Google has fired a security engineer who updated a company tool to notify co-workers of their right to organize, spurring a labor complaint and adding to recent scrutiny of how the company has handled unionization efforts. “We dismissed an employee who abused privileged access to modify an internal security tool,” a Google spokeswoman said in a statement, adding that it was “a serious violation.” “I was doing nothing more than notifying my co-workers about Google’s obligations under labor law,”

Apple’s new AirPods Pro headphones, which launched in October and feature new noise-canceling technology and a new design, are completely sold out online ahead of the holidays. In November, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said the AirPods Pro were a “clear star of Black Friday and the holiday season” and predicted shortages. Ives said in November that he expects Apple to ship 65 million AirPods in 2019, and potentially 85 million to 90 million units in 2020. But, at that time, AirPods Pro were still in

Getty ImagesIn 1996, Bill Gates said “content is king,” and his words became a truism in the media and telecommunications industry. Viacom and CBS combined earlier this month, bringing together two of the largest content companies of 2010. The merger put a pin on a growing trend throughout the decade — the age of the pure content company is dying. Their enormous scale and insular business models have boxed out many newer digital media companies throughout the decade. Comcast acquired NBCUniversa

A man uses his mobile phone as he walks past advertising for the new iPhones outside the Apple store in Hong Kong on October 10, 2019. IPhone sales are shrinking big time in China, causing a wave of production cuts for Apple, according to Rosenblatt Securities. “Based on our recent channel checks, we believe Apple’s total iPhone sales in China were down ~-30% y/y in the month of November,” said Rosenblatt Securities research analyst Jun Zhang in a note to clients on Tuesday. Zhang believes consu

Johnson & Johnson products on a shelf in a store in New York. Johnson & Johnson is in for a strong new year, according to Morgan Stanley. The firm upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson to overweight from neutral and hiked its 12-month price target to $170 from $145, as the company is “looking defensive again.” The pharmaceutical and consumer packaged goods company closed at $141.79 per share on Monday. “We see J&J’s defensiveness returning, resulting in multiple expansion and outperformance in 20

Netflix is accelerating its growth overseas, but analysts are worried about whether the company can sustain the expansion amid increasing competition. For the first time, the streaming giant broke out its global subscriber growth and revenue into four key regions. The new disclosures showed the Asia-Pacific region revenue was up 153% in the past three years while membership grew 148% in the period. Growth in Europe, the Middle East and Africa also accelerated with membership rising by 132%. Howe

Boeing Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg speaks during a press conference after the annual shareholders meeting at the Field Museum on April 29, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. Boeing announced earnings fell 21 percent in the first quarter after multiple crashes of the company’s bestselling plane the 737 Max. (Photo by Jim Young-Pool/Getty Images)J.P. Morgan lowered its price target and said it that even though production of the 737 Max has been halted, the company is still burning over $1 billion a

Billionaire investor and Donald Trump-backer Peter Thiel was among those advising Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg not to fact-check political ads, according to a new report by The Wall Street Journal. The Facebook board member and Palantir co-founder pushed for the company’s controversial policy, which has been the subject of debate inside and outside Facebook, the Journal reported, citing unnamed sources. Both Hastings and former White House chief of staff Erskine Bowles, will not stand for reelec

Deductions reduce taxable income based on your federal income tax bracket. Depreciation is a tax deduction you can take each year to recover the cost of your real estate as you use it. You can get an idea of whether an entrepreneur claimed the new qualified business income deduction — a potential 20% tax break that went into effect in 2018. This new break allows owners of “pass-through” entities, including S-corporations, partnerships and sole proprietorships, to deduct up to 20% of their qualif

That’s because CEO Jeff Bezos almost named his company “Relentless,” according to a 2014 New Yorker profile of Bezos. But even though Bezos chose a friendlier name for the company, the “relentless” strategy has guided Amazon over the years as it’s evolved from an online bookseller to an e-commerce giant to the leader in cloud computing. Here’s the latest example: On Sunday, Amazon informed third-party sellers that they could no longer use FedEx Ground for shipping items to Prime customers. And o

