Google parent Alphabet said its advertising business continued to hum, but its fastest-growing segments—mobile and YouTube advertising—are less lucrative than desktop ads.
Luxury-fashion company Michael Kors has reached a deal to buy Jimmy Choo for $1.17 billion, giving it a new avenue for growth as its core handbag market slows.
LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. retailer Michael Kors has agreed to buy luxury shoemaker Jimmy Choo for $1.2 billion, snapping up a British brand launched in the east end of London and made famous by celebrity fans including Princess Diana.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea's new leadership has promised to help many left behind as the country grew prosperous, laying out a new five-year economic plan that promises to boost incomes and improve the country's sagging social safety net.
Government subsidies for babies, young job seekers and the elderly will be increased while the unemployment benefits will go up by 10 percentage points.
South Korea's economic recovery has been gaining steam as tech companies like Samsung and SK Hynix log record profits thanks to strong demand for computer memory chips.
Consumer demand has slowed amid high levels of household debt, lagging incomes and a widening gap between workers with full-time regular jobs at big companies and those with irregular jobs or working at small companies.
SoftBank is pushing to take a commanding stake in the ride-hailing market, angling for a piece of Uber after spreading its bets across a trio of Asian startups.
State restrictions, the increasing cost of filing and a long campaign by businesses has discouraged plaintiffs. ‘People are just not filing cases like they used to,’ says one D.C. trial judge.
PARIS (Reuters) - Uber and insurance group AXA on Tuesday announced a partnership to offer accident cover for drivers who work for the ride hailing service in France.
TOKYO (Reuters) - Oil prices extended gains on Tuesday after Saudi Arabia pledged to curb exports from next month and OPEC called on several members to boost compliance with output cuts to help rein in oversupply and tackle flagging prices.
One of China’s most acquisitive conglomerates, privately owned HNA Group, has unveiled a new ownership structure in a bid to eliminate doubt over who ultimately controls the group.
TOKYO (AP) — Asian share benchmarks sagged Tuesday as investors awaited a slew of corporate earnings reports.
The Nasdaq is up 19.1 percent this year, nearly double the rise for broader-market indexes as investors have massed into technology stocks in their search for strong growth as the global economy remains sluggish.
The government announced a new economic plan promising to boost incomes and improve the country's sagging social safety net.
[...] despite an upgrade in the growth forecast for Asia's fourth largest economy, to 3 percent from 2.6 percent, shares fell as investors cashed in profits after a long spate of record-high closes driven by optimistic expectations for corporate earnings.
ANALYST VIEWPOINT: "The high level of trepidation continues to weigh on market sentiments as a congressional hearing of White House advisers all but guarantees some headline risk and a possible escalation of the Russia- Gate bluster," Stephen Innes of OANDA said in a commentary.
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The dollar surrendered short-lived gains on Tuesday as concerns about the U.S. economy and politics returned to the fore ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting, while a lack of catalysts kept Asian stocks subdued.
South Korea’s Samsung conglomerate, best known for its smartphones and televisions, will make available in the U.S. its lower-price copy of Johnson & Johnson’s blockbuster arthritis drug Remicade.
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - U.S. solar companies are snapping up cheap imported solar panels ahead of a trade decision by the Trump administration that could drive up costs and cloud the fortunes of one of the economy's brightest stars.
Teenage driver livestreams crash that killed sister
(AP) — A teenage driver lost control of her car while she was livestreaming on Instagram and recorded part of the crash that authorities say killed her younger sister in California.
Authorities say Obdulia Sanchez, 18, was driving the car Friday when it veered onto the shoulder of a road about 75 miles (120.7 kilometers) northwest of Fresno.
The teenagers' father, Nicandro Sanchez, told Fresno television station KFSN (http://abc30.tv/2tSlnpX) he has seen the video and that he believes the crash was "an accident."
What I think is she knows she's done something wrong.
Because she knows, and that's what I feel.
