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Twitter evaluates whether to allow “controversial content” on a “case-by-case basis,” a spokeswoman told MarketWatch in response to a question about President Donald Trump’s retweeting videos posted by a far-right British leader. The spokeswoman pointed to a Twitter policy that states, in part, “there may be the rare occasion when we allow controversial content or behavior which may otherwise violate our Rules to remain on our service because we believe there is a legitimate public interest in its availability.” Early Wednesday, Trump retweeted three anti-Muslim videos posted by Jayda Fransen, deputy head of the group Britain First. The spokeswoman also said the company is reviewing its verification policies.

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The Congressional Budget Office on Wednesday said a bill to stabilize Obamacare would not do much to counter the negative impact of repealing the individual mandate to buy health insurance. The Senate tax bill has such a repeal provision. The CBO previously estimated repealing the mandate would result in up to 13 million fewer people with insurance and a 10% increase in average nongroup market premiums in a decade. “If legislation were enacted that incorporated both the provisions of the Bipartisan Health Care Stabilization Act and a repeal of the individual mandate, the agencies expect that the interactions among the provisions would be small; the effects on premiums and the number of people with health insurance coverage would be similar to those referenced above,” CBO Director Keith Hall wrote Sen. Patty Murray, the Washington Democrat who is co-sponsor of the bipartisan stabilization bill.

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Micron Technology Inc.’s stock tumbled 7.3%, as it headed for a third-straight loss since closing at a 17-year high on Friday, amid some near-term concerns over memory chip pricing. KeyBanc Capital analyst Weston Twigg reiterated his sector weight rating on Micron ahead Thursday’s release of November monthly contract data pricing for dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) and NAND memory chips. “Despite good long-term memory trends, we see neutral to negative dynamics in the near- to midterm for NAND, and neutral dynamics for DRAM,” Twigg wrote in a note to clients. The stock has shed 10.5% this week, which puts it on track to record just its third pullback since its current bull market began in May 2016. Many on Wall Street view a decline of 10% or more from a significant peak as an official pullback, while declines of at least 20% are bear markets. Micron’s other pullbacks were the 15.4% drop from June 26, 2017 to Aug. 10, and the 16.5% decline from June 23, 2016 to July 6, 2016. From the May 13, 2016 bear market bottom of $9.56, the stock had rocketed more than five-fold to Friday’s record close of $49.68. Over the past three months, Micron’s stock was still up 41%, while the PHLX Semiconductor Index has climbed 17% and the S&P 500 has gained 7.4%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News

The Congressional Budget Office on Wednesday said a bill to stabilize Obamacare would not do much to counter the negative impact of repealing the individual mandate to buy health insurance. The Senate tax bill has such a repeal provision. The CBO previously estimated repealing the mandate would result in up to 13 million fewer people with insurance and a 10% increase in average nongroup market premiums in a decade. “If legislation were enacted that incorporated both the provisions of the Bipartisan Health Care Stabilization Act and a repeal of the individual mandate, the agencies expect that the interactions among the provisions would be small; the effects on premiums and the number of people with health insurance coverage would be similar to those referenced above,” CBO Director Keith Hall wrote Sen. Patty Murray, the Oregon Democrat who is co-sponsor of the bipartisan stabilization bill.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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The Dow Jones Transportation Average surged back above the 10,000 level Wednesday, as it approached its Oct. 12 record close, with all 20 components trading higher, led by airline stocks. The Dow transports shot up 260 points, or 2.7%, after running up 159 points, or 1.7% on Tuesday. The two-day gain of 4.4% would be the biggest since it climbed 4.5% in the two days ending June 29. The biggest gainer was JetBlue Airways Corp.’s stock , which hiked up 5.7% to a 3 1/2-month high, followed by shares of Southwest Airlines Co. , which rallied 5.6%. The Dow transports were just 0.2% away from the 10,038.13 record close. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 53 points, on track for a record close.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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Viacom Inc. said on Wednesday that it has appointed executive Jose Tolosa to a newly created role as chief transformation officer. Tolosa will report directly to Viacom Chief Executive Bob Bakish in the role, which puts him in charge of a team that will be responsible for guiding Viacom’s agenda to transform its business, as well as developing and executing initiatives that support and accelerate the company’s strategic priorities. Viacom has struggled in recent years, only recently emerging from internal turmoil that resulted in the ousting of former CEO Philippe Dauman. The company has suffered viewership declines at its networks and poor performance at the box office. Tolosa was previously Viacom’s chief operating officer for international media networks. “At Viacom International Media Networks he played an instrumental role in evolving our international media business, including the launch of our highly successful Play Plex mobile apps and their ongoing expansion to the U.S.,” Bakish said in a statement. “As chief transformation officer, Jose will build on this strong track record by ensuring we are aligning our operations to meet our goals and best position Viacom for the future.” Shares of Viacom’s publicly-owned class B shares are down more than 20% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 index is up 17% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up nearly 21%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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Shares of Nvidia Corp. sank 7.4% on heavy volume in midday trade Wednesday, as they suffered a third-straight loss following Friday’s record close. Volume swelled to 16.3 million shares, already more than the full-day average of 12.6 million shares. The stock has now plunged 10.1% during its losing streak, the biggest three-day selloff since it tumbled 10.6% during the three-day stretch ending Feb. 8, 2016. On Tuesday, shares of Nvidia and rival graphics chip maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. took a hit after Mizuho analyst Vijay Rakesh warned that the cryptocurrency market could become less meaningful for chip companies. AMD’s stock slid 3.2% on Wednesday. The stocks’ selloff comes amid broad weakness in the chip sector, with the PHLX Semiconductor Index shedding 4.4%. The chip sector tracker has now lost 5.7% since closing at a record high on Friday.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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Susquehanna Financial Group analysts led by Bill Dreher have come to the conclusion that a problem with International Business Machines Corp. servers caused the credit card problems that Macy’s Inc. had on Black Friday. Analysts had a conference call with a credit card processing expert they call Tom P. that led Susquehanna to believe that the servers stopped working for cards that weren’t private label. “We believe that it is highly likely that this interruption will have a financial impact on the company’s business, but believe that sales could have been running ahead of conservative guidance provided prior to the interruption, preventing a miss but offsetting a gain,” analysts wrote. “While the specifics of the impact will not be detailed until post-holiday commentary from the company, we are increasingly confident that the processing issue will be a headwind during FQ4, possibly much worse if it affects core customer goodwill.” Macy’s said Friday that the problem was “due to a capacity-related issue that caused some transactions to take longer to process.” IBM did not comment on the problem by press time. Macy’s shares are up 6% in Wednesday trading, but down more then 34% for the year so far. IBM shares are down 8.1% for the year to date. And the S&P 500 index is up 17.3% for 2017 so far.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News