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ea36d3207aaab32bb40033689cf59235 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/13/china-reports-july-industrial-production.html | China industrial output, retail sales, fixed asset investment all miss expectations | China industrial output, retail sales, fixed asset investment all miss expectations
VIDEO2:2302:23China data misses, but...Street Signs Asia
China reported industrial output for the month of July rose 6.4 percent on-year, missing expectations.
Market watchers are keeping their eyes on the health of the the world's second-largest economy ahead of a key Communist Party Congress in the fall where a leadership reshuffle is expected.
Analysts were expecting a rise of 7.2 percent against a 7.6 percent expansion in June for the country's value-added industrial output.
July retail sales rose 10.4 percent from a year ago, also missing a 10.8 percent forecast from analysts polled by Reuters.
January to July fixed asset investment meanwhile rose 8.3 percent from a year ago, against Reuters' poll forecast of 8.6 percent.
Despite the slowdown in growth, Complete Intelligence's Chief Economist Tony Nash said the Chinese numbers were "not terrible," even though the house thinks the actual numbers were likely "a bit slower" than what was released.
China, Nash told CNBC's "Street Signs," is likely growing at 5.5 to 6 percent.
The country is targeting a growth rate around 6.5 percent for 2017. It has been reporting solid growth in the first half of the year, but analysts say this may slow in the second half due to tightening policies in the property market and the government's deleveraging campaign.
Despite concerns about the fallout from risks in the financial system, analysts say stability is the word of the day ahead of the once-every-five-years party congress.
Nomura analysts said in a note after the release of the data that that the house is maintaining its view of a gradual slowdown for the rest of 2017 due to the cooling property marketing and escalating U.S.-China trade tensions.
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1a2c76bea368aa93e61ab15c76b71e8b | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/14/goldman-sachs-says-bitcoin-may-rise-about-500-more.html | Goldman Sachs says bitcoin may rise about $500 more, before losing half its value | Goldman Sachs says bitcoin may rise about $500 more, before losing half its value
VIDEO7:0307:03Gartman: Avoid the bitcoin boomFast Money
's latest leap higher brings the digital currency closer to a near-term top, Goldman Sachs' chart analyst said.
The digital currency is riding a "fifth wave" of an "impulsive" rally that could run as high as $4,827 in the short term, technical analyst Sheba Jafari said in a Sunday report of charts to watch for the week ahead.
However, "once a full five-wave sequence is in place, the market should in theory enter a corrective phase," she said. "This can last at least one-third of the time it took to complete the preceding advance and retrace at least 38.2 percent of the entire move."
At the time of the report's publication, Jafari said that correction could take bitcoin down to around $2,221.
Bitcoin is nearing its target for the "fifth wave" that theoretically leads to a correction
Source: Goldman Sachs
Bitcoin hit a record high of $4,348.23 on Monday, according to CoinDesk, quadrupling in value for the year. That leaves just 11 percent in gains for bitcoin before hitting the high end of Jafari's forecast.
Already at above $4,300, bitcoin trades well beyond the $4,133 price that Jafari identified as possibly "a level from which to watch for signs of a near-term consolidation."
Although Jafari didn't explicitly name it, the five-wave principle of technical analysis is known as the "Elliott Wave." In July, The Elliott Wave Theorist newsletter also pointed out that bitcoin is "making a final fifth wave from six cents" after predicting the digital currency's surge seven years ago.
That said, other analysts predict bitcoin can climb into the tens of thousands in the next few years. They expect that growing investor interest in a digital currency with a limited circulation of 21 million coins should naturally drive prices higher.
Bitcoin would also have to fall under $2,935 "to signal that a top is already in place," Jafari said in the report.
Dramatic price swings of several hundred dollars or more are not uncommon in the digital currency world. In the month after hitting a prior record of $3,025 in mid-June, bitcoin lost more than $1,000, before rallying to all-time highs in the last two weeks.
Analysts attributed the gains to investor optimism about bitcoin after the uneventful bitcoin split on Aug. 1 into bitcoin and bitcoin cash, as well as greater interest from institutional investors.
VIDEO0:5500:55Investment firm VanEck calls bitcoin a 'fad,' then files for bitcoin ETFNews Videos
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342474e546482f85bef1b26145d1d60e | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/14/open-road-ahead-for-this-retail-stock-as-millennials-snap-up-rvs-says-bmo.html | 'Open road' ahead for this retail stock as millennials snap up RVs, says BMO | 'Open road' ahead for this retail stock as millennials snap up RVs, says BMO
Camping World Holdings Inc. signage is displayed as American Flags fly outside of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) during the company's initial public offering (IPO) in New York, U.S., on Friday, Oct. 7, 2016.Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
BMO Capital Markets sees an 'open road' ahead for Camping World Holdings after the outdoors equipment provider increased guidance and reported 20 percent sales growth in its second-quarter earnings report.
"As the nation's largest retailer of recreational vehicles (RV) and related products and services, Camping World Holdings benefits from robust growth in the RV industry," wrote BMO analyst Gerrick Johnson.
"While controlling only 6 percent of U.S. RV dealerships, the company has a significant scale advantage in purchasing, pricing, advertising, cross-selling and leverage, allowing it to sell 15% of the industry's new units."
Controlling more and more of new unit sales through dealership acquisitions is critical for Camping World, as an increasing percentage of the population gravitates back toward road trips. There is a "strong view" in the industry that certain sectors of motorhome market are now successfully appealing to millennials.
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f6e3d9bd89904ba691d7aca7408b6c2f | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/15/afl-cio-president-trumka-steps-down-from-trump-manufacturing-council.html | AFL-CIO President Trumka steps down from Trump manufacturing council | AFL-CIO President Trumka steps down from Trump manufacturing council
VIDEO1:4001:40AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka resigns from Trump's manufacturing councilFast Money
Two top labor leaders have stepped down from President Donald Trump's manufacturing council, joining a string of business leaders who have done so following the president's response to an attack at a white nationalist rally over the weekend.
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and deputy chief of staff Thea Lee said Tuesday they resigned from the council. They join Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier, Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich and Scott Paul of the Alliance for American Manufacturing also stepped down in the past two days.
Their moves came after Trump's tepid response to the car attack, which killed one person and wounded 19 others. On Tuesday, Trump again blamed both the white supremacists and the counterprotesters for the violence, reigniting bipartisan criticism only a day after he condemned white supremacists and hate groups.
In a statement on behalf of himself and Lee, Trumka said "we must resign on behalf of America's working people, who reject all notions of legitimacy of these bigoted groups."
Here's the full statement:
We cannot sit on a council for a President who tolerates bigotry and domestic terrorism. President Trump's remarks today repudiate his forced remarks yesterday about the KKK and neo-Nazis. We must resign on behalf of America's working people, who reject all notions of legitimacy of these bigoted groups.It's clear that President Trump's Manufacturing Council was never an effective means for delivering real policy that lifts working families and his remarks today were the last straw. We joined this council with the intent to be a voice for working people and real hope that it would result in positive economic policy, but it has become yet another broken promise on the President's record. From hollow councils to bad policy and embracing bigotry, the actions of this administration have are consistently failed working people.
VIDEO7:0407:04Will more CEOS walk away from Trump?Fast Money
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ddc26b99f3965e98e1bb06dbc1468489 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/15/brexit-london-is-hemorrhaging-jobs-warns-uk-morgan-mckinley.html | London's financial district is ‘hemorrhaging talent’ because of Brexit, warns UK job recruiter | London's financial district is ‘hemorrhaging talent’ because of Brexit, warns UK job recruiter
Clouds over the City of LondonGregory Warran | Flickr | Getty Images
The City of London, home to the U.K.'s largest trading and financial services, is suffering from a loss of professional talent due to Brexit, warns a U.K. job recruitment agency.
"The City is still haemorrhaging talent because of Brexit, and we risk losing jobs, too," said Hakan Enver, operations director at recruitment consultancy Morgan McKinley Financial Services, in a press release published Tuesday.
The latest London employment monitor for July revealed the number of jobs and job seekers in the City, London's financial center, grew for the fourth consecutive month. The number of jobs available increased 1 percent month on month, compared to a decrease of 14 percent in the same month last year, while the number of professionals seeking jobs increased 12 percent.
However, over a year the number of professionals seeking a job in the financial capital is down 33 percent, while the number of jobs available has shrunk 11 percent, due to the uncertainty weighing on the economy.
VIDEO2:4502:45We're overly focusing on Brexit negotiation: Netwealth's LyonsStreet Signs Europe
"Normally the City clocks out for July, but with the industry being swept from under them, people are scrambling to make the most of the time left in the EU," said Enver.
"EU nationals who want to stay in Britain have a shrinking window of opportunity to get a job and permanent residency, and many are seizing it."
The City makes a huge contribution to the U.K. economy. The most recent available survey found that in 2015 the City employed 1.5 percent of the U.K.'s total employment and contributed £48 billion ($62 billion), or around 3 percent, in gross value added to the U.K.'s national income.
But with the future trading relationship of the U.K. and the European Union still to be negotiated, many financial firms are putting off job recruitment or are preparing to open offices within the EU.
For instance, asset manager Standard Life is considering Ireland as its European base for when the United Kingdom leaves the EU, its CEO told CNBC on Tuesday. Other firms have announced similar plans: Bank of America announced in July it would move some roles to Dublin, while HSBC will relocate 1,000 roles to Paris.
"The language has changed. Employers and employees used to talk about 'if' they had to leave London. Now they're talking about 'when' they leave London," added Enver.
Justin Tallis | AFP | Getty Images
The report comes as the U.K. Brexit minister Davis Davis outlines the government's proposal for an interim customs agreement with the EU, which would minimize friction on trade with the bloc after Brexit while allowing the U.K. to negotiate new trade deals elsewhere.
The government said this temporary agreement would allow for a smooth and orderly transfer to a new trading regime.
Gerard Lyons, chief economic strategist at Netwealth, said this temporary agreement would serve as a bridge for businesses.
"There's been all this talk of cliff edged and that sort of stuff, but what we really have here is a different analogy. It's a bridge: you can see what you're getting on, you want to know how long the bridge is and where it's going to take you," he told CNBC's Street Signs.
"And what we're seeing proposed here is a bridge to counteract all those talks and fears of a cliff edge."
Follow CNBC International on Twitter and Facebook.
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fd289be7e59002a87b3adfd2a8e68bf3 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/15/david-tepper-loves-tech-stocks-here-are-his-favorites.html | David Tepper, manager of $17 billion, loves tech stocks; here are his favorites | David Tepper, manager of $17 billion, loves tech stocks; here are his favorites
VIDEO3:3003:30David Tepper: You're nowhere near an overheated marketHalftime Report
David Tepper of Appaloosa Management, one the most respected and legendary investors in the hedge fund business, is betting big on technology."Any comparisons to past overheated markets are ridiculous. ... Look at where multiples and rates were in 1999. I'm not saying stocks are screaming cheap, but you're nowhere near an overheated market," Tepper told CNBC's Scott Wapner in a telephone interview Tuesday.
Technology stock "multiples are still low," he added. "They just look cheaper than any other part of the market even though they moved." The hedge fund manager increased his technology holdings to 24 percent of his portfolio in the June quarter, by far his largest sector exposure, from 17 percent in the March quarter, according to GuruFocus.
In March of this year, Appaloosa managed $17 billion.Tepper took a 3.7 million-share stake in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, according to a required 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission for the June quarter released on Monday. He also bought 1.8 million shares in PowerShares QQQ Trust, a technology sector ETF which tracks the performance of the Nasdaq 100 index. The firm also increased its positions in Micron Technology by 6.2 million shares to 12.9 million shares, Alphabet by 110,000 shares to 585,000 shares, and Western Digital by 1.3 million shares to 2.6 million shares. On Micron and Western Digital, Tepper said that the "market got too negative" on the companies.
Appaloosa also added 449,000 shares of Facebook for a stake of 2.4 million shares, according to the 13F filing. — CNBC's Scott Wapner and Jeff Cox contributed to this story.
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fb3ef03eb830503961a737d65aa08f21 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/15/trump-retweets-man-calling-him-a-fascist-trump-train-image.html | Trump retweets man calling him a fascist and a 'Trump train' smashing into a CNN logo | Trump retweets man calling him a fascist and a 'Trump train' smashing into a CNN logo
VIDEO1:0001:00Trump retweets man calling him a fascist and a 'Trump train' rolling through a CNN logoNews Videos
President Donald Trump appeared to have a rough Tuesday morning on Twitter.
The president retweeted — then deleted — a message calling him a "fascist." It came in response to a news report about Trump considering a pardon for ex-Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was convicted of criminal contempt last month for ignoring a judge's order related to detaining immigrants.
He also retweeted, then deleted, an image of a "Trump" train smashing into a person with a CNN logo over their head. An accompanying tweet reads: "Nothing can stop the #TrumpTrain!!"
Mike Holden tweet
Trump Train tweet
The train retweet drew rebukes following what many critics saw as Trump's tepid initial response to a car ramming into a crowd of counterprotesters at a white nationalist rally in Virginia on Saturday. The act killed one and injured 19 people. Some of Trump's top advisors — but not the president himself — have called the attack domestic terrorism.
An unnamed White House official told NBC News that the train tweet was inadvertently posted and then deleted as soon it was noticed.
NBC Reporter Tweet
The White House did not respond to calls for comments about the tweet calling Trump a fascist.
VIDEO1:0301:03Trump’s tweets can cost a company billions of dollars. Here’s how...Politics
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299be11cd8455ed22ce7dbce590d8ab9 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/15/while-washington-unravels-financial-regulation-states-step-in.html | While DC deregulates, states step in as Wall Street's watchdog: Trump 'is not going to do anything' | While DC deregulates, states step in as Wall Street's watchdog: Trump 'is not going to do anything'
Secretary of State William F. Galvin.Jessica Rinaldi | The Boston Globe | Getty Images
States are stepping up efforts to regulate Wall Street while Washington focuses its energies elsewhere.
On Tuesday, Massachusetts' William Galvin, secretary of the commonwealth and that state's securities regulator, announced an investigation into how top U.S. brokerages handle customer buy and sell orders to see whether fees the exchanges pay brokerages for those orders prevent customers from getting the best price for their trades.
The investigation, which is looking at seven big retail brokerages, comes as the Securities and Exchange Commission is still considering starting a long-delayed test program that would study the effect of those payments, which the industry calls rebates, and their effect on the way the stock markets operate.
Last month SEC Chairman Jay Clayton said in a speech that the agency will consider a formal proposal to initiate the test program later this year.
But Galvin told CNBC on Tuesday that he was acting now because of "emerging evidence that this administration is not going to do anything to regulate this industry," citing efforts in a Republican-controlled Congress and White House to roll back financial reform. "It's obvious it's not going to be at the top of their list."
Regulators and lawmakers in several states apparently share the same view. Mike Rothman, president of the North American Securities Administrators Association and Minnesota's commissioner of Commerce, said in a statement to CNBC: "State securities regulators have worked hard to protect investors in small towns and large cities across America and provide a regulatory framework for responsible capital formation. Our strong tradition of protecting Main Street investors serves an important role in helping to maintain overall confidence in our nation's financial markets."
In July, Nevada put brokers working in the state under a fiduciary standard that they must give advice in a client's interest, and the state's securities regulator is now working on the details of that rule.
Nevada's Republican governor signed the bill in June, even as the complete implementation of an Obama-era federal fiduciary rule by the Department of Labor was delayed pending a review and possible repeal by the Trump administration. Part of that federal fiduciary standard did go into effect in June.
Other states are said to be considering their own broker fiduciary standards, including Connecticut, New Jersey and New York, said George Michael Gerstein, counsel at Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young. "We know that other states are looking at this closely," he said. "The states' possible response to what the SEC or DOL does appears to be part of a larger trend of state action in other policy areas. The state fiduciary laws may depend on the outcome of the DOL fiduciary rule, which makes this a dynamic situation."
In June California's state senate called on the U.S. Senate to reject legislation that tries to roll back consumer protections in the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reforms.
Maryland Securities Commissioner Melanie Senter Lubin told Congress in April that it needs to remember the lessons of the 2008 financial crisis as it considers new legislation that will, she warned, weaken oversight of private securities markets, reverse investor protections and dilute rules that keep bad actors out of securities markets.
Galvin, a Boston native who has held public office as a Democrat since 1975, told CNBC the "lack of enthusiasm" in Washington to keep a close eye on Wall Street means "the states will lead the way."
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6b2737d137d95b6cb4901d74a2853a5e | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/16/china-vs-india-border-confrontation-in-the-himalayas-gets-serious.html | Forget North Korea — here's the other Asia flashpoint that has analysts worried | Forget North Korea — here's the other Asia flashpoint that has analysts worried
VIDEO0:4300:43Forget North Korea - here's the other Asia flashpoint that has analysts worriedNews Videos
While the world has focused on North Korea, the globe's two biggest emerging economies are squaring off over their shared border.
China and India's borderlands, though geographically desolate and inhospitable, have been a hot spot for increasing military tension in recent months. The two giants are wrestling more broadly for hegemony in Asia, and given that both are equipped with nuclear weapons, the situation could escalate.
"Both sides stand to lose tremendously, economically speaking, should this boil over into an actual war," wrote Asia analysts Shailesh Kumar and Kelsey Broderick at consulting firm Eurasia Group.
For Gareth Price, senior research fellow on the Asia program at Chatham House, the dispute reflects how China and India posit themselves within the pecking order in Asia. "China (wants) to be primary hegemonic power," in the region, he said, but India challenges this and "wants to be treated as an equal."
Happier times: An Indian Army soldier stands in front of a group of People’s Liberation Army troops during joint drills last year.Indranil Mukherjee | AFP | Getty Images
Reuters reported Tuesday that Chinese and Indians troops were involved in a tussle in the western Himalayas. Sources in New Delhi told Reuters that Chinese soldiers attempted to enter Indian territory in Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir state.
But armed forces have been locked in a stand-off on their border further east since June of this year, on a plateau known as Donglang in China and Doklam in India. Both countries have amassed troops in the area following a disagreement over the Chinese building a road in territory disputed between itself and Indian ally Bhutan.
The most recent standoff came just ahead of India's 70th anniversary Tuesday since it gained independence from the British. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a speech marking the occasion in New Delhi, said that India was "strong enough to overcome those who try to act against our country."
India has been uncomfortable with China's expansion in Asia. Price spoke of "India's vociferous objection to the Belt and Road initiative," China's infrastructure development program spanning across the continent and further around the globe.
In an editorial entitled "India must not flirt with disaster," published August 8, Chinese state news platform Xinhua said that India's involvement in the Doklam area was "an offense to China's sovereignty."
Ultimately for Broderick and Kumar, "The headline risk, at the moment, is greater than the actual risk of war."
A conflict would stem the foreign investment that's critical for India, whereas Chinese President Xi Jinping "has already consolidated enough power that he doesn't need to beat his chest in an external conflict to further his domestic goals."
VIDEO0:4100:41As India and China face off in the mountains, a new confrontation is growing in the oceanNews Videos
Alyssa Ayres, senior fellow for India at the Council on Foreign Relations, said that the ongoing border dispute is a "conflict that China has created." She added that strategically, the "Chinese military has more to lose" and should the conflict move against its favor, this would mean "a very embarrassing loss of face."
Both China and India are juggling other foreign policy headaches, with China playing a seminal role in the North Korea nuclear stand-off and accused of aggravating its smaller neighbors over South China Sea islands; while India has been locked into a territorial dispute with Pakistan over Kashmir for many years. China and India last directly clashed over their border in 1962, with the latter country ceding some territory.
Regardless of the potential for conflict, "China's biggest foreign policy concern is making a success of Belt and Road," Price argued. Broderick and Kumar said that China's North Korea and South China Sea concerns take precedent because they "include multiple actors and the domestic economy."
But they added that China's firm grip on the situation was important, given its upcoming 19th Party Congress this autumn.
Broderick and Kumar also pointed out that Indian voters are more concerned with existential threats from Pakistan, rather than China.
Ultimately with regard to the potential for outright conflict, according to Price, "All logic says it won't happen."
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ef540148be5e7e87522fea51cfd3e8c9 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/16/google-buys-aimatter-the-startup-behind-fabby-selfie-apps.html | Google buys a start-up whose apps change your hair color in selfies | Google buys a start-up whose apps change your hair color in selfies
Google CEO Sundar Pichai speaks at the Google I/O developer conference on May 17, 2017.
has acquired AIMatter, a start-up with Android and iOS apps that transform selfies using artificial intelligence. Terms weren't disclosed.
AIMatter CEO Andrei Kulik and a Google spokesperson confirmed the deal to CNBC on Wednesday. The mobile apps will remain available, the Google spokesperson said. TechCrunch first reported the news.
AIMatter's Fabby apps might not be the most popular apps out there -- on Android the Fabby photo editor app had 100,000-500,000 installs -- but the technology is nifty and distinct from recently trendy style transfer in the Prisma apps and the masks that are available in and 's apps.
AI researchers the world over are regularly trying to advance the state of the art in image segmentation, which involves being able to accurately outline specific things in images and video frames. Alphabet is active in this area alongside Apple and Microsoft, .
Kulik previously worked at Google. The company was founded in 2016 and based in Belarus.
At the Google I/O conference in May, CEO Sundar Pichai announced Google Lens, a feature in the Google Assistant and Google Photos that recognizes things seen through a phone's camera or in existing photos and then provide additional information.
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9de48fb95803cf4a7aed5f03906ed1f5 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/16/nokia-8-launch-hmd-global-flagship-android-smartphone.html | Nokia 8 launch: HMD Global unveils $702 flagship Android smartphone | Nokia 8 launch: HMD Global unveils $702 flagship Android smartphone
VIDEO0:5000:50Nokia 8 launch: HMD Global unveils $702 flagship Android smartphoneTech Transformers
HMD Global, the start-up that licenses Nokia's brand, launched a flagship smartphone on Wednesday, as it looks to establish itself as a major mobile player using the iconic brand.
The 599 euro ($702) Nokia 8 is going on sale in early September, potentially ahead of Apple's new iPhones which are set to be unveiled next month. Nokia is also stealing a march on Samsung which is gearing up to reveal the Galaxy Note 8 smartphone next month.
HMD's Nokia 8 has the following key specs:
5.3-inch display.A camera that contains sensors made by Zeiss.Dual camera mode that allows users to take pictures and videos using the front and back camera at the same time. HMD is calling this "bothie" mode rather than "selfie".Ozo Audio which is three microphones to capture 360 degree sound. Ozo is the name of Nokia's expensive virtual reality camera used by Hollywood film studios. HMD has used the audio technology in their phone.Four colors: matte silver, polished blue, matte blue, polished copper
The Nokia 8 will run Google's latest mobile operating system called Android O. HMD said that the phone will have pure Android, meaning that the company has not modified the software in any way, like many manufacturers do.
"We think with the Nokia brand and the combination of industry leading performance as well as immersive and innovative consumer experience, we will be immediately able to make a mark in the high end segment," Florian Seiche, acting chief executive of HMD Global, told CNBC in an interview ahead of the launch.
VIDEO2:3402:34HMD Global launches Nokia 8 smartphoneSquawk Box Europe
HMD was created last year by ex-Nokia execs who acquired the intellectual property required to make phones from Nokia. This included branding and technology. It has partnered with Foxconn to manufacture the devices.
In the last eight months, the company has released eight devices — five feature phones, and three smartphones. The Nokia 8 will be the ninth device. The three smartphones — the Nokia 3, Nokia 5 and Nokia 6 — are all mid range handsets. But the Nokia 8 is seen as crucial if HMD is going to make a mark on the global smartphone market.
HMD Global's Nokia 8 allows users to take pictures and video with both the back and front camera at the same time.HMD Global
"HMD Global needs a successful Nokia-brand flagship smartphone to re-establish the Nokia brand in the smartphone market, because the Nokia brand was always viewed as innovative and high quality. It's almost impossible to meet the expectations of the Nokia name offering only a selection of feature phones and low to mid-range smartphone models," Ian Fogg, head of mobile at IHS, told CNBC by email.
The Android smartphone market has become incredibly competitive not only from the likes of Samsung, but also Chinese players like Huawei and Oppo stepping up their game. HMD will be hoping to differentiate itself through some of its unique features, especially as it launches ahead of the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and next generation iPhones.
"It is very clear that HMD Global needs to position Nokia branded devices as an alternative option for consumers who don't want the expense of a top of the line iPhone or Samsung Galaxy device," Ben Wood, chief of research at CCS Insight, told CNBC by email.
"Nokia remains a widely recognized mobile phone brand and HMD needs to capitalize on that as quickly as possible. The Nokia 8 is another important milestone as the company adds breadth to its portfolio of devices in an effort to broaden its appeal to consumers."
VIDEO1:1501:15HMD Global a 'strategic partnership-based' business: CEOSquawk Box Europe
The company said its initial smartphones are performing well. In India, the Nokia 6 device received over 1 million registrations on Amazon of people interested in the handset. Seiche said HMD is confident it can meet the demand for its phones, despite being a young company.
"We have significantly ramped up our supply, however, we are still catching up with the demand but we feel that is a positive thing as it helps to sustain the momentum," Seiche told CNBC.
HMD did not release the specific markets it would be releasing the Nokia 8 in yet, but told CNBC that it would launch in countries which are accustomed to higher average selling prices of phones. These include core western European markets, areas of the Middle East, and Asia.
But Seiche told CNBC it would not launch in the U.S. or China.
"The U.S. requires a separate strategy, even a separate portfolio and tech investment so we are not in a rush today around that because we are seeing such strong demand across the globe," Seiche said.
HMD has already launched the Nokia 6 in China, selling through e-commerce giant JD.com. Seiche said reception to the device was "beyond our expectation." While the new Nokia 8 will not launch in China, the company said it is crafting a specific strategy around the world's biggest smartphone market, and will launch specific devices tailored to consumers there.
"China is a big focus market and we will make announcements on those dedicated products there in the future," Seiche told CNBC.
VIDEO0:4900:49Apple's upcoming iPhone 8 will launch in September after all, KGI saysNews Videos
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164527dc1c2ec8b43c7bdc736e1e220b | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/16/the-five-most-expensive-cars-on-auction-at-pebble-beach.html | The five most expensive cars on auction at Pebble Beach | The five most expensive cars on auction at Pebble Beach
Attendees and judges gather around a 1966 Ferrari 330 P4 Drogo Spyder motor vehicle during the 2016 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in Pebble Beach, California, U.S., on Sunday, Aug. 21, 2016.David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The Concours d'Elegance at Pebble Beach — the Super Bowl of classic-car collecting — kicks off this week, with more than $290 million worth of cars expected to cross the auction block.
While the total is down from last year and would mark the third-straight year of declines, a handful of auto masterpieces are expected to sell for records for their class.
Here are the top trophies that rich car collectors will be bidding on this week.
1956 Aston Martin DBR1 – RM Sotheby’s – Estimate $20 million or more.Source: RM Sotheby's
Auctioned by: RM Sotheby'sEstimated price: $20 million or more
RM Sotheby's will be auctioning one of the holy grails of the car world — the first of only five Aston Martin DBR1's ever built. The DBR1 was the model that won the 1959 Le Mans title and has a royal racing history. This particular car was driven by legends like Carroll Shelby and Stirling Moss. This is the first DBR1 to be publicly auctioned. The DBR1 could easily become one of the five most expensive cars ever sold.
1995 McLaren F1 – Bonhams – Estimate $10 million to $14.5 million.Source: Bonhams
Auctioned by: BonhamsEstimated price: $10 million to $14.5 million
The McLaren F1 is considered the original — and to this day possibly the best — of the new class of "supercars." It's essentially a Formula One car for the road. And they have soared in value. Only 106 were ever built between 1994 and 1998, and they originally sold for $1 million.
1970 Porsche 917K—Gooding & Co. -- $12 million to $16 millionSource: Gooding & Co.
Auctioned by: Gooding & Co.Estimated price: $12 million to $16 million
Steve McQueen has become one of the gods of car collecting. Any car that the actor-racer owned, drove or starred with has soared in value because of the "McQueen Premium." Gooding & Co. has what could be the ultimate McQueen trophy — the 1970 racing Porsche that was used in McQueen's racing flick "Le Mans." It wasn't driven by McQueen in the film, but it was used for filming and did appear in the movie. If it sells for its estimate, it will be the most expensive Porsche ever sold.
1966 Ferrari 275 GTB/C – Gooding & Co – Estimate $12 million to $16 million.Source: Gooding & Co.
Auctioned by: Gooding & Co.Estimated price: $12 million to $16 million
It's rare that the top three cars selling at Pebble are not Ferraris. But one special Prancing Horse could clock in at number four or higher: a 1966 275 GTB/C "Competizione." It is only one of 12 built, and this particular car participated in more than 20 races, winning its class multiple times.
1963 Jaguar E-Type Lightweight – Bonhams – Estimate $4 million to $7 million.Source: Bonhams
Auctioned by: Bonhams Estimated price: $4 million to $7 million
The Jaguar E-Type is considered by many to be the most beautiful car ever built, and the Lightweight made several improvements, becoming a legend for its more aerodynamic tail, aluminum bodywork and amped up engine and suspension. Only 12 were ever made and this was number 10.
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750ca16a61b3826c8173ce63d3ed4dfc | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/16/uber-waymo-lawsuit-judge-suggests-uber-lawyers-misled-the-court.html | The judge in the Uber-Waymo case suggests Uber lawyers 'misled the court' | The judge in the Uber-Waymo case suggests Uber lawyers 'misled the court'
Anthony LevandowskiAngela Merendino | AFP | Getty Images
San Francisco district judge William Alsup said in a hearing on Wednesday he'll likely tell the jury that Uber lawyers "misled the court" and repeatedly withheld key documents, which could give Alphabet self-driving subsidiary Waymo an edge in its lawsuit against the ride-hailing giant.
Waymo alleges that Anthony Levandowski, the engineer at the center of the case, stole over 14,000 documents from Alphabet relating to self-driving car technology when he left the company, and took these trade secrets to Uber. Levandowski worked for Google's self-driving car unit before leaving to found his own company, Otto, which was later acquired by Uber.
Law firm Morrison & Foerster, which represents Uber, recently revealed that they have information from some of Levandowski's devices. Waymo argued that the law firm therefore has stolen documents and is knowingly hiding them from the court.
Waymo still has to prove that Uber used these trade secrets in creating their technology. However, showing that Uber may be hiding evidence may help Waymo's case.
Judge Alsup also threatened to put Uber's main attorney, Arturo Gonzalez, on the stand during the trial to explain why they have been slow to present evidence to the court, saying he was "inclined to tell the jury...that he was ordered to come clean, ordered to come clean again, and did not come clean — finally in June or July came clean."
"You misled the judge time and time again," Alsup said.
Alsup has asked Waymo to write out a proposed jury injunction in "non-argumentative terms" to present this argument to the jury at the trial in October.
VIDEO2:5702:57Alphabet's got to get Waymo 'rolling' after shares slip on earnings: Jim CramerSquawk on the Street
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80d440f65635e38852b9b1225b85e840 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/16/what-the-future-looks-like-according-to-the-ceo-of-blockchain.html | Cash is dead, smart refrigerators manage grocery budgets and drones replace delivery guys: This is the future according to top tech CEO | Cash is dead, smart refrigerators manage grocery budgets and drones replace delivery guys: This is the future according to top tech CEO
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bd4c192be3174d621089ba7decd0d3ee | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/17/ecb-rate-setters-worried-about-euro-overshoot-at-july-20-meet.html | ECB rate-setters worried about euro overshoot at July 20 meet | ECB rate-setters worried about euro overshoot at July 20 meet
European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi.Emmanuel Dunnand | AFP | Getty Images
European Central Bank policymakers worried about a possible overshoot in the euro when they met on July 20, warning that easy financing conditions "could not be taken for granted" and depended on the ECB's easy policy, minutes of the meeting showed on Thursday.
A recent bounce in the euro, which is making the bloc's exports less attractive and imports cheaper, has been singled out by investors as the biggest threat to the ECB's efforts to revive inflation in the euro zone.
Minutes of the ECB's latest policy meeting showed rate-setters were highly aware of this risk as they decided against any change to their pledge for continued monetary stimulus.
"Concerns were expressed about a possible overshooting in the repricing by financial markets, notably the foreign exchange markets, in the future," the ECB said in the accounts.
"It was underlined that the still favourable financing conditions could not be taken for granted."
The policymakers also said the duration and pace of the ECB's 2.3 trillion euros bond-buying programme were not the only available levers to adjust their stance and "more policy space" was needed "in either direction".
The minutes showed a suggestion was made to adjust the ECB's guidance, which includes a pledge to increase bond purchases from their current 60-billion-euros monthly pace if needed, but it was dismissed out of fear of a market backlash.
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68f96ca2d5e7d38534c67ee144225066 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/17/student-loan-debt-why-employers-may-want-to-help-pay-off-college-loans.html | Here's why employers may want to help out on the mountain of student loan debt | Here's why employers may want to help out on the mountain of student loan debt
VIDEO1:5301:53New work perk: Paying off student loansCollege
Employers eager to recruit and retain skilled workers in a tight labor market have about 1.34 trillion reasons to expand their benefits package to include assistance in helping employees repay their student loans.
That's the mountain of student loan debt being carried on the financial shoulders of 44 million Americans. And no surprise, the bulk of those would indeed love for the boss to kick in and help pay it back.
More than 80 percent of workers with student loans surveyed by IonTuition said they would like to work for a company that provides a student loan repayment benefit. IonTuition, a fintech company focused on services to help borrowers manage their repayments, mostly surveyed millennials.
It's going to take a change in the tax code to see large growth in the benefit.Chris WaltersCEO, Gradfin
Yet there is plenty of reason to suspect older workers would be eager for the perk, too. According to Federal Reserve data, borrowers at least 40 years old have a not-small $450 billion in student loans to pay off. A big part of that older cohort are parents who borrowed through the federal PLUS program or took out private student loans.
The benefit is still clearly in the early adopter stage with just 3 percent of firms surveyed by AonHewitt currently offering student loan repayment assistance. AonHewitt says an additional 5 percent of surveyed companies say they are likely to add the benefit and 24 percent are moderately interested in adding the benefit.
"Employers are incredibly curious and engaged around the issue given all the news about student loan debt," said Balaji "Raj" Rajan , chief executive officer of IonTuition. He said IonTuition fields two or three inquiries a day from companies interested in adding student loan repayment assistance.
A few big old-line firms including Aetna, Fidelity, PwC and Penguin Random House have begun to contribute to employees' loan payments. Earlier this summer, the city of Memphis, Tennessee, announced it will contribute $50 a month toward employees' student loan repayment.
Adoption of the benefit is more common among smaller and mid-size companies with nimbler decision trees and the need to position benefits as a competitive edge in recruiting, according to Meera Oliva, chief marketing officer at Gradifi, a subsidiary of First Republic that provides a student loan benefit platform for employers, including PwC and Penguin Random House.
Gradifi has more than 140 employer clients offering repayment assistance and is adding a half dozen or more monthly. "The bulk of our business is companies coming to us, not the other way around," Oliva said.
An employer contribution of $50 or $100 a month is common among the first movers. That can indeed be a big help, as IonTuition reports that about three-quarters of borrowers make monthly payments of $300 or less.
Employer contributions go toward principal repayment. Gradifi's website includes a free tool for employees to see how an employer assist can aid employee financial wellness. For instance, someone aiming to pay off $35,000 in debt over 10 years might be able to shave off 2.5 years and save some serious coin in the process:
Chris Walters, chief executive officer of Gradfin, another student loan repayment and management tech platform, said the tax code is keeping plenty of interested employers on the sidelines.
"If an employer contributes $100 a month toward student loan repayment, it costs $107.65 a month because it is treated as compensation and requires paying the employer share of the payroll tax," Walters said.
Moreover, the benefit is taxable to the employee as compensation.
"It's going to take a change in the tax code to see large growth in the benefit," he said.
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Bipartisan bills in the House and Senate would put student loan repayment assistance on par with employer tuition assistance, which currently allows employers to give employees up to $5,250 a year tax-free for tuition costs.
The cost of that tax break likely makes for some tough sledding in this current Congress. Walters says that's missing the bigger picture.
"The federal government, meaning taxpayers, are already losing plenty in terms of defaulted student loans, and income-based plans that will be forgiven," he said.
"Congress should be worried about those losses. If the private sector comes in and improves debt repayment the Federal government is going to get paid more."
(Correction: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Balaji "Raj" Rajan.)