Obdulia Sanchez was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving and vehicular manslaughter and remained in jail with bail set at $300,000.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - For the first time since receiving three government bailouts during the 2007-2009 financial crisis, Citigroup Inc on Tuesday is holding a day-long conference for investors, marking another step in the recovery of what was once the biggest U.S. bank.
The brokerage said three staff members, held by a group of investors that intruded into its offices last week, were helping a police investigation.
A study by Yale researchers found that the rate of out-of-network doctor’s bills for customers of a big insurer jumped when EmCare entered a hospital.
(Reuters) - Activist investor Sandell Asset Management Corp wants Barnes & Noble to try to sell itself again, saying the bookstore chain will benefit from a new owner, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.
Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler AG is investing in a Chinese self-driving startup, in another instance of a Western auto maker seeking out a Chinese partner to get a foothold in a challenging market.
Arconic Inc. Interim Chief Executive David Hess on Monday expressed sympathy for the victims of a deadly fire last month in London’s Grenfell Tower, but stressed the company had no control over the use of its aluminum panels on the building’s exterior.
Barnes & Nobel is being pushed to sell itself by Sandell Asset Management, which says the beleaguered bookseller could benefit from fresh investment.
TOKYO (AP) — Asian share benchmarks were mixed Tuesday as investors awaited a slew of corporate earnings reports.
A meeting of the Federal Reserve and caution over potential twists and turns in U.S. politics kept most indexes trading within a narrow range.
The Nasdaq is up 19.1 percent this year, nearly double the rise for broader-market indexes as investors have massed into technology stocks in their search for strong growth as the global economy remains sluggish.
ANALYST VIEWPOINT: "The high level of trepidation continues to weigh on market sentiments as congressional hearing of White House advisers all but guarantees some headline risk and a possible escalation of the Russia- Gate bluster," Stephen Innes of OANDA said in a commentary.
Brent crude, the standard for international oil prices, rose 30 cents to $49.12 a barrel.
KKR has reached a deal to buy WebMD Health Corp. for $2.8 billion. The New York-based health-information provider had been running an auction after publicly putting itself in play earlier this year.
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Alphabet Inc reported a 21 percent jump in quarterly revenue on Monday, maintaining a growth rate that is rarely seen among companies its size and suggesting the big sales gains enjoyed recently by the other Internet firms are not done yet.
(Reuters) - Martin Shkreli, the pharmaceutical entrepreneur vilified as the "pharma bro" for raising the price of a life-saving drug by 5,000 percent, said on Monday in federal court that he would not testify in his securities fraud trial.
The new White House communications director is just as brash as his boss — and, it seems, just as willing to kiss and make up with a former foe.
Employers say they are having trouble filling jobs because too many applicants can’t pass screening, a factor depressing the labor participation rate.
In June, a European Commission ruling slapped down Google for abusing its market dominance in search by unfairly directing visitors to its comparison shopping service, Google Shopping, to the detriment of its rivals.
Google says it's giving consumers what they want: product listings with pictures and prices, saving them the trouble of repeating a search on another site.
In two other cases, the commission charges Google with allegedly forcing its Android smartphone partners to favor Google's apps and limiting the way its ad-partner websites can display search ads from Google rivals.
An Alphabet spokeswoman said Monday the company had nothing to say on the matter beyond its blog response to the fine last month, in which it painted itself as an underdog in product search compared to Amazon.
Beyond the fine, Alphabet faces a penalty of up to 5 percent of its average daily turnover if it doesn't give equal treatment to rival comparison shopping services in Europe by late September.
Herbert Hovenkamp, an antitrust professor at the University of Pennsylvania, says it's unlikely that President Donald Trump will move to crimp the activities of technology giants, no matter how much he has criticized Amazon for not paying "internet taxes."
The decision means that the former hedge fund manager’s decision to sharply raise the price of a drug and his social media antics will be kept out of the trial.
