Apple didn’t say it was hiring 20,000 new workers, nor bringing back all of its overseas cash

Apple Inc. announced a series of plans Wednesday that were celebrated as promises to hire thousands of workers and bring home all of its overseas cash. Well, not necessarily. Apple AAPL, -0.45%  said in its release that the company planned to “create over 20,000 new jobs through hiring at existing campuses and opening a new one.” The key word there is “create,” which Apple really likes to use when discussing jobs: The company even has a portion of its website dedicated to “job creation” that claims it is “responsible for 2 million jobs” in the United States, most of which are jobs “attributable to the App Store ecosystem.” Apple currently employs 84,000 people in the U.S., it said Wednesday,

Cramer's game plan: Watch individual stocks amid the earn...

Jim Cramer advised investors on stocks to watch as earnings season begins in earnest and companies guide toward tax reform benefits.

GOLDMAN SACHS: The government shutdown will take a toll on the US economy, but the pain won't last long

Goldman Sachs says the government shutdown will result in a 0.2% reduction in first-quarter GDP for every week it persists. Expect the government shutdown to slowly drain the US economy, says Goldman Sachs. Now that the federal government has failed to successfully negotiate a funding bill, first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) will slip by 0.2 percentage points for each week the shutdown persists, according to Goldman.

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  US government shutdown: Congress blame game begins after Senate fails to avert crisis

  The Independent
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  Government shutdown: Lawmakers scramble for DACA deal

  CNN

Why retiring in America has become less attractive

Getting old in America isn’t what it used to be. In a worldwide study, the U.S. fell to No. 17 (down three spots from last year) in the Natixis Global Asset Management Global Retirement Index. The index ranks 43 mainly developed countries on their ability to offer its citizens a secure retirement. Norway, Switzerland, Iceland and Sweden top the list. Why did the U.S. have such a dismal showing? The U.S. took hits in income equality, health care spending and life expectancy. While America may have the fifth-highest income per capita, we have the sixth lowest score for income equality, suggesting that retirement saving is difficult for average workers. Our life expectancy fell, yet we spend the

Venezuela's woes poised to hit U.S. oilfield service firms' earnings

Insufficient investment, payment delays to suppliers, and the sanctions imposed by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump have hammered Venezuela's oil industry and saw crude oil production fall 13 percent in 2017. On Friday, Schlumberger disclosed a $938 million write-down on its Venezuelan assets and receivables, citing political and economic woes affecting the country. Schlumberger and other suppliers accepted promissory notes or reclassified Venezuelan receivables in recent years as a way to manage debts from PDVSA [PDVSA.UL].

McDonald's 'joint employment' trial delayed amid settlement talks

Administrative Law Judge Lauren Esposito in Manhattan said that even though the trial is expected to wrap up as soon as next week, McDonald's, its franchisees, and the National Labor Relations Board's general counsel should have a chance to pursue a settlement. The office of General Counsel Peter Robb, appointed by President Donald Trump and took office in November, requested the stay on Wednesday.

Ford earnings: Disappointing outlook, stock weakness among stumbling blocks

Ford Motor Co. comes to the week of its fourth-quarter earnings release hobbled by weak guidance and lows for its stock. The auto maker is scheduled to report results after the bell on Wednesday. Ford’s guidance earlier this month has disappointed Wall Street, and analysts are likely to scour earnings for signs the company can weather the storm. Bright points for Ford F, -0.58%  include its best-selling pickup trucks and SUVs, the type of vehicles that U.S. residents have taken a marked liking in recent years at the expense of sedans and compacts. The company is also looking at launching compact SUVs this year, which have also grown in popularity. “That’s where the profits are, and where the

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  Netflix Earnings Preview: What Analysts Are Saying