German technology firm Bosch has developed what it describes as an “interior monitoring system” for cars that utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) and cameras. In an announcement Monday, Bosch explained that the system made use of several cameras and could undertake a number of tasks. AI analyzes this information and the system can carry out several actions, including warning distracted drivers, recommending a break, and even slowing the vehicle down. Bosch said the information generated by the

Southwest Airlines is joining American Airlines in canceling thousands of Boeing 737 Max flights through early to mid-April, as the beleaguered jetliner’s return to service disrupts schedules during another busy holiday travel period — spring break and Easter. Southwest, the largest U.S. 737 Max customer, said Tuesday it will pull about 300 flights a day from its weekday schedule of about 4,000 flights through April 13 because of the flight ban. Boeing announced Monday it plans to suspend produc

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a mixed open on Tuesday as Wall Street tried to build on a four-day winning streak that concluded with the major averages hitting record highs. ET, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 33 points, indicating a slip of 13 points at the open. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures also pointed to a muted start to the session. Dow futures were pressured by a 1% drop in Boeing shares. ET, and the latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) is set to fol

U.S. government debt prices were higher Tuesday morning, as investors awaited a fresh batch of economic data. ET, the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to price, was lower at around 1.8626%, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was also lower at around 2.2787%. Market focus is largely attuned to global trade developments, following a preliminary trade agreement between the world’s two largest economies. Late last week, President Donald Trump and Chinese officials ann

The unrest in Hong Kong has led to as much as $5 billion of capital outflow from investment funds in the Asian financial hub since April, the Bank of England said. “These political tensions pose risks, given Hong Kong’s position as a major financial center,” the report said. The BoE monitors Hong Kong closely because UK banks such as HSBC and Standard Chartered are also the leading banks in Hong Kong. Analysts at Goldman Sachs said in October that about $4 billion of deposits might have left Hon

While it does not appear that the pages Facebook took down were linked to any government, the move came on the back of heightened scrutiny about online campaigning and influence. China-Taiwan relationsBeijing considers Taiwan a wayward province and has been increasingly aggressive in its rhetoric toward the island. Recently, President Tsai Ing-wen’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) proposed an anti-infiltration law to prevent foreign forces from intervening in Taiwan’s political system

When it comes to preparing for retirement, many of us know that we could be doing more. But now a new report has highlighted the extent of that shortcoming, with the majority of savers set to miss their retirement goals by at least 50%. Standard Chartered, in its inaugural “Wealth Expectancy Report 2019,” found that 56% of people in 10 of the world’s fastest-growing economies have retirement goals around twice the size of their likely pension pots at age 60. It then used economic modelling to de

What three things keep Barack Obama up at night? If those issues are not tackled soon, “we could end up having even greater problems than we do today,” he told a sold-out audience in Singapore on Monday at an hour-long event, “In Conversation with President Barack Obama.” What you start seeing is this populist backlash… and strong men who would come in and oftentimes exploit some of those divisions. Barack Obama former U.S. president”And the losers started feeling besieged,” he said. Barack Ob

China is reportedly set to announce new financial policies in Macao in a potential snub to protest-stricken Hong Kong, said Richard McGregor, senior fellow at Sydney-based think tank, the Lowy Institute. His visit and the reported economic incentives are meant to send a “signal to Hong Kong,” said McGregor. Hong Kong and Macao are both semi-autonomous regions of China that have their own legal, administrative and judicial systems from the mainland. But since early June, Hong Kong has been crippl

Consumer goods giant Unilever Plc said on Tuesday it expects sales growth in 2019 to be slightly below its prior expectations, blaming a slowdown in South Asia and weakness in North America. In the company’s latest quarterly results, sales in developed markets fell 0.1%, in contrast to a 5.1% rise in emerging markets. In India, Unilever’s second-largest market by sales, irregular monsoons have dented rural spending, while a sluggish job market has weakened consumption in urban areas. “Due to cha