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f8b21f826cfc492c2e3994c849cc56d9 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/24/heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-lowes-earnings.html | Lowe's stock falls on earnings, sales miss | Lowe's stock falls on earnings, sales miss
VIDEO2:5602:56Lowe's reports earnings miss on top and bottom lineSquawk Box
Lowe's first-quarter earnings and sales fell short of Wall Street estimates, sending shares of the home improvement retailer tumbling in premarket trade.
In the wake of a strong first quarter for rival Home Depot, which recently reported better-than-expected same-store sales fueled by strong sales of big-ticket items, expectations for Lowe's were high.
But the results Lowe's turned in weren't as robust as hoped, given the momentum in the housing sector. Here's what Lowe's reported vs. what the Street was expecting:
Earnings per share: $1.03 adjusted vs. an estimate of $1.06, according to Thomson Reuters analysts. Revenue: $16.86 billion vs. a $16.96 billion forecast by Thomson Reuters. Same-store sales: 1.9 percent increase vs. a FactSet forecast for 2.9 percent growth.
"From a stock perspective, the headline may not spark a lot excitement, as expectations had moved up into the print and the bar was set higher by [Home Depot]," Credit Suisse analyst Seth Sigman wrote in a note to clients. "But, in our view, the story hasn't been Q1; with easier sales and comparisons starting in Q2, and healthy underlying trends, supporting potentially both EPS and valuation upside as we move through this year."
Shares of the stock were falling around 4 percent following the news. At one point, they tumbled 7 percent.
Total sales for the first quarter rose 10.7 percent, to $16.9 billion from $15.2 billion, from the same period last year, nonetheless still coming in short of forecasts.
Lowe's net income dropped to $602 million, or 70 cents per share, during the first quarter, from $884 million, or 98 cents per share, a year ago.
The latest period included a $464 million pretax loss on debt reduction, stemming from a $1.6 billion cash tender offer. Excluding this loss, Lowe's earned $1.03 a share, shy of what analysts were expecting.
Lowe's has updated its earnings outlook for 2017 to reflect this loss and the resulting lower interest expense.
Lowe's reaffirmed Wednesday that it expects revenue to increase roughly 5 percent by the end of the year, with sales at its established stores rising 3.5 percent. It now anticipates earning $4.30 per share for the fiscal year 2017, adding about 35 home improvement and hardware stores.
"A solid macroeconomic backdrop, combined with our project expertise, drove above average performance in indoor projects," CEO Robert Niblock said in a statement. "We also continued to advance our sales to Pro customers, delivering another quarter of comparable sales growth well above the company average."
A Lowe's employee walks through the store during the grand opening of the Lowe's store in San Francisco, California.Getty Images
With rising home prices leading Americans to invest more in their properties, the home improvement sector has been a rare outperformer in retail of late.
While Lowe's same-store sales didn't increase as much as analysts were expecting for the quarter, growth of 1.9 percent is still healthier than the comparable numbers many other retailers have been reporting.
But it's natural for investors to compare Lowe's growth to that of Home Depot. In the first quarter, Home Depot's same-store sales gained 5.5 percent, and it expects that metric, which tracks stores open at least 12 months, to rise 4.6 percent for this year.
The sales environment was challenging for Home Depot and Lowe's to start the year, Oppenheimer analyst Brian Nagel told CNBC on Wednesday.
But when comparing the two, "[Lowe's is] in a bit of a hole here," Nagel said. "I think Home Depot is the better performing company. We saw another indication of that today."
Home Depot is better at "a lot of little things," Nagel said, including adjusting merchandise and figuring out how to keep sales flowing in an "erratic" weather environment.
"The same-store numbers are perfectly respectable but are notably weaker than the figures Home Depot put out earlier in the month," GlobalData Retail Managing Director Neil Saunders said in an email, adding to Nagel's argument.
"In our view, Home Depot still has the edge when it comes to brand visibility with customers undertaking bigger hard-improvement projects — something that has served it well over the past few months. To be fair, Lowe's is not completely deficient in these areas, but it does play second-fiddle to its bigger rival."
As of Tuesday's close, Lowe's stock has climbed about 16 percent this year and is up 3.4 percent over the past 12 months.
Source: FactSet
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8a733b386f63a8dea519c9545c52608d | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/24/make-sure-your-home-is-ready-for-hurricane-season.html | You — and your home — are in for a tough hurricane season | You — and your home — are in for a tough hurricane season
Prairie Pictures | Getty Images
It's looking like a busy season for hurricanes — and homeowners.
Prime time for these big storms along the Atlantic coast kicks off on June 1 and runs until Nov. 30.
Scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are forecasting "an above normal" hurricane season with as many as 11 to 17 named storms this year. Of those, 5 to 9 could become hurricanes. Four of these may become major hurricanes with sustained winds of at least 111 mph.
If you want to ensure that your homeowners and flood insurance coverage are sufficient, now is the time to act — it's way too late when the National Weather Service is announcing an emergency.
"It takes about 30 days to obtain a policy," said Doug Lyons, a financial advisor at Douglas J. Lyons Financial Group in Red Bank, New Jersey.
Hurricane Sandy, which bashed the East Coast in October 2012, resulted in $18.8 billion in estimated insured losses, according to Verisk Analytics' Property Claim Services.
Check these items in your existing policy to get a sense of how well you're covered in the event of a storm.
Your homeowners coverage isn't bulletproof if a tropical storm or hurricane strikes your home.
For instance, your policy may have a hurricane deductible, making you responsible for the equivalent of 1 percent to 5 percent of your home's insured value.
Whether this deductible is applied will be based on your policy's terms and your state's insurance laws. In 2012, governors in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut told insurers not to apply hurricane deductibles when Sandy hit those states.
Hurricane deductibles are in effect in 19 states and the District of Columbia, according to the Insurance Information Institute.
tzam | Getty Images
They are Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia.
Aim to have at least the amount you'd need to meet your deductible either in cash or in a home equity line that you arrange ahead of time.
"Beef up your emergency fund and make sure that your home isn't as vulnerable to windstorm or rain damage," said Laura Adams, senior insurance analyst at InsuranceQuotes.com.
Your homeowner's coverage likely won't cover any damage related to flooding, so you'll need to buy this coverage through either the National Flood Insurance Program or the private market.
A 2016 poll from the Insurance Information Institute showed that 12 percent of American homeowners had a flood insurance policy.
Getty Images
Keep in mind that this isn't a cure-all: Under the program, coverage on the structure of your home is limited to $250,000, and your contents are protected up to $100,000.
It's better than nothing, but considering that many waterfront properties on the East Coast can cost millions of dollars, think about getting excess flood insurance — and do it now before the storms begin blowing in.
Finally, understand that your flood coverage doesn't fill in all of the areas that your homeowner's coverage will miss.
It takes about 30 days to obtain a policy.Doug Lyonsfinancial advisor, Douglas J. Lyons Financial Group
Damage resulting from a sewage backup after a flood may not be covered by your flood insurance, according to Craig Casazza, senior research analyst at ValuePenguin Research, a personal finance site. The same goes for mildew and mold damage.
"You can purchase extra endorsements to cover the nooks and crannies that you can miss," he said. "But unfortunately there may be bad cases where you won't be fully covered."
If you're ready to review your policy, here's what you need to look for.
Know your deductible: Understand the amount you'll need to pay out of pocket before your coverage kicks in. See how your hurricane deductible compares to your standard deductible.Review your policy's details: Examine your homeowner's policy and see if your insurer will reimburse you for a hotel stay or rental home if you're displaced from your dwelling. Check the limits: These can be a per diem or a flat dollar amount.Top up your insurance shortfalls now: If you haven't bought flood coverage, and you live near water, you're taking a big risk. Consider excess flood coverage if your home's value exceeds the $250,000 maximum covered by the National Flood Insurance Program.Don't forget personal items: Think about adding endorsements to your homeowner's coverage so that you can replace high-end valuables, including jewelry and art.Consider improvements to protect your home: Check valves can protect your home from sewage and drainage backflow. Roof clamps and window shutters can limit your wind damage in the event of a storm, said Loretta Worters, vice president for communications at the Insurance Information Institute. "Once you've let the wind in through a broken window, the likelihood is that you'll lose the roof and home," she said. "It's best not to go through that personal devastation and loss."
(Update: This story has been updated to reflect the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's latest Atlantic hurricane season estimates.)
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3d38c366fd3302bae45b88a0d2868eab | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/24/mohamed-el-erian-trump-trade-take-back-seat-to-liquidity-trade-in-stock-rally.html | The Trump trade is taking a back seat in the stock rally, Mohamed El-Erian says | The Trump trade is taking a back seat in the stock rally, Mohamed El-Erian says
VIDEO1:5601:56This is a liquidity-driven market: El-ErianSquawk Box
The stock market has been rising because too much money is chasing too few opportunities, economist Mohamed El-Erian told CNBC on Wednesday.
The Trump trade — betting on stocks in hopes that the president's policies will boost economic growth — is no longer the main factor driving the market, the Allianz chief economic advisor said on "Squawk Box."
"This is no longer a Trump trade. This is somewhere between a reflation trade, but much more importantly a liquidity trade. This is a liquidity-driven market," El-Erian said.
"I have underestimated the strength of the liquidity injections. Not just from the Fed, but I think the increase in [income] inequality has meant there's been less consumption and more investing in the market," he said. "And the profit share is so high that the companies are putting the money back into the marketplace."
In a Financial Times op-ed earlier this week, he said "ample liquidity" was the reason why last week's sell-off on President Donald Trump's Russian investigation woes was short-lived.
However, El-Erian told CNBC the benefits of the prolonged easy monetary policies around the world that have sent investors chasing riskier assets could eventually come home to roost. Global central banks are "distorting markets" and making investors "do things we and they 're going to regret," he said.
El-Erian said there's a hope in the stock market that the liquidity trade hands off to the reflation trade or betting on investments that would benefit from an increase in inflation and stronger economic growth.
If Trump's proposed policies such as tax cuts and deregulation were to become reality and boost the economy as promised, the reflation trade may take over as the biggest driver of the market, El-Erian said.
Such a move would diminish the influence of central bank policies on the stock market, he said. That would be fortuitous since the odds are more than 80 percent that the Fed will hike interest rates again at its June meeting. Rate increases tend to pressure stocks.
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601dbfe3e8dbc6b4ddcf482260b029eb | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/24/trump-budget-mark-sanford-rips-mick-mulvaney-at-house-hearing.html | GOP congressman rips Mulvaney: Trump's budget 'presumes a Goldilocks economy' | GOP congressman rips Mulvaney: Trump's budget 'presumes a Goldilocks economy'
Rep. Mark Sanford, R-S.C.Bill Clark | CQ Roll Call | Getty Images
Conservative Rep. Mark Sanford has some doubts about the Trump administration's rosy economic projections.
At a House Budget Committee hearing Wednesday, the South Carolina Republican drilled Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney about the White House's expectations for gross domestic product growth. President Donald Trump's budget wish list released this week sets an objective of sustained 3 percent economic growth.
"This budget assumes a Goldilocks economy. And I think that's a very difficult thing" on which to base a budget, Sanford told Mulvaney, who also previously represented South Carolina in the House.
"It assumes that the stars perfectly align with regard to economic drivers."
The U.S. economy grew 1.6 percent in 2016.
Mulvaney defended the White House's projection earlier in the hearing, saying he was "stunned" about widespread doubts that the U.S. can achieve — and maintain — 3 percent growth. He argued that people would have to be "pessimistic" to assume such a level of expansion is "somehow unreasonable."
Sanford highlighted multiple possible problems in reaching sustained 3 percent growth. Among them, he contended that it would assume labor force growth and productivity growth that may not be achievable.
He argued that the necessary labor force growth would "require either radically opening immigration or a radical change to demographics."
While Sanford was doubtful about the growth projections, other Republicans on the House panel said they agreed with those expectations.
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1b398de9948b27d08d49253c436f3046 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/25/federal-appeals-court-upholds-block-on-trumps-travel-ban-nbcnews.html | Federal appeals court upholds block on Trump's travel ban | Federal appeals court upholds block on Trump's travel ban
VIDEO0:4200:42Appeals court declines to reinstate Trump travel banPower Lunch
A federal appeals court has dealt another blow to President Donald Trump's executive order temporarily restricting travel from six Muslim-majority countries.
The Virginia-based 4th Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday largely upheld a lower court ruling barring the administration from suspending visas from those countries. The Trump administration previously revised the executive order to better hold up to legal scrutiny than an earlier version did.
Trump has insisted that the measure is necessary to prevent possible terrorist attacks and protect national security. But opponents, and courts in previous rulings blocking its enforcement, have cited past statements from Trump and his advisors signaling that it may target Muslims.
The 4th Circuit ruling said it was "unconvinced" that the order "has more to do with national security than it does with effectuating the president's proposed Muslim ban."
Later Thursday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement that the Justice Department "strongly disagrees with the decision" and would "seek review of this case in the United States Supreme Court."
Trump had previously said that the federal government will take the case to the Supreme Court, if necessary.
The White House has insisted that Trump had the authority to issue the order based on the president's powers to limit certain immigrants. The 4th Circuit ruling said that while "Congress granted the president broad power to deny entry to aliens," the "power is not absolute."
A federal judge in Hawaii also halted the order, and the Trump administration is fighting that decision in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
The order affects citizens from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
Judges have had to consider whether to consider only the text of the executive order or take into account Trump's campaign statements about temporarily barring Muslims from entering the country.
Following the ruling, the White House said it is confident that the "executive order to protect the country is fully lawful and ultimately will be upheld by the Judiciary."
"These clearly are very dangerous times and we need every available tool at our disposal to prevent terrorists from entering the United States and committing acts of bloodshed and violence," Michael Short, senior assistant press secretary, said in a statement.
"As Judge Shedd's dissent notes, 'the real losers in this case are the millions of individual Americans whose security is threatened on a daily basis by those who seek to do us harm.'"
— NBC News and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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67113b39c8547981a04b48d7c94b76b6 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/25/macron-asks-trump-not-to-take-hasty-decision-on-climate-change.html | Macron asks Trump not to take 'hasty decision' on climate change | Macron asks Trump not to take 'hasty decision' on climate change
Peter Dejong | AFP | Getty Images
The newly elected French President has chosen pragmatism as a way to overcome divergences with the U.S. administration.
French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters he had a "very frank" discussion with U.S. President Donald Trump, following a meeting at the U.S. embassy in Brussels.
"We discussed all subjects with President Trump. We had a long discussion, which was very frank," Macron told reporters in Brussels.
"In the center of the discussion was pragmatism. We don't necessarily interpret things in the same way, but we were able to speak very frankly," he added.
The two leaders, who had a somewhat quick handshake at the start of their meeting, discussed issues such as terrorism and climate change. Macron told reporters that it was important that the U.S. should not take a "hasty decision" and withdraw their support for the Paris Climate agreement, which aims to reduce greenhouse gases emissions.
When asked about President Trump's personality, Macron said: "It's not for me to make any physiologic comments. I met an effective and open partner."
rench President Emmanuel Macron (L) and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker pose during their meeting at the European Commission headquarters. Aurore Belot | AFP | Getty Images
President Macron has asked Europe to be more ambitious and think long-term.
Shortly after his meeting with Trump, Macron was also received by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.
"We have to work together, we have to be more ambitious," Macron told reporters in Brussels. "Europe has to be more ambitious, in the euro area in particular," he said.
Macron believes that it is "vital" for the EU to offer a long-term vision and move towards great conversion.
Follow CNBC International on Twitter and Facebook.
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37b9b65bf63e2f15099fb2dbbe468537 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/26/cancer-treatment-firm-21st-century-oncology-files-for-bankruptcy.html | Cancer treatment firm 21st Century Oncology files for bankruptcy | Cancer treatment firm 21st Century Oncology files for bankruptcy
Media for Medical | Getty Images
21st Century Oncology, which bills itself as the world's largest operator of cancer treatment centers, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Thursday, citing changes in insurance reimbursement rates and uncertainty caused by political changes.
The Fort Myers, Florida-based company said the bankruptcy would not impact its 179 treatment centers with locations across 17 U.S. states and Latin America.
Paul Rundell, the interim chief executive officer, said in a statement the company entered bankruptcy with an agreement with lenders and bondholders that would reduce its debt by $500 million.
The company's lenders agreed to provide $75 million for working capital during its bankruptcy and a group of creditors agreed to invest $75 million into the reorganized business.
The new investment is being led by funds affiliated with Beach Point Capital Management, Governors Lane, JP Morgan Investment Management Inc, Oaktree Capital Management, Roystone Capital Management and HPS Investment Partners, according to a court filing.
Rundell blamed the bankruptcy on declining levels of revenue per treatment, the cost of complying with regulations regarding electronic records and the cost of litigation and legal settlements.
The company has paid around $55 million to settle allegations it billed government programs for services that were not medically necessary, according to Rundell's court filing. The company did not admit to wrongdoing as part of the settlements, Rundell said.
21st Century Oncology is also being investigated over a data breach involving 2.2 million patients.
"A changing political landscape has injected uncertainty into the health insurance market," Rundell said in a court filing.
U.S. President Donald Trump and his Republican allies have pledged to roll back the 2010 Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, which brought sweeping changes to the U.S. healthcare market. About 20 million Americans gained insurance under Obamacare.
21st Century Oncology was founded in 1983 by a group of physicians and was publicly traded as Radiation Therapy Services until it was acquired in 2008 by Vestar Capital Partners for around $1 billion.
It pulled plans to return to the stock market in 2014 and instead raised $325 million with an investment from the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.
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e5c568f5589179117d2d6f409b76874f | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/27/investors-need-to-brace-for-a-stock-market-correction.html | Investors clueless about impact of possible market correction | Investors clueless about impact of possible market correction
Investors are in for a rude awakening about a coming stock market correction — most just don't know it yet. No one knows when the crash will come or what will cause it — and no one can. But what's worse for most investors is they have no clue how much they stand to lose when it inevitably happens.
"If you look at the market historically, we have had, on average, a crash about every eight to 10 years, and essentially the average loss is about 42 percent," said Kendrick Wakeman, CEO of financial technology and investment analytics firm FinMason.
Many investors have no idea how their portfolios would fare if the equity market took a big hit, according to a risk-tolerance survey FinMason did late last year. Most investors are unaware of the amount of risk in their equity portfolios. As a result, these investors make poor, costly sell decisions at the worst time: when the markets do correct.
Zephyr18 | Getty Images
"That's a big problem," Wakeman said. Most individual reactions to an unexpected loss are much worse than reactions to an anticipated one.
Only 57 percent of investors (both those who have an advisor and those who don't) said they understand the term risk tolerance. Investors who work with an advisor do know more: 68 percent understand their individual risk tolerance. But working with a financial advisor hasn't helped as much as it should. Only a little more than one-quarter of those who work with an advisor (27 percent) had been told by the advisor how much their portfolios could lose if there were a market crash.
Of those investors whose advisors had talked to them about a crash, 62 percent believe their loss would be less than what their stated exposure to equities would suggest, according to the survey. The survey also found that up to 57 percent of clients working with advisors will likely panic and sell in a crash.
The worst-case scenario should be obvious. Long-term portfolio allocation science dictates only a small percentage of assets in cash, so as much as 90 percent to 95 percent of most portfolios are subject to huge short-term losses. Many investors felt this pain after the 2008 market crash, though those who remained invested at the 2008/2009 lows have more than made their money back in the years since — the is up 171 percent since the beginning of 2009.
You need to ask your clients, 'Would you hang yourself in the closet if the market crashed and you lost 35 percent?'Kendrick WakemanFinMason CEO
"One of the problems we encountered in 2008 is that many people who were close to retirement also had lots of equity risk but didn't know about it," Wakeman said. "So when the market sold off, people panicked and sold and lost their path to retirement. "It's sad, because you had people who were working and who did all the right things and saved, and now they can't retire."
Brandon Corso, director at Edelman Financial Services, said advisors who downplay potential losses are making a mistake.
"The more surprised a client is, the more disappointed they usually are, and that is when they tend to react emotionally," he said. Corso prefers having a frank discussion with clients about the risk in their portfolio. "You do yourself a disservice if you gloss over it."
It's best for advisors to have this conversation in blunt language. How blunt? FinMason's Wakeman evokes horror stories from the Great Depression.
"You need to ask your clients, 'Would you hang yourself in the closet if the market crashed and you lost 35 percent?'" If the client says yes, then it's up to the advisor to help them design a portfolio that would lose less in that scenario, Wakeman said. He added, "It's the client taking the risk, so they are entitled to know the risk they are taking, and there is no better way to talk about it except in a crash scenario."
The less math-based the conversation, the better.
"If you say, 'Over the next six months, we think there is a 95 percent chance that you won't lose more than 17 percent,' that's a legitimate risk metric from a quantitative finance standpoint, but it's not a good way to explain risk to people with no financial training," Wakeman said.
More from FA Playbook:Retirement saving remains a challenge for many women What Trump's economic agenda means to you Will students with student debt benefit under Trump?
John Ndege, CEO of the risk-tolerance software provider Pocket Risk, said the time is ripe for advisors to be having this talk with clients. "The only time the markets have seen such a bull run as there has been since 2009 was right before the dot-com crash and before the Depression," Ndege said. "You need to ask them how secure their job is and do they have enough cash saved for a rainy day.
"You should also check in to see if a client will be able to stomach a collapse and, if there is some kind of recession or downturn, are they ready for it?"
Ndege focuses on two kinds of risk analysis: risk tolerance and risk capacity.
Risk tolerance involves having a thorough understanding of someone's psychological risk tolerance and how much of a drop in their portfolio they can handle psychologically before they want to sell. Risk capacity is more objective. It looks at how much the person has saved, the security of their income and whether they will need to withdraw assets any time soon.
The fine line is to have this conversation without scaring the clients.
"The capacity of the U.S. financial markets to adapt and reprice and recover is extraordinary," said Jim Dowd, CEO of North Capital, a registered investment advisor and investment management firm.
He doesn't talk to clients about a worst-case scenario, "because the worst case is the one we have not imagined yet," he said. Instead, Dowd explains to clients that while "there are certain aspects of market collapses or boom-bust cycles that do echo each other and are similar, it never happens in the same way, and the catalyst is never the same."
Dowd said the biggest issue he runs into today is how badly the Great Recession wounded many investors. Clients aren't taking too much risk in their portfolios; they don't have enough risk to meet long-term goals. They have large cash positions and are afraid to dip their toes in the water. Inflation and loss of purchasing power make that a big investing problem to solve.
There will likely be periods of time when client accounts fall in value, but that should not be a reason to jump ship if advisors communicate effectively.
"The more we can get clients to ignore what might happen month to month in the market and instead focus on their long-term goals, the better," said Corso at Edelman.
It's also a good idea to remind clients about the risk-reward trade-off. "When throwing out a number like a 35 percent loss, you have to also show people that they are taking that risk because they are hoping that it will translate into a gain, which is income in retirement," said Wakeman of FinMason. "Without talking about the reward component, all that is left is risk aversion, and you end up scaring people at a time when investors need to be looking at building income," he said.
Wakeman said any advisor who enjoys "keeping clients confused because it gives them an overarching authority" is making a mistake. Clients are becoming more diligent about asking questions rather than blindly trusting their advisors.
"There is a new group of investors out there — millennials — so advisors need to move to a more collaborative conversation, because millenials don't trust anybody," he said. "Millennials have the time to weather a few market declines. I tell them, 'By the time you retire, the market will crash three to four times, so get used to it.'"
— By Leslie Kramer, special to CNBC.com
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951106cd4191eafa256584be16491439 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/27/uber-ceo-travis-kalanicks-mother-dies-in-a-boating-accident-father-injured.html | Uber CEO Travis Kalanick's mother dies in a boating accident, and his father is injured | Uber CEO Travis Kalanick's mother dies in a boating accident, and his father is injured
Travis Kalanick, CEO of UBERRobert Galbraith | Reuters
Bonnie Kalanick, the mother of Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, died on Friday evening as a result of injuries sustained in a boating accident near the waters of Fresno, California.
A letter distributed to Uber employees on Saturday stated that both of Kalanick's parents were sailing on Friday evening when disaster struck. Uber did not disclose the circumstances behind the accident, but called it an "unthinkable tragedy."
The accident claimed Bonnie Kalanick's life, while seriously injuring her husband, Donald. He is being treated at a local hospital, the company said. A report in The Daily Mail stated that police believe the boat was sailing in an area known as Pine Flat Lake, and struck a rock before it sunk to the bottom.
The couple were veteran boaters who had sailed in the local waters for many years, a spokesman told CNBC. The incident comes during a particularly turbulent time for Uber's chief, who is enduring multiple challenges amid questions about his leadership style and the company's culture.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with Travis and his family in this heartbreaking time," Uber's statement read.
Here is Uber's message to its employees, in full:
I'm writing to share some heartbreaking news.Last night Travis' mother died in a tragic boating accident near Fresno. His father, who was also on the boat, is in serious condition and is being treated at the hospital. This is an unthinkable tragedy as everyone in the Uber family knows how incredibly close Travis is to his parents.Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family, and we wanted to let his Uber family know right away.I know we all want to do whatever we can to help, and I'll communicate again as soon as there is something we can share.
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865a29eb132e8dc45efd8e6342503143 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/28/lystable-rebrands-as-kalo-building-linkedin-for-contractors.html | This ex-Googler got backing from Peter Thiel and Max Levchin to build a LinkedIn killer | This ex-Googler got backing from Peter Thiel and Max Levchin to build a LinkedIn killer
Pete Johnston scribbles on a whiteboard at Kalo's headquarters
Pete Johnston's plan to build "the world's most badass recruitment engine" could put a dent in Microsoft's plans to wring money from LinkedIn's 500 million users.
Johnston, a former designer for Google and ad giant M&C Saatchi in London, and his backers, including PayPal co-founders Max Levchin and Peter Thiel, are betting that managing contract workers will one day become as valuable to corporations as hiring and paying their own staff.
The start-up, formerly known as Lystable and now renamed Kalo, charges 3 percent of what its customers pay to contractors they hire through the platform. It's a bet on the growth of the freelance economy.
A report out this month from consulting firm McKinsey suggested that the gig economy will be here sooner than later. The study said 20 to 30 percent of workers in the U.S. and Europe already do "independent work."
For his part, Johnson said that "we know who they are, what they worked on and have access to their financial data."
But before he and his 50-person start-up take on the world's largest software maker, Johnston first has to get used to a new name for the company, which until last week was called Lystable.
That name had an air of exclusivity — as in, you needed special qualifications to be "listable"—and Johnston wanted to move away from that. So the company asked the 50,000 freelancers registered on its website to come up with ideas. Johnston also hired a consulting firm that came up with another 30 names.
Yet the company's new moniker came not from either of those sources, but from a much more serendipitous process.
Johnston earlier this month looked out onto San Francisco Bay, and saw two ships passing each other. As they crossed, the name of one was truncated to Kalo — and the proverbial light bulb went on.
"It was an emotional decision," says Johnston.
He got the idea for the company while sitting in his Dublin apartment in 2014. He'd been working for a Google design unit in London that had just seven staff employees, but used more than 150 freelancers per year.
The process, run on a platform made by "a large enterprise software company" he declined to name, was worse than cumbersome.
Workers often were not paid quickly — and thus not exactly happy when Johnston and his co-workers asked them to come back for another project.
At first, the software was designed to identify workers and assign them tasks.
But those two steps weren't enough, Johnston said, as "the (freelance) process would then go into this dark place" when it came time to pay them.
So the company, then based in London and still called Lystable, built a payment module, started charging a fee, and began signing up customers including Google, Airbnb, Expedia and The Economist.
Soon Johnston, a native of Belfast in Northern Ireland, moved to San Francisco, convinced two marquee investors to back him, and opened a new office in this city's Financial District early this year.
"This is the sweet spot," Johnston told CNBC, while pointing to a group of silos he's drawn on the white board of the only conference room in Kalo's new headquarters.
The silos represent various back-office functions now run largely by software from tech giants like SAP, IBM and Microsoft.
Putting together back-office data on contractors "is the key to building the world's most badass recruitment engine," said Johnston.
His talk of silos echoed one of the rationales given by Microsoft when the software giant acquired the professional social network LinkedIn for $26 billion last year.
"Today, all the information a professional needs to be successful are in silos," according to a presentation Microsoft prepared to explain the deal.
"By connecting all these apps and data, we can create more connected, intelligent and productive experiences," Microsoft said.
Yet Johnston believes that managing contract workers will become more valuable as their ranks grow, and that "any company that tries to manage them like staff workers is going to run into problems" like those he saw at Google's London office.
He added that Microsoft's LinkedIn's deal validates his business model, but is confident Kalo can measure up.
"Do I think they'll attack the freelance market and build a module as fast as us? No," Johnston said.
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b02774eab5ed295060d68ea2d4c80058 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/29/luxury-market-millennials-negative-growth-since-2009.html | Luxury market pins hopes on millennials as industry posts first year of decline since 2009 | Luxury market pins hopes on millennials as industry posts first year of decline since 2009
Pedestrians walk past a Louis Vuitton luxury goods store, operated by LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA, in Paris, France.Christophe Morin | Bloomberg| Getty Images
The global personal luxury goods market shrank by around one percent in 2016, marking the first year of negative growth for the industry since 2009, according to research released Monday by consultancy Bain & Company.
Yet the industry has recovered to notch up growth of around 4 percent in the first quarter of 2017, helped by weak comparisons from the year earlier period which had been strongly knocked by terrorism, according to the research. The consultants anticipate steady momentum for 2017 but a slowdown in its pace, with Bain & Company citing a year end forecast of 2 – 4 percent growth.
Authors of the research described the final quarter of 2016 as "encouraging", citing first and foremost the reawakened appetite of mainland Chinese consumers for luxury purchases made both at home and abroad. This contrasts with the picture in Hong Kong and Macau where the trend of big losses in recent years may have slowed but has not yet reversed.
China continues to act as the linchpin in the global luxury market with Federica Levato, partner at Bain & Company, saying there isn't another region or country in the near-term which will be able to assume the same role that the so-called Middle Kingdom has been playing.
"The relevance of Chinese consumers, locally as well as abroad, will still be high in the market and will continue to deeply shape the industry in the coming years," asserted Levato, adding that the market has not yet been rocked by the continued tightening of credit by Chinese policymakers.
"The Mainland China market is on a positive trend and we expect it to be maintained throughout this year, fuelled, among other factors, by the repatriation of local consumption," she predicted.
The European market also saw a recovery during the fourth quarter with the research describing demand as "buoyant" as the impact from a spate of terrorist attacks faded, prompting a revival of both local and tourist spending in key cities, such as Paris.
A resurgent U.S. dollar also stimulated the purchasing power and propensity to spend of North Americans and those hailing from countries with currencies tied to it.
A key theme for 2017 will continue to be the growing importance of millennials as a consumer base for luxury vendors, says Bain & Company. However, the researchers shy away from the popular idea that millennials should be classified by their year of birth (approximately between 1981 – 2000) and say that it is instead a common mindset that should define the cohort.
"We prefer to talk about the 'Millennial State of Mind', meaning that millennials are influencing how all other generations are approaching consumption and attitude towards fashion and luxury," explained Levato in an email to CNBC on Monday.
For a group which favors expenditure on experiences over products, connecting with customers becomes even more crucially important for purveyors of luxury goods.
"The recipe to truly unlock the potential is to cater to customer needs through a 360° engagement plan, re-designing a customer-centric strategy which will manage the relationship through all touch points, enhancing the role of the 'experience' when buying a luxury product," said Levato.
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75e5e1c31ac39cbc3484073f8e420aef | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/30/electric-vehicle-demand-to-skyrocket-but-wont-kill-gasoline-just-yet.html | Electric vehicle demand to skyrocket, but won't kill gasoline just yet, says analyst | Electric vehicle demand to skyrocket, but won't kill gasoline just yet, says analyst
VIDEO1:3701:37Here's why electric cars won't kill gasoline... yetDigital Original
Global demand for electric vehicles will surge during the next few decades, but gasoline is probably not going away soon, said a new research note from Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas.
Jonas said in a note Tuesday that electric vehicles will make up 50 percent to 60 percent of all light vehicles sold around the world by 2040. But he does not expect that rise to coincide with a precipitous decline in global demand for gasoline, contrary to more bearish views.
That's because while electric car sales will grow, the impact from developments in the areas of shared and autonomous driving will reduce the cost of transportation around the world at a much faster pace. This will lead to an explosion of driving around the world that will continue to keep internal combustion engines relevant for the next two decades.
Specifically, Jonas envisions a model where private car ownership declines, while "megafleets" of autonomous cars ferry passengers around at low costs, reducing the cost per mile from as much as $1 per vehicle mile today (76 cents per mile in the U.S., according to AAA) to as little as 20 cents over time.
VIDEO0:4600:46Elon Musk's Boring Company released pictures of new electric vehicle conceptNews Videos
Currently, about 50 percent of the roughly $1.50/mile cost of an UberX, or 75 cents, goes to the cost of the human driver, he said.
"Our simulations," he said, "have suggested that replacing a human driver ($50k per year) with an autonomous car (<$5k of equipment up front) can yield payback periods as little as 5 or 6 weeks!"
Uber is not the only company at work on this. Tesla has said it is working on an autonomous ride-sharing network, and traditional automakers, such as General Motors, have already begun experimenting with (non-autonomous) car-sharing services through its Maven brand.
Should this push continue, the number of total miles driven could double by 2030 and triple by 2040, Jonas said. He estimates the world's approximately 1 billion cars are driving about 10 trillion miles.
The impacts will be especially salient in emerging markets, Jonas said. While they took up about 30 percent of the global demand gasoline demand in 2015, they will make up about 70 percent of demand by 2040.
This does not mean gasoline is safe from competition — Jonas' base case assumes a compound annual decline of 0.2 percent through 2040.
But there will still be many cars in the world heading to the pump.
WATCH: Elon Musk's new underground tunnel project will transport cars at 125 mph
VIDEO1:1301:13Elon Musk's new underground tunnel project will transport cars at 125 mphDigital Original
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388566efb2fade187575e8618f07a22c | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/30/goldmans-venezuelan-bond-deal-a-cynically-opportunist-bet-fmr-goldman-managing-director.html | Goldman's Venezuelan bond deal a 'cynically opportunist bet:' Fmr. Goldman managing director | Goldman's Venezuelan bond deal a 'cynically opportunist bet:' Fmr. Goldman managing director
VIDEO4:5704:57Goldman Sachs investing in a dictatorship?Closing Bell
Goldman Sach's purchase of Venezuelan bonds is a problem both optically and ethically, a former managing director of the financial firm told CNBC on Tuesday.
That's because the multinational institution has the ability to move politics, and there is a great deal of social, civil and political unrest in Venezuela, said Nomi Prins.
Goldman Sachs paid $865 million for $2.8 billion in bonds issued by PDVSA, the country's state-owned oil company, working out to 31 cents on the dollar. The deal was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
"It is a cynically opportunist bet. Can they do it? Yes. Should they be doing it at this particular time? No," she said in an interview with "Closing Bell."
"They are effectively pushing geopolitics at the expense of people. They are not simply providing cash into the … central bank reserves, which right now is at an all-time low," she added.
The president of Venezuela's National Assembly, Julio Borges, participates in a rally against President Nicolas Maduro's government in Caracas on April 13, 2017.Federico Parra | AFP | Getty Images
Goldman Sachs bought the bonds "on the secondary market from a broker and did not interact with the Venezuelan government," the bank said in a statement, adding: "We recognize that … Venezuela is in crisis. We agree that life there has to get better, and we made the investment in part because we believe it will."
The move led the leader of Venezuela's National Assembly, Julio Borges, to threaten that a later government may refuse to honor the bonds. Borges accuses the firm of "making a quick buck off the suffering of Venezuelan people" by hoping to prop up the regime of embattled President Nicolas Maduro.
However, Prins believes Goldman is simply betting that things will change.
"If they change because of political regime change … there can be a bump to the value of … those bonds if there is a more fundamental opposition coming in, which is what I believe Goldman Sachs is betting on," she said.
Steve Hanke, a professor at Johns Hopkins University, doesn't buy "this massive geopolitical story."
"They're on the secondary market. Somebody's going to own them. Whether Goldman owns them or somebody else it really doesn't make any difference," said Hanke, also a senior fellow at the Cato Institute.
However, he doesn't think Goldman managed its reputation risk in a prudent way.
"They didn't think it through. It was a stupid trade from that point of view," he told "Closing Bell."
