Business news

• Berkshire takes huge bite of Apple, boosts airline stakes

  14-02-2017 23:45 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc was an aggressive buyer of stocks in last year's fourth quarter, nearly quadrupling its stake in Apple Inc and reporting significantly larger holdings in the four biggest U.S. airlines. In a regulatory filing, Berkshire said it boosted its stake in Apple as of Dec. 31 to about 57.4 million shares worth roughly $6.64 billion, from just 15.2 million shares three months earlier. Berkshire also disclosed new stakes in seed company Monsanto Co , which is being
  
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• NBC buys stake in Euronews, names new president

  14-02-2017 23:41 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Reuters) - NBCUniversal, the U.S. media conglomerate owned by Comcast Corp , has made an investment in European broadcaster Euronews and named Noah Oppenheim as the president of NBC News, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters on Tuesday.
  
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• AIG posts bigger loss, adds $3.5 billion to buyback program

  14-02-2017 23:37 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Shares of the company, which also raised its share buyback program by up to $3.5 billion, were down 4.5 percent in after-hours trading on Tuesday. The adverse reserve development cover reduced the risk of further reserve additions in some of the most volatile lines, AIG Chief Executive Peter Hancock said in a statement. AIG agreed last month to pay about $10.2 billion to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc to take on many long-term risks on U.S. commercial insurance policies it has already w
  
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• Trian takes $3.5 billion stake in Procter & Gamble

  14-02-2017 23:34 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Reuters) - Trian Fund Management LP on Tuesday disclosed that it bought a $3.5 billion stake in Procter & Gamble Co , making it the second activist shareholder to take aim at the consumer products giant in the last five years.
  
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• Samsung chief faces arrest again over Korean bribery scandal

  14-02-2017 23:34 via zdnet.com
  
  Special prosecutors have filed an arrest warrant for Samsung leader Lee Jae-yong for a second time for alleged bribery as part of the political scandal in South Korea involving the president.
  
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• Protecting your data from snoopers - including government snoopers

  14-02-2017 23:22 via zdnet.com
  
  People have been fending off hackers for decades, but things are much harder now that governments and government-sponsored hackers are fishing for data. Tech Solidarity has published a list of suggestions that aim to improve security without requiring any special technical skills.
  
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• Apple breaks intraday record high for first time since 2015

  14-02-2017 23:17 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Apple Inc's share price hit an intraday record high on Tuesday for the first time in almost two years as investors raised bets that a 10th anniversary iPhone will boost lackluster sales. Its final level of $135.02, a gain of 1.30 percent, was Apple's second consecutive record closing price. Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway said in a filing it more than tripled its stake in Apple during the December quarter to 57.4 million shares from 15.2 million shares.
  
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• The three groups of "security threats"

  14-02-2017 23:15 via zdnet.com
  
  There are many threats to information security, however the consist weak point is and always will be "people".
  
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• Aetna, Humana drop merger; Cigna wants to end Anthem deal

  14-02-2017 23:09 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Health insurers Aetna Inc and Humana Inc walked away from their $34 billion merger on Tuesday and Cigna Corp sought to end its deal with Anthem, shelving the industry consolidation they charted to address former President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act. Humana also said in a that it would exit the Obamacare individual insurance market after this year, saying that its membership for 2017 was showing signs of an overly expensive group. President Donald Trump and Republicans have vowed to repea
  
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• PayPal buys TIO Networks to expand into bill payment

  14-02-2017 23:03 via zdnet.com
  
  TIO operates a network of roughly 900 bill payment kiosks throughout North America and claims to house 14 million consumer bill pay accounts.
  
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• ​Spanning by Dell EMC opens Australian datacentre for Microsoft 365 customers

  14-02-2017 23:01 via zdnet.com
  
  The backup and recovery firm is opening a datacentre for customers in Australia and New Zealand to comply with local data sovereignty regulations.
  
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• Fed's Yellen defends 'stress test' of Wall Street

  14-02-2017 22:53 via news.yahoo.com
  
  A yearly checkup on leading Wall Street banks helps regulators protect the U.S. financial system and the reviews should be preserved, the Federal Reserve chair said on Tuesday. The largest 44 banks in the United States must satisfy regulators that they could weather a serious economic downturn in the annual 'stress test' administered by the Federal Reserve. "It's been a cornerstone of our effort to improve supervision," Fed Chair Janet Yellen told lawmakers.
  
