Geoff Keighley, the founder and host of The Game Awards, announced a new project on Wednesday morning called The Game Festival. “Let’s face it: Not everyone can attend a physical trade show or consumer event. The Game Festival is designed from the ground-up as an event without barriers, extending the benefits of a physical event to the global gaming community that watches The Game Awards.” This first version of The Game Festival will include over a dozen games demos on Steam. Steam will also bro

Sea of Thieves is a fantastic open-world, rules-light pirate game, but since launch, the game has badly needed a tutorial. The tutorial also has players fight a skeleton, dig up chests, catch chickens, and sail their sloop for the first time. Sea of Thieves has grown quite a bit since launch, and this feature is great for solo players or those playing with pick-up groups. The newest event for Sea of Thieves, a Christmas-themed Festival of Giving, has just gone live. The game’s anniversary update

A “pilot group” of customers who opted-in to the scheme will be the first to receive deliveries using the technology, Nuro added. Grocery giant Walmart is to pilot the autonomous delivery of groceries in Houston, Texas. The trial is being carried out using technology from Nuro, an autonomous vehicle firm. Starship Technologies, another firm that specializes in self-driving deliveries, says its robots can deliver items within a four mile radius. In August, the business announced it had completed

The logo of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is pictured at its headquarters in Vienna, Austria, March 21, 2016. OPEC on Wednesday pointed to a small deficit in the oil market next year due to restraint by Saudi Arabia even before the latest supply pact with other producers takes effect, suggesting a tighter market than previously thought. In a monthly report, OPEC said demand for its crude will average 29.58 million barrels per day (bpd) next year. That points to a 3

French President-designate of the European Central Bank (ECB) Christine Lagarde reacts during a meeting prior’s to attend a European Parliament’s Committee on Economic Affairs at the EU Parliament, in Brussels, on September 4, 2019. Steering markets with the language of monetary policy is a tricky business. New President Christine Lagarde will chair her first European Central Bank (ECB) meeting and the subsequent press conference on Thursday and all eyes and ears will be on her. “However, any hi

French government efforts to appease public sector workers with details of its pension reform look unlikely to end an ongoing nationwide strike. France has seen a pre-emptive nationwide strike over the last six days as public sector workers fear changes to their pension benefits. Other trade unions, such as the General Confederation of Labour (CGT) and the trade union for railway workers UNSA ferroviaire, have also appealed for a continuation of the strike. “It is time for a universal pension sc

Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson and opposition Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn pay tribute to the victims of the London Bridge terror attack on December 2, 2019. Sterling slid on Wednesday morning as some caution returned to a currency market which had largely priced in a clear Conservative victory. Many of these areas also voted Leave in the 2016 Brexit referendum, however, and are therefore seen as being in play for the Conservatives and the Brexit Party. Scenario 1: A Conservative ma

A new venture capital firm that will invest in companies that are fundamentally shifting how the energy sector operates said it has raised $250 million for its first fund. Angel left GE Ventures, where he was a managing director and worked for more than a decade, at the beginning of the year to launch Piva. Investments will typically be $5 million to $10 million initially, with an additional $20 million to $30 million invested over time. Piva’s new fund follows Princeville Capital’s announcement

Tim Cook, CEO of Apple laughs while Lana Del Rey (with iPad) takes a photo during a launch event at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on October 30, 2018 in New York City. Bank of America and Evercore ISI both raised their price targets on Apple shares on Wednesday, with the former expecting strong demand for 5G iPhones beginning next year while the latter firm sees solid holiday demand for Apple’s wearables. Apple shares rose 0.6% in trading from its previous close of $268.48. Bank of America raise

A UPS driver pushes a load of packages from his truck to a building in downtown Los Angeles, California, July 22, 2019. UPS was downgraded on Wednesday by an analyst at BMO Capital Markets who cited concern about the logistics company’s ability to improve its profitability. Analyst Fadi Chamoun lowered his UPS rating to market perform from outperform. He also trimmed his price target on the stock to $123 per share from $125. That represents a 3.7% upside from Tuesday’s close of $118.54.

