Advertisement
Continue reading the ma..

Biafra: President Buhari And His Fellow Corrupt Northern Leaders: A Prey To Radio Nigeria Hausa Service Powered By IPOB

UncategorisedLeave a comment

  By Onoja Christian Obinna  For over some months now, it has been an awful nightmare for the northern political elites since the launching and subsequent broadcasting of “eye-opening” messages via Radio Nigeria Hausa Service: a platform piloted by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) which is now blasting out loud in the heart of…

Asset managers must assess value they offer investors under strict new FCA rules

ECONOMYLeave a comment

Asset managers will have to prove their value for money
Asset managers must assess each year how much value for money they offer investors, Britain’s markets watchdog said on Thursday, stopping short of tougher measures called for by critics of the 7 trillion pound sector.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said asset managers would have 18 months to prepare for a requirement from September 2019 to make an annual assessment of value, as part of their duty to act in the best interests of investors.
In a requirement that will take effect six months later than originally indicated, asset managers will have to publish their value assessments and show if any corrective action was taken if charges were identified as not being justified.
Read more UK services sector felt the chill from the Beast from the East After pressure from industry, the value for money idea floated in last year’s review has been broadened to overall value to avoid what the FCA says is too much focus on costs.
..

Zuckerberg's job is as safe as he wants it to be thanks to Wall Street's investors

ECONOMYLeave a comment

There are good grounds to ask whether the Facebook boss is the right man to lead the business through its current turbulence, but the company has been set up to make such a debate irrelevant
Should Mark Zuckerberg quit as the chairman and CEO of Facebook?
The question is now being asked, and seriously enough for Mr Zuckerberg to have to address it in the round of media calls, meetings and appearances he’s been making.
The arguments in favour are quite persuasive. It’s not just the data scandal that has wiped billions of dollars off the company’s market value, although that would be enough for some. It’s the cackhanded way it has been handled. Despite the fact that it must have known what was coming, Facebook has resembled a lone swimmer caught by a powerful current, desperately trying to find a ring to cling to.
Read more Mark Zuckerberg refuses to quit Facebook Tinder stops working as Facebook privacy changes make app go down Facebook scans things you send on Messenger app T..

Shopping centre giant Hammerson stalls Intu takeover as it awaits clarity over rival offer

ECONOMYLeave a comment

Trafford Centre and Birmingham Bull Ring owner says a takeover approach from its rival Klepierre is 'wholly inadequate'
Hammerson will not finalise its £3.4bn tie-up with Intu as it awaits clarity on a takeover approach from European rival Klepierre.
The shopping centre giant said in a trading statement that while Klepierre's position “remains unclear”, the board does “not intend to finalise shareholder documents in relation to the proposed acquisition of Intu”.
Hammerson has branded Klepierre's £4.88bn cash-and-shares offer “wholly inadequate” and “entirely opportunistic”, but the French firm has until 16 April to “put up or shut up” with a formal offer.
Read more Vodafone beats O2, EE and Three to take biggest share of 5G spectrum Bull Ring owner Hammerson would prefer to press ahead with an all-share takeover of rival Intu, which would create Britain's biggest property company with £21bn worth of assets across Europe.
Intu operates the Trafford Centr..