Yahoo News

Stock futures gained Monday evening to shake off earlier declines ahead of another batch of corporate earnings results.  Contracts on the S&P 500 ticked up after the blue-chip index ended a choppy session on Monday lower. The Dow had also closed out the regular trading day in the red, losing steam in the final hour of trading after reaching a record intraday high.  Shares of video game-maker Take-Two Interactive (TTWO) fell in late trading after the company’s current-quarter forecast missed… Source link

Every investor wants an ‘in,’ some hint that will tell exactly what a stock is going to do, and when. The kind of signal that will cut through the market’s noise, and makes sense of the deluge of raw data that every company generates. Multiply that data by 10,000 publicly traded stocks, and you’ll have some idea of just how daunting the markets can be. It’s tempting to follow an expert: a Wall Street analyst, or a trading guru. They all have important contributions to make. But… Source link

By Stephen Nellis (Reuters) – Memory chip maker Micron Technology Inc on Monday said it would shift how it returns cash to shareholders, buying up more shares when prices are low, fewer when prices are high and instituting a dividend for the first time. Micron makes DRAM and NAND memory chips, which are needed for nearly all computing systems and whose price can fluctuate widely based on global supply and demand. This can cause swings in profits – and share prices – at most memory… Source link

On Monday, the hypercontagious Delta variant finally did what Joe Biden couldn’t: convinced 70 percent of U.S. adults to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Biden originally aimed to administer at least one vaccine dose to 70 percent of Americans 18 and older by July 4. But widespread vaccine hesitancy — particularly in conservative parts of the country — prevented the U.S. from meeting his deadline. Now Delta appears to be breaking down some of that resistance. A health care worker prepares… Source link

Video conferencing company Zoom’s (ZM) recently announced $85 million settlement of a privacy class action is a “groundbreaking” and unique settlement that covers both paying customers and those who used free accounts, a lawyer for the plaintiffs told Yahoo Finance. In reaching the settlement, now pending a judge’s approval, Zoom, despite denying wrongdoing, agreed to both compensate its users and adopt new user privacy measures after it came under fire last year for so-called “ Source link

Top economic policymakers are facing a critical question: Will the Delta variant hold back the more than 6 million Americans still sidelined from work compared to pre-pandemic levels? Child care concerns and enhanced unemployment insurance benefits are often cited as top reasons for hesitancy in returning to work. But a third reason is fear of contracting the virus, a factor likely to be amplified by the spread of the more contagious Delta variant. At the Federal Reserve, the policymakers… Source link

Square (SQ) hasn’t escaped the volatility in bitcoin this year by any means.  The payments platform — which allows the buying and selling of bitcoin via its Cash App — said Monday its second quarter bitcoin revenue clocked in at $2.72 billion. That’s a 23% drop from the first quarter. Gross profit from Square’s bitcoin business tallied $55 million, down $20 million from the first quarter. Year-to-date Square has been forced to take $65 million in impairments related to its bitcoin… Source link

With its stock price down about 72% year-to-date amid an overall cooling in the SPAC craze, QuantumScape founder and CEO Jagdeep Singh has a message to the market.  The upstart solid state battery maker remains on track with everything it said it would do when it debuted via a SPAC transaction late in 2020.  Singh said on Yahoo Finance Live the company is still eyeing commercialization of its battery technology in the 2024-2025 timeframe. Its key partner and backer Volkswagen will be the… Source link

The first half of 2021 brought a crypto boom and bust as bitcoin hit a new all-time high in April and then completely erased all its annual gains (and then some) by July.  Now, as bitcoin (BTC-USD) finds its footing, bulls are reloading for what they say will bring an exciting conclusion in the back half of the year.  Whether or not the world of crypto delivers on the high hopes investors have for what’s left of 2021, Yahoo Finance can at least guarantee that the action is likely to involve… Source link

Square (SQ) is acquiring Australian buy now, pay later (BNPL) company Afterpay for $29 billion in stock, signaling that the digital payments company is entering the installment payment market. “This deal makes a lot of sense for Square, especially insofar as it enabled the company to expand significantly, both in terms of product line and globally by using its stock as an acquisition currency,” BTIG Managing Director Mark Palmer said on Yahoo Finance Live (video above). Square is a brainchild… Source link