Category: Stock Market News

AT&T Inc. said it plans to boost capital spending by $1 billion, and pay out more than $200 million in employee bonuses, once the tax bill approved by Congress is signed into law. The telecom company for the bonuses, it will pay a $1,000 special bonus to more than 200,000 employees in the U.S., all who are union-represented, non-management and front-line managers. The company said if President Donald Trump signs the bill before Christmas, the bonuses will be paid over the holidays. “This tax reform will drive economic growth and create good-paying jobs,” said Chief Executive Randall Stephenson. AT&T is currently battling with antitrust regulators over its proposed merger with Time Warner Inc. , as the Trump administration has sued to block the deal. AT&T’s stock rallied 1.3% in afternoon trade. It has dropped 9.4% year to date, while the S&P 500 has climbed 19.8%.

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Boeing Co. said Wednesday it will earmark a total of $300 million on workforce-related and charitable investments, as the aerospace and defense contractor celebrated the Republican tax bill. Boeing said it was still studying the provisions of the new tax legislation, but Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg applauded the bill, saying it will help “unleash economic energy” in the U.S. “It’s the single-most important thing we can do to drive innovation, support quality jobs and accelerate capital investment in our country,” Muilenburg said in a statement. The company said it would spend $100 million for workforce development, $100 mililon for ‘workplace of the future’ facilities and $100 million for corporate giving, such as employee gift-match programs. The stock rose 0.5% toward a record high in midday trade. It has soared 16.9% over the past three months, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has climbed 10.5%.

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The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed the Republican tax bill, sending the sweeping legislation to President Donald Trump for signature. It is the biggest overhaul of the U.S. tax code in more than three decades, and permanently slashes the corporate rate to 21% while temporarily scaling back individuals’ rates. The bill also throws out Obamacare’s individual insurance mandate and opens part of an Alaskan wildlife refuge to oil and gas drilling. Democrats unanimously opposed the bill in both the House and Senate. The House had approved the bill Tuesday but was forced to revote after a procedural ruling.

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Shares of Net Element Inc. rocketed more than four-fold to a 16-month high on very high volume in midday trade Wednesday, extending gains in the wake of the electronic-payments company’s announcement that it was entering the blockchain fray. The stock was the biggest percentage gainer trading on major U.S. exchanges. Volume swelled to 13.8 million shares, compared with the full-day average of about 458,000 shares, and about triple the stock’s previous record one-day volume of 4.6 million shares. The stock’s 335% rally comes 2 1/2-months after the company enacted a 1-for-10 reverse stock split on Oct. 5; on Oct. 4, the stock closed at a pre-split-adjusted price of 63 cents. The company announced before Wednesday’s open that it was launching a blockchain-focused business unit, in an effort to develop a cryptocurrency-based ecosystem to connect merchants with consumers. Meanwhile, bitcoin futures fell $625, or 3.6%, to $16,930 on Wednesday, and the S&P 500 eased 0.1%.

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The developer of the Pokemon Go app said Wednesday that it would enhance the app to leverage Apple Inc.’s [a: aapl] ARKit. The new version of the app will feature better augmented-reality capabilities. Pokemon creatures will be “fixed in space,” allowing users to get close to them and better observe them. The updated app will also better sense proximity to Pokemon, which will make it easier for users to get bonuses. The developer, Niantic Inc., plans to follow up on Pokemon Go with a new augmented reality game based on the Harry Potter series. Niantic was spun out of Alphabet Inc. in 2015 and counts Nintendo Co. Ltd. among its investors.

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United Therapeutics Corp. agreed Wednesday to pay $210 million to settle claims that it paid kickbacks to Medicare patients. The U.S. Attorney’s office had alleged that the company violated the Anti-Kickback Statute of the False Claims Act, which prohibits drug companies from paying to induce Medicare patients to buy their drugs. The company, which sells a number of pulmonary arterial hypertension drugs, allegedly used a foundation claiming non-profit status as a conduit to pay the co-pay obligations of “thousands” of Medicare patients taking its drugs. “UT used a third party to do exactly what it knew it could not lawfully do itself,” said Acting U.S. Attorney William Weinreb. The $210 million settlement is equal to 47% of total third-quarter revenue. United Therapeutics’s stock gained 0.3% in midday trade. It has lost 5.2% year to date, while the S&P 500 has climbed 20%.

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Uber Technologies Inc.’s long search for a chief operating officer has come to an end. Barney Harford, the former CEO of Orbitz, will take on the Uber COO job, he said on Twitter Wednesday. Harford worked at Expedia with Uber’s new CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, after Expedia Inc. acquired Orbitz in 2015. He has been working as a senior advisor at Uber since October, according to Bloomberg. Uber is trying to change up its corporate culture after a series of scandals. Founder Travis Kalanick was ousted from the CEO job earlier this year. Uber was dealt a disappointing blow earlier Wednesday after European regulators deemed the company a transit service, which could open the firm up to more regulations.

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Apple Inc. is reportedly planning to make it easier for developers to create apps that work across all Apple devices, according to Bloomberg. Apple shares are down 0.4% in Wednesday trading. As it stands, those who wish to make apps for Apple’s products have to make separate ones for the iOS mobile operating system and for the macOS computer operating system. A Bloomberg report says the company will roll out a way for developers to create a single app that works across both of these, “starting as early as next year.” Microsoft Corp. has universal apps aimed at PCs and Xbox devices, while Alphabet Inc.’s Google has made Android apps available on Chromebook computers. Apple shares are up 50% so far this year, while Microsoft’s stock has gained 37% and Alphabet’s is up 35%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has risen 25% this year.

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Magic Leap updated its website Wednesday to show the name and look of its forthcoming smart glasses, the Magic Leap One Creator Edition. The company said on its site that shipments would start in 2018, though it didn’t quote a price for the device. Magic Leap makes use of augmented reality, or mixed reality, to “generate digital light at different depths and blend seamlessly with natural light to produce lifelike digital objects that coexist in the real world.” Users will be able to view multiple screens at a time. Magic Leap investors include Google LLC, Qualcomm Ventures, and Alibaba Group Holding .

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U.S. oil futures gave up modest gains Wednesday, falling prey to an apparent bout of profit-taking, analysts said, after a larger-than-expected decline in domestic crude inventories. West Texas Intermediate crude oil for February delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange was flat at $57.56 a barrel after trading on both sides of unchanged following data that showed U.S. crude stockpiles fell by 6.5 million barrels in the week ended Dec. 15. Analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had forecast, on average, a decline of 3.2 million barrels. A 1.2 million barrel rise in gasoline inventories may have contributed to the lackluster tone, analysts said. Analysts had forecast a 1.1 million barrel rise.

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