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3ce61eec3c7adff51bcb487f116b1c3b | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/18/andy-rubin-essential-smartphone-review-better-than-expected.html | Android founder Andy Rubin's new smartphone is way better than I thought it would be | Android founder Andy Rubin's new smartphone is way better than I thought it would be
There's a new smartphone you need to know about.
In fact, I placed an order to buy Andy Rubin's new smartphone before I boarded my plane home from a trip to San Francisco on Thursday morning.
I was in town to meet with a variety of companies, including Essential, a new gadget brand launched by Rubin, the co-founder of Android and now the head of a hybrid venture capital/incubator company named Playground.
I didn't have high expectations for the new Essential phone. All too often I'm let down by smartphones and the hype built by anyone other than Apple, Samsung or Google.
But the Essential phone is fantastic.
It's a combination of great hardware and a pure Android experience free of any "bloatware apps." Let's take a closer look at the Essential phone now, and discuss some of its strengths and weaknesses.
Andrew Evers | CNBC
Rubin and team started building the Essential smartphone two years ago, and the attention to detail is clear. The Essential smartphone offers a titanium frame that's supposed to help it survive accidental drops. It also has a ceramic body with a purpose: It lets the phone's antennas communicate without blocking them, like an aluminum panel on the iPhone does, which means you don't get unsightly antenna lines.
Essential didn't just slap a phone together to try to make a name for itself, something I was worried about. There's real thought here.
Andrew Evers | CNBC
If you buy a Samsung, Motorola or LG smartphone, chances are you'll run into "bloatware" of some sort: duplicate apps, changes to Android that can improve (or degrade) the experience, or worse, preinstalled apps from carriers.
Essential is doing none of this, which means the Essential phone runs a near-pure version of Android. It's fast, and more importantly, should be quick to get updates to new versions of Android, including monthly security patches.
Andrew Evers | CNBC
The screen is the real highlight. It stretches from side-to-side and from the very tippy top of the phone nearly to the bottom. It's a sight to behold and impressed several of my colleagues who wanted to see Rubin's latest creation. This is something we expect Apple to do in September — at least if analyst predictions are right — but Essential got there first.
Andrew Evers | CNBC
And, yes, there's a real use for the extra screen real-estate. The camera option buttons appear at the furthest edges of the phone instead of overlapping on the live view. As phones continue to be status symbols, too, there's a "cool" factor that just can't be ignored. People will ask you what phone you're carrying, I promise.
Andrew Evers | CNBC
The phone is packed with the best mobile processor currently available from Qualcomm, the same chip in the Galaxy S8, and ships with 128GB of storage which is more than enough for most folks to store movies, music and documents.
I wish there were a microSD card slot because I like to store my movies on a memory card and move them from device to device, but that's not a huge deal. Also, the lack of a 3.5mm headphone jack will be frustrating for some folks, but I prefer to use Bluetooth headphones so didn't find it a big issue.
The battery lasted long enough for me to get through an entire day of meetings with enough juice in the tank that I probably could have had a night on the town before the battery died. It doesn't offer wireless charging, however, which the Galaxy S8 offers. It also doesn't have any sort of VR support, which might be a bummer for enthusiasts who like that.
Andrew Evers | CNBC
One of Essential's key business strategies is to launch accessories that will work with this phone and additional phones. The first is a 360-degree camera which, sadly, we didn't get to see because it isn't ready yet. These gadgets will snap on to the back of the phone where two magnetic pins are visible.
Rubin said his plan is to keep all gadgets compatible with future devices so that folks who invest in them now will be able to continue to use them later on other products (not just phones!).
Andrew Evers | CNBC
Rubin and team talked a lot about how much effort went into developing a great camera, using both a black-and-white sensor and a color one to help create accurate pictures.
The phone snaps some great shots, no doubt, but the lack of optical image stabilization, which comes standard on pretty much every flagship Android phone today, is a bit mind-boggling. Shots in low light came out a bit blurry if I moved at all. One would also run into trouble snapping photos in other situations, like during a bumpy car ride or with jittery hands after a day with too much caffeine. I prefer the camera on my Galaxy S8, but this really isn't a deal breaker.
Andrew Evers | CNBC
You won't go wrong buying the Essential phone. It offers high-end hardware and a fantastic user experience, and it's only going to get better over time as Essential launches new accessories (so long as you're willing to buy them). Rubin says we can expect a new product once every quarter.
It's expensive at $699, but that's on par with most flagship phones. Yes, you can do more with a Galaxy S8 since it has wireless charging, support for VR, a great camera and an elegant design.
Despite the competition, it would be silly to doubt Andy Rubin in this space. He and his team know what they're doing, that much is evident in the first product launched by the company. I'm excited to see what follows.
VIDEO0:5000:50Nokia 8 launch: HMD Global unveils $702 flagship Android smartphoneTech Transformers
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177528855fe9c28a21669c17b680f63c | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/18/carl-icahn-drops-out-of-presidential-advisory-role.html | Carl Icahn drops out of presidential advisory role | Carl Icahn drops out of presidential advisory role
VIDEO1:3601:36Icahn ceases role as Trump's special advisorClosing Bell
Carl Icahn announced Friday that he is stepping down from his role as special advisor to President Donald Trump on regulation.
In a letter to the president posted to Icahn's website, the billionaire investor said the decision came after a Friday conversation between the two men. Icahn wrote that he made the decision with the president's blessing.
The famed investor said he resigned from the role to avoid "partisan bickering" about his position. Icahn said he did not want that scrutiny to affect the Trump administration's work on regulatory reform.
The billionaire had been a frequent critic of Obama-era rules. He previously said the EPA was one of the worst-run agencies he had ever seen.
Icahn also took the opportunity to again insist that he "never had a formal position with your administration nor a policymaking role." He reiterated that his advisory position did not give him access to nonpublic information.
Those statements referenced skepticism from Democratic lawmakers regarding Icahn's informal advisory role. Some Democrats had asked regulators to look into whether Icahn, a major fossil fuel investor, had engaged in any improper market behavior.
Read Icahn's full letter to Trump below:
"Dear Mr. President:This will confirm our conversation today in which we agreed that I would cease to act as special advisor to the President on issues relating to regulatory reform.As I discussed with you, I've received a number of inquiries over the last month regarding the recent appointment of Neomi Rao as Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (or "regulatory czar," as the press has dubbed her) – specifically questions about whether there was any overlap between her formal position and my unofficial role. As I know you are aware, the answer to that question is an unequivocal no, for the simple reason that I had no duties whatsoever.I never had a formal position with your administration nor a policymaking role. And contrary to the insinuations of a handful of your Democratic critics, I never had access to nonpublic information or profited from my position, nor do I believe that my role presented conflicts of interest. Indeed, out of an abundance of caution, the only issues I ever discussed with you were broad matters of policy affecting the refining industry. I never sought any special benefit for any company with which I have been involved, and have only expressed views that I believed would benefit the refining industry as a whole.Nevertheless, I chose to end this arrangement (with your blessing) because I did not want partisan bickering about my role to in any way cloud your administration or Ms. Rao's important work. While I do not know Ms. Rao and played no part in her appointment, I am confident based on what I've read of her accomplishments that she is the right person for this important job.I sincerely regret that because of your extremely busy schedule, as well as my own, I have not had the opportunity to spend nearly as much time as I'd hoped on regulatory issues. I truly appreciate the confidence you have in me and sincerely hope that the limited insights I shared have been helpful to you. I love our country which has allowed me to achieve so much and I thank you for the informal opportunity you have given me to aid it.Sincerely,CARL C. ICAHN"
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a82f118a8f539cb9df8048cb98fc9cd8 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/18/chan-zuckerberg-initiative-hiring-raising-money-like-a-start-up.html | The corporation Mark Zuckerberg founded to solve big problems is growing like a tech start-up, not a charity | The corporation Mark Zuckerberg founded to solve big problems is growing like a tech start-up, not a charity
VIDEO0:5300:53The corporation Mark Zuckerberg founded to solve big problems is growing like a tech start-up, not a charityNews Videos
The entity started by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, to tackle big global problems is growing more like a tech start-up than a typical charitable organization.
A review of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative's website and other online pages indicates it has just over 160 employees, with open positions for 38 — numbers confirmed by a source close to the organization.
That's just 20 months after its founding in December 2015.
The number of engineers has exploded during the past year, surging from just three people to nearly 100.
And Chan Zuckerberg looks set for another fresh infusion of cash, after Mark Zuckerberg sold a large amount of Facebook shares this week earmarked for his these efforts.
He sold at least $25.5 million worth, according to a company securities filing, on top of the $32.5 million sold last month for the benefit of the Chan Zuckerberg Foundation and CZI Holdings.
That's a drop in the bucket compared with the billions of dollars Zuckerberg and Chan have pledged toward the organization, whose mission is "advancing human potential and promoting equality."
The couple pledged to donate $1 billion a year toward it, and last year created a new investment vehicle, Chan Zuckerberg Science, that will put $3 billion toward the lofty goal "to help cure, manage or prevent all disease by the year 2100."
That's not the only big problem Chan Zuckerberg has taken on.
In an 'Ask Me Anything' session on the discussion website Reddit this week, a group of Chan Zuckerberg scientists said they're working on the Human Cell Atlas project.
That's a global effort to map all 30 trillion cells in the human body, similar to how the human genome project identified genes.
Its ambitions and deep pockets aren't the only things that make the Chan Zuckerberg organization unique.
It's also organized as an LLC, not a nonprofit foundation. While that eliminates any tax benefits for Zuckerberg — one of the world's wealthiest people — it also gives the initiative more flexibility on how to spend it, as he explained in this post. Zuckerberg has pledged to plow any profits from investments back into the initiative to advance its mission.
Zuckerberg devotes one day a week toward the effort, while Chan spends more time there.
All of which means something may have to give if, as has been widely speculated, Zuckerberg should decide to use another portion of his fortune to finance a political career.
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2fae6b2fe67f7033bc0b0a78f3a4cb4b | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/18/foot-locker-shares-plunge-after-second-quarter-sales-fall-way-short.html | Foot Locker plunges 28% after sales fall way short of Street; Nike, Under Armour drop | Foot Locker plunges 28% after sales fall way short of Street; Nike, Under Armour drop
VIDEO0:4800:48Foot Locker plunges 20% after sales fall way short of Street; Nike, Under Armour dropNews Videos
Foot Locker shares plummeted by 27.9 percent on Friday after the company's quarterly results missed expectations by a wide margin. The stock posted its biggest daily loss since November 2008, when it fell 28.1 percent.
The athletic apparel retailer posted adjusted earnings per share of 62 cents on revenue of $1.701 billion for the second quarter. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings per share of 90 cents on sales of $1.8 billion.
Same-store sales, a key metric closely watched by Wall Street, fell 6 percent year over year. Analysts polled by StreetAccount expected an increase of 1 percent.
Chairman and CEO Richard Johnson said in a statement that "sales of some recent top styles fell well short of our expectations and impacted this quarter's results. At the same time, we were affected by the limited availability of innovative new products in the market."
VIDEO1:5801:58Foot Locker slips on earnings, misses by a mileSquawk on the Street
"We believe these industry dynamics will persist through 2017, and we expect comparable sales to be down three to four percent over the remainder of the year," Johnson added.
In response to Foot Locker's disappointing results and outlook, shares of Nike and Under Armour dropped 4.4 and 3.9 percent, respectively.
Entering Friday's session, Foot Locker shares had already fallen nearly 33 percent in 2017.
FL shares in 2017 (entering Friday)
Source: FactSet
"We are obviously disappointed in the results for the quarter, and our team is working quickly to adjust our operations to a changed retail landscape in which we are seeing our consumers move faster than ever from one source of inspiration or influence to another," Johnson said.
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a53d3d8b7d492dcfdfad95e3f6691838 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/18/mitt-romney-urges-trump-to-apologize-for-charlottesville-reaction.html | Mitt Romney urges Trump to apologize for Charlottesville reaction | Mitt Romney urges Trump to apologize for Charlottesville reaction
VIDEO1:0301:03Mitt Romney urges Trump to apologize for Charlottesville reactionNews Videos
Mitt Romney on Friday urged President Donald Trump to take "remedial action in the extreme" following his response to violence at a white nationalist rally in Virginia last weekend.
Regardless of whether he intended it, Trump's words "caused racists to rejoice, minorities to weep, and the vast heart of America to mourn," the former Republican presidential nominee and Massachusetts governor wrote in a Facebook post. Romney called on the president to apologize for his remarks.
"He should address the American people, acknowledge that he was wrong, apologize," Romney wrote. "State forcefully and unequivocally that racists are 100% to blame for the murder and violence in Charlottesville. Testify that there is no conceivable comparison or moral equivalency between the Nazis — who brutally murdered millions of Jews and who hundreds of thousands of Americans gave their lives to defeat — and the counter-protestors who were outraged to see fools parading the Nazi flag, Nazi armband and Nazi salute."
Romney's statement was among the most forceful issued by prominent Republicans following Trump's response to the rally. Romney vocally opposed Trump when he was a candidate but got considered for secretary of state.
Other former Republican presidents and presidential nominees either directly or indirectly criticized Trump for his response.
"There's no moral equivalency between racists & Americans standing up to defy hate & bigotry. The President of the United States should say so," Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., wrote in a tweet Tuesday.
Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush — both of whom have said they did not vote for Trump — also issued a rare joint statement Wednesday condemning racism. They did not mention the president by name.
"America must always reject racial bigotry, anti-Semitism, and hatred in all forms," the Bushes said. Referring to Thomas Jefferson, they added: "As we pray for Charlottesville, we are reminded of the fundamental truths recorded by that city's most prominent citizen in the Declaration of Independence: we are all created equal and endowed by our Creator with unalienable rights. We know these truths to be everlasting because we have seen the decency and greatness of our country."
On Saturday, a car allegedly driven by a suspected white nationalist rammed into a crowd of counterprotesters in Charlottesville, killing one woman and injuring many others. It followed skirmishes between the torch-bearing white supremacists and people demonstrating against them.
In a fiery Tuesday news conference, Trump appeared to suggest a moral equivalency between the groups, saying good and violent people gathered in both groups and "both sides" are to blame for the violence. He also contended that some of the people who marched with the white nationalists were not bad.
His comments drew rebukes from bipartisan lawmakers and sparked backlash from corporate America, as top executives started to leave advisory councils to the president before the groups were disbanded.
Here's Romney's full statement:
"I will dispense for now from discussion of the moral character of the president's Charlottesville statements. Whether he intended to or not, what he communicated caused racists to rejoice, minorities to weep, and the vast heart of America to mourn. His apologists strain to explain that he didn't mean what we heard. But what we heard is now the reality, and unless it is addressed by the president as such, with unprecedented candor and strength, there may commence an unraveling of our national fabric."The leaders of our branches of military service have spoken immediately and forcefully, repudiating the implications of the president's words. Why? In part because the morale and commitment of our forces — made up and sustained by men and women of all races — could be in the balance. Our allies around the world are stunned and our enemies celebrate; America's ability to help secure a peaceful and prosperous world is diminished. And who would want to come to the aid of a country they perceive as racist if ever the need were to arise, as it did after 9/11?"In homes across the nation, children are asking their parents what this means. Jews, blacks, Hispanics, Muslims are as much a part of America as whites and Protestants. But today they wonder. Where might this lead? To bitterness and tears, or perhaps to anger and violence?"The potential consequences are severe in the extreme. Accordingly, the president must take remedial action in the extreme. He should address the American people, acknowledge that he was wrong, apologize. State forcefully and unequivocally that racists are 100% to blame for the murder and violence in Charlottesville. Testify that there is no conceivable comparison or moral equivalency between the Nazis — who brutally murdered millions of Jews and who hundreds of thousands of Americans gave their lives to defeat — and the counter-protestors who were outraged to see fools parading the Nazi flag, Nazi armband and Nazi salute. And once and for all, he must definitively repudiate the support of David Duke and his ilk and call for every American to banish racists and haters from any and every association."This is a defining moment for President Trump. But much more than that, it is a moment that will define America in the hearts of our children. They are watching, our soldiers are watching, the world is watching. Mr. President, act now for the good of the country."
VIDEO3:5903:59Axios: Corker's comments a turning point for GOPFast Money
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b9c5b761a6b8f8bbe214e20a69af39a8 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/21/google-maps-shows-traffic-jams-along-path-of-eclipse.html | Traffic on Google Maps clearly showed the path of the eclipse | Traffic on Google Maps clearly showed the path of the eclipse
First the solar spectacle...then the traffic jam.
Enough Americans watched the total eclipse from inside (or near) their cars for the aftermath of the phenomenon to show up on national traffic maps.
A screen grab of national traffic patterns on Google Maps shows a series of traffic jams following the path of the event across the U.S.
Several people noticed the pattern and posted similar screenshots on Twitter:
First tweet
Second tweet
Third tweet
One person, Josh Mogerman of the National Resources Defense Council, posted a photo of what traffic looked like in Missouri:
Tweet here.
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4ef45d19e02fcbfec67770734af04cea | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/21/herbalife-had-talks-to-go-private-steps-up-pressure-on-long-time-nemesis-bill-ackman-with-tender-offer.html | Herbalife had talks to go private; steps up pressure on long-time nemesis Bill Ackman with tender offer | Herbalife had talks to go private; steps up pressure on long-time nemesis Bill Ackman with tender offer
VIDEO0:5100:51Herbalife had talks to go private; steps-up pressure on long-time nemesis Bill Ackman with tender offerNews Videos
Herbalife said Monday it recently held talks to go private but the discussions ended on Wednesday without a deal.
Herbalife's statement and its announcement of a stock buyback offer boosted its shares by 9 percent Monday morning.
The potential buyer was not disclosed, but people with knowledge of the conversations said a "major" private-equity firm was involved and that due-diligence had been completed. Sources also said it was possible that the talks could resume.
Such a transaction could be a significant blow for long-time nemesis Bill Ackman, who is short shares of the company, betting the stock will drop because he believes it is a pyramid scheme.
Ackman's five-year crusade against Herbalife has largely gone the wrong way financially — and found him on the wrong end of one of Wall Street's most epic battles.
Another billionaire, the financier, Carl Icahn, famously took the other side of Ackman's trade, with the two trading barbs live on CNBC in January 2013. At the time, Icahn threatened "the mother of all short squeezes," in reference to what might happen to Ackman's short position if the company were to go private.
VIDEO27:4027:40Missed the Big Fight? Watch It NowHalftime Report
Even though Herbalife said in its release Monday that the recent discussions ended without a deal to go private, Ackman may not come away unscathed.
Herbalife also announced it was commencing a tender offer for up to $600 million of stock through a "modified Dutch auction," a process that lets Herbalife buy back a large number of shares from existing shareholders at the lowest possible price. Herbalife set a range for the self-tender of $60 to $68.
The company also said neither Icahn nor any members of the board of directors or the executive team would tender their shares.
Still, the move to self-tender could add pressure on Ackman if the shares he borrowed to sell short are subsequently "called back" in the process. If that were to happen, Ackman could be forced to buy Herbalife stock in the open market at a potentially much higher price.
In another twist with potentially damaging implications for Ackman, Herbalife said it would give participating shareholders a contingent value right, or "CVR" — an insurance policy of sorts should Herbalife announce a transaction to go private within the next two years. Such a move could give shareholders incentive to participate in the offering without the fear of missing out on a future deal. Sources told CNBC that Herbalife was concerned that the tender offer wouldn't be successful without the provision.
Neither Ackman nor Icahn could be reached for comment.
Herbalife said the offering would expire on Sept. 19.
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83ef5dc09dc34e204b0af27b0a3c38af | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/21/nike-downgraded-by-jefferies-due-to-surging-adidas-competition.html | Nike shares fall after analyst says 'premium valuation' not justified with a resurgent Adidas | Nike shares fall after analyst says 'premium valuation' not justified with a resurgent Adidas
Nike president and CEO Mark Parker.Jewel Samad | AFP | Getty Images
Nike is starting to lose its dominant brand cachet in sports apparel, according to some on Wall Street.
Jefferies lowered its rating for Nike to hold from buy on Monday, citing lost sales to its surging competitor Adidas. The call helped send the stock down 3 percent in morning trading. "The athletic footwear cycle and Nike brand power are strong, but the competitive landscape should make share gains and margin expansion elusive. … With expectations for less robust fundamentals, Nike's premium valuation conflicts with intensifying US competition unfolding," analyst Randal Konik wrote in a note to clients Monday. "Adidas has been successful in leveraging the spark from its fashion retro footwear resurgence into other categories like running and athletic apparel."Nike underperformed the market the previous 12 months with its shares down 7 percent through Friday, compared with the S&P 500's 11 percent return. Its shares declined 4 percent on Friday after Foot Locker reported a disappointing second-quarter earnings report due to poor sneaker sales.The analyst lowered his price target for Nike to $60 from $75, representing 9 percent upside from Friday's close. Konik cited NPD data, which showed Nike lost 1.2 percentage points of market share in the year ending May 2017, compared with Adidas' 5 point share gain. He also said Adidas websites are rising in the traffic rankings, while Nike sites are falling, according to Alexa data. "Web traffic depicts accelerating site visits for Adidas and slippage for Nike," he wrote. The analyst said that mentions of Nike as the best-selling running brand declined to 59 percent this month from 66 percent in July, according to the firm's survey of sales associates. "We believe secular industry tailwinds still exist, but Adidas brand heat dilutes them," he wrote. "Nike innovation is strong, but there's less buzz around its near-term pipeline."
Nike did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this story.
— CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this story.
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fe44467b0c79fb084163f8abc0cf7bdf | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/21/trump-watched-the-total-eclipse-without-viewing-glasses.html | Trump watched part of the eclipse without viewing glasses | Trump watched part of the eclipse without viewing glasses
VIDEO2:4602:46President Trump views the solar eclipseDigital Original
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump joined the millions of Americans gazing skyward on Monday to witness the first U.S.-visible total eclipse in 99 years.
Sanders tweet
Melania tweet
The president and first lady were both photographed wearing the ubiquitous cardboard sunglasses as they watched the eclipse from the White House balcony.
But at one point during the event, Trump was spotted looking up at the sun without any eye protection at all.
Without his protective glasses on, President Donald Trump looks up towards the solar eclipse while viewing with his wife Melania and son Barron at the White House in Washington, August 21, 2017.Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
Pundits and news watchers took notice, and quickly took to social media to offer their (mostly derisive) thoughts.
Axios tweet
Josh Jordan tweet
Lachlan Markay tweet
TJ Connelly tweet
Charles P. Pierce tweet
An aide shouted, "Don't look," as Trump squinted up at the sun with naked eyes, multiple sources reported.
Steve Kopack tweet
The eclipse reached totality along a 70-mile-wide zone stretching diagonally across the United States. Hundreds of cities along the zone of totality braced for a deluge of tourists by selling millions of pairs of viewing glasses and jacking up hotel rates.
VIDEO2:2802:28Why you need to wear solar eclipse glassesPower Lunch
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27069b1844dba5344d6888aa7721b22e | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/22/high-yielding-utilities-stocks-are-on-a-tear-and-there-may-still-be-time-to-buy.html | High-yielding utilities stocks are on a tear – and there may still be time to buy | High-yielding utilities stocks are on a tear – and there may still be time to buy
VIDEO3:1603:16Electric run for utilities stocksTrading Nation
The utilities sector just hit all-time highs, and some strategists see further upside for the group of stocks that's already gained 12 percent so far this year.
Equities in the utilities space, typically seen as defensive plays and bond proxies given their high yields, have rallied this year for several reasons, but one driver in particular sticks out to Chad Morganlander, portfolio manager at Washington Crossing Advisors.
Mergers and acquisitions in the space, as well as deregulation, have propelled the sector (and a popular utilities-tracking exchange-traded fund, the XLU) to new heights this year, Morganlander pointed out. But the most important factor is the direction of interest rates. Utilities stocks are particularly sensitive to rate shifts given their high yields relative to the rest of the market; he believes as interest rates will likely take a leg lower, utilities will likely fare well going forward.
Morganlander, who carries an overweight to neutral position on utilities, believes the "long end" of the yield curve, or the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield, will likely go lower and perhaps even hit 2 percent as economic growth appears to slow. If that occurs, utilities will "continue to have a bid underneath it" and find support.
Of course, "If that reverses and the long end of the yield curve starts to break down and interest rates go higher — that's called duration risk — you'll start to see utilities underperform. But for this point in time, for the next three months, we would still continue to be long utilities," Morganlander said Monday on CNBC's "Trading Nation."
From a technical standpoint, the picture is not as rosy, said Craig Johnson, chief market technician at Piper Jaffray. The firm carries an underweight position in utilities, and Johnson pointed to "bearish divergence" looking back on longer-term charts of the XLU. In other words, its price has gone up (and has even made a series of "higher highs and higher lows," Johnson pointed out) but the sector's relative performance to the broader market has, historically, disappointed.
"We think any sort of push to new highs here is probably going to be temporary, as we think about the longer-term aspects of the utilities sector," Johnson said Monday on "Trading Nation."
The sector is this year's third-best performer out of the S&P's 11 sectors.
Disclaimer
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31857a4875f988deffefa428b74150e4 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/22/the-owner-of-a-long-island-home-may-have-helped-north-korea-dodge-sanctions-nbc.html | The owner of a Long Island home may have helped North Korea dodge sanctions: NBC | The owner of a Long Island home may have helped North Korea dodge sanctions: NBC
The Great Neck, N.Y., home purchased by Sun Sidong in December 2016.Source: Google Maps
A Chinese national who has a million-dollar home listed in Long Island, New York, is linked to a company that is suspected of helping North Korea dodge sanctions, NBC News reports.
Sun Sidong is listed as the owner of Dandong Dongyuan Industrial Co., according to Chinese corporate filings, NBC News reports. The company shares an email address with Dandong Zhicheng Metallic Material Co., a Chinese coal exporter that is under suspicion for helping North Korea evade sanctions.
On Tuesday, the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control punished Dandong Zhicheng Metallic Co. for its supposed actions. The company's primary shareholder, Chinese businessman Chi Yupeng, was also punished.
Dandong Zhicheng Metallic Material Co. and four "related front companies" have been targeted since May, when a federal judge issued a ruling allowing prosecutors to secretly monitor their transactions and seize any illegal funds at eight U.S. banks, NBC News reports. The ruling, which didn't allege any wrongdoing by the financial institutions, said the banks had processed more than $700 million in prohibited transactions involving North Korea since 2009.
Read the full NBC News report here.
VIDEO0:4200:42The US and South Korea are holding war games. Here's how North Korea might respondNews Videos
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40bf6f0c45269fc5827ee0381e8747ff | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/22/us-admiral-says-diplomacy-key-to-resolving-north-korea-crisis.html | US admiral says diplomacy key to resolving North Korea crisis | US admiral says diplomacy key to resolving North Korea crisis
U.S. Navy Admiral Harry Harris, Commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, salutes at a ceremony marking the start of Talisman Saber 2017, a biennial joint military exercise between the United States and Australia, aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard amphibious assault ship in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Sydney, Australia on June 29, 2017.Jason Reed | Getty Images
The head of the U.S. military's Pacific Command said on Tuesday it was more important to use diplomacy to counter North Korea's missile threat rather than consider what actions by the reclusive North might trigger a preemptive strike.
Admiral Harry Harris was in South Korea to observe annual joint military drills with the South Korean military, which the North called a step towards nuclear conflict masterminded by the U.S. and South Korean "war maniacs".
"So we hope and we work for diplomatic solutions to the challenge presented by Kim Jong Un," Harris told reporters at a U.S. air base in South Korea about an hour from the capital, Seoul, referring to the North Korean leader.
He said diplomacy was "the most important starting point" in response to the North's threat, when asked what actions by North Korea might trigger a preemptive U.S. strike against Pyongyang.
VIDEO1:4401:44US-South Korea trade talks beginStreet Signs Asia
"As far as a timeline, it would be crazy for me to share with you those tripwires in advance. If we did that, it would hardly be a military strategy," he added.
North Korea has pursued missile and nuclear tests in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions and ignored all calls, including from lone major ally China, to stop. It justifies its weapons programs by pointing to perceived U.S. hostility and regularly threatens to destroy the United States.
The United States and South Korean began long-planned joint military exercises on Monday called the Ulchi Freedom Guardian, which the allies have said were purely defensive and did not aim to increase tension on the Korean peninsula.
The drills end on Aug. 31 and involve tens of thousands of troops as well as computer simulations designed to prepare for war with a nuclear-capable North Korea.
A North Korean Army spokesman repeated the threat of undisclosed retaliation against the United States for readying a preemptive strike and a war of aggression, using the drills as an excuse to mount such an attack.
VIDEO2:5802:58Who owns the world's nuclear weapons?CNBC Explains
"The U.S. will be wholly held accountable for the catastrophic consequences to be entailed by such reckless aggressive war maneuvers, as it chose a military confrontation," the unnamed spokesman said in comments carried by the North's official KCNA news agency.
Harris also told reporters that a scheduled "operational pause" by the U.S. Navy's fleet worldwide would not affect the military's ability to defend South Korea.
The pause was ordered after a U.S. guided missile destroyer collided with an oil tanker in waters near Singapore and Malaysia on Monday.
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3680f94ed8a60f3376f721dfc8d30544 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/23/espn-citing-safety-says-robert-lee-wont-broadcast-virginia-football-game.html | ESPN, Citing Safety, Says Robert Lee Won’t Broadcast Virginia Football Game | ESPN, Citing Safety, Says Robert Lee Won’t Broadcast Virginia Football Game
ESPNMike Windle | ESPN | Getty Images
ESPN has removed an announcer from its broadcast of the University of Virginia's first football game next month because he has the same name as a Confederate general memorialized in statues that are being taken down across the country.
The network announced late Tuesday that the announcer, Robert Lee, a part-time employee who calls about a dozen college football and basketball games a year for ESPN, would no longer participate in the broadcast of the Sept. 2 game in Charlottesville, Va., which became the center of violent clashes this month during a white supremacist gathering.
More from The New York Times:Judge Delays Bill Cosby Retrial Until SpringBetween Birth and Death, Some Dancing and a Little MysteryWhy France Understood Jerry Lewis as America Never Did
White nationalists and neo-Nazis flooded into Charlottesville, marching through the University of Virginia campus with torches, to protest the city's plan to remove a statue of the Confederacy's top general, Robert E. Lee.
After the violence in Charlottesville, which left one person dead, ESPN executives and Mr. Lee decided that for his safety it would be best to have him to work on a different game that Saturday, a network spokesman said.
"We collectively made the decision with Robert to switch games as the tragic events in Charlottesville were unfolding, simply because of the coincidence of his name," ESPN said in a statement. "In that moment it felt right to all parties. It's a shame that this is even a topic of conversation and we regret that who calls play-by-play for a football game has become an issue."
Mr. Lee did not return a call seeking comment. The website Outkick the Coverage reported on Mr. Lee's removal on Tuesday afternoon.
VIDEO1:0301:03Mitch McConnell's secret fury over Charlottesville response highlights GOP's Trump dilemmaNews Videos
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43a08ec9308ed5126dd069c704a98b39 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/23/south-china-sea-the-companies-and-assets-hit-hardest-by-a-crisis.html | If a crisis shuts down the South China Sea, here are the losers — and a few winners | If a crisis shuts down the South China Sea, here are the losers — and a few winners
VIDEO0:5300:53USS John S. McCain: Remains of missing sailors foundNews Videos
Several industries are trying to assess what open confrontation in the South China Sea would cost them, and a lot of them don't like what they're finding.
The world's second-largest economy is getting more wary — and more vocal in its opposition — about increased U.S. naval patrols along the vast body of water, which holds some of the world's busiest trade routes.
The U.S. Navy has sailed close to South China Sea reefs, atolls and other areas claimed by Beijing several times in recent months, under the pretext of freedom of navigation operations. In late May, the USS Dewey sailed within 12 miles of the Chinese artificial island Mischief Reef. In July, the USS Stethem passed by the Chinese-administered Triton Island. Then last week, the USS John S. McCain traveled close to Mischief Reef.
A U.S. Navy MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter from the "Blue Hawks" of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 78 fires chaff flares during a training exercise near the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) in the Philippine Sea April 24, 2017.Sean M. Castellano | US Navy | Reuters
Then this week, that same vessel collided with a tanker near Singapore, initially leaving 10 American sailors missing, though remains of some of were located Tuesday night. Beijing jumped on the Navy's accident — its fourth in Asia this year — with state media claiming that the incident drew "applause" from Chinese citizens.
"U.S. warships patrol too frequently in the Asia-Pacific," said a Tuesday editorial in the Chinese state-run Global Times newspaper. "The U.S. Navy conducts many risky military activities without full preparation."
Aside from Beijing, several Southeast Asian countries also asset sovereign rights over parts of the resource-rich South China Sea. The massive section claimed by China extends roughly 1,000 miles from its southern shores but despite a 2016 court ruling from The Hague, Beijing continues to expand its presence in the strategic waterway.
With more than $5 trillion of trade flowing through the area every year, any hostility between would hit numerous business sectors, including commodities, logistics, and insurance.
"Conflict between the U.S. and China in the South China Sea would be less about the physical things that can be produced, but more about controlling physical access and the key choke-points around it," Stratfor analyst Matthew Bey told CNBC earlier this year.
Satellite image of the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, a fishing-rich area claimed by both Manila and Beijing, on 12 January 2017.USGS/NASA Landsat data/Orbital Horizon/Gallo Images/Getty Images
Almost every major container shipping company sends vessels through the South China Sea, making all of them vulnerable if Washington and Beijing butt heads, said Bey. "The ports that would be adversely impacted are the Straits of Malacca, East China straits, straits of Sunda and Lombok."
Should Trump increase patrols by China's artificial islands as part of his new policy, that could particularly hurt the China National Offshore Oil, one of the the mainland's biggest crude producers, Bey added.
Also known as CNOOC, the firm has commercial drilling platforms in the South China Sea and drew international attention in 2014 after placing an oil rig near the Paracel Islands that triggered a major spat between Beijing and Hanoi.
CNOOC offered no comment on the matter.
Maritime insurance rates may spike if insurers identify parts of the South China Sea as a war risk.
That means vessels would have to pay a premium to transit the area — or avoid the area completely, explained Andrew Booker, founding partner of marine specialist Latitude Brokers. However, that scenario remains highly unlikely at present, he added.
VIDEO0:3900:39China reportedly threatened Vietnam out of the South China SeaNews Videos
It's impossible to estimate how high rates could rise but because there is no premium for transiting the area at present, anything would be an increase, he said.
If that were the case, trade routes would change and freight costs for each voyage would rise, which could be good news for ship-owners but bad for charterers who pay freight, Booker continued.
Geopolitical strains could also weaken the Korean won and the .
Financial markets in those countries have a large number of foreign equity investors, and those traders tend to sell shares in the wake of political tensions, explained Khoon Goh, head of Asia research at Australian bank ANZ.
When those stock markets take a beating, so do their currencies. If that's the case, Goh predicts the won will fall to 1180 per dollar from 1130 presently, and the Taiwan dollar to hit 31.6 from current levels of 30.2.
But the safe-haven Japanese yen would likely benefit amid the overall risk-averse mood, Goh added.
The South China Sea holds around seven billion barrels of oil and 900 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, but in the event of hostilities, those reserves won't be first in the firing line.
The more immediate impact may be a rally in global crude prices. Any conflict could disrupt the movement of energy resources, thus curbing overall supply and pushing Brent crude to around $65 per barrel, said Jonathan Chan, investment analyst at Phillip Futures. Oil futures trade hands at about $52 currently.
Nov 2016: A close-up of Chinese construction activities on the Cuarteron Reef, located at the east end of the London Reefs in the Spratly Islands of the South China Sea.DigitalGlobe via Getty Images.
Air freight is considerably more expensive than maritime shipping, and even within countries, overland networks are often not as well-developed. Maritime routes remain the most popular for the transportation of resources, he said.
Beijing imports massive quantities of copper and iron ore, so any blockage or disturbance to transport routes would cause prices of both commodities to spike, according to Chan.
"Iron ore on the SGX Asia Clear could hit $95 per metric ton in the event of escalation," Chan said, "while copper may soar to $6,480 per ton."
Gold, may rally to $1,450 per ounce, Chan added. That would mark a sharp bounce from its present level of near $1,285.
An estimated 12 percent of the world's fish harvest comes from the South China Sea, where more than 3,000 known species dwell. But fish stocks have been rapidly declining amid Beijing's island-building activities.
If Washington can stop Chinese construction and protect the rights of regional fishermen — especially Vietnamese, Indonesians and Filipinos — that would be welcomed, said Greg Poling, director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
The sand and silt plumes created by dredging sand and gravel can kill fish or drive them from the reefs — a major problem for Southeast Asian fishermen who rely on the creatures for their livelihood.
