Dropbox posted fourth quarter earnings that surpassed analysts’ expectations, on the back of increasing number of paying users. The file hosting service’s earnings for the quarter came in at 28 cents a share(up from the year-ago quarter’s 16 cents a share), compared to the 24 cents a share expected by analysts polled by Factset. Revenue of $504.1 billion (up from year-ago period’s $446...

For some investors, the growing possibility of a market downturn means one thing: it may be time to hedge your portfolio. For newer investors, ‘hedging’ a portfolio means making an investment or taking a position in a security with the intent of off-setting price movements of other securities in the portfolio.In the current environment, for example, an all-stock portfolio could be hedged by something that tends to rise as stocks fall, like bonds or put options. Given that over the last 100 years, 5% pullbacks typically happen about three times a year, 10% to 15% corrections every one to two years, and 20% bear markets every three to five years, hedging could make good sense for many investors.

Video streaming company Roku posted an unexpected profit in the fourth quarter. The company’s fourth quarter earnings came in at 49 cents per share adjusted, while analysts were expecting an adjusted net loss of -5 cents per share. Revenue rose +58% from the year-ago quarter to $649.9 million, also topping analysts’ forecast of $617.7 million. The platform’s average revenue per user climbed...

Despite their ubiquity, a growing segment of the internet-using populace believes these companies have user data locked-up in platforms that are only designed to make their stockholders money, that destroy any notions of privacy, and that kills competition. Some believe the path to regaining control of personal data, leveling the playing field, and creating a more benevolent internet begins with the privacy-focused, a socially conscious world of decentralized apps, or dapps (pronounced ‘dee-apps’). Google and Facebook generate most of their revenue through ads.Engaging with a traditional cloud-based app like Google Docs means giving Google access to every word you type – and trusting that they will keep it safe and not use it improperly.

As the market adjusts to our new reality, we discuss whether the changes we’ve seen are a result of an inherent property of the stock market or a wave of unprecedented social media influence. The latest hot stock market news stories have had a polarizing effect on new traders. While the opportunities are attractive, expert traders warn about the increasing volatility spurred by the...

Walmart Inc. reported fourth quarter earnings that fell short of what analysts’ expected. While the retail giant faced a charge linked to taxes in the United Kingdom, it still generated record sales of more than $150 billion. The company’s adjusted earnings for the three months ended in January came in at $1.39 per share, one penny up from the same period last year and below the consensus...

Just about every investor will face a moment in their career where they say, “I wish I would’ve invested in that company or asset 10 years ago.” It’s a cold, hard reality of investing over time.Those are the types of companies with the potential to deliver attractive returns – for investors who stick with them. I’ve picked 5 companies at random, and I took a look at how much a $10,000 investment would have grown over the last five years.

Blockchain, the vital foundation of the decentralized network, may be innovative, but it has made crypto transactions haltingly slow. Three startups believe they have developed a solution – an ambitious payment network called Lightning.Proponents believe that it could remove the biggest impediments to bitcoin’s growth, further aiding its adoption in the mainstream. Lightning is the product of a 2015 white paper by Joseph Poon and Thaddeus Dryja, but only recently have San Francisco’s Blockstream and Lightning Labs, along with Paris’ ACINQ, translated its ideas into functional code.

There’s an old saying in economics, coined by former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, that the Federal Reserve has “accurately predicted nine of the last five recessions.” Predictions are not our strong suit, yet business and investment decision-making often rely heavily on them.A CEO’s forecast for sales in a given quarter can impact everything from inventory to new hires, to the earnings forecasts made by analysts on Wall Street.

The Federal Reserve has reportedly told Wells Fargo that they have accepted the bank's plan to overhaul its risk management and governance. According to Bloomberg, CEO Charlie Scharf’s team submitted the revised plan in September. This followed the Federal Reserve's directive that prohibited the bank from raising its assets beyond their year-end 2017 level until it implemented certain reforms...

Salesforce said that the U.S. Justice Department’s Antitrust Division has requested Salesforce and Slack for more information ahead of Salesforce’s plan to acquire the software company for $27 billion. “We’ve appreciated our constructive dialogue with the Department of Justice and look forward to it continuing,” a Salesforce spokesperson told CNBC in an email. “We strongly believe this...

By most accounts, it isn’t much, and YouTube, who reported $12 billion in revenue in 2017, recently raised the limit on the number of views required to share in advertising revenue. This skewed distribution of wealth is not the only problem facing major tech platforms – many are experiencing backlash about the way they use the data they have collected about their users.A variety of companies are using blockchain technology, the foundational element of cryptocurrency, to pursue these goals. Smart contracts, written in code within the blockchain protocol, allow companies to openly execute this vision.

Quite the opposite in fact – Mrs. Bloom was a secretary at a law firm for 67 years. When Mrs. Bloom passed away in 2016, friends and relatives were in shock to discover how much she was actually worth.But maybe they shouldn’t have been – Mrs. Bloom rarely missed a day of work in 67 years, she and her husband lived their whole lives in a rent-controlled apartment in Brooklyn, and she always insisted on walking or taking the subway.

Sources told Reuters the company was now worth as much as $4.5 billion. The round was notable not just for the $600 million raised (which the company claimed was a world record for an AI firm), but for the big names who gave financial backing.E-commerce behemoth, Alibaba, reportedly contributed $227 million, while another Chinese e-commerce company, Suning.com, and Singapore’s state-owned investment company, Temasek Holdings, also made significant contributions. SenseTime primarily develops surveillance software based in AI.

Americans who hold more than $10,000 abroad are required to file Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) reports each year with the U.S. Treasury Department.A potential $100,000-plus fine, plus prison time. The IRS has previously defined some tax-related parameters with cryptocurrency – for example, they have made clear that digital currency is defined as property no matter where it was purchased, with holders thus being required to pay capital gains taxes on it.

AutoNation posted fourth quarter earnings that exceeded analysts’ expectations. The automotive retailer’s adjusted earnings came in at $2.43 a share, well above analysts’ forecast of $2.01 a share. Revenue of $5.79 billion, also beat analysts’ expectations of $5.56 billion. Gross profit per vehicle at AutoNation increased +50% to $2775 from $919, the company said. During the fourth quarter,...

Unfortunately, the processes are historically mired in siloed data, general inefficiencies, and frequent inconsistency – byproducts of manual workflows and thorough regulation.The resulting bottlenecks delay settlement and increase costs, especially in multi-party transactions. Blockchain, on the other hand, facilitates expedient, real-time transactions, condensing settlement time from days to minutes.

Palantir Technologies reported a wider-than-expected fourth-quarter loss. However, the software company expects solid sales for the first quarter and full year. Palantir incurred a net loss of -$148.3 million, or -8 cents a share, vs. a loss of -$159.3 million, or -29 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter. Analysts polled by FactSet had been expecting a narrower loss, -3 cents a share...

CVS Health Corp. reported fourth quarter earnings that exceeded analysts’ expectations. The healthcare company said it will resume offering insurance plans that offer 'Obamacare' subsidies. The company’s adjusted earnings for the three months ending in December fell -25% rom the year-ago quarter to $1.30 per share, 6 cents ahead of the Street consensus forecast. Revenues increased +4%...

How did Binance, a company without a public address and no bank account, become a behemoth in such a short time?   From Crypto Advocate to Exchange Founder Zhao’s background in computer engineering, coupled with an early career developing trading systems for multiple companies, laid the groundwork for his move into digital currencies.The company raised $15 million in an initial coin offering, launched its exchange 11 days later, and has since become extremely popular with crypto traders.