Goldman Sachs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
— CNBC's Tom DiChristopher, Wilfred Frost and Leslie Shaffer contributed to this report.
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2aab10b347efa94005b60156a6bbaebb | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/30/job-perks-prodding-millennials-to-work-for-less.html | The new generation of employees would take less pay for these job perks | The new generation of employees would take less pay for these job perks
Millennials work for the cash and good health insurance — just like everybody else. More than half of millennials (53 percent) say compensation is more important to a job offer than corporate mission (34 percent). And 91 percent of millennials say they are most attracted to a new job by salary and benefits. But there are some job perks that will make millennials consider working for less, by as much as 12 percent.
Forget about free snacks.
The country's largest workforce by demographics, millennials are willing to give up a percentage of their salary for long-term job security, flexible office hours and a management structure that emphasizes mentorship and a better career trajectory, according to new research from survey software firm Qualtrics and venture capital firm Accel Partners (a Qualtrics investor).
According to the survey, 77 percent of millennials would be willing to take a salary cut of at least 3 percent in exchange for long-term job security. Roughly 76 percent of millennials would take a pay cut of at least 3 percent to work for a company that offers flexible office hours, and 67 percent would be willing to take a pay cut of at least 3 percent to work at a company that offers good mentorship opportunities.
I would take a salary cut of 6 percent to 12 percent to work for a firm that ...Offers long-term job security (38 percent of millennials)Offers flexible hours (37 percent)Offers good mentorship opportunities (30 percent)Is growing very rapidly (30 percent)Only employs extremely talented and smart people (26 percent)
Free food, cutting-edge mobile technology and a company's rank as a "market leader" can help sell a firm as a desirable place to work — and a fun place for millennial workers to document on Facebook — but career-oriented millennials don't see these perks as bargaining chips an employer can use in negotiating a job offer. Roughly 80 percent of millennials surveyed by Qualtrics said that health-care coverage is the most important benefit, while in-office perks, like games and sports opportunities, are the least important.
"We asked millennials about free food and providing a phone — all those things — but when we asked them, 'What do they care most about in a culture,' they care about the big things," said Mike Maughan, head of brand growth and global insights at Qualtrics.
On the flip side, 65 percent of millennials said it would take a salary increase of 20 percent or greater for them to consider switching jobs.
Jon Salas, 28, recently took a big pay cut to leave the "cardboard dry culture" at a multinational human resources consulting firm where he felt isolated from bosses and colleagues. He accepted a job at a small public relations agency, where he could be heard by, and learn from, managers and different teams on a daily basis.
Jon Salas, standing, left a higher-paying job at a multinational HR company with a ‘cardboard dry culture’ to join Hollywood PR, where weekly brainstorming sessions bring the small team together.Source: Hollywood PR
"There wasn't much opportunity for growth [at the previous employer]. The only way to go up was if someone left a position, and even then, you weren't guaranteed the position," said Salas, who now works as an assistant account executive at Hollywood PR in Boston, where the entire firm comes together every other week for strategy brainstorming sessions. Salas decided to take a $10,000 pay cut to go "where growth opportunities are available and attainable, and where the line of work fits into my overall long-term plans," he said.
According to Qualtrics, 80 percent of millennials say a culture that emphasizes personal growth is highly important. That means finding a place where learning is a long-term philosophy and comes from peers as well.
Career growth and a collaborative work culture is also what compelled Jessica Grybek, 29, to opt for a job from a smaller, lesser-known firm that also offered less money — twice.
"Even though my new job came with less money and a 5 a.m. start time, it was the best decision I have ever made," said Grybek, talking about her second job at a nationally syndicated TV show a few years back. "The vibe was much more laid back, and there was a strong emphasis on teamwork. We were all there together to accomplish the same goal, and everyone pitched in and did what it took to make it happen." A couple years later, when Grybek found herself choosing between a lesser-paying job with a web start-up and a marketing position with a large real estate agency, she went for the former because it "had a better company culture and more potential for advancement," she said. "I've found that it doesn't necessarily matter what you do for a living if you're working with a great team." Today, Grybek is a marketing and public relations coordinator with the Habitat for Humanity of Collier County in Naples, Florida, a job where "there's more of an emphasis on productivity versus sticking to a set schedule each day," she said.
Habitat for Humanity is well known for a mission that benefits communities, and that played a role in Grybek's applying for the job, but "mission was not necessarily the No. 1 or No. 2 item on my list in a job hunt," Grybek said. She said the value of the mission became much more clear once on the job.
Jessica Grybek, a marketing and PR executive at Habitat for Humanity, interviewing a homeowner who had just paid off her mortgage.Source: Derek Perry, Habitat for Humanity
"I guess I kind of stumbled into something great without being completely aware of it. Habitat's mission is something that you get a totally new appreciation for when you are part of the organization — actually seeing people actively working to change their lives, and the lives of their children, for the better. You get to see people go from living in what can be a really deplorable situation and struggling to make ends meet, to having this sense of pride and stability that they never had before. There's nothing like it."
Larry Yu, marketing partner at Accel Partners, said millennials are unique in that they highly value a transparent, collaborative culture. "Companies like Facebook, with their open workspace and regular CEO Q&As, are clearly standard-bearers when it comes to creating a company culture that keeps millennials happy," he said.
I have worked at two start-ups: One had free lunches and free snacks, and for me the novelty died very quickly. ... [Those perks] didn't matter; my ideas weren't being heard.Sahab Aslam, 31who recently joined Prudential's Life Technology Experimental Lab after finishing graduate school in computer science and engineering
Disdain for a rigid daily and weekly work schedule underscores what should be another selling point of companies looking to attract young talent: flexible work hours. According to Qualtrics, 19 percent of millennials would take a pay cut of more than 12 percent to work for a firm that offers flexible hours.
"Here you can work condensed work weeks; we have many [employees] that do part time; we have an internship program that focuses on moms reentering the workforce," said Chrissy Toskos, vice president of campus recruiting at Prudential Financial, the 140-year-old insurance company that uses nontraditional work schedules as one way to compete for millennial talent. "I personally work from home one to two days a week — I have three kids — so I can manage it all; it keeps me more engaged," Toskos said.
I would NOT consider a salary cut to work for a firm that ...Only employs extremely talented and smart people (43 percent of millennials)Is the market leader (41 percent)Has a fun office and casual culture (34 percent)Offers good mentorship opportunities (33 percent ) Makes a positive difference in the world (30 percent)
While flexible hours are becoming a bit more common with traditional 9-to-5 office environments, millennials are also flocking to other industries where flexibility has long been a mainstay of how companies fill shifts.
"McDonald's has worked with me — being a young parent, I needed all those flexible schedules to get to where I am now," said Brittani Lael, 26, who since taking a job at a McDonald's restaurant in Ada, Oklahoma, 10 years ago as a teenage mother has worked her way up general manager. The beauty of the job, she says, is that she gets to set her own schedule. "I have two children and if have to go and do something, it's very open here [so I can go and do] what I need to do," she said.
More from iCONIC: 90% of millennials will stay in a job for 10 years if two needs are met What millennials want more than anything when they start a job Making six figures working for virtual companies
Given that millennials came of age alongside Facebook and other prominent social media networks, and are prone to share many details of their lives online, there is definitely a plus to highlighting anything, no matter how small, that may set a workplace apart. "Millennials are used to sharing everything on social media, and they want to share their job there as well," Maughan said. "And while the key aspects of a culture can't be overlooked, they're easily overlooked if you're talking about the Facebook 15 — it's very easy to talk about the things that are sexy and noticeable."
It's just that having lots to brag about on Facebook — about what their workplace looks like or offers — won't likely tip the scales in an employer's favor if the fundamental wants of millennials aren't met. "I have worked at two start-ups: One had free lunches and free snacks, and for me the novelty died very quickly," said Sahab Aslam, 31, who currently works in Prudential's Life Technology Experimental Lab. "I also gained 15 pounds in three months. [Those perks] didn't matter; my ideas weren't being heard." "I don't have surface perks at Prudential, but I rarely eat lunch alone, which is amazing," she said. "Here there's such huge diversity [in the workforce]; what's behind these perks is the people, and the people here are amazing — very nice and very kind."
— By Maggie Overfelt, special to CNBC.com
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81dc2392f06537e3e3ec9392a867e4ca | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/30/venture-capitalists-are-paying-for-mental-health-services-like-kip.html | Some venture capitalists are prioritizing mental health -- and are willing to pay for therapy | Some venture capitalists are prioritizing mental health -- and are willing to pay for therapy
Jetta Productions | Getty Images
Silicon Valley investors are starting to take the mental health of start-up executives quite seriously.
Venture firms including Refactor Capital and Slow Ventures have agreed to pick up the tab for portfolio company founders to get an initial visit to a therapist. They're offering an option via a startup called Kip, which provides a curated list of therapists online.
Once users book a session, they see the therapist in-person. Kip is currently available in San Francisco. Erin Frey, the company's founder, said Kip wants to work with entrepreneurs to demonstrate the benefits of mental health services.
"This is a low-cost way to ensure you have a high-performing executive team," Frey said. "Think of all the money that is spent on things like Macbooks, compared to dealing with anxiety, stress and depression."
Kip's therapists charge a flat rate of $165 per session and do not take insurance. Kip keeps about 25 percent of the fee.
Approximately one in five Americans face a mental illness each year, according to the National Alliance of Mental Illness. Across the country, policymakers and advocates are questioning whether the Trump Administration will prioritize mental health care as it aims to slash spending and revamp the health system.
Meanwhile, in Silicon Valley, founders are increasingly speaking out about burnout and emotional toll of entrepreneurship. Founders are encouraged to speak confidently about their businesses in pitch meetings, rather than to open up about their weaknesses or challenges.
Zal Bilimoria, Refactor's managing director, said the therapy sessions are the "right thing to do," and they also maximize a company's chances of success.
"All founders face challenges in building and running their companies," Bilimoria said.
Frey said that Kip captures "data between sessions," so health providers can track how their clients are progressing. That data is self-reported, but in the future, Frey hopes to incorporate data from wearable health trackers.
Unlike most mental health startups, Kip's sessions don't take place via a video consultation. The reason for that, Frey said, is that it can be challenging for therapists to pick up on subtle cues, like fidgeting under the table. Many of the providers specialize in cognitive behavioral therapy, which tends to be short-term, as well as goal-oriented.
Frey said founders should start to see their mental health as a priority.
"We hope this is one way to fight the stigma," she said.
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00c853bde5849044f64f8fe7a329c18b | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/31/buy-gogo-because-of-its-faster-in-flight-internet-access-technology-analyst-says.html | Buy Gogo because of its faster in-flight internet access technology, analyst says | Buy Gogo because of its faster in-flight internet access technology, analyst says
People use their smart devices on an American Airlines airplane, which is equipped with Gogo Inflight Internet service, enroute from Miami to New York.Carlo Allegri | Reuters
Investors should buy Gogo because its faster in-flight internet access services will drive sales growth, according to Raymond James, which initiated the company with an outperform rating.
"Since inception, Gogo has been a leader in providing connectivity to the plane," analyst Ric Prentiss wrote in a note to clients Tuesday. His bullish "thesis is underpinned by Gogo's rollout of its proprietary 2Ku satellite solution and the upgrade of its ATG [air-to-ground] network by 2018, which should further solidify Gogo's position as a leader in the IFEC [in-flight entertainment and connectivity] segment."
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c1efefad8b2f863f30acf93cd540a23f | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/31/taxpayers-may-have-overpaid-by-more-than-1-billion-for-mylans-epipen-senator-reveals.html | Taxpayers may have overpaid by more than $1 billion for Mylan's EpiPen, senator reveals | Taxpayers may have overpaid by more than $1 billion for Mylan's EpiPen, senator reveals
VIDEO0:4700:47Sen. Grassley: US overpaid an estimated $1.27 billion for EpiPenClosing Bell
American taxpayers may have been overcharged for EpiPen anti-allergy devices by as much as $1.27 billion over the course of a decade, a U.S. senator said Wednesday.
That amount is nearly three times the $465 million that EpiPen's owner, the big drugmaker Mylan, last October said it agreed to pay the federal government to settle claims that it overcharged the government-run Medicaid system for the devices.
"The fact that the EpiPen overpayment is so much more than anyone discussed publicly should worry every taxpayer," said Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Grassley said he learned of the large disparity between Mylan's settlement amount and the potential overpayment by taxpayers from the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General after asking officials for an accounting of EpiPen overcharges.
VIDEO2:4102:41Study: Expired Epipens may still be functional Closing Bell
Mylan for years classified EpiPen as a generic drug for the purposes of Medicaid's drug rebate program, and as a result paid a lower rebate rate to Medicaid than did sellers of brand-name drugs. Officials have said that EpiPen, which is used to counteract a potentially fatal allergic reaction known as anaphylaxis, should have been treated as a brand-name product for Medicaid's rebate program.
Medicaid is the joint federal-state program that provides health-care coverage to primarily low-income Americans.
Grassley also said the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services "recently provided records to the committee that show Mylan was made aware of the misclassification years ago but did nothing."
"It looks like Mylan overcharged the taxpayers for years with the knowledge EpiPen was misclassified, and the previous administration was willing to let the company off the hook," Grassley said, referring to the Obama administration.A spokeswoman for Mylan said, ''We have no comment beyond that we continue to work with the government to finalize the settlement as soon as possible.''
Mylan faced strong public criticism last year for hiking the price of EpiPen to more than $600 for a two-pack, an increase of more than 500 percent in recent years.
Outrage over the cost led Mylan to increase the amount of financial assistance it gave customers, and to later introduce a generic version of EpiPen that sold for half of the price of the brand-name version.
VIDEO0:4400:44Mylan recalls 81K EpiPens outside USClosing Bell
Amid that controversy, a number of elected officials questioned whether Medicaid had been receiving the correct amount of rebates from Mylan for EpiPen sales within that program.
Mylan for weeks had repeatedly denied underpaying the rebates. But, in October, it agreed to a settlement with the Justice Department to resolve such claims. It also agreed to treat EpiPen as a brand-name product for the purpose of rebates beginning this past April.
However, in March, Mylan refused to say whether it would begin paying the higher rebate rate in April as scheduled.
The rebate program imposes a 13 percent rebate on generic drugs. But sellers of brand-name drugs are required to pay a rate of at least 23.1 percent.
However, the rebate for brand-name medications can be much higher if their sellers have raised the price of the product beyond the rate of inflation, as Mylan repeatedly did with EpiPen. In fact, Mylan's rebate rate for EpiPen could be so high that the company might have to pay Medicaid back nearly all of the money it made from selling the devices through the program.
Mylan was sued in April by customers who claimed the company engaged in an illegal scheme to dramatically increase the price of EpiPen over the past decade.
The suit alleged that the "skyrocketing" list price of EpiPen was the result of Mylan's payments of rebates to pharmacy benefit managers — including CVS Caremark, Express Scripts and Optum Rx — which handle prescription drug benefit programs for insurance plans.
Mylan did not comment on the suit when it was filed.
Watch: Mylan CEO says system is broken
VIDEO1:0801:08Mylan CEO: Fixed EpiPen, but system is brokenPower Lunch
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87349cb3efdf8315086c2d4ac15fbe0e | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/31/trump-expected-to-pull-out-of-paris-climate-agreement.html | Trump to announce decision on Paris climate agreement Thursday, expected to pull out | Trump to announce decision on Paris climate agreement Thursday, expected to pull out
VIDEO2:1302:13Trump to pull US out of Paris climate deal: ReportSquawk on the Street
President Donald Trump is expected to pull out of the Paris climate agreement, multiple news organizations are reporting, citing White House officials.
Administration sources told NBC News that Trump is leaning toward leaving the historic climate accord, but has not yet made a final decision. The president himself said in a Wednesday evening tweet that he would officially announce his decision on the accord from the White House Rose Garden at 3:00 p.m. Thursday.
@realDonaldTrump: I will be announcing my decision on Paris Accord, Thursday at 3:00 P.M. The White House Rose Garden. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
The news that Trump had made his decision was reported by The Associated Press, Fox News and Axios. The administration is reportedly still deciding how it will exit the agreement.
One option is to go through the established protocol for withdrawing from the accord, a process that would stretch out to the end of 2020, a White House official told Axios. Trump could also declare the Paris Agreement a legal treaty, which would require the Senate to approve it, the sources said.
It is unclear whether Trump has the votes. Twenty-two of 52 Senate Republicans urged Trump to leave the accord in a letter last week.
A final option is to withdraw from an international treaty, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which negotiated the Paris Agreement and other landmark climate deals.
VIDEO1:5201:52Merkel: G-7 debate on climate was ‘very unsatisfying’Squawk Box Europe
More than two decades of climate diplomacy produced the Paris Agreement in December 2015. The accord requires the 195 signatories — nearly every country in the world — to create national plans to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in a bid to mitigate the impact of climate change.
Syria and Nicaragua are the only countries in the U.N. group that are not signatories.
The treaty aims to prevent global temperatures from rising by more than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
Under President Barack Obama, the United States committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025. The Obama administration also pledged $3 billion to a fund established to help developing nations meet their Paris Agreement goals, the largest donation announced to date.
Trump and many of his allies have long dubbed the Paris Agreement a "bad deal" for America. They say it forces the United States to make immediate sacrifices that will hurt the economy, while other countries such as China are allowed to put off action until later.
Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune said Trump had ceded the United States' role in directing climate change efforts to countries like China and India.
"Trump has abandoned the standard of American leadership, turned his back on the what the public and the market demand, and shamelessly disregarded the safety of our families just to let the fossil fuel industry eek out a few more dollars in profits," he said in a statement.
Trump and Republicans have already begun chipping away at the Paris Agreement.
In his first 100 days in office, Trump sought to undermine many of the Obama-era policies that would allow the United States to meet its commitments to the accord. He has set in motion the repeal of Obama's signature plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, teed up a potential easing of automobile fuel efficiency standards, and rescinded a host of other energy industry regulations and guidelines in a bid to increase fossil fuel production.
President Donald Trump holds up an executive order on "energy independence," eliminating Obama-era climate change regulations, during a signing ceremony at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) headquarters in Washington, U.S., March 28, 2017.Carlos Barria | Reuters
A spending bill passed earlier this month to fund the federal government through September did not include any money for the fund that supports developing nations' treaty contributions.
A number of large American companies were among those advocating for staying in the Paris Agreement, including U.S. energy giants Exxon Mobil and Chevron and their European peers Royal Dutch Shell and BP. The oil majors say the accord offers a framework for tackling global warming and gives the United States a role in steering the global response to climate change.
To be sure, these companies are big players in natural gas development and stood to benefit from Obama-era regulations that have already expedited the retirement of some coal-fired plants and would likely continue that trend.
But even some coal producers like Cloud Peak Energy and Peabody Energy argued the United States should remain a party in order to negotiate coal's future in the global energy mix.
VIDEO3:0503:05US administration doesn't know what it wants to say about climate change: CEOStreet Signs Europe
The issue had reportedly split the Trump administration into "stay" and "leave" camps. The two sides had quibbled over whether language in the text of the Paris Agreement allowed the United States to reduce its commitment.
The stay camp included Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Energy Secretary Rick Perry, as well as Trump's daughter and assistant Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, a White House senior advisor. They argued Trump has the authority to revise the country's contributions to make them less ambitious.
The leave camp was led by White House chief strategist Steve Bannon and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt. They maintained that the Paris Agreement only allowed for an upward revision of a signatory's commitments and efforts to walk back U.S. goals could lead to legal challenges by environmentalists.
The White House had signaled Trump would make a decision prior to meeting last weekend with leaders of G-7 nations, but later said the announcement would not come until after the summit.
Trump telegraphed his expected decision at the meeting by refusing to endorse the Paris Agreement.
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f7ddb04630d932b86539b7cce3b45eb9 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/31/trump-may-turn-to-vietnam-for-help-on-south-china-sea.html | Trump may turn to Vietnam for help on South China Sea | Trump may turn to Vietnam for help on South China Sea
VIDEO1:1401:14Trump turns to Vietnam as a potential ally against ChinaNews Videos
Hanoi could emerge as a key player in Washington's long-term Southeast Asia push that's aimed at neutralizing Beijing's influence in the South China Sea.
On Wednesday, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc will be the first ASEAN leader to visit the White House since President Donald Trump's election and the U.S. may look to tap into the emerging market's friction with China.
"Vietnam sits in a very interesting position in Southeast Asia," said Rodger Baker, vice president of strategic analysis at geopolitical intelligence firm Stratfor. Because Hanoi maintains a strong position against Beijing's activities in the South China Sea, Trump may eye Vietnam as a potential counter to China in the disputed area, Baker explained.
The world's second-largest economy claims 90 percent of the sea, home to over 250 islands and rich natural gas reserves, while Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan assert ownership of certain parts. And as Beijing ramps up island-building and military construction in the maritime region — reports recently emerged of Chinese rocket launchers in the Spratly Islands — Hanoi has not shied away from publicly denouncing the mainland.
In 2014, Vietnam witnessed violent protests as demonstrators criticized China's assertiveness in the important waterway while Vietnamese officials lambasted Beijing in March after a Chinese cruise ship visited the Paracel Islands, which are claimed by both countries.
China's territorial expansion has also irked Washington, with Trump promising vowing to halt Beijing's construction of artificial islands days after taking office. And while the president's hands are currently tied as he seeks the mainland's help on reigning in a hostile North Korea, the South China Sea issue still looms large — last week, the Chinese navy deployed two missile frigates to a U.S. Navy warship that sailed near the China-claimed Spratly Islands.
The Vietnamese PM's visit to Washington "adds momentum to a U.S.-Vietnam relationship that is moving in an increasingly strategic direction," Jonathan Stromseth, senior fellow at Brookings, described in a recent note.
VIDEO1:2301:23Vietnam PM goes to Washington: What to expectSquawk Box Asia
Indeed, the two allies have already initiated a series of bilateral military exchanges that could raise eyebrows in Beijing.
"Within the past week or so, Washington has delivered small vessels to the Vietnamese coast guard, there have been naval exchange visits (and) the U.S. has also waived some restrictions on arms exports to Vietnam," said Baker, adding that he expected this type of military cooperation to continue.
Of course, Vietnam isn't Trump's sole ASEAN ally in the maritime conflict.
The White House has been visibly cozying up to several Southeast Asian nations "in the context of rising Chinese influence and growing concerns about the U.S. staying power in the region, particularly after (Washington's) withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership," Stromseth explained.
Over the past month, Vice President Mike Pence has visited Indonesia, Trump has telephoned several ASEAN leaders, including controversial Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, while Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has hosted ASEAN foreign ministers in Washington.
The White House's demonstrated commitment to the region could "foster conditions that enable constructive multilateral engagement with China in the Asia-Pacific, helping to mitigate strategic rivalry between Washington and Beijing over the long term," Stromseth said.
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8037b97e265e5a60c12f6a05018b6478 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/01/a-drug-quintupled-in-price-now-drug-industry-players-are-feuding-over-the-windfall.html | A drug quintupled in price. Now, drug industry players are feuding over the windfall. | A drug quintupled in price. Now, drug industry players are feuding over the windfall.
A company that manages prescription drug plans for tens of millions of Americans has sued a tiny drug maker that makes an emergency treatment for heroin and painkiller overdoses, increasing the tension between the companies that make drugs and those that decide whether they should be covered.
Express Scripts, the nation's largest pharmacy benefits manager, is suing Kaléo, the manufacturer of Evzio, the injectable overdose treatment whose price quintupled last year, drawing widespread outrage and inquiries from members of Congress. Express Scripts claims it is owed more than $14.5 million in fees and rebates related to Evzio, and it has dropped the drug from its preferred list.
Jennifer Stepp and her daughter Audrey Stepp, 8, hand out trainer boxes of Evzio, a Naloxone auto-injector that helps with opioid overdoses after a Naloxone training class for children and adults to learn how to inject Naloxone into people that overdose on opioids in Louisville, Kentucky.John Sommers II | Reuters
In recent months, anger over rising drug costs set off a civil war within the pharmaceutical industry, pitting drug makers against other players in the health care system, including the little-known pharmacy benefit managers who negotiate with drug makers on behalf of insurers, large employers and government health programs. Drug makers and some members of Congress have accused Express Scripts and other benefit managers of operating in the shadows, pocketing an undisclosed share of the payments they exact from drug makers even as consumers are asked to pay inflated prices for the medicines they need.
The lawsuit was heavily redacted because Express Scripts said it contained "sensitive business information," but nevertheless it provides some tantalizing details about the company's dealings. Consultants and brokers — who advise employers on their prescription drug plans — said it showed that Express Scripts is collecting fees that keep rising as drug prices go up.
For example, according to the lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in St. Louis, Express Scripts charged Kaléo "administrative fees" that climbed sharply at the same time that Evzio was rising in price. In January 2016, when Evzio carried a list price of $937.50 for two injectors, Express Scripts billed Kaléo monthly administrative fees of about $25,000 for its commercial clients. But three months later, Evzio's price had climbed to $4,687.50, and these fees totaled nearly $130,000. That's on top of charges that included "formulary rebates," or drug discounts, and "price protection rebates," which are triggered when a drug jumps in price. Those price-protection rebates totaled $14 million — most of the money that Express Scripts is trying to recoup.
Benefit managers like Express Scripts typically pass the rebates they collect from manufacturers along to their clients — insurers and large employers — after taking a portion of the rebates for themselves. But critics, like Linda Cahn, the chief executive of Pharmacy Benefit Consultants in Morristown, New Jersey, say that the benefit managers are not transparent about what share of fees they keep, and what share they pass along to clients.
Administrative fees are particularly murky, she and others said. Some of the fees are passed to clients, but benefit managers also collect other fees that are not returned to clients.
"The lawsuit reveals that Express Scripts is collecting immense sums of money. No one knows what they're passing through and what they're retaining," said Cahn, who flagged the lawsuit in a note to clients Monday. "Every client and the federal government and taxpayers should insist that they do."
But Brian Henry, a spokesman for Express Scripts, disagreed with her assessment and described Kaléo as a "deadbeat dad." "They owe rebates and administrative fees that we share with our clients and we are working to get that money back," he said in a statement.
Henry also said, "The vast majority of the administrative fees are passed back to our clients." In cases in which they are not, he said, it is with the consent of the client. While Henry initially said that all administrative fees are passed along to Medicare plans, he later said he misspoke and that he should have said the "vast majority" of such fees were passed along to Medicare plans.
Spencer Williamson, the chief executive of Kaléo, said in a statement that the lawsuit was "baseless" and that the company was committed to providing affordable access to its drug "without burdensome paperwork or high out-of-pocket costs."
The lawsuit is the latest piece of bad news for Kaléo, a private Virginia company with just two products on the market. When Evzio arrived on the market in 2014, it was sold as an easy-to-use device, similar to an EpiPen, that could be stowed in a pocket or medicine cabinet and quickly used by friends or relatives to reverse the effects of a drug overdose.
But while the device was initially hailed by addiction experts who said it would make it easier to stop fatal overdoses, the company came under heavy criticism in 2016, when it quintupled the price of Evzio. The price increase — which came in the midst of a national opioid abuse epidemic — prompted letters from members of Congress, demanding to know what had prompted the change.
Kaléo has said it sharply raised the price of Evzio to cover the cost of a new patient-assistance program that lowers the out-of-pocket costs for people who cannot afford the product. Kaléo covers all of the out-of-pocket costs for patients with private insurance, and offers Evzio free of charge to uninsured people who make less than $100,000 a year.
Source: Evzio
But critics have said that such patient-assistance programs serve to drive up the cost of drugs to the health care system because while they ease the burden on patients, they leave insurers with the bulk of the bill, especially when a less expensive alternative is available. Other forms of naloxone, the active ingredient in Evzio, are available at a much lower price.
This is not the first time Express Scripts has sued a drug maker with expensive products. In 2015, Express Scripts filed suit against Horizon Pharma, also over unpaid fees. Horizon agreed to pay Express Scripts $65 million in September 2016 to settle the case. After initially dropping coverage of Horizon's drugs, Express Scripts added them back to its preferred drug list.
Express Scripts is also being sued. Last year, the insurance giant Anthem sued Express Scripts in federal court in New York for $15 billion and claimed the company had been overcharging it for drugs. Express Scripts, which denied the claims, said recently that it would most likely lose Anthem, its largest customer, beginning in 2020, leading to speculation about how the company will replace the business it is losing.
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d5d28df90c20a0c15af53868241c3703 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/01/adp-private-sector-payrolls-may-2017.html | Private payrolls add 253K in May vs. 185K est.: ADP | Private payrolls add 253K in May vs. 185K est.: ADP
VIDEO3:2003:20ADP reports payrolls up 253K in MaySquawk Box
Job creation surged in May thanks to a jump in construction positions and a boom in professional and business services, according to a report Thursday from ADP and Moody's Analytics.
Private payrolls increased by 253,000, well ahead of expectations. Economists surveyed by Reuters expected the report to show that private payrolls grew by 185,000 in May from 174,000 in April.
The growth "is three times the rate of the growth in the underlying labor force," Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody's Analytics, told CNBC. "So that means the unemployment rate, which is 4.4 percent, is quickly headed to 4 percent. This labor market is rip-roaring and getting really tight."
Services broadly led the way with 205,000 new jobs, with professional and business services contributing 88,000 — its best month in about three years — and education and health services adding 54,000.
Construction added 37,000 as the building season kicks into full gear, while manufacturing grew by 8,000 and there were 3,000 new mining jobs. Mining has been one of the cornerstones of President Donald Trump's economic agenda, though critics doubt he can fulfill campaign promises to bring jobs back to the industry.
Trade, transportation and utilities was another big growth area, with 58,000 positions, while franchises add 18,400 new workers.
The two areas showing losses were leisure and hospitality, which posted a rare decline of 11,000, and information services, which fell by 8,000.
In all, it was the fourth time this year and sixth in tseven months that the ADP count put total job creation above 200,000. Over the past 12 months, private payroll growth has averaged 211,000. April's count was revised down by 3,000.
The report comes amid a growing chorus of economists who doubt the Trump administration can achieve its goal of 3 percent annual GDP growth in part because the labor market is reaching full employment. Despite a 4.4 percent unemployment rate, there have been only limited inflation pressures, with the Labor Department reporting hourly wage growth of 2.5 percent in April.
The ADP report serves as a precursor to Friday's nonfarm payrolls count from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Payroll growth is expected to come in around 176,000, down from the previous month's 211,000.
Economists occasionally will adjust their estimates off the ADP numbers, though the two counts can have wide disparities.
According to ADP, medium-sized businesses, with 50 to 499 employees, accounted for the most growth — 113,000 new jobs. Small firms added 83,000 while big business contributed 57,000.
Get the market reaction here.
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e24846ddfff72d0c176a335b9ab22ab9 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/01/considerable-doubt-opec-cut-output-oil-specialist.html | ‘Considerable doubt’ in the market over OPEC’s efforts to cut output, says oil specialist | ‘Considerable doubt’ in the market over OPEC’s efforts to cut output, says oil specialist
The OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) logoBARBARA GINDL | AFP | Getty Images
The underwhelming response of markets to last week's OPEC meeting reflects ongoing skepticism over the viability of the extended output cut deal agreed by key oil producers, says Nick Coleman, oil specialist at S&P Global Platts.
"There is a sense that OPEC was treading water – it didn't really take decisive action. There's a weariness in oil markets that we've been hearing for many months now that the market was about to tighten, that those global oil stocks were about to fall and it didn't really happen," Coleman told on Thursday.
Coleman's comments came after oil prices fell to their lowest level in three weeks on Wednesday following data showing that monthly OPEC production rose for the first time this year during May. This helped Brent to notch up its fifth consecutive monthly loss and WTI to post its third straight monthly drop.
Both commodities were trading higher again in Thursday's session with Brent recovering by 0.93 percent to $51.22 a barrel by 08:00 a.m. London time and WTI just shy of 1 percent higher at $48.79 a barrel. Some oil bulls are pinning near-term hopes for a rise in the oil price on seasonal factors which, according to Coleman, include an uptick in demand as the U.S. summer driving season kicks off and Saudi Arabians turn up their air conditioning.
The volatility in the oil price during May reflected an initial build up and then dashing of overegged expectations that the oil cartel would secure deeper measures than the nine-month extension of its existing OPEC-led deal. Strong efforts to comply with the deal by many OPEC members have been partly undone recently by increases in production by countries with exemptions, such as Libya and Nigeria.
Meantime, Coleman questioned how long the deal can really hold with many member states having a lot of opportunity to play for.
"OPEC is competing internally for the Asian market and they are seeing a lot of oil coming from new sources into Asia from the U.S., from the North Sea, from Kazakhstan. Can these individual OPEC countries really maintain their oil production constraint at the risk of losing market share in Asia?" he asked.
Additionally, there's an "uneasy stand-off" underway between OPEC and U.S. shale producers, many of whom have comprehensively restructured balance sheets and bounced back from the low points they had sunk to a few years ago.
"In the U.S. those shale producers are looking in pretty good shape now. They've paid off their debts and every little rise in the oil price encourages them to increase their production. They're very confident, I think, that they can further increase American production," asserted the oil specialist.
Given the average time lag between putting a new shale well into operation and seeing oil pumped out of it is around six months, the uplift in oil drilling in recent months is likely to mean that shale production will continue at least for the rest of this year.
"That cancels out to some extent OPEC's efforts," Coleman added.
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4e3ba6c9fadc32b5f9c8a5e504ecc423 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/01/express-reports-sales-are-slumping-slashes-full-year-outlook.html | Express shares crater as tough times at the mall force retailer to trim outlook | Express shares crater as tough times at the mall force retailer to trim outlook
Pedestrians walk past an Express Inc. store in New York, U.S., on Wednesday, May 31, 2017.Mark Kauziarich | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Express is fashion's latest victim.
The retailer's shares sank on the heels of its disappointing first-quarter report Thursday. It closed at $6.27, down more than 19 percent.
With Thursday's losses, the stock has tumbled more than 56 percent over the past 12 months and is down about 40 percent for the year-to-date period.
First-quarter same-store sales, including those made on its e-commerce platform, fell 10 percent, compared to a 3 percent drop in the same period a year ago, Express said Thursday.
"Like other apparel retailers, Express has been impacted by a decline in customer traffic to malls and in waning interest in apparel," GlobalData Retail analyst Hakon Helgesen wrote in an email.
"This has a lot more to do with weak traffic issues than merchandise issues," Steven Marotta, a research analyst for C. L. King & Associates, told CNBC in an interview. "People just don't go to the mall anymore."
VIDEO3:4403:44Lululemon soars on earnings, RH plummets after hoursFast Money
The million-dollar question is if this trend will continue for Express in the coming quarters, or if sales will start to pick up, Marotta said.
"I think it hinges more on macroeconomic factors impacting consumers' spending on soft goods than it does Express' ability," he said.
Marotta cited the fact that Express' e-commerce sales climbed 27 percent for the quarter. "If they weren't doing those things right, people wouldn't be buying their stuff online."
Meanwhile, Express continues to close stores. During the first quarter it closed nine, and it will shutter an additional 11 stores by the end of this year.
This is higher than the 10 closures Express had initially planned for the full year, "and reflects the proactive approach we're taking in managing our fleet," the company said.
Express reported an adjusted loss of 6 cents a share for the latest period, which included a loss of 3 cents per share related to "certain discrete tax items" and shuttering its Canadian stores, the company said. The adjusted earnings were short of a Thomson Reuters' forecast for a 3 cent loss.
Sales fell 7 percent to $467 million from a year ago and missed a $467.9 million Thomson Reuters' forecast.
The apparel chain said it now expects comparable sales for the year to be in the negative-low single digits, down from a previous estimate of flat-to-low single digits.
"Our updated guidance reflects adjusted numbers excluding the impact from exiting Canada," CFO Perry Pericleous said on a call with analysts and investors. "We expect our sales and market performance to improve as we move through the year. We also expect store traffic [to] remain challenging and the retail environment to remain promotional."
Express now expects to earn between 41 cents and 48 cents a share, on an adjusted basis, for the year, down sharply from a previous forecast of 65 cents to 73 cents a share.
Industry report after industry report tells of slowing customer traffic and predicts the closure of more malls. This week, Credit Suisse estimated 25 percent of all U.S. malls will need to close by 2022.
Part of this is fueled by the growing threat from Amazon.com.
"However, in the case of Express, these prevailing trends are made worse because the chain has weak visibility, even among its target demographics," Helgesen wrote. "It is not a brand that is foremost of mind and so is particularly reliant on passing footfall to bolster trade."