The privately held conglomerate, which has gone on an overseas acquisition spree, sought to address concerns about its ownership structure.
(Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc plans to meet on Wednesday with a dozen U.S. ranchers, seeking to expand distribution of organic and grass-fed meats as it takes over Whole Foods Market Inc , according to the meeting's organizer.
Time Inc. is looking to sell a majority stake in Essence, the first big move by the publisher since it decided against selling the entire company this spring.
The Fed has raised its benchmark interest rate twice this year, but no one expects another rate hike when its meeting ends Wednesday.
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks mostly fell on Monday, and broad indexes pulled back modestly ahead of a busy week of corporate earnings reports and a meeting of the Federal Reserve.
Technology stocks, though, added to their big gains for the year and helped push the Nasdaq composite to another record.
ATLANTA (AP) — The leader of a company that manufactured panels on a London apartment tower where at least 80 people perished in a fire says the firm quit supplying it for high-rises because it doesn't control how the material is installed.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Homebuyers faced surging prices and a shrinking number of properties for sale in June — causing the pace of purchases of existing homes to fall.
The National Association of Realtors says sales of existing homes slipped 1.8 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.52 million.
Sales levels have been nearly flat for the past year, a sign that the housing market may be stalling amid the pressures of fewer listings and higher prices.
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — The taxi app Grab has been given an additional $2 billion in financing, revealing the competition among car services in Asia that have forced companies like Uber to take a back seat to rivals with deep pockets.
BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union officials are "activating all diplomatic channels" to press home their concerns that looming U.S. energy sanctions against Russia could impact Europe's energy supplies.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills rose in Monday's auction to their highest levels in more than eight years.
Separately, the Federal Reserve said Monday that the average yield for one-year Treasury bills, a popular index for making changes in adjustable rate mortgages, stood at 1.22 percent on Friday, unchanged from the level at the beginning of last week.
Many traditional retailers have been hurt as more people chose to shop online, including those that sell sneakers, athletic clothing and other gear.
Sports Authority went out of business last year, closing all its 460 stores after filing for bankruptcy protection.
The company saw a "dramatic drop" in revenue during the month and fewer people visited its stores, CEO Jeff Rosenthal said in a March conference call.
PAWTUCKET, R.I. (AP) — Toy maker Hasbro said its second-quarter profit jumped 30 percent, thanks to rising sales of Transformers action figures and Monopoly board games.
[...] its revenue was slightly lower than what Wall Street analysts expected, and it reported weaker demand for Easy-Bake ovens and Playskool toys and softer sales in two international markets.
Hasbro said its Magic card games and Nerf blasters also performed well, while demand for Super Soaker water guns and Baby Alive dolls were weaker.
The sporting goods retailer forecast a big drop in sales at older stores and said profit margins are weakening.
The equipment maker reported weaker-than-expected sales and its profit fell short of analyst estimates.
The instant-win lottery ticket maker took a smaller loss on greater revenue than analysts anticipated.
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks mostly fell on Monday, and broad indexes pulled back modestly ahead of a busy week of corporate earnings reports and a meeting of the Federal Reserve.
Technology stocks, though, added to their big gains for the year and helped push the Nasdaq composite to another record.
The Nasdaq hit a record high on Monday ahead of a big week of technology earnings reports, while the S&P 500 and the Dow industrials lagged behind as losses in healthcare heavyweight Johnson & Johnson took a toll.
U.S. stocks are ending mostly lower, led by drops in retailers and industrial stocks.
Hibbett Sports plunged 33.5 percent Monday after the sporting goods store operator reported a drop in a key sales measure.
Technology stocks rose, helping push the Nasdaq composite to another all-time high.
U.S. stock indexes dipped ahead of a busy week of corporate earnings reports and a meeting of the Federal Reserve.
Stocks are off to a mixed start on Wall Street as declines in health care and consumer-focused companies outweigh gains in other parts of the market.