The problem is further exacerbated by China's annual fishing ban, typically between mid-May to early August, in parts of the sea that it administers. "Chinese dominance has been bad news for Southeast Asian fishermen, as evidenced by the way the Chinese authorities treat Vietnamese fishermen during the 3-month ban," Poling said.
VIDEO2:0002:00Why Trump’s foreign policy is on a collision course in the South China SeaPolitics
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66c03434050901ca4614e6a4992d641c | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/23/ulta-beauty-loyalty-makes-it-defensible-against-amazon-jefferies.html | Here's one retailer that may survive the Amazon onslaught because its customers are so loyal | Here's one retailer that may survive the Amazon onslaught because its customers are so loyal
ULTA Beauty gift bag of products.Brian Ach | Getty Images
Ulta Beauty shareholders should not lose hope despite a difficult year, according to one Wall Street firm. Jefferies reiterated its buy rating on the cosmetics retailer, saying the company's business model is "defensible" against the rising threat of e-commerce. "Multi-brand online specialists like Amazon and direct-to-consumer businesses from brands are known threats to Ulta's rate of growth," analyst Stephanie Wissink wrote in a note to clients Tuesday. Ulta's "model is defensible [with its] emphasis on services, curation, experience, and loyalty." Ulta shares are down 9.1 percent year to date through Tuesday versus the S&P 500's 9.5 percent return. Wissink reaffirmed her $350 price target for Ulta Beauty, representing 51 percent upside from Tuesday's close. She noted that the company's loyalty program now has 24.5 million members that account for 90 percent of Ulta's sales. "We think this is under appreciated by the market — the proportion of comp [comparable sales] tied to loyalty and the growth in loyalty still yet to be achieved," she wrote. In addition, Ulta has a strong future in e-commerce, according to the analyst. She predicts Ulta's online sales will grow 30 percent. "Ulta has one of the more robust CRM's [customer relationship management] and tapping this database to ensure replenishment on Ulta.com (vs. elsewhere) is an opportunity," she wrote.Wissink predicts the retailer will still be able to generate earnings per share growth of more than 20 percent. Ulta Beauty is slated to report its second-quarter earnings results on Thursday.
Disclaimer
VIDEO2:4702:47Cramer's lightning round: I'm not quite in love with this beauty stockMad Money with Jim Cramer
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6e2231252f91863c0fd4f25e58f4aece | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/23/watch-trump-speak-at-american-legion-convention-following-rally.html | Trump stays on script, calls for unity in speech to American Legion | Trump stays on script, calls for unity in speech to American Legion
VIDEO5:3705:37Every veteran here today is part of a long unbroken chain of American heroes: President TrumpPower Lunch
President Donald Trump delivered a tame, scripted speech to the American Legion in Nevada on Wednesday, a day after he gave more than an hour of freewheeling remarks in Arizona.
Barely straying from his prepared remarks — something he has failed to do in recent weeks — Trump thanked the veterans group and highlighted the ways in which his administration has tried to improve the Department of Veterans Affairs.
After the remarks, he signed a bill that aims to allow veterans to have appeals heard more quickly at the VA.
Trump, facing heavy backlash for his response to violence at a white supremacist rally in Virginia, also preached a message of unity at the American Legion convention.
"We have no division too deep for us to heal and there is no enemy too strong for us to overcome," Trump said. "Because in America we never lose faith. We never forget who we are, and we never stop striving for a better future."
It follows several recent occasions in which Trump has gone well off topic in public remarks.
His appearance follows Tuesday's campaign-style rally in which he said he would be willing to shut down the government, noted that he may end NAFTA and spent more than 15 minutes blaming the media for the backlash to his response to violence at a white supremacist rally in Virginia.
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0f133101d702e52ceafc26ba85f42a4a | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/23/we-tried-some-of-the-most-popular-fitness-classes-in-nyc-heres-what-we-found.html | We tried some of the most popular fitness classes in NYC. Here's what we found | We tried some of the most popular fitness classes in NYC. Here's what we found
VIDEO3:4403:44Millennials are flocking to these fitness classes in NYCDigital Original
Millennials are ditching big-box gyms and signing up for smaller boutique fitness classes that promise a toned body and a fun experience.
In an effort to learn more about this growing trend, CNBC tried out a variety of classes in New York City, including boxing at Rumble, high-intensity interval training at F45 Training and the Fhitting Room, yoga at Y7 Studio, and balancing it all out at Pure Barre.
According to IHRSA, customers of fitness "studios" tend to be between 18 and 25 years old, while traditional fitness facility members skew higher, into the 35-54 age range.
Taking a class at Rumble — backed by celebrities Justin Bieber and "Rocky" himself, Sylvester Stallone — will set you back $34 per class.
A pack of 10 classes goes for $320.
At F45 Training Flatiron and at the Fhitting Room the cost of 10 classes jumps to $350.
But these prices aren't scaring millennials away.
"It is way more fun than a gym. ... You have 45 minutes, you're in and out, and I don't have to worry if I did everything," said fitness enthusiast Casey Cohen.
NYC model Talia Richman, who has 67,000 Instagram followers, says her image is her job, so these classes are worth the big bucks.
"Working out is part of my job. My job as a model is my image, my look, my body. Sure, these classes are really expensive. But I find it to be the most motivating for me to do classes. It is a lot harder to work out by yourself," Richman said.
Data show that high prices aren't hurting demand.
From 2012-2015, memberships in traditional fitness clubs grew by just 5 percent, while the smaller specialty studios jumped by over 70 percent, according to research from IHRSA.
Dark lighting, blaring music, positive phrases shouted out by the instructors (like "keep your eye on the prize") and the ability to socialize are appealing to fitness buffs who take specialized workout classes.
Rumble co-founder Noah Neiman explained why his studio offers much more than just punching a bag.
"It's not just about burning calories, it's about the experience. You can justify it [the cost] because this is your entertainment dollar and on top of that you're getting a great workout," Neiman said.
Experts say it's this enticing combination of socializing and working out that has driven more young professionals to sign up for classes.
"Instead of going to get a drink, we now work out and do 100 burpees together," said Cohen.
A Rumble trainer in action.Source: Rumble
Social media has played a powerful role in driving engagement as well, offering a way for these fitness studios to build a community online.
Australia-based F45 training, which has about 800 studios around the world, focuses almost exclusively on online marketing for future growth.
"I don't think people pay a lot of attention to billboards and TV and radio and things like that anymore as they do to social media — Facebook, Instagram — so that's been our biggest tool for getting people in the door," said Luke Catenacci, co-owner of F45 Training Flatiron.
"Social media is an important tool for us as far as building awareness," said Kari Saitowitz, founder of Fhitting Room. "It's such an easy way for our current clients who are ambassadors of our brand to share their experience with others."
But skeptics question whether the strong demand for these boutique classes can continue, arguing that the barrier to entry is relatively low plus millennials have a reputation for being fickle.
However, for now it seems to be working.
"Our retention rate for paying customers is extremely high — probably around 75-80 percent," said Catenacci.
Saitowitz and Neiman said retention rates are high at their respective studios as well.
But competitors are popping up to meet this thirst for innovative workout regimes. Several millennials CNBC spoke to said Barry's Bootcamp, Tone House, Peloton Interactive and FlyWheel, among others, are frequented. Rowing (yes, that's right, like row your boat) has also been getting some buzz, with CityRowe in Union Square.
Fitness pros say sustainability, scale and building a niche brand will be the key challenges for these studios. These long-term risks are not just relevant to new entrants but even companies such as indoor cycling veteran SoulCycle, which was founded in 2006 and is still waiting to go public.
So, how would I, as the target audience of all these offerings, rate my experiences?
While the high price is annoying, the lively energetic atmosphere in these group classes is a great motivator, and makes me want to keep coming back — something many of us have struggled with at traditional gyms.
... but the team-oriented classes and motivational jargon used by the instructors does help when you're trying to get through your last set of pushups.
Of the group, Rumble probably does the best at marketing to my demographic. Its long list of star clients and models certainly boosts its "coolness" factor.
But the best workout? Surprisingly, I liked them all. The Pure Barre class, which consists of a workout centered around a ballet barre, reminded me of my days in dance class. It may have lacked the intensity of circuit training, but I could definitely feel the burn afterward.
But everyone has their preferences, and we're just seemingly at the beginning of this latest fitness craze.
So, for a while longer, you have your options. Just the way a millennial likes it.
— George Manessis contributed to this report.
CORRECTION: Y7 Studio is a yoga studio. Its name was misstated in an earlier version of this article.
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e6e6f049c08ece755b1db3f58453f2b4 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/24/dubaitakes-on-san-francisco-and-singapore-to-become-top-fintech-hub.html | San Francisco and Berlin have new competition for the capital of 'fintech' | San Francisco and Berlin have new competition for the capital of 'fintech'
VIDEO2:4402:44Increased appetite for fintech investment in DubaiSquawk Box Europe
Dubai has seen a surge of interest from fintech startups and banking assets over the last three years, according to the emirate's financial center's management body.
It's fast becoming a destination for financial technology startups because of its location, private investment and innovation.
"Dubai has its own unique attributes that the likes of San Francisco and Singapore do not have," Moussa Beidas CEO and Co-Founder of smartphone payment platform Bridg told CNBC on Thursday.
"I think there are very few places in the world where you can get so much in such a small place and yet with so much potential," he said.
The patented platform that takes digital payments offline is based at the Dubai International Financial Centre Authority (DIFCA) – a special economic area that aims to support businesses to tap into the emerging markets.
VIDEO2:2602:26‘Dubai embraces innovation’, says DIFC CEOSquawk Box Europe
Arif Amiri, CEO of DIFCA, told CNBC Thursday that in the space of three years the financial hub went from hosting 1000 companies to 1715 and banking assets rose from $50 billion to $150 billion in the same period.
"An accelerator acts as a way for them (companies) to really engage in the potential of the market, by introducing cutting edge technology solution providers from all over the globe, for them to really absorb, examine and test and really adapt …and grow their share in the market," Amiri said.
He told CNBC that the financial services industry contributes about 12 percent to Dubai's total gross domestic product and it is expected to increase to 18 percent by 2024.
Gareth Lewis, CEO and Co-Founder of Delio, which helps firms getting investment, told CNBC Thursday "there's a fantastic opportunity in the Dubai region purely around the appetite for private investment."
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cd6886b770a4e6c76c5bec6caced7bf7 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/24/hurricane-harvey-could-hurt-oil-production-long-after-it-hits-the-houston-area.html | Texas refineries face flooding, disruption threat from Hurricane Harvey | Texas refineries face flooding, disruption threat from Hurricane Harvey
VIDEO1:0201:02Hedge-fund industry's favorite weatherman says Harvey could cause 'historic' flooding in TexasNews Videos
Hurricane Harvey is expected to hit the Texas Gulf Coast by Friday, with nearly one-third of U.S. refining capacity possibly in its path on the Texas and western Louisiana coastlines. Winds of up to 75 mph and as much as 15 inches of rain were forecast, the National Weather Service said Thursday. That does not include the storm surge, which could bring even more water.
It could take 18 to 36 months for refineries to return to full production capacity if they sustain 2 feet of flooding, Bob Mitchell, president of the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership, told CNBC's "Power Lunch" on Thursday.
However, the jury is out on whether oil refineries will sustain any flooding. That depends on the pace of the rain. Refineries could likely cope with 20 inches of rain over five days. They would have a tougher time keeping up if it rained 20 inches over 12 hours.
Refineries are already preparing for Harvey.
Houston-area refineries are responsible for significant portions of the nation's gas, military grade fuel and jet aviation fuel, Mitchell said. Any decrease in production could have ripple effects on manufacturing.
"Oh I will tell you it's worse than (a slowdown)," Mitchell said. "It's a shutdown, not a slowdown. I can assure you of that."
The issue is not local, it's national, Mitchell said.
— Reuters contributed to this story.
VIDEO2:0102:01Record refinery runs 'really the kicker' in US oil inventory data
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2cd440cb272f71db5f06d582fd07aa6b | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/24/mohamed-el-erian-this-is-what-the-market-is-going-to-worry-about.html | Mohamed El-Erian: The market will worry about debt-ceiling fight delaying tax reform | Mohamed El-Erian: The market will worry about debt-ceiling fight delaying tax reform
VIDEO3:2603:26August takeaway: Markets well-behaved despite politics, says Allianz chief economic advisorClosing Bell
The U.S. markets have been well-behaved despite the political noise coming from Washington and geopolitical concerns, but at some point that may change, noted economist Mohamed El-Erian told CNBC on Thursday.
And it is not necessarily because of a government shutdown or the debt ceiling, because "that's going to be dealt with," the chief economic advisor at Allianz said in an interview with "Closing Bell."
"My main concern is … all the noise around these two issues and the game of chicken that goes with these two issues are likely to delay further tax reform and infrastructure. And that's what the market is going to worry about at some stage," El-Erian said.
Republican leaders have said they want to have tax reform passed by the end of the year and on Thursday, House Speaker Paul Ryan insisted the party has enough time to make it happen.
In an interview with CNBC, Ryan said Congress will raise the debt ceiling and will likely pass a short-term funding measure before the Sept. 30 deadline. And he insisted that none of it will affect the work on tax reform
"Those of us who are leaders, we can multitask. We can work on funding, we can work on debt limit while the committee of jurisdiction works on getting this tax bill ready," he said.
— CNBC's Jacob Pramuk contributed to this report.
VIDEO12:0912:09Speaker Paul Ryan speaks to CNBC about tax reformPower Lunch
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7257c7f510476d34d38c1a7e25183364 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/24/us-navy-says-remains-found-by-malaysia-not-of-a-uss-mccain-sailor.html | US Navy says remains found by Malaysia not of a USS McCain sailor | US Navy says remains found by Malaysia not of a USS McCain sailor
The U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain is seen after a collision, in Singapore waters August 21, 2017.Ahmad Masood | Reuters
The U.S. Navy said on Thursday human remains found by Malaysia were not one of its 10 sailors missing after a collision between one of its guided-missile destroyers and a merchant vessel east of Singapore this week.
Medical examination of the remains, which the Malaysian navy discovered about eight nautical miles northwest of where the USS John S. McCain and a merchant vessel collided on Monday, confirmed it was not one of the 10 sailors, the U.S. Seventh Fleet said in a statement. The body would be returned to Malaysian authorities.
An international search-and-rescue operation involving aircraft, divers and vessels is looking for the missing sailors over an area of about 5,500 square kilometres around the crash site.
On Tuesday, U.S. Navy and Marine divers found remains of missing sailors inside sealed sections of the damaged hull of the John S. McCain, which is moored at Singapore's Changi Naval Base. The Navy has not announced the identity or number of those found in the ship.
Four sailors injured in the crash left a Singapore hospital on Wednesday and have returned to duty, the U.S. Seventh Fleet said.
The pre-dawn collision was the fourth major accident for the U.S. Pacific Fleet this year and has prompted a review of its operations.
The Navy on Wednesday removed Seventh Fleet Commander Vice Admiral Joseph Aucoin citing "a loss of confidence in his ability to command" following the run of accidents.
Aucoin was due to step down next month. Rear Admiral Phil Sawyer takes command of the fleet.
This week, the U.S. Navy flagged plans for temporary and staggered halts in operations across its global fleet to allow staff to focus on safety.
On Wednesday, Seventh Fleet ships deployed at a facility in Yokosuka, Japan, participated in a one-day operational pause in which officers and crew underwent fresh risk management and communications training.
The Seventh Fleet, headquartered in Japan, operates as many as 70 ships, including the U.S. Navy's only forward-deployed aircraft carrier, and has about 140 aircraft and 20,000 sailors.
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bafd7db9393ff144f8785dee2d093b4c | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/25/apple-apps-in-iran-removed-amid-us-sanctions.html | Apple, citing U.S. sanctions, removes popular apps in Iran | Apple, citing U.S. sanctions, removes popular apps in Iran
Officially, Apple has no presence in Iran. Because of American sanctions against the country, the company's iPhones are not legally available for sale here, and Apple does not offer a version of its App Store in the country.
That has not stopped Iranians from snapping up millions of iPhones smuggled in from places like Dubai and Hong Kong. Nor has it kept Iranian app developers from creating thousands of apps for local users and offering them through App Stores outside Iran.
An Iranian woman taking pictures with an Apple iPhone in Tehran.Eric Lafforgue | Gamma-Rapho | Getty Images
Now, Apple is moving aggressively to shut down Iranian apps. The crackdown here follows the company's recent removal of apps in China that allowed residents to evade censors and gain access to the global internet, and were deemed illegal by the Chinese government.
On Thursday, Apple removed Snapp, a ride-hailing app similar to Uber that is popular in Iran, from its app stores. That followed the removal in recent weeks of apps for food delivery, shopping and other services.
In a message to Iranian developers whose apps were affected by the ban, Apple said, "Under the U.S. sanctions regulations, the App Store cannot host, distribute or do business with apps or developers connected to certain U.S. embargoed countries."
More from The New York Times: Facebook scrambles to police content amid rapid growth Iranian Parliament, facing US sanctions, votes to raise military spending Iran reaches deal with Renault despite new US sanctions
An Apple spokesman, Tom Neumayr, confirmed the message's authenticity. He declined further comment.
Mahdi Taghizadeh, a founder of DelionFoods, an online food delivery service, said his app was among those taken down.
"We work so hard, and have to fight all the time, and now this," he said in an interview. "No one with an iPhone can download any of the popular apps any more. Imagine if in the U.S. you wouldn't be able to get Uber on your phone."
Mr. Taghizadeh has protested the move online, starting a campaign on Twitter, #StopRemovingIranianApps, to press Apple to end the crackdown. (Although the Iranian government has blocked Twitter in the country, determined users find ways to reach it.)
Google, which allows Android developers to publish apps in Iran so long as they do not involve purchases, does not appear to have taken a similar action against Iranian apps in its Play store, and its formal Play guidelines allow apps to be distributed in the country.
In addition to blocking Twitter, the Iranian government has long blocked Facebook and Google's YouTube service.
When it comes to technology, American sanctions against Iran over its nuclear weapons program are complicated. The Obama administration eased restrictions on American tech companies that offered internet services in Iran as a way of encouraging a free flow of information, especially among younger Iranians.
The Trump administration has modified the overall sanctions, and President Trump signed a new sanctions bill into law this month. It is unclear whether the administration meant to impose new restrictions on technology companies.
European countries lifted all sanctions against Iran after the 2016 nuclear agreement was reached.
Apple told Iranian developers in February to remove any payment options in their apps to prevent Iranian money from entering the United States in violation of the sanctions. Iran had developed its own internal online payment system, shaparak, in response to the sanctions. After the Apple notice, almost all Iranian apps, including Snapp, switched to shaparak, cash and other methods of payment.
"The full removal of Iranian apps by Apple means our work will be much more complicated," said Mr. Taghizadeh. His company had started an online campaign to attract more customers, but has decided to halt those efforts for now. "What is the point when people can't download your app?"
Iran's new telecommunications minister, Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, complained on Twitter about Apple's decision to remove the apps and said he was planning to pursue the issue.
Mr. Azari Jahromi wrote in Persian that "11 percent of the cellphone market in Iran belongs to Apple." He added: "Respecting customer rights is a principle today that Apple hasn't abided by. We will legally pursue the omission of apps."
Mr. Azari Jahromi is Iran's youngest minister. He hinted last week that Twitter and YouTube might be unblocked in the country, but he also said the decision was not his to make.
Twitter declined to comment, and YouTube had no immediate comment on the minister's remarks.
Apple is not formally represented in Iran, because of the American trade restrictions. Samsung, one of its key competitors, opened a large sales center in the country in February.
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d35aa07fe76a7c79aabebe4067616614 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/25/ecbs-mario-draghi-says-global-recovery-is-firming-up-euro-climbs.html | ECB's Mario Draghi says global recovery is firming up, euro climbs | ECB's Mario Draghi says global recovery is firming up, euro climbs
VIDEO3:0003:00Draghi: Global recovery firming upClosing Bell
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said Friday the global recovery is improving, but like an increasing number of financial and business leaders, warned about demographic challenges to growth.
The euro spiked 1 percent to a high of $1.1940, its highest against the U.S. dollar since January 2015 after Draghi's initial remarks.
"The global recovery is firming up," Draghi said, according to prepared remarks on the European Central Bank website. He noted that in Europe and Japan, "the consolidation of the recovery is at an earlier stage" versus that of the U.S.
Draghi also said significant monetary accommodation is still needed and that inflation is not yet converging to the central bank's target. The euro edged off session highs to trade near $1.192 after those comments.
"It would suggest that nothing is imminently forthcoming from Frankfurt," said John Velis, vice president of Global Macro Strategy at State Street Global Markets.
"Of course, what's missing, and what he has mentioned in the past, is that the strength of the currency has served as a break on demand and inflation in the euro zone," Velis said. "Markets got the hint however, and the impressive spike in EUR immediately after his prepared remarks has now been blunted."
Draghi was speaking at the annual central bankers' meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. His prepared remarks did not comment directly on future ECB monetary policy.
The ECB president also said Friday that the central problem of "how to raise potential output growth" faced increasing challenges.
"Without stronger potential growth, the cyclical recovery we are now seeing globally will ultimately converge downwards to those slower growth rates," Draghi said. "Slower growth will in turn make it harder to work through the debt and demographic challenges facing many advanced economies."
Ahead of the speech, some speculated Draghi might use Jackson Hole to hint at when the ECB might begin tightening monetary policy by cutting back on its asset purchase program. But in a Wednesday speech in Germany, Draghi did not comment on how the central bank might adjust policy to the improving economy in the euro zone.
On Friday, Germany's Ifo economic institute said its business climate index edged down to 115.9 from 116.0 in July, versus the consensus Reuters estimate for 115.5.
The euro had already begun strengthening against the U.S. dollar earlier in the day after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen did not address future monetary policy in a Friday speech. Yellen said the financial system is safer now than it was at the time of the financial crisis about a decade ago and did note regulations may need some adjustments.
VIDEO0:3000:30Euro spikes as Draghi comments on global recoveryClosing Bell
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155ddce87daa91687f69e358d4d890bb | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/26/trump-setting-records-for-low-presidential-approval.html | Trump setting records for low presidential approval | Trump setting records for low presidential approval
President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, DC.Getty Images
Donald Trump started as the most unpopular new president in the history of modern polling. After seven months, things have only gotten worse.
Plunging into undesirably uncharted territory, Trump is setting records with his dismally low approval ratings, including the lowest mark ever for a president in his first year. In fact, with four months left in the year, Trump has already spent more time under 40 percent than any other first-year president.
At 34 percent, his current approval rating is worse than former President Barack Obama's ever was.
Trump's early descent in the polls defies some longstanding patterns about how Americans view their president. Such plunges are often tied to external forces that the president only partially controls, such as a sluggish economy or an all-consuming international crisis. In Trump's case, the economy is humming and the foreign crises have been kept to a minimum.
Americans also tend to be optimistic about their new leaders, typically cutting them some slack during their early days in office. Not with Trump.
"Most presidents begin with a honeymoon period and then go down from that, and Trump had no honeymoon," said Gallup editor-in-chief Frank Newport.
It's a jarring juxtaposition for the reality TV star-turned-president who spent months on the campaign trail obsessing about his poll numbers and reading them to massive rally crowds while vowing that he'd win so much as president that Americans would get sick of it. Since he took office, the poll number recitations have stopped.
VIDEO0:3200:32President Trump to the people of Texas: 'Good luck to everybody'White House
Trump is now viewed positively by only 37 percent of Americans, according to Gallup's most recent weekly estimate. (Obama's lowest weekly average never fell below 40 percent.) It's even lower — just 34 percent — in Gallup's shorter, three-day average, which includes more recent interviews but can also involve more random variation.
To be sure, approval ratings can fluctuate — sometimes dramatically. Some presidents have seen their positive reviews dip below 40 percent, only to recover strongly. Bill Clinton, whose rating fell to 37 percent in early June 1993 after policy stumbles, quickly gained ground. Later that same month, he climbed to 46 percent, and ended his eight years enjoying approval from 66 percent of the nation.
Trump has defied the trends before. But if history is a guide, his numbers don't bode well. Low approval ratings hamper a president's ability to push an agenda through Congress and make it more likely the president's party will lose seats in Congress in the midterm elections.
Scott de Marchi, who teaches political science at Duke University, says his research suggests approval ratings tend to affect whether a president can persuade Congress to do his or her bidding. That's primarily true with complex issues like tax reform, where Americans care about the outcome but may not have strongly formed opinions. In those cases, Americans are more likely to support whatever plan the president proposes if they broadly approve of the president himself.
"The problem with Trump is that on any area like the budget or tax policy or even health care, people need to be led to a position to support," de Marchi said.
Since Gallup began tracking presidential approval, four presidents — Harry Truman, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush — spent significant time below 40 percent during their first four years. Clinton's and Ronald Reagan's forays below the 40 percent mark also came during their first terms. But neither stayed there long.
Of those who spent at least a few months below 40 percent approval in a first term, only one — Truman — recovered enough to win re-election.
Still, several others reached lows at some point in their presidency that are worse than Trump's, including several who dropped below 30 percent.
Truman hit 22 percent in February 1952, during a drawn-out Korean War stalemate and accusations of corruption in his administration. Richard Nixon hit 24 percent at the height of the Watergate scandal just before his resignation in 1974. Carter bottomed out at 28 percent in the summer of 1979, amid that year's oil crisis.
VIDEO5:1005:10Bob Doll talks Trump, earnings and stocksTrading Nation
Trump's average approval rating so far: Just 40 percent. That's even lower than the previous average low for a first-term president, 46 percent, set by Carter.
Newport, the Gallup chief, said Trump's struggles are unusual in that such abysmal numbers can usually be tied to a single, specific issue bedeviling the country. With Trump, Newport said, "it's a more general kind of issue with the man himself and a more general dissatisfaction with the way things are going in the country."
In July, Gallup posed another question to Trump's disapprovers: Why? Nearly two-thirds cited his personality or character, while less than a third cited issues, policies or job performance.
By contrast, when Gallup asked the same question about Obama in 2009 and George W. Bush in 2001, less than 2 in 10 disapprovers cited similar concerns about personal characteristics.
The vast majority of Republicans support Trump while the vast majority of Democrats oppose him. Such political polarization might be both a blessing and a curse for Trump, preventing him from achieving higher ratings but also keeping him from falling even further.
"When Trump has done things that have generated an enormous amount of attention and people have anticipated his rating could go down, it has not," Newport said. "And that's because he's being propped up by Republicans."
It's unclear whether Trump's most recent bout with controversy — his response to racially tinged clashes in Charlottesville, Virginia — further harmed his approval ratings. It could be he's close enough to bottoming out that the latest dust-up will have little effect.
In a Washington Post-ABC News poll conducted Aug. 16-20, just 28 percent said they approve of Trump's response to Charlottesville. But 37 percent said they approved of the job Trump is doing overall — almost the exact same percentage that approved in the same poll a month earlier.
Yet if the famously image-conscious Trump aspires to undo some of the damage, there's reason to hope.
"The history of presidential job approval ratings shows an enormous amount of fluctuation," Newport said. "There's no historical reason why his ratings couldn't go up."
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2138cc7fc4b829f1206e01dae9d2314a | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/28/harvey-disrupts-business-but-some-are-set-to-benefit.html | Harvey disrupts business, but some are set to benefit | Harvey disrupts business, but some are set to benefit
Customers shop at a Home Depot store on July 26, 2017 in Chicago.Getty Images
Days before Hurricane Harvey barreled into the Texas coast on Friday, home improvement retailers were preparing truckloads of lumber, shingles and other materials that property owners in the storm-raked communities will need to rebuild.
The deliveries will have to wait, however, as 56 stores between Home Depot and Lowe's in southeast Texas remained closed as of Sunday amid widespread flooding. Once they reopen, the chains could be among the biggest beneficiaries of the post-storm recovery.
Lowe's has sent "500 truckloads" of supplies to the storm zone, said spokeswoman Sarah Lively. "We are reopening those stores as quickly as possible."
For the moment, the biggest storm to hit Texas in 50 years is posing a major disruption to one of the most important economic crossroads in the United States and the heart of its oil industry. Ports, railways and highways are closed or clogged, potentially blocking movement of key parts of the U.S. manufacturing supply chain.
Catastrophic flooding triggered by now Tropical Storm Harvey inundated Houston on Sunday, forcing residents of the fourth most populous U.S. city to flee their homes in anticipation of more days of "unprecedented" rainfall.
The home improvement retailers, well versed in the business of disaster, are likely steps ahead of most companies.
An employee, left, holding 'Out of Order' signs for gas pumps walks between vehicles waiting to refuel at an HEB Fuel gas station in Houston, Texas, on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017.F. Carter Smith | Bloomberg | Getty Images
At Home Depot, spokesman Matt Harrigan said preparations began "as soon as the storm was on the radar."
Both Home Depot and Lowe's said they have set up command centers to manage the response. Both companies also said they will freeze prices for lumber, roofing and other rebuilding materials for a time in the affected zone.
Other U.S. companies, including automakers, railroads and insurers, will likely be trying to send investors similar reassuring messages as trading starts on Monday.
Texas is a significant vehicle market, particularly for highly profitable pickup trucks built by the big three Detroit automakers.
In the short term, the storm will hamper operations at dealers and could dampen August sales. But longer term, "it seems there has been enough flooding to damage thousands of light vehicles that will need replacing," said Nick Colas, an independent analyst based in New York City.
For insurers, the storm could be a mixed blessing.
"Insurers — from a long term point of view they can raise their rates, but some insurers, if they have a particular geographic or sector concentration can get really beaten up," said Michael Purves, chief global strategist at Weeden & Co.
"Maybe the winners are the companies that have the least damage but the most license to increase their premiums."
It was not clear on Sunday how the storm would affect supply chains for automakers and other manufacturers that depend on goods flowing to and from northern Mexico.
Ford Motor, General Motors, and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles said on Sunday they had thus far not seen any impact or issues with getting parts across the storm zone but were monitoring the storm closely. The area of Mexico south of the storm zone is a major center for auto parts manufacturing.
BNSF Railway and Union Pacific, told customers they would likely curtail operations in flooded areas.
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768ea46e2a78a438ce86471a3597f170 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/28/japanese-government-warns-north-korea-missile-headed-toward-northern-japan-report-says.html | North Korean missile flew over Japan before falling into the sea | North Korean missile flew over Japan before falling into the sea
VIDEO0:4800:48Japan warns about North Korean missileNews Videos
[Update: Global stock markets reacted to North Korea's overture.]
North Korea has fired a ballistic missile that passed over Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters early Tuesday.
A South Korean military official told NBC News that the missile was fired around 5:57 a.m. local time on Tuesday. The official said that the missile flew for about 2,700 kilometers (1,678 miles), reaching a maximum altitude of 550 kilometers (342 miles). U.S. Pacific Command projected that the missile splashed down at 6:29 a.m. local time.
Later Tuesday, Abe said the missile was an unprecedented, serious and grave threat to Japan. The Japanese prime minister said he would ask the United Nations to up the pressure on Pyongyang.
Japanese broadcaster NHK reported that the Japanese government warned that a North Korean missile was headed toward the Tohoku region at the northern end of the country. NHK also reported that Japan took no action to shoot down the missile.
The Japanese broadcaster reported that the North Korean missile broke into three pieces and fell into the sea.
Dow Jones industrial average futures opened more than 100 points lower following the news, and was down more than 100 points in premarket trading Tuesday morning. The dollar fell against the . The dollar was 0.8 percent lower at 108.42 yen early Tuesday, while the euro rose against the dollar to 1.2060.
Asian shares fell on Tuesday as investors turned to safe-haven assets and U.S. futures traded lower after a North Korean missile launch, although major indexes were off session lows by the end of the day.
Japan's Nikkei 225 retraced some of its initial losses to close down 0.45 percent, or 87.35 points, at 19,362.55 after a North Korean missile flew over the country early on Tuesday. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in a statement that the launch was reckless and unprecedented.
While the U.S. Department of Defense said it is still assessing the missile launch, the North American Aerospace Defense Command determined that it did not pose a threat to North America.
Reuters reported that Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the missile test was a threat that Tokyo would respond to firmly.
"This ballistic missile launch appeared to fly over our territory. It is an unprecedented, serious and grave threat to our nation," the top government spokesman told reporters.
Suga called the test a clear violation of United Nations resolutions. He also said that Japan will work closely with the U.S., South Korea, and other concerned nations to find a timely and appropriate response.
The South Korean government has called for a national security council meeting at 7 a.m. local time, according to a presidential spokesperson. South Korean authorities have not issued an evacuation order.
The Japanese government has urged people in Tohoku to take refuge in solid buildings or underground shelters, according to NHK.
On Monday, U.S. and Japanese servicemen concluded joint exercises in Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost major island. Currently, South Korean and U.S. forces are in the middle of their annual joint exercises.
A senior U.S. intelligence official told NBC that this would be the first missile test to pass over Japan on a high altitude trajectory. In 1998, North Korea fired a missile through Japanese airspace.
Tensions surrounding North Korea's missile tests have ratcheted up throughout the summer as Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump engaged in a war of words.
Trump previously warned Pyongyang that threats against the U.S. would be met with "fire and fury." North Korean state media subsequently responded by saying that it was considering striking the U.S. territory of Guam.
A missile would need 3,500 kilometers (2,175 miles) of range to hit Guam.
— CNBC's Patti Domm, NBC News and Reuters contributed reporting.
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f0fcefd51cd864d4d039c41539f380cf | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/28/mark-zuckerberg-to-his-newborn-daughter-were-optimists.html | Mark Zuckerberg to his newborn daughter: 'We're optimists' | Mark Zuckerberg to his newborn daughter: 'We're optimists'
Priscilla Chan (R) and her husband Mark Zuckerberg announce the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to "cure, prevent or manage all disease" by the end of the century during a news conference at UCSF Mission Bay in San Francisco.Beck Diefenbach | Reuters
CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, just had their second child, a daughter, named August.
Zuckerberg posted a letter to his new daughter on Facebook. In it, he says "childhood is magical" and that August shouldn't be "worrying too much about the future." Zuckerberg says he and Chan are doing "everything we possibly can to make sure the world is a better place for you and all children in your generation."
Zuckerberg and Chan are not just paying lip service, either. Their Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has pledged to raise billions, including Zuckerberg's personal fortune from Facebook, to solve major global problems in the areas of health and education. One of the stated goals is to help cure, prevent or manage all human disease by the end of the century.
Here's the letter:
Dear August, Welcome to the world! Your mom and I are so excited to see who you will become. When your sister was born, we wrote a letter about the world we hoped she and now you will grow up in — a world with better education, fewer diseases, stronger communities, and greater equality. We wrote that with all the advances in science and technology, your generation should live dramatically better lives than ours, and we have a responsibility to do our part to make that happen. Even though headlines often focus on what's wrong, we still believe these positive trends will win out. We're optimists about your generation and the future.But rather than write about growing up, we want to talk about childhood. The world can be a serious place. That's why it's important to make time to go outside and play.You will be busy when you're older, so I hope you take time to smell all the flowers and put all the leaves you want in your bucket now. I hope you read your favorite Dr. Seuss books so many times you start inventing your own stories about the Vipper of Vipp. I hope you ride the carousel with Max until you've tamed every color horse. I hope you run as many laps around our living room and yard as you want. And then I hope you take a lot of naps. I hope you're a great sleeper. And I hope even in your dreams you can feel how much we love you.Childhood is magical. You only get to be a child once, so don't spend it worrying too much about the future. You've got us for that, and we'll do everything we possibly can to make sure the world is a better place for you and all children in your generation.August, we love you so much and we're so excited to go on this adventure with you. We wish you a life of joy, love and the same hope you give us. Love, Mom and Dad
Zuckerberg has said that he would take two months paternity leave from Facebook, in keeping with the company's policies.
Here's the post:
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c3279d5ff1b6ad99aaae5fe08649cf6a | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/28/steel-pipe-and-tube-ceos-urge-trump-to-move-forward-on-import-restrictions.html | Steel pipe and tube CEOs urge Trump to move forward on import restrictions | Steel pipe and tube CEOs urge Trump to move forward on import restrictions
Getty Images
The chief executives of 23 pipe and tube manufacturers are urging President Donald Trump to move forward quickly on steel import restrictions, according to a letter obtained exclusively by CNBC.