Express has been trying to address these issues with its product and by improving the experience of shopping with the retailer.
On its earnings conference call, the company said its efforts were "gaining traction," and it highlighted what separates it from e-commerce giant Amazon.
"We can create a curated assortment for the customer with a very specific fashion point of view, which is more difficult for someone like Amazon to do," CEO David Kornberg said on the earnings conference call.
"We also have bricks-and-mortar stores and have a better opportunity to create a better customer experience than they do at this point. So those are things that are in our favor in ways we can combat Amazon longer term," he said.
Also, Express has stepped up its marketing efforts by partnering with supermodel Karlie Kloss in a spring advertising campaign.
But GlobalData Retail's Helgesen said he doesn't expect the current marketing efforts "go far enough in giving Express the distinct personality or point of view that it needs to thrive in the crowded apparel market ... There is much more work to do to inject energy into a brand that is still somewhat lifeless."
EXPR 12-month performance
Source: FactSet
Watch: A tale of two retailers
VIDEO2:4302:43JILL & KORS: A tale of two retailersPower Lunch
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2400441b9cc2d4604f32eaa837466e65 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/01/fact-checking-the-energy-claims-in-trumps-paris-agreement-speech.html | Fact-checking the energy claims in Trump's Paris Agreement speech | Fact-checking the energy claims in Trump's Paris Agreement speech
VIDEO1:4401:44Fact-checking the energy claims in Trump's Paris agreement speech Digital Original
President Donald Trump on Thursday said pulling the country out of the Paris Agreement would protect American workers from devastating economic impacts.
CNBC fact-checked some of the reasons the president presented for why the United States should abandon the international accord, which aims to mitigate the impacts of climate change.
That statement contradicts the latest long-term forecast by the U.S. Department of Energy.
U.S. energy production will continue to grow through 2040 in a scenario where Obama-era energy regulations are implemented, the department's Energy Information Administration projected in January.
Natural gas would surge and account for 40 percent of U.S. energy production. Oil output would continue to grow but level off in 2025 as drillers move into less-productive areas. Renewable energy generation would grow as it becomes cheaper and state and federal subsidies continue to support solar and wind energy.
In that scenario, EIA would see coal production falling because of lower exports and Obama-era regulations that discourage new coal-fired plants — rules that Trump is currently trying to kill. The agency also sees nuclear power generation declining "modestly" as new facilities and upgrades offset plant retirements.
When people refer to "clean coal," they typically mean technology that captures carbon emissions from coal-fired plants, which are either stored underground or sold for use in industrial processes.
This technology is very young and used in few commercial operations because it's extremely expensive. Tougher emissions standards — such as those encouraged by the Paris Agreement — would typically create an incentive to invest in the technology. Lax standards would dissuade investment.
Trump often uses the term "clean coal," but it's uncertain whether he's referring to so-called carbon capture, utilization and sequestration technology.
There is nothing in the commitments made by the Obama administration that spells out what type of power plants the United States can and cannot build. Instead, the United States has simply vowed to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025.
It is true that some climate change initiatives and energy regulations created by the Obama administration expedited the retirement of coal-fired plants, especially old and inefficient ones.
However, the United States could attempt to reach its Paris Agreement goals by investing in clean coal technology that would allow plants to reduce emissions. But again, that technology is still emerging and likely wouldn't be able to immediately contribute to the country's targets.
China has committed to reaching peak carbon emissions levels by 2030, but will try to reach that point sooner — and there is evidence Beijing is making progress.
China's CO2 emissions may have already peaked, a full decade ahead of its Paris Agreement commitment, thanks in large part to falling coal consumption, according to the Climate Action Tracker, a scientific analysis produced by three research organizations.
To be sure, more than 110 gigawatts of coal-fired plants are under construction in China, but the country's coal use likely peaked in 2013, according to the International Energy Agency.
"Utilisation rates of coal-fired power plants in China are falling rapidly, as new plants enter an electricity system in which renewables have expanded fast and demand has slowed markedly," IEA wrote in its 2016 World Energy Outlook.
The economic impact of climate change initiatives is a subject of debate, but it's worth considering where Trump is getting his information.
The statistics Trump used in his speech came from a report on the economic impacts of greenhouse gas regulations prepared for the American Council for Capital Formation, a conservative think tank whose board includes prominent Republicans and representatives from industry trade groups.
The report, prepared by NERA Economic Consulting, does not take into account potential benefits from emissions reductions or future technology that could influence costs over the long term.
CEOs of some of the largest U.S.-based companies say the Paris Agreement gives them a level playing field to compete with foreign rivals and would grow the economy and create jobs by encouraging investment in new technology. Oil and gas producers like Exxon Mobil, Chevron and Royal Dutch Shell also support it.
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df7d7eeadb6ac602424486ad0381942f | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/01/fords-widely-reported-20000-layoff-number-is-wrong.html | Ford's '20,000' layoff number — cited by Challenger's jobs report — is wildly inaccurate | Ford's '20,000' layoff number — cited by Challenger's jobs report — is wildly inaccurate
VIDEO0:2200:22Ford outsells GM in MayPower Lunch
Ford is not laying off 20,000 of its workers, a spokesperson for the auto company told CNBC on Thursday.
Challenger, Gray & Christmas on Thursday reported the number of jobs employers planned to cut in May had jumped, citing massive layoffs at Ford. The widely followed report led with a claim that the auto industry announced 20,271 job cuts for the month, with the majority of those stemming from Ford.
On Friday, the consultancy firm corrected its error, saying planned layoffs dropped to 33,092 in the month from the 51,692 initially reported.
In its report Thursday, Challenger CEO John A. Challenger said: "Ford's announcement of 20,000 global layoffs to streamline and cut costs is a typical strategy of large corporations who need to pivot to stay competitive."
However, Ford told CNBC it never confirmed the 20,000 number with any media source.
In fact, the actual number is more like 1,400 jobs being eliminated, according to a Ford spokesperson. Challenger used that figure in its corrected report Friday.
Ford "plans to reduce 10 percent of our salaried costs and personnel levels in North America and Asia Pacific this year, using voluntary packages," a Ford spokeswoman told CNBC on Thursday.
"We expect 1,400 salaried positions to be affected. This action does not affect the following skill teams: manufacturing, product development, IT, Global Data and Analytics and Ford Credit," the spokeswoman added.
In an email to CNBC, Challenger Gray's Blake Palder cited media reports from the Washington Examiner and Forbes as its sources for the numbers.
Officials from the media organizations did not immediately reply to CNBC's request for comment.
Palder told CNBC, "It was based off those articles that I used the numbers for our report."
VIDEO2:3202:32Challenger Report: Layoff rise sharply in May, up more that 40%Squawk Box
Colleen Madden, another Challenger spokeswoman, added in an email, "We use company announcements, media reports, and SEC filings to compile numbers. We found numerous reports citing the 10 percent global job cuts for Ford. We used those reports in our numbers."
Watch: Lutz on Mark Fields, former Ford CEO
VIDEO2:4902:49Bob Lutz: Mark Fields was old-fashioned auto CEOSquawk Alley
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4cde740f7c337282b3337f74822a5504 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/01/sebastian-thrun-udacity-googlex.html | The education of Sebastian Thrun | The education of Sebastian Thrun
01 Introduction Picture this: You’re the founder of a secretive research and development lab at one of the hottest companies in the world, likely paid a handsome salary for the privilege, and your name is in the media two to three times a week. Your role is to come up with life-changing ideas, and your biggest one to date is a car that drives itself. You’ve been called one of the world’s most creative people and you’re probably one of the cleverest too, having been a Stanford professor. And then, at the top of your career, you give it all up. The founder is scientist Sebastian Thrun, and the R&D facility is Google X, the lab that was so secret that hardly anyone at Google knew about it. Thrun ran X from 2010 until 2012, and among its creations are the self-driving car (now known as Waymo), Project Loon, which aims to bring the internet to remote areas via hot-air balloon, and Google Glass, which businesses are now starting to use after it was discontinued as a consumer product in 2015. I could be running possibly the coolest lab on the planet… and here I am, giving up 97 percent of my salary. Sebastian Thrun Thrun left Google X because his vision for humanity was even bigger than what he felt he could do there. Sebastian Thrun spent part of his teenage years lying in bed in his home town of Solingen, Germany programming a TI-57 calculator, a device produced by Texas Instruments in 1977 that had around 50 programming steps that were erased each time it was switched off. Every day he had a new challenge. “At the time it was intriguing that there was something around me in my, my world, when I told it to do something, it actually did it, right?” he told CNBC in an interview for the new series “The Brave Ones”. “Because everyone else around me, my parents, my siblings, and so on, I would say: ‘Do this,’ and they would never do it.” Beyond allaying his adolescent frustration, the TI-57 also set Thrun on a path where his programming skills would let him do the kinds of things boys and girls dream about: designing robots, winning science competitions and appearing on television. But, after gaining a PhD in computer science and statistics from the University of Bonn in Germany, becoming a tenured professor at Stanford, numerous academic awards and accolades in the media, and his trailblazing stint at Google X, his ambitions would eventually become more worldly and altruistic: He wanted everyone to have the chance to learn the skills he had, wherever they were.
02 The Google X years Self-driving cars and Google’s secret lab Sebastian Thrun lost his best friend in a car accident aged 18. This tragic moment inspired him to dedicate his life to saving the 1 million people a year who die on the road, by inventing a car that could drive itself - better than a human could - he told a TED audience in 2011. And it was while he was an associate professor at Stanford that the world sat up and noticed him. Thrun led a team that created a self-driving car, winning the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge, a 130-mile course across the Mojave Desert. It proved pivotal as Google founder Larry Page spotted Thrun at the event, disguising himself to avoid attention. “Larry came to the race itself and … came disguised with, like, a hat and sunglasses so he wouldn't be bothered by everybody. But … he had a keen interest in this. Larry has been a believer in this technology for much longer than I even knew. And so was Sergey (Brin). And they really want to understand what's going on,” Thrun said. A later iteration of the car had cameras attached to its roof, so the team could review its progress each day, leading almost by accident to the development of Google Street View. “We realized the video’s actually amazing. And we went to Google and said ‘we’d love to help you build Street View.’ And we kind of ended up – felt like an acquisition of a little start-up company, kind of Stanford transitioning into Google where me and four of my grad students then became Street View enthusiasts." “And we built up Street View and with a singular vision to photograph every street in the world.” Street View became the first project within the secret Google X. “We had a separate building that no one knew about. At least for a year and a half, no one in Google had a clue we existed,” Thrun said. Google’s Street View cars at a technology fair in Hamburg, Germany in March 2010Sean Gallup | Getty Images
#longform-group4 .embed-container.wildcard { margin-left: 0 !important; margin-right: 0 !important; width: 100% !important; max-width: 100% !important; height: 80vh; max-height: 800px; } #big-pic-01 { background: url(https://secure53.prositehosting.co.uk/secureapps/longform/braveones/ep01/img/thrun_blue_01.png) no-repeat; background-size: cover; height: 80vh; max-height: 800px; } #bp-bg-02 { position: absolute; top: 0px; bottom: 0px; left: 0px; right: 0px; width: 100%; height: 100%; max-height: 800px; background: url(https://secure53.prositehosting.co.uk/secureapps/longform/braveones/ep01/img/thrun_blue_01_blur.png) no-repeat; background-size: cover; } .big-pic-quote { width: 100%; max-width: 1150px; margin: 0 auto; } #pic-quote-01 { opacity: 0; } I don’t watch science fiction. I make ‘em. Sebastian Thrun
.flipcard { border-radius: 5px; text-align: center; width: 100%; height: 100%; min-height: 300px; margin-bottom: 40px; } .front { background-color: #006991; color: #fff; height: 300px !important; padding: 40px 20px; } .back { background-color: #CCE1E9; color: #006991; height: 300px !important; padding: 40px 20px; } .big-letter { font-family: 'Proxima Nova Bold'; font-size: 48px; margin-bottom: 20px; } .card-body-text { font-size: 18px; } .cardrow { height: 260px; } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px) { .back, .front { padding: 0; } .card-body-text { width: 90%; margin-left: 15px; } } 03 Q&A Inside the mind of Sebastian Thrun Tap or click a card to reveal the answer Q: Describe your perfect day A: My perfect day is one where I am afforded the ability to do something for somebody else without the other person even noticing I'm doing it. Q: What is the one think you wish you had invented? A: Gravity Shields. Q: Favorite science fiction movie? A: I don't watch science fiction. I make 'em. Q: What was your first car? A: A Volkswagen Beetle convertible. Q: What is your favorite driver-operated car? A: I love Teslas. And I happen to own a Tesla. Q: What's your favorite mindless entertainment? A: I love bicycling. I love running. I love skiing. Apparently I love fast motion. Q: What scares you? A: I am scared when I do something that doesn't live up to my own values. And that happens. And I'm really, really upset about myself. Q: What do you do to relax? A: I sleep. I usually go from, like, 100% energy into sleep within, like, less than 30 seconds. Q: When was the last time you felt dumb? A: Today talking to some of our students here I realized they are smarter than me. Talking to Larry Page. And you don't go to Larry Page to feel good about yourself because he is wicked smart. But I love feeling dumb.
#longform-group6 .embed-container.wildcard { margin-left: 0 !important; margin-right: 0 !important; width: 100% !important; max-width: 100% !important; height: 80vh; max-height: 800px; } #big-pic-02 { background: url(https://secure53.prositehosting.co.uk/secureapps/longform/braveones/ep01/img/thrun_blue_02.png) no-repeat; background-size: cover; height: 80vh; max-height: 800px; } #bp-bg-03 { position: absolute; top: 0px; bottom: 0px; left: 0px; right: 0px; width: 100%; height: 100%; max-height: 800px; background: url(https://secure53.prositehosting.co.uk/secureapps/longform/braveones/ep01/img/thrun_blue_02_blur.png) no-repeat; background-size: cover; } .big-pic-quote { width: 100%; max-width: 1150px; margin: 0 auto; } #pic-quote-02 { opacity: 0; } It occurred to me, I could be at Google and build a self-driving car, or I can teach 10,000 students how to build self-driving cars. Sebastian Thrun
04 Udacity Teaching the world to code Thrun’s 2011 TED talk was to be a light bulb moment. Not because of the response to his own presentation (which has now been watched online nearly 2.4 million times) but because he met someone at TED who completely inspired him. That person was Sal Khan, whose talk on using video to reinvent education sparked a series of events that would lead Thrun to leave his glamorous Google X role. “I listened to a young fellow named Sal Khan who started (the) Khan Academy. He was, like, an investment banker, had no teaching credentials. But his videos teaching just went viral. He had, like, tens of millions of students. And I was sitting at Stanford with my typical class of, like, 50 and thinking, ‘God damn it. I can do that’.” So Thrun put his artificial intelligence class online and 160,000 students ended up taking it, of which 23,000 graduated. But the top-performing students weren’t from Stanford, he found. “When they graduated, we stack ranked (evaluated) those students with the Stanford students. We give them the same exam, the same homework assignment. So you could really compare them. The top 412 students were not at Stanford. The single best Stanford student was number 41.” Thrun came to the realization that making education available to everyone – not just the elite few – could help people from all over the world. “It was kind of, like, a calling to me. I hadn't anticipated that I'd become an online instructor or CEO of a company, a founder of a company that, that wants to democratize education. But when I realized that with this one class I had more teaching impact in this specific quarter than, like, the entire academic field combined in the entire world, I realized, ‘Oh my God. Something has to be done’,” he said. And so, in 2012, Thrun left Google X, and Udacity was born.
#longform-group8 .embed-container.wildcard { margin-left: 0 !important; margin-right: 0 !important; width: 100% !important; max-width: 100% !important; height: 80vh; max-height: 800px; } #big-pic-03 { background: url(https://secure53.prositehosting.co.uk/secureapps/longform/braveones/ep01/img/thrun_blue_03.png) no-repeat; background-size: cover; height: 80vh; max-height: 800px; } #bp-bg-04 { position: absolute; top: 0px; bottom: 0px; left: 0px; right: 0px; width: 100%; height: 100%; max-height: 800px; background: url(https://secure53.prositehosting.co.uk/secureapps/longform/braveones/ep01/img/thrun_blue_03_blur.png) no-repeat; background-size: cover; } .big-pic-quote { width: 100%; max-width: 1150px; margin: 0 auto; } #pic-quote-03 { opacity: 0; } The New York Times called our work a flop. Sebastian Thrun
05 The pivot Nanodegrees, self-driving cars and the future People might say they want to change the world, but with Sebastian Thrun, many actually believe him. His vision is for people to have an education, wherever they are in the world. “I have this dream that if we can make education globally, universally available. It doesn’t matter if you live in the Middle East, or in South America, you get the same education everywhere, then we can completely transform the world,” he told an audience at Udacity’s Intersect conference in March. Udacity now has 4 million registered users, making it the fifth largest online education provider in the world, according to online course catalog Class Central. But it took several years of ups and downs to get where it is today. Having focused on teaching university degrees online and getting 160,000 students to take the first course, the numbers started dwindling, with sign-ups for one course only numbering 5,000. And not only did the numbers not work out, but the media had a field day, with the New York Times calling the original business model “a flop” and U.S. teacher unions criticizing him for offering university courses for just $150. “We had a very hard pivot, in venture words, two years ago where we decided to say we're not focusing on replacing colleges, we're focusing on lifelong learning,” Udacity’s Chief Marketing Officer Shernaz Daver told “The Brave Ones”. I have this dream that if we can make education globally, universally available... then we can completely transform the world. Sebastian Thrun Writer Cimeron Morrissey flies the Kitty Hawk prototype earlier this year. Davis Elen Udacity’s new model, the “nanodegree”, provides short training courses for tech industry careers including robotics, digital marketing and self-driving car engineering, and it has partnered with businesses including IBM, Mercedes-Benz and Google. Beyond Udacity, Thrun is pushing new boundaries, working with Larry Page to launch a flying car last month with start-up Kitty Hawk, and using technology to make nutritious fast-food. This is Thrun’s new obsession. “I'm in my free time right now completely obsessed with trying to make the world's most amazing, nutritious, and delicious dinner in three and a half minutes,” he said. “We have technology that can do it. And we've given food samples to well-renowned food critics that in most parts love our food.” So can Sebastian Thrun, teenage programmer, scientist, inventor, educator and server of humanity add feeding the world to his CV? Watch this space. Credits: Writer: Lucy Handley Design & code: Bryn Bache Editor: Matt Clinch Executive Producer, The Brave Ones: Betsy Alexander Producer, The Brave Ones: Kevin Kane
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5cfa71a4ae8af2ed82da3378635b0f7b | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/01/the-best-and-worst-places-to-start-a-career.html | The best and worst places to start a career | The best and worst places to start a career
Salt Lake City, Utah.Ferrantraite | Getty Images
This year's college graduates are enjoying the best job market in years, but they're also weighed down with record student loan debt and have little in the way of spending cash.
That makes picking a place to live, work and play all the more important for those just starting out.
Three-quarters of new grads are willing to relocate to a different state to score the right job, according to a report by Accenture Strategy – and it's likely they'll need to. Because of the current economy, many members of the Class of 2017 are looking at jobs across the country and expect to commute farther for their first gig.
And after landing a job, 62 percent of grads also said they expect to stay there for at least three years, according Accenture's 2017 U.S. College Graduate Employment study.
To that end, WalletHub compared the overall livability of the country's 150 largest cities using criteria such as the availability of entry-level jobs, monthly average starting salary, workforce diversity, average commute, singles scene and "fun factor," i.e. the number of bars, restaurants and parks nearby.
Some millennial hotspots like New York and Chicago ranked far down the list with Cleveland and Newark, New Jersey, just outside of New York City, at the very bottom.
Meanwhile, the cities that fared the best – with the exception of cult-favorite Austin, Texas – were mostly off the beaten path. At number one: Salt Lake City, Utah.
These are the top 10, according to WalletHub. (For the full list, click here)
More from College Game Plan:
4 financial gifts for grads that are smarter than cash 6 cities where new grads can afford to live and get a job Here's where you should live if you want to pay off your student loans quickly
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503d883359da7d86af166ff15704ffd2 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/01/trump-announces-paris-climate-agreement-decision.html | Trump: US is withdrawing from Paris climate agreement but wants to renegotiate | Trump: US is withdrawing from Paris climate agreement but wants to renegotiate
VIDEO0:5800:58President Trump withdraws from Paris Climate agreementNews Videos
President Donald Trump said Thursday that the United States will withdraw from the landmark Paris climate agreement.
Trump also said he would start talks to re-enter the accord with what he called a more "fair" deal, but was immediately rebuked by several European governments.
The decision sets the world's largest economy apart from almost all other nations on Earth, and moves in opposition to many large American companies, as well. Always a showman, Trump announced the decision in a heavily teased event at the White House Rose Garden, where administration officials and conservatives applauded the move.
"In order to fulfill my solemn duty to protect America and its citizens, the United States will withdraw from the Paris climate accord, but begin negotiations to re-enter either the Paris accord or an entirely new transaction on terms that are fair to the United States, its businesses, its workers, its people, its taxpayers," Trump said.
VIDEO2:4902:49Pruitt: This is a restoration of American economic independence Closing Bell
"So we're getting out," Trump said, "but we will start to negotiate, and we will see if we can make a deal that's fair. And if we can that's great, and if we can't that's fine."
The governments of Germany, Italy and France — the three largest economies in the European Union — immediately threw out that idea. They released a joint statement Thursday saying they "firmly believe" that the accord can't be renegotiated, Reuters reported.
Trump cannot technically pull out of the agreement until November 2019, and the U.S. must give a year's notice before it can withdraw, according to reports. So a withdrawal may not take effect until 2020, though mechanisms exist to possibly speed the process.
The White House contends that the U.S. has already reduced its carbon dioxide emissions and does not need the Paris accord to cut them even more, according to talking points obtained by CNBC.
In a statement after Trump's announcement, his predecessor, President Barack Obama, said that the countries still in the Paris deal "will be the nations that reap the benefits in jobs and industries created." He said he believes state governments and the private sector will still push to cut emissions — and indeed, most U.S. states are moving forward on fighting carbon pollution without Washington.
VIDEO6:3606:36I think it's a loss to US business for us to withdraw: Princeton professorClosing Bell
"I believe the United States of America should be at the front of the pack. But even in the absence of American leadership; even as this administration joins a small handful of nations that reject the future; I'm confident that our states, cities, and businesses will step up and do even more to lead the way, and help protect for future generations the one planet we've got," Obama said.
In defending the decision to yank the U.S. out of the agreement, Trump cited a series of figures provided by a consulting firm that does work for the energy industry.
Trump said the Paris Agreement would cost the United States 2.7 million jobs by 2025 and shave trillions from the U.S. economy, citing the numbers generated by NERA Economic Consulting.
The White House also said the agreement could cost the U.S. economy "nearly $3 trillion over the next several decades," citing the same study.
That report was prepared for the American Council for Capital Formation, a conservative think tank whose board includes prominent Republicans and representatives from industry trade groups. The report does not take into account potential benefits from emissions reductions or future technology that could influence costs over the long term.
Trump warned of "brownouts" as well, without providing any information to back that claim.
CEOs of some of the largest U.S.-based companies disagree with the president and his backers. They say the Paris Agreement gives them a level playing field to compete with foreign rivals and would grow the economy and create jobs by encouraging investment in new technology.
A number of large American companies were among those advocating for staying in the Paris Agreement, including U.S. energy giants Exxon Mobil and Chevron and their European peers Royal Dutch Shell and BP. The oil majors say the accord offers a framework for tackling global warming and gives the United States a role in steering the global response to climate change.
Even some coal producers like Cloud Peak Energy and Peabody Energy argued the United States should remain a party in order to negotiate coal's future in the global energy mix.
CEOs of companies like Apple and Microsoft, among many others, also pushed Trump to uphold the agreement.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk — a Paris deal proponent whose company also benefits from a shift to renewable energy sources — immediately carried out his threat to leave three White House advisory councils after Trump spoke in the Rose Garden.
More than two decades of climate diplomacy produced the Paris Agreement in December 2015. The treaty is designed to prevent global temperatures from rising by more than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The accord requires the 195 signatories — nearly every country in the world — to create national plans to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in a bid to mitigate the effects of climate change.
Syria and Nicaragua are the only countries in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change that are not signatories.
Under Obama, the United States committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by between 26 and 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025. The Obama administration also pledged $3 billion to a fund established to help developing nations meet their Paris Agreement goals, the largest donation announced to date.
— CNBC's Ylan Mui and Ted Kemp contributed to this report
Watch: Macron says Paris Agreement irreversible
VIDEO1:2101:21French President Macron: Paris Agreement irreversibleWhite House
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978d2aec4ad2a94dd28d99b37e19bf80 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/02/apple-siri-samsung-bixby-voice-assistant-race.html?utm_campaign=papo_morse_15__adam_cheyer__ghost_interview&utm_medium=email&utm_source=RD+Station | Apple still 'major player' in the voice assistant race, says Siri creator, who is now helping Samsung | Apple still 'major player' in the voice assistant race, says Siri creator, who is now helping Samsung
VIDEO2:4902:49Why AI voice assistants are part of a broader tech raceStreet Signs Europe
Apple is still a "major player" in the voice assistant space with Siri, one of the technology's co-creators told CNBC on Friday, despite the U.S. technology giant receiving criticism for falling behind rivals Amazon and Google.Adam Cheyer was one of the people behind Siri which was acquired by Apple in 2010. Since then, Cheyer has created a next generation voice assistant called Viv which was acquired by Samsung in 2016. Viv is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung with the South Korean titan looking to integrate the technology into future products.Voice assistants have become the next battleground for technology giants. Amazon's Alexa, which is in products such as its Echo home speaker, is perceived to be the leader, while Google Assistant is gaining traction.But Apple has been slated for not keeping up with the competition."In our view Apple's Siri has developed little since it was first introduced in 2011. It has brought the concept of voice-led services to the consumer mindset but has fast gone from leader to laggard in the application of this form of technology in our view," Neil Campling, head of technology, media and telecom research at Northern Trust Capital Markets, told CNBC by email on Friday.
Adam Cheyer, co-founder of Siri and Viv LabsPhoto courtesy Adam Cheyer
Cheyer, however, said Apple is still very much in the game but the ultimate winner will be the company that can turn their voice assistant into a technology across multiple devices."I am very proud of what we accomplished to initially take this new paradigm and bring it out to hundreds of millions of people. I think Apple is doing good work and is still a major player in this race," Cheyer told CNBC in a TV interview on Friday."What's going to matter is which companies can elevate an assistant from where it is today, a utility … to be this ubiquitous paradigm and I think Apple and everyone else is in the game and it will be great for consumers no matter who wins."Of course, Cheyer is making a rival product to Apple's Siri for Samsung. He was tightlipped on the product roadmap, however. Samsung's latest phone, the Galaxy S8 has an artificial intelligence assistant built in called Bixby. It allows user to not only speak to it, but to hold their camera up to landmarks or items in order to call up information about them.Bixby is reportedly built on Samsung's own technology and not Viv's, but the two are likely to integrate."We are working on a next generation assistant and we will deliver it through Samsung's devices, perhaps under the Bixby brand eventually but also to other interfaces," Cheyer said.The plan is to try and get Viv's technology across a number of devices, not just smartphones, but also home appliances and other gadgets."Right now there is a race to the single interface where all of the big companies Microsoft, Apple, Amazon and now Samsung are trying to make the assistant the next paradigm like the browser, like the smartphone, you'll have an assistant to help you in your lives," Cheyer said, explaining the company's ambition.Amazon has made a similar play. Earlier in the year it announced plans to bring Alexa to LG refrigerators and even Huawei's Mate 9 smartphone. It's an attempt to create a new way to interact with devices. And there is big money involved. A recent research note from RBC Capital Markets suggested that Alexa could bring the U.S. e-commerce giant $10 billion of revenues by 2020 and be a "mega-hit".Viv has similar ambitions and plans to open the platform up to developers so they can make apps and find other uses for the voice assistant."You will be able to do everything you do for computing through an assistant interface," Cheyer said.
—Correction - This story was updated to fix a typo and show Viv is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung.
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2da44c2424c547b00bf968c7f492ecc1 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/02/british-airways-it-outage-caused-by-contractor-who-switched-off-power-times.html | British Airways IT outage caused by contractor who switched off power: Times | British Airways IT outage caused by contractor who switched off power: Times
Jack Taylor | Stringer
A contractor doing maintenance work at a British Airways data center inadvertently switched off the power supply, knocking out the airline's computer systems and leaving 75,000 people stranded last weekend, the Times newspaper reported on Friday.
Quoting a BA source, the newspaper said the power supply unit that sparked the I.T. failure was working perfectly but was accidentally shut down by a worker. An investigation into the power outage is likely to focus on human error rather than any equipment failure, it said.
BA had to cancel all flights from London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports last Saturday. It blamed a power surge that knocked out its computer system, disrupting flight operations, call centers and its website.
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c518d4b031dcb7965769e913688ffc9d | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/02/financial-gifts-for-college-grads-that-are-better-than-cash.html | Forget cash. These 4 gifts will really help out new grads | Forget cash. These 4 gifts will really help out new grads
Don't be so quick to hand your favorite high school or college grad a congratulatory card with cash. Other financial gifts can have a bigger impact.
More than a third of consumers will buy gifts for a graduate this year, according to the National Retail Federation — which projects total spending at a record $5.6 billion. It found that spending among consumers ages 18 to 24 averages roughly $78 for such a gift, while "parent-age" givers ages 45 to 54 give an average $120, and "the grandparent bracket" of those ages 65 and older, $112.
Cash is king, with 52.8 percent of givers citing it as a planned gift, and a third expect to offer a gift card.
Many new grads have big plans for any gifts of money they receive, including saving it (23.8 percent), investing it (19.2 percent) and using it to pay down student loans (18.7 percent), according to a survey from investing app Stash. The company polled 214 of its users who are part of the class of 2017.
VIDEO1:1701:17How to deal with college debtCollege Game Plan
The right gift could help a grad meet those aims, or otherwise get a leg up financially, said certified financial planner David Demming, president of Demming Financial Services in Aurora, Ohio.
"What you want is to set a good example, something they can build on," he said.
Financial advisors say these four gifts could benefit a new grad more than cash.
Offering to help fund a Roth IRA can be an especially valuable gift, said certified financial planner George Padula, principal at Modera Wealth Management in Boston. Those contributions grow tax-free and can be withdrawn tax-free in retirement. PLus, an early start gives the money decades to compound.
Hero Images | Getty Images
Rather than offering a flat gift, consider matching your grad's contributions up to a set amount over several years, Padula said.
"It creates good savings habits as a new graduate going into the workforce," he said.
If you're in a higher tax bracket, gifting appreciated stocks can help you avoid capital gains taxes, said certified financial planner Frani Feit, managing director for Tradition Capital Management in Summit, New Jersey.
"Typically, young graduates will be in a lower tax bracket than their gifter, so if the stock was sold, the assumed capital gains would be taxed at a lower rate," she said. "Or the recipient could hold the stock, which might encourage investment research and a future interest in the stock market."
Other ways to gift investments include funding a new brokerage account or purchasing gift cards that can be redeemed for shares, via a site like Stockpile.
Offering extra help during the six-month grace period after graduation can cut interest accrued, resulting in lower monthly payments or a faster payoff for a new grad. If you want to make sure the money goes toward loans, there are gift cards like GiftofCollege.com that can be redeemed directly into a student loan account.
Or you might split up your gift into installments, helping a new grad ease into juggling student loan repayment as part of their overall budget, Feit said.
Wealthier individuals might consider paying off one or more of the loans in full, said Demming. That could be an outright gift, or a loan to the grad at a much lower interest rate, he said — essentially gifting them a shorter payoff time and less paid in interest.
Think about gifts that could help a new grad fill in financial gaps.
For example, you might cover their health insurance, auto insurance or disability insurance for a set period, said certified financial planner Carolyn McClanahan, director of financial planning for Life Planning Partners in Jacksonville, Florida. That can smooth the transition from being on a parent's policy, she said, and help ensure they're protected.
If you want to buy gift cards, think about ones that could help make a new grad's life easier, Feit said. Look for a card that can lighten the burden of ongoing expenses (like a cellphone bill) or an upcoming expense (like furniture for that new apartment).
"Or how about an HBO gift card so the grad can enjoy some entertainment while watching the rest of his or her graduation money grow?" she said.
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8bce9ab2044cc1f9f325dfbb46df6d1e | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/02/putin-it-would-help-russia-if-nato-were-completely-falling-apart.html | Putin: It would be nice for Russia if NATO were 'falling apart' | Putin: It would be nice for Russia if NATO were 'falling apart'
VIDEO4:1104:11Putin: It would help Russia if NATO were completely 'falling apart'Digital Original
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that a collapse of the NATO alliance would be a good thing for Moscow, but he doesn't see the 28-member bloc crumbling just yet.
"Well, in a sense that maybe, they should completely be falling apart, that will help," Putin said at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in an interview with NBC News' Megyn Kelly, according to a live translation. "But we don't see that falling apart just yet."
NATO was founded in 1949 as a check on the Soviet Union. In a summit last week, U.S. President Donald Trump alarmed U.S. allies by reprimanding them about their military spending and failing to endorse NATO's mutual defense clause.
Former diplomats and others saw Trump's actions as a potential boon to Russia.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, typically a careful speaker, said at a campaign event that the "times in which we could rely fully on others" — meaning the United States — are "somewhat over."
Putin, who was a KGB agent in the days of the Soviet Union, on Friday questioned NATO's continuing purpose. He added that European countries don't need to boost their military spending "if you're not intending to attack anybody."
Putin on Friday claimed that sanctions against his country violated international norms. He argued that Russia's policy did not lead to those sanctions — a statement that would seem to deny the war that Russia pressed against Ukraine starting in 2014. He blamed American policy for the sanctions instead.
The Kremlin has struggled to stay solvent since the end of 2014, when its economy was crushed by a combination of diving oil prices and tough sanctions imposed by Europe and U.S. President Barack Obama. The West punished Moscow for aggression against Ukraine and its annexation of the Ukrainian province of Crimea.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin speaks on June 2, 2017 in St. Petersburg, Russia.Valery Sharifulin | TASS | Getty Images
The Russian economy shrank by 0.6 percent last year, and fell by 3.7 percent the year before that, according to the World Bank.
A visibly irritated Putin on Friday also denied reports that the Trump team had moved to lift the sanctions in place against Russia.
"This hysteria" about Trump and Russia "never seems to stop," Putin said, asking if a "pill" existed to stop the hysteria.
Putin contended that there were "no agreements whatsoever" to lift sanctions.
The FBI, CIA and NSA concluded in a January report that Putin's regime used hackers, Kremlin agencies and paid online "trolls" to undermine the U.S. election and help Trump win. Congress and the FBI are investigating that alleged effort and possible ties between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin.
The U.S. president doesn't accept the conclusions of his intelligence apparatus. This week he dismissed the ongoing security investigation as "a lame excuse for why the Dems lost the election."
Disclosure: Like CNBC, NBC is owned by Comcast's NBCUniversal unit.
VIDEO4:2504:25Putin: No specific evidence Russia interfered in US electionsSquawk on the Street
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8d78e132d4833666f7fd2bcbfa22112f | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/02/three-big-events-could-bring-some-volatility-back-into-markets.html | Three big events could bring some volatility back into markets | Three big events could bring some volatility back into markets
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.Getty Images
The record high stock market may be signaling it's the best of times. But the bond market looks to be saying just the opposite: If it's not the worst of times, it soon could be.
Traders have been debating which one is right — the stock market grinding to new highs, or bonds, with yields at post-Election Day lows.
Stocks have been guided by solid earnings and still some hope that there could be stimulus coming from Washington, but Treasury yields, which move opposite price, are trading lower amid concerns the lack of inflation and sluggish economy could be a problem if the Federal Reserve raises interest rates too much.
The great divide between markets should remain a theme in the coming week, but there are several events that create the opportunity for volatility across financial markets — and all of them occur on Thursday.
Former FBI director James Comey is scheduled to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee at 10 a.m. Thursday, and markets are braced in the event he says President Donald Trump tried to end Comey's investigation into former national security advisor Michael Flynn.
Then there's the European Central Bank meeting, which has been surrounded by a swirl of speculation that the central bank could signal a pending end to some of its easy policy. That could move the euro, bond yields and stocks if the ECB signals it is getting set to pull back, though analysts do not expect anything abrupt.
There's also the U.K. election, called by Prime Minister Theresa May in the hopes it would show a mandate for Brexit.