One of the first applications for Windows will no longer be actively developed, the company said, pushing the program closer to being discontinued.
The announcement that Athens would issue new bonds offered hope that one of Europe’s weakest economies might at last be weaning itself off international bailouts.
A federal rule requiring relief areas should be a boon for the animals’ disabled owners. But disability experts say some facilities are poorly designed.
Without a convincing cooperating witness, pursuing complex financial fraud prosecutions can be difficult.
Markets appear to have shrugged off a raft of announcements meant to address concerns that production cuts agreed upon last year are not having an impact.
(AP) — The Georgia Ports Authority says bigger ships using an expanded Panama Canal pushed its cargo volumes to record levels in fiscal 2017.
The state agency reported Monday that its seaports in Savannah and Brunswick handled 33.4 million tons (30.3 million metric tons) of total imports and exports in the fiscal year that ended June 30.
The breach, first reported on last week, provided confidential information abroad allowing IT workers, including in the Czech Republic, to access Swedish government and police databases when the Transport Agency decided to outsource some of its services.
"[...] I would have liked to get the information earlier," Lofven told reporters at a news conference.
The Transport Agency's general director Jonas Bjelfvenstam, who was appointed in January, described the incident as "unacceptable," but said there were no signs that confidential information had been compromised.
The cable network published an update to a story on its website but did not acknowledge the paper’s request for an apology.
If you stop your 401(k) contributions to repay the loan, borrowing $10,000 today could cost you $190,000, or $1,000 a month in lost future retirement income, if you're in your 30s.
If you quit or lose your job, chances are high that you won't, triggering taxes and penalties plus the loss of future retirement income.
Interest rates on 401(k) loans are typically the prime rate, currently 4.75 percent, or the prime rate plus one percentage point.
—Ashley's nest egg is about $5,700 smaller than it would have been without the loan, according to the National Center for Policy Analysis' 401(k) loan cost calculator , assuming 7 percent average annual returns.
Most borrowers continue to contribute while repaying loans, although often at a lower rate, according to a study by human resources consultant Aon Hewitt.
Another study for the National Bureau of Economic Research found that 86 percent of people who left their jobs didn't pay back their balances within the 60 to 90 days usually required to avoid default.
Ideally, you would have resources such as savings or home equity you could use to repay the loan quickly if you left your job.
Liz Weston is a certified financial planner and columnist at NerdWallet, a personal finance website, and author of "Your Credit Score."
How to consolidate credit card debt
The announcement by the industrial parts maker, which was once known as Alcoa, was a rare dose of good news for shareholders.
Many sophisticated apps can capture images of photo prints and create good-quality digital versions that take up much less space in the closet.
Sales of previously owned U.S. homes fell in June and prices jumped as strong demand overwhelmed a pinched supply of available homes.
Women make up just under 35 percent of lawyers at law firms, a Law360 report found, and their share of equity partnerships remains at 20 percent.
The resulting shortage has caused prices to consistently rise faster than wage gains, making it harder for more Americans to build up their net worth by becoming homeowners.
The modest gains come despite solid levels of hiring that have pushed the unemployment rate to a healthy 4.4 percent, a level that in the past would have helped to fuel further sales growth.
Adjusted for inflation, the median is about 9 percent below its 2006 peak during the housing bubble when sub-prime mortgages pushed prices to unsustainable highs.
David Berson, chief economist at Nationwide Mutual Insurance, said that under normal circumstances home sales could be expected to rise 8 percent to 10 percent, but the inventory shortage is reducing how many sales can be completed.
The central bank has raised its benchmark interest rate twice this year, but no one expects another hike when its meeting ends Wednesday.
After leaving its key rate at a record low near zero for seven years after the financial crisis erupted in 2008, the Fed has raised it modestly four times — in December 2015, December 2016 and twice so far this year, in March and June.
In June, Yellen and other officials sought to explain away the unwelcome slip in inflation as a result of such onetime factors as a plunge in consumer cellphone charges and a dip in prescription drug prices.