After developing a competitive crispy chicken sandwich, McDonald’s next hurdle is to find enough chickens to support demand, said Wall Street firm Stephens. While investors were hoping for an early 2020 launch of McDonald’s new crispy chicken sandwich, Stephens forecasts the fast food chain will run into supply issues, delaying the launch. “We believe the high-quality chicken sandwich market is a place MCD wants to become more relevant and anticipate a mid-year national launch,” sad Stephens ana

Despite some concerns about higher volatility from a range of potential factors, registered investment advisors expect 2020 could be another good year for both the economy and the stock market. 50 on the CNBC FA 100 list of top investment advisors for 2019. “There are global risks out there but we think there’s a high probability that 2020 could be another good year.” Topping most advisors’ list of risks is the trade war between the U.S. and China — the world’s two biggest economies. “It’s our v

According to Care.com’s 2019 Cost of Holidays Survey , 80% of those polled said they give holiday tips and 54% tip at least three people. Yet it’s not always clear if you should tip a service provider for the holidays — and if so, how much. (It’s also worth pointing out that some workers cannot accept cash gifts. Nursing home employees and home health workers may not be able to accept cash, either.) Here are some guidelines for whom to tip and how much, thanks to the etiquette experts at The Emi

More than 2 million Americans could soon have access to mandatory paid parental leave. The bipartisan agreement comes at a time when the U.S. lags behind most of the world in providing paid leave to workers. The legislation would be the first update to federal family leave policy in a generation, since the Family and Medical Leave Act was enacted in 1993. In addition, eight states and the District of Columbia have enacted paid family and medical leave policies. Proponents of paid leave say the p

The agency denied that the new division was directly related to the 737 Max, which have been grounded since mid-March after two crashes in five months killed 346 people. The FAA grounded the planes after the second crash. “The FAA is constantly evolving and changing to continue addressing the safety needs of the flying public,” she said. “The primary role of this branch is to better coordinate the FAA’s aircraft certification efforts.” New FAA Administrator Steve Dickson testifies Wednesday befo

Kroger and Walgreens Boots Alliance are teaming up to cut costs by sourcing more merchandise together. “Kroger manufactures many of our own food products,” Millerchip said. Walgreens also put a selection of its health and beauty merchandise in 17 Kroger stores as a trial. “Clearly we are seeing … offering customers convenience with smaller shopping trips is improving the overall experience,” Millerchip said about adding Kroger products to Walgreens stores. Amazon, which owns grocery chain Whol

Savita Subramanian: Investing appears to have turned into an ‘extreme sport’Savita Subramanian, head of U.S. equity and quantitative strategy at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, joins “Squawk Box” to discuss what she’s watching in the markets.

Cramer: Saudi Aramco’s IPO shows there’s appetite for equities in Saudi ArabiaSaudi Aramco posted a strong public debut after raising a record $25.6 billion in its IPO. The “Squawk on the Street” crew discuss.

Why Forever 21 failed abroadForever 21 has practically been synonymous with “fast fashion,” and its massive stores have become a common fixture in America’s shopping malls. But the retailer is in trouble. Forever 21 filed for bankruptcy in September 2019, and the company is closing hundreds of stores, as its clothes become more interchangeable with “cheap” rather than “trendy.”

MCEF Capital portfolio manager Scott Banerjee sees even more headwinds not priced into the market that could rock Wall Street. He plans to hedge against increased volatility as markets absorb those shocks by employing a put spread strategy. Stocks sold off at the beginning of the month on worries a trade deal between the U.S. and China could take far longer than expected. At its worst, the SPY S&P 500 ETF declined 2.6% from a peak in late November to a trough on Dec. 3. Banerjee’s put spread str