Twenty years ago, the United States government filed suit against Microsoft for abusing its market power. Today, Microsoft is empire building because the country’s regulatory focus is on its biggest rivals. Microsoft announced Monday it had acquired Nuance Communications for $16 billion ($19.7 billion including net debt). The deal gives Microsoft a company that specializes in voice transcription and related artificial intelligence […] Read more
The company behind the Nokia mobile brand refreshed its smartphone lineup on Thursday with a slew of new budget models, as it struggles to compete with established players like Samsung and Apple. Finnish start-up HMD Global has held the license to design and sell Nokia handsets since it bought the telecom group’s mobile phone division from Microsoft in 2016. The firm has […] Read more
Federal Reserve officials indicated at their last meeting that easy policy will stay in place until it produces stronger employment and inflation, and won’t be adjusted based merely on forecasts. The Federal Open Market Committee on Wednesday released minutes from the March 16-17 meeting as investors looked for indications about where policy may be heading […] Read more
The United States and its allies are considering a joint boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, the State Department said Tuesday. “It [a joint boycott] is something that we certainly wish to discuss,” State spokesman Ned Price told reporters when asked about the Biden administration’s plans ahead of the international games. “A coordinated […] Read more
UBS on Wednesday upgraded Apple stock to a buy rating and raised its price target from $115 to $142 per share. Apple shares closed Tuesday’s session at $119.90, down 9.64% year to date, with Big Tech having taken the brunt of the market jitters on rising bond yields. But in a new research note, UBS gave three fundamental reasons […] Read more
The Ever Given, the massive container ship that became wedged in the Suez Canal and cut off traffic in the vital waterway for almost a week, has been refloated, authorities said Monday. The ship sailed north to the Great Bitter Lake, arriving there just before 1 p.m. ET, according to Leth Agencies, which is a […] Read more
President Joe Biden on Friday said that Vladimir Putin of Russia and Xi Jinping of China are invited to the global leaders’ climate summit the administration is hosting in April. The president told reporters that he hasn’t directly invited Putin or Xi but said the leaders “know they’re invited” to the summit, an event the U.S. is […] Read more
WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued a strong rebuke Wednesday of China’s sweeping use of coercive measures and urged NATO allies to work with the U.S. in order to mount pushback on Beijing. Blinken, in an address at NATO headquarters in Brussels, said the U.S. wouldn’t force its European allies into an “us […] Read more
The outlook for U.S.-China trade relations is likely to remain challenged after this week’s high-level diplomatic talks showed that President Joe Biden’s team does not plan to wholly abandon the Trump administration’s tough tone in discussions with Beijing. Though Washington and Beijing struck a ceasefire in their tit-for-tat trade feud with last year’s “phase one” agreement, […] Read more
With the latest coronavirus relief package behind him, President Joe Biden may turn to another legislative priority this year: taxes. Resetting how much Americans contribute to Uncle Sam could be high on the Democratic president’s list of priorities for this year. Biden promised throughout his campaign that he would limit any tax hikes to people with incomes above $400,000. […] Read more