Tech giants that could be broken up under a series of new antitrust bills are speaking out against the measures as lawmakers are set to debate them on Wednesday. Amazon and Google released statements on Tuesday opposing the bills. Apple and Facebook, which were also targets of the House Judiciary Committee’s investigation into digital markets, have yet to put out their own statements. But industry groups backed by the tech firms have also pushed back on the legislation, arguing it would… Source link

European Union regulators took aim at the heart of Google’s business model on Tuesday, announcing that the Silicon Valley giant is the subject of a new antitrust investigation for potentially abusing its dominance in the online advertising market to stifle competition. The investigation is part of a broader push by the European authorities to clamp down on the world’s largest technology companies. Amazon, Apple and Facebook are also the subject of antitrust actions by the 27-nation bloc,… Source link

Quality is on sale in the stock market.  Higher quality stocks are trading at their largest valuation discount to the broad market since the dot com bubble of the early 2000s (see chart below), BlackRock CIO of U.S. fundamental equities Tony DeSpirito said in a new research note.  DeSpirito defines high quality stocks as those of companies that generate profits and sport pricing power (so obviously, this excludes Special Purpose Acquisition Companies, or SPACs). The companies manage their… Source link

Grammy-winning singer Chris Brown was accused of hitting a woman during an argument in a Los Angeles home on Friday, authorities said. A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department told NBC News Tuesday that officers responded to a report of an argument at a residence in the 19600 block of Citrus Ridge Drive in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles. The incident is being investigated as a battery and will be referred to the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office, according to the… Source link

Mongolia promised its people a “COVID-free summer.” Bahrain said there would be a “return to normal life.” The tiny island nation of the Seychelles aimed to jump-start its economy. All three put their faith, at least in part, in easily accessible Chinese-made vaccines, which would allow them to roll out ambitious inoculation programs at a time when much of the world was going without. But instead of freedom from the coronavirus, all three countries are now battling a surge in… Source link

Regulators in China taking a tougher stance on cryptocurrencies could partially explain the most recent rout in bitcoin prices. But some Wall Street watchers think the U.S. Federal Reserve’s new hawkish stance on interest rate policy and bond buying is also playing a key role.  “It is our belief that part of the momentous rally (an important part) has been helped by the Fed’s largess. Bitcoin and other cryptos should rally further on their own over the years, but we believe that they have… Source link

India’s antitrust watchdog has ordered an investigation into allegations that Google has abused the dominant position of Android in the country’s smart TV market. The news comes hours after the European Union opened a formal antitrust investigation into allegations that Google abuses its leading role in the advertising-technology sector. In its initial review, the Competition Commission of India, which began looking into these allegations last year, said Google had… Source link

Googleplex headquarters in Mountain View, California. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images Alphabet‘s Google plans to shut down a long-running program aimed at entry-level engineers from underrepresented backgrounds after participants said it enforced “systemic pay inequities,” according to internal correspondence seen by Reuters. Google confirmed it was replacing the Engineering Residency with a new initiative, saying it is “always evaluating programs to ensure they evolve and adapt over time… Source link

Google headquarters in Mountain View, California.  Stephen Shankland/CNET Google on Tuesday… Source link

Stocks extended gains on Tuesday, with equities steadying following concerns over the path forward for monetary policy.  The S&P 500 advanced to end within striking distance of a record high. The Dow also added to gains, a day after the 30-stock index jumped by the most since March. The Nasdaq reached a record intraday and closing high. Cryptocurrency prices were broadly lower as concerns over tighter regulatory actions from China continued to weigh, and tokens from Bitcoin (BTC-USD) to the… Source link