"Fear of a European election, and noise coming out of Washington getting louder — when you look at things that have caused us to take a significant pause in 2017, two of those things could happen next week," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities.
The U.K. election was expected to go smoothly, but the Labour Party has been making gains in the polls. It's not clear May will get the majority she expected, casting doubt on how smoothly the U.K.'s negotiations to unwind from the European Union will go.
"I think this is just one episode in the drama between the euro zone and the U.K. that's going to be playing out and markets have to focus on the longer term. Who has the stronger hand and who gets what?" said Steven Wieting, Citi Private Bank chief global strategist.
Stocks ended the week with the Dow, Nasdaq and S&P 500 all at record highs. Technicians are looking to see if the Russell 2000 confirms the trend. It was up 1.7 percent for the week.
The S&P 500 closed at 2,439, up 0.4 percent. Meanwhile, bond yields fell, and the 10-year was at a low of 2.15 Friday.
Analysts said the low yields in the bond market were also serving as a catalyst for stocks.
"It's earnings and the constant rotation. The yield on the 10-year is so low, the dividend darlings are back in vogue. It's consumer staples. It's REITs. It's utilities, and it's telcos," said Hogan.
The S&P utility sector rose 1.7 percent for the week, to an all-time high. The health-care sector rose 2 percent for the week, and telecommunications stocks were up 2.3 percent.
"I just don't think we can use the yield of the 10-year as a barometer for the economy," said Hogan. He said it is a safety play, but it also points to the lack of inflation. "We have reason to think we need harbors of safety right now."
With bond yields plumbing new lows, the trade in the coming week could focus on technicals and big round numbers.
"I think it's going to be largely a technical trade," said Ian Lyngen, Treasury strategist at BMO. "I think we come in Monday morning and the market tries to re-trade the jobs data ... what the data means and what it implies for monetary policy. I think there will be an opportunity for more volatility early in the week, and then we'll be back to more of the same ... a holding pattern, limited new information and watching the corporate deal flow."
The testimony of James Comey has been a much-anticipated event, and the very idea that Trump could be ensnared in some obstruction of the investigation rattled markets when news reports said Comey had said Trump interfered.
"If it looks like he wasn't involved, the market's fine, and we move on, but if it clearly feels it's a crossed line and could make a significant case and we are talking about obstruction of justice again, that's certainly going to give the market problems," said Hogan.
Jim Caron, Morgan Stanley Investment Management fixed income portfolio manager, does not expect to see anything material come of the testimony.
"I personally don't think anything comes out of it. I think it becomes a partisan debate, but the market needs to see a resolution of that," Caron said. "This is an event we're all going to be watching. It's certainly going to take a lot of attention. The good news is once it's over, it's over."
The ECB is at most expected to make minor tweaks to the language in its post-meeting statement Thursday, but markets are on high alert because of the recent runup in the euro, up 0.9 percent in the past week, a seven-month high.
"Everybody I talk to expects there will be some tweaking of the forward guidance, which has two components," said Marc Chandler, head of foreign exchange strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman. "One component of the forward guidance talks about how interest rates will remain at this level or lower. They could drop that 'or lower.'
"But the markets already know that European rates have bottomed. This is going to confirm what the market already knows," said Chandler. He said the ECB could also change a comment about risks and say they are balanced.
Monday
Earnings: Coupa Software, Thor Industries
9:45 a.m. Services PMI
10:00 a.m. ISM nonmanufacturing
10:00 a.m. Factory orders
Tuesday
Earnings: Dave & Buster's, Lands' End, Michaels Cos, Ambarella, IDT, United Natural Foods, Canadian Solar, Oxford Industries
10:00 a.m. JOLTs
10:00 a.m. QFR
Wednesday
Earnings: Brown-Forman, ABM, Greif, Verint Systems
3:00 p.m. Consumer Credit
Thursday
Earnings: Dell Technologies, JM Smucker, Vail Resorts, Verifone, Cloudera
7:45 a.m. European Central Bank rate decision
8:30 a.m. News conference with ECB President Mario Draghi
8:30 a.m. Initial claims
10:00 a.m. QSS
Friday
Earnings: Ferrellgas Partners
10:00 a.m. Wholesale trade
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872e651cabdbf562db08d4d86a2c05cb | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/02/why-im-defending-hillary-clinton-commentary.html | Here's the real reason Hillary lost the election | Here's the real reason Hillary lost the election
VIDEO2:2902:29Hillary speaks out about election defeatSquawk Box
I'm going to do something unpopular now. I'm going to defend Hillary Clinton.
The Democrats' 2016 nominee has reemerged recently, sitting for a lengthy profile with New York magazine's Rebecca Traister and giving a series of interviews, including one at Recode's Code Media conference. (Disclosure: Recode, like Vox, is owned by Vox Media.) It's not been a smooth return to the public eye. The political press wants self-flagellation, but Clinton is placing the blame for her Electoral College loss elsewhere: on James Comey, on the media, on sexism, on fake news, on the Democratic Party's infrastructure. "I take responsibility for every decision I made, but that's not why I lost," she said.
This has not gone over well. "Hillary Clinton's list of who's to blame for her 2016 election loss gets longer with every passing day," wrote CNN's Chris Cillizza. For once, Donald Trump and the pundit class are in lockstep:
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More from Vox:Don't just blame Trump for quitting the Paris deal — blame the Republican Party Jared Kushner is the domino Trump can least afford to fall in the Russia investigation An incredibly telling thing Trump said at today's Paris event wasn't about climate at all
This discussion conflates two very different questions. One is: Why did Clinton lose? And there, factors like Comey, Russia, and the media's email obsession have real explanatory power. But the harder question — the one this blame game is designed to obscure — is why was the election close enough for Clinton to lose?
Clinton made mistakes. But they're not why she lost.
Clinton does herself no favors when she suggests that criticism of the paid speeches she gave to Goldman Sachs was motivated by sexism. There was sexism in the 2016 election, as I discuss below. But in 2013, amid an economy wracked by the aftermath of the financial crisis, and after Clinton served in a government that bailed out the financial sector, you didn't need to be a political genius to recognize that taking $675,000 from the vampire squid might look bad.
Nor is Clinton's complaint that the Democratic Party lacked campaign infrastructure convincing. You know who lacked campaign infrastructure? Donald J. Trump. His field operation was a joke. The RNC's efforts were a shaky backstop. The 2016 election didn't prove the Democrats needed a better ground game. It proved a better ground game wasn't enough.
Clinton made mistakes. All candidates do. But the question in elections is ... compared to what? Take the criticisms made of Clinton and turn them around. Trump surely did not run a smoother campaign than Clinton. His team featured more infighting, leaking, and churn. He made more obvious mistakes in a week than she made in a year. His finances were far shadier than Clinton's, his foundation far less ethical, his behavior far more erratic. He walked into the debates unprepared, ran a bizarre and ineffective convention, and appears to have been saved from defeat — albeit narrow defeat — by the twin interventions of Russia and James Comey.
And Clinton was, in ways people have rewritten since her Electoral College loss, an effective candidate in nontraditional ways. After she captured the Democratic nomination, I wrote a piece about the political skills that made her the first woman to achieve that feat. I occasionally see the article thrown back at me as a laughable analysis disproven by her eventual loss, but I think it's absolutely correct:
She won the Democratic primary by spending years slowly, assiduously, building relationships with the entire Democratic Party. She relied on a more traditionally female approach to leadership: creating coalitions, finding common ground, and winning over allies. Today, 208 members of Congress have endorsed Clinton; only eight have endorsed [Bernie] Sanders.[...] In order to do something as hard as becoming the first female presidential nominee of a major political party, [Clinton] had to do something extraordinarily difficult: She had to build a coalition, supported by a web of relationships, that dwarfed in both breadth and depth anything a non-incumbent had created before. It was a plan that played to her strengths, as opposed to her (entirely male) challengers' strengths. And she did it.Hillary Clinton is a generationally talented politician — albeit across a different set of dimensions than men tend to be talented politicians.
Similarly, Clinton really did crush Trump in the debates. As I wrote then, most presidential debates have little effect on the polls. Clinton's performances were unusual in that they transformed the race. On the eve of the first debate, Trump and Clinton were basically tied. By the close of the third, Clinton had opened up a massive lead — a lead that, if retained, would certainly have won her the election.
It also must be said: Many of Clinton's strengths were hidden by our gendered expectations of leaders — what she was good at would have been important for her presidency, but it is not what 44 male presidents in a row have taught us to expect, or even to see. Anyone who thinks sexism isn't a force in American politics should have a good answer to the question of why, in a country that's more than half women, there has never been a female president and, aside from Clinton, no woman has ever come close to winning a major party's nomination.
I understand why people want to castigate Clinton, and why they want to see Clinton castigate herself. Her loss devastated many, and her mistakes offer an easy answer to an election that poses awful questions. If Trump won merely because Clinton was such a crummy candidate, then we don't have to ask how someone like Trump could win, and whether it could happen again, perhaps with someone even worse.
But there is an oddity in the way both Trump and Cillizza frame the election as an equation with only one input: Hillary Clinton's performance. What about Trump's appeal? And what about the voters' preferences, which are surely not so easily swayed by marginal changes in campaign strategy? (Also, why is Trump taking time out of his day to argue that the politician he lost the popular vote to was "a terrible candidate"? Does he not recognize what that implies?)
By the end of the campaign, the public had enough information to make basic judgments about who Clinton and Trump were. Trump's flaws weren't hidden by Clinton's mistakes — if she was good at anything, it was goading Trump into error and overreaction. Voters knew what he was when they voted for him. They had seen him lash out at a Gold Star family and at Alicia Machado. They knew he suggested, repeatedly, that Ted Cruz's father was involved in the JFK assassination. They had heard him say Mexico was sending us rapists and criminals and call for a ban on Muslim travel. They had watched him babble incoherently about policy, say he could shoot someone in broad daylight without losing support, and brag, on tape, "when you're a star, they let you do it."
And it's worth remembering that before Clinton ran against Trump, 16 other Republicans ran against him — a group that observers thought to be the most talented field the GOP had seen in decades. And every one of them was routed. At some point, the record of talented politicians lying at Trump's feet requires more explanation than "they all screwed up."
Imagine a slightly alternate universe. Let's take Nate Silver's estimate that the Comey letter cost Clinton about 3 percentage points in the election. Imagine it never happened. Now Clinton wins the Electoral College, and lands a bigger popular vote victory than Barack Obama did against Mitt Romney.
In that world, are we talking about what an awful race President Clinton ran? We aren't. But that is a world in which Trump — with all he revealed during the campaign about his lack of discipline, his casual cruelty, his disinterest in policy, his penchant for conspiracy theories — still won about 44 percent of the vote.
That is a world, in other words, that should still trouble us.
Commentary by Ezra Klein, editor-in-chief at Vox. Follow him on Twitter @ezraklein.
For more insight from CNBC contributors, follow @CNBCopinion on Twitter.
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83d3bf2970dfc5a73c8a5e00b72bc80e | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/03/armed-services-committee-on-paris-deal.html?view=story | Paris deal isn't the 'whole universe of climate change' U.S. House Armed Services Committee chairman says | Paris deal isn't the 'whole universe of climate change' U.S. House Armed Services Committee chairman says
Washington's withdrawal from the universal treaty on global warming known as the Paris Agreement has sparked concerns of a challenge to national security, but a senior U.S. congressman isn't worried.
Responding to CNBC's question on the topic, Rep. Mac Thornberry, chairman of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee — a body responsible for national military services — acknowledged climate change's importance on defense policy but warned against placing too much focus on a single agreement.
President Donald TrumpWin McNamee | Getty Images
"One agreement is not the whole universe of climate change," Thornberry said at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Saturday.
Back in March, Defense Secretary James Mattis noted that climate change was a national security threat and said environmental changes in regions such as the Arctic could impact military operations. Others have warned how extreme weather can cause instability in the form of infectious disease outbreaks and energy blackouts that could be exploited by terror groups.
And with the U.S. backing out from the Paris treaty, which aims to reduce carbon emissions, many are worried about security implications.
The White House does take climate change seriously and President Donald Trump is open to renegotiating the Paris agreement, Thornberry stated.
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48114d32e4262b3fd7834e532cfb3730 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/04/tom-vs-the-elephant-how-one-billionaire-entrepreneur-keeps-going.html | Tom vs. the elephant: How one billionaire entrepreneur keeps going | Tom vs. the elephant: How one billionaire entrepreneur keeps going
CNBC
To say Tom Siebel has had an interesting life would be putting it mildly. He's a billionaire, a technology visionary, and the survivor of an elephant goring eight years ago that — given the odds — should have killed him. Several doctors told Siebel he would never walk again, much less sail competitively.
But he does.
So what do you learn about life when you've stared down death in the form of a five-ton elephant that crushes you, and lived to tell the tale? What do you learn when you've invented one of the first killer workplace apps of the PC era, then sold it for about $6 billion dollars?
After you've made all that, and survived it all, why are you still inventing at the age of 64?
Tom Siebel, now the CEO of C3 IoT, sat down with Fortt Knox at the Nasdaq's MarketSite in Times Square to share some insight into what's made him tick – and what's helped him succeed. Here are some bits to chew on:
In 2009, Siebel had been on a walking safari with his wife and daughters when an elephant attacked him. He told Fortt Knox that during his recovery, he had 19 reconstructive surgeries, and relied on electric wheelchair to get around. One of his legs was almost completely shattered. Throughout the process, he kept looking for a doctor who could help him to make real progress.
"I would go visit physicians, and they would explain that they're going to have to remove my leg, and I'd say OK, you're fired," he said.
Finally he called the maker of the device that was holding his leg together, and asked what doctor in the world had the most experience installing it. It turned out, the two best were just up the road in San Francisco.
A few years later, Siebel made a full recovery.
The lesson here is not so much about what to do if you're trampled by an elephant. It's what to do if someone tells you that your goal is impossible: If that goal is important enough, don't just get a second opinion, get expert insight.
Where did Tom Siebel learn to run a business? From working at Oracle.
Where did the leaders at Oracle learn? Trial and error. Fortt Knox asked whether he thinks that's ideal.
Actually, no, he replied.
"I think it might be a good idea to go work for another company first and learn about sales, learn about marketing, learn about accounting, learn about compliance, learn about human capital practices," Siebel said. "Maybe learn a little patience, get a little humility."
We tend to focus on the exceptions to the rules, people like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg. But many of the rest of us would be wise to spend a bit more time learning about business before trying to run one.
After working for Oracle from its early days until it reached about $1 billion in sales, Siebel had an idea: Rather than just focus on databases, he wanted to build an application – a program that would help businesses keep track of their best sales prospects and close deals faster.
He took the concept to Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, who said no. Was Siebel crushed? Discouraged?
"I was satisfied that it was a good idea, I was satisfied that there was a market there. It was just not a market that Larry Ellison was interested in pursuing at that time," Siebel said. "And I mean, Larry is a very, very bright guy. His successes speak for themselves. But he didn't have an interest. He didn't see the market. I did. And I just decided to go for it."
Go for it, he did. Siebel Systems became a force in enterprise software, so much that Ellison tried to build his own version to beat it. Ellison eventually decided to buy Siebel out for $5.8 billion instead, with Tom Siebel's blessing.
No matter how smart your friends — or bosses — are, they can't make the big career decisions for you. Listen to their advice, and weigh it against what you've learned.
If you believe you've got what it takes, go for it.
Fortt Knox is a weekly podcast from CNBC anchor Jon Fortt. Previous episodes of the program can be found here.
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55bc634d934c6ec3f2f5dfe47e102b3f | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/05/apple-wwdc-17-summary.html | Here are the six big announcements Apple just made | Here are the six big announcements Apple just made
VIDEO1:3801:38Your iPhone is about to change, here’s howDigital Original
When Apple CEO Tim Cook took the stage to kick off WWDC on Monday, he said he was going to make six big announcements. There was a lot discussed on stage, far more than just six items, but they boil down to a few key topics. Here's what you might have missed if you didn't tune in.
VIDEO3:4503:45Apple unveils new operating system for the Apple WatchDigital Original
Apple unveiled watchOS 4 on Monday, the newest version of the operating system for the Apple Watch. It features a couple of new watch faces, the most important of which puts Siri cards front and center. They can tell you things like when to leave for work, the music you're playing, how your workout is going and more. WatchOS 4 has a new workout UI, support for two-way data exchange with workout machines and more.
VIDEO5:1005:10Apple announces new MacOS at Worldwide Developers ConferenceDigital Original
macOS High Sierra is the successor to Sierra, announced last year. It supports virtual reality headsets, something Apple hasn't ever offered before, security improvements to Safari that help further protect your privacy, new photo search features and a new Apple File System by default, which should mean more secure storage. High Sierra will be available in the coming months.
VIDEO5:2605:26Apple unveils revamped iMac Pro desktop computers at WWDCDigital Original
Apple finally refreshed the iMac after more than 600 days without doing so, adding a sharper and brighter display and new Intel processors. It also brought those seventh-generation Intel processors over to the MacBook Pro, which is otherwise unchanged, and boosted the speed of the chip in the MacBook Air. The biggest announcement was the iMac Pro, however, which will start at $4,999 and includes beefy new processors, a 5K display and a sharp design. Apple said it's "the most powerful Mac we have ever made."
VIDEO6:0006:00Apple details upgrades to iOSDigital Original
Apple's iOS 11 will launch in September and includes new features for the iPhone and iPad.
The big takeaway here is improvements to Siri, which Apple says will make it easier to synchronize your various iOS devices, like iPhones and iPads. It also said it'll keep messages in the cloud, helping to save valuable hard drive storage space.
Another big change is peer-to-peer payments, which will allow Apple to compete with Paypal, Square Cash, Venmo and others by allowing iOS users to easily send money to one another. On the iPad, users will find drag and drop, more room for icons in the bottom dock of the screen and more.
Oh, and we'll bundle this here since it was huge: Apple unveiled ARKit, which will allow developers to easily create augmented reality apps for iOS devices.
VIDEO4:4804:48Apple just announced a medium-sized iPad ProDigital Original
Apple showed a new iPad Pro 10.5 during the event. It features a brighter display with a faster refresh rate, which is important which watching things like movies or playing games. It also sports a new A10X processor that should improve gaming and overall app performance. That chip and the new screen were also added to Apple's iPad Pro 12.9. Apple did not refresh the 9.7-inch iPad Pro.
VIDEO0:5600:56A first look at Apple's HomePod, an Amazon Echo competitorDigital Original
The only brand new product announced was the HomePod speaker. It's a Siri-powered smart speaker that allows you to play music, check the traffic, control you smart lights, query sports scores and more. Sound familiar? That's because it's very much like the Amazon Echo and Google Home. Apple says its product is better, though, thanks to advanced speakers that will fill your room with music. It'll cost $349 when it launches in December.
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f40782e13649e0108ed38833b13b273e | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/05/digital-currency-mining-is-boosting-demand-for-amds-graphics-cards.html | Unlikely Bitcoin play: Digital currency 'mining' is boosting demand for AMD's graphics cards | Unlikely Bitcoin play: Digital currency 'mining' is boosting demand for AMD's graphics cards
An AMD Radeon RX 480 GPU being fitted to a MSI 970 Gaming motherboard.Neil Godwin | Maximum PC Magazine | Getty Images
There may be another way for investors to play the Bitcoin and the surging cryptocurrency trend. The dramatic jump in digital currency prices this year is driving demand for AMD graphics cards, according to the company.
"The gaming market remains our priority. We are seeing solid demand for our Polaris-based offerings in the gaming and newly resurgent cryptocurrency mining markets based on the strong performance we are delivering," an AMD spokesperson wrote in an email to CNBC. Ethereum cryptocurrency is up over 2,800 percent year-to-date through Sunday, while Bitcoin is up about 160 percent this year, according to data from industry website CoinDesk. Cryptocurrency miners use graphics cards from AMD and Nvidia to "mine" new coins, which can then be sold or held for future appreciation. AMD traditionally has a better reputation for mining cryptocurrencies. Computer hardware retailers including Newegg, Best Buy and Amazon are sold out of most AMD RX 570 and RX 580 graphics card models as of midday Monday. AMD launched the RX 500 series of graphics cards on Apr. 18.
Nowinstock's AMD RX 570 tracker
Source: Nowinstock.net The strong demand is spreading to older graphics cards as well. Used AMD RX 470 graphics cards are selling for well over $100 list price on eBay. Not surprisingly, auction sellers are taking advantage of the trend by adding cryptocurrency names to their product listings.
EBay RX 470 card listing
Source: eBay This isn't the first time the cryptocurrency craze has led to graphic card shortages. "Toward the end of 2013, Bitcoin and Litecoin miners caused a similar shortage by snagging every [AMD] Radeon graphics card they could collectively get their hands on," PC Gamer wrote Monday. AMD is one of the market's best performing stocks in the past year with its shares up nearly 170 percent in the past 12 months through midday Monday compared with the S&P 500's 16 percent return. However, the shares are down over 25 percent during the last few months. The company's 52-week high roughly coincided with the March 2 launch of its new Ryzen line of desktop processors, which disappointed some gamers.
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239731379864612858b9d6a1fb62c2f6 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/05/gulf-crisis-qatar-may-move-closer-to-turkey-iran.html | Middle East rift could push Qatar closer to Turkey, Iran | Middle East rift could push Qatar closer to Turkey, Iran
VIDEO2:1402:14Tensions come to a head in Gulf regionSquawk Box Asia
VIDEO2:1602:16Winners and losers in Qatar rift
VIDEO3:4703:47Middle East rift impacts oil suppliesPower Lunch
A fierce spat between Qatar and leading Arab nations could see Doha shift closer to Turkey and Iran in a move that could alter Middle Eastern politics.
Seven countries, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Bahrain, severed diplomatic ties with with the energy-rich monarchy on Monday, accusing it of backing Tehran and Islamist groups such as the non-violent Muslim Brotherhood. Qatar has said it does not support terrorism, adding that the diplomatic rift was based on "baseless fabricated claims."
Doha now faces an acute economic plight as it relies on Gulf neighbors for 80 percent of food imports, according to Reuters.
To mitigate its economic isolation, Qatar will look for other friends, explained Amin Saikal, director of the Center for Arab and Islamic Studies at the Australian National University. "It can accelerate its relationship with Turkey and Iran, who have already said they are happy to help to compensate for the boycott."
Ankara was ready to help resolve the dispute, said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, while Iranian officials have offered to send food to Qatar by sea.
"Doha would have to clearly shift its foreign policy position and alliances ... Pressure by the Arab alliance could convince the (Qatari) leadership to seek closer relations with Iran and Turkey," Eurasia analysts echoed in a Monday note.
"As a result, Qatar could leave the Gulf Cooperation Council altogether."
The majority of Arab governments have long viewed Iran as an adversary and in 2016, Doha recalled its ambassador to the Persian nation amid a major rift between Riyadh and Tehran. But recent months have seen Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani go against Riyadh's wishes by warming up to Tehran — in a conversation with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani last week, Al-Thani said he wanted bilateral liaisons to be stronger than ever.
Doha, Qatar.Getty Images
Qatar and Iran also share management of the world's largest gas field, South Pars, in the Persian Gulf.
But if Al-Thani cozies up to Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan and Rouhani, as predicted, that may further inflame regional tensions.
"Turkish diplomatic efforts with Riyadh would face challenges because Ankara and Riyadh would struggle to find common ground on the Muslim Brotherhood issue, since the Justice and Development Party ( Erdoğan's party) is perfectly aligned with Doha on it," Eurasia said.
Meanwhile, friendlier Doha-Tehran links could impact Al-Thani's alliance with Washington.
"That will place the U.S. in a serious dilemma. The U.S. has major military bases in Qatar but at the same time, it wants to maintain close ties with Saudi Arabia," said Saikal. Qatar's Al Udeid Air Base hosts 11,000 American personnel and is one of Washington's largest military bases in the Middle East.
Tehran may also look to strategically benefit from the Gulf fall-out.
The Islamic republic has been worried about the creation of an "Arab-NATO" as President Donald Trump seeks to unite Muslim countries against Tehran but the current Saudi-Qatar quarrel provides relief to Tehran, Ahmad Majidyar, a fellow with the Middle East Institute, a Washington-based think-tank, said in a Monday note.
During a visit to Riyadh last month, the U.S. president urged Arab governments to isolate Iran, a nation that "fueled the fires of sectarian conflict and terror," and called on nations to fight terrorism — comments that many believe helped spark the current Gulf crisis.
"Tehran views the heightening tension between Qatar and other regional Arab powers as an opportunity to weaken the Gulf Cooperation Council and the U.S.-Arab alliance created during Trump's last trip to Riyadh to fight terrorism and counter Iran and its proxies in the region," Majidyar said.
Iranian state-run media has been urging the Rouhani government to exploit inter-Arab rivalry to weaken the anti-Iran alliance, he continued.
However, it may be too early to jump to conclusions, Majidyar stated, noting how Riyadh and Doha have previously resolved disputes through dialogue.
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67ba76ee8c7c2ab604300b731a3d9366 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/05/restaurant-sales-gain-ground-in-second-quarter-big-boost-in-burgers.html | Restaurant sales gain ground in second quarter with big boost in burgers | Restaurant sales gain ground in second quarter with big boost in burgers
A waitress delivers sushi orders at Masa Hibachi Steakhouse & Sushi in Silver Spring, Maryland.Bill O'Leary | The Washington Post | Getty Images
Things could be looking up for the restaurant industry, especially for fast-food chains.
New products and promotions helped boost same-store sales growth so far in the second quarter, according to Wall Street analysts.
"About two-thirds of the way through the second quarter, U.S. chain quick-service restaurant same-store sales appear to have improved by about 30 to 50 basis points sequentially from those of the first quarter as a whole," Mark Kalinowski, a Nomura-Instinet analyst, wrote in a research note Monday.
In May alone, Baird analyst David Tarantino said, same-store sales grew more than the 1.3 percent growth seen in the first quarter and slightly more than the 1.5 percent growth in March and April.
Kalinowski said the burger segment, in particular, is expected to hit is highest same-store sales growth since first quarter 2016.
Value promotions and innovative menu items have been a boon for these chains. McDonald's, in particular, will likely see same-store sales growth in the U.S. of 2.2 percent because of its new Signature Craft Recipes and the "$1 any size soft drink" promotion, Kalinowski said.
Kalinowski also forecasts that Wendy's will see same-store sales growth in North America hit 3 percent, aided by its Fresh Mozzarella Chicken Sandwich and its Baconator promotions.
However, he said the burger segment is lapping easy comparisons this quarter because same-store sales a year ago were weaker than analysts had expected.
For the fast-food "other" segment, which Kalinowski defines as all fast-food excluding burger, sandwich and pizza concepts, same-store sales are about the same as they were in the first quarter.
"While this may not be all that exciting on the face of it, it could imply a solid quarter for the Taco Bell and KFC concepts owned by Yum Brands," he said.
Kalinowski said that Taco Bell's Naked Chicken Chips promotion could bump Taco Bell's domestic same-store sales up 3 percent for the quarter. Similarly, product innovation at KFC, like its new Zinger chicken sandwich, could result in a 2 percent rise in same-store sales for the chicken chain.
In the pizza category, restaurants are facing rising cheese prices. According to Peter Saleh, a BTIG analyst, cheese prices are up 25 percent since mid-March and are likely to remain at this level for the rest of the year.
"We believe rising cheese prices leads to more rational promotions across the category, similar to what the industry experienced in the summer and fall last year, and expect this dynamic will occur again in the coming months," Saleh wrote in a research note Monday. "We believe a lessening of promotional intensity will lead to relatively stronger same-store sales for concepts that have more premium positioning such as Papa John's."
Saleh said chains like Domino's and Pizza Hut, which rely more heavily on promotions, will see weaker same-store sales than o Papa John's.
"We are reassured by some preliminary signs that year-over-year demand trends may be improving modestly as the industry cycles some of the headwinds that we think dampened demand during most of 2016," Tarantino wrote in a research note Monday.
The restaurant industry struggled with weak sales and traffic throughout 2016, coming to a head in December when same-store sales growth was the worst of the year.
In January, analysts at the NPD Group expected quick-service chains to see traffic grow by about 1 percent, while visits to full-service chains are anticipated to fall 2 percent.
Similarly, Technomic analysts expected that sales at full-service restaurants would grow about 3.5 percent for 2016 and 2017. Adjusted for inflation, the real growth was estimated to be about 0.8 percent.
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a804c4540a3e8039dcf2fd84fed1335b | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/05/wwdc-2017-apple-music-hits-27-million-paid-subscribers.html | Apple Music hits 27 million paid subscribers | Apple Music hits 27 million paid subscribers
VIDEO1:3801:38Your iPhone is about to change, here’s howDigital Original
Apple's music-streaming service has 27 million paid subscribers, the company said on Monday.
That means it's gaining ground but still lags Spotify, which in March said it had over 50 million subscribers.
Apple also unveiled a slew of new Apple Music features on Monday, as part of Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center in California. The conference gathers Apple developers and executives to reveal changes to platforms and operating systems, such as iOS or HomeKit.
Users will soon be able to see what their friends are listening to, depending on whether their profiles are public or private. Developers can also build apps with the full Apple Music service — something companies that Nike and Shazam have already taken advantage of, according to Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president of software engineering.
The 2-year-old service, which starts at $9.99 per month at its regular price, got a refresh last year. The facelift included displays of song lyrics, chart-toppers, live radio, concerts, recently played songs and curated playlists.
The new features are being announced as top Apple Music executive Bozoma Saint John is reportedly leaving Apple.
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afd4cb709715e112c80b82920f2107e0 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/06/israels-high-tech-diplomacy-in-africa-netanyahu-water-gen.html | Israel’s high-tech diplomacy in Africa | Israel’s high-tech diplomacy in Africa
Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu greet people during his arrival at James Spriggs Payne Airport in Monrovia, Liberia on June 04, 2017.Handout | Prime Ministry of Israel | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Israel is paying renewed attention to Africa over the last few years, not only as a diplomatic arena and an area of cooperation on security but also as an increasingly important market for its companies, with an emphasis on high-tech.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended the West African economic community summit in Liberia over the weekend, less than a year after he toured East Africa, and he's due to attend another summit in Togo before the end of the year.
While Netanyahu has said that he hopes improved relations with Africa will prop up Israel's diplomatic position at international forums such as the United Nations, that effort seems to be supported by, and go hand in hand with, an economic drive. In Liberia, Israeli solar power company Energiya Global announced a $20 million investment in a new solar field to supply electricity.
Netanyahu last September also attended a special "Israeli technology and innovation for Africa" event at the UN in New York at which Israeli high-tech companies stalled out their wares in front of heads of states and other representatives.
Africa is expected to account for 50 percent of the world's population growth through 2050, currently has the fastest growing middle class and saw an explosive 58 percent mobile broadband growth rate from 2015 to 2016, according to 2016 a PwC report entitled, Disrupting Africa: Riding the wave of the digital revolution.
Among the Israeli companies presenting in New York last year were life sciences firm MobileODT, which makes devices and networked solutions that allow medical diagnostics using mobile phones and Water-gen, which makes devices that literally make clean drinking water from the air. MobileODT is currently active in Africa while Water-gen sees great opportunities, with 40 percent of the population of sub-Saharan Africa living in water scarce environments.
MobileODT's CEO and founder, Ariel Beery is enthusiastic about bringing his products to Africa. It started with largely aid-based projects, supported by the hospital systems his company does business with in the US and by local Rotary clubs and Save the Children but now he markets directly to African countries.
"I think there is an amazing range of opportunity, despite the fact that the market moves still a little bit slower than Western and Northern markets, the African continent is an exceptional place for companies to grow in," says Beery. One of the continent's advantages is that it is able to "leapfrog" to new technology because older, more established, and more expensive, systems are often not in place.
In Africa, MobileODT currently sells a device it calls EVA, for enhanced visual assessment, that in combination with a mobile phone can be used by non-expert medical staff to detect either cervical cancer or oral cancer or can be used for sexual assault documentation. It sends the information to centralized servers and follows up on the patient's progress.
"With a technology such ours, which is small, affordable and significantly more powerful than existing medical devices because of its connectivity and ability for collaboration and database management and machine-learning, while the United States is an interested market and we're able to sell pretty regularly there, in Africa the potential to impact is so much more significant," says Beery.
Water-gen also has big plans for Africa once it starts mass production of its devices to make water from the air later this year. Executive chairman Maxim Pasik says that his company is currently talking to African partners to start selling the devices on the continent. He sees opportunities both in the form of aid projects and selling to governments.
"The most important is through government projects. The people don't have a lot of money but the governments still needs to provide water to drink because drinking water means stability for the country," says Pasik. He also sees a big role for the UN and the World Bank in helping to bring clean drinking water to African populations.
His company's products are ideal for Africa, he says because they can be installed anywhere, can run even on solar energy and are cheap in use. "We created a system that is affordable for Africa and the rest of the developing world. Energy consumption is very low, it's around 300 watts per liter of clean drinking water. And the quality of the water, it's the cleanest water you can have. There's zero chance of having bacteria inside."
He's convinced his product can help prevent millions of deaths from unhealthy drinking water and says that the company went out of its way to make it affordable, also in acquisition. Yet at the UN meeting last year in New York, people weren't easily convinced, he says.
"I think the people in New York didn't understand the potential for it, because it's new," says Pasik. He says he gets a lot of strange looks when he tells people that he's making water out of air. He hopes to get more involvement from NGO's. "They need to understand this is the solution for drinking water."
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702cc9012a71162179b106f0bdf9f1f1 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/06/shark-tank-fitdeck-fitness-card-game.html | Phil Black has quite the resume. He's in the tank to pitch FitDeck, an exercise-based card game, and the Sharks could not be more impressed... with his career path.
Black says the idea for FitDeck came from a push-up card game (then known as 'P.U.G.') that he invented while a student at Yale University. After P.U.G. became a "campus-wide sensation at Yale," Black took a quick detour after graduation as an investment banker at none other than Goldman Sachs.
But Black's high-achiever journey didn't stop there. He then "came to his senses" and spent six years as a Navy Seal! Once again, P.U.G. reigned supreme -- this time among his Navy pals who, despite having the best fitness practices at their disposal, preferred Black's card game.
If all that wasn't impressive enough, the Sharks are then flabbergasted when they learn Black followed his Navy career by enrolling in Harvard Business School!
Black's accomplishments are enough to make us (and the Sharks) rightly wonder: "What have I done with my life?"
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882eca6352a01da36221708cbecc4077 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/06/shark-tanks-daymond-john-reveals-5-tips-to-get-rich-as-a-millionaire.html | Daymond John of ‘Shark Tank’ reveals 5 principles that can help anyone become a millionaire | Daymond John of ‘Shark Tank’ reveals 5 principles that can help anyone become a millionaire
Daymond John is nothing if not tenacious, and it's that determination that allowed the founder of FUBU to take a shoestring budget and wield it to eventually create an urban streetwear brand worth $6 billion.
But the road John traveled en route to becoming a serial entrepreneur and an investor on the hit ABC show Shark Tank was filled with false starts: being $16,000 in the hole after throwing a party on a boat that few people showed up to; losing the first $800 he ever made to pay for car repairs after a crash; sinking nearly $100,000 into a makeshift factory during FUBU's earliest days, while still unsure he could fill his first round of orders.
What John learned as he gradually built a billion-dollar clothing line is that sometimes your best work comes when your back is against the wall, a lesson he distilled into his 2016 book, The Power of Broke. In this case, sometimes literally being broke can be the jump-start an entrepreneur needs.
"It makes you work things out and figure things out and get it done without the tool of money giving you a superficial high," John said.
Today, when he's not considering pitches as the "People's Shark," he's sharing his lessons of business success through a series of online classes called Daymond on Demand. But as John will tell you, the key elements of any successful venture haven't changed, even if times have. He calls them his five SHARK Points, and he said they're just as relevant today as they were when he launched FUBU in the 1990s.
By age 16, John had told himself he'd be a millionaire by age 30. But when he turned 22, he was broke and struggling to make a buck by buying and selling cars.
"I didn't know how to properly execute goal-setting. It's not just visualizing of a number or a certain age," said John.
When the idea for FUBU came along, he decided to reshape the goal he set for himself in high school. Instead of committing to making a million dollars by age 30, John instead made it his goal to outfit the hip-hop culture. Designing a clothing line became less about earning money and more about dedicating himself to a community — one that he thought would turn into future consumers.
"My goal became doing the best I can for the company I love," John said. "The goal changed to my dedication: I want to dress people and enrich their lives, and in return I will hopefully be compensated."