  Fortune
• Analysts Expect Pool Co. (POOL) to Post $0.17 EPS

  The Cerbat Gem

Google Executives Pledge to Scour More Content Ahead of Midterm Elections

The chief executive officers of Alphabet Inc.’s Google and YouTube pledged to scour videos and other content more closely for misleading news and inappropriate messages on their web services ahead of elections in the U.S later this year. "We have more elections coming, so we’re all working harder," Google CEO Sundar Pichai said during an interview at an event in San Francisco on Friday hosted by MSNBC and Recode. Later this year, midterm elections will determine which party runs Congress, now controlled by Republicans. YouTube chief Susan Wojcicki said the online video service is trying to hire as many employees as possible to scrutinize videos in tandem with computers running artificial-intelligence software to identify and quickly remove offensive and inaccurate material.

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  After one year of Trump, Google CEO Sundar Pichai sounds a lot different about immigration — and that might be a good thing (GOOGL, GOOG)

  Business Insider
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  Google CEO Has No Regrets About Firing Author of Anti-Diversity Memo

  Fortune

Netflix, Starbucks, and a government shutdown — What you need to know for the week ahead

The biggest political story all week was the impending government shutdown, which took effect at midnight on Friday. During the most recent 16-day shutdown in 2013, the S&P 500 gained 3.1%. Economists at Goldman Sachs estimated that each week the government is shut down in the first quarter would take 0.2% off first quarter GDP. Meanwhile, Treasury yields continued their recent market higher with the two-year Treasury yield settling above 2.05% and the 10-year Treasury settling at 2.64%, above the 2.63% Jeff Gundlach called out earlier this month as a key level for the benchmark government bond.

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  Netflix, Ford and More Big Earnings to Watch For This Week

  247wallst.com
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  Australia shares to track Wall Street higher; NZ up

  Reuters

What can derail this rally? Six trades

The 'Fast Money' traders discuss some of the cracks in the rally.

Credit Suisse Plans Low Bonus Pool Increase for 2017

Credit Suisse Group AG, Switzerland’s second-largest bank, plans to increase its bonus pool for last year as the lender makes progress on its three-year restructuring plan, two people familiar with the plans said. Swiss newspaper Schweiz am Wochenende earlier reported that the pool would probably increase by about 10 percent. Credit Suisse declined to comment.

Twitter's Noto Is Said to Be Among Finalists as SoFi CEO

Anthony Noto, Twitter Inc.’s chief operating officer, is in talks with Social Finance Inc. to become the online lending company’s new chief executive officer.  San Francisco-based SoFi has been searching for a leader since September, when co-founder and CEO Mike Cagney departed amid turmoil at the firm. Noto has yet to accept an offer, and talks could still fall apart, according to people familiar with the matter. He is one of fewer than a handful of finalists for the role, with as many as two women and two men in the running, said the people, who asked not to be identified since the matter is private. SoFi declined to comment. Twitter spokeswoman Kristin Binns said, “As a policy, we don’t comment

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  SoFi in talks with top Twitter exec about CEO position: WSJ

  Reuters
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  SoFi in discussions with top Twitter executive Anthony Noto over CEO job: Source

  CNBC

Amazon's Monthly Prime Price Hike Might Just Be Followed by an Annual Hike

One of my 2018 Amazon.com (AMZN) predictions -- that Prime would see a price hike -- just partly came true. And it wouldn't be altogether shocking if it went from being partly to completely true by year's end. This morning, Amazon announced that the price for a U.S. Prime subscription paid on a monthly basis would be rising by $2 to $12.99 per month, or nearly $156 on an annualized basis. For now, however, the price of an annual Prime membership, which was last hiked in early 2014, remains at $99. Clearly, Amazon is trying to motivate Prime members on monthly subscriptions to switch to the annual plan, which likely has less churn and (since credit cards are billed just once each year) carries

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  Amazon increases its monthly Prime membership rate to $12.99

  Fox 59 News - fox59.com
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  Amazon Raises Prime Membership Fees: What You Need to Know