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• Apple, banks push Wall Street to all-time high

  14-02-2017 22:34 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Reuters) - Major U.S. stock indexes established record highs on Tuesday, led by bank stocks after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said it would be unwise to wait too long to raise interest rates.
  
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• Aetna, Humana walk away from merger; Cigna seeks to end Anthem deal

  14-02-2017 22:18 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Health insurers Aetna Inc and Humana Inc walked away from their $34 billion merger deal on Tuesday, while Cigna Corp announced that it was seeking to end its deal with Anthem . Both deals were announced in July 2015, and the Justice Department filed a lawsuit a year later saying they were illegal under antitrust law.
  
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• Wall Street hits records, Fed comments boost bank stocks

  14-02-2017 22:05 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Reuters) - Major U.S. stock indexes established record highs on Tuesday, led by bank stocks after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said it would be unwise to wait too long to raise interest rates.
  
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• Looking for a vehicle that retains its value? Buy Japanese, Black Book says

  14-02-2017 22:00 via cbc.ca
  
  Japanese manufacturers dominate the latest list of vehicles that retain their value best.
  
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• What Google Assistant can and cannot do in Google Allo

  14-02-2017 21:57 via techrepublic.com
  
  If you're trying to understand how Google Assistant works in Google Allo compared to in Pixel devices, here's a rundown of what you need to know.
  
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• Health insurer Anthem says Cigna cannot terminate merger agreement

  14-02-2017 21:26 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Health insurer Anthem Inc said on Tuesday that Cigna Corp could not unilaterally terminate an agreement between the two companies to merge. "Under the terms of the merger agreement, Cigna does not have a right to terminate the agreement. Cigna had said earlier on Tuesday that it would terminate the planned deal after a federal judge ruled on Feb. 8 that the deal was illegal under antitrust law.
  
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• Exclusive: Retail CEOs to meet Trump in bid to kill U.S. border tax

  14-02-2017 21:24 via news.yahoo.com
  
  U.S. President Donald Trump will meet on Wednesday with the chief executives of eight large retailers, including Target Corp , Best Buy Co Inc and J.C. Penney Company Inc , to discuss tax reform and infrastructure improvements, according to people with knowledge of the meeting. A White House official confirmed Trump will meet with retail industry CEOs on Wednesday morning to discuss economic growth. The meeting will include Target CEO Brian Cornell, Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly, Gap Inc CEO Art Peck
  
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• Why Munich should stick with Linux

  14-02-2017 21:15 via zdnet.com
  
  Even Accenture, the Microsoft partner, which suggested Munich return to Windows, doesn't consider Windows as the sole best option.
  
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• House Homeland Security Chairman: Backdoors would be a 'huge mistake'

  14-02-2017 20:46 via zdnet.com
  
  Texas Republican Michael McCaul joins some key Democrats who could oppose potential Trump administration proposals.
  
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• Apple and banks propel Wall Street to record high

  14-02-2017 20:24 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Reuters) - Major U.S. stock indexes hit record highs on Tuesday, led by bank stocks after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said it would be unwise to wait too long to raise interest rates.
  
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• Apple hits intraday record high for first time since 2015

  14-02-2017 20:19 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Apple Inc shares hit an intraday record high on Tuesday for the first time almost two years as investors raised bets that a 10th anniversary iPhone will boost lackluster sales. The S&P 500's largest component has climbed 50 percent from lows in the first half of last year and is up 16 percent so far in 2017, with many investors betting that Apple will mark the iPhone's 10th anniversary with a dramatically improved model. Many on Wall Street also believe that strong sales of the iPhone 6S two
  
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• U.S. judge grants preliminary approval to Volkswagen, Bosch settlements

  14-02-2017 20:09 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal judge on Tuesday granted preliminary approval to a plan for Volkswagen AG to pay at least $1.22 billion to fix or buy back nearly 80,000 polluting 3.0-liter diesel vehicles in the United States over the German automaker's emissions-cheating scandal. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco also agreed at a court hearing to grant preliminary approval to German auto supplier Robert Bosch GmbH's [ROBG.UL] separate settlement to pay $32
  
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• Marketing, branding needed for cannabis products, licensed producers say

  14-02-2017 19:54 via cbc.ca
  
  Licensed producers of medical marijuana argue that cannabis isn't as dangerous as tobacco and that branding and marketing are necessary to attract consumers from the black market to the legal industry.
  