After sneaking his way into a menswear conference in Las Vegas, John proudly showed off early prototypes of T-shirts emblazoned with the logo of his budding company, FUBU, an acronym that means "For Us, By Us." He secured $300,000 worth of orders, and after his mother took out an equity line on their house in Queens, he took $100,000 to outfit a factory to get production going.
Just one problem: He hadn't done any research on what it would cost to start a clothing line and get production going. In the process, he nearly lost his mom's house and ended FUBU before it got off the ground.
Knowing what you need to launch a venture is something John stresses to the hopefuls who appear before him on Shark Tank. He has to see that an entrepreneur looking for funding has done their work to know what their market is and who their competitors are — and that they've used that knowledge to not only start driving sales but also improve on their track record.
"I have to see sales and some proof of concept, and what they learned when they sold 100 units so they can come back and sell 1,000 units," John said. "I need to see somebody at some level where their idea isn't just a theory, because if it's only a theory, then you're using my money as tuition."
VIDEO1:4601:46How I Made It: Daymond John and the Power of BrokeMake It
A true entrepreneur must love what they're doing, a seemingly trite lesson that John said is crucial for any successful entrepreneur. It's passion for a project that will allow a person to push past failures and feeling burned out.
It was John's love of his new company that helped him persevere when he was just starting his business. But after three months of running FUBU, he had sold $30 million worth of clothing.
"Do what you love, and success will follow. Money may follow; I can't promise that it will," he said. "But money's more likely to follow when you're doing something you love, because you'll do it for 10 years or 20 years."
These days it's easy to manufacture a personality using social media. But building a business is as much about how you carry yourself as it is about meeting quarterly sales figures or developing new products. Be transparent and honest about what you want from the business and your employees will follow your example.
"Be very honest with yourself, especially today with social media. At any given time, your employees can see you," John said. "So you have to know what the DNA of the brand is. It only takes your employees two weeks to treat your customers the same way they're being treated."
John's rule: See if you can describe who you are in two to five words.
John's final SHARK Point makes use of what he calls the power of positive thinking. Even as FUBU grew into a bigger company, he maintained a "healthy paranoia" about running a clothing company.
"I always said fashion brands are hot for five years and then they're gone," he said.
But keeping a persevering attitude spurred him to come up with solutions to problems instead of giving up. As John wrote in The Power of Broke: "You have to be relentless, nimble, moving ever forward. No matter what."
Disclosure: CNBC owns the exclusive off-network cable rights to Shark Tank.
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a2ea38045b17f2f5f25b9da7fdd9d64b | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/07/lenders-hit-the-brakes-on-subprime-auto-loans.html | Lenders hit the brakes on subprime auto loans | Lenders hit the brakes on subprime auto loans
A Ford dealership in Detroit.Getty Images
Lenders and finance companies have dramatically pulled back the number of loans they issue to borrowers with the poorest credit records.
A new report by Experian shows the number of loans written in the first quarter for borrowers with subprime and deep subprime credit ratings fell to a 10-year low. Collectively, auto-loan originations in those two categories dropped 8.6 percent in the first quarter.
"It does appear the industry is policing itself a little bit more," said Melinda Zabritski, Experian senior director of financial solutions. "We started to see delinquencies go up, and lenders really seemed to respond especially in Q1 of this year by tightening up a little bit."
The pullback in loans to those with credit scores under 600 echoes reports from auto dealers about lenders tightening credit standards.
In its monthly dealer survey, UBS found almost a third of the dealers questioned reported tighter credit standards, the highest level measured in the survey since 2009.
Despite the slowdown in new loans to subprime and deep subprime borrowers, those with the poorest credit ratings still owe more than $213 billion on the vehicles they're driving, just under 20 percent of the $1.08 trillion owed on open auto loans.
Last week, Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard warned about the potential for more subprime auto loan defaults.
"Underwriting appears to be quite lax last year in subprime auto lending," said Brainard. "Delinquencies rates suggest some borrowers are struggling to keep up with payments."
The latest data from Experian supports Brainard's point. In the first quarter, the 60-day delinquency rate jumped almost 10 percent, according to Experian. By comparison, the 30-day delinquency rate fell 6 percent.
Still, with fewer than 1 percent of all auto loans being two months delinquent, Zabritski believes warnings about a subprime bubble suddenly popping are overstated.
"I don't believe we are in a catastrophic state," she said. "Everyone always talks about lenders having short memories and forgetting from the past, but again we really started to see that pullback and it just really continued into the first quarter."
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660a431edea6cc39d99609f8b3117c1d | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/07/malaysian-anti-graft-body-to-probe-corruption-claims-at-felda-global-ventures.html | Malaysian anti-graft body to probe corruption claims at Felda Global Ventures | Malaysian anti-graft body to probe corruption claims at Felda Global Ventures
A management crisis at Malaysia's Felda Global Ventures Holdings (FGV) deepened on Wednesday with the national anti-graft agency saying it will soon investigate several company officials for alleged corruption and abuse of power.
The board of FGV, the world's third-largest palm plantation operator, suspended its chief executive and chief financial officer on Tuesday as it investigates transactions at a subsidiary.
A worker walks through a palm oil plantation in Johor, Malaysia.Goh Seng Chong | Bloomberg | Getty Images
CEO Zakaria Arshad has denied wrongdoing and refused to step down as instructed by chairman Mohd Isa Abdul Samad, according to a letter seen by Reuters. Zakaria had called on the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to conduct its own investigation.
The anti-corruption agency is looking into FGV following Tuesday's developments and an investigation will be opened as soon as possible, MACC deputy chief commissioner Azam Baki told Reuters on Wednesday.
"We are looking into claims of graft and possible abuse of power involving several officials," he said, declining to name the officials or give specifics on the claims.
Azam said he will be meeting Zakaria on Wednesday to seek his assistance in the probe.
Shares of FGV fell about 1 percent initially on Wednesday before rebounding to be up 2.5 percent. They had declined 6 percent on Tuesday, falling at one point to their lowest in five months.
"The news is bad to FGV and it may derail FGV's restructuring efforts," TA Securities said in a research note following Zakaria's suspension.
"We believe there could be more negative news in the near future with regards to efficiency and integrity of the group," it said.
Zakaria was perceived by FGV shareholders as someone who was focused on restructuring efforts and improving the share value, according to industry analysts.
He took over in April last year from Mohd Emir Mavani Abdullah, who was replaced after a failed controversial deal in 2015 to buy a stake in Indonesian palm oil firm PT Eagle High Plantations.
Since then, Zakaria has said FGV will rationalise its operations to address its "structural and financial issues."
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b74fc0679ff964f26bb5f4cc16b23aca | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/07/okta-shares-rise-as-sales-top-estimates-in-first-report-since-ipo.html | Okta shares rise as sales top estimates in first report since IPO | Okta shares rise as sales top estimates in first report since IPO
Okta executives at their IPO at the Nasdaq, April 7, 2017.Source: Nasdaq
Okta reported quarterly results for the first time as a public company on Wednesday, beating analysts' estimates for revenue.
EPS: Excluding certain items, the loss per share was 50 cents vs. a loss of 62 cents as expected by analysts, according to Thomson Reuters.Revenue: $53 million vs. $48.2 million expected by analysts.
Sales in the fiscal first quarter jumped 67 percent from $31.7 million a year earlier. Subscription revenue, which outweighs professional services revenue, climbed 75 percent.
Guidance for the second quarter also topped estimates.
The company expects a net loss of 25 cents to 26 cents a share on sales of $55 million to $56 million. Analysts were looking for a loss of 26 cents on $54 million in revenue.For the 2018 fiscal year, the company says it will post sales of $233 million to $236 million vs. an average estimate of $227 million. Okta also says it will finish with a loss of $1.11 a share to 1.15 a share, while analysts were expecting a loss of $1.18.
Okta shares rose 4.6 percent in after-hours trading to $26.85. The company's stock popped 38 percent in its first day of trading on the Nasdaq in April and, based on the price in extended trading, is up 58 percent since its debut.
Watch: Okta makes public debut
VIDEO3:4003:40Tech unicorn Okta makes public debut on NasdaqSquawk Box
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db56eb9bc1aa5e1bc75f1d4a256d9e76 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/07/self-made-millionaire-arianna-huffington-shares-the-no-1-thing-you-need-to-do-to-be-successful.html | Self-made millionaire Arianna Huffington shares the No. 1 thing you need to do to be successful | Self-made millionaire Arianna Huffington shares the No. 1 thing you need to do to be successful
Connecting with your best ideas, creativity and wisdom requires pulling away from all the connectivity, says Arianna Huffington, media mogul and self-made millionaire.
"My best piece of advice is to make sure that entrepreneurs connect with their own wisdom and creativity, and that's becoming harder and harder because we are so addicted to technology," Huffington says, speaking to CNBC at the iConic conference in New York City Wednesday.
"Seventy percent of people sleep with their phones by their beds; we are constantly engaging in notifications, social media, texts, emails. And yet the most creative moments come when we put all that aside. That's why sometimes people's best ideas come in the shower. So as an entrepreneur, make time for that reflection, ability to connect with your best ideas, and not to be constantly distracted."
Huffington launched her namesake media company in May 2005, and when she sold it in 2013 to AOL for $315 million, she still owned about 6.6 percent of the company, leaving her with $21 million.
She stepped down from her role running the Huffington Post to launch her newest company, Thrive Global, a media start-up focused on spreading the importance of taking care of yourself, getting sleep and unplugging from technology.
I, like millions of other people around the world, had been suffering from the delusion that in order to succeed, we have to burn out.Arianna Huffingtonjournalist, entrepreneur, self-made millionaire
Huffington's journey toward Thrive Global started 10 years ago, two years after launching Huffington Post, when she collapsed from burnout and exhaustion, breaking her cheekbone as she fell.
"That was really the beginning of reevaluating my life and recognizing that I, like millions of other people around the world, had been suffering from the delusion that in order to succeed, we have to burn out," she says.
"And yet all the latest science disproves that. It actually proves that we need time to recharge, to sleep, to unplug from technology, and I became such a passionate evangelist for this message."
More from iCONIC:
A dream boss who pays for his workers' weddings and their kids' college tuitionFlywheel CEO, former Nike exec on what she learned from getting fired twice in her 20sDaymond John's 5 best Shark Tank deals
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cb98830322cc70f76dbbe05e76bcb159 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/07/shark-tank-star-daymond-john-macys-can-compete-with-amazon.html | Shark Tank star Daymond John: This is how Macy's can compete with Amazon | Shark Tank star Daymond John: This is how Macy's can compete with Amazon
VIDEO5:5705:57Shark Tank's Daymond John on the state of retailClosing Bell
Shark Tank star investor Daymond John turned $40 worth of fabric into a $6 billion urban clothing brand. Now the retail and branding guru has a solution for Macy's precipitous decline: Turn Macy's into a gamified destination.
Legacy retail brands have been losing sales to the speed and convenience of e-commerce, a space being redefined by Amazon.
"Macy's can become the Disney World of retail if they are just willing to change the game," said John, speaking with CNBC from the iCONIC conference in New York City on Wednesday.
"First of all, they have one of the most iconic names in the world, and I think they are in one of the most iconic places in the world, and I think they can come up and be a Disneyland."
To do that, Macy's needs to turn its flagship New York City store on 34th Street into a place where people go to have fun. Then it needs to make sure that it gets the word out about how fun it is at its headquarters.
"You have a physical location; bodies are going to be there. Then content has to be produced out of that location about how people are having the most amazing time in the world in that location," says John. "That has to be spread all over the globe."
People want to go someplace where there is a lifestyle and there is something where they are going to FEEL a different way.Daymond JohnShark Tank star and founder of FUBU
As the story of the experience spreads, Macy's would be able to charge more for its products because of the reputation surrounding the brand.
"Then you have to be able to upsell people on being a member of that location, even if they are in Japan or Taiwan or India and you want that to be a destination," John said.
To maintain the mystique and cache of arriving at the destination, Macy's should provide goods and experiences that are specific to that location.
"When they get there, they are going to get things there that they can't see anyplace else in the world, and then you are going to have a different version of that to sell to people through social media and product integration and things of that nature," John said. "Movies should be shot there."
As e-commerce becomes increasingly prevalent, retail stores with a physical location — and the associated costs — need to give consumers a feeling when they get to the store. If there isn't the additional value of an exciting experience, then customers will default to Amazon, he said.
"People are getting more impatient with time," John said, explaining that if a customer can order what they need from their couch, they will.
"People want to go someplace where there is a lifestyle and there is something where they are going to FEEL a different way. If not, I can just have the product shipped to my house and I don't even have to go to the store."
More from iCONIC: Flywheel CEO, former Nike exec on what she learned from getting fired twice in her 20sArianna Huffington shares the No. 1 thing you need to do to be successful The latest artisanal food fad: An organic farm-to-table hot sauce
VIDEO1:0101:01The biggest lesson the Flywheel CEO learned from getting firedIconic Tour
Disclaimer: CNBC owns the exclusive off-network cable rights to "Shark Tank."
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5516e7e4d95047d0da745528bebc4968 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/07/terror-attacks-are-weighing-on-european-consumers-adidas-ceo.html | Terror attacks are weighing on European consumers: Adidas CEO | Terror attacks are weighing on European consumers: Adidas CEO
VIDEO1:2301:23Terror attacks are weighing on European consumers: Adidas CEOSquawk Alley
Adidas' CEO told CNBC on Wednesday that terror attacks in Europe are taking a toll on consumers on the continent.
Kasper Rorsted said that while his company has outperformed in the retail sector and has managed to buck the overall downward trend, Adidas' current numbers are reflective of European consumer concern.
Uncertainty over this week's U.K. election, the British exit from the European Union and the upcoming German vote is also weighing on consumers.
"You are seeing fairly conservative consumer sentiment which is also impacting the overall consumer spending," Rorsted told CNBC.
"We're not really seeing any optimism flowing through, and the recent terrorist attacks are clearly setting a mark on consumers."
The recent decline in German-American relations after mutual recriminations between President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel is another headwind.
Still, the CEO stressed the importance of Europe's connection to the United States.
"I think most Europeans feel emotionally very connected to the U.S.," Rorsted said. "I think emotionally it's a very difficult period of time."
He said Germany-based Adidas is focusing on the positives. "We're a global company. We've created 13,000 jobs in the U.S., which we have today." He says the key, though, is figuring out how — as a business — to operate in these two potentially separate environments.
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1099c466cbc455791a5e469611826a59 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/07/uber-used-stock-based-comp-algorithm-paying-women-less-report.html | Uber reportedly used an algorithm to pay new hires less — reinforcing a gender pay gap | Uber reportedly used an algorithm to pay new hires less — reinforcing a gender pay gap
Travis Kalanick, Co-founder and CEO of Uber.David Orrell | CNBC
Uber used an algorithm to optimize its compensation offers to new hires, in an effort to protect existing shareholders and save money, according to The Information.
But the algorithm both reinforced existing gender pay gaps, and led to uneven pay for similar roles — which created turmoil inside the company, unnamed sources told The Information in a report published on Wednesday.
More than half of Uber's new hires last year took a pay cut to join the company, The Information reported, many hoping the value of their stake in the start-up would grow as it rapidly expanded. But Uber's share prices have stalled, and executives have reportedly become more aggressive in keeping existing shareholders from having their stakes diluted.
The algorithm system is now being altered, according to The Information. Uber was not immediately available to comment on the report.
The revelation of the algorithm comes as the company is investigating accusations of sexual harassment and gender bias within the company.
For more on the story, see the full article at The Information.com.
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ae866418470d85a5e22b2318ec9d1857 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/07/who-is-christopher-wray-donald-trump-nominates-new-fbi-boss.html | Who is Christopher Wray? Donald Trump picks new FBI boss | Who is Christopher Wray? Donald Trump picks new FBI boss
VIDEO1:2901:29Trump tweets that he'll nominate Christopher Wray for FBI postSquawk Box
Christopher A. Wray, President Donald Trump's pick to succeed James Comey as FBI director, led the federal investigation of Enron and represented Gov. Chris Christie in the Bridgegate scandal.
In a tweet Wednesday morning, Trump said Wray had "impeccable credentials."
Trump tweet: I will be nominating Christopher A. Wray, a man of impeccable credentials, to be the new Director of the FBI. Details to follow.
Wray was nominated by President George W. Bush as assistant attorney general in charge of the Criminal Division, according to the Justice Department. He held that job from 2003 to 2005.
Wray, a Yale Law School graduate, served on the President's Corporate Fraud Task Force and oversaw the Enron Task Force and other major fraud investigations, according to the Washington law firm King & Spaulding, where he is a litigation partner.
The FBI says the Enron probe was the "largest and most complex white-collar investigation" in the agency's history.
Wray specializes in white collar law and internal investigations, according to the Justice Department site. He represented the New Jersey governor in the scandal surrounding the closing of lanes on the George Washington Bridge in 2013 as a way to attack political opponents. Christie was never charged but two of his allies were convicted.
Christopher WrayRon Edmonds | AP
Before Wray became an assistant attorney general at the Justice Department, he was principal associate deputy attorney General.
Trump fired the last director of the FBI, James Comey, as he was overseeing an investigation into links between the Trump presidential campaign and the Kremlin.
Trump's announcement came the day before Comey appears before the Senate Intelligence Committee. In the highly anticipated hearing, Comey will almost certainly be asked whether Trump tried to get him to back off a probe into former national security advisor Michael Flynn.
Trump's tweet also came just hours before acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe and other top intelligence officials testify before the committee. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats will likely be asked about a Washington Post report that he told associates that Trump asked him if he could persuade Comey to ease off Flynn.
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9e7d38f00e5e77ac41f508658b4bef5e | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/08/comeytrump-had-shifting-explanations-on-firing-but-it-had-to-do-with-russia.html | Comey: Trump had 'shifting explanations' on my firing, but it had to do with Russia | Comey: Trump had 'shifting explanations' on my firing, but it had to do with Russia
Former FBI Director James Comey is sworn in while testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill June 8, 2017 in Washington, DC.Getty Images
Former FBI Director James Comey testified Thursday was"confused" by President Donald Trump's "shifting explanations" about his firing, but he believes his termination was related to Russia.
Testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Comey said he did not clearly understand why he was fired, but he takes the president "at his word" and that it has "something to do" with the FBI's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Trump also had said that the FBI director had lost the agency's confidence, an assertion which Comey said were "lies, plain and simple."
VIDEO4:0504:05James Comey: Trump administration chose to defame me and the FBISquawk on the Street
"And I am so sorry that the FBI workforce had to hear them," Comey said. "And I'm so sorry that the American people were told them."
Comey defended the FBI on Thursday, promising the American people that the agency maintains its independence. He appealed to his former colleagues, saying he was "sorry" he did not get the chance to say goodbye "properly."
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cf33ec7eddec36423de2f2a4f417ef91 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/08/dry-your-tears-information-security-experts-tell-you-what-to-do-after-wannacry-and-to-protect-your-future.html | Dry your tears: Information security experts tell you what to do after WannaCry and to protect your future | Dry your tears: Information security experts tell you what to do after WannaCry and to protect your future
The global WannaCry ransomware attack was the talk of this year’s InfoSec trade show in London, U.K., 6-8 June, where 13,500 experts gathered.Simon Dawson | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The WannaCry ransomware cyber-attack that hit 300,000 victims in 150 countries recently was the talk of this week's huge information security (InfoSec) trade show in London, where 13,500 experts and 360 exhibitors gathered on June 6-8 to debate the latest threats and countermeasures in the on-going battle between cyber attackers and defenders.
WannaCry is a particular type of malicious software (malware) that locks files on a computer and demands payment to unlock them, hence its ransomware sub-set name. The Europol European police agency described the recent attack as "unprecedented" and retired U.S. Admiral and ex-NATO commander, James Stavridis, told CNBC it was a "pandemic" and very "worrisome."
Delegates at this week's InfoSec trade show in London talked to CNBC about what companies can do the protect themselves in future and the lessons that can be learnt from the WannaCry attack.
How to protect a financial institution (FI), "where the money lives" and to institute an effective cybersecurity policy at a new financial technology (fintech) disruptor such as Bristol-based robo-advisor Hargreaves Lansdown are also discussed in these expert interviews.
Adrian Asher, chief information security officer (CISO), London Stock Exchange (LSE) Group:
"The best way to fight WannaCry, or indeed any ransomware, is to do the basic protection methods well. Have a good upfront anti-virus system, then patching and back-up procedures in place. Beyond that you also need to think about the 'three lines of defense' model that has traditionally been used to mitigate risk."
"The Bank of England endorsed this 'three defensive lines' model last year in its Senior Managers Regime (SMR) update," continues Asher. "This requires risk responsibilities, including cyber risk, to be assigned to specific individuals within a clearly defined risk management structure."
The 'three lines' are:
A primary function that owns and manages everyday risk. According to Asher this "would be the IT development team and information security (infosec) team at an FI working together" to ensure secure coding, good practice and that the basics are being followed.A secondary specialist supervisory risk management and/or compliance function that will check policy, oversee good practice and so on.Finally, a tertiary function needs to deliver internal and external auditing of procedures and provide independent oversight.
"It's important to have a multilayered, deep defensive posture and not to rely on a single perimeter approach," adds Asher. "This is the best way to protect your company."
VIDEO1:0001:00WannaCry attack a huge screw up by the US government: Wikipedia founderSquawk Box Europe
In regard to the specific cybersecurity demands on a chief information security officer (CISO) at a large FI or financial market infrastructure (FMI) as the London Stock Exchange (LSE) Group is, Asher says that "unique regulatory and custodial duties rightly apply when you are looking after people's money". This can mean, however, that you are a natural target for criminals or nation state actors that want to disrupt a rival country because it is "where the money lives".
"It is good in some ways, however, because it means you always have the full support of the boardroom and cybersecurity is at the top of the agenda for FI directors and mentioned at every board meeting. This makes the job easier," says Asher, who was previously the CISO at Skype and other organizations where cybersecurity is of course mentioned but perhaps not supported as fully.
Jonathan Kidd, CISO, Hargreaves Lansdown:
"I agree that good patching and back-up procedures that you regularly test are important in the fight against WannaCry or any other malware," says fellow FI CISO Kidd of Bristol-based Hargreaves Lansdown, a fintech wealth manager that follows the robo-advisor model where machines suggest investments and manage accounts, rather than humans.
"Good data hygiene is also important and everyday practices like, for instance, ensuring all ports and nodes are closed so that there isn't a 'back door' easy way for ransomware to get into your systems. If you need to rely on your back-up facilities then you've gone wrong already."
VIDEO4:0104:01WannaCry attack a worldwide wake up call: Sophos CEOSquawk Box Europe
"I should stress WannaCry didn't impact Hargreaves Lansdown and we were never at risk. A couple of days after the attack I had hundreds of our corporate clients checking to see if we'd been hit as part of their response procedure to check for any vulnerabilities in their financial supply chain. This is also good practice. I've been doing the same thing myself in the wake of the attack. Combine good practice like this, with doing the basics well and good threat intelligence, and your business should be safe."
Fintech cybersecurity
In regard to the role of an FI CISO, and if there are any differences between a fintech firm that wants to displace an incumbent financial services (FS) operator and established players, Kidd does admit there is a different threat landscape if you handle money.
"You're naturally a target," he says and this necessitates "stronger than usual IT, cyber and risk procedures to fight back about fraud or data attacks", which are frequent against any FI.
"Integrated systems that can share intelligence without being restricted by legacy IT that is siloed to particular departments, imprints or subject to any other restrictions is also important," says Kidd, in reference to how older large banks, wealth managers and other FIs that own several different brands under one umbrella often struggle to integrate alert systems across aging IT estates.
"This legacy problem isn't something fintechs suffer from," he says. "As a new start-up company that want to use technology to offer a better service at a cheaper operational running cost we get to choose a new technology stack that is agile, so it can scale up or down to meet demand and new additions can be more easily added in the future."
"We can also train our new employees in what good practice looks like from the get go. Retraining staff and encouraging good user behavior is always more difficult if you have to do it retrospectively."
VIDEO4:1304:13Should companies pay the ransom in WannaCry cyberattack?Closing Bell
Hargreaves Lansdown plans to open a new technology hub in Warsaw, Poland, this summer with 50 people who will work on IT development projects in conjunction with colleagues at the Bristol, U.K. headquarters. "I need to educate them in our agile development techniques where continuous innovation is demanded, alongside a requirement to practice safe coding, follow best practice and always think about cybersecurity in any new development, without slowing down its delivery," says Kidd.
He does admit that there is nothing to prevent good cybersecurity at an incumbent FI. Indeed most retail or investment banks, insurers or wealth managers have good cybersecurity because they are handling money. "A good security culture and boardroom backing are the key ingredients in protecting any firm, whatever its functions," he concludes.
Frank Downs, senior manager, cyber & information security, ISACA, an international trade body:
"I think you can learn lessons out of the reaction to WannaCry. There was a 'holier than thou' attitude from some companies that weren't caught out," says ISACA's Frank Downs. "Blame was almost placed on those affected because they simply didn't have good enough patching, data hygiene or back-up functions but that is wrong. People should be aware it may just have been a case of 'there but for the grace of god go I' and WannaCry could have hit them too."
"Some firms, especially if they have older systems, might have had to run a patch overnight when it first hit because they couldn't have downtime during the operational working day. Or perhaps they were caught out due to old legacy IT systems? This isn't a failure of the information security (infosec) professional charged with protecting the company or of procedures. It's an old IT problem." Responsibility sits with the Board.
Professor Angela Sasse, Director of U.K. Research Institute for the Science of Cyber Security:
The ISACA viewpoint that old technology can be the problem is something that Professor Sasse agrees with. As she said during a keynote session looking at user behavior at the InfoSec 2017 trade show conference stream in London on 6 June: "Half of all security problems are due to crap IT! Invest in new systems."
Speaking exclusively to CNBC afterwards, as the other interviewees did, Sasse added that her "key take-away from WannaCry was never to pay the ransom and always to back-up because at least then you can recover data, even if you do have to suffer disruption. No files are lost and it means you don't have to pay."
In addition to her role as Director of the U.K. Research Institute for the Science of Cyber Security (RISCS), which is funded by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) that is part of GCHQ, the U.K. equivalent of America's NSA, Sasse is a Fellow of the U.K. Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng). She is also Professor of Human-Centred Technology in the Department of Computer Science at University College London (UCL). The latter day job is focused on examining user behavior and its crucial role in ensuring cyber security.
VIDEO1:4301:43'WannaCry' malware holds computer systems for ransomSquawk on the Street
"I've spoken to a number of people and firms for my university-related research, who I cannot name, but they've jokingly referred to the good 'customer service' they received from ransomware attackers in the past. But you should never pay because that is never the end of it. Your details will end up on the dark web, shared around by cyber-criminals and the disruption will just continue on and on, so never pay. If you back-up you won't have to."
"In regard to the front-end, the requirement is to have effective malware protection and to invest in decent technology and education," she continued. "Business people in the Boardroom need to understand how investment decisions, or the lack of them, have knock-on impacts. It's the same for critical national infrastructures – look at the National Health Service (NHS) in the U.K., which was adversely affected by WannaCry due to historic underinvestment. You have to keep investing."
Sage advice there from CNBC's impromptu panel of cybersecurity experts. If you follow the above tips then hopefully you won't feel like crying and can protect your business in the future.
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bf49accb9e15cb72fc4c5fc5562ee341 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/08/sap-ceo-bill-mcdermott-on-losing-an-eye-my-accident-changed-my-life-for-the-better.html | SAP CEO Bill McDermott on losing an eye: ‘My accident changed my life for the better’ | SAP CEO Bill McDermott on losing an eye: ‘My accident changed my life for the better’
Bill McDermott, CEO of SAP at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.David A. Grogan | CNBC
SAP chief executive Bill McDermott has said that losing an eye in an accident in 2015 actually made his life better.
"I am living proof that vision is not just what you see. My accident has given me so much strength, so much resolve, so much passion," he told CNBC in an interview for series "The Brave Ones".
McDermott was walking down the stairs at his brother's house in July 2015, holding a glass of water. He slipped and fell, shattering the glass, and a shard went through his left eye.
He described how he managed to get up and out on to the street outside the house where he could call for help, in spite of being unable to see through the blood from his injuries.
"Basically, I wake up from the fall down the stairs. I was knocked unconscious. And I just remember bein' alone. Nobody could hear me…"
VIDEO0:3100:31'Vision is not just what you see, it's what you feel': SAP CEOThe Brave Ones
"You gotta find a way to get up and get out and get on with it. But, you know, when you have, you know, a shard of glass go through your eye, it's pretty hard to save it. I lost the, that particular battle. But I won a bigger one."
He was in surgery for more than nine hours the night of his accident, and had "11 or 12 surgeries by the time it was all done," he said.
McDermott, who returned to work in fall 2015, added that the accident has helped him remain calm in spite of events around him.
"I think I'm the most brave under pressure. When everything is moving fast for everybody else, the field slows down for me. I see it in slow motion… like I can see past the situation and the chaos of the situation and how we're going to get through it.
"My accident changed my life for the better. You fall down stairs and get knocked unconscious and the glass hits all the wrong parts. You've got to find a way to get up. So I don't get rattled by the chaos. I get inspired by beating it back and finding out how gorgeous it is on the other side," he said.
SAP launched a Blockchain-as-a-Service product last month, available to clients in the SAP Cloud. First-quarter operating profit rose 8 percent to 1.198 billion euros ($1.3 billion), it announced in April.
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3955393b07a0203db6e3d8288e3165e8 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/11/gulf-crisis-qatar-finance-minister-ali-shareef-al-emadi-defends-economy.html | Qatar finance minister: 'If we lose a dollar, they will lose a dollar' | Qatar finance minister: 'If we lose a dollar, they will lose a dollar'
VIDEO2:3702:37Qatar is a 'well-diversified economy' says finance ministerSquawk Box Asia
VIDEO3:2803:28Qatar will not let anyone dictate its foreign policy, says ministerSquawk Box Asia
VIDEO2:0202:02Qatar and the US
Doha won't be the sole loser in an ongoing spat between the oil-rich monarchy and seven Middle Eastern governments, warned Qatari Finance Minister Ali Shareef Al Emadi as he stressed his country's resilience to any potential economic shocks.
"A lot of people think we're the only ones to lose in this... if we're going to lose a dollar, they will lose a dollar also," he said in reference to Gulf Cooperation Council nations.
Speaking to CNBC in an exclusive interview, the minister called the political rift "very unfortunate" as it inconvenienced human lives. "Families are being disrupted around these countries."
Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the U.A.E. and Egypt are among the leading Arab governments who cut ties with Doha last week, accusing the oil-rich monarchy of supporting terrorism, as President Donald Trump urges Muslim leaders to take a stronger stance against extremists. The four Arab states have said they would close air and sea transport links with Doha, with Riyadh recently closing its land border.
Qatar is dependent on Gulf neighbors for food imports to feed its 2.5 million strong population — the bulk of which are expatriates — and reports have emerged of panic buying at supermarkets amid fears of a food shortage during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
However, Al Emadi was quick to dismiss those concerns.
Previously, Doha imported food and other goods from places as far as Brazil and Australia so the government will continue that, he said. Whether its Turkey, the Far East or Europe, Doha will ensure that it has enough partners to get things done, he continued.
"We are going to make sure that we are even more diversified than we were before."
Buildings are seen on a coast line in Doha, Qatar June 5, 2017.Reuters
The minister, who is also president of Qatar Airways' executive board, defiantly brushed away concerns of a financial market meltdown. The Doha index tumbled 7.1 percent last week, according to Reuters, while the Qatari riyal has been falling against the greenback on worries of capital outflows.
While the reaction was "understandable," there was no need to worry as Doha has all the tools required to defend its economy and currency, Al Emadi said.
"Our reserves and investment funds are more than 250 percent of gross domestic product, so I don't think there is any reason that people need to be concerned about what's happening or any speculation on the Qatari riyal."
"We are extremely comfortable with our positions, our investments and liquidity in our systems," he continued, adding that he saw no need for the government to step into the market and buy bonds.
"We're still a AA country and we're one of the top 20 or 25 globally on our ratings ... so I think we are very much better than a lot of people around us."
"Qatar is always open for business...We have what it takes to defend if we have to do anything locally."
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8310ef09c1e2b5aed55edee36bc86bde | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/12/aldi-fires-shot-in-u-s-supermarket-wars.html | Aldi fires $3.4 billion shot in US supermarket wars | Aldi fires $3.4 billion shot in US supermarket wars
VIDEO0:4600:46Aldi fires $3.4 billion shot in US supermarket warsNews Videos
German grocery chain Aldi said on Sunday it would invest $3.4 billion to expand its U.S. store base to 2,500 by 2022, raising the stakes for rivals caught in a price war.
Aldi operates 1,600 U.S. stores and earlier this year said it would add another 400 by the end of 2018 and spend $1.6 billion to remodel 1,300 of them.
The investment, which raises Aldi's capital expenditure to at least $5 billion so far this year, comes at a time of intense competition and disruption in the industry.
German rival Lidl will open the first of its 100 U.S. stores on June 15. In May, Lidl said it would price products up to 50 percent lower than rivals.
Wal-Mart Stores, the largest U.S. grocer, is testing lower prices in 11 U.S. states and pushing vendors to undercut rivals by 15 percent. Wal-Mart, the world's biggest retailer, is expected to spend about $6 billion to regain its title as the low-price leader, analysts said.
The furious pace of expansion by Aldi and Lidl is likely to further disrupt the U.S. grocery market, which has seen 18 bankruptcies since 2014. The two chains are also upending established UK grocers like Tesco and Wal-Mart's U.K. arm, ASDA.
In May, Aldi Chief Executive Jason Hart told Reuters the chain intended to have prices at least 21 percent lower than rivals and would focus on adding in-house brands to win over price-sensitive customers.
"We're growing at a time when other retailers are struggling," Hart said in a statement. Hart added that Aldi's prices were also up to 50 percent lower than traditional grocery chains, a move that appeared to follow rival Lidl's announcement on prices.
The latest store expansion will create 25,000 U.S. jobs and make Aldi the third-largest grocery chain operator in the country behind Wal-Mart and Kroger, the German chain said in a statement. Aldi's 2,500 stores would equal about 53 percent of Wal-Mart's U.S. outlets.
"As we continue to expand and grow, our purchasing power continues to increase and allows us to bring products at better prices for consumers," Scott Patton, Aldi's head of corporate buying, said in an interview.
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7456cfafc6a03767492df3304a0409bb | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/12/secret-service-reportedly-has-no-trump-tapes.html | Secret Service reportedly has no Trump tapes | Secret Service reportedly has no Trump tapes
VIDEO1:1501:15Secret Service says no audio recordings made in Trump White HousePower Lunch
If President Donald Trump recorded his White House conversations, the Secret Service does not have copies, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The Secret Service said it does not have "audio copies or transcripts" of any recordings taken within the Trump White House, according to the Journal, which filed a freedom of information request.
That does not rule out another entity having them, the newspaper reported.
Trump said last month that former FBI Director James Comey "better hope that there are no 'tapes'" of their conversations, days after the president abruptly fired Comey. The former FBI chief said that message prompted him to release the contents of memos he wrote about his conversations with Trump.
In those conversations, Comey said, Trump asked him for a loyalty pledge and requested that he end a probe into former national security advisor Michael Flynn. Those explosive allegations have raised questions about whether Trump tried to influence the FBI's probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible ties between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin.
When he testified before the Senate last week, Comey said, "Lordy, I hope there are tapes" of the conversations.
The Secret Service "handled recording systems within the White House for past presidents," according to the Journal.
Trump said at a news conference Friday that he would reveal if he taped the conversations "over a very short period of time."
Read the full Journal report here.
VIDEO1:3101:31Comey on his talks with Trump: Lordy, I hope there are tapesSquawk on the Street
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8dfa08f3508b2cf8d185855e6db3ab8b | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/12/senate-obamacare-reform-bill-due-to-be-finalized-monday-night.html?__source=newsletter%7Cyourmoneyyourvote | Senate's Obamacare reform bill reportedly due to be finalized Monday night, but no plans to show public yet | Senate's Obamacare reform bill reportedly due to be finalized Monday night, but no plans to show public yet
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., left, and Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, conduct a news conference after the Senate Policy Luncheons on June 6, 2017.Tom Williams | CQ Roll Call | Getty Images
The Senate's push to repeal and replace Obamacare is looking like a game of "I've Got a Secret."