Diane Swonk, chief economist at DS Economics, said she still thinks the Fed will raise rates one more time this year — in December — but only if her forecast of a rebound in inflation comes true.
Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, said he believes the Fed will act again by December, in part because of concerns that stock prices and other asset prices have been lifted too high by investors who have become too optimistic about how long the Fed will delay its tightening of credit.
Zandi also said he thought the Fed could provide details this week about its plans to start paring its enormous $4.5 trillion in holdings of Treasury and mortgage bonds, which it accumulated after the 2008 financial crisis in a drive to ease long-term borrowing rates.
SYDNEY (AP) — Australia's consumer watchdog said on Monday it was urgently seeking information from the government regulator and car manufacturers after a magazine reported that recalled Takata air bags were being replaced by faulty air bags.
Australian consumer magazine Choice discovered car makers were refitting faulty Takata air bags in recalled vehicles as a temporary solution after questioning 14 car manufacturers in Australia.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, the consumer watchdog, said some of the 2.3 million recalled cars in Australia had been fitted with Takata air bags treated with a water-absorbing chemical designed to address the problem.
The Australian commission was seeking information from the Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development, which is responsible for automobile safety standards, what information manufacturers and retailers were required to give customers about their air bags.
WASHINGTON (AP) — US home purchases slipped 1.8 percent in June amid climbing prices, declining number of homes for sale.
The Trump administration has vowed to restore U.S. growth to 3 percent a year through a combination of deregulation, tax cuts and infrastructure spending.
The fund found that confidence and stability have returned to the eurozone, which was rocked by a debt crisis in the aftermath of the Great Recession of 2007-2009.
The private equity giant will buy WebMD through one of its portfolio companies as part of two deals focused on health and wellness.
The eurozone economy slowed in July, according to a survey of businesses, an indication that it may not perform as strongly in the second half of the year as it has in the first.
U.S. college tuition is growing at the slowest pace in decades, following a nearly 400% rise over the past three decades that fueled middle class anxieties and a surge in student debt.
The authorities call Shanxinhui a pyramid scheme, but defenders who stand to lose money if the company closes say they are victims of a government shakedown.
There is an alarming number of chemicals using in cleaning products today. Since World War II, over 70,000 artificial chemicals have been invented and a lot of them are in the cleaning products used in office cleaning supplies. These chemicals have been added even though the general public, and the people most exposed to these chemicals, do not know the harmful effects the chemicals are doing to them and the environment.
The average work week in Singapore is 44 hours, which means for 44 hours, office workers are exposed to harmful chemicals without knowing it. Because so much time is spent in the office, office cleaning should be done with natural cleaning products to avoid any harmful effects.…
The Federal Reserve is struggling to hit its annual inflation target for the sixth straight year, suggesting that, once again, it may be too optimistic about the health of the economy.
With a new funding round, the Southeast Asian ride-sharing company Grab is doubling down as Uber seeks new leadership.
The American committee that screens foreign investments is holding up high-profile acquisitions involving Chinese companies amid concern about the risks they might pose to U.S. national security.
Every single department in a company now has to trim as many expenses as possible in order to increase organization overall value. HR departments are not an exception. Curbing expenses with human resources is normally a difficulty because this is usually not something that was needed in the past. Many CEOs have no idea what to do.
The following methods presented by Productiv Inc should help out most CEOs that are having troubles reducing costs for HR departments.
Consider A New Healthcare Provider
Besides the fact that you can look at plan costs when you shop around, you can also analyze different ways to reduce the program expense in the first place or employee premiums.…
The phrase “planning for retirement” generally evokes images of white-haired individuals smiling in insurance commercials, making sure their finances are in order for the long haul. That’s definitely part of the process, and it’s always a good idea to speak to financial advisors, invest for retirement, and save whatever you’re able to. But planning for this phase of your life shouldn’t just be about making sure you can get by – it should also involve a few perks!
