(Bloomberg) -- Sony Corp. and Microsoft Corp. have partnered to embed artificial intelligence capabilities into the Japanese company’s latest imaging chip, a big boost for a camera product the electronics giant describes as a world-first for commercial customers.The new module’s big advantage is that it has its own processor and memory built in, which allows it to analyze video using AI tech like Microsoft’s Azure, but in a self-contained system that’s faster, simpler and more secure to operate than existing methods.The two companies are appealing to retail and logistics businesses with potential uses like optimizing warehouse and factory automation, quantifying the flow of customers through stores and making cars smarter about their drivers and environment.At a time of increasing public surveillance to help rein in the spread of the novel coronavirus, this new smart camera also has the potential to offer more privacy-conscious monitoring. And should its technology be adapted for...
Oil prices rose for a fourth straight session on Tuesday amid signs that producers are cutting output as promised just as demand picks up, stoked by more countries easing out of curbs imposed to counter the coronavirus pandemic. Brent crude climbed 25 cents, or 0.7%, to $35.06 a barrel by 0629 GMT, after earlier touching its highest since April 9. The June WTI contract expires on Tuesday, but there was little sign of a repeat of the historic plunge below zero seen a month ago on the eve of the May contract's expiry amid signs that demand for crude and derived fuels is recovering from its nadir....
Oil prices were mixed on Tuesday, with Brent pulling back from an early gain on profit-taking, while U.S. crude extended its rally amid signs that producers are cutting output as promised just as demand picks up on a resumption of economic activity. Brent crude fell 19 cents, or 0.6%, to $34.62 a barrel by 0351 GMT, after earlier touching its highest since April 9....
(Bloomberg) -- Another early investor of Moderna Inc. is on the cusp of owning a stake worth at least $1 billion after the biotech firm reported encouraging early trial results for an experimental Covid-19 vaccine.The value of board member Bob Langer’s 3.2% holding, including stock options, rose to $934.3 million Monday, as the shares surged 20% to a record $80 each. Langer, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, would be at least the third individual with Moderna holdings topping $1 billion, joining Chief Executive Officer Stephane Bancel and Harvard University professor Timothy Springer.Moderna, whose shares have more than quadrupled this year, released interim data from a small phase 1 trial showing positive early signs that the vaccine can create an immune system response to the virus in humans. The news helped fuel a broader surge in stocks, with the S&P 500 Index advancing 3.2%, the most since April 8.The...
(Bloomberg) -- Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. was in a quandary.The company needed to raise money while its ships were docked amid the Covid-19 pandemic, and the bond market was open if Royal Caribbean was willing to mortgage ships as collateral. Similar deals had worked for rivals like Viking Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd.Royal Caribbean had plenty of ships to offer. The problem? S&P Global Ratings had slashed its credit grade to junk, and the cruise company was expecting Moody’s Investors Service to follow. With those downgrades came steep restrictions on how much of its assets could be pledged to bondholders. The firm knew it needed more than the $1.66 billion of secured debt it would be permitted to raise to get through the crisis.Miami-based Royal Caribbean ultimately found a new structure that would let it sell more than $3 billion of debt linked to ships without running afoul of...
(Bloomberg) -- Oil’s rally extended to a fourth day as a combination of recovering demand, production cuts and promising test results for a coronavirus vaccine brightened the outlook for energy prices.Futures in New York rose around 4% to past $33 a barrel after closing at the highest level in almost 10 weeks on Monday. The June contract expires Tuesday but a repeat of last month’s plunge below zero is highly unlikely. There were far higher trading volumes in the July contract, which advanced around 3%.Crude got an extra boost on Monday after American biotechnology company Moderna Inc. said its vaccine showed signs it can create an immune-system response to the virus, helping to spur broad financial market gains. Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate’s front-month contract settled above the July contract for the first time since January, moving into a market structure known as backwardation that signals concerns over storage capacity have eased.Chinese...
Is now the time to resume the US-China trade war? Not according to Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives. The 5-star analyst argues a new US Commerce Department directive to halt the shipment of US semiconductors to Chinese tech giant Huawei, represents “a ‘doubling down’ on sanctions against this major Chinese smartphone artery.”In retaliation, according to China’s Global Times, Chinese authorities are considering putting specific US companies, including Apple (AAPL), on an "unreliable entity list," thereby positioning Apple and its peers in the middle of the renewed trade battle crossfire.Taking a step back, Ives said, “The last thing any already white knuckle tech investor wanted to see in the middle of a once in a century global pandemic/lockdown is a ratcheting up of tensions between US and China aimed at semis and the overall tech sector that have been an instrumental part of the market rally over the past month despite dark storm...