A new report says Senate Republicans are expected to wrap up drafting a bill to reform Obamacare by Monday night.
But Axios.com also reports that GOP leaders don't plan to show that bill to the public — yet.
"We aren't stupid," one of two senior GOP Senate aides told Axios.
"We are still in discussions about what will be in the final product so it is premature to release any draft absent further member conversations and consensus."
Axios noted that Senate Republicans want to vote on the bill before their July 4 recess, and that they expect the bill to be analyzed by the Congressional Budget Office before that planned vote.
CNBC has reached out to the press office for Senate Republicans for comment on the report.
The GOP needs just 50 votes to pass their health-care bill in Senate, given the availability of Vice President Mike Pence to break any tie vote. But Republicans can only afford to lose support for the bill from just two of their 52 senators for that legislation to pass.
The House of Representatives' version of a health-care reform bill, the American Health Care Act, passed the House in May by just a single "yes" vote, which was held before it was analyzed by the CBO. That nonpartisan office later estimated that the AHCA would lead to 23 million more Americans lacking health insurance by 2026 than would be the case if Obamacare remained intact.
The House's bill is broadly unpopular with the general public, multiple surveys have found. The Quinnipiac University Poll released last Thursday found that 62 percent of American voters disapprove of the Republican health-care plan, compared with just 17 percent who approve of it. That is a worsening of support for the plan since May 25, when the same poll found 57 percent of voters disapproved of it, and 20 percent approved.
Republicans, who for years have harshly criticized Democrats for passing Obamacare to law without a single vote in favor of it from a GOP member of Congress, have fast-tracked their own health-care reform bill in a way that is freezing out Democratic participation in its crafting.
The bill is being written by a small group of GOP senators. And Republican leaders in the Senate have no plans to hold hearings on the bill before holding a vote, just as GOP leaders in the House held no hearings on their own version of an Obamacare replacement before passing it.
On Thursday, Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., lambasted Republican counterparts during a committee hearing where Health and Human Services Department Secretary Tom Price was testifying.
"I heard you, Mr. Secretary, just say, 'We'd love your support,' " McCaskill said. "For what? We don't even know. We have no idea what's being proposed. There's a group of guys in a back room somewhere that are making these decisions. There were no hearings in the House.""
"You couldn't have a more partisan exercise than what you're engaged in right now," she said. "We're not going to have hearings on a bill that impacts one-sixth of our economy."
On Monday, Tom Perez, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said, "The American people deserve a transparent legislative process with public hearings and input from experts."
"Behind closed doors, 13 Senate Republicans are crafting a mammoth piece of legislation that could dismantle the entire health care system and deprive 23 million more Americans of access to care, while causing unnecessary spikes in premiums for low-income families, older Americans, and those with pre-existing conditions," Perez said.
"Eight years ago, Democrats passed health care legislation the right way – holding public hearings, meeting with experts, listening to voters, and accepting amendments. With so much at stake, Republicans in Congress owe their constituents the same legislative transparency."
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4becc8cd280b3b0ad6ab16072654aa53 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/13/dollar-on-tenterhooks-as-investors-await-fed-policy-clues.html | Dollar pares losses after Fed raises short-term rates | Dollar pares losses after Fed raises short-term rates
Getty Images
The dollar pared earlier losses against a basket of major currencies on Wednesday following the Federal Reserve's widely expected decision to raise short-term interest rates.
Earlier, the dollar index fell to its lowest level since the day after the U.S. election in November, following the release of weaker-than-expected U.S. CPI and retail sales data on Wednesday.
U.S. retail sales in May recorded their biggest drop in 16 months and consumer prices unexpectedly fell month over month, suggesting inflation pressures are moderating, which could impact further Federal Reserve interest rate increases this year.
The dollar index was last down nearly 0.4 percent at 96.618, after earlier touching its lowest since Nov. 9 at 96.323.
Earlier, the euro rose to its highest since Nov. 9 against the dollar, hitting $1.1295. It traded at $1.1251 immediately following the Fed announcement.
Against the yen, the greenback fell by more than 1 percent following the data release to touch 108.95 yen, its lowest since April 21. Recently, it traded at 109.29.
"The numbers cast serious, serious doubt on whether there will be another hike this year," said Greg Anderson, global head of foreign-exchange strategy at BMO Capital Markets in New York.
VIDEO1:4401:44Why the British pound could be headed lowerStreet Signs Asia
Fed funds futures prices showed traders had seen a more than 95 percent chance of a rates rise to between 1.00 and 1.25 percent.
The likelihood of a rate hike in September has significantly weakened, however, with futures rates showing just a 17 percent chance of an increase, down from 28 percent before the data release on Wednesday, according to CME Group's FedWatch.
The Australian dollar rose 1.3 percent to its highest against its U.S. counterpart since April 3. New Zealand's dollar rose 1.25 percent to its highest since Feb. 7.
The Canadian dollar rose 0.45 percent, hitting its highest against the U.S. dollar since Feb. 27. The loonie was on pace for its best week since January 2016, up 2.5 percent since Friday.
Worries about global growth and weakness in markets for the commodities they produce has weighed on commodity-linked currencies like the Aussie, kiwi and loonie.
But after comments by Bank of Canada Deputy Governor Carolyn Wilkins on Monday flipped markets towards an earlier rise in borrowing rates there, traders and analysts said short bets against commodity-linked currencies looked exposed.
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fdf772b17c335e907848755912f7adf8 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/13/opec-oil-output-jumps-336000-barrels-a-day-in-may.html?__source=newsletter%7Cbreakingnews | OPEC oil production jumps in May despite cartel's output agreement as Iraq, Libya pump more | OPEC oil production jumps in May despite cartel's output agreement as Iraq, Libya pump more
VIDEO1:1001:10OPEC production cheats show up in May outputSquawk Box
OPEC's oil production jumped in May, despite the exporter group agreeing last month to extend its six-month deal to cap output into 2018.
Production across OPEC rose by about 336,100 barrels per day to 32.1 million bpd, according to secondary sources, led by increases from Libya and Nigeria, which are exempt from the deal, and Iraq.
Output from Libya surged by more than 178,000 bpd to 730,000 bpd as the country's rival factions moved toward reconciliation, and supplies disrupted throughout years of conflict remained on line.
In Nigeria, production was up more than 174,000 bpd to 1.68 million bpd as supplies sidelined by militant attacks on energy infrastructure last year came back into operation. With the gain, Nigeria reclaimed the title of largest African producer in OPEC from Angola, where output fell by 54,000 bpd, the biggest drop among the 13 members in May.
Iraq, OPEC's second-largest producer, contributed the third-biggest increase with a more than 44,000 bpd jump. Baghdad has yet to cut deeply enough to hit its quota of 4.35 million bpd under the output cut deal. In May, it produced 4.42 million bpd.
VIDEO2:1302:13OPEC oil supply 'whisper talk' never came to past: John KilduffSquawk Box
Only four countries were producing at or below the levels they agreed to in November: Saudi Arabia, Angola, Kuwait, and Qatar.
Last month, OPEC and other exporters extended an agreement to remove 1.8 million barrels a day from the market in order to shrink brimming global stockpiles of crude oil. In May, inventories in the OECD, a group of mostly wealthy countries, remained 251 million barrels above the five-year average.
Despite this, OPEC struck a fairly upbeat note on the global economy.
"The gradual recovery of the world economy continues and stronger-than-anticipated growth in 1Q17 has lifted the world GDP growth forecast for 2017 to 3.4%, up from the 3.1% growth seen in 2016," OPEC said. "This positive momentum is expected to continue into the second half of the year."
OPEC also revised down its forecast for non-OPEC oil supply growth this year by 110,000 bpd to 58.14 million bpd.
Still, growth in U.S. oil production alone is expected to outstrip much of the jump in global demand this year.
OPEC projects total global demand will grow by 1.3 percent, or 1.27 million bpd. Meanwhile, U.S. supply is seen growing 5.8 percent, or about 800,000 bpd.
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e47ec03e4065a3faa73d438b343a771d | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/14/lang-lang-thought-his-career-was-over-as-a-pianist-aged-nine.html | Chinese virtuoso Lang Lang thought his career 'was over as a pianist' aged nine | Chinese virtuoso Lang Lang thought his career 'was over as a pianist' aged nine
VIDEO2:1702:17Looking back at Lang Lang’s musical upbringingTrailblazers
When Chinese pianist Lang Lang was just nine years old, his father gave up his job to take his son from their hometown of Shenyang, to audition for the prestigious Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing.
It took months to practice for the audition, and during that time Lang thought his career as a pianist was over, he revealed to CNBC's new show Trailblazers. His teacher dropped him just months after he had moved to the capital.
"For three months, I did not have a teacher. So, and I thought my career was over as a pianist, and I should go home," he told Trailblazers presenter Tania Bryer.
Lang's mother remained behind in Shenyang, he said.
"It was a very difficult time. I mean leaving my mother, coming to (Beijing), it's a big city, but, but in a way, at that time, I preferred Shenyang, my hometown, because it's where I felt so comfortable and all my brothers, all my classmates, basically all my social network were in my hometown, not here.
"So, coming here, my father quit his job, and we rented the most cheap, the 15 dollar-a-month apartment, and study with a new teacher, with completely different environment. It was very difficult, and I did not really enjoy (it)."
The star pianist Lang Lang, pictured as part of CNBC's Trailblazers seriesCNBC
After several months, he got into the Conservatory. Lang also told Trailblazers that during that time, he sought solace at Beijing's Temple of Heaven, a series of altars set in lush parklands.
"As I kid, I came, I think every month, I try to get some spiritual inspiration here… I think it's a very positive energy place, that you feel very comfortable," he said.
Lang has now sold millions of albums around the world and is an entrepreneur and philanthropist.
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871777ac1540de028bec65e3024246f3 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/14/tim-armstrong-sees-layoffs-of-15-percent-after-verizon-yahoo-deal.html | Tim Armstrong sees layoffs of 15% at Oath unit created after Verizon closed its Yahoo deal | Tim Armstrong sees layoffs of 15% at Oath unit created after Verizon closed its Yahoo deal
VIDEO1:2201:22Tim Armstrong takes 'Oath' of office as CEOSquawk Box
Roughly 2,100 people will lose their jobs as Verizon works to integrate its AOL brands and its newly acquired Yahoo's brands, Tim Armstrong, former chief executive of AOL, confirmed on Wednesday.
Headed by Armstrong, the Yahoo assets, which include Yahoo Finance, will be combined with AOL brands such as the Huffington Post under a new subsidiary called Oath.
"It's mainly focused on us putting more resources toward the front end, towards the consumer side," Armstrong, who will be Oath's CEO, said on CNBC's "Squawk Box." "Those are mainly happening this week. We're trying to get everything done that we can."
Armstrong appeared on the program one day after Verizon closed its $4.48 billion acquisition of Yahoo's core internet business.
"This week is people week," Armstrong said. Oath will focus on getting clarity about the job impacts. The layoffs are roughly 15 percent of the unit, he said.
In terms of the deal, Armstrong also mentioned that Verizon will start to load a product called App Flash, which will carry Yahoo and AOL brands on Verizon phones. He added that the company will not put things on phones that don't make sense.
"But consumers have a choice," he said. "You can essentially load whatever service you want on your phone. We will have consumer choice at the center of what we are doing."
Disclosure: CNBC has a content-sharing partnership with Yahoo's finance site.
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9f5d70a9b3ac92b493ad086c0de38289 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/15/be-careful-a-global-crisis-is-coming-says-lvmh-ceo.html | It's a 'scary' time with a global crisis on the way, LVMH CEO says | It's a 'scary' time with a global crisis on the way, LVMH CEO says
French luxury group LVMH Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Bernard Arnault presents the 2016 full year results at the LVMH headquarters in Paris, on January 26, 2017.Eric Piermont | AFP | Getty Images
A financial crisis could be just around the corner, according to the chief executive of LVMH, who has described the global economic outlook as "scary".
"For the economic climate, the present situation is...mid-term scary," Bernard Arnault told CNBC Thursday.
"I don't think we will be able to globally avoid a crisis when I see the interest rates so low, when I see the amounts of money flowing into the world, when I see the stock prices which are much too high, I think a bubble is building and this bubble, one day, will explode."
VIDEO1:2601:26Long-term optimistic on economic climate, mid-term seems 'scary' says LVMH CEOStreet Signs Europe
Arnault, who is responsible for the world's largest luxury goods company, couldn't say whether the crash would be imminent or within the next few years, but he insisted that almost a decade on from the global financial crisis of 2008, one was due.
"There has not been a big crisis for almost ten years now and since I've had a business I have seen crises more than every ten years, so be careful."
Longer term, however, Arnault said he was "optimistic", pointing to advances in technology and innovation, which he said would stimulate the economy.
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0ad39618618b952e34738b26be61f280 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/15/greek-bailout-debt-restructuring-still-an-issue-for-imf.html | IMF won't fund Greek bailout until it gets more clarity on debt restructuring | IMF won't fund Greek bailout until it gets more clarity on debt restructuring
VIDEO2:4902:49IMF chief Christine Lagarde says more clarity needed in Greek debt restructuring
The International Monetary Fund wants Greek debt to become more sustainable before it channels funds into the country's bailout program, the organization's managing director Christine Lagarde told CNBC.
"For us to engage and for us to participate financially, more needs to be clarified, defined and approved in terms of restructuring," she said late on Thursday.
"What we believe will be needed is a deferral of interests, an extension of maturity, and a mechanism by which there is an adjustment based on growth ... this is where further discussion and negotiation is needed."
Lagarde was speaking in Luxembourg after European finance ministers approved a 8.5 billion euro ($9.5 billion) loan for Athens that will enable the cash-strapped nation to meet a major July repayment deadline.
European countries have been shouldering the burden of Greece's current 86 billion rescue fund — its third bailout package since 2010. The IMF financially contributed to Athens' previous bailouts but refused to join the current pact because it believes Greece needed debt relief — something that European creditors aren't comfortable with.
The organization's absence has been a thorn in the sides of heavyweight European countries, particularly Germany, who view IMF participation as a key credibility factor. For Berlin to continue backing euro zone loans to Athens, Germany's parliament is now insisting on IMF contribution.
On Thursday, the IMF agreed to offer Athens a standby arrangement of less than $2 billion but won't be disbursing any of the funds until euro zone countries offer more detail on potential debt relief measures in 2018, Reuters reported.
VIDEO1:4201:42Predictable, certain Brexit better for UK: Lagarde
"I've always said that the (bailout) program walks on two legs: the leg of policies and the leg of debt sustainability," Lagarde told CNBC on Thursday.
Athens has proved its commitment to key structural reforms, which cover pensions, tax, serial procedures, and labor markets, but the second leg of the bailout program — debt restructuring — needs to be further clarified, she continued.
"Progress has been made today, no question about it but more is needed."
Lagarde praised Thursday's loan agreement, stating that Athens would now be protected from future crisis moments because its financial needs in terms of debt service will be low.
"It (Athens) will actually produce a primary surplus and it should be, in terms of liquidity and stability, in a fairly solid situation to develop its economy to cultivate growth, generate investment , and proceed with the privatization that they have agreed to complete."
On the matter of Brexit negotiations, the IMF chief advised European and U.K. officials to adopt a risk-averse approach.
"What is more predictable, more certain, can be calibrated, can be anticipated, can be transitioned into, is going to be more reliable and safer for the people and the economy."
Circumstances were still too premature for the IMF to forecast future economic developments, she added.
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30d442729f4f55b3e86c54011f17cd46 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/15/homebuilder-confidence-slips-2-points-in-june-to-67-despite-strong-demand-for-new-homes.html | Homebuilder confidence slips 2 points in June to 67 despite strong demand for new homes | Homebuilder confidence slips 2 points in June to 67 despite strong demand for new homes
VIDEO1:1001:10Homebuilder confidence slips 2 points in JuneSquawk on the Street
A shortage of housing and falling mortgage rates should make homebuilders happier than ever, but apparently, they're not.
A monthly survey of builder sentiment fell 2 points in June to 67, and May's reading was revised down by 1 point. While anything above 50 is considered positive on the National Association of Home Builders survey, sentiment has dropped decidedly since its surge following the election of President Donald Trump.
Builders were initially euphoric over the possibility of deregulation under the new administration. An increase in state and federal regulations for land, zoning and construction lending have increased costs for builders who were already struggling with higher prices on labor and materials.
"As the housing market strengthens and more buyers enter the market, builders continue to express their frustration over an ongoing shortage of skilled labor and buildable lots that are impeding stronger growth in the single-family sector," said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz.
Builders, however, claim they are not losing confidence in the administration's promise of deregulation. They already won a major victory in restrictions having to do with water, after the president in March signed an executive order that affects permitting. Confidence jumped to a high of 71 then but has since fallen.
"Right now, for our midyear meeting, we have 1,000 builders visiting Washington. I am not seeing any signs that our members have lost confidence in this administration. In fact, I would say they are looking forward to the next phase of Trump's agenda: finance reform," said NAHB CEO Jerry Howard.
Of the index's three components, current sales conditions fell 2 points to 73, and sales expectations over the next six months fell 2 points to 76. The component measuring buyer traffic dropped 2 points to 49, now in negative territory.
Regionally, on a three-month moving average, builder confidence in the Midwest and South each fell 1 point to 67 and 70, respectively. The Northeast and West dropped 2 points to 46 and 76, respectively.
Sales of newly built homes fell dramatically in April, the latest reading from the U.S. Census, down 11 percent for the month. Higher prices for new construction are getting in the way of strong demand, especially at the entry level.
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3be3d45fd9607053e856c025d4d1c218 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/15/us-shipping-terminal-reopens-after-dirty-bomb-threat.html | US shipping terminal reopens after 'dirty bomb' threat | US shipping terminal reopens after 'dirty bomb' threat
VIDEO0:4500:45US shipping terminal reopens after 'dirty bomb' threatNews Videos
A terminal at the Port of Charleston in South Carolina will reopen and the safety zone has been lifted, the U.S. Coast Guard said on Thursday, after investigating a threat of a "dirty bomb" on a container ship.
It said the "original reporting source of the threat" had been detained for questioning.
Law enforcement agents scanned four containers aboard the Maersk Memphis ship in the Wando Terminal after reports of a "potential threat" on Wednesday, the Coast Guard said.
Maersk Line, the world's biggest container shipping company, said the U.S. Coast Guard had informed it of a threat of a dirty bomb aboard one of its vessels. It said all crew members were safe and ashore.
"Unified Command determines no existing threat to the port. Terminal will reopen and safety zone has been lifted," the U.S. Coast Guard said on Twitter.
The Maersk Memphis, a 300-meter vessel, arrived in South Carolina from New York at about 7:30 p.m, according to Reuters data. About half an hour later, authorities were made aware of the potential threat and evacuated the terminal, the Coast Guard said.
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3711edd4b087ea4b1fcdb8a7db078644 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/16/ai-assault-on-stock-market-ibms-watson-is-getting-into-etf-business.html | IBM's Watson supercomputer is getting into Wall Street stock-picking | IBM's Watson supercomputer is getting into Wall Street stock-picking
As the robot war on Wall Street stock pickers heats up, there's a new line of attack from the algorithmic set: IBM's Watson supercomputer has been hired to help run an ETF and pick stocks than can achieve better performance than the broad U.S. stock market index.
The ETF, called the Equbot with Watson AI Total US ETF, has been filed for by ETF Managers Group, which works with a number of ETF subadvisers to bring new investing ideas into the market, and already has launched big data, cybersecurity, drone and immunotherapy funds, among others.
The Watson ETF's approach to picking stocks is described in the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission as "actively managed" and "based on the results of a proprietary, quantitative model (the "Equbot Model") developed by Equbot LLC ("Equbot") with Watson."
IBM's Watson computing system.Getty Images
Equbot, the Fund's sub-advisor, is a technology-based company focused on applying artificial intelligence to investment analyses. It is part of the IBM Global Entrepreneurs start-up roster. IBM already has a Watson effort for financial services more broadly, which includes a Watson analytical tool for wealth advisors and wealth management groups, and Watson applications for financial markets analysis.
The filing says Equbot will use IBM's Watson AI to perform a fundamental analysis of U.S.-listed stocks and real estate investment trusts based on up to 10 years of historical data and then apply that analysis to recent economic and news data.
"Each day, the Equbot Model ranks each company based on the probability of the company benefiting from current economic conditions, trends and world events and identifies approximately 30 to 70 companies with the greatest potential for appreciation and their corresponding weights, while maintaining volatility comparable to the broader U.S. equity market."
More from ETF Strategist: Don't wait for the bubble to pop when tech stocks sell-off What would markets be like if Trump's agenda fails A smart investment plan for every decade of life
One of the most successful examples of algorithmic stock-picking in the history of Wall Street is hedge fund titan Robert Mercer, co-CEO of Renaissance Technologies, one of the most profitable hedge funds in the world. Mercer came to Renaissance in 1993 from IBM, where the computer engineer did pioneering work on using computers to review massive amounts of text and then use predictive analytics to translate between languages, an algorithm that laid the groundwork for Google Translate and Apple's Siri.
"The trend with ETF product development is toward quantitative efforts following predetermined rules to ensure consistency. It seems logical that more efforts will involve computer programming going forward using back-tested tools," said Todd Rosenbluth, director of mutual fund and ETF research at CFRA.
VIDEO2:5402:54Larry Fink: We are not substituting machines for human Squawk Box
Neena Mishra, director of ETF research at Zacks Investment Research, said she likes the idea, but while AI can be used to process and analyze vast amount of data much quicker than humans, sometimes the challenge lies in deciding the importance of each piece of information in the investment decision. "An investment process involving a human analyst/team of analysts, supported by strong data analytics, certainly makes sense," she said.
She also noted that the ETF's expense ratio has not been disclosed, and since it's actively managed, it could be high. "That's the main reason why I don't like most actively managed funds. Active managers' performance has been underwhelming in general and does not justify high management fees charged by them."
BlackRock, the world's largest money manager, with more than $5 trillion in assets — and owner of the iShares family of ETFs — recently decided to turn over management on many of its actively managed funds to algorithms.
In many markets, BlackRock's automated trading products have beaten indexes more consistently than human fund managers, but they suffered a hiccup in 2016. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink told CNBC in April that the professionals who had been expected to be cut would be shifted to other jobs that make more use of analytics.
In the past, BlackRock has explained that there are some tasks only a computer can do when it comes to analyzing large sets of data to make stock calls. That includes monitoring satellite data of big-box store parking lots and analyzing internet searches for consumer products to predict sales volume or even national economic growth.
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702729eaee08c951f1fd459d5041522e | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/16/amazons-acquisition-of-whole-foods-brings-in-a-microsoft-cloud-client.html | Amazon's massive acquisition brings with it a Microsoft cloud customer | Amazon's massive acquisition brings with it a Microsoft cloud customer
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.Shannon Stapleton | Reuters
In acquiring Whole Foods Market for $13.7 billion, Amazon isn't only buying a large upscale grocery store chain. It's also taking ownership of a company that uses Microsoft's rival cloud-computing technology.
While Amazon Web Services (AWS) has a big lead in the cloud infrastructure market, Microsoft is investing heavily to catch up. Whole Foods deployed Microsoft's Azure Active Directory software to let its 91,000 employees easily sign into cloud-based applications, according to a case study on Microsoft's website.
Whole Foods also pays for Office 365 subscriptions, which provide access to cloud services like OneDrive for Business and Skype for Business.
Here's what Will Lamb, the infrastructure coordinator in Whole Foods' IT department, said in the case study:
"We have a goal to reach 1,200 stores in the near future, and anything we can do from a strategic perspective to maximize efficiency is worth its weight in gold in retail."
VIDEO1:5901:59Jana's effect on Whole FoodsSquawk on the Street
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos didn't say anything about cloud in Friday's press release, focusing instead on acquiring a company that offers "the best natural and organic foods." Representatives for Whole Foods and AWS didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
In buying Whole Foods, Amazon could be hoping to stop Whole Foods from buying more Azure public cloud services and instead get it to start adopting AWS -- just as it has sought to move Zappos onto AWS.
For one thing, AWS provides a managed version of Microsoft Active Directory software. Whole Foods could conceivably switch to that at some point, while also using Amazon's core cloud-computing and storage services. Moving off Office 365 could be more complicated. But in the past few years AWS introduced services for videoconferencing, email and file sharing.
Whole Foods is just the kind of large customer that AWS needs as it attempts to gain the trust of legacy enterprises. For now, AWS does not have a Whole Foods case study on its website.
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4ef910678c0f97164370c62a56527459 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/16/camsoda-will-pay-you-200-a-month-to-livestream-with-clothes-on.html | Adult entertainment company will pay you $200 a month to livestream yourself—with your clothes on | Adult entertainment company will pay you $200 a month to livestream yourself—with your clothes on
Charley HartSource: CamSoda
If you tune into Charley Hart's late night LifeStream channel, you'll probably catch her sleeping.
Hart, who works in adult entertainment, does participate in raunchy private camera sessions with her clients. But when it comes to her LifeStream, she estimates 80 percent is safe for work. Besides snoozing, you can see her folding clothes or playing with her cats. Sometimes she acknowledges her watchers by talking directly to the camera, but most of the time she ignores the fact she's being streamed.
"I'm an introverted extrovert," Hart said. "I like to be in my house, but I like to be with people. I get to not even go anywhere. I can literally stay in my bedroom, and I can have people around me and everything."
LifeStream is a program by adult entertainment company CamSoda that pays people to stream their mundane activities with no requirements to get naked. The company pays LifeStreamers $200 a month, covers their internet bill, and gives them one to three web cams to broadcast their day. You can also earn extra "tips" or encourage others to go to your private room for extra cash, Hart notes — though how you want to motivate people is up to you. Currently, there are about 15 LifeStreams, and about one-third of the subjects don't work in adult entertainment.
But even among the LifeStreamers who are adult industry professionals, the majority of their content is safe for work.
One of CamSoda’s LifeStreamers sleeping.Source: CamSoda
LifeStreamers can tag certain parts of their day like when they cook a meal or put on makeup,. Those segments are turned into mobile-friendly watchable clips or daily recaps. The company is also exploring adding virtual reality cameras, and hopes to roll out the content format in a few months.
CamSoda got the idea to allow non-porn livestreams after it noticed many of its customers on its voyeur cams were interested in watching the actresses and actors be everyday people. It also heard from customers who were open to being on camera, but didn't want to be porn stars.
"If you go to Central Park, guaranteed people-watching is one of the top three activities," Press said. "There's a feeling when you watch somebody else, watch their lives and the quirky things they do it makes you feel normal."
To be a LifeStreamer, you're expected to stream 24/7, with reasonable exceptions. Hart says she's relatively open except for "some bathroom activities." There's only been one instance of a LifeStreamer's account being shut down, Press noted -- the company removed her cameras when they found out she pointed the camera at her closet all day to collect the paycheck.
The interest in watching life livestreams has gone up since Facebook and Twitter added the ability to broadcast on their platform, according to Hart.
Hart tried livestreaming her daily routine on Periscope, but was turned off when people kept asking her to flash her breasts. It makes more sense to put this kind of content on an adult entertainment platform like CamSoda where the livestreamers may be more open to these requests, she said.
"Stop bugging these girls who may not want to do it [on Periscope or Facebook Live]," said Hart. "These girls who aren't even putting themselves out there are getting these requests."
Hart, who majored in sociology and minored in psychology and women's studies at Ball State, said for some viewers the draw may be the unexpected sexy moments that could occur on a livestream. However for the many, she thinks it's all about simple enjoyment of watching others, only now you can do it online instead of in the real world.
"People can see their life is very similar to mine," CamSoda's Press said. "I think there's a comfort that comes from that."
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0202caa2e90785082c05db7e3a39811e | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/16/cramer-says-amazon-will-dominate-food-within-the-next-two-years.html | Cramer says Amazon will 'dominate food within the next two years' with Whole Foods deal | Cramer says Amazon will 'dominate food within the next two years' with Whole Foods deal
VIDEO4:3504:35Cramer: Amazon could dominate food retail within next two years with Whole Foods dealSquawk Box
Amazon's purchase of Whole Foods is a "game changer" for the food industry, Jim Cramer said Friday.
"This is such a game changer. ... They will now dominate food within the next two years," the "Mad Money" host said on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street."
"I'm taking down numbers for everybody who sells food. Everybody. Because you can't compete [with] Amazon. They will not let you compete," Cramer said, noting the e-commerce giant can now "change the whole paradigm."
Jeff Bezos' Amazon announced an agreement Friday to acquire Whole Foods in a tie-up valued at $13.7 billion.
The deal is expected to close in the second half of the year. Whole Foods Chief Executive John Mackey will remain CEO of the grocery store chain, which will continue to operate under the Whole Foods brand.
Amazon opened its first New York City brick-and-mortar bookstore in late May.
On Thursday, Kroger shares plunged after the company cut its adjusted earnings forecast to $2.00 to $2.05 per share for the year ending January 2018, down from the $2.21 to $2.25 previously forecast.
— CNBC's Sarah Whitten and Reuters contributed to this report.
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c20594a65b8301d4d3a11ecc2ac5ee90 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/16/goldman-downgrades-costco-after-amazons-deal-for-whole-foods.html | Goldman downgrades Costco after Amazon's deal for Whole Foods | Goldman downgrades Costco after Amazon's deal for Whole Foods
A customer shops inside a Costco Wholesale Corp. store in Miami, Florida.Scott McIntyre | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Goldman Sachs says Costco will face increasing competition from Amazon after the e-commerce giant's $13.7 billion deal to buy Whole Foods Market.The firm downgrades Costco's shares to neutral from buy and removes it from its conviction buy list.
"We see a potential cap on valuation associated with AMZN's ongoing expression of interest in consumables, combined with fading fundamental catalysts," analyst Matthew Fassler wrote in a note to clients Friday. "Also, increased expansion by AMZN and online investment by WMT create an imperative for COST to intensify its own investment in ecommerce."
The analyst reduced his price target for Costco to $176 from $197, representing 5 percent upside from the company's midday Friday $167.54 trading price.
Fassler also noted that many of the positive catalysts for Costco are now in the past, including the sales benefit from switching to Citibank's Visa credit card and the announcement of its special dividend. "COST's competitive edges have related to natural and organic and its membership model, which despite significant overlap with AMZN Prime offered an option focused on consumables not easily available via AMZN," he wrote. With the Whole Foods acquisition "AMZN is likely capable of offering superior pricing and delivery competency vs. incumbents."
— CNBC's Evelyn Cheng contributed to this story.
Disclaimer
VIDEO1:5701:57Inside Amazon's Prime Now hub in SeattleDigital Original
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06ae84608fa67f19d32b2fd52617f5d2 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/16/israels-blockchain-blockbuster.html | Israel's blockchain blockbuster | Israel's blockchain blockbuster
D3Damon | E+ | Getty Images
A record-setting round of fundraising by Israel-based blockchain startup Bancor has focused international attention on the new and fast-moving technology in the country. Bancor on Monday (June 12) managed to gather around $150 million in what is called an ICO, an Initial Coin Offering, from a range of investors, accredited and non-accredited. It was one of the largest ICOs ever and was completed online in just a few hours.
Blockchain is a distributed and cryptographically secured database method best known for its use in Bitcoin and other more recent cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum's Ether. Bancor, which is still under development, sets out its business model in a 'white paper' on its website. Using its own tokens, it seeks to provide a method to easily switch between different cryptocurrencies, thus addressing the market's liquidity problems. It intends also to allow users to create tokens for use in their own projects, for example for their own ICO.
It's these virtual tokens that Bancor, which is registered in Switzerland, sold off this week to anyone who was interested. In an ICO investors don't get equity in a venture, nor do they lend money, they speculate on the future value of the tokens they buy. Even some of the people close to the startup warn about the uncertain and unregulated nature of such investments.
"There's a lot of hype about ICOs currently. Bancor raised a lot of money, which is nice but it leaves you to wonder whether they actually need all this money and whether the issuing was valuated correctly," says Meni Rosenfeld, chairman of the Israeli Bitcoin Association and a member of the advisory board of Bancor, in a technological capacity.
The Bancor ICO is likely to reverberate both in the blockchain sector in Israel and in the wider venture capital field, which may be encountering its own disruptors.
VIDEO4:4404:44What is Blockchain?CNBC Explains
"I think it's a bit inflated right now, this whole economy of investments in ICOs but even after the dust settles it will still be a new innovative way to raise money, with more and more investors and VC funds looking to get in on the action," said Rosenfeld.
Israeli investor Eden Shochat has invested in Israeli blockchain startup Colu with his VC company Aleph and now has also put money into Bancor's ICO, but only his own, not his company's. He's "not confident at all" that he'll recoup his stake, let alone make a profit, but he likes Bancor's concept.
Shochat calls ICOs "a disruption to the investment industry" and says they have great potential. He expects VC funds to start participating in them but he cautions especially non-accredited investors against the unsettled nature of the mechanism and compares it at the moment to penny stocks. "I don't think ICO's change the basic issue with startups that more than 90 per cent or, it depends how you count, more than 99 per cent of startups fail," he says.
He is enthusiastic about the prospects of the blockchain sector in Israel, saying: "Israeli adoption of Bitcoin and blockchain has been very, very early."
Deloitte Israel has been following blockchain startups in recent years and Amit Harel says Bancor's ICO is bringing new attention. "The blockchain industry in Israel has been showing big potential for a couple of years already but we're coming now to the success stories."
His colleague Hagai Zachor emphasizes that blockchain is much more than only Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. "The blockchain technology as a whole gained much interest for things such as supply chain security from many international companies that are now focusing on Israel for the next round."
VIDEO0:4000:40Blockchain start-up Circle launches a no-fee international currency exchangeNews Videos
Blockchain can basically be used to securely tag, track and trace almost any digitalized item. Says Harel: "One of the trends we're seeing is that we used to have mostly blockchain startups but now we see companies that are utilizing blockchain for their business objective… We're seeing it with merchants, goods, diamonds, art, shipments." It is also thought to have potential for use in tracking intellectual property and digital rights, for example in music.
As for the sector's importance to the overall Israeli high-tech industry, he says it has great potential, although a lot of it will be so integrated into other solutions that it will be hard to define it as purely blockchain. "To say that it will have the same percentage as cyber, or automotive or fintech, probably not but as a niche that is driving other industries and is providing out of the box innovation, we think it has in Israel huge potential."
Apart from the obvious cybersecurity-related cryptography aspect that makes blockchain a good fit with Israel's high-tech industry, it also fits with the country's financial technology sector. Roy Keidar, at the Yigal Arnon & Co. law firm in Tel Aviv, has been following blockchain development in Israel for years.
He emphasizes the fintech aspect: "A lot of Israelis work in the fintech industry and they're looking for additional and innovative ways of doing business and getting cash, finding investments, doing crowdfunding, you have a lot of that in Israel."
But security issues and regulation still have to catch up, he says: "There's not enough certainty, which keeps some of the investors away but as usual, the movers and shakers, the early adopters are really into it."
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54858649b842abb6f1e53a61604a7f76 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/16/nbc-trumps-lawyer-has-hired-his-own-lawyer.html | NBC: Trump's lawyer has hired his own lawyer | NBC: Trump's lawyer has hired his own lawyer
VIDEO0:3100:31Trump's lawyer has hired his own lawyerNews Videos
President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen has hired his own lawyer, NBC News reports.
Cohen has hired Stephen Ryan, of McDermott, Will & Emery. Trump's lawyer is said to be testifying in front of the House Intelligence Committee on September 5, NBC News reports.
Cohen is not the only Trump associate who has hired counsel.
Michael Caputo, a Trump campaign advisor, retained lawyer Dennis Vacco. The House Intelligence Committee wants to schedule Caputo for a hearing in mid July, and Caputo's lawyer is negotiating whether the hearing would be open. The FBI has reached out to Caputo, and sources say the FBI wants to talk to Caputo before he talks to the committee, NBC reports.
Paul Manafort, Trump's former campaign manager, has hired Reginald Brown, chairman of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, NBC reports. Carter Page, a former Trump adviser, has also hired a lawyer.
Sam Nunberg, an aide who briefly worked on the campaign, has not retained a lawyer, NBC reports. He has not been contacted by investigators nor Congress.
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f633de6cc674ac390df5fe9489634e3f | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/16/snap-trying-to-buy-geofilter-com.html | Snap is trying to get ahold of the web address 'geofilters.com' but has failed so far | Snap is trying to get ahold of the web address 'geofilters.com' but has failed so far
Carl Court | Getty Images
Snapchat's parent company tried to buy the domain name "geofilters.com" but its current owners refused, and Snap has lost its first legal challenge to try and take the domain away.