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• Molson Coors takes big charge on its Molson brands in Canada

  14-02-2017 19:53 via cbc.ca
  
  Molson Coors says its Canadian operations struggled in the fourth quarter as the brewing giant's Molson brands incurred a $495.2-million US impairment charge.
  
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• U.S. investors brace for mounting political risks as they decode Trump

  14-02-2017 19:50 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Barry James built up his $4 billion mutual fund largely by studying balance sheets, earnings and market share. Trump's unpredictable governing style and stated desire to renegotiate trade agreements and punish companies that seek out lower-cost forms of labor are upending the classic notion of fundamental investing, said James, who manages the James Balanced Golden Rainbow fund.
  
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• Google Cloud Spanner means admins no longer have to choose between traditional and NoSQL databases

  14-02-2017 19:47 via techrepublic.com
  
  Google recently announced the beta of its Cloud Spanner service, a distributed relational database service that aims to simplify database deployments.
  
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• Data: Snap, Inc.'s users might be ready to jump ship

  14-02-2017 19:39 via techrepublic.com
  
  As Snap, Inc. rockets towards an IPO, a new survey by data firm Fluent indicates that 48% of Snap users think the augmented reality startup is "just a fad."
  
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• Google adds the last piece to its cloud database stack

  14-02-2017 19:36 via zdnet.com
  
  The beta release of Cloud Spanner introduces a data platform that provides organizations with a unique taste of Google's global scalability.
  
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• Boeing expects 737 MAX-9 to fly in April as larger version takes shape

  14-02-2017 19:07 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Boeing Co said on Tuesday it plans to fly its new 737 MAX-9 aircraft for the first time in April, a further sign the company will start delivering the large version of the workhorse plane in 2018. Delivery of the single-aisle 737 MAX models, which replace the current 737 "NG" introduced in 1997, is crucial for Boeing to hit the financial targets it has promised investors and to offset slowing output of some of its largest jets such as the 777 and 747. "We are anticipating our certification of th
  
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• Cook offers clues to Apple's AR strategy

  14-02-2017 19:04 via zdnet.com
  
  And surprise, surprise, it will be a way for Apple to sell even more iPhones.
  
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• Bracket's 'metavisor' could have stopped DNC hack, says CEO

  14-02-2017 18:56 via zdnet.com
  
  At RSA 2017, Bracket Computing announced a pair of new features for its 'metavisor' and CEO Tom Gillis said it can both diagnose and prevent attacks that hide themselves inside the operating system.
  
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• What wireless charging would mean to the iPhone

  14-02-2017 18:54 via zdnet.com
  
  Apple's decision to bypass the plug could have deep implications for the iPhone, charging standards, and even the future of the Lightning connector.
  
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• Deutsche Bank fails to dismiss U.S. currency rigging lawsuit

  14-02-2017 18:52 via news.yahoo.com
  
  A U.S. judge has rejected Deutsche Bank AG's bid to dismiss a lawsuit claiming it delayed foreign exchange trades to get a "last look" at how prices were moving, enabling the German bank to extract more profit at customers' expense. In a decision made public on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Lorna Schofield in Manhattan said investors led by Axiom Investment Advisors LLC may pursue breach of contract claims over trades on Deutsche Bank's "Autobahn" platform and on multi-dealer electronic communica
  
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• Microsoft's Brad Smith calls for a "digital Geneva Convention"

  14-02-2017 18:49 via zdnet.com
  
  As cyberspace becomes the new battlefield, nations should commit to protecting civilians from nation-state attacks in times of peace, he said at the RSA conference.
  
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• Microsoft delays its usual Patch Tuesday updates

  14-02-2017 18:30 via zdnet.com
  
  It's Microsoft Patch Tuesday. But the company is delaying issuing any patches for some unspecified period of time due to 'a last minute issue.'
  