The Department of Commerce has undertaken an investigation into whether foreign-made steel imports threaten U.S. security. Trump signed a memorandum in late April asking Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to prioritize the probe, which could result in higher tariffs for Chinese and other foreign steel firms, to the benefit of the U.S. steel industry.
According to the letter the executives sent to Trump on Tuesday, "Time is running out for the industry and its workers and we urge you take immediate action under the provisions of U.S. law that allow you to intervene to ensure that domestic producers can meet the national security needs of our great country by imposing a combination of quotas and tariffs."
The executives are members of the Committee on Pipe and Tube Imports (CPTI), a trade association.
The CEOs of ArcelorMittal, Bristol Metals and Boomerang Tube, who signed the letter, said the situation is not sustainable and warned it would only deteriorate further.
"Because the U.S. pipe and tube industry is the third-largest purchaser of flat-rolled steel ... reduced pipe and tube production will also greatly harm the U.S. flat-rolled industry," they said.
"Based on the amount of imports flooded into America now we will not be able to help rebuild Houston," Robert Griggs, president and CEO of Trinity Products, told CNBC.
"Not one U.S. pipe company will get a lick of work in rebuilding Houston. It will all go to China. The president needs to level the playing field and make it fair. The way it is now, American steel pipe companies will lose the opportunity to rebuild Houston," said Griggs, who also signed the letter.
During the rebuilding of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, Trinity produced 10,000-15,000 tons of steel for infrastructure projects. Trinity Products makes the second-largest large diameter structural pipe, which is used in bridges, tunnels and other heavy construction projects Executives enclosed a chart of carbon and alloy steel pipe and tube from July 2016 to 2017 showing a steady increase in foreign steel imports since the president announced the investigation.
The CEOs specifically cited China, Korea, Taiwan, Turkey and Vietnam as the major sources of foreign imports into the United States.
"The staggering levels of pipe and tube imports clearly indicates foreign competitors refuse to do so and that is why we support the remedial action," said Lee Searing, CEO of Searing Industries.
Barry Zekelman, executive chairman and CEO of Zekelman Industries, the largest independent steel tube manufacturer in North America, told CNBC: "The pipe and tube industry has been used as a conduit for foreign steel producers, primarily China, to circumvent duties and decimate our industry for many years. We are tired of playing 'whack-a-mole.' The future of our industry is at stake, we don't want handouts, just fair trade!"
The trade association represents companies that purchase steel from integrated manufacturers to make tubular products. It has 40 members that operate 123 facilities in 32 states and employ more than 40,000 workers.
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9ed8cb3970e723cc1eedad2dd4662047 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/28/ubers-new-ceo-expedia-boss-dara-khosrowshahis-powerful-network.html | Why Uber's new CEO is the perfect antidote to Travis Kalanick | Why Uber's new CEO is the perfect antidote to Travis Kalanick
VIDEO3:0703:07Expedia CEO is an ‘sensationally great’ choice to lead Uber: Yale’s Jeff SonnenfeldSquawk on the Street
While Uber's choice for CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, may seem less familiar than choices like Meg Whitman or Jeff Immelt, Khosrowshahi knows who matters.
Sources told CNBC he's seen as a very qualified and respected choice for Uber's CEO.
"He's got an extraordinarily deep network," said Brad Gerstner, founder and CEO of investment firm Altimeter Capital, which owns shares of both Expedia and Uber. Gerstner spent five years on the board of Orbitz, through 2015.
Khosrowshahi's impressive Rolodex make sense given his start at Allen & Co — the "person-to-person" banking firm that hosts a posh networking event at Sun Valley, where CEOs are known to seal deals. His brother works there now, and he has many other influential family members in the business community, The Washington Post reported.
Khosrowshahi is also no stranger to some of the other important people behind Uber. Expedia founder Richard Barton is a partner at Benchmark, one of Uber's top shareholders.
Khosrowshahi is also on the board of Fanatics, a company that recently snagged a $1 billion deal from SoftBank — a free-spending Japanese company that's also said to be eyeing a stake in Uber.
All those connections make Brian Neider, Lead Edge Capital Partner, "super comfortable" and "pumped" with the choice, he told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Monday, adding that it would be great for Uber to get the stamp of approval from funds like SoftBank.
While Kalanick has come under scrutiny for his lack of soft skills, Khosrowshahi has spent years honing them, according to a deeply reported profile in the Puget Sound Business Journal last year.
"This is a guy who could spend a decade working side-by-side, very successfully, with [IAC's] Barry Diller, who is no shrinking violet," Jeff Sonnenfeld, senior associate dean for leadership studies at Yale, told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" on Monday. "I think that speaks legions for him."
And that's helped him restructure Expedia many times over, making deal after deal. That's something something Uber's been trying to do, selling off its Russian and Chinese businesses into new joint ventures and examining options for its leasing division.
Khosrowshahi was the head of corporate development, mergers and acquisitions for the companies that became media conglomerate IAC.
"When Expedia was struggling, he went in and became the lead operating executive. He uniquely possesses both operating capabilities as well as capital markets capabilities, which not a lot of global executives have. It's a nuance that Wall Street appreciates, but it's hard to understand," Gerstner said. "That's really pertinent to a company like Uber that's strategically competing on a global basis. They have to figure out how to compete in all those different markets -- and to partner, sell, or operate on a stand-alone basis."
Plus, Uber has a slew of vacancies to fill: President Jeff Jones left the company. The search for a chief operating officer is still underway, and the executives in charge of business, finance, communications, engineering and self-driving cars are all out the door.
"He knows how to identify talent," Gerstner told CNBC. "He knows what a world-class executive looks like. He has the frame of reference to evaluate candidates who exist within Uber and also has the network to attract the talent needed to take the business to next level."
Then there's hard-charging former CEO Travis Kalanick, who is still on the board of the company and poses "personality" issues, one investor said.
"It seems to me, from what I've read and what I've seen from other people covering this, that Dara is the type of person that's going to come in and institute a culture that's going to take away some of those distractions and probably put them on a more professional business path," Paul Holland, an Uber investor and general partner at Foundation Capital, told CNBC's "Squawk Alley" on Monday.
"And I think to that extent, as a major shareholder, whether it's Travis or anybody else, they should all be pretty excited about this. And I suspect folks will get behind him to drive the company, ultimately towards an IPO."
— With reporting by CNBC's Deirdre Bosa
VIDEO2:1402:14Uber investor: Expedia CEO seems like a very good choice for ride-sharing companySquawk Alley
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ee9fa24d12128fa6eee86f087b626922 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/29/best-buy-q2-2017-earnings.html | Best Buy shares plunge after company warns about gross margins | Best Buy shares plunge after company warns about gross margins
People walk into a Best Buy store in New York City.Getty Images
Best Buy reported second-quarter earnings and sales on Tuesday that topped analysts' expectations. Looking ahead, the company also raised its revenue outlook for the full year, and said stronger shopper demand for its technology products, such as smartphones and wearable devices, boosted its sales at established stores over the period.
Then, on a call with analysts and investors, management warned that an uptick in gross margins would "moderate" in coming quarters. Competition in the electronics category is expected to intensify toward the end of the year, and mid-single-digit comps are not a "new normal," Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly said.
Best Buy shares were down around 11 percent on Tuesday morning.
"This team and this company has done a masterful job of turning around this business and positioning it well for its future," UBS analyst Michael Lasser told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street." "From here, it really needs to drive earnings growth in order for the stock to appreciate significantly."
Best Buy is "playing with a lot of external variables that are not within its control," Lasser added.
Here's what Best Buy reported compared to what Wall Street was expecting, based on a Thomson Reuters survey of analysts:
Earnings of 69 cents a share, adjusted, compared with a forecast profit of 63 cents per share.Revenue was $8.94 billion versus an estimate of $8.66 billion.Same-store sales climbed 5.4 percent, better than the expected 2.2 percent growth.
"We are pleased today to report strong top and bottom line growth for the second quarter of fiscal 2018," CEO Joly said in a statement.
"Against a backdrop of continued healthy consumer confidence, we believe broad-based product innovation is resonating with consumers and driving higher spend. And, with our effective merchandising and marketing activities, combined with our expert advice and service available online, in-store and in-home — we are garnering an increasing share of those dollars."
Best Buy's net income climbed to $209 million, or 67 cents per share, from $198 million, or 61 cents a share, one year ago. Excluding one-time charges, the company earned 69 cents per share.
Total revenue jumped 4.8 percent, to $8.94 billion.
Sales at stores open for at least 12 months — a metric closely watched by Wall Street for retail stocks — popped 5.4 percent in the second quarter. Analysts were calling for overall same-store sales growth of 2.2 percent, according to Thomson Reuters.
International comps meanwhile increased 4.7 percent, fueled by growth in Canada and Mexico, Best Buy said.
Looking ahead, Best Buy anticipates sales for the full year to grow 4 percent, compared to a prior forecast of 2.5 percent growth. It also expects income growth of 4 percent to 9 percent, compared to a previous estimate for 3.5 percent to 8.5 percent growth.
The retailer's increased expectations are being driven by "anticipation of continued positive industry and consumer momentum, coupled with the impact of product launches," CFO Corie Barry explained.
"Best Buy's Q2 performance was impressive on multiple fronts, with online revenues up over 30% year-over-year, evidencing continued multi-channel success, and total revenues were up over $400 million, reflecting that traction is increasing," Moody's lead retail analyst, Charlie O'Shea, said in a note to CNBC on Tuesday morning.
"Appliances continue as a bright spot, and we expect this favorable trend to continue, and Best Buy's outlook for the back half of the year reflects its view that overall momentum will continue to build," O'Shea added.
In Best Buy's fiscal first quarter, the retailer reported another impressive earnings surprise amid a volatile retail environment.
The 1,400-store chain has said it hopes to see a continued boost from selling higher-margin electronics and appliances at a time when traditional appliance sellers, such as Sears Holdings, are losing market share.
Like most retailers today, Best Buy faces stiff competition from Amazon, where more and more purchases are being rung up online.
In turn, Best Buy is also shifting investments toward its digital platform. During the second quarter, Best Buy reported e-commerce sales growth of more than 30 percent. Faster shipping and improvements to the online checkout process and search functionality are proving to be attractive to shoppers.
"It is ... clear that there are large groups of customers who feel more confident buying online from Best Buy than other e-commerce only merchants, mainly because Best Buy has stores where they can seek advice, resolve problems, and return items if needed," GlobalData Retail Managing Director Neil Saunders wrote in a note to clients.
"In this sense, Best Buy's multichannel model is proving to be a core strength."
As of Monday's close, Best Buy's stock has climbed more than 60 percent over the past 12 months.
Source: FactSet
VIDEO2:3502:35Best Buy beats Street, raises outlookSquawk on the Street
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8408f881908f7a2ec31ac504d8c1fe0c | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/29/here-are-7-big-data-artificial-intelligence-stock-ideas-from-bank-of-america.html | Here are 7 big data, artificial intelligence stock ideas from Bank of America | Here are 7 big data, artificial intelligence stock ideas from Bank of America
VIDEO0:5100:51Here are 7 big data, artificial intelligence stock ideas from Bank of AmericaNews Videos
Analyzing the large amounts of data created by internet-connected devices will be a huge market in the coming decades, according to a top Wall Street firm.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch says the artificial intelligence and so-called big data analysis trends will also have dramatic ramifications for business and markets.
"We are living in an exponential age where ubiquitous connectivity and decreasing cost are leading to the digitization and datafication of most activities," equity strategist Beijia Ma wrote in a note to clients Tuesday.
Big data, which refers to computers analyzing large amounts of information for patterns and associations, and artificial intelligence are as critical to this trend as the internet and smartphones, she added, and "set to propel the 5th wave of IT-driven productivity growth."
Ma estimates the big data market is set to reach $210 billion by 2020, and "AI will be the single largest driver of tech spend over the next decade."
Some 90 percent of the world's data was created in the last two years, Ma said. This will only accelerate, and she predicts internet-connected devices will double in number every two to three years, rising to 1 trillion by 2035.
The strategist said the "untapped potential is huge" for big data and AI computing as only 0.5 percent to 1 percent of data generated so far has been analyzed.
To take advantage of the trend, here are seven buy-rated companies that Bank of America Merrill Lynch recommended.
Disclaimer
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0dfbaf101af5bd82d9730c31830d1e56 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/29/litcoin-price-hits-record-high.html | Litecoin hits a record high and is up nearly 1,400 percent this year | Litecoin hits a record high and is up nearly 1,400 percent this year
VIDEO0:4000:40Litecoin hits a record high and is up nearly 1,400 percent this yearTech Transformers
Litecoin, the fifth-largest cryptocurrency by value and rival to , has rallied nearly 1,400 percent since the start of the year after hitting a record high price.
On Monday, litecoin hit an all-time high of $64.2, marking a 1383 percent rise since January first where it traded at $4.33, data from industry website Coinmarketcap.com showed. The price pulled back slightly on Tuesday and was just above $62 in early trade.
CNBC runs through the differences between bitcoin and litecoin, and what's driving the price.
Litecoin is a cryptocurrency founded by Charlie Lee. It has a market capitalization of around $3.28 billion according to Coinmarketcap.com. This makes it the fifth-biggest digital currency behind ripple, bitcoin cash, ethereum, and bitcoin, which is the largest with a market cap of $72.4 billion.
Like bitcoin, it runs on a blockchain, which is a public ledger of transactions that can't be tampered with.
There is a limited supply of 84 million litecoins, compared to 21 million bitcoin. Currently 52,679,982 litecoin and 16,530,563 bitcoin are in circulation.Litecoin transactions currently take just over 2 minutes to go through compared to about 100 minutes for bitcoin.
Litecoin creator Charlie Lee recently explained that he sees the cryptocurrency as being a key player in payments, whereas bitcoin is more a store of value.
"Bitcoin will always be the gold standard because bitcoin will have the strongest network, the most secure, the most money mining it," Lee said in an interview with blogger Crypto Hedge, which was posted on YouTube on Monday.
"Litecoin will be second to that and bitcoin being the most secure will obviously cost more … Litecoin transaction will cost less. So Litecoin will provide a niche where it will be more used for payment whereas bitcoin will be more used for storing."
Lee is a former Google employee who began the Litecoin project in 2011.
VIDEO0:2700:27Bitcoin could be set for more confusion aheadSquawk Box Asia
Lee likened litecoin to silver whereas bitcoin is more like gold.
"My analogy with gold and silver is kind of that idea where gold and silver were used as money but at certain times, gold would be more used for keeping it there whereas silver would be more used in coins for purchases. So yes you can use a gold coin to purchase, but it's not as convenient."
Litecoin is benefiting from the broader interest in cryptocurrencies. Ethereum, bitcoin and ripple have all seen big price rises this year.
On Tuesday morning, 36.9 percent of litecoin buying happened in Chinese yuan, followed by 22.4 percent in Korean won, according to Cryptocompare. Depending on the time of day, buying in Korean won is larger than yuan.
In South Korea, authorities have been looking at ways to regulate digital currencies, which is buoying the market.
"Regulation will bring an aura of legitimacy to the country's burgeoning speculative cryptocurrency market and will encourage more participation from individual and institutional investors," Thomas Glucksmann, head of marketing at cryptocurrency exchange Gatecoin, told CNBC via email.
Nearly 18 percent of litecoin buying is happening in bitcoin, which is also showing that current cryptocurrency investors are looking to diversify.
Earlier this year, the litecoin community activated an upgrade to the system called Segregated Witness or SegWit. This essentially increased the capacity of the blockchain and boosted transaction speed.
It's the same process that happened with bitcoin a few weeks ago. Now the cryptocurrency world is looking forward to something called the Lightning Network. This is a new technology that aims to make transactions with cryptocurrency instant as well integrate the different digital coins.
VIDEO5:2205:22Should you invest in a cryptocurrency?CNBC Explains
So for example, if you wanted to instantly swap some litecoin for bitcoin, Lightning Network will make that possible.
There are a plethora of so-called "alt-coins" on the market, but Lee said he doesn't expect all of those to survive. Instead, bitcoin and litecoin will be the main ones but the Lightning Network will allow easy access to other coins should they be needed by users.
"My vision is that with Lightning network … you wouldn't need to hold all these coins, you could just hold all your money in bitcoin or litecoin, and if there is an application that requires ether or some other token, you can easily … convert it on the fly to the token that you need," Lee said.
VIDEO2:4102:41Expect a bitcoin correction in the longer term: SettleMintStreet Signs Europe
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82666874dbad0a2ceb5747299633676f | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/29/small-business-hiring-slows-in-august-but-wages-gain-momentum-paychex.html | Small-business hiring slows in August but wages gain momentum, Paychex survey shows | Small-business hiring slows in August but wages gain momentum, Paychex survey shows
Small-business hiring showed a slowdown for the sixth consecutive month in August but hourly earnings continue to gain momentum, a report from human resources firm Paychex said Tuesday.
The Small Business Jobs Index declined 0.02 percent from last month and 0.74 percent from a year earlier. Small-business wages continue to rise, reaching a 3 percent, or 76 cents, annual growth rate in August and a 3.27 percent three-month annualized growth rate, Paychex said.
(Source: Paychex)
"There was little change in August, signifying the index's dip below 100 in July was not a fluke," said James Diffley, chief regional economist at IHS Markit. "Earnings continued to accelerate, with the growth rate now up 3.00 percent from a year ago."
Paychex said national hourly earnings in August were $25.98, a 7-cent increase from July.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported last month that nonfarm payrolls grew more than expected, but the closely watched wage number was unchanged from previous months.
(Source: Paychex)
Tennessee remains the top-ranked state for small-business job growth, the report said, while Arizona ranks first in annual hourly earnings growth. Dallas widened its lead as the country's top metro area for small-business jobs, Paychex said.
The Paychex report comes three days before the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases its closely watched employment data for August.
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66ac6e4360a2cb1a3bdec48989d981d7 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/29/target-is-moving-away-from-aws-after-amazon-bought-whole-foods.html?__source=twitter | Target is plotting a big move away from AWS as Amazon takes over retail | Target is plotting a big move away from AWS as Amazon takes over retail
VIDEO0:5800:58Target is plotting a big move away from AWS as Amazon takes over retailNews Videos
Target is struggling mightily to compete with Amazon in retail, but it's finding other ways to fight back.
The discount retailer is scaling back its use of Amazon Web Services, according to sources familiar with the matter, as the company aims to take greater control over its infrastructure and stop financing its chief rival. Amazon's purchase of Whole Foods is the latest sign of how deep the e-commerce giant is moving into all forms of retail.
Microsoft Azure is among the rival cloud vendors vying to nab Target's cloud business, said the sources, who asked not to be named because the plans are confidential. Google and Oracle are also beefing up their cloud offerings.
Like all big box stores, Target is being trounced by Amazon, which is selling more items for cheaper and delivering them faster. Target's annual revenue is lower than it was five years ago --though the company has sold off its credit card business and pharmacy division during that stretch -- and the stock has lost 23 percent of its market value in the past 12 months.
On Monday, Amazon finalized its $13.7 billion purchase of Whole Foods and instantly cut prices in stores by more than 30 percent on organic fruit and meat. From electronics and household goods to toiletries and groceries, Amazon is expanding its inventory.
VIDEO0:5300:53Amazon already announcing markdowns on staple Whole Foods productsDigital Original
While there's little Target can do to impede Amazon's dominance in retail, the emergence of other cloud providers at least allows the company to spend its computing and storage dollars elsewhere. According to one source, Target is planning to aggressively move e-commerce activities, mobile development and operations away from AWS through the end of the year and probably into 2018.
A Target spokesperson said the company doesn't discuss details of its vendor relationships, but added that "we currently use multiple cloud service providers and will continue to do so." An Amazon representative declined to comment.
Target hinted at its plans in October, when the company said it adopted an open-source system called Spinnaker that Netflix built to enable developer teams to customize their clouds. One key component is that "Spinnaker was built to work with multiple public clouds versus just one," Target said in a post on its website.
Target isn't the only large retailer taking aim at AWS. The Wall Street Journal reported in June that Wal-Mart was telling its tech vendors not to run applications on Amazon's cloud and that for its own infrastructure the company uses a combination of on-premise servers and services provided by Microsoft and others.
"If I'm running Azure or Google, I'd go right after those guys," said John Vrionis, a partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners who backs infrastructure start-ups. "I'm sure they could package a compelling migration plan and those are segments are probably most thirsty for that."
Still, AWS has yet to see any mass exodus.
In the second quarter, AWS controlled 34 percent of the cloud infrastructure market, topping Microsoft, IBM and Google combined, according to Synergy Research Group. Brands and stores including Brooks Brothers, Nordstrom, Nike, Under Armour and Lululemon are all AWS customers, though sources say that many retailers are considering other cloud providers.
Target isn't talking publicly about where it will host its data and apps, but the company isn't hiding its efforts to invest in software development. Since Mike McNamara, chief information and digital officer, joined in 2015, Target has hired more than 1,000 engineers and has prioritized bringing technical talent in-house, rather than outsourcing it.
Of the 95 openings for technology positions on Target's website, about 80 percent were listed since the beginning of July. In the past week, jobs have opened up for senior database engineers and experts in open-source tools like Node.js and Cassandra. All of the seven positions that require experience in cloud infrastructure call for expertise in some combination of AWS, Azure, Google or other offerings.
Digital commerce is one area where Target is seeing improved results. In 2013, the company introduced Cartwheel, a mobile discounts app that has become a popular way to shop and was just integrated with the core Target app.
According to research advisory Gordon Haskett, the number of Cartwheel users increased 50 percent in 2016, and the firm predicted that the combination with the Target app will drive even more business.
"Once complete, the consumer will be able to make their lists, find items in stores, take advantage of great offers, and pay for their orders, all from within a single app," the firm wrote in a report on May 8.
Updates with comment from Target spokesperson and to say that the company sold off two businesses in the past five years.
--CNBC's Eugene Kim contributed to this report.
VIDEO2:0602:06Big-box stock wars: Target vs. Wal-MartHalftime Report
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9a7009e97e9313ab2059a820a3bd2870 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/29/the-us-dollar-index-is-testing-an-important-support-level--commentary.html | Charting Asia | Charting Asia
Matt Cardy | Getty Images
The dollar has reached the long-term support level near 0.93 identified on the U.S. dollar index chart several weeks ago. That is a critical support level. Below this support level lies the abyss with the next solid support near 0.83.
However, the weekly chart puts the dollar behavior into a wider context. The dollar index chart has been dominated by a very broad sideways trading band that started in March 2015. The upper level of the band is resistance near 1.00. The lower edge of the band is support near 0.93.
If support holds near 0.93 then traders will watch for a rebound rally and a retest of resistance near 0.97. That behavior will signal a continuation of the trading band behavior. Failure of support near 0.93 plunges the global economy into an unwelcome and unwanted currency war.
The dominant feature on the weekly dollar index chart was the broad trading band between 0.93 and 1.005.
The move toward 1.005 earlier this year was very important because it was a breakout from a prolonged 22-month sideways trading pattern. But the failure of the move above 1.005 was the first indication that President Donald Trump faced headwinds on delivering on his economic agenda.
The midpoint of the band is around 0.97 and the value of the dollar has oscillated around the midpoint near 0.97. The result is rally and retreat behavior that does not test the support and resistance levels. When the support level has been tested there has been a low probability of a downside breakout.
The dollar index chart developed a weak head-and-shoulder reversal pattern.
That set a downside target near 0.95, which was easily achieved. That is the first level where traders expected a consolidation and a rebound to develop.
It did not develop and that suggests an increasing degree of weakness in the dollar trend behavior. It suggests the constraining features of long-term support and resistance levels are not as strong as they have been since 2014. That, in turn, suggests there is an increasing probability the current test of support near 0.93 will not be successful.
Political instability in the U.S. means the dollar could potentially dip below the lower edge of the trading band near 0.93. The weekly chart shows there is no strong support or consolidation areas between 0.93 and 0.87.
That suggests that any sustained move below the support area near 0.93 can quickly fall to 0.85.
We use the ANTSYSS trade method to extract good returns from those potentially fast movements.
Sustained weakness in the U.S. dollar index also impacts other with a strong continuation of current trends in the , euro and yen. Traders and investors are watching for evidence of a rebound, or a support collapse, before taking new long-term positions.
Daryl Guppy is a trader and author of Trend Trading, The 36 Strategies of the Chinese for Financial Traders, which can be found at www.guppytraders.com. He is a regular guest on CNBC Asia Squawk Box. He is a speaker at trading conferences in China, Asia, Australia and Europe. He is a special consultant to AxiCorp.
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7fd73e23a35d6542c41231e8d19967ba | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/30/apple-ceo-tim-cook-reaps-89-point-6m-windfall-from-long-term-deal.html | Apple CEO Tim Cook reaps $89.6M windfall from long-term deal | Apple CEO Tim Cook reaps $89.6M windfall from long-term deal
Tim Cook, chief executive officer of Apple.David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
CEO Tim Cook has collected $89.6 million as part of a 10-year deal that he signed as an incentive to keep the iPhone maker at the forefront of the technology industry after he took over the reins in 2011 from company co-founder Steve Jobs.
The windfall detailed in a Monday regulatory flowed from 560,000 Apple shares sold during the past week.
Cook received half the award because Apple's stock delivered shareholder returns in the top third of the Standard & Poor's 500 index during the past three years.
He got the other 280,000 shares for simply staying on the job.
Apple set aside more than 291,000 shares sold for $46.4 million to cover Cook's tax bill.
The stock package awarded to Cook in 2011 was originally valued at $376 million, but is now worth much more because Apple shares have increased by six-fold since he signed the deal.
Cook is still in line to receive 2.94 million shares of Apple stock currently valued at $479 million, based on Tuesday's closing price of $162.91.
The ascent has established Apple as the world's most valuable company, thanks largely to the enduring popularity of the iPhone introduced 10 years ago under Jobs' leadership.
VIDEO1:3101:31Panic at Apple? No way, Tim Cook's the coolest guy in the room: Jim CramerSquawk on the Street
As long as he remains CEO, Cook will receive 560,000 shares of stock annually from August 2018 through August 2020. He will then get 1.26 million shares in August 2021 as the final payment under his original CEO contract.
Cook told Fortune magazine in 2015 that he intends to give away most of the fortune that he makes at Apple.
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f17ee27a6f9db7052d029aa1d3f301fb | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/30/att-to-expand-5g-us-broadband-trials.html | AT&T to expand 5G US broadband trials | AT&T to expand 5G US broadband trials
An AT&T advance-line technician parks his service truck as he prepares to troubleshoot an aerial cable in Des Plaines, Illinois.Tim Boyle | Newsmakers
AT&T said on Wednesday that it is expanding its 5G trials to include three new U.S. cities by the end of the year as part of its push to develop a next-generation network.
The trials will test a faster broadband service where the last leg of the connection is delivered via a radio signal to a home or business using high-band wireless airwaves known as millimeter wave. Participants in the trials will be able to stream AT&T's DirecTV Now service over a 5G connection as well as experience shorter lag times for uses such as video conferencing and virtual-reality gaming.
The No. 2 wireless carrier, which is currently conducting similar trials in Austin, will extend them to Waco, Texas; Kalamazoo, Michigan; and South Bend, Indiana, the company said. In those markets, AT&T plans to have more trial participants, which could include small businesses, universities and churches, and larger coverage areas.
The service, called fixed wireless, is expected to be the first application of 5G technologies and could eventually be a competitor to the high-speed Internet services offered by cable companies. It could also be less costly to the companies than deploying fiber to the home.
The tests are intended to help AT&T determine whether millimeter wave spectrum can travel through foliage and buildings, as well as how weather affects the signal.
The company expects deployment of the service as early as late 2018. It is working with Ericsson, Samsung Electronics, Nokia, and Intel on the trials.
Rival wireless carrier Verizon Communications has said it is conducting pre-commercial trials for fixed wireless in 11 cities and that it expects a 2018 launch.
Jonathan Chaplin, an analyst at New Street Research, said in an interview that fixed wireless service would likely serve niche markets where there is no existing infrastructure for broadband.
"If there is physical infrastructure, the business case for fixed wireless becomes pretty challenging," he said. "You're more likely to get more reliable service over fiber."
Still, both AT&T and Verizon have been buying millimeter wave spectrum in preparation for fixed wireless and recently got into a bidding war over an asset. In May, Verizon snapped up wireless spectrum holder Straight Path Communications in a $3.1 billion deal, roughly double AT&T's initial offer.
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97c5aa471ee503597a1c96371a4a3461 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/30/columbia-sportswear-matriarch-fled-nazis-built-billion-dollar-empire.html | How the 93-year-old matriarch of Columbia Sportswear fled the Nazis and later built a $2B empire | How the 93-year-old matriarch of Columbia Sportswear fled the Nazis and later built a $2B empire
As the CEO of Columbia Sportswear, Tim Boyle oversees 6,600 employees and a couple billion dollars in annual sales, but even at 67 years old, he still has to answer to his mother, the legendary Gert Boyle, a pint-sized dynamo who fled Nazi Germany in her teens and saved the company from ruin after her husband died of a heart attack in 1970.
Now 93 and chairman of the board, Gert still comes into the office every day and has become a celebrity in the ad world with her 'One tough mother' ads that show how her resilience is reflected in her products. Now she is teaming up with Hollywood heartthrob Zac Efron on a new online commercial to keep her brand attractive to millennials.
"The background of the company is really in many ways based on her toughness in the very early days when my dad died and there weren't a lot of good reasons to stay in business," says Tim, noting that her demanding personality is not an act. "It's not always easy sometimes. Her office is right by the door I use to leave [the building], so if I head out of the office on a rare golf date in the afternoon, I get a nasty look or perhaps even a little lecture."
Truth be told, there's not much to scold Tim about these days. The CEO for almost 50 years now (he dropped out of the University of Oregon his senior year to help his mom run the company after his dad died), he's guided the business with a steady hand by listening to his customers and coming up with innovative products. In 1975, Columbia was one of the first companies to introduce Gore-Tex parkas. Ten years later its Bugaboo jacket featured a zip-out lining that became very trendy and helped spark more growth, from about $18.8 million in sales in 1987 to more than $350 million a decade later. Last year was another record year for the company, with sales reaching $2.38 billion.
Now neck and neck with The North Face for market share in the outerwear category, Columbia, which is listed on NASDAQ, is one of the outdoor industry's leaders. The company's success formula is rooted in Gert's old-school philosophy: "Early to bed, early to rise, work like hell and advertise."
"I'm very happy with the progress we have made over the years and excited about the future," says Gert, who doesn't worry about creating trendy products. "At the core, a brand's relevance is founded on how its products or services perform for its customers. Styles change and activities go through cycles of popularity, but as long as we keep improving our products in ways that help people enjoy the outdoors longer, we'll remain relevant to consumers of all ages."
More from iCONIC:Why the CEO of a $100 million company interviews every job candidateDespite Amazon effect, here's how mom-and-pops are thrivingLet's make a deal: How to negotiate for success
And not just in the United States. More than 40 percent of Columbia's business these days comes from outside the United States, including Russia, China and Japan. "It's a growing business," says Tim, who owns 37 percent of the company. "We have places in the world that are growing nicely, and other places that are more challenged, but part of having a global company is that everything isn't simultaneously good or bad."
Columbia's brands also include SOREL footwear, prAna yoga and adventure clothes, and Mountain Hardwear apparel. "It's a very, very solid company," says Matt Powell, sports industry analyst at market research firm NPD. "They're not on the cutting edge of fashion, so they're not really as susceptible as other companies to the changing fashion winds. The risk for them is that while they have done some really good work to be much more of a 12-month brand, if we don't get a winter, their sales suffer."
Powell also approves of Boyle and his "solid" management team, which was recently reorganized to focus even more on the end consumer. Says Powell: "It's not really about marketing but about having conversations with their customer about what they want and how they perceive the end product."
That kind of authenticity, no doubt, stems from overcoming hard times, which go much further back than when Neal Boyle died at age 47. They go all the way back to the 1930s, when Gert's family had to flee Nazi Germany in 1937 when she was 13 and the scope of Hitler's hatred of Jews was becoming more apparent. Before they fled, Nazi officials visited their house on several occasions to interrogate her father and wrote "Jews live here" on the outside of the house. But because Jews couldn't leave the country with more than the equivalent of $20 in cash, it meant her father had to pretty much give away his shirt factory — one of the largest in Germany, which employed hundreds of people.
His brother already lived in Portland, so he resettled the family there and bought a small business, the Rosenfeld Hat Company, with borrowed money from his mother, who had resettled in San Francisco. He changed the name to the Columbia Hat Company after opening the phone book and noticing all the businesses named after the mighty river that runs through town.
Neal went to work for her father after meeting Gert at the University of Arizona and marrying her in 1948. As hats began to lose their popularity, they started to sell outerwear because of the growing popularity of outdoor activities. Unhappy with ski gloves from a vendor, they decided to make their own, and the Columbia Sportswear brand was born in 1960.
We made a lot of mistakes in those first couple of years, but we learned from them and we got some great advice from many people within the industry that pointed us in the direction we needed to go.Gert Boylechairman, Columbia Sportswear
The company's first real success was a fishing vest with a magnet for holding flies and a curtain-hook rod holder that Gert created on her sewing machine at home. It would never have come about, though, had Neal not listened to his customers, a lesson upon which the company built its success.
"There's nothing like listening to your customers, your employees and your advisers," says Tim, who finally earned his bachelor of journalism degree from the University of Oregon in 1992. "I think it's underrated. Generally, customers will tell you what they want you to do, and if you do that, they generally reward you. I'm a big fan of listening."
After Gert's father passed away in 1964, Neal became president until his death six years later, when annual sales had reached $800,000. With no succession plan in place and no business experience, Gert and Tim started running things without a clue about what to do. Revenues fell by $200,000 that first year, and they came within a pen stroke of selling the company to pay off a loan Neal had taken out three months before his death.
"We lost all the equity in the business, and the bank called our note," recalls Tim, who's now worth an estimated $1.74 billion. "The bank was correct in asking us to sell the business, because we had no idea what we were doing, but the process of trying to sell the business was like a mini-MBA course. You'd show the business to people and they'd say, 'Well, how come you don't do this, or why are you doing that?' That was a real awakening."
When they couldn't find a buyer that was acceptable, the bank said they had just made a loan to some guys starting a shoe business in Beaverton and asked one of them, Ronald Nelson, to join a pro-bono advisory board. "We were very fortunate to have one of the early employees of Nike come on board," says Tim, who was encouraged to concentrate on products unique to Columbia. "He was really telling us where to focus our time and effort and on how many things."
The big lesson Gert and Tim learned the hard way is the importance of a succession plan. And their experience is not unique. Only 16 percent of family firms have a documented succession plan in place, according to a PricewaterhouseCooper survey.
Why don't small-business owners do better planning? "Because they don't have time, and everyone thinks it's going to happen to the other guy," says Wayne Rivers, president of the Family Business Institute.
Today, Columbia makes thousands of products that are sold in roughly 100 countries at retailers such as Dick's Sporting Goods, Kohl's, Amazon and Belk.
"We made a lot of mistakes in those first couple of years, but we learned from them and we got some great advice from many people within the industry that pointed us in the direction we needed to go," says Gert. "We had to be willing to change in order to survive and thrive, and that's still true today."
One tough mother, indeed.
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b9faf6646ad17292a6102f0144222bf6 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/30/foursquare-pioneered-the-trend-of-checking-in-to-a-place--now-it-sells-your-data-to-companies.html | Foursquare pioneered the trend of 'checking-in' to a place — now it sells access to its data to companies | Foursquare pioneered the trend of 'checking-in' to a place — now it sells access to its data to companies
VIDEO1:3901:39Foursquare joins with WeChat to expand location services outside of ChinaSquawk Box Asia
Foursquare has gone from a social media app that let users broadcast their favorite bars or restaurants online by "checking-in," to a company that provides location-based data to some of the biggest retail names in the world: Apple, Microsoft and Samsung to name a few.
Recently, the company signed a partnership with Chinese online travel booking service Ctrip. Now, travelers booking their trips outside China with Ctrip can get recommendations on attractions to visit, restaurants to eat at and general city guides — all based on Foursquare data.
"That's a typical partnership for us with Chinese companies," Jeff Glueck, CEO of Foursquare, told CNBC.
"We do the same for Tencent, but Ctrip is obviously a giant player in Chinese travel and we're excited to bring them onto the Foursquare global location platform," he added.
In Asia Pacific, Foursquare has partnerships with brands like Tencent's WeChat and QQ, Samsung, LG, Singapore-based Carousell and more.
