While streaming platform Disney+ is off to a strong start, Wall Street analysts are not shying away from Netflix’s stock. In the week following Disney+’s launch, Netflix app downloads grew 4% year-over-year, Nomura Instinet noted, showing that Disney+ is not having a negative impact on Netflix’s growth potential. “While we have observed rising interest in Disney +, due to increasing awareness as the service is now live, we have not seen an increase in the percentage of Netflix subscribers who ex

Tobacco executives, vaping industry representatives and public health leaders are scheduled to meet with President Donald Trump on Friday at the White House. Altria CEO Howard Willard and Reynolds American President and Chief Commercial Officer Joe Fragnito, executives of the two largest tobacco companies in the U.S., plan to attend. A number of public health leaders — including Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids President Matt Myers, American Academy of Pediatrics President-elect Sally Goza and Ame

The battle between Taylor Swift and music industry executives Scooter Braun and Scott Borchetta continues. Braun, Big Machine Record Label executive and founder of media company SB Projects, broke his silence on the back and forth in a Q&A at the 2019 Entertainment Industry Conference Thursday. “Since your public statement last week there have been numerous death threats directed at my family,” the post read. “As the world now knows you can and should perform any song you would like at the AMAs,

Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveiled the electric car maker’s first pickup on Thursday night and Wall Street analysts were highly critical of the truck’s dramatic styling. “Tesla’s Cybertruck looks weird … like, really weird. Musk had warned investors that Tesla’s pickup would be ‘really futuristic, like cyberpunk Blade Runner,’ and he wasn’t kidding,” Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi wrote in a note to investors titled “Mad Musk, Fury Road.” Yet skeptical Tesla analysts don’t expect Cybertruck will be

Tuna maker Bumble Bee Foods said Thursday that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, with an agreement from Taiwan-based FCF Fishery, its largest creditor, to purchase its assets for roughly $925 million. The bankruptcy proceedings are meant to reduce Bumble Bee’s debt burden caused by “recent and significant legal challenges” and help facilitate the sale. In addition to its legal troubles, Bumble Bee is grappling with the declining popularity of packaged tuna. London-based private-

China’s President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump attend a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Nov. 9, 2017. President Donald Trump on Friday said that a long-negotiated trade deal with China is “potentially very close” following reports that an agreement might not be reached until next year. “The bottom line is, we have a very good chance to make a deal,” Trump said. Chinese President Xi Jinping said Friday that Beijing wants a deal “on the basis of mutual

Consumer sentiment unexpectedly rose in November, according to data released Friday by the University of Michigan. The university’s index of consumer sentiment climbed to 96.8 from 95.5 last month. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected consumer sentiment to dip to 94.9 for November. An index reflecting consumer expectations moving forward also rose to 87.3 from 84.2 in October. Richard Curtin, chief economist at the Surveys of Consumers, said consumer sentiment has not been at 95 or higher in

Glidden told reporters on a conference call Wednesday that the lawsuit has no bearing on the ongoing merger discussions between Fiat Chrysler and PSA Group. He also said that the lawsuit won’t affect existing collective bargaining agreements, and that there are no current allegations against Fiat Chrysler CEO Michael Manley. Fiat Chrysler is the last of the three Detroit automakers to have to bargain with the union. “Fiat Chrysler was already going to be a nightmare just because of all the diffe

Airbnb exec Belinda Johnson speaks onstage during Universal Belonging at The Theatre at Ace Hotel during Airbnb Open – Day 2 on November 18, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. Belinda Johnson announced that she is stepping down as COO Friday in an email to staff viewed by CNBC. Sometimes it’s the first question, sometimes it’s the last, but it is always asked,” Johnson wrote in the email. Before taking the COO role, she served as chief business affairs and legal officer and steered Airbnb through