That’s not to say everyone can afford such perks, nor that irresponsible spending is a good idea. But if you’re already working on a financial plan for the years ahead, you may want to have a few luxuries in mind so that you can try to work them into your budget.…
Some believe that a CEO is defined by financial prowess and an astute awareness of the markets. However, this is sometimes not the case.
There are many examples of such individuals who have lost great deals of money due to bad portfolio decisions. In fact, the Stanford Graduate School of Business has found that hubris associated with top management positions often leads to poor judgement calls.
So, how can a CEO improve the performance of an existing portfolio in order to maximise profit margins and minimise risk? Let’s examine some methods recommended by professionals.
The Rule of Diversification
Most novice investors are aware of the fact that diversified portfolios are those which tend to perform the best over time.…
Web scraping is an important tool to find and utilize relevant data and information as part of a business’ market research strategy. Web scraping has proven to be a beneficial process throughout various business components including market research, lead generation, search engine optimization, online presence and financial strategy.
If your business seeks to partner with an ethical web scraper or is considering the process, read on to see the six key benefits that web scraping can provide for your business.
1. Data Extraction
Data extraction plays a key role in providing relevant information for business use. Using predictive analytics, a web scraper will collect relevant information from public sites and will identify which users a business should send their marketing material to.…
When it comes to online marketing, there are so many techniques small businesses can use to drive traffic and raise brand awareness. Some methods are more popular than others. Most small businesses tend to stick to certain well-known methods like buying Google ads, or using Instagram.
Small businesses often launch digital marketing campaigns on a limited budget. Therefore, there’s little room to try new things and experiment. However, this line of thinking might be costing small businesses in certain ways.
There are plenty of online promotional methods that don’t cost a lot that small businesses don’t actually take advantage of. Here is a list to reconsider your current strategy:
Promoting Content on Aggregator Sites
John R.…
So, you’ve decided to launch a startup. While it can be easy to direct your attention towards your product, your customers, recruitment and resources, location is one of the most important factors to consider when in the setup phase. This is something that you definitely should not rush, as a decision made with little thought can end up impeding your success.
Finding the perfect location is challenging to get right the first time around, regardless of how much research you conduct. We now have offices in the U.S., UK, Australia, the Philippines and Poland, but this took a lot of ground work, changes and mistakes along the way to find the best spots.…
The responsibilities of a CEO are many and varied, and when you are at the head of a company it is important to be able to keep up with and understand all areas of your business. Decisions made by CEOs impact the whole company and will be based on a variety of factors, so certain skills and college degrees can be extremely useful for a CEO.
So, which college degrees are the best for CEOs should they decide to go back to school?
Computer Science
A computer science degree is very versatile – and almost essential if your business is technology related – but it is also useful to any CEO.…
A business can exist in three financial stages – the business can be operating at a loss, it might be breaking even, and it might be booking profits sustainably. The ideal financial state for a business is to be profitable consistently and sustainably, that’s the only way to ensure that the business will survive and thrive. However, many businesses are only barely making a profit because operational expenses often eat too deeply into their margins.
This post provides insight into five ways you can cut costs to improve your margins.
Rethink your office space needs
You can start cutting your business expenses by reviewing your office space needs to know how much of an office space you really need.…
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) enabled access to software services over the Internet on a subscription model. Platform as a Service (PaaS) made available the software and hardware tools needed to develop and deploy applications. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) allowed companies to access operating, storage and networking systems on demand.
These services were a boon to organisations in terms of cost savings, ready access to software and a lot more. But now comes in the X factor. The XaaS, or Everything as a Service.
The Incredible X Factor
Lesley MacDonald, Programs Manager at Dell EMC explains what XaaS is: “From its early origins of software-as-a-service (SaaS), the cloud-based on-demand services category has evolved into anything- and everything-as-a-service that isn’t nailed to the floor.…