In just nine years since the company was created, Foursquare has amassed billions of check-in data in about 105 million places across some 160 countries. Currently, it has two consumer-facing applications and it also provides commercial services to enterprises.
CEO at Foursquare Jeff Glueck speaks onstage at the Kairos Society Global Summit At One World Observatory on April 21, 2017 in New York City.Brad Barket | Getty Images
First is the Foursquare City Guide app that allows users to find new places, with recommendations from other users. The second app is an extension of the 'check-in' game that underscored its initial popularity: Foursquare Swarm lets users score real-world perks every day by checking into places, and they can also pick up bragging rights such as being crowned "mayor" of a specific location.
Currently, more than 50 million people use Foursquare platforms each month, according to the company's website.
The vast data generated are then packed into valuable insights for brands through the Foursquare Location Intelligence business. Foursquare provides technology, data and other business services to developers and companies to build their own specific location-aware apps, understand their consumers better and connect with target audiences and measure foot traffic and advertising success.
It also powers location data for Apple, Uber, Twitter, Microsoft, Samsung and about 100,000 other developers, according to the company.
"With all that treasure-trove of mapping data from 12 billion check-ins, we've been able to map and detect sort of the fingerprint of every business in the world," said Glueck.
Clarification: This story has been updated to clarify Foursquare's business model.
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ce21f0304d1d45fb69b545ea0c5a7aad | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/30/warren-buffett-this-doesnt-feel-like-a-3-percent-gdp-economy.html | Buffett Watch | Buffett Watch
VIDEO2:3402:34Warren Buffett: This doesn't feel like a 3% GDP economySquawk on the Street
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett told CNBC on Wednesday that U.S. economic growth does not feel like 3 percent.
The 3 percent threshold is what President Donald Trump and his administration want to achieve for gross domestic product growth.
The government reported on Wednesday that GDP increased at a better-than-expected 3.0 percent annual rate in the second quarter. The upward revision from the 2.6 percent pace reported last month reflected robust consumer spending as well as strong business investment. Economists had expected a 2.7 percent advance.
"I would guess we're in a 2 percent growth economy now," Buffett said in interviews on "Squawk Alley" and "Squawk on the Street." "Every now and then we think it's accelerating. And every now and then that maybe there's a double dip or something. It just seems to be a couple of percent."
"If we have 2 percent for a generation, 25 years, you would have a $19,000 GDP gain per person in the United States," added the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.
Growth last quarter, according to the Commerce Department, was the strongest since the first quarter of 2015. It followed a 1.2 percent pace in the first quarter of 2017.
— Reuters contributed to this report.
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205734229356371a291dda37e413251a | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/31/a-north-korea-crisis-would-threaten-more-than-a-third-of-the-oil-moving-on-the-oceans.html | A North Korea crisis would threaten more than a third of the oil moving on the oceans | A North Korea crisis would threaten more than a third of the oil moving on the oceans
VIDEO2:0602:06Buffett: North Korea situation is very concerningSquawk Alley
More than half of China's oil production will be at risk if tensions between North Korea and its North Asia neighbors spirals into conflict, energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie warned.
Military action could halt the flow of crude oil imports to South Korea, Japan and China, which together account for 34 percent of seaborne oil trade globally, the consultants said in a Wednesday report.
Under a "worst case scenario," China could permit the release of oil from strategic reserves "for the first time since it started building these 3-4 years ago," said Chris Graham, product suite director for gas and LNG at Wood Mackenzie.
South Korea and Japan could take similar action and both countries have emergency reserves to cover 90 days' worth of demand. Japan may accelerate the re-commissioning of nuclear power generators to compensate for any squeeze on imported oil and gas in the event of a conflict.
For China, its domestic oil production would provide a buffer, but the proximity of key producing basins to the North Korean border leaves the country vulnerable to disruption.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un smiles during a visit to the Chemical Material Institute of the Academy of Defense Science in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang on August 23, 2017.KCNA | Reuters
"China has domestic oil production options, although up to 58% of this could be at risk of shut-in in the event of escalating tensions," Graham said.
Around 1.5 million of China's 3.95 million barrels per day crude production comes from the North China basin, with the nearest field located 200 kilometers (124 miles) from the North Korean border, according to Wood Mackenzie.
Another 0.8 million barrels per day is produced from the Songliao Basin, which lies approximately 400 kilometers from the border, the consultancy said.
North Korea fired a missile on Tuesday — believed to be the intermediate-range Hwasong-12 — that flew over Japan and broke up into three pieces after flying 2,700 kilometers, far short of its 4,000-kilometer range.
Global oil markets would be "severely affected" in the event of a regional conflict that affects South Korea, Japan and China, where around 65 percent of Asia's refining capacity is located, Wood Mackenzie said. But on the other hand, it added, "regional stockpiling and increased logistics costs could equally lead to a short-term price premium."
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1b2bd54258a13d6a4c1350b61897c492 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/31/mnuchin-having-a-weaker-dollar-is-better-for-us-on-trade.html | Mnuchin: Having a weaker dollar is better for US on trade | Mnuchin: Having a weaker dollar is better for US on trade
VIDEO3:1603:16Secretary Mnuchin: Too early to tell Harvey's economic impactSquawk Alley
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNBC on Thursday that a weaker dollar puts the United States in a better position on trade.
"Obviously, the short-term issues of the dollar have both positive and negative impacts for different parts of the economy," Mnuchin said in an interview on "Squawk Alley." "Obviously, as it relates to trade, having a weaker dollar is somewhat better for us."
A strong U.S. currency gives Americans more purchasing power. However, it also makes U.S.-produced goods more expensive in global markets.
The U.S. dollar has been considerably weaker this year. The , which measures the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, is down about 10 percent year to date. Since the election, it's down 5.32 percent.
In April, President Donald Trump told The Wall Street Journal the dollar was "getting too strong."
And this month, he told the Journal: "I like a dollar that's not too strong."
Mnuchin said Thursday he's consistently said the dollar's short-term level is less of a concern for him.
"I do think over long periods of time, the dollar's strength is an indication of the reserve currency and the confidence people have in the U.S. economy," he said.
Mnuchin also told CNBC the administration has a "very detailed" tax plan ready and "couldn't be more excited" about its prospects.
VIDEO13:5313:53Watch CNBC's full interview with Treasury Secretary Steve MnuchinSquawk Alley
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5c20e78a8560217d2f7ab4c948d73656 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/31/qihan-sanbot-nano-amazon-alexa-powered-robot.html | Meet the $2,800 Amazon Alexa-powered robot that can order you a pizza | Meet the $2,800 Amazon Alexa-powered robot that can order you a pizza
The Qiahn Sanbot Nano has Amazon's Alexa voice assistant built in.Qihan
An Amazon Alexa-powered humanoid robot could be wheeling its way to a home near you. Chinese technology firm Qihan launched the Sanbot Nano on Thursday equipped with Amazon's voice assistant that is featured in its Echo speaker. The 2.7 foot robot will go on sale in October for $2,800, and will be available in English and German. Those are the languages that Alexa currently understands. Qihan's Sanbot Nano is equipped with 50 sensors that helps it avoid obstacles, hear voices, and recognize when someone enters the room. Users can access all the features that Alexa enables such as controlling lights in the home or ordering pizza. Amazon first introduced Alexa on its Echo smart speaker in 2014. But the e-commerce giant's strategy has been to license Alexa out to other vendors to get the voice assistant across several devices and even home appliances. This is Qihan's first robot designed for the home. The company's previous humanoid models have been put to use in businesses. For example, the Sanbot Elf was used by the Dubai Police to interview potential candidates. "Sanbot Nano's customized capabilities will make every family feel like they have a personal assistant," Ryan Yu, chief marketing officer at Qihan, said in a press release on Thursday. Qihan is playing in an increasingly competitive but young market of humanoid robots that could grow quickly. The global personal robots market is expected to see average yearly growth of 37.8 percent between 2017 and 2022, reaching $34.1 billion in size, according to Research and Markets data. Robots are slowly being trialed in sectors such as hospitality and policing, but are yet to take off in the home. Other competitors like SoftBank with its Pepper robot are also trying to crack the market.
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1785a143fd69863b2dea308e126a21aa | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/01/dow-dupont-complete-planned-merger-to-form-dowdupont.html | Dow, DuPont complete planned merger to form DowDuPont | Dow, DuPont complete planned merger to form DowDuPont
VIDEO0:5300:53Dow, DuPont complete planned merger to form DowDuPontNews Videos
Dow Chemical and DuPont said on Friday the companies had successfully completed their planned $130 billion merger to form DowDuPont.
Shares of DuPont and Dow stopped trading at the close of Aug. 31 and will now trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "DWDP."
Dow and DuPont announced the merger in December 2015.
"The true value of this merger lies in the intended creation of three industry powerhouses that will define their markets," Andrew Liveris, executive chairman of DowDuPont, said in a statement on Friday.
Post-merger, Dow and DuPont are expected to break up into three independent, publicly traded units.
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4b66962318e051c1488cb4e7b7d1c9c5 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/01/roku-files-for-ipo-of-up-to-100-million-dollars.html | Roku files for IPO of up to $100 million | Roku files for IPO of up to $100 million
An employee scans a Roku Inc. Premiere device while completing a purchase for a customer at a Wal-Mart Stores Inc. location in Burbank, California, U.S., on Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2016.Bloomberg Getty Images
One of the top streaming device companies, Roku, filed for a public offering on Friday, looking to raise up to $100 million.
The stock will list on the Nasdaq under the symbol "ROKU."
Roku has benefited from the explosive popularity of over-the-top TV platforms like Netflix: These services reach 54 percent of American homes with WiFi, Roku's filing said, citing ComScore. Roku has 15.1 million active accounts, the IPO fillings said, and has grown from less than a billion annual streaming hours in 2012 to 9.4 billion last year.
"We believe all TV content will be available through streaming," the company said.
But Roku is losing money, amid swelling expenses on staff for research and marketing.
Here are some key figures from the filing:
$398.6 million revenue in the 2016 fiscal year, up 25 percent from 2015. Net loss of $42.8 million in 201674% of revenue came from selling player devices in 2016. Roku's main manufacturers are Foxconn and Lite-On
Here's the SEC filing.
The company is backed by Twenty-First Century Fox, Fidelity, and Menlo Ventures, which are the major shareholders that will get cash from the IPO. The IPO will be underwritten by Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Allen & Company, RBC Capital Markets, Needham & Company and William Blair.
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4297c35b505fd23a24e92208549f06fa | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/04/elon-musk-says-global-race-for-ai-will-be-most-likely-cause-of-ww3.html | Elon Musk says global race for A.I. will be the most likely cause of World War III | Elon Musk says global race for A.I. will be the most likely cause of World War III
Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and TeslaPhoto by Scott Olson
Elon Musk has made an ominous warning about artificial intelligence (AI), suggesting it could be the cause of a third world war.
His comment was in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin who said Friday that the first global leader in AI would "become the ruler of the world."
"China, Russia, soon all countries w strong computer science. Competition for AI superiority at national level most likely cause of WW3 imo (in my opinion)," the Tesla and SpaceX CEO tweeted Monday.
Tweet
Putin said that the development of AI raises both "colossal opportunities" and "threats that are difficult to predict."
"Whoever becomes the leader in this sphere will become the ruler of the world," he said at a meeting with students on Friday.
The United States is generally considered to be the nation leading the charge towards AI currently, with tech giants like Google and Microsoft pouring large amounts of cash into research and development projects.
But last week, a report by Goldman Sachs found that China could have the AI capability to catch up with the U.S.
"We believe AI technology will become a priority on the government's agenda, and we expect further national/regional policy and funding support on AI to follow," the investment bank said.
VIDEO3:4903:49Big question on AI is who's in control of it: Recode's Kara SwisherSquawk Alley
The business magnate has been very vocal about his thoughts on AI.
Last month he co-signed a letter with other leaders in robotics including Google Deep Mind's Mustafa Suleyman, calling on the United Nations to ban killer robots.
He even suggested that the emerging technology could pose a greater risk to the world than a nuclear conflict with North Korea.
His latest comments couldn't be more timely. On Sunday, North Korea said it had successfully carried out a test of a hydrogen bomb.
Musk said that there was a possibility that war could be automated.
In response to one Twitter user, he said: "May be initiated not by the country leaders, but one of the AI's if it decides that a prepemtive (sic) strike is the most probable path to victory".
Tweet
He even said he was skeptical of the possibility that North Korea could launch its own nuclear weapon.
Tweet
VIDEO0:4900:49Elon Musk issues a stark warning about A.I., calls it a bigger threat than North KoreaNews Videos
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c581720abb45dc9b8e75b54ccdc1cd90 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/04/uber-rival-taxify-expands-into-western-europe-pledging-cheaper-fares-and-higher-pay.html | Uber rival Taxify expands into Western Europe pledging cheaper fares and higher pay | Uber rival Taxify expands into Western Europe pledging cheaper fares and higher pay
Taxify founder and chief executive Markus Villig stands in front of Taxify branded carTaxify
Ride-sharing challenger company Taxify is expanding into Western Europe in a bid to unseat Uber and bring greater competition to the market.
Taxify will launch in London at 10:00 a.m. local time on Tuesday, September 5, and will offer fares at a 50 percent discount for the rest of the month as it aims to steal a slice of Uber's dominance in the U.K. capital.
The Estonian start-up then plans to maintain prices at a discount to competitors by taking a lower commission: 15 percent compared with the 25-35 percent typically taken by other ride-sharing businesses.
This, in turn, will help the business attract and retain drivers, CEO Markus Villig told CNBC Monday.
"15 percent is enough to be a sustainable, profitable business in all markets," said Villig, who launched the business in Tallinn, Estonia, in 2013, and has since expanded into 19 countries across Central Europe and Africa. Currently the business serves 2.5 million customers.
"Taking a lower cut is much more sustainable than taking a higher one and having unhappy drivers," Villig noted.
Competitor Uber has faced wide-spread criticism for its poor working conditions and mistreatment of staff, which ultimately resulted in the resignation in June of its founder Travis Kalanick as CEO. He was replaced last week by ex-Expedia chief Dara Khosrowshahi.
Like Uber, Taxify's drivers are contractors who own their own vehicles and set their own hours, rather than being direct employees. However, Villig claims that offering drivers an alternative will allow "market forces" to play out and help drive up standards.
"With only one main app there were poor conditions, but London is one of the biggest ride-sharing markets in the world and there is room for more competition," he said.
When contacted by CNBC, Uber said it welcomed competition and supported drivers' freedom of choice.
"Competition is a good thing as it raises service levels across the board," an Uber spokesperson told CNBC via email.
"40,000 licensed drivers also use our app to make money on their own terms and have always been able to work with several operators."
So far, 3,000 drivers in London have signed up to the Taxify platform, up to six-times as many as the number seen in Taxify's other launches to date.
Villig said similar market conditions exist in Paris, which will likely be its next target for expansion.
The launch follows Taxify's partnership with Chinese ride-sharing company Didi Chuxing in August. The pair shares investment and technology, though Didi remains a minority stakeholder.
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ecb134d651bb241e1db30ab84d180503 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/05/azerbaijan-ran-secret-slush-fund-to-pay-off-european-politicians.html | Azerbaijan accused of running $2.8 billion 'secret slush fund' to pay off European politicians | Azerbaijan accused of running $2.8 billion 'secret slush fund' to pay off European politicians
Azeri President Ilham Aliyev attends a press conference after a meeting with Latvian counterpart at the Riga castle, Latvia, on July 17, 2017. Ilham Aliyev is on an official visit to Latvia.Ilmars Znotins | Contributor | Getty Images
Azerbaijan's ruling elite ran a secret $2.8 billion slush fund for two years to pay off European politicians and pay for luxury purchases, an investigation has shown.
The secret fund, dubbed Azerbaijani Laundromat, operated for two years until 2014 and was used by the government to win favor among international peers, according to the report published this week by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).
The cash was allegedly channelled through four U.K.-registered companies, where "lax regulations" allowed for opacity.
Though the origin of the money is unclear, the report said there was "ample evidence of its connection to the family of President Ilham Aliyev."
Up to half of the $2.8 billion came from an account held in the International Bank of Azerbaijan by a secret shell company linked to the Aliyevs, it said. The second and third biggest contributors were two offshore companies with "direct connections to a regime insider," the report suggests. Neither the Azerbaijan government nor the Azerbaijan embassy were immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.
Other portions of the money are said to have stemmed from Rosoboronexport, the state-owned Russian arms exporter. Rosoboronexport was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.
Three European politicians, a journalist, and a businessmen who praised the government are thought to be among the recipients of the cash, as well as officials tasked with fighting Azerbaijani corruption.
According to the investigation, which was conducted with a consortium of European newspapers, the money may have been successful in persuading the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to vote against a critical report of Azerbaijan in 2013.
At the time the fund is said to have been in operation, the country was facing allegations of corruption and abuses, including the jailing of political opponents and journalists.
Funds are also thought to have reached accounts worldwide, including those of luxury car dealerships, soccer clubs, and high-end travel agencies. However, the report noted that "many of these recipients would not have understood the problematic nature of the transfers, and cannot be accused of doing anything improper."
Before reaching the U.K.-based shell companies, the payments were processed through an Estonian branch of Danske Bank. The Danish bank has admitted not doing enough to monitor the suspicious transactions.
The authors of the report said that the extent of the scheme's use was likely to evolve further as investigations continue.
"It is clear that the full extent of the Azerbaijani Laundromat will be explored for years to come," the report noted.
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1269d58ce7ab489b536d20aa4649ef63 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/05/democratic-senator-slated-to-travel-with-trump-to-tax-reform-rally.html | Democratic senator slated to travel with Trump to tax-reform rally | Democratic senator slated to travel with Trump to tax-reform rally
North Dakota Senator Heidi HeitkampRiccardo Savi | Concordia Summit | Getty Images
President Donald Trump will travel to Mandan, North Dakota, on Wednesday to make his case for the need to reform the tax code, his second such trip in as many weeks.
In a surprise announcement, senior White House officials said Tuesday that Trump will be joined aboard Air Force One by North Dakota's junior senator, Democrat Heidi Heitkamp. Also traveling with Trump will be the state's GOP senator, John Hoeven, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
Trump's remarks will include many of the same themes he addressed in a similar speech last week in Springfield, Missouri, according to White House officials. Chief among them: the need to cut the corporate tax rate, simplify the individual tax code and persuade businesses to repatriate billions of dollars parked overseas.
Like his speech in Missouri, Trump will not offer any new details about the package of reforms being hammered out between administration officials and Republican leaders in Congress. Instead, said a White House official. "He'll be talking about why tax reform is needed," the official said, leaving the details up to congressional negotiators "out of respect for congressional order."
Even without details, the White House said, a presidential road trip "almost every week" is expected in the near term, offering Trump the chance to "get out and sell" tax reform.
On Wednesday, Trump will continue to hammer Democrats for "obstructing" American jobs, a line of attack he debuted last week in the home state of Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill and a preview of the tone he intends to take during the 2018 midterm election campaign.
"If Democrats continue their obstruction, if they don't want to bring back your jobs, raise your pay and help America win, voters should deliver a clear message: Do your job to deliver for America, or find a new job," Trump will say, according to the White House, which released excerpts of the speech in advance.
But in a nod to Heitkamp, a vulnerable Democrat running for re-election, Trump will say that North Dakota's energy boom "is a reminder of what can happen when we promote American jobs instead of obstructing them."
The White House said it was unclear whether Heitkamp would eventually endorse Trump's tax reform plan once details are released. But her appearance fulfills a longstanding goal of the president's to win bipartisan support, or the appearance of bipartisan support, for his legislative priorities.
It also signals that the Democratic bloc, which successfully held together to oppose Trump's Obamacare repeal, may not be as ironclad on tax reform as it was on health care.
Heitkamp, however, is hardly a typical Democrat. Elected in a state that Trump won by 36 percentage points in the 2016 general election, Heitkamp is considered one of the Senate's most vulnerable Democrats going into next year's elections.
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c0b8031de1c08a93ea67b5c6341f9427 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/05/how-to-prepare-for-being-suddenly-single.html | How to prepare for being 'suddenly single' | How to prepare for being 'suddenly single'
VIDEO1:3201:32Why women face more risk in retirementRetire Well
Becoming suddenly single can set your world in a tailspin, and a lack of financial planning is setting women in particular even further back.
Death or divorce rank among the top five financial challenges female clients face, according to a report by Key Private Bank. Estate planning, investment decisions and legacy planning were the other top hurdles, the report said.
Though traditional gender roles are changing, financial advisors say, many couples still adhere to them, with men generally taking the lead on finances.
However, the average age of widowhood is 59, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, with many women living another decade or more beyond a husband's death.
"Many women play a passive role when it comes to money and investing," said Rorrie Gregorio, the national partner in charge of the family office group at Marcum LLP. "They do not discuss money or investing, not with friends or co-workers and not even with their spouse."
Only 3 percent of married female clients drive wealth conversations, according to Key Private Bank's advisor poll.
No one wants to enter into a relationship planning for divorce or something to happen to a spouse, but it's important to address those issues head on.Cathy O'Malley Kearneychief fiduciary officer at Key Private Bank
To help female clients successfully take control of their finances, Gregorio compiles a "lifebook," which includes a balance sheet, investment summary and will, as well as a list of contacts, including lawyers, bankers and accountants.
"I believe everyone should have a lifebook," she said.
More than 8 in 10 advisors said only a few of their married female clients have such plans in place should they become suddenly single, according to Key Private Bank, even though there are often important financial decisions that must be made right off the bat.
Having a strategy is crucial, according to Cathy O'Malley Kearney, the national head of trust and chief fiduciary officer at Key Private Bank. "Navigating finances following the death of or divorce from a spouse doesn't mean half of the ongoing expenses or financial obligations have disappeared, so it's critical to have a contingency plan in place," she said.
Advisors agreed that the top three steps married women should take are identifying and documenting sources of income, meeting with a financial advisor and determining which financial decisions must be made immediately, according to the report.
VIDEO2:4102:41Life changes and your taxesFinance
"No one wants to enter into a relationship planning for divorce or something to happen to a spouse," O'Malley Kearney said, "but it's important to address those issues head on."
People who have lost a spouse and those divorcing may also suddenly find themselves with less money to work with, which is why O'Malley Kearney also recommends identifying expenses in your discretionary pool, including vacations, memberships and services like lawn care, which can be immediately stopped to reinstate your cash flow.
"If you are not conscious that those are discretionary activities, you could very quickly drain your emergency fund," she said.
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a0740d7d855e36363869b7710f5823f8 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/05/obamacares-specialty-drug-customers-faced-big-price-hikes-in-2017.html | Sticker shock: Obamacare's specialty drug customers faced big price hikes in 2017 | Sticker shock: Obamacare's specialty drug customers faced big price hikes in 2017
Jose Luis Pelaez | Getty Images
Many Obamacare customers who take specialty drugs had to personally pay anywhere from $262 to $1,762 more each month in 2017 than they did last year for those medications, according to a report issued Tuesday.
The report, from the insurance comparison site HealthPocket.com, found that the average specialty drug coinsurance fee for the most popular type of Obamacare plans rose by five percentage points from 2016.
That increase reflects a trend of insurance plans shifting the burden of directly paying for often-high priced specialty medication onto consumers, according to Kev Coleman, head of data and research for HealthPocket.
And that burden can be heavy.
An Obamacare customer using the arthritis drug Humira, for example, could have seen his out-of-pocket costs for the drug rising from an already steep $1,627.21 per month in 2016 to just below $1,890 per month this year, Coleman's report found.
Customers who use Enbrel, another arthritis drug, faced before and after out-of-pocket costs that closely tracked those who use Humira, the report found.
The report underscored the relatively large change in cost burden on customers of so-called silver individual health plans who use specialty drugs.
About 70 percent of all customers who purchase individual coverage through a government-run Obamacare marketplace are enrolled in silver plans. Those plans pay, on average, 70 percent of all of their customers' health costs, with enrollees being personally responsible for the remaining 30 percent.
However, the exact amount an individual customer personally pays out of pocket — in the form of co-payments, deductibles, or coinsurance — can vary significantly.
While co-payments are flat fees for medical services or drugs, coinsurance charges customers a certain percentage of the costs of those services and drugs.
Coinsurance is also the most commonly used cost-sharing fee for specialty drugs, which account for an estimated $1 out of every $3 spent on prescription medications.
In 2016, the average silver plan's coinsurance fee for specialty drugs was 31 percent of the cost of the drug, HealthPocket's report found.
In 2017, the average silver plan's specialty drug coinsurance fee had grown to 36 percent, the report said.
To quantify the impact of that increase on individuals, Coleman used as examples the five top-selling specialty drugs, which include Humira and Enbrel.
Tecfidera, which treats people with multiple sclerosis, has an average monthly retail cost of $7,101, Health Pocket's report noted.
Silver plan customers of the drug went from personally paying $2,201 per month last year, to more than $2,556 per month this year — a hike of $355 per month in the coinsurance.
Silver plan customers of another MS drug, Copaxone, had increased costs of more than $226 per month, going from almost $1,403 per month in 2016, to $1,629.28 this year.
The biggest increase in dollar terms was seen by people who use Harvoni, a medication that treats hepatitis C.
Harvoni, which is used for 12 weeks, had a monthly average coinsurance cost to silver plan customers of a whopping $12,690 in 2017, which is $1,762.59 higher per month than the cost in 2016.
Coleman noted that Obamacare plans do have maximum limits on how much a customer can be made to pay out of pocket for health services and medication. In 2017, that cap was $6,449 for an individual, and $12,952 for a family.
And significant numbers of Obamacare customers have incomes that are low enough to qualify for discounts in how much they have to pay out of pocket.
But Coleman said that some specialty drug customers, particularly those on fixed incomes, will face "a real struggle" to find extra cash to pay for the higher coinsurance levels identified in HealthPocket's report before they hit their maximum out-of-pocket limit.
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f372c106c9c9fa9fb445ff2372a02b5d | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/05/restaurateur-buys-houston-rockets-for-2-point-2-billion-in-record-deal.html | Restaurateur buying Houston Rockets for $2.2 billion in record deal | Restaurateur buying Houston Rockets for $2.2 billion in record deal
VIDEO0:5000:50Restaurateur buys Houston Rockets for $2.2 billion in record dealNews Videos
Billionaire Tilman Fertitta will buy the Houston Rockets basketball franchise of the NBA from Leslie Alexander in a record-breaking deal.
The chief executive of private restaurant corporation Landry's, Fertitta is set to purchase the Rockets for $2.2 billion, a National Basketball Association record, a source confirmed to CNBC.
The transaction is pending as it will require the approval of the league's board of governors, according to a press release Tuesday.
"It is truly unfortunate that this announcement is occurring amidst the aftermath of one of the biggest tragedies in the history" of Houston, the release said, referencing the extensive flooding in the city caused by Hurricane Harvey.
Fertitta is a Houston native who was born in Galveston, Texas, according to FactSet. Landry's is also headquartered in Houston.
"I am overwhelmed with emotion to have this opportunity in my beloved city," Fertitta said in the release.
— CNBC's Sandy Cannold contributed to this report.
Disclosure: Tilman Fertitta is the host of CNBC's "Billion Dollar Buyer."
VIDEO0:0000:00Houston Rockets CEO: Teams will become more and more valuablePower Lunch
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127ee14a721a3cfac248a7ac7d1b4b1d | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/05/trump-i-will-revisit-daca-if-congress-cant-legalize-it.html | Trump: I have 'no second thoughts' about ending DACA | Trump: I have 'no second thoughts' about ending DACA
VIDEO0:4800:48Read Trump's full statement defending his decision to end DACANews Videos
President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he had "no second thoughts" about ending an Obama-era policy shielding hundreds of thousands of young people from deportation, just hours after he said he would "revisit" the issue if Congress cannot legalize it within six months.
In a Tuesday night tweet, the president said he will "revisit" the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program if Congress cannot reach a legislative solution.
It is unclear what action Trump would take if he decided to again address DACA. His tweeted comment on Tuesday night appears to cloud his view on the issue after a day in which he and his administration vehemently criticized President Barack Obama's authority to implement the policy.
Trump tweet: Congress now has 6 months to legalize DACA (something the Obama Administration was unable to do). If they can't, I will revisit this issue!
The tweet came hours after Trump announced the decision to rescind DACA, but with a six-month delay to give Congress time to act.
Trump's decision set up a potential rush for lawmakers to pass a bill protecting so-called dreamers before the Trump administration's deadline. It is unclear if the GOP-led Congress, members of which voted to sink similar legislation in the past, can do so in the near future, given its already crowded agenda for crucial legislation.
In a statement earlier Tuesday, Trump said he looks forward "to working with Republicans and Democrats in Congress to finally address all of these issues in a manner that puts the hardworking citizens of our country first."
"As I've said before, we will resolve the DACA issue with heart and compassion — but through the lawful democratic process — while at the same time ensuring that any immigration reform we adopt provides enduring benefits for the American citizens we were elected to serve. We must also have heart and compassion for unemployed, struggling, and forgotten Americans," Trump said.
Trump allies like Attorney General Jeff Sessions urged him to end DACA, arguing it will be difficult to defend in court.
"Simply put, if we are to further our goal of strengthening the constitutional order and rule of law in America, the Department of Justice cannot defend this overreach," Sessions said Tuesday in announcing the move.
Scrapping DACA, which started in 2012 under Obama, could affect roughly 800,000 people registered under the program. DACA gives immigrants who were brought to America as children a two-year period of protection from deportation and allows them to work in the United States.
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a6c93656569ae5bc2c61288009202f84 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/06/americas-no-1-killer-heart-disease-at-center-of-drug-prices-battle.html | Insurers, doctors battle over new heart disease drugs | Insurers, doctors battle over new heart disease drugs
Seth Martin's advanced lipids clinic at Johns Hopkins Medicine treats some of the sickest heart-disease patients around. But two doctors, two nurses and another staffer there are devoting much of their time to fighting with insurance companies over two advanced cholesterol drugs.
Nearly 90 percent of the patients Hopkins wants to put on expensive, powerful PCSK9 inhibitors are initially rejected, making heart disease perhaps the central stage in the battle over high U.S. drug prices. In the least, it's the drug-pricing battle that may matter to the most Americans: Heart disease is the No. 1 cause of death in the country.
Two years after PCSK9 inhibitors from and - hit the market, patients are caught in the middle. The injectable drugs — which block a liver protein that prevents the organ from breaking down cholesterol — reduce bad cholesterol as much as 60 percent when combined with statins that have dominated cholesterol-reduction treatment for years. And they work for patients who get poor results from statins or can't take them because of side effects, Martin said.
Doctors largely agree that most people with cholesterol high enough to need treatment should stick with statins. Higher-risk patients should ask about newer treatments.Ugreen | iStock | Getty Images Plus
He added, "Most patients are rejected even when they clearly meet the criteria. There's a process in place to make this as challenging as possible."
That's because the drugs also cost many times what statins do. Generic versions of familiar drugs, like Pfizer's Lipitor, can be had for as little as $10 a month, compared to about $1,200 for Amgen's Repatha or Sanofi's Praluent. Statins are so cost-effective that some insurance carriers even waive co-payments to make sure patients take them.
That means the fight is over which patients should get which drugs, a debate patients join when making decisions for themselves. Two studies published in the last month will fuel even more arguments; they reached starkly different conclusions about whether Repatha and Praluent are worth the money. The latest results come against a backdrop of weak sales for the drugs. Amgen said insurers have approved just 44,000 U.S. patients for Repatha.
"It was developed for patients who are on the very best therapy but haven't been able to drive their bad cholesterol lower," said Joshua Ofman, senior vice president for global value, access and policy at Amgen. "Some of the controversy is because people don't understand that this drug is intended to be used by patients who are already on a statin.''
Most people with high cholesterol do fine with statin treatment, Ofman said. Those drugs, whose sales peaked at nearly $40 billion but have been battered by generic competition since 2012, are effective in most patients and have few side effects in about 90 percent of cases. In the rest, the most common side effect is muscle pain, which can be severe enough to make patients seek alternatives.
They've done such a good job of making it expensive to ask that I don't even try to put people on. It's like self-censorship.Andrew Beamerchair of cardiology at Berkeley Heights, N.J.-based Summit Medical Group
The patients who need more are tougher cases, many suffering from a genetic condition called familial hypercholesterolemia, or FH, which affects 1.3 million Americans. Patients who have the FH gene can develop heart disease as early as childhood, and many can't get their cholesterol down to normal levels even with statins and a rigorous diet. Patients who have previously had a heart attack or stroke or are at risk of limb amputations because of poor circulation are also prime candidates for the more expensive drugs.
"This is absolutely an adjunctive therapy for statins, not a replacement," Martin said. "We don't just skip the statins and go straight to the [expensive] stuff."
The problem has been convincing payers that the new drugs are worth the money. Insurers initially turned down as many as 80 percent of patients who were prescribed Amgen's Repatha, Ofman said, though the numbers are improving slightly after a clinical study released in New England Journal of Medicine in March showed the drug did reduce hospitalizations for heart attacks and strokes but did not reduce mortality from heart disease. The most recent data show 71 percent of prescriptions are initially refused — with no clinical differences among the cases approved and rejected, Ofman said.
"Physicians have to fight very hard to get the drug even for the most high-risk patients," he said. "But doctors say most patients who are clear candidates for Repatha or Praluent can get their prescriptions approved eventually, if they appeal the insurance denial with their doctor's assistance.''
VIDEO0:0000:00Bad news about new cholesterol drugsClosing Bell
Payers say they will pay for PCSK9 inhibitors, but only for patients who really need them. CVS Caremark — one of the two giant pharmacy-benefit managers along with Express Scripts, who help set the tone for other U.S. payers — didn't respond to requests for comment. It has warned that drugs like Repatha could cost the U.S. health-care system $200 billion.
"We've worked to make sure that the right patients get access to a drug they need," Express Scripts spokesman Brian Henry said in an email. "When the PCSK9 drugs first came to the market, we saw a lot of prescribing for patients who were not indicated for the drug. With additional education, that has lessened."
But even in more conventional doctors' offices than Hopkins' clinic, the new drugs are hard to get, according to the heads of cardiology at the two largest non-hospital-based medical practices in metro New York.
"It's very hard to get people on the drugs, period,'' said Andrew Beamer, chair of cardiology at Berkeley Heights, N.J.-based Summit Medical Group. "There is a risk in the prior authorization not only when you prescribe but also when you renew. They've done such a good job of making it expensive to ask that I don't even try to put people on. It's like self-censorship.''
Most patients will respond to statins, either alone or in tandem with Merck's Zetia, which goes for about $160 a month before discounts, Beamer said. But his practice has about seven patients on PCSK9 inhibitors. At 550-doctor CareMount Medical in Mount Kisco, N.Y., about three patients take the drugs, said director of cardiology Richard Keating.
"They're not the most common drugs we use," Keating said. "But they work very well, and the side-effect profile is quite benign.''
More from Modern Medicine:As progress against heart disease stalls, doctors key on preventionOne third of Americans are headed for diabetes, and most don't know itFDA testing groundbreaking science: Human organs on a chip
The real dispute is over whether the PCSK9 inhibitors deliver enough bang to be worth the bucks. That was the subject of two competing studies that hit medical journals in August.
PCSK9 inhibitors reduce cholesterol but haven't been shown to reduce mortality, said Dhruv Kazi, associate professor at University of California San Francisco's medical school. Using estimates of how many deaths might be avoided, as well as an assumption that every extra year lived with a good quality of life is worth $100,000, he argues that the drugs are only worth about $4,200, based on findings published last month. Without assuming any improvement in mortality, he argues that the drugs are worth about $2,000 per year.
The lifetime bill for these drugs could be higher for many patients than even the one-time, $95,000 Hepatitis C treatments that have galvanized debate over drug prices. "Reducing the price of PCSK9 inhibitors remains the best approach to delivering the potential health benefits of PCSK9 inhibitors therapy at an acceptable cost," Kazi and colleagues wrote.
The other study, supported by Amgen, estimated the value of Repatha at $9,669 per year — less than its list price but consistent with prices paid after common discounts. To get there, researchers valued each quality-adjusted life year at $150,000 and assumed a higher rate of avoided heart attacks than in Kazi's study.
"That drives the majority of the difference," Ofman said.
What should patients make of this?
Most people with cholesterol high enough to need treatment should stick with statins, doctors largely agree. Higher-risk patients should ask about newer treatments. For now.
The wild card is whether cholesterol guidelines might move lower in the future, based on emerging research that indicates the inhibitors like Repatha can lower the buildup of cholesterol plaques in the coronary artery walls to levels not possible with statins alone, Beamer said. Price cuts for PCSK9 inhibitors and falling tolerance for cholesterol might be the keys to a big market in the future, Beamer argued.
