A gas station that was set ablaze by protesters during a demonstration in Eslamshahr, near Tehran, pictured on November 17, 2019Iran’s internet blackout has entered its fifth day as the government continues to restrict citizens’ access to the web amid protests over fuel price hikes. According to internet mapping non-profit NetBlocks, Iran’s connection began to drop in the city of Mashhad on Friday evening local time. Oracle told CNBC via email that its Internet Intelligence service had noticed a

As a political leader who has accomplished a lot in her career, Abrams says there is one collection of books that has had the most impact on her professional journey. Shortly after losing the Georgia governor’s race to Republican Brian Kemp, Abrams started her voting rights group Fair Fight. At the Lesbians Who Tech & Allies summit earlier this year, Abrams spoke about the role she believes voter suppression played in her election outcome last year. “We need to talk about voter suppression the w

Dow indications turn positive on trade reportTraders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. No word from the White House yet, but President Donald Trump recently shot down similar reports. Adding a layer of complication to the trade talks, the president has two pro-Hong Kong bills passed by Congress awaiting his signature. Charles Schwab in talks to buy TD AmeritradePedestrians pass in front of a Charles Schwab bank branch in downtown Chicago, Illinois. Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty ImagesThe 10

Sir Richard Branson poses outside the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) ahead of Virgin Galactic (SPCE) trading in New York, U.S., October 28, 2019. Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Thursday:Credit Suisse initiated coverage of the space flight company and said it had an “attractive” business model. “Our bullish view reflects the near-term monopoly SPCE offers in an industry (commercial space tourism) where public investment opportunities are scarce. We view this as a classic tech-driven

UBS is predicting a decade of low returns and higher volatility for most financial assets. The anticipated “decade of transformation” will mean “lower returns and high volatility” for most assets compared to the past decade, meaning investors targeting a given level of return “may therefore need to increase their allocation to riskier assets such as equities,” according to Mark Haefele, CIO of UBS Global Wealth Management. “Left-leaning parties in countries like the U.S. and the U.K. are proposi

Credit Suisse began coverage of Virgin Galactic with an outperform rating on Thursday, saying in an a note titled “The Ultimate Joyride” that the firm sees multiple factors driving the space tourism stock higher. Virgin Galactic shares rose as much 3.3% in premarket but later traded only slightly higher from its previous close of $9.10. Credit Suisse has as $12.43 price target on the stock, essentially seeing 36% upside over the next year. The firm is the second to begin covering Virgin Galactic

Medicare beneficiaries have about two weeks left to evaluate their options for 2020 and make changes for the new year. “Each insurance carrier revisits their [drug] formulary and they renegotiate provider contracts,” said Elizabeth Gavino, founder of Lewin & Gavino in New York and an independent broker and general agent for Medicare plans. During this window, Medicare beneficiaries can: • Switch to an Advantage Plan from original Medicare (Part A hospital coverage and Part B outpatient care); •

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced Thursday 32 organizations that will receive a collective $98.5 million in grants from the Bezos Day One Fund. It is the second round of the Bezos Day One Families Fund annual leadership awards after the billionaire launched the organization in September 2018 to combat homelessness and provide quality education in low-income communities. Last year, the fund awarded $97.5 million in grants to 24 organizations across the country. This year’s grantees include long-sta

A celebrity-backed digital bank is now scrambling to find fundingDigital bank Aspiration raised $110 million from venture capital funds and celebrities including Leonardo DiCaprio. The bank is now scrambling to find funding, a potential sign that investors are cooling on risky start-ups after the WeWork debacle. CNBC’s banking reporter Hugh Son joins “Squawk Box” to discuss his scoop.

Goldman Sachs, for one, considers the slowdown that permeated 2019 as perhaps being the bottom in the growth outlook. The firm sees easier financial conditions, a strong consumer and the likelihood of a positive outcome from U.S.-China trade talks as fueling a better than expected picture ahead. Goldman’s financial conditions index is closely watched by policymakers. It uses a variety of factors, such as bond yields, stock market prices and interest rates, to compute financial conditions. Headin

Liberty Media Chairman John Malone has some reservations about HBO’s bid to enter an extremely crowded streaming market. AT&T’s WarnerMedia announced last month its HBO Max streaming service will launch in the U.S. in May of 2020. “The way I look at it is in the U.S., if you wanted HBO, you already have HBO. AT&T aims to reach 75 to 90 million subscribers by 2025, WarnerMedia CEO John Stankey said previously. The company said it will spend $4 billion over the next three years building HBO Max.