  Motley Fool

Amazon's Cashier-Less Store Opening Monday Has a Secret Agenda

If Amazon's (AMZN) futuristic new convenience store is a success, the job profession known as cashier may be extinct within 20 years. Amazon Go, a cashier-free convenience store concept, will finally swing open its doors to the public on Monday in Seattle. The store has been in test form by Amazon employees since 2016. John Q public will be able to shop for groceries at the 1,800 square foot store, and once they are finished, walk out without checking out. The company will use technology that automatically detects when products are taken from, or returned, to shelves and track those items in a virtual shopping cart. Amazon will then charge the Amazon accounts of shoppers shortly after and send

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  Inside Amazon's surveillance-powered no-checkout convenience store

  TechCrunch
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  Amazon Go lets you skip the checkout line

  USA Today

Stock Market Bears Are the Dumbest Thing on Wall Street

The stock market is on fire in 2018. In just 13 trading sessions, the S&P 500 and Dow have rallied close to 5% each, with the Nasdaq closing in on a 6% year-to-date gain. So what's with the melancholy attitude, Wall Street bears? There's no sugar coating it: the stock market will, at some point, endure a correction. But timing is what needs to take focus here. Some of the best and most respected analysts on the Street have said stocks will continue to rally in 2018. And they have good reason to be bullish: tax reform is likely to unleash a wave of much better than expected profit reports this year and next. Giant companies such as Action Alerts Plus holding Apple (AAPL) , Boeing (BA) and Disney

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  For Investors Used to Political Drama, Shutdown Is One More Sideshow

  Bloomberg
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  Australia shares to track Wall Street higher; NZ up

  Reuters

Stock investors don't seem to care about government shutdowns — but this one comes right in the middle of earnings season

After Republicans, who control both the House and Senate, were unable to pass a spending bill by midnight Friday, the US government has entered a partial shutdown, with all nonessential services going into a freeze. Historical data suggests that a big market move shaking stocks is unlikely, but a shutdown would still be concerning to investors. "Although a government shutdown sounds scary, the reality is it has been a non-event historically for equities,” Ryan Detrick, a senior market strategist at LPL Financial, said in an email.

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  Blame game as Congress struggles to end US government shutdown

  AFP
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  Lawmakers Point Fingers Over Government Shutdown

  Fortune

Stocks March Higher Despite Ongoing Risks

The major U.S. indexes moved higher over the past week despite mounting concerns over a government shutdown, record-setting equity valuations and weak inflation. Earlier this week, the Federal Reserve indicated that the economy and inflation were expanding at a modest to moderate pace. The central bank is widely expected to continue increasing interest rates this year despite overall inflation remaining below its 2% target rate. The S&P 500 P/E ratio spiked to 26.17x this week, which is its highest level since the 2007-2008 financial crisis and the dotcom boom. International markets were mixed over the past week. Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.61%; Germany's DAX 30 rose 1.43%; and Britain's FTSE 100

Cramer's lightning round: Buy Cisco before its quarterly earnings report

AU Optronics Corp.: "OK, if you're new – and you don't want to buy a Taiwanese company to start – [and] you want to buy in that area, you want to buy Cisco. [CEO] Chuck Robbins is redoing everything. Get in Cisco before the quarter." Mondelez Intl: "I think the stock is inexpensive and the group is starting to get a couple bids underneath. I think that you could do far worse than buying Mondelez." Mitsubishi Financial Group: "You know what, you actually should [add Mitsubishi to your portfolio]. I've been working on Japan and that is a great way to play Japan. I'm going to endorse that." JetBlue: "JetBlue is OK. I'm actually talking about Southwest. My charitable trust should not have sold it.

How Interest Rates Affect Every Aspect of Your Personal Financial Life

If you've ever made a student loan payment or carried a credit card balance into a new month, you already know how interest rates work. In those cases, it's the percentage tacked onto your principal debt, or the price you pay later for borrowing money now. The federal funds rate (FFR), the interest rate of all interest rates, is calculated by the Federal Reserve and determines how much a bank needs to pay if it borrows money from another bank.