"If the guidelines change, price cuts might expand the market," he said.
— By Tim Mullaney, special to CNBC
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11bb8470f9ee056a9476270be2571be7 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/06/china-ico-ban-will-help-to-stop-fraud-and-scams-experts-say.html | China ICO ban will help prevent crypto scams but could create regulatory competition, experts say | China ICO ban will help prevent crypto scams but could create regulatory competition, experts say
A marble lion in front of the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC).Zhang Peng | LightRocket | Getty Images
China's banning of initial coin offerings for new digital currencies may stop scams and improve the market but these ICOs are very much here to stay, industry experts told CNBC.
ICOs allow organizations to raise investment by selling new cryptocurrencies, similar to bitcoin, in return for cash or other established digital currencies. However, the People's Bank of China ruled earlier this week that the practice, which has become popular around the world, as well as in China, constitutes illegal fundraising.
Around $1.78 billion has been raised through ICOs since 2014, according to data from the CoinDesk ICO tracker. However, a major issue is that many ICOs could be scams, with no hope of backers receiving a return on their investment.
"There's no secret that a lot of the initial coin offerings, with ads on Facebook promising huge discounts and returns, are nothing but a scam," said Sasha Ivanov, CEO of blockchain company Waves, in an email.
"The Chinese government could cope with those companies working in a shadow zone of the law, but they have finally lost patience, as more and more companies tried to raise millions for nothing."
Ivanov says the move will be helpful for the industry, and predicts that regulated ICOs will be allowed in China in the future.
One company affected by the ban is online lending platform Blackmoon Crypto. It recently raised more than $9 million in an ICO pre-sale. The company has now halted its planned promotional activity within China. It will also prohibit Chinese citizens taking part in its token sale on September 12 and will refund citizens who took part in the pre-sale.
"Blackmoon Crypto will continue to take very seriously all initiatives of global regulators and will comply with the upheld requirements. As a professional in the industry, we welcome the cleansing of the market from scrupulous participants and are ready to cooperate with regulators," said the company's CEO Oleg Seydak in an email.
Part of the problem regulators may have is that ICOs cover a wide range of activities, according to Linus Lindgren, strategic investor and advisor at BTCXIndia.
"One side of the spectrum would be to sell parts of future revenue of a company via issued tokens to investors who look to speculate in the value of such tokens. The other side of the spectrum could be charities issuing 'thank you' tokens in exchange for donations. In between, there are many varieties and mixes of these," he told CNBC via email on Monday.
"The discussion to be had now is where on the 'token spectrum' regulators will draw the line, and where and how these activities should be regulated."
The move by China received mixed reactions. Cryptocurrencies fell on the move as it created negative market sentiment. hit a low of $4,037 on Tuesday but has recovered to around $4,500 on Wednesday.
Some, such as David Moskowitz, co-founder and CEO of blockchain-powered social network Indorse, welcome the move as a way to protect consumers from fraudulent ICOs.
"We hope the authorities will recognize the potential of the sector for economic growth and technological development, and enact rules which will allow for the safe and secure future of the industry," he said in an press statement.
Others were more skeptical, pointing out that the ban could lead to competition with other countries that are more welcoming for ICOs.
"Some governments and incumbents will try to shut down this movement, and come to unreasonable extremes in order to do so. However, thanks to the internet and cryptography, there's no going back," said Luis Cuende, co-founder and project lead at blockchain developer Aragon, in an email.
"Eventually, some other governments will embrace token sales and crypto in general, creating jurisdictional competition, and forcing the incumbents to be reasonable."
VIDEO5:2205:22Should you invest in a cryptocurrency?CNBC Explains
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cedc9277f37041b5be33144351b3b8d5 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/06/goldman-ceo-blankfein-hasnt-completely-given-up-on-washington.html | Lloyd Blankfein: I still have hope for Trump | Lloyd Blankfein: I still have hope for Trump
Lloyd Blankfein, CEO and Chairman of Goldman Sachs.Adam Jeffery | CNBC
Goldman Sachs' Lloyd Blankfein hasn't completely given up hope that Washington will be able to get things done.
Blankfein, who has trolled the Trump administration on the social media site Twitter, told the audience at a European banking conference in Frankfurt, Germany, on Wednesday, via a live-feed interview from New York, that the White House is working through its growing pains.
President Donald Trump has never been a politician, "so this is all new," Blankfein said during the interview with the German financial newspaper Handelsblatt.
"Things could have gone better, but I'm not without hope that they can still go well," Blankfein said Wednesday. "A lot that he's trying to accomplish I'm friendly to. ... Clearly, there is some level of disappointment that things are more chaotic, but hopeful that the government will get better. I have disappointment, but also I have hope."
On Tuesday, the Goldman chief executive put a message on his verified Twitter account that took aim at Trump's decision to phase out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which protects young immigrants from deportation.
He has also used Twitter in recent months to take shots at the administration's withdrawal from the Paris climate accord and make other more veiled criticisms. Trump is a frequent commentator on Twitter.
Asked about his tweets during the interview on Wednesday, Blankfein said as a corporate leader he feels the obligation to speak out. "There are some things we have a duty to talk about," he said. "Sometimes as the CEO of a big company I have to be a champion of the interest of our people to do their job and feel comfortable."
Asked if he favored the reappointment of Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen or the appointment of his former Goldman second-in-command Gary Cohn as the central bank's next leader, Blankfein said both are up to the job but have very different styles.
Yellen has "done a pretty good job," and Cohn would be less of an academic and theoretical choice. "I'd be willing to give that a try," Blankfein said. "He would do a different job but a great job."
At the end of the interview, Blankfein returned to the topic of Washington turmoil. "The worst thing for your and my happiness is political instability," he said. "Populism by itself is not a bad thing, to appeal to people is not a bad thing, that's what democracy is supposed to accomplish. I think there is a line in which populism can cross over into demagoguery."
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7db05cf981f40e4321b9863c70a6b490 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/06/goldman-how-to-play-the-electric-vehicle-boom.html | Goldman: How to play the electric vehicle boom | Goldman: How to play the electric vehicle boom
Getty Images
Goldman Sachs predicts electric vehicles will have dramatic implications on the auto industry supply chain during the coming decades. "After more than 100 years, it seems that an auto industry dominated by internal combustion engines is nearing an end," analyst Kota Yuzawa wrote in a note to clients Wednesday entitled "Electric Vehicle Boom: ICE-ing the Combustion Engine."
Yuzawa predicts electric vehicles will grow from 1 percent of 2016 global auto sales to 8 percent by 2030, before increasing to nearly one-third market share in 2040. The analyst said if governments are more aggressive with incentives or battery technology costs improve, the adoption of electric vehicles may accelerate faster than expected. However, Yuzawa noted, the trend will be negative for many auto parts suppliers because electric vehicles do not have any engine-related components. "Engine and transmission-related parts makers, which generate high value-add as core suppliers for automobiles, are searching for opportunities to advance in electric motor- and battery-related components, but we expect their growth potential to be called into question as EVs become mainstream," the analyst wrote. On the flip side, battery technology firms will likely thrive. The analyst projects the battery market will grow to $180 billion in sales by 2040 from just $450 million in 2015. "The batteries market, which is critical for EVs and therefore a potential source of value-add, will likely expand rapidly through 2040," Yuzawa wrote. Here are five Goldman Sachs buy-rated stocks the firm recommends to take advantage of the electric vehicle trend.
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24e17a8acc268513f852a50198db36eb | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/07/amazon-was-tricked-by-fake-law-firm-into-removing-toothbrush-head.html | Amazon was tricked by a fake law firm into removing a hot product, costing this seller $200,000 | Amazon was tricked by a fake law firm into removing a hot product, costing this seller $200,000
VIDEO1:2101:21Amazon tricked by fake law firm into removing a hot productNews Videos
Shortly before Amazon Prime Day in July, the owner of the Brushes4Less store on Amazon's marketplace received a suspension notice for his best-selling product, a toothbrush head replacement.
The email that landed in his inbox said the product was being delisted from the site because of an intellectual property violation. In order to resolve the matter and get the product reinstated, the owner would have to contact the law firm that filed the complaint.
But there was one problem: the firm didn't exist.
Brushes4Less was given the contact information for an entity named Wesley & McCain in Pittsburgh. The website wesleymccain.com has profiles for five lawyers. A Google image search shows that all five actually work for the law firm Brydon, Swearengen & England in Jefferson City, Missouri.
The phone number for Wesley & McCain doesn't work while the address belongs to a firm in Pittsburgh called Robb Leonard Mulvihill. The person who supposedly filed the complaint is not registered to practice law in Pennsylvania. One section on Wesley & McCain's site stole language from the website of the Colby Law Office.
The owner of Brushes4Less agreed to tell his story to CNBC but asked that we not use his name out of concern for his privacy. As far as he can tell, and based on what CNBC could confirm, Amazon was duped into shutting down the seller's key product days before the site's busiest shopping event ever.
"Just five minutes of detective work would have found this website is a fraud, but Amazon doesn't seem to want to do any of that," the owner said. "This is like the Wild Wild West of intellectual property complaints."
Brushes4Less is just one small business among millions that use Amazon's massive global operation to reach customers. But as the marketplace has grown to account for more than half of all goods sold on the site and as Amazon has expanded its dominance across online commerce, seller complaints have multiplied.
Hot items are booted and innocent sellers are suspended, victims of malicious complaints that some experts suspect are coming from rival sellers masquerading as lawyers. Just ahead of last year's Black Friday and Cyber Monday rush, a number of Samsung device sellers were suspended due to mistaken claims of infringement. And sellers of hot brands ranging from Nike to Michael Kors say they've received violation claims and suspension notices even if they're buying inventory from legitimate distributors.
VIDEO0:4100:41Amazon's new refunds policy will 'crush' small businesses, outraged sellers sayNews Videos
"Virtually any person can push the right buttons to get Amazon's attention for particular issues," said Paul Dworianyn, founder of Awesome Dynamic Tech Solutions, which helps brands on the site.
During the course of our reporting, CNBC heard of numerous cases in which complaints were made by a competitor or a third-party law firm with bogus contact information. One seller of Keurig coffee pods was recently reinstated on Amazon after being suspended due to a fake complaint filed by a competitor, Dworianyn said.
The owner of Brushes4Less said he generates about $2 million in annual sales on Amazon. In addition to electronic toothbrush heads, his storefront features brushes for cleaning auto parts as well as wine tote bags, a camera lens and a set of microfiber towels.
He said the issue with Amazon was finally resolved on Tuesday after two months of waiting. Losing his best-selling item — a particular type of toothbrush replacement head — resulted in at least $200,000 in lost sales, he estimates. During that time, his inventory was in Amazon's fulfillment center and inaccessible.
The Brushes4Less owner suspects the complaint was filed by a competitor and isn't even sure of the specific alleged violation. He hired an intellectual property law firm, which attempted to reach the complainant five times from July 21 to Aug. 3.
"Due to the complainant's failure to respond to our attorney's attempts at contact (or even confirm receipt), we believe these complaints are baseless and were filed in bad faith," the Brushes4Less owner wrote in a memo to Amazon.
Amazon didn't provide a comment on the Brushes4Less incident. The company emailed the following statement to CNBC:
"Fraud is prohibited on Amazon.com. If we discover that bad actors have abused our systems, we work quickly to take action on behalf of our customers, which includes sellers. If a seller believes we've made a decision that requires further review, we encourage them to contact us directly so we can investigate and take the appropriate action."
For sellers, Amazon doesn't offer much by way of guidance in resolving IP issues. In the notice sent to Brushes4Less, the company provided little more than the complainant's email address, which turned out to be fake.
Brydon Swearengen said in a statement that it has nothing to do with the hoax and that its images have been stolen.
"Brydon, Swearengen & England P.C. has no association with the 'Wesley McCain' web site which has misappropriated attorney photographs from our web site," the firm wrote in an email. "We have brought this matter to the attention of the Missouri Bar and the Pennsylvania Bar Association."
CJ Rosenbaum, a lawyer who represents suspended Amazon sellers, is getting used to these types of stories. False claims from sellers with malicious intent have become common, he said, because Amazon offers so little resistance to such trickery.
"There are so many good sellers who get suspended needlessly," said Rosenbaum, who's also the author of the "Amazon Law Library," published last year.
Amazon's aggressive suspension practices of late followed an explosion of counterfeit sales in recent years and a series of negative news stories and unflattering lawsuits.
Reinstatement can be a major challenge for sellers facing IP violations. There are so many merchants to replace them that Amazon does almost nothing to help suspended sellers get back up and running, said Chris McCabe, a former Amazon employee who now helps sellers get reinstated and stay compliant.
"Amazon does little to vet the complaints to make sure they are legitimate, and typically they refer you to the accusing party for any info or resolution," McCabe said. "Amazon internal teams are overwhelmed with these complaints and are very slow to react to fake submissions."
McCabe said Amazon has recently beefed up its appeals team to combat these types of problems. Still, while the time to get complaints overturned has sped up, false submissions still come in on a daily basis, he said.
Amazon's business has yet to suffer from its marketplace chaos. Sales rose 25 percent last quarter and the stock is up 31 percent in 2017. But the seller problems are putting the company's reputation at risk, McCabe said.
"If Amazon continues to process brand or buyer complaints as they are now, suspended accounts will continue to spike," he said. "It undermines faith in the marketplace."
Correction: A previous version of this story had the wrong name for Paul Dworianyn's company.
VIDEO1:5701:57Inside Amazon's Prime Now hub in SeattleDigital Original
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1e0f3881efff3802776a86dea2f292ea | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/07/inside-lax-airport-security-as-it-targets-insider-threats.html | Take a first-ever look at how LAX airport targets threats from airport workers | Take a first-ever look at how LAX airport targets threats from airport workers
VIDEO10:0710:07Exclusive: CNBC goes behind airport security at LAXDigital Original
Teams of undercover police officers fan out across Los Angeles International Airport targeting what they call the "insider threat."
This potentially serious hazard isn't coming from travelers, but from those who work at the airport itself.
Law enforcement officials say airports around the country routinely monitor the thousands of employees, who must undergo a criminal background check and get fingerprinted. At LAX, the nation's second busiest airport, police screen employees and check IDs as part of a multi-agency operation.
CNBC was allowed exclusive access to a recent insider threat police operation as well as inside security operations at the airport, videotaping areas never before seen by the public.
"I think about everything. I think about the possibilities," said Los Angeles Airport Police Chief David Maggard Jr. "And then, what we try to do is get that information from the other people that have maybe had an experience with the tragic event or with the threat. And we try and gather that information and apply it here."
Los Angeles Airport Police Chief David Maggard Jr. oversees the largest aviation police force in the country.Source: CNBC
Maggard oversees the largest aviation police force in the U.S. with about 1,100 police and other staff. The airport's "zero tolerance" policy for employees means any employee can be randomly searched at any time.
During the insider threat operation in July, an airport ramp worker was arrested for an outstanding DUI warrant.
"The key to our program is they don't know when they're going to be checked. We can check people as they come in. They'll check people as they go. We'll check people when they're here working. And so we do have a comprehensive program," he said.
Maggard gave CNBC a tour of the Airport Response Coordination Center, known as the ARCC, where employees monitor more than 3,500 cameras throughout LAX around the clock. Threats, small and large at airports around the country, are also watched, as well as social media feeds.
"Our analysts are helping connect the rest of the region," Maggard said. "So we want to make sure that if we hear of something that would be concerning to an airport 100 miles from where we are, we want to make sure we're communicating that."
LAX was the first airport to hire two full-time intelligence analysts in 2014, the year after a shooter killed a TSA officer and wounded three people there.
"We've learned that anything can happen here," Maggard said. "And we want to make sure that we spent a lot of time learning from that incident, as we have studied other events around the world that have threatened airports. As a result, we've increased our technology. We've added cameras. We've added officers in the terminal area. Our profile is larger."
Officers ride to a training site near LAX.Source: CNBC
As LAX undergoes a massive expansion, it plans to eventually double the number of cameras, many of which are hidden, throughout the complex.
Outside, police randomly screen vehicles entering LAX as part of a program called Operation Safe Entry. In addition, cars are periodically screened with hand-held radiation detection devices, which is considered another counterterrorism measure.
"If you want to turn around and leave the airport, they have the ability to do that," Maggard said. "But if they want to come into the airport, there are some legal limited abilities for us to do some searches. We're looking for anything that may be harmful to the airport environment."
The airport spends more than $200 million annually on security, according to LAX officials. One federal government study found that federal and local spending at airports nationwide totals at least $8 billion, a figure the study considered a low estimate.
Most airport security operations are hidden. For example, CNBC videotaped an LAX police officer checking sharp knives in an airport restaurant kitchen. All of those knives are subject to inspection and must be properly inventoried.
"We have to make sure is that we account for all the knives that's in what's called the sterile area, that's past the TSA screening checkpoint," Police Officer Sean Foley said. "Most of the problems we come into is accountability, meaning they're not checking out the knives properly. Thankfully, we haven't run across too many knives missing. What has happened we have knives missing, but they go into the trash. We have video cameras inside a lot of the restaurants and we do have video of them going into the trash."
Senior Intelligence Analysts Anthony McGinty and Michelle Sosa were the first assigned to a U.S. airport.Source: CNBC
The two intelligence analysts assigned to LAX acknowledge one of their main concerns is the insider threat.
"If somebody is trying to smuggle bulk cash or drugs, they're getting paid to put something on an aircraft. And the concern is, when are they going to know that it's a bomb and not drugs that they're being asked to put on board?" senior intelligence analyst Michelle Sosa told CNBC.
Anthony McGinty, who is also a senior intelligence analyst, said the TSA has been "very good at securing above the wing. But often times, below the wing and what goes on around the airplane in many versions, that's what we're worried about. If you can put drugs in a bag, that's another step to put a bomb in the bag. So it's a serious threat."
Police officers who are part of the airport’s Emergency Services Unit practice target training.Source: CNBC
"I think a lot of people even forget these days why we have this level of security," Sosa said. "People don't remember any more that even what they see today is because of 9/11. Terrorists have been going after aviation even before 9/11. So even it hadn't happened that time, they were going to do something. And they were going to continue to do something related to aviation. And I imagine that we'd be somewhere similar to today."
Email tips for the CNBC Investigative Unit to Investigations@cnbc.com.
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862e4aec3d7cf857148370ea45af8b3f | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/07/khosla-ventures-adds-women-to-investment-team--simmons-and-gulati.html | Khosla Ventures adds two women to investment team — Kristina Simmons and Kanu Gulati | Khosla Ventures adds two women to investment team — Kristina Simmons and Kanu Gulati
Venture capital firm Khosla Ventures has added two women to its investment team, hiring Kristina Simmons as chief of staff and Kanu Gulati as principal in recent months, the investors confirmed.
Both joined Khosla Ventures at a time when tech companies and venture firms are facing strong criticism for their overall exclusion and treatment of women.
Simmons, who previously worked at Lululemon Athletica, Juicero and Andreessen Horowitz, said Khosla was appealing in part because of its willingness to "back and hire people from all different backgrounds."
The firm "has invested in 12 women who are CEOs that I know of," she said. "The portfolio has a real breadth. We are in everything from burgers to rockets and health care."
Partners at the firm, she noted, come from different ethnic backgrounds and age groups. However, the fund's eight partners are still all men. Women accounted for only 7 percent of partners at top investment firms last year, according to Crunchbase data.
In her role as chief of staff, Simmons said she will be working directly with founder Vinod Khosla, evaluating start-ups for potential investments and advising portfolio companies.
Khosla has about $5 billion in assets under management. The firm operates a main fund to back rapidly growing tech companies and a seed fund for very early-stage start-ups. Its current portfolio includes payment tech venture Stripe, food science start-up Impossible Burger and real estate site OpenDoor.
Gulati, who is joining as principal, said she was drawn to venture capital after attaining a Ph.D. in computer engineering at Texas A&M and working at Intel. Part of her role there was to conduct due diligence reviews of emerging technologies and start-ups.
"I could see that great tech alone does not build a healthy company," she said. She later attained an MBA at Harvard and worked at Zetta Venture Partners.
Gulati said she will look to invest in companies working on "data and AI-enabled systems for the enterprise." She is specifically interested in technology within the retail supply chain.
Since its founding in 2004, Khosla has invested in such enterprises as Yammer, the workplace collaboration platform acquired by Microsoft for over $1 billion, and agriculture-tech firm Climate Corp., which was acquired by Monsanto for about $1 billion. Khosla also backed enterprise tech companies Okta and Nutanix, which are now publicly traded.
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9ee23baa8de75bc9df2e280de38893fc | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/07/trump-schumer-agree-to-pursue-plan-to-repeal-debt-ceiling-report.html | Trump, Schumer agree to pursue plan to permanently ditch the debt ceiling: Report | Trump, Schumer agree to pursue plan to permanently ditch the debt ceiling: Report
VIDEO0:5400:54Trump, Schumer agree to pursue plan to repeal debt ceilingNews Videos
President Donald Trump and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer have agreed to seek a plan to permanently scrap the federal debt ceiling, The Washington Post reported Thursday.
Any such plan could face staunch opposition from the majority congressional Republicans, who would have to approve it. On Thursday, House Speaker Paul Ryan voiced opposition to getting rid of the debt ceiling.
The deal was described as a "gentleman's agreement," the Post reported, citing "three people familiar with the decision." Democrats in the Senate want to reach an "arrangement with Trump" by December, according to the Post.
Speaking to reporters Thursday, Trump did not explicitly say that he and Schumer agreed to push forward on scrapping the debt ceiling. However, he said "certainly that's something we'll discuss" and did talk about at Wednesday's White House meeting with congressional leaders.
VIDEO1:1701:17Trump, Schumer to pursue debt ceiling repeal -ReportHalftime Report
Congress has had to repeatedly raise the federal borrowing limit to avoid risking default on U.S. debt. The contentious deadlines can set the stage for political maneuvering and deals on unrelated measures. GOP lawmakers often seek spending cuts to go along with votes to raise the debt limit.
Lawmakers face their latest deadline to lift the debt limit by the end of September. On Wednesday, Trump, Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi struck a deal to attach Hurricane Harvey recovery funding to measures to temporarily extend the debt ceiling and fund the government for only three months.
The president did so over the objections of Republican congressional leaders and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who wanted a longer debt ceiling fix. Some GOP lawmakers have slammed the agreement, saying it gives Democrats leverage over budget discussions in December.
Mnuchin later voiced support for Trump's plan.
Read the full Post story here.
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6295d12b889bcabd2e873000879a54af | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/08/apples-arkit-will-bring-with-it-a-new-form-of-mobile-advertising.html | As Apple preps augmented reality for the masses, developers are searching for the money | As Apple preps augmented reality for the masses, developers are searching for the money
An attendee demonstrates the ARKit, augmented reality tool, on an Apple Inc. iPad Pro during the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in San Jose, California, U.S., on Monday, June 5, 2017.David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Apple CEO Tim Cook is downright giddy about augmented reality. And the world is about to see why.
While virtual reality headsets from Oculus and others have yet to go mainstream, hundreds of millions of iPhones and iPads in circulation are an iOS update away from morphing into consoles that bridge the real world and the imaginary one.
On Apple's latest earnings call, Cook said AR has "broad mainstream applicability across education, entertainment interactive gaming, enterprise, and categories we probably haven't even thought of."
Apple's big bet is on ARKit, the company's homegrown technology for enabling developers to build AR apps. The software is among the most anticipated features of iOS 11, which is likely to be available this month, and you can expect to see some splashy use cases for the technology at Apple's iPhone event on Sept. 12, in Cupertino.
For game developers, who will surely be some of the earliest adopters of ARKit, a new challenge awaits -- advertising.
Mobile ads are annoying in general. But it's particularly hard to imagine playing an AR game in a multidimensional world and being interrupted by a video, interstitial or pop-up ad. Nor do existing ad types work for developers who want to promote a game in another app.
You have to experience AR for it to make sense.
"Showing a video of someone playing an AR app doesn't tell a story," said Jonathan Zweig, a longtime entrepreneur in ad-tech and the CEO of AppOnboard.
AppOnboard teamAppOnboard
Zweig thinks he has the solution. Two years after selling mobile ad company AdColony for $350 million, Zweig created AppOnboard in 2016 with the idea that people would rather play an ad than watch one. With AppOnboard's technology, developers can advertise their games in other apps through a demo that lasts 15 to 30 seconds.
For example, if you're playing an adventure game and struggling to get past a certain spot, you may have the option of taking a few swings in a baseball app as a way to get to the next level. At the end of the short trial, you're given the option of downloading the app or returning to the game you were playing.
AppOnboard, which to date raised $4 million in venture funding, has several existing mobile games using the try-before-you-buy model. For the launch of ARKit the company has partnered with Snatch, a virtual treasure hunt app, and gaming studio Lucid Sight.
"Instead of watching a video to earn currency or get to another level, you play a short demo," Zweig said. "That's a huge leap in technology."
AR isn't just coming to the iPhone. Last week, Google released a sneak peak of a software development kit called ARCore for Android devices and said it's targeting 100 million devices by the end of the preview.
The mobile ad market is there for the taking. According to eMarketer, mobile will account for more than 70 percent of the $83 billion digital advertising market this year and will surpass the size of the TV ad market in 2019.
VIDEO0:0000:00A first look at Apple's new augmented reality app Digital Original
Playable ads seem to be working for the current generation of games. Mobile ad-tech start-up Vungle said it's seen playable ads drive a 30 percent increase in downloads over static ads while improving retention by 20 percent.
Snatch, a London-based start-up whose treasure hunt app went viral in the U.K. and will soon launch in the U.S., expects AppOnboard to be one of its primary marketing channels.
The game allows players to pick up virtual packages around town and collect real rewards from brands like Pizza Hut and U.K. retailer Topshop or win vacations and cash. Players have to hold the parcels for six hours before opening them and, in the meantime, other people can try and snatch them.
In a Snatch ad, a user will pick up a package but won't be able to find out what's inside without downloading the app. For people playing Snatch, they will have the option of briefly trying out another game to acquire currency for in-app purchases.
"People will pay for that level of engagement because the results are much better," said Joe Martin, Snatch's founder and CEO, in an interview from San Francisco, where he's fundraising and gearing up to build a U.S. team. "It's better than video, better than print, or pop-up banners."
Most importantly, Martin said, "it's non-intrusive -- it's there if they want it."
There's always the chance that none of this stuff takes off, or that the most popular AR titles out of the gate follow a similar trajectory to the early AR sensation Pokemon Go.
AppOnboard demoAppOnboard
A week after its launch last July, more than 28 million people a day were playing Pokemon Go, walking around town and staring at their screens to catch a Pokemon or find a PokeStop to get a treat. By late in the year, that number was down to about 5 million, according to ComScore, and Pokemon Go is currently outside of the top 200 most popular iPhone apps.
But AR enthusiasts have little doubt that iOS 11 will open up the technology to the masses.
"It's the first time there's been a fundamental hardware and software change for the iPhone that unlocks a whole bunch of new stuff you can do," said Randy Saaf, the founder and CEO of Lucid Sight.
Saaf has plenty of money at stake in that thesis. In addition to developing AR games for Lucid Sight, he's a board member and investor at AppOnboard. He and Zweig were partners in the market as far back as the AdColony days, having co-founded that company 2008.
The ad model still has to be proven out, but Saaf is convinced AR is poised to take off. And quickly.
"The great thing about ARKit is there are 200 million devices that will be compatible on day one," he said. "This opens up a lot of ways to enjoy media and games that weren't available before."
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a1d379babbb8421feafc0fece7fe51d8 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/08/donkey-kong-is-back-video-games-atari-sega-make-a-comeback.html | 'Donkey Kong' is back! Video games Atari, Sega make a comeback | 'Donkey Kong' is back! Video games Atari, Sega make a comeback
Abang Adzhar, 22, tests his skill on an Intellivision video baseball game in 1982.Mike Slaughter | Toronto Star | Getty Images
Technology is bringing video game enthusiasts experiences so immersive and lifelike, it's hard to imagine how it could be enhanced any further.
Perhaps for that reason, gamers are craving a bit of nostalgia. The proliferation of retro gaming has seen a boom in classics like "Space Invaders," "Centipede" and "Frogger" — all of which are making a comeback on major consoles.
Later this month, Nintendo is expected to release the Super NES Classic Edition system, which may be a big dose of deja vu to anyone who played 20 years ago. Meanwhile, AtGames is releasing high-definition versions of classic consoles like Atari, Sega Genesis, ColecoVision and Intellivision.
"After some generations, all forms of art and media become classics," said Jared Miracle, an anthropologist and education researcher who specializes in game studies at the Ocean University of China. "Think of 'Donkey Kong' as having status akin to 'Oliver Twist.'"
It may be tempting to dismiss this as a fleeting nostalgic trend that's the product of pure nostalgia, but it appears to be more than just recapturing youth. The retro trend is estimated to be worth as much as $200 million a year.
So what's driving it?
According to John Boyd Jr., principal at The Boyd Company, one factor driving interest in these games is their relatability. Boyd said they provide more of an individualized feeling than today's bigger and more complex games, which can feel a bit impersonal — even if they are more exciting and elaborate.
Retro games "seem more 'authentic' and 'real,' versus the big box-office-like promotion and rollout feel of XBox and PlayStation games, like 'Grand Theft Auto,'" he told CNBC.
It's a feeling Lauren Giselle, a school teacher in Brooklyn in her 20s, is fully on board with indulging.
"New games are amazing, but the feeling of those old games is indescribable," she told CNBC. "I'm 10 years old again, sitting in my PJs, eating Golden Puffs cereal, trying to beat the boat level of 'Donkey Kong' before I run out of lives or battery life."
The move toward vintage games belies the way audiences have pointedly turned up their noses up at recent movie interpretations of '80s games, including "Transformers: The Last Knight," which bombed at the box office. "Pixels," a 2015 science-fiction action comedy starring Adam Sandler, also foundered with moviegoers and was harshly reviewed by critics.
A lot of gamers from my generation still congregate around the Nintendo 64 to play original 'Smash Brother' or original 'Mario Kart.'Lauren Giselleteacher and gamer
The resurgence of retro gaming is partially based on how they compare to newer ones. Vishal Sandhu, founder of the tech wearables company LumoSquid and a former strategic planner of immersive gaming for Intel, said many of today's video games may be too intricate for their own good.
After all, sometimes people just want to turn their brain off and smash stuff mindlessly.
"If I have half an hour to myself and would like to play some video games, I could easily play a couple levels of 'Donkey Kong' but wouldn't get anywhere more than chatting up a few shopkeepers in 'The Witcher 3,'" he said, citing a popular role-playing game developed by CD Projekt.
And evidence suggests consumers aren't totally ready to turn their backs on old classics. According to research by Bank of America, 76 percent of Americans still use old-school devices like compact discs, VCRs and vinyl records.
In that vein, the appeal of vintage games becomes apparent for those who might be overwhelmed by all the digital gadgets in our day-to-day lives.
"A lot of gamers from my generation still congregate around the Nintendo 64 to play original 'Smash Brother' or original 'Mario Kart,'" Giselle, the school teacher, said. In fact, she never stopped playing a few of her old-time favorites.
"It still means a lot to be able to dominate others on their original platforms," she added.
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f7d41f973253fdf2cab1d6c1ca701c85 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/08/ex-rbi-chief-rajan-demonetization-hit-may-not-be-fully-measured.html | India's former central bank chief Rajan: 'Don't know' if the full impact of demonetization has been measured | India's former central bank chief Rajan: 'Don't know' if the full impact of demonetization has been measured
VIDEO2:4502:45Setting up of bankruptcy court key for India: Former RBI governorSquawk Box Asia
India's controversial demonetization move undoubtedly hurt growth, but its full impact on the economy hasn't been felt yet, the country's former central bank chief said.
"I don't know if we've measured it entirely. We may have to wait for revisions to GDP to get the full sense of how much [may] have happened in the measurable portion," Raghuram Rajan, ex-governor of the Reserve Bank of India, told CNBC TV18 in an interview.
"I think undoubtedly it has had some effect because we were growing between 7.5 and 8 percent in the first quarter of 2016, and then we've slowed considerably since then. And we've slowed when the world economy had taken off," he added.
VIDEO4:0804:08How to build a cashless society? Give people no other choiceCNBC Reports
After Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the demonetization program in November of last year, India's growth slowed to 6.1 percent in the first quarter of 2017 and moderated further to 5.7 percent in the subsequent three months.
Other than stalling growth, the move also , which had been believed to largely be parked in the now-banned 500- and 1,000-rupee bills.
Dhiraj Singh | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The central bank said in its annual report last week that 99 percent of those notes were deposited or exchanged for new currency, suggesting that most people, including those who hoarded illicit wealth in cash, have managed to preserve their fortunes.
Rajan had previously said he was against demonetization and preferred other ways to tackle India's "black money" problem, such as offering tax incentives.
But he also acknowledged that it is difficult to single out the program's impact on the economy, as there are two other major dampeners on India's growth: A high level of debt and short-term uncertainty caused by the implementation of the goods and services tax.
"Disentangling these three and talking precisely is difficult especially because, as a number of observers have pointed out, some of the effects (of demonetization) have not been measured," Rajan said.
VIDEO2:1502:15India's economic reforms are paving the way for growth rebound: InvestorStreet Signs Asia
In a note on Friday, ANZ Research said the near-term outlook for India's economy was pessimistic, with the impact of demonetization aggravating other negative developments, such as a subdued business cycle.
"The impact of demonetization has turned out to be more durable than initially anticipated. We agree with this contention – the impact of demonetization has been substantial in the unorganized sectors of the economy," the ANZ analysts wrote.
"The share of employment and output of the unorganized sector, which has traditionally relied on cash transactions, is large in several areas of the economy. In such a situation, the impact in terms of business closures and job losses is likely to have been significant."
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59cf1e754ae9cb5faa152210bdf3f8ee | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/08/goodyear-debuts-fitbit-for-tires.html | Goodyear debuts 'Fitbit' for tires | Goodyear debuts 'Fitbit' for tires
Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. to settle lawsuit with SEC of African bribe charges.Jonathan Ferrey | NASCAR | Getty Images
Goodyear is testing a smart-tire that, much like a Fitbit, relays condition information based on cloud computing analytics.
The U.S. manufacturer has teamed with California-based car service Tesloop to gauge the efficiency of a tire embedded with a sensor that can monitor metrics such as pressure and temperature.
While many vehicles today are equipped with tire pressure monitoring systems that tell you how low on air your tire might be, this system represents a step toward a more sophisticated approach that will be critical once fleets of self-driving cars hit the roads.
"Tires are a mystery for most people, but if we can simplify how to properly maintain them or help make replacing them easier, that's an area we can add value," says Chris Helsel, Goodyear's chief technology officer.
The disc-shaped sensor is connected to the cloud through an app. Based on the readings, the app can suggest everything from adding air to recommending the closest tire dealer for a replacement. Tire rotation is suggested based on mileage.
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As cars become increasingly maintenance-free — particularly electric vehicles — tires become the part of the vehicle that take the most abuse and will need frequent replacement based on use. They are critical to vehicle traction because even the most sophisticated suspension systems can't make up for a poor rubber contact patch.
Goodyear officials say there is no immediate timeline for when smart tires will become commercially available.
Goodyear chose Tesloop as a partner in part because of the high mileage logged by the service's Model S and Model X cars. Tesloop has eight Model S cars, which rack up an average of 17,000 miles a month.
Founded two years ago, Tesloop offers long-distance rides that are meant to supplant train or even air travel. Depending on departure times, a one-way trip from Los Angeles to San Diego costs between $29 and $69.
"For us, the appeal (of this test) is to eventually have a large and very automated fleet that we can monitor easily, because if a car has been running for 5 hours in 100 degree heat its tires will be in a different condition than a car that's parked," says Tesloop CEO Rahul Sonnad.
"There's a lot of learning to be done, and we'll refine what we'll eventually bring to market," says Helsel, who adds that smart tires will cost more but he expects the price of such sensors to come down in time. Initially, he adds, Goodyear smart tires are likely to roll out as part of a new car from a major automaker.
"In the end, though, these will be affordable as we push for better fuel economy and longer lasting tires," he says.
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66ea02f75cd97aa1fee14c8854275348 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/08/hurricane-irma-decimates-bitter-end-yacht-club-on-virgin-gorda.html | Irma decimates Bitter End Yacht Club | Irma decimates Bitter End Yacht Club
The Bitter End Yacht Club was completed destroyed by Hurricane Irma.YouTube
Hurricane Irma destroyed Bitter End Yacht Club, according to a video from Caribbean Buzz Helicopters.