The largest hedge fund in the world has reportedly staked more than $1 billion that global equity markets will fall during the next three months. The firm paid about $1.5 billion for the contracts, about 1% of Bridgewater’s $150 billion in total assets under management, the report said. “Though we won’t comment on our specific positions we do want to make two things clear,” Bridgewater said in a statement to CNBC. “Second, we have no positions that are intended to either hedge or bet on any pote

Chinese President Xi Jinping said Friday that Beijing wants to work for a trade deal with the United States but is not afraid to “fight back.” Reinforcing the upbeat tone adopted by China in recent days, Xi told a visiting U.S. business delegation that China holds a ‘positive attitude’ toward the trade talks. “As we always said we don’t want to start the trade war but we are not afraid,” Xi said. “We want to work for a Phase 1 agreement on the basis of mutual respect and equality,” Xi told the g

A U.S. bill aiming to protect human rights in Hong Kong is unlikely to disrupt trade talks between Washington and Beijing, said Amy Celico, principal at Albright Stonebridge Group. “I don’t think it’s enough of an issue to derail the trade talks,” she told CNBC’s Sri Jegarajah at the Morgan Stanley APAC Summit. The “Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act” cleared both chambers of Congress this week as Hong Kong remains engulfed in mass protests. The bill would require the U.S. State Department

The theme was prevalent throughout the conference as experts discussed China’s support for blockchain, financial technology and 5G. 5GThe technology rivalry between the U.S. and China has centered around the development of next generation mobile services 5G, with Chinese tech giant Huawei in particular focus. Huawei, a key developer of super-fast 5G technology, was blacklisted by the U.S. government in May. The Chinese tech giant has consistently denied those claims. In comparison, 5G services i

London is already home to a number of hydrogen buses, while European railway manufacturer Alstom’s hydrogen fuel cell train entered into passenger service in September 2018. Major automobile manufacturers that have dipped into the hydrogen fuel cell market include Toyota and Honda. “But instead of running off a battery which stores the electricity chemically, it’s running off a fuel cell, a hydrogen fuel cell,” he added. While there are benefits when it comes to hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, cost

Abigail Disney, heiress to the mass media and entertainment firm, voiced her support for a younger generation that she said is struggling with debt and afraid to take the same risk as their parents did. “If (millennials) are angry I don’t blame them,” Disney, 59, told CNBC on Thursday. Disney’s comments come a week after she took to Twitter to rail against her fellow boomers — the generation born between 1946 and 1964 — who took offence to the phrase “OK, Boomer.” While Disney said she was “a li

And at the last Dubai Air Show in 2017, U.S. Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Stephen Wilson publicly confirmed rumors that such discussions with the UAE were underway. “The question (of) are there any considerations or conversations about the F35 — the short answer is no.” The UAE’s Air Force is home to a fleet of 80 F-16 Desert Falcons, a multi-role fighter aircraft. The assistant secretary would not elaborate on whether the Emiratis still wanted the jet, but UAE military officials have prev

China is a major economic country, and so are we. “China is a major economic country, and so are we. “Therefore, if conflict is permitted to develop unconstrained, the outcome could be even worse than it was in Europe,” he said, referring to World War I. “So China will be a big part of the global financial picture in decades to come.” “For the IMF, it is critical that we can have the financial strength to serve the center of the global financial safety net,” IMF Managing Director Kristalina Geor

European tech start-ups have seen a huge surge in the amount of capital coming from investors in the U.S. and Asia this year, but it’s not because funds in these regions are simply “hedging” their bets amid the US-China trade war. The U.S.-China trade war makes Europe look like a relatively safe middle-ground, but that’s not why North American and Asian investors are choosing to back European start-ups, according to Tom Wehmeier, partner and head of research at Atomico. “Some of the investors no

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde called for a new policy mix in Europe on Friday and noted major movements in global trade and traditional economic models. “Ongoing trade tensions and geopolitical uncertainties are contributing to a slowdown in world trade growth, which has more than halved since last year. Emerging economies have relied on global trade and supply chains to boost their growth. Lagarde noted that the euro zone must adapt to these new realities and boost domestic