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• Tougher trade rules would be bad for both Canada, U.S., new reports suggest

  14-02-2017 18:24 via cbc.ca
  
  Both Canada and the United States will suffer economic harm if trade between the two countries becomes more expensive, suggests a pair of new reports released Tuesday.
  
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• How data scientists use critical thinking to generate valuable processes

  14-02-2017 18:03 via techrepublic.com
  
  To maximize the performance of your business processes, organize a group of data scientists and other experts to run a Value Stream Mapping effort. Get the specifics on what this entails.
  
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• U.S. producer inflation boosted by higher energy prices

  14-02-2017 17:56 via news.yahoo.com
  
  U.S. producer prices recorded their largest gain in more than four years in January amid increases in the cost of energy products, but a strong dollar continued to keep underlying inflation at the factory gate tame. Rising raw material costs are boosting producer prices across the globe, notably in China, which is the biggest source of U.S. imports. "China saw the biggest price gain since 2011 in January.
  
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• Microsoft's plan to bridge its infrastructure and platform cloud services is unfolding

  14-02-2017 17:47 via zdnet.com
  
  Microsoft is bringing more of its Azure PaaS capabilities to its IaaS customers this year. First up: Support for larger VM Scale Sets and Managed Disks.
  
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• Mobile data traffic to see five-fold increase in Brazil

  14-02-2017 17:37 via zdnet.com
  
  Widespread smartphone usage, faster 4G speeds and more connected devices will drive a substantial boost in mobile information traffic until 2021, says research
  
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• Exclusive: Yellen brushes off warning, says Fed has authority on global talks

  14-02-2017 17:34 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Jonathan Spicer NEW YORK (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, in response to a warning from a U.S. congressman to halt global regulatory talks in the early stages of Donald Trump's presidency, said in a letter the Fed has the authority and responsibility to consult with its foreign counterparts and does so to benefit the United States. The pointed letter to Republican Representative Patrick McHenry, reviewed by Reuters, suggested the U.S. central bank will carry on as usual with in
  
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• GM in talks to sell European auto business to Peugeot

  14-02-2017 17:29 via news.yahoo.com
  
  LONDON/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - In a move that could shake up the global auto industry, General Motors Co and French automaker PSA Group said on Tuesday they are in talks that could result in PSA buying GM's European auto operations. For PSA, owner of the Peugeot, Citroen and DS brands, acquiring GM's Opel and Vauxhall brands would give it a 16.3 percent share of the European passenger car market, vaulting it into second place in the region, ahead of French rival Renault SA and behind Germany's Vol
  
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• Video: Secure your clouds across AWS, Azure, and more

  14-02-2017 17:23 via zdnet.com
  
  At RSA 2017, we spoke with Tom Gillis, CEO of Bracket Computing, about how his product is changing cloud security and bringing big enterprise customers to the cloud.
  
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• Wall Street slips on Yellen's rate hike comments

  14-02-2017 17:19 via news.yahoo.com
  
  While President Donald Trump's pro-business stance sparked a record-setting rally in equities, he has given scant detail on his policies, giving the Fed limited visibility on the direction of the economy. "It is too early to know what policy changes will be put in place or how their economic effects will unfold," Yellen said.
  
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• RSA Conference: New ransomware could poison your town's water supply if you don't pay up

  14-02-2017 17:04 via techrepublic.com
  
  Researchers at Georgia Tech have created a new form of ransomware specifically to target industrial systems, that disrupted a simulated water treatment plant.
  
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• UK debuts new National Cyber Security Centre to take on cybercrime

  14-02-2017 16:28 via techrepublic.com
  
  On Tuesday, the UK's National Cyber Security Centre officially launched, with plans to use the government as 'a guinea pig' for national security measures.
  
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• Almost half of Canadians near retirement age say they're behind on their savings plans

  14-02-2017 16:27 via cbc.ca
  
  Almost half of Canadians 55 years and older say they are not on track with their retirement planning, a new poll commissioned by the Royal Bank of Canada suggests.
  
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• Yellen speaks to U.S. lawmakers as Trump rally shows signs of running out of steam

  14-02-2017 16:06 via cbc.ca
  
  Stocks around the world were lower Tuesday as investors awaited comments by Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen for signs on the pace of interest rate increases in the world's largest economy.
  
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