The resort is a popular spot for the wealthy on Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands. The island is next to Necker Island, where Richard Branson stayed during the monstrous storm.
Caribbean Buzz's video shows mere shells left of buildings that were once idyllic beach huts boasting floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the ocean. Roofs of buildings were tossed on the mountain above. Piles of trees now lie along the sand.
The resort closes annually during the "tropical season," the resort said in a post on its Facebook page. Employees who were at the resort are safe, the club said in a later statement.
Communication with the island had been "severely compromised" because of Irma, and the club said it was still awaiting word on the extent of damage as of Thursday afternoon.
"We are deeply saddened by the events that have taken place due to Hurricane Irma. Our hearts are with the Bitter End Yacht Club team, friends and neighbors throughout the Caribbean who have been impacted by the storm," the club said in a statement on its website. "We are actively monitoring the situation and will provide further updates as they become available on our Facebook page. We thank everyone for their patience and support through this difficult time."
Bitter End Yacht Club did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.
VIDEO0:3500:35Walt Disney World to close early Saturday due to IrmaNews Videos
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9215cf2181c95d4ff5468034463831dc | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/08/irma-could-be-the-last-straw-for-the-florida-orange-industry-expert.html | Irma could be 'the last straw' for the Florida orange industry, commodities expert says | Irma could be 'the last straw' for the Florida orange industry, commodities expert says
VIDEO1:4801:48Irma puts squeeze on orange juice futuresSquawk Box
Hurricane force winds from Irma could devastate an already struggling Florida orange industry, commodities specialist James Cordier told CNBC on Friday.
Cordier, founder and president of OptionSellers.com, explained that at the beginning of the century Florida was producing more than 200 million boxes of oranges. Last year, the state produced only 65 million boxes, which was the smallest crop in more than 50 years, he said
"Generally speaking, an orange tree can withstand 50 mph winds. It's thought once it reaches 50 to 75, we could lose as much as 33 to 40 percent of orange production," Cordier said in an interview on "Squawk Box."
"This could really be the last straw for the Florida orange industry," he added.
Irma, one of the most powerful Atlantic storms in a century, on Friday drove toward Florida, the world's second-largest orange juice producer. The hurricane could pack winds as strong as 155 mph, the National Hurricane Center said in an advisory.
On Friday, orange juice futures were on pace for their best week since Oct. 16, 2015 — when they posted a gain of nearly 17 percent — as investors anticipated the arrival of Hurricane Irma in The Sunshine State. Futures are up 12 percent week to date.
Before the storm formed, Florida was expected to produce more than half of the U.S. oranges and nearly half of the nation's grapefruit, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's forecasts in July.
Cordier said the last time Florida faced a potential production shortage like this was when the state was hit by hurricanes in 2005. He also anticipates many Florida orange producers will retire.
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d593cf6c98bc4ef163bcd93963142fd2 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/09/rani-therapeutics-raises-100m-to-turn-injectable-drugs-into-pills.html | This Alphabet-backed startup wants to turn injectable drugs into pills | This Alphabet-backed startup wants to turn injectable drugs into pills
Patrick T. Fallon | Getty Images
Rani Therapeutics, a start-up with a new way to turn injectable drugs like insulin into pills, has raised another $39 million, bringing its total cash haul to $100 million.
The pharmaceutical sector has long searched for ways to alleviate the $289 billion annual cost of patients that neglect to take their medication. Many of these patients will avoid needle-based injections in particular, as they can be scary, expensive and/or painful.
For that reason, the so-called "oral biologics" space presents a huge opportunity for life sciences start-ups, but it also comes with significant technological hurdles.
Rani's approach involves delivering an injection straight into the intestinal wall, which the company's CEO Mir Imran describes as "pain-free."
The company has devised a robotic pill that moves through the stomach, causing the outer case to dissolve in the small intestine.
A valve releases, fusing two previously separated chemicals to form carbon dioxide. That generates the necessary force to inject a needle-like structure made of sugar into the intestinal wall. That needle will then dissolve naturally, said Imran.
The company's technology is not currently used by patients, as it is still in the pre-clinical trials phase and has not yet been tested on humans.
Imran expects that the company will bring its technology to market in "two to three" years with an initial focus on diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and other common, chronic conditions.
The new funding brings the company's total to $100 million. Current and existing investors include GV, Alphabet's ventures arm, as well as drug makers Novartis and Astra Zeneca.
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a7dc9aebc0f8d96b928af779d447785c | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/10/29rooms-connects-companies-like-cadillac-with-millennial-women.html | How to show you're having fun at interactive exhibition 29Rooms: Take a branded selfie | How to show you're having fun at interactive exhibition 29Rooms: Take a branded selfie
Many millennials believe if you can't share your experience on social media, then it never happened.
Enter media company Refinery 29's 29Rooms, an interactive exhibition of art installations that allows nonprofits, artists and companies to get in front of the Instagram and Snapchat-minded generation.
"People are craving in-person experiences more than ever before, and experiential events offer new opportunities for live social story telling," said Refinery29 executive creative director and co-founder Piera Gelardi.
The third annual event in Brooklyn that started Friday and ends Monday features 29 "rooms" and additional installation backdrops for people to explore. It sold out 20,000 tickets at $19 each to people from 45 states and 13 countries. Similar events including Color Factory, Museum of Ice Cream and 14th Factory have popped up around the country with colorful backdrops made for social media posts.
The Brooklyn event can be a great opportunity for young female-focused companies to get in front of their desired demographic. Not only does 29Rooms present a fun place to take photos and videos, but the social posts are shared widely online spreading free advertising across the internet. According to an Eventbrite survey, 78 percent of Refinery29's mostly millennial woman audience prefer experiences above material things. More than half of 29Room's ticket buyers were millennials between ages 18 to 35, and 65 percent were women.
Seven of the 29 rooms were sponsored by a company — Dunkin' Donuts, Aldo, Clarins, Juicy Couture Fragrance, Ulta Beauty, and Cadillac and Jason Wu. There were also three sponsored exhibits from Larabar, Casper and TBS' "Search Party." Snapchat was on site lending out its camera glasses Spectacles for attendees. Refinery29 declined to say how much companies paid to be in the event.
"29Rooms gives brand partners — ranging from emerging artists to corporate brands — the opportunity to have people interact with their products and brand in a completely new tangible way," Gelardi said.
See photos and social media posts from the exhibition below.
The Love Walk exhibit at the 2017 29Rooms event in Brooklyn was sponsored by Aldo.Getty Images for Refinery29
Dyson provided its hair dryer technology to give attendees a windswept look at the Sonic Spin room at the 2017 29Rooms event in Brooklyn.Getty Images for Refinery29
Two attendees pose in front of the nonsponsored Become the Masterpiece room created by Alexa Meade at the 2017 29Rooms event in Brooklyn.Courtesy of Michelle Castillo
Turner's TBS created a mural for the upcoming season of its show "Search Party."Getty Images for Refinery29
Cadillac and designer Jason Wu teamed up to create The Art of Innovation room at the 2017 29Rooms event in Brooklyn, NY.Getty Images for Refinery29
A sea of trash collected from around New York City is presented in the nonsponsored Ocean of Creativity room at the 2017 29Rooms event in Brooklyn.Courtesy of Michelle Castillo
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29d1ab0c278dc069c1443cd2796825e0 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/11/after-hours-buzz-efx-kr-more.html | After-hours buzz: EFX, KR & more | After-hours buzz: EFX, KR & more
Pedestrians walk on Wall Street near the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York.Getty Images
Check out the companies making headlines after the bell:
Shares of American Eagle Outfitters fell nearly 3 percent. The retailer declared a quarterly dividend 12.5 cents a share, the same amount it has declared since May of 2013, according to a review of press releases on the company's website.
Kroger's stock dipped slightly after multiple analysts lowered price projections for the grocer. BMO Capital cut the stock's target price to $20 per share from $24 per share. Jefferies snipped its expectations on the stock to $19 per share from $24 per share. JPMorgan dropped its estimate on the stock to $21 per share from $24 per share. Kroger reported earnings for its second quarter last week.
Equifax shares declined. The credit rating agency announced last week it suffered a data breach earlier in the summer. Three executives sold shares shortly after the company became aware of the incident but before it told the public. On Monday, the U.S. Senate Finance Committee sent a letter to Equifax CEO Richard Smith seeking additional information about who knew what and when.
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1863a53c5f0ef410abbd1eda83c280e5 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/11/bitcoin-price-falls-on-reports-that-china-is-closing-local-exchanges.html | Bitcoin price falls again on reports that China is shutting down local exchanges | Bitcoin price falls again on reports that China is shutting down local exchanges
VIDEO0:4500:45Bitcoin price falls on reports of further Chinese regulationTech Transformers
China's clampdown on cryptocurrencies has reportedly taken a new direction – to close down local bitcoin exchanges.
Initial reports from Chinese media that the government plans to close down domestic cryptocurrency exchanges have seen the virtual coin shed more than $100 since Friday. Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal also reported Monday that that the country is planning to shut down digital currency exchanges.
Bitcoin sunk to a low of $4,241 in late trading in the U.K. Friday, and reached a low of $4,108 on Monday, according to Coindesk data.
It climbed to a record high of $5,000 dollars a little over a week ago, and has shot up by nearly 350 percent since the start of the year.
The latest reported crackdown follows a decision by Chinese regulators – including the People's Bank of China (PBOC) – to ban initial coin offerings (ICOs). ICOs are a means of raising funds by selling off new digital tokens. A crackdown on ICOs would not affect the original cryptocurrency directly, but bitcoin still dropped more than $1,000 over a period of three days.
China's latest move to shut down local exchanges would mark a new direction for the country in its efforts to regulate the market.
VIDEO1:2801:28Behind Bitcoin's meteoric riseFast Money
An analyst told CNBC last week that China could be just one of many countries lining up to put increasing regulatory pressure on the $150 billion cryptocurrency market.
"The Chinese market has been perhaps the most virulently exuberant in terms of its irrational excesses and across the world regulators are looking to gradually turn up the regulatory heat on this ICO phenomenon," Charles Hayter, CEO and founder of digital currency comparison website Crypto Compare, told CNBC via email last Tuesday.
Experts also claimed the move could bring some much needed law and order to the market, by toughening up on fraud and scams.
Crypto Compare's Hayter said Monday that "nothing is ever certain" when it comes to China's rhetoric on virtual cash.
"With China nothing is ever certain and a lot is left to be desired in terms of translation and interpretation. Rumors are that the Chinese are looking to ban bitcoin again and ring-fence their fiat yuan from the crypto world. The fears of capital outflows as well as money laundering are causing the Chinese state to ratchet the rhetoric," he said via email.
He added that the latest move wouldn't affect the market too deeply, as China "isn't that important".
VIDEO2:4302:43Bitcoin priced property development 'not a gimmick,’ says UK entrepreneurSquawk Box Europe
"The recent moves against ICOs rocked the market but have left it relatively unscathed. Examples will doubtless be made – the question is who and when. The crypto markets realized earlier in the year that China isn't that important as it only accounts for less than 20 percent of volumes – Japan, the US and Korea to an extent are more than enough to sustain healthy volumes. Uncertainty for the time being in China whilst for the rest of the world its business as usual."
Chamath Palihapitiya, venture capitalist and owner of the Golden State Warriors, took to Twitter Monday to voice his own thoughts on China's cryptocurrency crackdown.
The former Facebook employee warned China to "tread carefully" in dealing with bitcoin's meteoric rise.
Tweet
The virtual currency operates on a peer-to-peer network, allowing traders to send transactions or payments without the need for a central authority.
In May, Palihapitiya said that he believed bitcoin to be "the ultimate insurance policy against autocracy, currency curbs and other forms of value destruction."
Tweet
Cryptocurrencies have seen increasing mainstream adoption, with celebrities such as Paris Hilton and Michelle Mone getting involved.
Socialite and TV personality Hilton said she would be participating in an ICO last month, led by a firm called Lydian.
Entrepreneur Mone launched a £250 million ($330 million) luxury property development in Dubai, and claimed it would be the first to be priced in bitcoin.
VIDEO0:0000:00Bitcoin mining can land you in jail in this countryDigital Original
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4026d7dfe95c1ca2e4cd045363a64716 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/11/cramer-remix-when-people-are-stuck-inside-this-stock-wins.html | VIDEO1:1201:12Cramer Remix: When people are stuck inside, this stock winsMad Money with Jim Cramer
It's rare that CNBC's Jim Cramer comes across stock market sentiment as optimistic as Monday's, where investors see the glass half full but consider it to be brimming.
"In the last 72 hours, we have seen a whole slew of events that might normally give investors pause or make them think, reflect. Instead, this time, these events just gave buyers an opportunity to get in while the getting's still good," the "Mad Money" host said.
The most unusual thing about these events is that the rally around them is predicated on a lack of negatives rather than on the presence of positives, Cramer said.
Besides Cramer's five reasons for the rally, the FANG stocks also surged. And out of the stocks in his acronym for Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google (now Alphabet), one stood out amid the weather-focused news cycle.
"Netflix always does well when people are shut in. It's as much of a storm play as Amazon, which gets new Prime members when local stores are closed for inclement weather," Cramer said.
David Taylor, CEO, Procter & GambleScott Mlyn | CNBC
As the proxy fight between activist investor Nelson Peltz and Procter & Gamble continues, P&G President and CEO David Taylor offered a rebuttal to some of Peltz's suggestions on CNBC.
"He's proposed some things that could be very dangerous to the short term, which is reorganize the company right now, and he's proposed something very dangerous for the long-term future of this company, and that is eliminating our corporate R&D," Taylor told Cramer on Monday, referring to his consumer product company's research and development.
Peltz's firm, Trian Partners, released a long-awaited proposal last Wednesday detailing changes it would like to see at P&G, including a board shake-up and splitting the business into three smaller segments.
Taylor said the suggestion to remove the company's corporate R&D, which would turn into three separate R&D departments within Peltz's structure, would deprive P&G of lucrative opportunities.
Carlos Jasso | Reuters
Dow Chemical and DuPont's long-awaited merger may have closed almost two weeks ago, but Cramer pointed out that there's more to the story.
"You have to remember, the current DowDuPont setup is only an intermediate stage before the combined company breaks itself up into three separate businesses," he said.
The company, currently the world's largest chemical player producing $73 billion in combined sales, plans to execute a split that would make it three companies: an agriculture play, a specialty chemicals play and a materials science play.
But according to Cramer, not only is the stock of DowDuPont still fairly cheap at just over 15 times next year's earnings, but investors haven't missed their shot to get in on the deal.
"You're not too late," he said. "In fact, since the deal was announced in late 2015, DuPont's stock has slightly underperformed the while Dow has only outperformed it by a hair, meaning the stock could have a lot more room to run as we await Dow-DuPont's big three-way split. I say trust [DowDuPont CEO] Ed Breen. He's the king of value creation via breakup. Long live the king!"
Finally, Cramer thought back to the tragedy that occurred on September 11, 2001. The "Mad Money" host worries that people will forget the unforgettable day.
"That's why I have a request to make here, a request that if you haven't visited the sadly beautiful fountains ringed by the names of the deceased, both the workers and the incredibly brave first responders who ran in to help save those who were trying to get out, as well as gone through the museum of remembrance itself, you must do so," he said of the September 11 memorial at the World Trade Center.
"With this landmark, the incredibly difficult-to-fathom events of that terrible day can be given the context they deserve," the "Mad Money" host continued. Go there. Go see it. Remember."
In Cramer's lightning round, he rattled off his take on some callers' favorite stocks:
Arena Pharmaceuticals: "They reinvented themselves in a way that makes it so the stock went from being overvalued to being undervalued because it came up in the new formulation. I think it's a good one."
USG Corporation: "It spiked in advance [of Hurricane Irma], now it's coming down. Now, my take is very clear here: let 'em come down and then buy 'em. I think it's absolutely the right thing because of mold, and you've got to replace it because of mold."
Questions for Cramer? Call Cramer: 1-800-743-CNBCWant to take a deep dive into Cramer's world? Hit him up! Mad Money Twitter - Jim Cramer Twitter - Facebook - Instagram - VineQuestions, comments, suggestions for the "Mad Money" website? madcap@cnbc.com
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5b8cf571dd59bda9c178a2fa26df6a56 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/11/five-states-sue-trump-administration-over-delayed-fuel-economy-fines.html | Five states sue Trump administration over delayed fuel-economy fines | Five states sue Trump administration over delayed fuel-economy fines
A Ford hybrid vehicle on the assembly line in Wayne, Michigan.Getty Images
New York, California, and three other U.S. states on Monday are suing the federal government for delaying the rollout of higher "gas-guzzler" penalties for automakers building new vehicles failing to meet minimum fuel-economy standards.
The suit, which also includes Vermont, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, is the highest-profile legal challenge to Trump administration vehicle policy to date. As part of a broad deregulation push under President Donald Trump, regulators are debating whether to grant automakers significant reductions in fuel economy requirements.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement that fuel efficient cars mean "cleaner air, better overall health for our children, and savings at the pump... We will hold the Trump Administration accountable."
Reuters reviewed a copy of the suit ahead of its filing in the U.S. Court of Appeals in New York. The challenge by the states follows a separate suit filed by three environmental groups over the delay.
The states and environmental groups are challenging the National Highway Traffic Safety Administrations (NHTSA) decision in July to suspend a 2016 Obama administration regulation that more than doubled penalties.
Automakers protested the hike, saying it could increase industry compliance costs by $1 billion annually.
Congress in 2015 ordered federal agencies to adjust civil penalties to account for inflation and, in response, NHTSA proposed to raise fines to $14 from $5.50 for every 0.1 mile per gallon of fuel that new cars and trucks consume in excess of required standards under the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) program.
"State attorneys general have made clear: we won't hesitate to act when those we serve are put at risk," New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in a statement.
In June, Schneiderman and 12 other state AGs vowed to take legal action to block rolling back vehicle emission requirements.
In March, Trump ordered a review of U.S. vehicle fuel-efficiency standards from 2022-2025 put in place by the Obama administration, saying they were too tough.
NHTSA has said the increases would potentially result in an additional $30 million in annual civil penalties. Automakers argue the increases would dramatically raise costs, since they would also boost the value of fuel economy credits used to meet requirements.
Some automakers historically have opted to pay fines instead of meeting fuel efficiency requirements - including some luxury automakers. Jaguar Land Rover, owned by Indias Tata Motors , and Daimler AG paid the most in fines in recent years.
NHTSA said in July many automakers were falling behind current fuel standards and face "the possibility of paying larger CAFE penalties over the next several years."
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85c474d642f6fdeb77e77658878fc273 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/11/here-are-some-of-the-records-hurricane-irma-set.html | Here are some of the records Hurricane Irma set | Here are some of the records Hurricane Irma set
VIDEO0:4800:48Hurricane Irma's path of destruction across FloridaDigital Original
Hurricane Irma has set some pretty staggering records.
The storm has been steadily weakening after leaving a path of devastation through the Caribbean and up the coast of Florida over the last several days.
It has been an unusual storm, and, combined with Harvey, has rather suddenly turned 2017 into an exceptionally active hurricane season.
"Basically your hurricane season was moving along at normal until about 10 days ago," said Colorado State University meteorologist Philip Klotzbach, in an interview with CNBC. "Now we are at twice normal."
A Cuban wades through a flooded street in Havana, on September 10, 2017. Deadly Hurricane Irma battered central Cuba on Saturday, knocking down power lines, uprooting trees and ripping the roofs off homes as it headed towards Florida.Yamil Lage | AFP | Getty Images
Klotzbach has kept up a running list of several records Irma has set, met or broken.
Klotzbach
Here are a few highlights:
185 mph lifetime max winds — the strongest storm to exist in the Atlantic Ocean outside of the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico on record. Hurricane Allen in 1980 had 190 mph winds.
185 mph max winds for 37 hours — the longest any cyclone around the globe has maintained that intensity on record. Typhoon Haiyan had previously held the record in the Pacific at 24 hours.
It was the strongest storm on record to hit the Leeward Islands.
The first Category 5 hurricane to hit the Bahamas since 1992.
The first major hurricane to make landfall in Florida since Wilma (2005).
It was the first Category 5 hurricane to make landfall in Cuba since 1924.
The storm's longevity is particularly striking, Klotzbach said in an interview with CNBC.
"Obviously Irma has been a pretty super-active storm, very long-lived, intense hurricane," he said. "It didn't have the strongest winds ever recorded, but it stayed very strong for a long time."
The timing of how it strengthened was also unusual.
"All of our superstorms in the Atlantic tend to get stronger in the Caribbean or the Gulf," Klotzbach said. "This one got super strong in the middle of the Atlantic."
Irma is now the second major hurricane to hit the U.S. this season, ending the longest period without a major landfall since 1850. Before Hurricane Harvey struck Texas earlier this season, the last major hurricane (by the Saffir-Simpson scale) to hit the U.S. was Wilma in 2005.
"We went from the longest streak on record of no landfalling hurricanes to two in two weeks," Klotzbach said.
VIDEO2:3202:32The economic cost of Hurricanes Harvey and IrmaPower Lunch
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1ac6bd2cf17ea24018e587a8ebf88e08 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/11/pg-ceo-calls-nelson-peltzs-proposals-very-dangerous.html | VIDEO0:5200:52P&G CEO: Peltz's proposals 'very dangerous'Mad Money with Jim Cramer
As the proxy fight between activist investor Nelson Peltz and Procter & Gamble continues, P&G President and CEO David Taylor offered a rebuttal to some of Peltz's suggestions on CNBC.
"He's proposed some things that could be very dangerous to the short term, which is reorganize the company right now, and he's proposed something very dangerous for the long-term future of this company, and that is eliminating our corporate R&D," Taylor told "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer on Monday, referring to his consumer product company's research and development.
Peltz's firm, Trian Partners, released a long-awaited proposal last Wednesday detailing changes it would like to see at P&G, including a board shake-up and splitting the business into three smaller segments.
Taylor said the suggestion to remove the company's corporate R&D, which would turn into three separate R&D departments within Peltz's structure, would deprive P&G of lucrative opportunities.
"I can give you several examples: the sachets that are often used for samples in the U.S. and they're sold by the hundreds of millions in developing markets — the process to make them faster than anybody can make them commercially, and at a lower cost, was developed using our liquids understanding from our liquids businesses and our converting capability that comes out of our paper businesses," Taylor said. "If you had separate businesses with separate R&D, you wouldn't have made that connection and would have missed the opportunity to take advantage of a real plus."
The CEO also said that he and Peltz had spoken many times about the activist's ideas, despite the fact that, according to Taylor, the data Peltz used was dated.
He said that Peltz was coordinating with a former P&G executive who left the company eight years ago and had lost touch with the organizational changes being made.
"I've listened to his ideas because I believe it's important to listen to investors," Taylor said of Peltz. "But in the first several meetings, he didn't advance new ideas, and the few new ideas he did advance weren't right for our company right now. We've already made many of the changes he advocates. A more focused company, we're there. A company that has people empowered and accountable, we're there today and we're executing. The last thing we need right now is a reorganization."
Taylor added that he was surprised by Peltz's activism and the proxy fight as a whole, particularly because of the changes P&G has allegedly implemented.
"We didn't ask for the proxy fight, but I'm absolutely committed, as is our board of directors and the people of P&G, to do what's right for the short, mid and long term for the company. And for that reason, we're fighting it," he said.
While Taylor acknowledged the several-year period in which P&G's business stalled and even lost share in some countries, he said the company responded with an overhaul that worked.
"We didn't accept that we can't improve. We made the changes to our portfolio. We made the changes in our organization. We're leaner today than we were five years ago and especially 10 years ago. And we made the changes in our culture to be able to set ourselves up with a much more focused, empowered and accountable organization," he said, echoing some of the changes Peltz called for in his 93-page proposal.
And when it came to considering Peltz, a 50-year veteran of the consumer goods space who says he doesn't know how to spell "lose," for P&G's board, Taylor was not interested.
"We want the absolute best for our company, whether it's a member of the board of directors or whether it's our senior management. The standard is the best. And we've done our homework and he's not the right person for P&G right now," the CEO said. "Many people tell me, 'Why not?' 'Why not' is not the governance standard for our company. We want 'Why?' Who are the right people to bring to the company that would add value for the future?"
VIDEO19:2019:20P&G CEO calls Nelson Peltz's proposals 'very dangerous' in short and long termMad Money with Jim Cramer
Questions for Cramer? Call Cramer: 1-800-743-CNBCWant to take a deep dive into Cramer's world? Hit him up! Mad Money Twitter - Jim Cramer Twitter - Facebook - Instagram - VineQuestions, comments, suggestions for the "Mad Money" website? madcap@cnbc.com
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baa4cb5bec1a1ebcae9c570b01330b54 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/11/senate-finance-committee-wants-to-know-who-knew-what-and-when-at-equifax.html | Senate Finance Committee wants to know who knew what and when at Equifax | Senate Finance Committee wants to know who knew what and when at Equifax
VIDEO0:5400:54Senate Finance Committee questions EquifaxNews Videos
The Senate Finance Committee is seeking additional information from Equifax about the nature of the data breach it reported last week and the timing of insider stock sales in the days immediately after the company discovered the problem.
The breach, affecting the personal information of 143 million people, has prompted outcries on Capitol Hill and calls for hearings and additional disclosures. Already, state regulators said they would look into the matter after Equifax disclosed the issue last week.
As one of three major credit reporting companies, Equifax gathers information on hundreds of millions of Americans.
On Monday, the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, chaired by Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, sent a letter to Equifax CEO Richard Smith asking for additional information, including whether the compromised data included records related to the Internal Revenue Service, Social Security, and Medicare and Medicaid.
"This breach will cause irreparable harm to programs within this Committee's jurisdiction by way of stolen identity, refund fraud, healthcare fraud and entitlement fraud," the letter said.
Ron Wyden (D-OR), left, and Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT), speak during the Senate Finance Committee hearing on Congress and U.S. Tariff Policy on April 16, 2015 in Washington.Getty Images
The Senate committee is also asking when the company's board and three Equifax insiders who sold $1.8 million in stock in early August were made aware of the breach, which Equifax has said it discovered on July 29.
The letter, signed by Hatch and Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, who is the ranking Democrat, seeks a response from Equifax by Sept. 28.
Shares of Equifax fell 8 percent on Monday after dropping 13 percent on Friday.
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c264ffecb5e1d632842d0f16bbb28a90 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/11/trump-to-weigh-more-aggressive-us-strategy-on-iran-sources-say.html | Trump to weigh more aggressive US strategy on Iran, sources say | Trump to weigh more aggressive US strategy on Iran, sources say
U.S. President Donald Trump holds a news conference in the East Room of the White House April 12, 2017 in Washington, DC.Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images
President Donald Trump is weighing a strategy that calls for more aggressive U.S. responses to Iran's forces, its Shi'ite Muslim proxies in Iraq and Syria, and its support for militant groups, according to five current and former U.S. officials.
The proposal was prepared by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, national security adviser H.R. McMaster and other top officials, and presented to Trump at a National Security Council meeting on Friday, the sources said.
It could be agreed and made public before the end of September, two of the sources said. All of the sources are familiar with the draft and requested anonymity because Trump has yet to act on it.
The plan is intended to increase the pressure on Tehran to curb its ballistic missile programs and support for militants, the sources said.
"I would call it a broad strategy for the range of Iranian malign activities: financial materials, support for terror, destabilization in the region, especially Syria and Iraq and Yemen," said one senior administration official.
The proposal also targets cyber espionage and other activity and potentially nuclear proliferation, the official said.
The administration is still debating a new stance on a 2015 agreement, sealed by President Barack Obama, Trump's predecessor, to curb Iran's nuclear weapons program. The draft urges consideration of tougher economic sanctions if Iran violates the 2015 agreement.
VIDEO3:1903:19Iran not a welcoming environment for businesses: Prince TurkiSquawk Box Europe
The proposal includes more aggressive U.S. interceptions of Iranian arms shipments such as those to Houthi rebels in Yemen and Palestinian groups in Gaza and Egypt's Sinai, a current official and a knowledgeable former U.S. official said.
The plan also recommends the United States react more aggressively in Bahrain, whose Sunni Muslim monarchy has been suppressing majority Shi'ites, who are demanding reforms, the sources said.
In addition, U.S. naval forces could react more forcefully when harassed by armed speed boats operated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran's paramilitary and espionage contingent, three of the sources said.
U.S. ships have fired flares and warning shots to drive off IRGC boats that made what were viewed as threatening approaches after refusing to heed radio warnings in the passageway for 35 percent of the world's seaborne petroleum exports.
U.S. commanders now are permitted to open fire only when they think their vessels and the lives of their crews are endangered. The sources offered no details of the proposed changes in the rules, which are classified.
The plan does not include an escalation of U.S. military activity in Syria and Iraq. Trump's national security aides argued that a more muscular military response to Iranian proxies in Syria and Iraq would complicate the U.S.-led fight against Islamic State, which they argued should remain the top priority, the sources said.
Mattis and McMaster, as well as the heads of the U.S. Central Command and U.S. Special Forces Command, have opposed allowing U.S. commanders in Syria and Iraq to react more forcefully to provocations by the IRGC, Hezbollah and other Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias, all five sources said.
The advisers are concerned that more permissive rules of engagement would divert U.S. forces from defeating the remnants of Islamic State, the sources said.
Moreover, looser rules could embroil the United States in a conflict with Iran while U.S. forces remain overstretched, and Trump has authorized a small troop increase for Afghanistan, said the second senior administration official.
Another former U.S. official said Hezbollah and Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias in Iraq have been "very helpful" in recapturing vast swaths of the caliphate that Islamic State declared in Syria and Iran in 2014.
U.S. troops supporting Kurdish and Sunni Arab fighters battling Islamic State in Syria have been wrestling with how to respond to hostile actions by Iranian-backed forces.
In some of the most notable cases, U.S. aircraft shot down two Iranian-made drones in June. Both were justified as defensive acts narrowly tailored to halt an imminent threat on the ground.
Trump's opposition to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), poses a dilemma for policymakers.
Most of his national security aides favor remaining in the pact, as do U.S. allies Israel and Saudi Arabia despite their reservations about Iran's adherence to the agreement, said U.S. officials involved in the discussions.
"The main issue for us was to get the president not to discard the JCPOA. But he had very strong feelings, backed by (U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations) Nikki Haley, that they should be more aggressive with Iran," one of the two U.S. officials said. "Almost all the strategies presented to him were ones that tried to preserve the JCPOA but lean forward on these other (issues.)"
VIDEO3:2603:26Sarah Sanders: President supports strong sanctions against Russia, Iran and North KoreaPower Lunch
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95b3aef16c7ae31a52451a33302262a3 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/12/apple-iphone-x-announced.html | Apple shows iPhone X, its biggest iPhone redesign in a decade, which starts at $999 | Apple shows iPhone X, its biggest iPhone redesign in a decade, which starts at $999
VIDEO5:0505:05Watch Apple show off the 'future of the smartphone' — the iPhone XDigital Original
Apple announced the iPhone X at its event on Tuesday. It's pronounced "iPhone 10."
The iPhone X is Apple's most high-end iPhone to date. It offers a complete redesign from the current iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus and was introduced in addition to the new iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus.
It features a new 5.8-inch OLED display that's more colorful than the LCD screens Apple used in earlier iPhones. Apple is branding it the "Super Retina Display." The screen runs almost top to bottom and side to side, too, something Apple has never done before.
Apple said OLED displays come with trade-offs compared with its Retina Displays, but that its Super Retina Display supports high dynamic range, offers the best color accuracy on the market and 3-D Touch support.
Source: Apple
There's no longer a home button. You swipe up from the bottom of the screen to return home. That gesture also allows a user to multitask — swipe up and pause, and you can multitask and switch between apps. Users can switch between apps by swiping along the bottom of the screen, too. Users can call up Siri by saying "Hey Siri" or by pressing the side button.
Since there's no home button, Touch ID no longer exists on the front of the phone. Apple will allow users to unlock the iPhone X with a new feature called Face ID. Apple uses an infrared camera, a front camera and other sensors to first record and then detect a user's unique face.
When you look at your iPhone, it will detect your face and will automatically unlock, even in the dark. Apple says it uses neural networks to create a mathematical model of your face and then compares that in real time, invisibly, to make sure it's actually you. The A11 Bionic chip has a built-in neural engine to process your face, the company said.
Apple said you can't spoof Face ID with photographs or even professionally made masks, which it said it had folks in Hollywood design to help enhance security. The phone won't unlock if your eyes are closed or if you're looking away.
Source: Apple
Apple said Touch ID is the gold standard for consumer protection and that there's a 1 in 50,000 chance that someone can randomly unlock your iPhone with their fingerprint. With Face ID, it's now 1 in a million. It also works with Apple Pay, you just look at it to authenticate, and third-party apps such as Mint, 1Password and E-Trade.
Face ID can be used to create special 3-D emojis that share similar facial reactions to you. The feature is called Animoji, and you can control them with your face thanks to its ability to map more than 50 facial muscles. Animoji can be sent inside the Messages app.
Like the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, the iPhone X supports wireless charging and is water-resistant.
The iPhone X has dual 12-megapixel sensors just like in the iPhone 8 Plus and a newer telephoto lens that lets in more light. The front and rear cameras support portrait mode, which allows users to take professional-looking photos by blurring the background. It also has dual optical image stabilization for both lenses, which helps prevent blur while moving and in low-light. A new Quad LED True Tone flash also improves pictures shot in the dark.
The iPhone X will be available in space gray and silver. Models with 64 GB and 256 GB will be available, starting at $999. Orders start Oct. 27 and shipments begin Nov. 3.
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2c0c84c0a3fe1d8b440412632755172b | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/12/apple-stock-movement-during-iphone-x-event.html | Apple shares fall after iPhone X release date was later than expected | Apple shares fall after iPhone X release date was later than expected
VIDEO1:0601:06Apple unveils iPhone XPower Lunch
Apple investors bought its shares during the build-up to Tuesday, but then sold the news.
Apple shares were trading at $161.37 at 1 p.m. Eastern time, when the event began, and climbed as high as high as $163.75 at 1:55 p.m., when CEO Tim Cook began talking about the iPhone.
That move added billions of dollars to Apple's market value.
Yet the stock began to slide once Cook and other executives began sharing details on the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and the iPhone X (pronounced "ten").
While the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus will be out in September, when Apple typically launches its new iPhones, the iPhone X will launch later. Customers will be able to pre-order the iPhone X beginning in October before it launches in November. This is unprecedented for Apple, which hasn't ever launched an iPhone so late in the year, and so close to the important holiday shopping season.
By the time the event was over, Apple shares had slid to $160.20 and were in the red slightly for the day.
Still the shares are still priced near recent record highs.
As of 2:55 p.m. Eastern time, when the event ended, Apple's market value was $837.6 billion and it remained the most valuable company in the world.
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689e8f72171a521806e2febf0829c07f | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/12/cnbc-exclusive-cnbcs-squawk-box-interviews-treasury-secretary-steven-mnuchin-from-cnbc-institutional-investor-delivering-alpha-conference-today.html | CNBC Exclusive: CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Interviews Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin from CNBC Institutional Investor Delivering Alpha Conference Today | CNBC Exclusive: CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Interviews Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin from CNBC Institutional Investor Delivering Alpha Conference Today
WHEN: Today, Tuesday, September 12th
WHERE: CNBC's "Squawk Box"
Following is the unofficial transcript of a CNBC EXCLUSIVE interview with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and "Squawk Box" Co-Anchors Joe Kernen, Becky Quick and Andrew Ross Sorkin live from the CNBC Institutional Investor Delivering Alpha conference in New York City on Tuesday, September 12th.
Following are links to the video of the interview on CNBC.com: https://www.cnbc.com/video/2017/09/12/treasury-secretary-steven-mnuchin-our-hope-is-to-reach-bipartisan-deal-on-taxes.html, https://www.cnbc.com/video/2017/09/12/treasury-secretary-steve-mnuchin-we-are-super-focused-on-tax-reform.html ,https://www.cnbc.com/video/2017/09/12/treasury-secretary-steve-mnuchin-president-trump-is-absolutely-a-republican.html and https://www.cnbc.com/video/2017/09/12/treasury-secretary-steve-mnuchin-hedge-funds-will-not-have-benefit-of-carried-interest.html.
Mandatory credit: CNBC Institutional Investor Delivering Alpha conference.
BECKY QUICK: Thank you so much.
STEVEN MNUCHIN: Thank you. It's a pleasure to be with you in New York.