A bipartisan team of senators introduced a bill Thursday that would make Facebook’s cryptocurrency libra a security under the law. That classification would likely invite even greater regulation and scrutiny to the project, which Facebook has insisted is a digital payments system. Garcia explicitly called out libra in a statement announcing the bill, saying that it and other managed stablecoins “are clearly securities under existing law.” This bill would bring them the security they deserve by a

Liberty Media Chairman John Malone thinks that Apple could stun investors down the road as a winner in the intense streaming wars that have engulfed Silicon Valley and Hollywood in a bid for viewers and content alike. “Apple is going to surprise everyone with numbers they achieve in a short period of time. On Amazon, Malone said the company video unit will evolve to be “a bundler of other peoples’ services.” Malone, an icon in the media and cable industries, built cable empire TCI in the 1970s b

Verizon and Snap on Thursday announced a partnership under which the two will work together on 5G and new augmented reality initiatives that allow users and advertisers to overlay digital objects on top of the real world. Right now Snapchat has features including its “Landmarker Lenses,” which let users see real-life locations with augmented reality layered on top. Snap also has “Portal Lenses,” which let Snapchat users walk inside a “portal” into another digital experience where they can walk a

Democratic presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren took another swipe at Mark Zuckerberg, accusing the Facebook CEO of going on a “charm offensive” with Republicans, including attending an undisclosed dinner with President Donald Trump and Facebook board member Peter Thiel. Warren’s comments follow an NBC News report that detailed the meeting between Zuckerberg, Trump and Thiel. The dinner took place in October, when Zuckerberg delivered a speech at Georgetown University and appeared on Capitol Hi

Tesla shares are soaring, and when the electric automaker unveils its “Cybertruck” on Thursday night in Los Angeles, options traders are betting that the rally will hit even higher speeds. If the options market is right, the stock will break out above those highs when Tesla unveils its electric pickup truck. According to Khouw, it’s not just the mysterious intrigue of a new product that has options traders salivating. There is a reason why the hype around this particular new vehicle might actual

Longtime trader and hedge fund manager Louis Bacon is planning to shutter his firm and return capital to investors after 30 years of investment. The end of Moore Capital will mark one of the industry’s most prominent closures and follows years of weaker performance at the hedge fund. “Intense competition for trading talent coupled with client pressure on fees has led to a challenging business model for multi manager funds such as ours.” But he isn’t the only fund manager who has struggled in rec

A button for launching the Netflix application is seen on a remote control in this photo illustration in Warsaw, Poland on April 25, 2019. Netflix appeared to be down for some users across the world Thursday morning. At least a thousand users reported issues loading shows and movies on the platform across the U.S. and Europe, according to DownDetector. Twitter users have reported experiencing the problem across Asia as well. “We are currently experiencing issues streaming on all devices,” reads

On Wednesday, the Apple CEO and President Donald Trump appeared at the Austin facility where the new Mac Pro is being assembled. Not true: Trump did not open a new Apple plant. That facility has been open since 2013, when Apple started assembling the last model of the Mac Pro there. This plant is now assembling the new model of the Mac Pro, just like it did for the old model. Apple has been playing a calculated game with the Trump administration for years, with Cook personally wooing the preside

Macy’s said its stores at weaker U.S. shopping malls were hurt by slower foot traffic during the latest quarter, leading to a steeper-than-expected sales decline. The trouble, however, is at the so-called C- and D-rated shopping malls, which bring in less sales per square foot than an A-rated mall. Most of Macy’s stores are located in so-called A malls, like Macerich’s Tysons Corner Center in Virginia, which have seen more enhancements and have strong tenant rosters. “Where we’re investing and o