Geofiltering is a critical feature on Snapchat, both for users and from a revenue perspective. The feature allows online marketers to pay to offer Snapchat users graphics, such as a ring of flowers or digital sunglasses, that can be placed over photos taken in a specific geographic location.
According to a copy of a June 2 ruling by the World Intellectual Property Organaization, Snap tried to buy the domain last year from Primary Knowledge, Inc., a company based in Santa Monica, California.
When Primary refused, Snap filed for a trademark on the name "geofilter" in December from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. That organization tentatively approved, so then Snap went to the WIPO and argued that the trademark should give it rights to the domain.
Snap argued that it "has used the GEOFILTER mark in commerce since July 2014" and that it "has extensively used and promoted the GEOFILTER mark worldwide."
Yet the three-person WIPO panel, which rules on cases of "the abusive registration of domain names," better known as cybersquatting, declined to use that preliminary trademark approval as a basis to rule in Snap's favor.
Instead, the URL will remain under the control of Primary Knowledge, which argued that "the disputed domain name was acquired as a descriptive term for a geo-filtered app platform," and that Snap does not have trademark rights to "geofilter" or "geofilters."
If Snap does try to buy the rights again, it could cost plenty. According to the ruling, Primary Knowledge "indicated to the Complainant's (i.e., Snap's) representative that the disputed domain name was available 'in the mid-six figures range.'"
This kind of legal protection has become more important for Snap as larger rival Facebook has copied several of its key features, denting Snap's growth in the first quarter.
On Thursday, Snap shares fell nearly 5 percent to $17 a share, the same price its IPO shares had in early March, over growth concerns.
An email to Snap was not immediately returned.
Correction: Snap did not offer a firm price for the domain. The seller indicated that it was available for sale for more than $100,000.
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217a63f2b81ae190ea8552b754d0d097 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/16/us-acts-to-seize-assets-allegedly-looted-from-malaysia-fund-1mdb.html | US acts to seize assets allegedly looted from Malaysia fund 1MDB, including a Picasso given to Leonardo DiCaprio | US acts to seize assets allegedly looted from Malaysia fund 1MDB, including a Picasso given to Leonardo DiCaprio
VIDEO1:0701:07US acts to seize assets allegedly looted from Malaysia fund 1MDB, including a Picasso given to Leonardo DiCaprioNews Videos
The Justice Department took legal action on Thursday to recover about $540 million in assets that authorities say were stolen by financiers associated with a sovereign wealth fund established by Malaysia's prime minister, including a Picasso painting that was given to actor Leonardo DiCaprio and the rights to two Hollywood films.
The filing in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles was the Justice Department's latest step in a long-running case over an alleged conspiracy to launder money misappropriated from the 1Malaysia Development Berhad fund, known as 1MDB, which was set up by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak in 2009 to promote economic development.
In the complaints, which are all civil actions, the Justice Department alleged that more than $4.5 billion was taken from 1MDB by high-level fund officials and their associates. "We simply will not allow the United States to be a place where corrupt individuals can expect to hide assets and lavishly spend money that should be used for the benefit of citizens of other nations." Kenneth Blanco, acting assistant attorney general, said in a statement on Thursday. 1MDB said on Friday that it is not a party to the civil lawsuit filed by the U.S. DOJ and has never been contacted in relation to the case. Najib has denied taking money from 1MDB or any other entity for personal gain, after it was reported that investigators traced nearly $700 million to bank accounts that were allegedly in his name. U.S. authorities, in civil complaints, have accused Malaysian financier Jho Low of laundering more than $400 million stolen from 1MDB through an account in the United States, where he lavished his associates, including DiCaprio, with money to gamble and luxury goods. U.S. authorities have not charged Low with any crime. Authorities said that in 2014, Low used $3.2 million diverted from a 1MDB bond sale to buy a Picasso painting for DiCaprio. "Dear Leonardo DiCaprio, Happy belated Birthday! This gift is for you," a friend of Low's wrote in a note. DiCaprio has not been accused of any crime. A spokesman for DiCaprio on Thursday said that the actor had recently begun proceedings to transfer ownership of the Picasso to the U.S. government. The spokesman said that DiCaprio in July 2016 had "initiated the return" of gifts he had received from financiers connected to the 1MDB case after authorities made allegations against people involved in financing the 2013 film "The Wolf of Wall Street," which starred DiCaprio. It is one of three Hollywood films that the Justice Department says were funded with tens of millions of dollars stolen from 1MDB by Jho Low. The spokesman said that DiCaprio had accepted the gifts to raise funds in an auction for his environmental foundation. The three films were produced by Red Granite, which was founded by Najib's stepson Riza Aziz. The other two films are "Dumb and Dumber To," a 2014 comedy starring Jim Carrey, and the 2015 film "Daddy's Home" starring Will Ferrell. The Justice Department's filing on Thursday seeks the rights to those films, after moving last year to seize rights to "The Wolf of Wall Street." Red Granite said in a statement it was in discussions with the Justice Department "aimed at resolving these civil cases and is fully cooperating." DiCaprio's spokesman also said that the actor had returned an Oscar won by actor Marlon Brando that was given to him by Red Granite "to thank him for his work on The Wolf of Wall Street." DiCaprio's charitable foundation last October said that any gifts or donations made to the actor or his ventures would be returned if they were found to have come from 1MDB. The Justice Department filing on Thursday also alleged that Low also used $9.2 million diverted from 1MDB bond sales to buy a collage made by New York artist Jean-Michel Basquiat that was also given to DiCaprio. DiCaprio and Low signed a note in March 2014 absolving the star of "any liability whatsoever resulting directly or indirectly from these art-work," according to the filings. Low did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent to his Hong Kong-based company Jynwel Capital. Fraud allegations against 1MDB go back to 2009, the Justice Department said, and the fund is subject to money laundering investigations in at least six countries, including Switzerland and Singapore. The Malaysia attorney general's office said in an emailed statement that Malaysian authorities have so far discovered no crime committed by anyone at the fund. Malaysian authorities are cooperating with the Department of Justice, the statement said.
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1aa2dc301395aeb923075bec1340509e | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/16/us-stocks-housing-amazon-whole-foods.html | S&P 500 ekes out gain for the week; Dow closes at record | S&P 500 ekes out gain for the week; Dow closes at record
VIDEO0:3900:39Amazon-Whole foods $13.7 billion deal rocks the stock market on FridayDigital Original
The S&P 500 ended marginally higher for the week on Friday following a deal that ignited a sell-off among big retail and grocery companies.
Amazon announced it was buying Whole Foods for $13.7 billion, or $42 a share, sending their shares higher by 2.4 percent and 29 percent, respectively.
In turn, shares of Kroger, Costco, Target, SuperValu, Sprouts Farmers Markets and Dow-component Wal-Mart all dropped sharply following the news.
CFRA analyst Tuna Amobi said in a note that the deal "could presage a major long-term disruption of the grocery business by AMZN, as the company further leverages its technology, logistics and fulfillment infrastructure."
The consumer staples sector dropped 1 percent, capping gains on the S&P, which closed flat for the session.
The Dow Jones industrial average managed a record closing high despite Wal-Mart's 4.6 percent fall. The 30-stock index has also posted four straight weekly gains.
Investors also parsed through weaker-than-expected economic data on Friday, as housing starts and consumer sentiment figures both missed expectations.
"Overall, I think this is some of the initial optimism that drove the market higher cooling," said Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott.
Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.Andrew Burton | Getty Images
Housing starts and consumer sentiment are the latest data to disappoint investors and economists. Earlier this week, the Labor Department said the consumer price index — a key measure of inflation — fell 0.1 percent last month. Economists polled by Reuters expected a rise of 0.2 percent.
Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said Wednesday that retail sales fell 0.3 percent in May, marking the largest one-month decline since January of last year. The sudden drop confounded economists, which had forecast a 0.1 percent gain.
Overall, U.S. economic growth slowed in the first quarter, with GDP increasing at a 1.2 percent annual rate. GDP grew at a 2.1 percent in the last quarter of 2016.
Concerns regarding the disappointing economic data come against a backdrop of hawkish monetary policy from the Federal Reserve. On Wednesday, the U.S. central bank raised rates for the second time this year and also laid out a plan to unwind its $4.5 trillion balance sheet.
"The market is still overly concerned with some of the growth areas and the fact that the Fed is planning to raise rates further," said Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist at Boston Private Wealth.
Jeff Zipper, managing director of investments at the Private Client Reserve of U.S. Bank, said: "The bear camp seems to be winning right now. We've recently seen disappointing economic data."
Still, the three major indexes ended mixed for the week, with the S&P and Dow notching weekly gains and the Nasdaq falling slightly. Stock funds also pulled in $24.6 billion last week, the most since President Donald Trump won the election in November.
Major U.S. Indexes
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 24 points, or 0.11 percent, to close at 21,384.28, with Chevron leading advancers and Wal-Mart the biggest decliner.
The rose 0.69 points, or 0.03 percent, to end at 2,433.15, with energy leading five sectors higher and consumer staples lagging.
The Nasdaq pulled back 13.74 points, or 0.22 percent, to close at 6,151.76.
About four stocks advanced for every three decliners at the New York Stock Exchange, with an exchange volume of 2.267 billion and a composite volume of 5.248 billion at the close.
The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, traded near 10.4.
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a381a31e979b6850bde756f4b096c5b3 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/16/whole-foods-ceo-once-called-amazons-grocery-delivery-service-its-waterloo.html | Whole Foods CEO once called Amazon's grocery delivery service its 'Waterloo' | Whole Foods CEO once called Amazon's grocery delivery service its 'Waterloo'
John MackeyAndrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Whole Foods CEO John Mackey used to think Amazon wouldn't thrive in the grocery delivery business, according to a 2015 interview with Bloomberg Businessweek, starkly contrasting the recent deal he stuck with the company.
Mackey reportedly predicted the e-commerce giant's move into grocery delivery through its AmazonFresh initiative, a capitalize-intensive service, would be "Amazon's Waterloo" moment.
Amazon said Friday it plans to acquire Whole Foods Market in a deal valued at $13.7 billion. Shares of Whole Foods soared 30 percent after the announcement, and Amazon stock rose 3 percent.
The deal is expected to close in the second half of the year.
Read the full Businessweek story here.
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29d0344d709b48192c545737e673b7dc | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/19/meet-jonathan-litt-hudsons-bay-activist-investor.html | Meet Jonathan Litt, the real estate investor pushing retailer Hudson's Bay to change | Meet Jonathan Litt, the real estate investor pushing retailer Hudson's Bay to change
VIDEO3:2403:24Land & Buildings' Litt: Hudson's Bay needs to go private or re-develop real estateClosing Bell
Hudson's Bay describes itself as a global retailer, best known as the parent company to Lord & Taylor and Saks Fifth Avenue. In fact, the company has been focused on selling garments for the last 350 years.
Then, on Monday, an investor who has amassed a 4.3 percent stake, sent a letter to Hudson's board arguing that the best use of Hudson's Bay's real estate was not as department stores, sending the stock more than 16 percent higher.
That investor is Jonathan Litt. He's better known in real-estate circles than retail ones. His firm, Land and Buildings Investment Management, does what the name implies: it takes stakes in real-estate companies and sometimes pushes for strategic changes.
In the case of Hudson's Bay, Litt said in the letter Monday that the company's real estate is worth four times what the trading value of the entire company was before he disclosed his letter. He describes Hudson's Bay as "one of those rare diamonds in the rough that a real estate investor occasionally finds in a career."
Litt has spent nearly three decades focused on the real-estate industry – beginning his career at BrookHill Properties in 1988 and then moving to the sell side six years later to become an analyst. Ultimately he became a managing director and senior property analyst at Citigroup.
In 2008, Litt left the research world to make his own bets. He raised a fund and started targeting publicly traded real estate and real estate-related securities in an activist fashion. He currently serves as Land and Buildings' chief investment officer.
His playbook has largely focused on finding ways to monetize real estate to enhance shareholder value. That was the case at BRE Properties, which sold to Essex Property Trust for $4.3 billion in 2013, as well as Associated Estates, which sold itself to Brookfield for $2.5 billion in 2015. It was also the case at MGM Resorts, which spun off some of its real estate through an initial public offering in 2016.
Litt had been pushing Taubman Centers, a shopping-mall operator, to explore strategic alternatives as well, and that ultimately turned into one of the most contentious proxy battles of the 2017 season. Despite receiving support from the proxy advisory services ISS and Glass Lewis for nominating himself and Charles Elson of the University of Delaware to Taubman's board, Litt did not receive enough shareholder votes at the company's annual meeting earlier this month.
Land and Buildings has called for a special meeting to de-stagger Taubman's board and add three new independent directors before next year's meeting. The firm has also filed a complaint to limit the family's voting power, which amounts to about 30 percent.
With Hudson's Bay, Litt is urging the company to consider being taken private by management or consider other uses for its real estate.
He points to Saks Fifth Avenue's building across the street from Rockefeller Center in Manhattan and questions whether its best use is as a department store.
He asks: "What about a hotel? Or office? Or boutique retail stores the likes of Apple and Gucci? Or an internet retailer looking to go upscale through bricks and mortar presence as Amazon appears to be doing with its purchase of Whole Foods?"
Hudson's Bay confirmed that it received the letter from Litt and said that it is "reviewing the letter and will respond in due course."
"Hudson's Bay is a real estate company, full stop," Litt wrote. "If there is a smarter and better use of any or all of the locations, stores should be closed and redeveloped and put toward their optimal use."
Watch: Hudson's Bay to cut 2,000 North American jobs
VIDEO0:5100:51Hudson's Bay to cut 2,000 North American jobsClosing Bell
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4aa4c30153ef72c0397d99473ac68d1b | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/19/presumed-death-toll-in-london-tower-blaze-rises-to-79.html | Presumed death toll in London tower blaze rises to 79 | Presumed death toll in London tower blaze rises to 79
Fire fighters drench the burning 24-storey residential Grenfell Tower block on June 14, 2017 in London, England.Carl Court | Getty Images
London police said 79 people were dead or missing presumed dead after a devastating tower block blaze last week.
London Police Commander Stuart Cundy said the toll from the Grenfell Tower blaze could still change but probably not as much as it had in recent days.
He also said that five people who were reported missing had now been found safe and well.
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e0b208e7ef1cdaf08d45bcad891f8fa4 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/19/start-up-execs-urge-trump-not-to-kill-special-start-up-visa.html | Start-up execs urge Trump not to kill special 'start-up visa' for entrepreneurs | Start-up execs urge Trump not to kill special 'start-up visa' for entrepreneurs
VIDEO1:5701:57Trump and Silicon Valley set to clash over new immigration ruleThe Pulse @ 1 Market
A new immigration rule that would allow foreign-born entrepreneurs to stay legally in the U.S. and work on their companies could become a key point of contention between tech execs and the White House, who are meeting this week.
The International Entrepreneur Rule, colloquially called a "startup visa," was created through an executive order from President Obama and was supposed to launch on July 17th, but now the rule has been sent back for review by the Trump administration.
Prateek Joshi, a startup founder in Palo Alto, California, would directly benefit from the new rule if it goes into effect. Originally from India, he's been in the country for about eight years. Currently he is here on an H-1B visa, but it's set to expire soon. If this new entrepreneur rule doesn't pass he may have to move his company and the potential jobs overseas.
"The headquarters has to move somewhere else right, because all the jobs that are being created here will be created for example in India, or some other country…Canada, where the government is more supportive of setting up businesses," Joshi said.
Currently there is no clear path for foreign-born entrepreneurs to start companies in the U.S. and founders have to navigate obstacles with the existing visa options to gain legal residency. This includes competing with applicants from large outsourcing firms in the H-1B lottery.
Under the International Entrepreneur Rule, startup founders have to meet strict guidelines: raise at least $250,000 in capital investments from well established U.S. investors and prove they can create U.S. jobs. If they meet those guidelines, entrepreneurs are granted an initial two and half year parole period to stay in country and work on their companies.
Joshi's company, Pluto AI, came about in March 2016 and Joshi said they have raised the required amount of investment to qualify for the rule. He employs three people at the moment and hopes to expand and hire up to 200 employees in the next five years.
While the U.S. limits opportunities for foreign born entrepreneurs and foreign workers, other countries are expanding opportunities. For example, French President Emmanuel Macron on June 15th announced a new technology visa to make it easier for foreign talent to work, and create companies in France.
Todd Schulte, President of pro-immigration group FWD.us, said delaying this rule is the wrong approach because it has bipartisan support and there currently is no visa or rule that specifically helps foreign-born entrepreneurs.
"This is about entrepreneurship in Wisconsin, in Ohio, in North Carolina. It's all over the country, not just Silicon Valley," Schulte said.
On May 23, startup founders, investors and civic leaders from places like Kansas, Iowa and Missouri sent a letter to President Trump urging him to implement the International Entrepreneur Rule, arguing that it is important for innovation and job creation all over the country.
Maha Ibrahim, a partner at Canaan Ventures, said 51 percent of the country's unicorns have at least one foreign-born founder.
We need to be able to find a way to foster immigration to this country for innovation," Ibrahim said. "It's scary, certainly hurts our companies in terms of their ability to hire and retain talent, and innovate, that is not just a Silicon Valley problem, it ends up being one that is country wide."
But others argue that loosening restrictions on work visas hurts American workers. Judiciary Committee chair Charles Grassley was among the critics of the rule when it was first passed, arguing that President Obama should have passed the measure through Congress instead of an executive order.
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4fb47145e646703b6a543b26f3ea277e | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/19/vice-raises-450-million-from-tpg.html | Vice just scored $450 million to make the 'largest millennial video library in the world' | Vice just scored $450 million to make the 'largest millennial video library in the world'
VIDEO4:2504:25Vice CEO: We have a few different plans for new fundingSquawk on the Street
Vice has raised a new $450 million round of funding from TPG, Vice Media CEO Shane Smith told CNBC.
With the minority investment from TPG, the company is now valued at $5.7 billion, though Smith joked he "generally round[s] it up to $6 [billion] because it's easier to say."
"This will allow us to: build up the largest millennial video library in the world - enabling VICE to widen our offering to include; news, food, music, fashion, art, travel, gaming, lifestyle, scripted and feature films," Smith said in a release.
Smith told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" getting an investment form a third-party private equity firm could help Vice take the next steps towards an IPO.
"It's what we would do if we were going to go public — is get a third party paying and start building our book, and bringing in revenue on a sort of hockey stick basis," Smith said to CNBC. "So that theoretical IPO would look very sexy."
To figure out what to do with the new funds, Smith said the company looked at what Vice has done in broadcast and mobile. Vice hopes to expand its other verticals like music-focused property Noisey, which Smith believes can be a "billion-dollar brand." It also wants to create more direct-to-consumer offerings, but needs to expand on scripted programming. The company will also use the funds to launch Vice Studios for more multi-screen content, as well as expand internationally.
"We need to build a much bigger library," Smith told CNBC. "We already do news. We do docs, and we do reality, but we want to do a lot of scripted and feature films."
TPG is also an investor in CAA, Spotify and AirBnB. Vice plans to leverage the partnership to expand its technology operations.
"Media is probably at its most dynamic, most evolutionary time in its history," Smith said in a release. "With Facebook and Google taking an ever-growing piece of the online advertising pie, looming 'skinny bundles' and OTT/DTC offerings exploding the media status quo - networks have to be nimble, smart and fast moving."
Previous investors Disney and Fox did not participate in this funding round, a Vice spokesperson said.
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60089166a46d01b093ff4e16226925ca | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/19/yoga-might-be-as-good-as-physical-therapy-for-lower-back-pain-says-study.html | Yoga might be as good as physical therapy for lower back pain, says study | Yoga might be as good as physical therapy for lower back pain, says study
Getty Images
Yoga may be about as good as physical therapy for treating lower back pain, according to a new study published in a major medical journal.
The research bolsters the scientific case for yoga as a potential therapy for back pain. While the discipline has its fans in the medical community, evidence for its effectiveness is sparse.
The variety of yoga that has taken off in countries outside India emphasizes physical postures, movements, and controlled breathing. Its popularity has spawned an industry of retailers, studios and media companies catering to practitioners. Enthusiasts frequently tout yoga's health benefits, especially its capacity to reduce stress and improve fitness. But skeptics say more research is needed to verify the claims being made.
A team of researchers from several U.S. institutions studied more than 300 racially diverse, low-income patients with chronic back pain. They split the patients into three groups, sending one to weekly yoga classes, another to weekly physical therapy sessions, and giving a third control group a book and regularly mailed newsletters on managing pain.
The study's lead author was Robert Saper, who is director of Integrative Medicine at Boston Medical Center.
Saper and his colleagues found that the weekly yoga classes helped manage pain almost as much as physical therapy, and more than education. The groups in physical therapy and yoga both used less pain medication than the control group.
The researchers published their results in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine on Monday.
"In light of the complex factors affecting both diagnosis and outcomes in chronic [lower back pain], any single treatment is unlikely to prove helpful to all or even most patients," said an accompanying editorial written by University of California, San Diego doctor and researcher Douglas G. Chang, and Stefan G. Kertesz, a doctor and researcher with Birmingham Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the University of Alabama.
"Nevertheless," they wrote, "as Saper and colleagues have shown, yoga offers some persons tangible benefit without much risk."
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a0dcc9c709c9f72fc0b70d023f8b4edb | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/20/hammond-europe-must-avoid-fragmentation-of-financial-markets-post-brexit.html | Europe must avoid fragmentation of financial markets post-Brexit, urges UK’s Hammond | Europe must avoid fragmentation of financial markets post-Brexit, urges UK’s Hammond
VIDEO3:0603:06Govt will prioritize UK businesses and UK jobs: UK Fin Min Squawk Box Europe
Britain's finance minister Philip Hammond has urged for continued collaboration between the U.K. and European financial services businesses as Brexit talks enter into their second day.
In his annual Mansion House address, Hammond sought to reassure City of London leaders that U.K. businesses could continue to operate with the EU while it establishes its new relationship outside of the union.
Though backing Prime Minister Theresa May's plans for a hard Brexit, Hammond called for an "implementation period" that would remove the risk of a "cliff edge" departure, which could damage business.
The financial services sector should be central to this, he said, citing its "crucial" role in daily life. The U.K. is currently the EU's biggest financial market.
"Let me be clear about this," Hammond said Tuesday. "Fragmentation of financial services would result in poorer quality, higher priced products for everyone concerned.
Under EU passporting rules, all banks and financial services companies registered in the EU or European Economic Area (EEA) are free to trade with one another with little EU regulation. This is the foundation of the EU single market for financial services. However, this benefit will be at risk if the U.K. government pursues its goal of leaving the single market, prompting concern among businesses.
VIDEO2:1002:10UK should negotiate transitional Brexit deal: UK Chancellor Squawk Box Europe
Hammond sought to allay fears by outlining a three-step plan to securing the industry. This involves establishing new regulatory guidelines for businesses; conducting risk management; and reassuring businesses that the new framework will be permanent.
"Avoiding fragmentation of financial services is a huge prize for the economies of Europe."
"First, we will need a new process for establishing regulatory requirements for cross-border business between the UK and EU. It must be evidence-based, symmetrical, and transparent. And it must reflect international standards.
"Second, cooperation arrangements must be reciprocal, reliable, and prioritise financial stability. Crucially they must enable timely and coordinated risk management on both sides.
"Third, these arrangements must be permanent and reliable for the businesses regulated under these regimes.
Hammond's comments on the financial services industry came amid wider calls for a transition period for all businesses.
"We'll almost certainly need an implementation period, outside the (EU's) customs union itself, but with current customs border arrangements remaining in place, until new long-term arrangements are up and running."
Hammond was initially due to make his Mansion House address last Thursday but it was delayed in the wake of a .
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fd3d2dc9fec9f0d5321a9e2d1cfd2293 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/20/jeff-fettig-to-step-down-as-ceo-of-whirlpool-will-remain-chairman.html | Jeff Fettig to step down as CEO of Whirlpool, will remain chairman | Jeff Fettig to step down as CEO of Whirlpool, will remain chairman
VIDEO0:5100:51Whirlpool CEO stepping down, remaining as chairmanFast Money
Jeff Fettig will step down as CEO of Whirlpool, the company announced Tuesday. He will remain as chairman.
Fettig has held both roles since 2004.
Marc Bitzer, the current president and chief operating officer for the Benton Harbor, Mich.-based company, will succeed Fettig as CEO, effective October 1.
"I am effectively stepping away from our day-to-day management after 36 years of service and the last 13 as CEO," Fettig said in a statement. "For me, the opportunity to lead Whirlpool during the past two decades has been both an honor and a privilege."
Fettig first joined Whirlpool as an Operations Associate in 1981, steadily moving through the company's ranks in several managerial positions before his promotion in July 1989 to vice president of marketing for Whirlpool's KitchenAid appliance group.
Whirlpool's market value nearly tripled during Fettig's time as CEO, from $5 billion to more than $14 billion.
The company also cited several strategic acquisitions as contributing to its growth during Fettig's tenure — with Maytag and Indesit as the two leading additions made during Fettig's tenure.
Shares of the company are up 7 percent so far this year.
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ddef628268252a52fbb3af86d858b3bc | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/20/mcdonalds-hits-all-time-high-as-wall-street-cheers-replacement-of-cashiers-with-kiosks.html?source=Snapzu | McDonald's hits all-time high as Wall Street cheers replacement of cashiers with kiosks | McDonald's hits all-time high as Wall Street cheers replacement of cashiers with kiosks
VIDEO0:3900:39McDonald's hits all-time high as Wall Street cheers replacement of cashiers with kiosksNews Videos
McDonald's shares hit an all-time high on Tuesday as Wall Street expects sales to increase from new digital ordering kiosks that will replace cashiers in 2,500 restaurants. Cowen raised its rating on McDonald's shares to outperform from market perform because of the technology upgrades, which are slated for the fast-food chain's restaurants this year.
McDonald's shares rallied 26 percent this year through Monday compared to the 10 percent return.
Andrew Charles from Cowen cited plans for the restaurant chain to roll out mobile ordering across 14,000 U.S. locations by the end of 2017. The technology upgrades, part of what McDonald's calls "Experience of the Future," includes digital ordering kiosks that will be offered in 2,500 restaurants by the end of the year and table delivery. "MCD is cultivating a digital platform through mobile ordering and Experience of the Future (EOTF), an in-store technological overhaul most conspicuous through kiosk ordering and table delivery," Charles wrote in a note to clients Tuesday. "Our analysis suggests efforts should bear fruit in 2018 with a combined 130 bps [basis points] contribution to U.S. comps [comparable sales]."
He raised his 2018 U.S. same store sales growth estimate for the fast-food chain to 3 percent from 2 percent. The analyst raised his price target for McDonald's to $180 from $142, representing 17.5 percent upside from Monday's close. He also raised his 2018 earnings-per-share forecast to $6.87 from $6.71 versus the Wall Street consensus of $6.83.
"MCD has done a great job launching popular innovations within the context of simplifying the menu, while introducing more effective value initiatives that have recently begun to improve the brand's value perceptions," he wrote.
A McDonald's spokeswoman sent the following statement in response to this story:
"Our CEO, Steve Easterbrook, has said on many occasions that self-order kiosks in McDonald's restaurants are not a labor replacement. They provide an opportunity to transition back-of-the-house positions to more customer service roles such as concierges and table service where they are able to truly engage with guests and enhance the dining experience."
— CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this story.
VIDEO2:4202:42Watch out McDonald's, this former trader is bringing Chinese all-day breakfast to the tableIconic Tour
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aed016423c3dce074be0d1096cf1d088 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/20/saudi-arabia-relieves-crown-prince-replaces-him-with-mohammad-bin-salman-state-news-agency-says.html | Saudi Arabia relieves crown prince, replaces him with 31-year-old Mohammad Bin Salman | Saudi Arabia relieves crown prince, replaces him with 31-year-old Mohammad Bin Salman
VIDEO2:3502:35Saudi Arabia's royal shake-upCapital Connection
Saudi Arabia has relieved Muhammad bin Nayef from his role as crown prince, replacing him with Mohammad bin Salman, according to a royal decree published by state news agency SPA. The move positions the 31-year-old Bin Salman to be next in line to the throne.
Bin Salman has been his country's defense minister and deputy crown prince, and was recently credited with a "huge success" for U.S. President Donald Trump's recent decision to stop in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia's King Salman called for a public pledging of allegiance in Mecca on Wednesday to the new crown prince, Saudi-owned channel al-Arabiya said on Wednesday.
The young prince has taken a central role in Saudi Arabia's efforts to build its economy beyond the oil industry. He holds primary responsibility for the kingdom's military and energy sector.
In March, Bin Salman met Trump in the White House, and agreed that Iran represents a regional security threat.
Here's CNBC's look at Bin Salman's economic vision for his country.
In May, the then-deputy crown prince said his radical economic reforms were succeeding in protecting the kingdom against low oil prices, and he promised massive investments in coming years to help diversify the economy beyond oil.
VIDEO2:3902:39Saudi Arabia replaces crown princeCapital Connection
Experts have said that Bin Salman is different than other Saudi leaders in that he had been educated in the kingdom — he wears traditional dress and is popular with young Saudis.
Ghanem Nuseibeh tweet: Saudi Arabia now has a young Crown Prince who is a hands-on moderniser. The right person in the right place at the right time.
"They see in Mohammad bin Salman someone of their own generation moving up the ladder very quickly. He has a certain degree of popularity. He's also grated a lot of people in the family who see him as abrasive, inexperienced, undisciplined, impulsive," Bruce Riedel, director of the intelligence project at Brookings and former CIA national intelligence officer for the Middle East, told CNBC in 2016.
—Reuters and CNBC's Patti Domm and Berkeley Lovelace Jr. contributed to this report.
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b49d3ffb31c41d56c83ac76bdc19680d | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/20/sterling-hits-one-week-low-after-boes-carney-says-now-not-the-time-to-raise-rates.html | Sterling falls to one-week low after Bank of England's Carney says now is not the time to raise rates | Sterling falls to one-week low after Bank of England's Carney says now is not the time to raise rates
fell by almost a full cent against the dollar on Tuesday after Bank of England governor Mark Carney said now was not the time to raise interest rates, dashing some investors' hopes that the central bank had shifted in that direction.
Speaking to London's banking community alongside finance minister Philip Hammond a day after Brexit talks started, Carney cited weak wage growth, mixed signals on consumer spending and business investment as reasons for not moving to raise interest rates any time soon.
Sterling sank from $1.2758 to a one-week low of $1.2669 after the text of Carney's postponed Mansion House speech was released. It also fell over half a percent to a five-day low of 88.02 pence per euro.
"Market sentiment towards sterling had shifted towards a possible rate hike following a shock shift to 5-3 last week from the MPC (Bank of England monetary policy committee)," said Mizuho's head of hedge fund FX sales, Neil Jones.
"The balance (of sentiment is) being addressed somewhat at Mansion House."
British government bond futures surged by around 50 ticks after the release of Carney's speech and last stood at 128.46, up 40 ticks on the day.
Short sterling interest rate futures also rose strongly, especially for the late 2018 and early 2019 contracts, as the market priced in a shallower path of interest rate hikes in future years.
The 10-year gilt yield dipped below 1 percent for the first time since last Thursday.
Britain's exporter-heavy index of stocks rose 0.4 percent from a lacklustre open.
Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney, speaks during the BoE Financial Stability Report press conference, on July 5, 2016.Dylan Martinez | AFP | Getty Images
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1401fdb5451d2cc077269462b323dfe3 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/20/tesla-hires-prominent-a-i-researcher-as-autopilot-chief-lattner-leaves.html | Tesla hires prominent A.I. researcher as Autopilot chief Lattner leaves | Tesla hires prominent A.I. researcher as Autopilot chief Lattner leaves
Elon Musk, Chairman, CEO and Product Architect of Tesla Motors, addresses a press conference to declare that the Tesla Motors releases v7.0 System in China on a limited basis for its Model S, which will enable self-driving features such as Autosteer for a select group of beta testers on October 23, 2015 in Beijing, China.VCG | Getty Images
Tesla on Tuesday confirmed that it had hired a major figure in artificial intelligence (AI) to be its new head of AI and Autopilot vision.
Andrej Karpathy, who is joining from nonprofit research lab OpenAI, has done extensive work in trendy areas in AI such as reinforcement learning and generative adversarial networks (GANs). Before joining OpenAI, Karpathy worked at Alphabet, where he spent time at the DeepMind AI research group.
The move comes as Chris Lattner, Tesla's vice president of the Autopilot autonomous driving technology, departs. Tesla hired the Apple veteran earlier this year. Apple CEO Tim Cook last week confirmed to Bloomberg that the iPhone maker is indeed working on self-driving car technology.
"Turns out that Tesla isn't a good fit for me after all," Lattner wrote in a tweet.
Lattner tweet
Jim Keller replaces Lattner as head of Autopilot hardware and software, a Tesla spokeswoman told CNBC in an email.
Among other things, AI can be useful for image recognition for autonomous driving. Tesla has added the necessary hardware for its Autopilot autonomous driving technology to its fleet of vehicles.
Alphabet subsidiary Waymo is also working on self-driving cars, along with Ford, GM and Uber.
Tesla co-founder and CEO Elon Musk is also a co-founder and chairman of OpenAI, which was established in late 2015. Karpathy will report directly to Musk and will work closely with Keller, the Tesla spokeswoman wrote.
Correction: This story has been revised to clarify Karpathy's AI research.
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5fb5a23870462ca15b62567400263e3f | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/20/wider-deeper-vc-investment-needed-for-indian-and-african-mobile-money-firms-says-gates-foundation-report.html | Wider, deeper VC investment needed for Indian and African mobile money firms, says Gates Foundation report | Wider, deeper VC investment needed for Indian and African mobile money firms, says Gates Foundation report
The Paytm mobile digital payment app displayed here helps financial inclusion in India, as does M-Pesa in Kenya but more such initiatives are needed says a new report from Village Capital and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.Dhiraj Singh | Bloomberg | Getty Images
A new financial inclusion report from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, carried out by venture capitalist (VC) firm Village Capital, with the participation of 55 entrepreneurs and 23 investors has found that wider and deeper support is needed to encourage more mobile money firms to launch in India and East Africa.
In excess of 233 million and 60 million people in India and East Africa respectively still lack formal bank accounts and 50% of small businesses don't have access to formal credit.
Financial technology (fintech) enabled firms such as M-Pesa in Kenya, which provides mobile payment, saving and credit facilities to 30 million people in East Africa, and the Paytm giant mobile m-commerce operation in India that claims 200 million users, are still the exception in terms of providing access to financial services for poor people.
Mobile phone cash credits, withdrawals and bill payment capabilities are all possible on such services, as are online shopping, loan and other such functionality. Fintech firms can effectively provide a bank account to the so-called "unbanked" in the developing world who are not reached by branch banking networks, or necessarily wanted by traditional banks as they have no credit history.
Not enough other digital financial services (DFS) firms outside of the big names like M-Pesa are getting early seed investment money or, crucially, scale up investment to allow their fintech-enabled financial inclusion projects to achieve wide scale adoption.
"The objective of our report was to find out why DFS firms and other fintechs aren't proliferating or scaling up as we'd like and to suggest solutions from the perspective of the entrepreneurs themselves," said Heather Strachan Matranga, manager of emerging markets and the report author at Village Capital, in a phone interview with CNBC. "We're leaving money on the table by not tailoring the finance process to the needs of entrepreneurs in these markets."
According to the Breaking the Pattern report, funded by the Gates Foundation, 72% of venture capital in East Africa for the last two years went to only three start-ups.
"The market hasn't reached any kind of meaningful scale," said Ross Baird, CEO of Village Capital, in a statement. "We need hundreds of companies to truly improve the financial health of communities in India and East Africa."
According to Baird in his report introduction the problems are two-fold. "Investors are hesitant to invest because they see DFS companies as riskier than alternative sectors or geographies," he says, while pointing out that the traditional "one size fits all" Silicon Valley VC approach to investment is inappropriate in this context. "Investment tends to flow to entrepreneurs with strong preexisting networks, and those without are left on the sidelines."
This "pattern recognition" problem is exacerbated says Baird because the high cost of early stage due diligence means investors fall back on prestigious universities or technology accelerator programs to identify opportunities according to a set template, further limiting the pool of investable firms.
"This is bad for companies, which miss out on capital," says Baird, "and for investors who miss out on high-potential companies that need more time, cash and support to grow."