BECKY QUICK: It's a pleasure to have you here. This whole conference is about Delivering Alpha, and we know that you know this and understand it very well from your previous life at Goldman Sachs and beyond. And we have an entire list of questions that we want to ask you about in that vein. But, given the historic events that we've seen over the last several days, first with Hurricane Harvey and now with Hurricane Irma, we would like to maybe start off in this vein. I know you've been meeting with the President recently, and I just wonder if you can give us an update from the Administration's point of view about where we stand with these storms right now.
STEVEN MNUCHIN: Sure. Well, starting with the first storm, the President has just been incredibly engaged. We've been having cabinet meetings constantly, working with FEMA. On Sunday I was with the President at Camp David. We were monitoring the situation via video. And then Sunday afternoon I went with the Vice President to FEMA headquarters.
Let me just especially thank all the people in both the states and the federal government who have been working round the clock to save lives. It's been an incredibly -- you know, a very important response to just two historically terrible storms.
BECKY QUICK: We know that it is still very early to try and get a feel for the financial impact of these storms. We are still in a recovery and making sure that people are getting through the storm. But we also know that those numbers will be very large, billions and billions of dollars. We've seen an initial payment for that coming from the government with the bill that has been passed for $15 billion for Harvey. But what do we do with the second round of funding? We know the numbers will go up.
STEVEN MNUCHIN: Again, I think the first thing is the President wanted to be very clear, we needed to make sure we got the money to the states so that they could protect citizens and property, which was the most important issue. And we accomplished that. And the first payment is a down payment. We'll see what we need to spend more. But the President will make sure that whatever the federal government needs to contribute to this, we will do so.
JOE KERNEN: 100 to 150 is Moody's latest estimate for both storms, which would be equal to Katrina. Any effect on ongoing GDP numbers, do you think?
Do you have an estimate, maybe half a percent perhaps; and, secondly, does the Fed change anything that it was planning to do based on this, and even had Mark Grant say, it's not just -- because they were going to hold off supposedly in September, anyway -- they might even cut at this point. Could you imagine that?
STEVEN MNUCHIN: Well, I can't comment on what the Federal did because, as you know, as Treasury Secretary I respect their independence. I would say there clearly is going to be an impact on GDP in the short run. We will make it up in the long run as we rebuild. That will help GDP. So I think it's too early to tell what the exact estimates will be, but, you know, I think it won't have a bad impact on the economy.
JOE KERNEN: We may not get back to the Fed, so I got to ask you, Yellen, did he get reappointed?
STEVEN MNUCHIN: I'm working closely with the President on the issue. He hasn't made any decisions, and that's one of the things he's still considering.
JOE KERNEN: He has a bunch of people now that there are some openings on the Fed.
STEVEN MNUCHIN: Yeah, there's a lot of good people. The Chair is, obviously, quite talented and she's being considered, but there's a lot of great people that we have been meeting with, considering as well.
BECKY QUICK: Is Gary Cohn still on that list?
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: Where do you think Gary Cohn stands in all of this, given that the President has talked about him as a candidate and, yet, what we do hear constantly, at least over the past couple of weeks post-Charlottesville and some of the comments he made publicly, that perhaps maybe the relationship has been compromised.
STEVEN MNUCHIN: I appreciate you asking me, and I would be disappointed if you didn't. But I obviously will respect the confidentiality of the process and not make any comments on any specific people that the President is considering.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: Putting that aside, what about the relationship with Gary Cohn, your own relationship with him, the President's relationship with him?
There's a view within the marketplace, and when we talk to Ray Dalio and others all about this, that Gary Cohn and you represent a very important piece of this administration; and that if, perhaps, Gary Cohn were to leave, that the markets would take that as a bad sign.
STEVEN MNUCHIN: Well, let me say, Gary and I have worked very close together for a very long period of time. We worked together at Goldman Sachs. We were in the same partner cross at Goldman Sachs, working very closely together on taxes. I was with him yesterday on the Hill. We will be back on the Hill this afternoon, we'll both be at the White House for a dinner with the President tonight on tax reform. And, let me just say, you know, I appreciate working with him.
JOE KERNEN: You mentioned taxes now. You are helping us get into all the different areas where we want to go.
The "kumbaya" moment, I think that's one of your words you use a lot.
STEVEN MNUCHIN: Yeah.
JOE KERNEN: Senator Schumer, Speaker Pelosi, does that -- that the President had recently, does that change the dynamic, in your view, of how to approach tax reform?
STEVEN MNUCHIN: Not at all. I would say, first of all, I give the President a lot of credit. We were in the middle of two major hurricanes. We needed to get money to the states. We were in the middle of having the debt limit, and the President was very clear. He wanted to cut a deal. He wanted to cut a deal quickly. He moved the debt limit substantially further back. We had to fund the government. We were running out of money. I was operating it like a piggy bank, and we got out of there and showed the American public that we are putting politics aside.
As it relates to tax reform, it's been my number one priority, it will be, and we're going to get this done.
JOE KERNEN: Does it change it from reconciliation to a bipartisan, oh, the President flew with Senator Heitkamp back to North Dakota. Do you foresee this being permanent in 60 votes, or what we just said Senator Perdue said just outright, said this is going to be reconciliation?
STEVEN MNUCHIN: I always said our hope is that it is bipartisan. This is about creating jobs. This is about creating a middle income tax cut. This is about making our businesses competitive. We have one of the highest tax rates in the world. We have tax on worldwide income, we have this crazy concept of deferral. We have trillions of dollars offshore. So these are issues that both Democrats and Republicans should understand.
Having said that, if we can't get 60 votes, we are prepared to use reconciliation to get it done. This is the most important issue for the American economy.
BECKY QUICK: Let's talk about the meetings you have later today. You just mentioned that you will be going to Capitol Hill to talk to Senators there about it. I know you are meeting with Republicans. Will you also be meeting with Democrats there from the Senate Budget Committee?
STEVEN MNUCHIN: Well, first of all, I have been meeting with Democrats and Republicans since January. I have been working on taxes with the President since the campaign. This program we have been working on for a long time and meeting with lots of different groups, both Republicans and Democrats on this.
BECKY QUICK: As you are getting closer to finding more details, I know you said that those will be released later this month. But we still hear a pretty wide variety of opinions about where we could see a corporate tax rate; everyone from Paul Ryan who says in the low 20s recently to the President saying 15%.
Where do you think it falls within those ranges?
STEVEN MNUCHIN: Well, let me just comment, I think on the business side -- and I mentioned this is business, so this isn't just the corporate tax rate. This is also we want to create relief for pass-throughs, which are a major part of the economy. We need to make this system competitive, and that's what we're trying to do, and as I mentioned, turning it from a worldwide system to a territorial system.
The President has made it clear since the campaign, ideally he'd like to get it down to 15%. I don't know if we will be able to achieve that, given the budget issues. But we're going to get this down to a very competitive level, and what the exact number is less important. And what's more important is making sure we have a competitive field.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: If that's in the mid 20s, is that a win?
STEVEN MNUCHIN: Yet I'm not going to comment on what's a win and what's not a win. As I said, this is a pass-fail exercise. So passing tax reform, which hasn't been done in 31 years, that's a win. And what the exact number is, we'll see.
JOE KERNEN: The pass-through issue is what drives a lot of people on the left crazy, because all the rich people are going to rush, become LLCs to get to 15% or 20%, and that's part of the 5 trillion that the left is worried about they're saying could add to the deficit. 2 trillion of it almost is from the past-through issue. You're not going to get any -- I can't imagine any Democrats coming on board for that.
STEVEN MNUCHIN: Well, first of all, we are very concerned about the debt. As you know, it has gone from 10 trillion to 20 trillion, which we just passed, okay? And we are concerned about that.
Having said that, we are focused on economic growth. The difference between 2 and 3% is over $2 trillion to the government. And we're going to make sure that when we set pass-through rules -- and, again, this is what we have been working on since January -- that they are not used as loopholes.
JOE KERNEN: There's a way to do that.
STEVEN MNUCHIN: That they are.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: How do you do it? Just give us a framework for what that looks like.
STEVEN MNUCHIN: For one, services companies that are pass-throughs will not get the benefit of the rate. So, you know, kind of what we're not looking to do is, if you earn money that's clearly income, okay, if you are an accountant firm and that's clearly income, you'll be taxed at income rates. You won't be taxed at pass-through rates.
If you are a business that's creating manufacturing jobs, you're going to get the benefit of that rate, because that's going to be passed through to help create jobs and better wages.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: One of the other issues, which matters a bit in most part to this audience has been the issue of carried interest and what rate that gets taxed at. The President talked for a long time about of closing that loophole. Does that get closed or changed under your tax plan?
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STEVEN MNUCHIN: The President's been very clear that for hedge funds they will not have the benefit of carried interest. One of the things that we are working on is, as it relates to other entities that do create jobs, whether it's in different sectors, we want to make sure that we encourage jobs. So that's something we're still working on.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: This is where it gets complicated, because partnership accounting is difficult. And then you get into oil and gas, you get into real estate, private equity. How do you separate them out?
STEVEN MNUCHIN: Well, the good news is we have over a hundred people at the Treasury working on this. We have a lot of people at the House and the Senate. Those --
[CROSSTALK]
STEVEN MNUCHIN: I know this issue is incredibly important to everybody in this room. It's less important to the American public and creating jobs.
JOE KERNEN: You alluded to the difference between 3% and 2%. So we're talking about dynamic scoring. We're talking about not paying for this.
I imagine that's going to be in the final plan. It's not going to be what the Democrats want in terms of every dollar being accounted for. That's still the case.
STEVEN MNUCHIN: I can't comment on what the Democrats want, but I can comment on what makes sense. So, first of all, dynamic scoring does work, okay, to the extent that you change rules.
So if we go from an international system to a territorial system, we will bring back jobs. We will bring back trillions of dollars, and that's going to have an impact on the economy. So, yes, I expect there will be a couple hundred billion dollars accounted for on dynamic scoring.
JOE KERNEN: I think Larry Summers called it a ludicrous supply side --
BECKY QUICK: I think that was the word.
JOE KERNEN: -- fantasies or something.
STEVEN MNUCHIN: Well, I would never say anything bad about another Treasury Secretary, although there's lots and lots of economists that will line up on the other side of that argument.
JOE KERNEN: Let me just take this one more step further. Let's say -- and I don't know whether you know for sure that it won't happen. Let's say the President says, Chuck, Nancy, I'm going to give you infrastructure along with this if you go along with this.
You're talking about dynamic scoring potentially adding deficit and an infrastructure bill. Is that possible that we -- we would be at 30 trillion, in no time.
STEVEN MNUCHIN: Again, we have no doubt, we are not going from 20 trillion to 30 trillion. But what the President is focused on is creating jobs, creating economic opportunities, creating manufacturing in the United States, having us competitive. And that's what we're going to do.
JOE KERNEN: Do you see him proposing that, or do you know whether he will, as a way to bring them in?
STEVEN MNUCHIN: Absolutely. The President is very focused on infrastructure. We've been working on a plan. We will reach out to Democrats on that plan. And that's absolutely on --
JOE KERNEN: Would it be part of tax reform?
STEVEN MNUCHIN: You know, people have asked us whether we should put them together or not. My inclination is that it makes it more complicated. You're talking about two complicated issues. I think when you put them together, it's harder to do, but to the extent that the Democrats and the Republicans want to put it together, Congress has that option.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: Let me just ask you about the timing involved, which is you've had a remarkable sense of confidence that something is going to happen, something is going to happen this fall. But you also were quite confident and explicit earlier in the year, suggesting that we would have signed tax reform by August.
What was the miss in terms of the confidence, then and has something changed?
STEVEN MNUCHIN: Well, one of the things this audience understands, as do I, that markets move. So the answer was, in January, we had a plan that was lined out, working with Congress, that we thought we could get tax reform done by August. And that was based upon doing health care first and doing health care fast.
I think, as you know, health care took longer than we expected. We then got into the August recess. That's what pushed back tax reform. So the market moved. I'm now incredibly hopeful we're going to get this done by the end of the year.
BECKY QUICK: The President still occasionally tweets about health care. Is it off the agenda, as far as you're concerned, right now? Are we moving on to tax reform and beyond before that circles back around?
STEVEN MNUCHIN: The President still very much wants to get health care done. So it's not the major focus at the moment. But on the President's agenda, he wants to get health care done.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: Steve Bannon, over the weekend on 60 Minutes, effectively said that you were misled; that the administration was misled by the Senate, by Congress, about what was possible in terms of this time line. Do you think you were misled?
STEVEN MNUCHIN: Again, I had the opportunity to work with Steve closely on the campaign and over the last year, and I respect him. I think the word "misled" was a little extreme.
I do think there was an agenda. As he said on TV, when the President got elected, we sat down with the leadership and we looked at a calendar. Having said that, let me be clear. Obama took a long time to get his two major accomplishments done. So for us to get one accomplishment done this year in the President's first term will be historic, and that's what we're working on.
BECKY QUICK: Is there any way that tax reform could be backdated to January 1st of 2017?
STEVEN MNUCHIN: Absolutely. Still something we're considering, and would be a big boon to the economy.
JOE KERNEN: Does it matter if it's only ten years?
STEVEN MNUCHIN: I've been consistent on this. Permanent is better than temporary, and temporary is better than nothing.
JOE KERNEN: So you wanted 18 months. This has been reported. You wanted 18 months on this debt ceiling, and then at the last minute supposedly you tried to talk him into six. It came out three. Maybe not what you wanted.
Does it set us up for this brinkmanship -- I'm sorry. Does it set the Republicans up for brinkmanship in December with the Democrats, when they say, We're not going to do tax reform unless you do this our way?
STEVEN MNUCHIN: Well, I did want 18 months. And as Treasury Secretary, I obviously want the longest period of time for the debt ceiling. You know, as I said, Congress has every right to control spend debt. And if ultimately the government shuts down, which would not be a good thing, that's their right if they can't agree on spending. The debt ceiling is about paying for things that we've already committed to.
So I did want to extend it longer. The President, rightfully so, wanted to get this done. And particularly in the wake of two hurricanes, we'll come back on the debt ceiling again. We have a commitment from the Democrats and the Republicans that we're never going to let the government default. And I'm comfortable where we are.
JOE KERNEN: The rationale was we can get this debt ceiling stuff out of the way and work on tax reform. But a lot of other people say it just makes it even more difficult. It mucks up the works in December for getting tax reform.
STEVEN MNUCHIN: I don't think so at all. We are super-focused on tax reform now. It clears the calendar for tax reform for December 8th. We have the continuing funding of the government through December 8th, so we don't have a shutdown at the end of this month in the middle of two hurricanes. And I think that's something the President was very focused on.
And for December, we will be negotiating funding. Now, we could have done -- and this wasn't widely reported. We could have done a one-year deal on the debt ceiling. Had we done that, it would have been linked to one year of additional funding for the government.
But the President wants to raise military spending. That's one of his main priorities. Particularly in the midst of what's going on in North Korea and other areas. The President wants to increase military spending, and that's something he's going to demand for December.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: Let's go back to taxes for one sec, and on the individual side.
I remember when you sat with us on the set of "Squawk Box," and one of the things you said was that the wealthiest among us, their tax rate will not go down. Do you think that's still true?
STEVEN MNUCHIN: So I feel very honored from that interview because in my confirmation I now have a rule named after me. So there's the Buffett Rule and the Volcker Rule, and now there's the Mnuchin Rule, which was named after what I said.
And the objective, I think, as you know, we're looking at a system where we get rid of state and local tax deductions. We're trying to get the federal government out of the business of subsidizing the states.
So in the high-tax states, two of which I've had the opportunity to live in, New York and California, yes, I can assure you that there will not be a tax decrease.
BECKY QUICK: What will that mean for states like New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, California, that can no longer be backed up by the federal government; that they will have to have these high rates and realize that their taxpayers are going to get crushed?
STEVEN MNUCHIN: Well, I'm hopeful in these states that taxes don't go up. So we'll have a slight rate decrease on the high end to offset the deductions. And I'm hopeful we can size that so that it doesn't hurt New York and California. They may not get a tax decrease. But these are the people that will --
BECKY QUICK: They will get a federal tax decrease, but will end up paying it in state taxes. That's how it's going to go down?
STEVEN MNUCHIN: Again, I'm hopeful that they'll get a slight decrease in federal government, which will offset what they will lose on the state deductions. But, again, these are the details that, although the group of six has a plan, are going to go through final negotiation and the two tax-writing committees.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: Talking about state taxes. It appears when you think of the competition going on amongst states these days and in the incentives that they've been offering for different companies to comes to them -- Foxconn obviously making the big deal with the state of Wisconsin, Amazon just announced last week a big competition for them to come. Some of these incentives seem great because they're great jobs. But there's a larger question in the case of Foxconn about whether they actually pay off and whether it takes 25 to 30 years, even, to pay off. How do you think states should think about that?
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STEVEN MNUCHIN: I think the great thing about the Foxconn announcement is that we have manufacturing being brought back into the United States and being brought back into the heartland of the United States where we need jobs. So I think the President was instrumental in that, and to me that's a huge win.
I can't comment on the state negotiations, because I wasn't part of that. We were part of the deal of bringing them into the U.S. and making sure that we could create a competitive system. And I think one of the reasons they did that is because they were comfortable in where we were going on tax reform.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: Okay. That make sense to you. But I'm saying from a state's perspective, if you said to yourself, as a citizen of a state, it will take 25, 30 years for us to get our money back, if we get it back at all, does that make sense?
STEVEN MNUCHIN: Again, I haven't looked at the specifics -- I mean, I'm familiar with what the state offered, but I haven't gone through the numbers on whether it makes sense or not. I assume they think it does make sense, and I think competition between the states is healthy.
JOE KERNEN: You downplayed the overtures to the Democrats a little bit, that the President agreed upon, based upon that it was necessary for hurricane relief, et cetera. But it's been obviously played up a lot in terms of how Mitch McConnell feels about this, about how -- whether Paul Ryan, you know, looked askance at the way it went.
Are you worried that certain relationships are beyond repair between the President and certain Republicans at this point, and that he needs to actually court Democrats at this point?
Or you think all those Republicans will be there for you? They weren't there for you on health care.
STEVEN MNUCHIN: Well, I don't want to downplay it, because I think it was important that the President reached out to Democrats and showed that he could get things done on a bipartisan basis. And I think that's incredibly important. The President would like to have bipartisan support.
Having said that, I can tell you, I was with Paul yesterday. He was with the President at dinner earlier in the week. I'm going to be with Mitch again today.
These relationships are very important, and the relationships with the President are there.
JOE KERNEN: I saw a headline that it was the end of the two-party system.
STEVEN MNUCHIN: I don't think we have to worry about the failure of the two-party system.
JOE KERNEN: The President is still Republican?
STEVEN MNUCHIN: The President is absolutely a Republican.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: I wanted to turn the conversation --
STEVEN MNUCHIN: As am I, by the way. I know on this show and others that's a question.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: I want to ask you about North Korea and where we are. North Korea has said that the U.S. will "pay a due price" for leading this drive of additional U.N. sanctions. And you, on the other hand, have said that their behavior is unacceptable. What do you have in your toolkit at this point?
STEVEN MNUCHIN: Well, I think it's a great opportunity being Treasury Secretary, and I had a lot of experience in domestic and international finance. There's a major part of Treasury, I probably spend 50% of my time on National Security, and the Treasury staff has given me a Ph.D.
So these sanctions work. They worked with Iran. The President, I fundamentally believe that we had Iran on the 5-yard line, and we could have cut a better deal; that a 10-year deal was not good enough on Iran.
And in North Korea, economic warfare works. I made it clear that the President was strongly considering and we sent a message that anybody that wanted to trade with North Korea, we would consider them not trading with us. We can put on economic sanctions to stop people trading.
Worked very closely with the U.N. I'm very pleased with the resolution that was just passed. This is some of the strongest items. We now have more tools in our toolbox, and we will continue to use them and put additional sanctions on North Korea until they stop this behavior.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: But we haven't been able to move the needle on China, which seems to be the real mover on this, in terms of being able to apply the real pressure.
What do you think the issue is? What is the problem?
STEVEN MNUCHIN: I think we have absolutely moved the needle on China. I think what they agreed to yesterday was historic. I'd also say I put sanctions on a major Chinese bank. That's the first time that's ever been done. And if China doesn't follow these sanctions, we will put additional sanctions on them and prevent them from accessing the U.S. and international dollar system. And that's quite meaningful.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: Does that put the U.S. multinationals at risk?
STEVEN MNUCHIN: Again, our number was --
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: There's a balancing act in all of this.
STEVEN MNUCHIN: Let me be clear, the President's number one concern is North Korea and is security. So when it comes to nuclear testing, when it comes to missiles, our number one priority is the safety of the American people, not the economics of multinational companies.
BECKY QUICK: One of the other issues with security has to do with cyber security. And we just learned about 143 million Americans' identities being compromised by Equifax.
That's certainly not the first of the data breaches that we've seen, but it looks more and more likely like Americans can just expect these things to happen.
What can Treasury do about this?
STEVEN MNUCHIN: Well, Americans shouldn't expect these things to happen, and the current situation is obviously quite unfortunate.
I can't comment on the specifics of that, but I can tell you this is something that I am actively involved in. Tom Dosser and I, who is the Homeland Security Advisor, were on several calls yesterday.
Cyber is a big focus of mine for two reasons. One, I oversee the I.R.S., so we have an incredible amount of personal data, and we want to make sure that that is safe. And, number two, I'm concerned about the global financial system and keeping it protected. And I can assure you that we're working with all of the intelligence agencies on cyber issues to keep Americans' information safe.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: What do you think the liabilities should be for American corporations involved in data breaches?
Meaning, there's a piece that they're a victim. We all become victims. And on the other side, you have to decide, you know, whether they have done all of the right things in advance.
STEVEN MNUCHIN: I think it's a complicated issue. You have both international and government actors, as well as you have private people. I can't comment, again, on the specifics of this.
Our number one concern is making sure that the data is safe and working with industry on that. But I do agree with you, the issue of liability and responsibility for corporations, that those are very important issues. And I think public-private partnerships on cyber is critical.
This is not something that the private sector can do alone, and it's not something the government Congress can do alone.
JOE KERNEN: If Congress doesn't act in six months on DACA, what would the President do?
STEVEN MNUCHIN: I can't comment on what the President will do. He wants them to act, but...
JOE KERNEN: After Speaker Pelosi answering the tweet he tweeted, that we'll deal with it at that point.
He saw, CEOs once again, the new arbiters of all morality, CEOs once again wrote a lot of letters about DACA, as they did about Virginia and everything else. And they wrote you about whether you're going to stay on. They are PR canaries in the coal mine to start with, or canaries in the PR coal mine. Have they become too sensitive to some of these things, or do you welcome them speaking out on every issue?
STEVEN MNUCHIN: Well, first of all, I'm definitely staying on. It's a great opportunity to serve the President and the country.
As it relates to DACA, again, these are complicated issues. We have to have laws in our country, so there have to be immigration laws. And we can't just pick and choose what laws we want to enforce and what laws we don't want to enforce. So this is an issue that the President had said it's not legal the way it's done; that Congress should work on that.
And, you know, the one comment I would make on CEOs, I think CEOs have a responsibility to their company, and that's their responsibility. But they also have responsibilities to advise the government. And if every time there's an issue that the government does that CEOs say, "We don't like this and we're not going to give you advice anymore," that, to me, doesn't make sense.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: So what was your reaction, then, to the councils being dismantled?
STEVEN MNUCHIN: Again, my view is that CEOs being on the councils didn't necessarily mean that they endorsed every single policy of the administration or the President. The purpose of the councils was to give the President advice on issues that they had --
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: And do you feel like you've been cut -- that there's been a cut-off?
STEVEN MNUCHIN: Not at all. I think --
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: So was it just symbolic?
STEVEN MNUCHIN: Again, I think there's still plenty of CEOs who come in and meet with us, and we will continue to reach out. But I personally think it was a mistake that the councils were disbanded.
BECKY QUICK: The stock market yesterday, the S&P 500, closed at another record level. When I spoke with you earlier in the year, we talked a little bit about how the administration kind of sees that as their report card or what's going on. Do you still see it that way?
STEVEN MNUCHIN: I think there's no question that the stock market has an expectation that we're going to get tax reform done, and that's partially built in.
I think also the stock market has expectations that we're going to create significant growth, which is what this President and this administration is focused on. So, yes, I take that as a big vote of confidence in the economic plan.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: A couple more quickies before we wrap up. Do you want to touch just on Russia and what you thought of Facebook's announcement last week that there were $100,000 worth of ads that had been bought by government-sponsored entities to influence the election?
STEVEN MNUCHIN: You know, again, I've obviously seen intelligence on this, and I can't comment on any classified information or what their role was or what it wasn't.
I personally think the sooner we get these investigations over and behind us, the better we are. Again, I'm not going to comment on this.
JOE KERNEN: The latest leak was still about Don Jr.'s meeting. After the last three months. Still nothing, no new stuff? Nothing else? No smoking guns? No leaks? We are still on the Don Jr. investigation.
We've got to talk to Hope Hicks. That's where it is now? Is that enough smoke, or is that a water pistol?
STEVEN MNUCHIN: It seems a little overblown to me. I can't comment on the specifics.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: All right. Personal question. Steve Bannon said over the weekend to Charlie Rose something fascinating about the way he thought about his relationship with the President. He says, "When you side with a man, you side with him. And you side with him that way publicly. But you don't necessarily side with him that way privately."
What's the difference between the conversations you're having with us now and the conversations you had with him inside the room?
STEVEN MNUCHIN: Well, look, first of all, I've known the President for over 15 years. I worked with him on the campaign. So I've had the benefit of working with him for a long time. And I obviously feel comfortable with telling him my ideas on things. Sometimes we'll agree. Sometimes we don't agree. He's the President, and I respect that. And no different than a lieutenant who reports to the general, I work for him.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: Fair enough. The Treasury Secretary, Mr. Mnuchin. Thank you.
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d4032e67fc694c28c595fbfb78be5603 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/12/foldable-galaxy-note-smartphone-planned-for-next-year-samsung-says.html | Samsung wants to launch a foldable Galaxy Note smartphone next year | Samsung wants to launch a foldable Galaxy Note smartphone next year
DJ Koh, president of mobile communications business at Samsung, holds up the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 smartphone during a launch event for the new product, August 23, 2017.Getty Images
Samsung is aiming to launch a foldable version of its Galaxy Note smartphone next year, Samsung mobile President Dong Jin Koh said recently, according to Bloomberg.
This doesn't mean a foldable phone like the flip phones consumers used to carry, but rather one that can bend in half completely. Samsung already makes flexible and curved displays but has yet to perfect a screen that can fold in half. There are roadblocks, including that hardware inside a phone that isn't yet bendable.
"As the head of the business, I can say our current goal is next year," Koh said, according to Bloomberg. "When we can overcome some problems for sure, we will launch the product."
Samsung might be flexing its muscle ahead of 's iPhone event on Tuesday, where Apple is expected to launch three new models.
Samsung's newest product, the Galaxy Note 8, received almost universal praise from reviewers.
CNBC reached out to Samsung for comment but a spokesperson was not immediately available.
Read the full report on Bloomberg.
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fa5545cb172558d5edb95e874d4399f4 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/12/guillermo-perales-texas-fast-food-franchise-king-nears-1-billion.html | A Texas fast-food king, slowed by a hurricane, but still on the way to $1 billion | A Texas fast-food king, slowed by a hurricane, but still on the way to $1 billion
Guillermo Perales is the founder and CEO of Sun Holdings, a private company in Dallas that operates more than 750 franchises across eight different brands, mostly fast-food restaurants, in eight states. The vast majority are in Texas. Every day, he has to keep a close eye on myriad aspects of running such a huge, multifaceted organization, from tracking inventories to the management of nearly 17,000 employees.
On August 25, though, he was particularly focused on several dozen stores in the Houston area, which was bracing for the impact of Hurricane Harvey. The storm was pounding the Texas Gulf Coast and about to dump more than 48 inches of rain in and around Houston, resulting in catastrophic flooding and the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents, many of whom had to be rescued from the raging waters.
From his office 240 miles away, Perales fielded reports from his management team in Houston and the coastal area. Over the next several tense days, they had to close around 60 stores and monitor the fate of hundreds of employees. A week later, as outlets were gradually reopening, Perales reported, "We know that several Burger King, Krispy Kreme and Cicis Pizza stores were damaged," although the National Guard still hadn't let them back into some to assess the extent. Staffing was difficult, because some employees couldn't get to work. "We're trying to figure out what to do with insurance claims," he said.
On the bright side, Perales talked about how a couple of his Krispy Kreme stores were distributing doughnuts at shelters. An Arby's was setting up a portable kitchen to cook sandwiches to give away. "We just want to make happy faces," he said, trying to put on his best in the midst of the upheaval — including the fretful evacuation of his son, a freshman at Rice University in Houston.
Guillermo Perales, founder and CEO of Sun HoldingsSource: Sun Holdings LLC
Hurricane Harvey presented Perales, 55, with a once-in-a-lifetime challenge, yet he's faced many others during the 20 years it has taken to build his franchising empire. Born in Mexico City, he moved north with his family to Saltillo, his father's hometown, as a youngster. "My mother, like most in Mexico, stayed home," he recalled. "My father, I saw him working real hard all his life" — at a large factory where Perales says his father climbed the ladder and became CEO.
Along with a strong work ethic, Perales' parents emphasized the importance of education. He went to college in Monterrey, earning a CPA degree but also nurturing an entrepreneurial spirit. "I brought candies home to Saltillo on the weekends and sold them," he said. "I was always trying to make money on the side and to save."
Perales is also a self-avowed A-type. "Most of my life, I sought to be No. 1," he said. "In school I had to get recognized at the top of my class. Whatever I did, I always tried to excel."
Guillermo is among the top one-half percentile of operators. ... He's larger than many franchisors.Eric StitesCEO and managing director of Franchise Business Review
That zeal continued after college when he went to work for Grupo Maseca, a Mexican food producer (now known as Gruma, a $4 billion multinational). "I worked real hard, a lot of hours, and that was my life," he said. All the while, he dreamed of moving to the United States and opening his own business. "I saved every penny and lived very tight so that I could start something, but I didn't know what."
In the late 1980s, Grupo Maseca transferred Perales to its Los Angeles office and then to Dallas. He helped manage the company's growth as it acquired other food companies and integrated them into its system. Benefiting from the experience, he was finally motivated to go off on his own in 1994. He was in negotiations with Golden Corral to expand its family-restaurant franchising business to Mexico. Alas, the country's economy tanked that year, derailing his plans but serendipitously paving the way for his move to the States.
Perales convinced Golden Corral to grant him the rights to open five franchises in the Dallas area, where he emigrated in 1997. He launched his first restaurant in Richardson that year and has been off to the races ever since. "Once we opened the other Golden Corrals, doors began to open with other brands," he said.
Today, Sun Holdings is the eighth-largest franchise operator in the country. At last count, Perales listed 295 Burger Kings, 120 Popeyes Louisiana Kitchens, 70 Arby's, 30 Cicis, 20 Golden Corrals, 18 Krispy Kremes and 10 various restaurants in Dallas' two airports. A few years ago he ventured into non-food franchising and now includes 120 T-Mobile and 85 GNC stores in his ever-expanding portfolio. With reported revenues of about $800 million this year, "we're on our way to $1 billion," he said.
More from iCONIC:
A former marine turned entrepreneur and now hurricane-relief fundraiser
To get there, Perales is adhering to an aggressive growth strategy of owning multiple units of each brand, then either building new locations or acquiring existing company-owned stores ("refranchising," in industry parlance). This year, for instance, he's on pace to meet his goal of opening 150 new locations, building 100 and making purchase deals for the other 50.
"It's an amazing story," said Eric Stites, CEO and managing director of Franchise Business Review. "Guillermo is among the top one-half percentile of operators. ... He's larger than many franchisors."
Stites said that many franchisees go from one or two locations to maybe 10, but very few scale up to the size of Sun Holdings. "I can tell he's a very hands-on guy, but he's also built a great management team," he said. "It's not like he's sitting in his ivory tower with a strategy. He's out there working with his team to make it all happen."
VIDEO1:4601:46Hurricane Harvey slams into restaurant industryHalftime Report
The success Perales has experienced is also an exemplary immigrant story. In fact, Sun Holdings is the largest Latino franchise operator in the United States, a designation he's rightfully proud of. "If I can serve as an example for other Hispanics and Latinos to jump into business and succeed, that's okay," he said.
At the same time, Perales wants his achievements to transcend his ethnicity. "I want to be successful as a businessperson," he said. "There are very few things you can control in your life, and this [being Latino] is one you cannot."
He is less hesitant in talking about the Trump administration's stricter enforcement of immigration laws, which have seen rising numbers of deportations and a heightened wariness among undocumented workers, particularly Latinos in Texas and other border states. He disagrees with the argument that immigrants are taking away low-wage jobs from U.S. citizens; is against canceling NAFTA; and thinks building a wall on the U.S.–Mexico border is a waste of money. "I'm good with securing the border," he said, "but why spend all that money — and we know Mexico is not going to pay — when there are so many other things it could be used for to benefit people in the States?"
The immigration issue is directly impacting Sun Holdings. Perales said it is tough to get visas for people, which is why he favors guest-worker visas for restaurant employees, similar to those currently issued for hospitality and agriculture businesses.
Regardless of such pressures, Perales is a proud ambassador for the franchising industry and offers sound advice for aspiring entrepreneurs who want to follow his lead: Look for a good brand that offers opportunities to grow, to buy and to build, rather than going with a brand that's not well known, has management issues or doesn't have scale to grow. Talk to other franchisees and become familiar with the economics of the franchising company.
In 2013, Perales received the American Dream Award during the Multi-Unit Franchising Conference. "I hear that term a lot," he said, referring to the ubiquitous label for prosperous achievers, but in his case puts it in perspective: "I have a successful company, and if that's what the American Dream is, that's okay."
— By Bob Woods, special to CNBC.com
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969cbe84b666616c4d5d1374b6caea49 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/12/here-are-billionaire-leon-coopermans-5-favorite-cheap-stocks-right-now.html | Here are billionaire Leon Cooperman's 5 favorite cheap stocks right now | Here are billionaire Leon Cooperman's 5 favorite cheap stocks right now
VIDEO2:2902:29The solution for low oil prices is low oil prices: Leon CoopermanDelivering Alpha
Billionaire hedge fund manager Leon Cooperman recommended First Data, Shire, United Continental Holdings, Hess and WPX Energy at the Delivering Alpha conference on Tuesday.
On First Data: "The stock is very cheap," he said.On Shire: "Investors have overly discounted concerns and ignored positive data."On United Continental: "The airline's management has identified a lot of cost opportunities. I expect 15 percent earnings growth the next few years."
On Hess and WPX Energy: "The solution for low oil prices is low oil prices. Energy stocks seem overly discounted. These two picks have growing production profile and a net asset value well above current prices at existing oil prices."
At the conference, presented by CNBC and Institutional Investor, Cooperman also shared his view on the market and oil prices over the next year. "The market is in a zone of fair and full valuation. I see very few signs of exuberance," he said. "I predict oil will be higher in an year. I see the price of oil going to $60."
Cooperman founded Omega Advisors in 1991. The firm has approximately $3.6 billion in assets under management, according to its website.
Disclaimer
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1a1b1805a95496fc72c238aa61e75754 | https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/12/jack-ma-performs-michael-jackson-dance-moves-at-alibaba-annual-birthday-event.html | Watch Jack Ma pull off his best Michael Jackson dance moves at the Alibaba birthday celebration | Watch Jack Ma pull off his best Michael Jackson dance moves at the Alibaba birthday celebration
VIDEO1:0801:08Alibaba's founder surprises thousands by dressing up as Michael JacksonDigital Original
Alibaba founder and executive chairman Jack Ma turned the company's 18th birthday celebration into a thriller with a Michael Jackson-inspired dance performance.
The Alibaba founder began the Sept. 8 performance by entering the stage on a motorcycle incognito while wearing a gold-and-silver mask and military-style outfit. After channeling his inner King of Pop with a few splashy moves and poses, Ma pulled off the mask and revealed he was behind the dance moves. He then was joined by a group of Alibaba's employees who awkwardly danced and clapped to a medley of the singer's hits.
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This isn't the first time Ma has performed at an Alibaba event. He performed part of "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" at the 2009 event while dressed as heavy metal lead singer.
The company has had a lot to celebrate. Stocks hit an all-time high on Aug. 17 after the company beat earnings estimates.
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