"To increase financial inclusion and access to opportunity for millions of people around the world, it is essential that we break this pattern and help more DFS startups reach their potential," concluded Baird.
The report makes a number of recommendations to improve the situation:
Strengthen the human/capital infrastructure so that it isn't automated and always using the same networks. This will improve outreach and the ability of more fintechs and DFS firms to get to market.Facilitate partnerships between entrepreneurs and major financial institutions to improve scale up capabilities.Provide alternatives to "pattern recognition" fallbacks so that it is not always the same universities and technology accelerators receiving money. New pitching opportunities and forums for smaller, less well known firms to meet investors, governments and so forth are needed.Develop alternative financing mechanisms to provide DFS companies with the right funding at the right time. The above recommendations are inter-linked.
The findings from the Breaking the Pattern report, which spoke to entrepreneurs and organizations such as Atikus Investments Inc in Rwanda and FTcash and Loans4SME in India among many others, will be used to shape Village Capital's future development work. The VC firm wants to apply its above recommendations across a number of different sectors from food, to healthcare to financial services and inclusion.
Later this year and in 2018 Village Capital, and its partner PayPal, plan to operate four global investment-readiness programs, supporting more than 40 emerging fintech innovators across the U.S., Latin America, India and sub-Saharan Africa. The latter two regions in particular will use this report to try to improve the diversity of the participating companies.
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6309a7e5a9746286885ba2988d7f4888 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/20/youtube-google-ai-helped-speed-takedown-of-terrorist-racist-content.html | YouTube just gave a concrete example of how Google's AI is helping the entire company | YouTube just gave a concrete example of how Google's AI is helping the entire company
Susan Wojcicki, chief executive officer of YouTube Inc., introduces the company's new television subscription service at the YouTube Space LA venue in Los Angeles, California, U.S., on Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2017.Patrick T. Fallon | Bloomberg | Getty Images
's YouTube unit says new software improved its ability to spot objectionable content by sixfold within a matter of weeks, according to a report in Fast Company, as the company tries to calm advertisers and European leaders alarmed by some of its online fare.
YouTube and rival are racing to improve AI-powered technology that spots things like racism and other hate speech in their online videos, including content used by terrorists for recruiting. But as part of Google, YouTube may have an advantage, as Google is making a big bet on AI — enough that CEO Sundar Pichai has called Google an "AI-first" company.
Both companies are moving toward an entertainment industry business model by paying to produce content which they can use to sell video ads.
As they do, however, they've faced criticism from European leaders whose citizens have been killed in terrorist attacks.
YouTube also suffered a backlash from advertisers worried about the safety of their brands next to distasteful videos.
Facebook said last week it would use its own AI-powered software and hire more terrorist experts after leaders of the U.K. and France threatened new laws to punish companies whose content stays online long enough for terrorists to spread their message.
Facebook is hiring producers and putting together its own slate of shows, following YouTube into a market worth $500 billion a year.
But both are finding their move to ape Hollywood carries risks.
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ee233cf1b980cefaa09a336978828644 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/21/argentina-misses-out-on-msci-upgrade-but-pins-hopes-on-its-century-bond-sale.html | Argentina misses out on MSCI upgrade but pins hopes on its century-bond sale | Argentina misses out on MSCI upgrade but pins hopes on its century-bond sale
Argentina's recent foray into the global bond market with a 100-year U.S.-dollar bond has a number of market analysts debating whether this is a good move from a country that is still reeling from past defaults.
The country recently sold $2.75 billion of a 100-year bond on Monday, just a year after emerging from its latest-default, according to the government.
Finance Minister Luis Caputo stated that the deal's success highlighted how Argentina has regained market credibility and confidence, noting that the issue also was "prudent" as it was taking advantage of the low yield environment and balancing the country's debt profile.
Caputo further suggested that having raised its $10 billion initial target for 2017, Argentina is now expected to seek currency diversification, potentially including euro, Swiss franc or yen funding. Its overall target for the year will be increased to $12.75 billion, according to Caputo.
Argentine peso billsLeo La Valle | AFP | Getty Images
Soon after the bond hit the markets, Argentina received $9.75 billion in orders, as investors eyed a yield of 7.9 percent in a market where higher yields are tough to find. But a number of analysts have criticized this move.
"If ever there was an example of how financial repression has driven investors to ever more desperate investment decisions to try and generate higher returns, then it is Argentina issuing 100-year foreign currency debt," Marc Ostwald, strategist at ADM Investor Services, said in his daily note.
"As a matter of record, Argentina has defaulted on its foreign currency debt seven times since independence 200 years ago, and five times on local debt, its longest stretch without default was ca. 50 years.... as they say somewhere 'you do the math'!"
Some analysts have also expressed concern over the term of the bond being too long. Bonds, however, are a way to raise capital by attracting yield-hungry foreign investors in a low-yielding environment. However, the success of the bond depends on Argentina's economic situation and how the country stabilizes its ailing economy in the years ahead.
Mauricio Macri, President of Argentina, at the 2016 Sun Valley conference in Sun Valley, Idaho.Michael Newberg | CNBC
The Argentinian economy recently failed to win back its status as an emerging market in the influential MSCI benchmark equity index posing a contrast to the success of the launch of its 100-year bond. The failure is a setback for President Maurico Macri who has implemented several market-friendly reforms to deliver on his promise of reforming the country's economy after years of heavy intervention and non-payment of of international debt obligations under the previous government.
He ended a decade-long dispute with creditors that allowed it to re-enter global credit markets, but Argentina lacks an investment grade rating. S&P and Fitch rate the sovereign a B with a stable outlook, while Moody's has the debt at B3, according to Reuters.
But concerns over the state of the economy continue to loom and a number of analysts see the 100-year bond as a 'trophy deal' from the government.
"The deal exceeds the normal term for a long bond, 30 years. It can be seen as a 'trophy' deal," Brian Lawson, senior consultant, Banking, Country and Economic Risk at IHS Markit, told CNBC via email.
"As stated by Caputo, Argentina has joined a club which includes (in his words) 'Mexico, Belgium, Ireland, China, Denmark or Sweden'. This enabled him to claim that Argentina is "nearer to normal countries like Belgium or Mexico than Venezuela', with the deal representing a 'seal of confidence not only in the current administration but in the future of the country'.
Tim Bradley | Getty Images
While Lawson said from a market's perspective the deal reflects the market's strong risk appetite for higher yielding debt, he also criticized the move keeping in mind Argentina's history of defaults.
"Argentina has a history of periodic default. Between 1824 and 2014, it actually defaulted eight times. While the current administration may be making positive economic policy progress, the longer term record suggests that Argentina is prone to periodic economic difficulties and political instability. However, it is unlikely that the investors in its debt view this is as a concern, with investment being driven by the prevailing yield hunger," Lawson said.
Although the failure to secure an emerging market status may be a blow to Argentina's dreams of making its way back into global markets, IHS' Lawson suggested that the deal could prove to be very attractive for the country.
"Only a few years ago, Argentina was struggling to borrow at single digits at any maturity. Now it has done so at below 8 percent for 100 years. If U.S. interest rates rise, market conditions worsen, or political instability returns to Argentina, this deal could appear very attractive funding for the borrower."
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da9d82177ea9082ba698a30925d3df7f | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/21/cnbc-exclusive-cnbc-excerpts-alibaba-executive-chairman-jack-ma-speaks-with-cnbcs-david-faber-from-alibabas-gateway-17-event.html | CNBC Exclusive: CNBC Excerpts: Alibaba Executive Chairman Jack Ma Speaks with CNBC’s David Faber from Alibaba’s Gateway ’17 Event | CNBC Exclusive: CNBC Excerpts: Alibaba Executive Chairman Jack Ma Speaks with CNBC’s David Faber from Alibaba’s Gateway ’17 Event
Exclusive Interview Aired Today on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" at 9AM ET
WHEN: Today, Wednesday, June 21 at 9AM ET
WHERE: CNBC's "Squawk on the Street"
Following are excerpts from the unofficial transcript of a CNBC Exclusive interview with Alibaba Executive Chairman Jack Ma from Alibaba's Gateway '17 Event in Detroit, MI. The exclusive interview aired today on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street." Following are links to video of the interview on CNBC.com: http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000629460, http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000629445, http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000629469, http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000629503 and http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000629483.
All references must be sourced to CNBC.
JACK MA ON GLOBALIZATION AND INTERACTION WITH PRESIDENT TRUMP
JACK MA: My belief is that globalization is good. But it needs to be improved. Globalization should be inclusive to everybody. We should not, you know, throw out the baby, because the baby is crying too much. It's a good thing. But how can you improve it? Globalization only in the past 30 years. So what if we can improve next 30 years? I'm a believer, strong believer, that globalization can help create jobs, especially small businesses. Next 30 years, the technology is going to challenge a lot of job opportunities. So if we cannot help the local business going global, it's going to be a big problem. Today, I see so many small businesses. They're buying from this country, manufacturing there, design in the U.S.A., and sell to China. This is called global business.
DAVID FABER: Right. Supply chains are all over the place.
JACK MA: That's right.
DAVID FABER: There is absolutely. Globalization, many would argue, has been a benefit for the world economy, as you just said. However, you seem to be swimming against the current tide. I know you're talking about a replacement or a different organization than the World Trade Organization that you're sort of thinking about, that would empower small business. But when you have governments that are not embracing it the way they once did, isn't that a threat?
JACK MA: No. In the past 18 years, when I do internet in China, we got criticism every day. You know, something where you believe it, a lot of people criticize it. But if you really believe it, continue to do it, improve it. I've been doing like a crazy man. Last year, I fly in the air 870 hours. And this year, I will fly, maybe, over 1,000 hours in the air.
DAVID FABER: Why are you doing that? Why are you spending 1,000 hours in an airplane and visiting with world leaders? What's the point?
JACK MA: You have to push it. Convincing people globalization is good, convincing people free trade is good, convincing them that small business should be the driver of the globalization, the force. You cannot stop globalization. The world is getting so small, right? Internet, airplane tickets, and the people traveling around the world. How can you stop it?
DAVID FABER: You can't.
JACK MA: You cannot stop it. If you cannot stop it, improve it.
DAVID FABER: All right. So you go, and you talk to various world leaders, including the President of the United States earlier this year. Did he embrace what you're talking about? Because certainly, his platform has not been one that has necessarily embraced the ideas you're espousing.
JACK MA: I think he supported the small business and young people. And when I say, we are going to have a small business summit in the Midwest, in Detroit, he was so excited. He said, "Jack, this is a great idea. Please do it. And if there's anything I can help, let me know."
JACK MA ON JOBS AND CHINA DOMESTIC CONSUMPTION
JACK MA: We created more than 33 million jobs for China. And we believe that, even one online shop can create at least 1 million jobs.
DAVID FABER: It's an enormous number. It would be, obviously, a great benefit. But still, how would that work?
JACK MA: We already did a lot of things for Americans creating jobs in the past 18 years, when we do the B to B. Even in California, there are more than 20,000 small businesses using Alibaba platform to sell their products across the board, to buy products from outside, and assembling them and packaging them and sell them. Already create a lot of jobs. We proved the model. We proved this model in the other countries, too.
DAVID FABER: Apples grown in Washington State can end up in China.
JACK MA: Yeah, yeah, cherries. Yeah.
DAVID FABER: Or cherries. But it's got to be more than just apples and cherries, doesn't it?
JACK MA: June 18th, we had a small promotion. Within 15 minutes, or less than 15 minutes, we sold 2 million lipsticks. China's girl – women love this kind of stuff. So we think that this is the demand. By the way, I say, past 30 years, the domestic consumption of the United States drives the global economy and drives – supporting so many small businesses in America or China to sell things globally. Today, next 30 years, the domestic demanding power of China is going to drive millions and millions of small businesses globally.
DAVID FABER: And it has turned. But that economy that we've been waiting for is still in process. I mean, the Chinese economy is still an export-driven economy, not a consumption-driven economy, no?
JACK MA: China's changing. China is going to import $8 trillion in the next five years. China knows very well, China has to buy. Because as I said, 300 million middle class. They need high-quality products, high-quality services.
JACK MA ON ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, DATA AND JOBS
JACK MA: The first technology revolution caused World War I. The second technology revolution caused World War number-- war two. This is the third technology revolution. People are already unhappy. Because a lot of machine learning, artificial intelligence, killing a lot of jobs. So this is what I think. The way to figure out the job creation, one of the best ways, is to help small business to sell their local products across the board. And we have to prepare now. Because next 30 years, is going to be painful.
DAVID FABER: It's going to be painful.
JACK MA: Very painful.
DAVID FABER: Because of the changes that are going to take place.
JACK MA: Change of the technology, change of the –
DAVID FABER: You're going to have a lot of people with a lot of time on their hands, too –
JACK MA: Well, you know, the other thing people are—
DAVID FABER: How they might want to spend it on Alibaba watching movies and buying things. But –
JACK MA: Well, believe or not, I think next 30 years, people only work four hours a day and maybe four days a week. My grandfather worked 16 hours a day in the farmland to digging. He thinks he's very busy. We work eight hours, five days a week. We think we are very busy. By the next 30 years, people only work four hours. Normal people visit, like, 30 places. 30 years later, they will probably visit 300 places. So they will be a mobile population. So stop globalization. It is impossible. The only thing is that, how can we make the globalization more inclusive, the trade more inclusive, knowledge more inclusive? This is how we can deal with the instability of the world.
DAVID FABER: These are all very important issues. But a lot of them do come back to politics. They come back to governments and the willingness to invest and the willingness to make hard choices. I'm not seeing a lot of those hard choices being made right now in the world.
JACK MA: This is why I'm traveling, talking to all the government and state leaders and telling them, moving fast. If they do not move fast, there's going to be trouble. My belief is that you have to repair the roof while it is still sunshine.
DAVID FABER: Do you think the machines will win?
JACK MA: No. Humans will win.
DAVID FABER: They will?
JACK MA: Oh, yeah, absolutely. Machine is good for knowledge. But human being are good at the wisdom. So that is why I'm encouraging a lot of governments and talking to a lot of government officials. Pay special attention to the education system. If you want the machine is going to be smarter than human beings. This is for sure. Because the day where we design the machine, we know machine is powerful, stronger than us. When we designed the trains and buses, we know machines are going to run faster than us. When we have the computers, we have to know that machine is going to be smarter than us. But the human beings, they are not only smart. They have the wisdom.
DAVID FABER: And so artificial intelligence will never have wisdom?
JACK MA: No. Artificial intelligence is going to be very smart. So the smart – between smart and the wisdom, smart people know what you want. Wisdom people, wise people, know what they don't want.
DAVID FABER: I just continue to wonder what that world will look like over the next 30 years and whether we can survive –
JACK MA: It's going to be painful.
DAVID FABER: What's painful? What does that mean?
JACK MA: Well, you will see that some people, because the knowledge is not enough. The wisdom is not enough. So the new wave coming, the job is being taken away. Some people who catch up the wave will be rich, will be more successful. Some people will be more painful. The government, you know, the world is going to be data. The people will now have more data than the bosses.
DAVID FABER: You have a lot of data at Alibaba, don't you?
JACK MA: Yeah, we do.
DAVID FABER: And how are you focused on creating and obtaining more of it?
JACK MA: I think it's just the beginning of the data period. We think data is going to be so important to human life in the future. Compared to tomorrow, our data is nothing. Tomorrow, IOT, internet of things, everything connected. Everything will be—
DAVID FABER: Billions upon billions of devices connected.
JACK MA: We think that we are a big data company today. That was compared to yesterday. Compared to tomorrow, we are nothing.
DAVID FABER: Well, what will it let you do, having access to that data, as it accumulates more and more? What will it allow you to do?
JACK MA: Improve people's lives, improve the machines, to make sure the machine can do a better job to support human beings instead of machine do better job than human jobs. So I think that they – we don't know how data really can make money today. But we know we have to protect the security of the data, the privacy of the data. And when we know, one day, that data will empower the human being.
DAVID FABER: But you know a lot about your customers already, I would assume. I mean, they've spent a lot of time on the platform, what, 25 minutes a day, seven times a day. Many of them are younger. They're using their mobile devices. But that's just the tip of the iceberg.
JACK MA: Yeah, that's the beginning. Just today's data is like 100 years ago, people thinking about electricity is the lights, you know? But they never thought, 100 years later, we have a refrigerator and a washing machine. Everything is using electricity. So data. You know, we have to believe our kids will be much smarter than us using the data.
DAVID FABER: But you don't believe all that data, when used with artificial intelligence, will create wisdom. You don't.
JACK MA: No. No. No. Wisdom is from the heart. The machine intelligence is by the brain. Brain is about knowledge. You can always make a machine to learn the knowledge. But it is difficult for machines to have a human heart.
JACK MA ON ANBANG
JACK MA: Well, I think, as businesspeople, me, I do everything to make sure that my customers happy, employees happy, the society is good. It's healthy. Social responsibility is the key. Whatever we do, we try to make sure that the society is good. So I don't know what's going on with the others.
DAVID FABER: You don't.
JACK MA: I don't. But—
DAVID FABER: I mean, it's a small community of you giants in Chinese business. You don't know have any idea what happened to Chairman Wu?
JACK MA: I know these guys. I know Chairman Wu for years. But we do never talk about the what we think about. So sometimes, when I look at these businesspeople doing things, I say, "Wow. I'm not going to do anything like that."
DAVID FABER: And it doesn't concern you, when you see them without any idea of why they've been – disappeared?
JACK MA: I talked to some of them. Well, I talked to some of the people. I say, "Hey, guys. If I were you, I would focus on customers. I would focus on not making money. I would focus on making value." A lot of people so keen about making money. When they're keen about making money – so, I believe there are three things you should not touch: power, money, and the glory.
JACK MA ON FINTECH
JACK MA: Yeah, someday. It will be as known as Alibaba, probably be, I don't know, much more famous than Alibaba.
DAVID FABER: More famous? Why?
JACK MA: Yeah. Because I think the techfin that we are doing, we are enabling small businesses and young people to be able to reach financial support. The fintech is to empower the financial institute to be more powerful. Maybe they want to support their customers better. But we think that we should make the Ali into financing is something we want to do that how we can build up a system that can meet the needs of 21st century financial needs. And the second thing is how we can make financial really inclusive. So now, we are growing so fast in China. We are growing so fast in India, a lot of developing countries have been using that. Someday, there will be IPO. Not because we want to raise money, because we want let more people share and more people know about it, more people benefit.
DAVID FABER: That's what you said about Alibaba, too, when you took it public.
JACK MA: Well, yeah. So in today, China, we are making a lot of cities cashless society.
DAVID FABER: You believe China will be a cashless society?
JACK MA: Of course, yeah. We will keep on doing. Next five years, we already come to – in five years, we will make most of the cities cashless societies in China. Hangzhou, my city, is already cashless society, almost.
DAVID FABER: Although there's a lot of competition. I mean, WeChat, Tencent's WeChat Mobile is taking market share from Alipay, isn't it?
JACK MA: Well, when you do business, don't worry about competition. There's nowhere in this world there's no competition. You have to get used to it. So it's not about – this techfin is just the beginning.
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b4ba24fdacea31aa51bddb34154e3251 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/21/jeh-johnson-says-russia-hacking-did-not-alter-2016-election-tallies.html | Jeh Johnson: Cyberattacks 'are going to get worse before they get better' | Jeh Johnson: Cyberattacks 'are going to get worse before they get better'
Getty Images
Obama Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson testified Wednesday that he does not believe Russian hacking "altered or suppressed" votes in the 2016 election.
Still, he contended that the United States "can and should do" more to protect its election systems from cyberattacks.
"There are lessons learned from this experience and, in the future, there is probably more we can and should do," he told the House Intelligence Committee.
In a prepared opening statement, Johnson said that cyberattacks "are going to get worse before they get better." During the hearing, he said possible fixes include giving state election officials grants to improve cybersecurity, better educating state and local officials about phishing attacks and putting a federal official at the DHS in charge of boosting protections.
Johnson appeared before the House committee as part of its probe into Moscow's efforts to influence last year's election. The Senate Intelligence Committee held a separate hearing with current officials. The U.S. intelligence community concluded in a January report that Russian President Vladimir Putin directed a campaign to sow doubts about the electoral process and damage candidate Hillary Clinton.
While Johnson said he had not seen evidence that vote tallies were influenced, he stressed that he cannot say whether Russia's effect on public opinion affected the election.
Current and former officials have warned of the potential for efforts to influence future elections. Johnson said he worries about the "vulnerabilities" in state voter registration databases.
"I think there needs to be more done to secure registration databases," he said.
In his testimony, Johnson said he found out about the hack of the Democratic National Committee in 2016, "months" after the FBI and DNC were already in contact about the cyberattack. The DNC "did not feel it needed DHS' assistance at the time" for the attack, which the U.S. has attributed to Russian-backed hackers.
In a statement, DNC spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said the organization "has and will continue to cooperate with law enforcement" and has "provided all the information [the FBI] needed to make its assessment." She said that DHS contacted the DNC "months after [the DNC] worked closely with the FBI" and that the DNC gave DHS "detailed information" about the attack.
Johnson offered help to state secretaries of state and other state election officials in mid-August and floated the idea of making election systems "critical infrastructure," which would make them a "top priority" for DHS services. He said state officials did not warm to the idea because some felt it was federal intervention in their systems.
He eventually did designate it critical infrastructure before President Barack Obama left office in January.
Around that time, Johnson said, he started to see reports of "scanning and probing" of state voter registration systems. By the time of the election, 33 states and 36 cities and counties used DHS cybersecurity tools.
Jeanette Manfra, undersecretary for cybersecurity at DHS, told the Senate on Wednesday that 21 state election systems were targeted. She did not disclose which states.
In October, Johnson and then-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper released a statement accusing the Russian government of cyberthefts and disclosures that "are intended to interfere with the US election process." The Obama administration has faced criticism for not making a bigger deal out of the Russian efforts before the election.
The House panel's ranking Democrat, Rep. Adam Schiff of California, asked Johnson on Wednesday why Obama did not divulge it publicly.
"We did make the statement," Johnson said of the one he and Clapper issued. "And we were very concerned that we not be perceived as taking sides in the election, injecting ourselves into a very heated campaign" or undermining the integrity of the election.
Johnson said he issued other public statements about cyberattacks on the election systems besides the October one. He added that he feels Americans paid less attention to the October statement because it came around the same time as the release of a 2005 tape in which then-candidate Donald Trump bragged about groping women.
Asked if he would do anything differently, Johnson said that "hindsight is brilliant."
He added: "In retrospect, it would have been easy for me to say I should have brought a sleeping bag and camped in front of the DNC."
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a2d573d9810657af29fc4fa05e1139c5 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/21/nasa-and-honeywell-claim-they-can-reduce-sonic-booms-over-land-potentially-bringing-supersonic-flight-to-the-masses.html | NASA and Honeywell claim they can reduce sonic booms over land, potentially bringing supersonic flight to the masses | NASA and Honeywell claim they can reduce sonic booms over land, potentially bringing supersonic flight to the masses
The Anglo-French passenger jet Concorde in flight.Evening Standard | Getty Images
NASA and American multinational conglomerate Honeywell say they now know how to reduce sonic booms when flying a supersonic aircraft over land following the completion of a two-year study.
A ban on supersonic travel over U.S. soil has been in place since the Richard Nixon administration in the early 1970s, amid fears of disrupted sleep and broken windows. Sonic booms are loud sounds similar to that of an explosion that can be generated by supersonic flights.
But Bob Smith, president of Honeywell's Mechanical Systems, said Tuesday that while the problem of sonic booms over populated areas has been a problem since the early days of Concorde, it could be about to change.
"A sonic boom is effectively just a big pressure change. So if you can effectively smooth that pressure change out it becomes a weaker wave so it becomes a rumble instead of a bang," said Smith.
Smith said NASA has been working on aerodynamic techniques to achieve smoother pressure changes to minimize sonic booms. He explained that Honeywell's input is to take the NASA data and allow a pilot to visualize on screen what impact a sonic boom is having on the ground below the plane.
"So a pilot gets an understanding if they are getting into a region where the impingement of a sonic boom on a populated area was getting more critical or less critical," Smith added. "It gives them a visualization of what of that sonic boom footprint effectively is."
In a statement Honeywell said the technology could prove to be useful for NASA's future planned Low Boom Flight Demonstration airplane. This NASA plane wants to gather data about noise effect on communities that some hope will help remove current restrictions to overland commercial supersonic flight. Honeywell state that the developments could potentially eliminate one of the primary barriers to the broad adoption of supersonic flight and say that it could "bring supersonic flight to the masses" and "cut flight times in half."
Commercial planes traveling faster than the speed of sound have not existed since Concorde was put into retirement in 2003. The return of supersonic travel has been a hot topic at the Paris Air Show after Boom Technology said it hoped to make supersonic passenger travel a reality by 2023.
In 2016, NASA announced it had signed a deal for the design of a modern low-noise supersonic prototype. The designing team for that plane is led by Lockheed Martin Aeronautics.
Increased cost per seat, high development costs, expensive construction materials and increased weight are all seen as additional hurdles to the problem of a supersonic travel.
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15f15dc77f159708aa73a09d30c32c3c | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/21/outbound-merger-and-acquisition-deals-by-japanese-firms-are-growing-jpmorgan.html | Global M&A activity is slowing, but Japanese firms are aggressively acquiring overseas | Global M&A activity is slowing, but Japanese firms are aggressively acquiring overseas
Japanese firms have been acquiring overseas assets more aggressively in recent years and will continue to do so as they seek to increase market share in the global economy, JPMorgan said in a Tuesday report.
Total merger and acquisition transactions in Japan inched up 1.5 percent year-on-year to $198 billion in 2016, the report said. In particular, the country's outbound M&A deals reached $101 billion in 2016 — the second highest historically, JPMorgan said.
The value of outbound transactions accounted for 51 percent of total deals in Japan and a 13 percent increase from the previous year, the bank said.
Hiroshi Higuchi | Getty Images
JPMorgan's report came as global M&A activity pulled back from a record breaking year in 2015. A report by KPMG found that the total value of deals last year fell to $4 trillion, down from $4.9 trillion in 2015.
Various market watchers have projected that corporate deals would remain "robust" this year despite fresh political and economic challenges, but the chances of matching 2015 are slim.
Japan may not be spared from the global M&A slowdown, but JPMorgan said the increase in cross-border deals by the country's firms can be sustainable as they seek growth opportunities amid a shrinking domestic market. In the first quarter 2017, outbound deals by Japanese firms totaled $18 billion, accounting for 53 percent of total transactions, the bank said.
"Japanese corporations have increasingly embraced outbound M&A to fund growth and advance their strategic objectives … they historically did not embrace M&A as a core element of their strategy. M&A was culturally challenging, given the perceived loss of face involved when selling a business," JPMorgan wrote in the report.
"The mindset regarding acquiring international businesses has changed, as it has become necessary to enhance competitiveness and growth."
Japan's declining population and a slowing economy have created a greater sense of urgency among its corporations to pursue outbound acquisitions, enter new markets and gain new products and capabilities, JPMorgan said. The low borrowing costs and supportive government policies have also helped Japanese firms, the bank said.
One company that has been particularly active in the M&A space is SoftBank Group, which in the past year made acquisitions in a range of sectors including finance, real estate and technology. Those are also the sectors that JPMorgan identified as likely seeing major acquisitions by Japanese firms.
In terms of geographies, JPMorgan said activity is expected to be directed primarily at the United States and Europe given Japanese firms' preference for mature companies with stable cash flow and strong brand recognition.
However, emerging markets such as Southeast Asia could get some attention as well.
"To regain global prominence with a shrinking domestic economy, Japanese corporations must acquire market share by entering new markets or expanding into new growth areas. Relying purely on in-house R&D and organic growth from the domestic market alone is clearly insufficient to achieve growth objectives," JPMorgan said.
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c4b22ee72978fa1b747d4cecb6534fde | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/21/twitter-report-of-strong-advertiser-outlook.html | Twitter shares pop 6.5% on report of strong advertiser outlook | Twitter shares pop 6.5% on report of strong advertiser outlook
Damien Meyer | AFP | Getty Images
Twitter shares popped Wednesday after a research firm said advertisers gave "more constructive" feedback on the social media company's strategy.
Twitter shares briefly climbed more than 6.5 percent and last traded about 5.4 percent higher, around $17.80 a share, on pace for its best day since May 1.
Cleveland Research, a boutique equity research firm, said it sees indications that Twitter's advertisers and partners are encouraged by user growth on the site, along with changes in ad delivery and progress in Live content.
"This is the best relative feedback in our TWTR research in 2+ years, suggesting some potential bottoming in fundamentals; we look for follow-through improvement in our research for turning more near-term positive," the research firm said.
Twitter two-day performance
Source: FactSet
Twitter has struggled to prove it has a model that can generate revenue growth. Its shares are down nearly 30 percent from a 52-week high hit in October.
Wednesday's move sent Twitter's share price above both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages. Trade volume of more than 10 million shares neared its 30-day average of 15.8 million shares.
That said, the positive developments may take until later this year or next year to unfold, the research report said. The unnamed analysts expect near-term advertising spending on Twitter to change little or decline due to poor results from prior campaigns and better returns from Facebook, Instagram and Google for the advertisers.
Cleveland analysis now models a 15 percent year-on-year decline in ad revenues in fiscal year 2017, before growing 12 percent in fiscal year 2018.
— With reporting by CNBC's Michael Bloom and Gina Francolla.
VIDEO2:1702:17Why Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein has taken to TwitterSquawk on the Street
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511a43e85811cddddd9107b66cc8eb0c | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/21/uber-management-shakeup-necessary-to-rebuild-image.html | Uber's image has been tarnished, say brand experts, but it has an edge: People love the service | Uber's image has been tarnished, say brand experts, but it has an edge: People love the service
DLD Conference
Uber's public relations crises and management shakeups are affecting how the public looks at the service.
"There's a negative perception — there's no other way to look at this," said Frank Zaccanelli, CEO of investment and development company Fiamma Partners. "The average consumer is concerned that there's too much turmoil going on in the company and might have reservations about using the company's services."
Getting rid of key leaders may be the first step in getting the company back on track, Zaccanelli said. Uber CEO Travis Kalanick resigned from Uber on Tuesday after pressure from five of Uber's major investors, according to The New York Times. His ouster follows a wave of executives leaving, including Uber SVP of engineering Amit Singhal, who was reportedly the subject of a sexual harassment investigation at previous employer Google, and Uber board member David Bonderman, who made a sexist crack at a company meeting.
"Ultimately what they need to do is put a management team in place that will run the company and provide a complete service that consumers are looking for," Zaccanelli said. "I think there will be a wait-and-see attitude from people in the marketplace to see how Uber addresses it and how the situation works itself out."
Zaccanelli compared the company's crisis to Target, which was able to overcome a massive credit card security breach in 2014. CEO Gregg Steinhafel was forced to resign as a result. To re-establish its image, the company hired cybersecurity experts, created positions such as a chief information security officer, and rolled out more secure payment systems in its stores. He also compared Kalanick's position to Steve Jobs, who was co-founder and the face of Apple. Jobs was fired from Apple in 1985 amid complaints that he was too hard on employees. Jobs rejoined as interim CEO in 1997 and led the company through its resurgence to become the most valuable company in the world.
To improve public perception, Uber needs to make "drastic changes" to its company culture, said branding agency Base Design partner Geoff Cook. That starts with proving to its employees that it is willing to reverse the sexual harassment and discrimination in the company.
"Its employees are its front-line ambassadors," Cook said.
There's hope Uber can bounce back. According to a Bond Brand Loyalty survey of 28,000 North Americans, which was conducted in January and February during the beginning of Uber's issues, 55 percent of customers were very satisfied with the service, and 60 percent said they'd recommend it to a friend. More importantly, 67 percent enjoyed the service and 79 percent said it was very easy to use.
That means people would have to give up something that made their lives easier if they decided to turn their back on the service, said Kyle Davies, director of research for Bond. Winning them back with some culture changes might be an easier task than expected.
"If you were a customer who decided to leave Uber because of what you've read, you'd also be likely to make your life harder," Davies said.
At the same time, it could be an opportunity for competitors such as Lyft to continue grabbing Uber's market share.
"I would be going at them pretty aggressively," Zaccanelli said. "It is a company that is obviously in a major shakeup and in a major amount of turmoil."
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ae16df3376701245b3c9d6b68b4296eb | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/21/ubers-ipo-prospects-extremely-good-despite-ceo-resigning-deutsche-bank-says.html | Uber’s IPO prospects remain ‘extremely good’ despite CEO Travis Kalanick resigning, Deutsche Bank says | Uber’s IPO prospects remain ‘extremely good’ despite CEO Travis Kalanick resigning, Deutsche Bank says
VIDEO2:2002:20The future of Uber as its CEO steps downSquawk Box Europe
Uber's prospect of executing an initial public offering (IPO) remains "extremely good" despite CEO Travis Kalanick resigning and management changes, a top Deutsche Bank corporate banking executive told CNBC on Wednesday.
Kalanick resigned on Tuesday after investors demanded he step aside amid a number of controversies at the ride-hailing service.
The outgoing CEO has consistently said that there would be no IPO for Uber soon. Still, as investors look at an exit for the near $70 billion business, an IPO will surely be in their minds. Despite management changes and the resignation of Kalanick, Uber could still see good demand when it goes public, according to one analyst.
"I think that the prospects of executing an IPO remain extremely good," Alasdair Warren, head of the corporate and investment bank for EMEA at Deutsche Bank, told CNBC in a TV interview on Wednesday.
Travis KalanickWang Zhao | AFP | Getty Images
"I'm not sure that, necessarily that the change of CEO or a change in management of any kind is going to change that. My commentary is that as and when that business wants to come to market, there will be a very very strong demand for it, it's going to obviously be a very significant transaction."
Warren said there was a "great opportunity" for Uber in the public markets because it's a disruptive technology company with a global footprint.
"That's a very attractive theme behind which investors want to get," Warren said.
Still, an IPO seems a long way away especially as Uber does not have a complete management team, it has lost key executives and has faced scandals from sexual harassment claims to an intellectual property lawsuit with Alphabet's driverless car unit Waymo.
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f4e7de225e1e8ea532c571852de4235c | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/21/wounded-gop-rep-steve-scalises-condition-improves-to-fair.html?__source=newsletter%7Cyourmoneyyourvote | Wounded GOP Rep. Steve Scalise's condition improves to fair | Wounded GOP Rep. Steve Scalise's condition improves to fair
VIDEO4:1604:16Trump: Assailant who shot GOP Rep. Steve Scalise, others has diedSquawk Alley
The condition of wounded GOP Rep. Steve Scalise improved to fair from serious, according to a Wednesday statement from MedStar Washington Hospital Center.
Listed in critical condition shortly after the attack a week ago in Alexandria, Virginia, Scalise underwent several surgeries over four days. He was shot when gunman James Hodgkinson, 66, fired on a Republican baseball practice session. Scalise suffered a single rifle shot to his left hip.
MedStar Tweet.
The hospital has been providing regular updates on Scalise's condition, detailing the repair needed for the bullet's path across his pelvis — which fractured bones, injured organs and caused severe internal bleeding.
The 51-year-old House majority whip was among five people wounded after the gunman opened fire at a congressional baseball practice. The gunman was shot by police and later died.
U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, Majority Whip and (R-La. 1st District),, speaks at President Trump's press conference with members of the GOP, on the passage of legislation to roll back the Affordable Care Act, in the Rose Garden of the White House, On Thursday, May 4, 2017.Cheriss May | NurPhoto | Getty Images
Two U.S. Capitol Police officers – who House Speaker Paul Ryan identified as Crystal Griner and David Bailey – were wounded in the attack. Capitol Police Chief Matthew Verderosa said in a statement that Griner was in good condition in the hospital after getting shot in the ankle and that Bailey was treated and released following a minor injury.
"Had they not been there, it would have been a massacre," Sen. Rand Paul, the Kentucky Republican who took cover behind a tree, said of the Capitol Police. The Capitol Police officers were present because Scalise is a member of the congressional leadership.
Ryan identified the others shot as Tyson Foods lobbyist Matt Mika and Zack Barth, a staffer for Rep. Roger Williams, a Texas Republican. Mika was initially listed in critical condition following surgery, but his family said Saturday that he is expected to make a full recovery.
Barth was hospitalized and released, Williams said.
Several GOP congressmen and at least two Republican senators attended the practice, Paul told MSNBC. They were preparing for an annual bipartisan charity baseball game set to take place on Thursday night at Nationals Park. The game went on as scheduled.
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