Shale oil's impact will have "huge implications" for global energy markets for many years, Fatih Birol, executive director at the International Energy Agency, told CNBC on Tuesday.Read More...

Equities extended losses on waning optimism that the U.S. and China are moving closer to resolving their trade dispute, weighing on global risk appetite.Read More...

U.S.Secretary of State Mike Pompeo voiced optimism on Tuesday for a good outcome in upcoming trade talks with China and said a superpower conflict between the two nations could be avoided. Read More...

Japan must proceed with this year’s scheduled sales tax hike and take steps to more sustainably draw in foreign workers, as a rapidly ageing population and acute labour shortages strain its finances, an economic adviser to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said.READ MORE...

RBC Capital Markets upgraded its recommendation of beverage maker AB InBev, following the latter’s debt refinancing. Shares of the world’s biggest beer company got upgraded to a top pick rating by RBC analyst James Edwardes Jones. Jones said, "The recent refinancing was sensible," and added, "It has replaced peaks of debt repayment with a smoother schedule which, at current exchange rates, should be doable from free cash flow, while significant appreciation in the US$ would be manageable.

Friday’s trading saw an interesting pattern form on consumer staple stock Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL).The pattern is known as a shooting star pattern in candlestick charting and it is considered a bearish reversal pattern. What happens with a shooting star is that the stock opens slightly higher, jumps considerably higher during the day, and then falls to close at a similar level that it opened at. The thinking behind the pattern is that the bulls have been in control and have driven the stock price higher.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) reported fourth-quarter earnings results yesterday morning and the results disappointed investors.Wealth management revenue fell 6% while equity trading revenue and investment banking revenue came in flat. Looking at the daily chart of Morgan Stanley we see that the stock has been trending lower within the confines of a downward sloped trend channel.

The cryptocurrency boom thrust immutable ledger technology into the spotlight, piquing imaginations and leading to increased venture capital contributions for blockchain-related businesses (as well as unimaginable hype).2018 was supposed to be the year blockchain truly began to capture its potential – until it didn’t. MIT Technology Review – a publication owned by the famed research institution but operated independently – argues that the technology failed to live up to the hype in 2018, pointing to steep declines in valuations of cryptocurrencies.

Like any industry, it can be difficult to parse facts from the hype, but experts believe there is plenty to be excited about in 2019. The idea of a cashless world is foundational to fintech – pundits believe that time is coming sooner rather than later.But society has been slow entirely jettison cash, and fintech companies have plenty of work to do to reach un- or under-banked consumers around the world who rely heavily on a physical medium for payment.

HEXO Corp, which announced a joint venture with Molson Coors Canada last summer on the development of cannabis-infused beverages for the Canadian market, will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on January 23. Canada’s fifth-largest cannabis company by market capitalization has tended to fly below investors’ radar compared to larger rivals like Canopy Growth Corp., Aurora Cannabis Inc. and Tilray Inc. 

The 14 nation OPEC began its first round of oil supply cuts in December, as oil supplies plunged by 751,000 barrels per day to nearly 31.6 million bpd. In early December OPEC members signed an agreement with Russia and nine other nations to keep 1.2 million barrels per day off the market starting in January.On the other hand, Iraq, OPEC's second largest producer, witnessed the biggest jump in production in the final month of the year as its output rose 88,000 bpd to just over 4.7 million bpd. At the current level, Baghdad would need to cut about 200,000 bpd in January to meet its quota under the supply cut agreement.  

Philip Hampton, Chairman of GlaxoSmithKline, is stepping down from the company only a month after the company announced a merger with Pfizer. The pharmaceutical giant said on Monday that Mr Hampton, who was appointed non-executive chairman in 2015, has “informed the board of his intention to step down” and the search for his successor has begun. No date for Mr Hampton’s departure was given. Under terms of the all-share deal, Glaxo will own 68% of the consumer healthcare joint venture, while US firm Pfizer will own the remaining 32% stake.

From trading over $300 in August, shares of the company plunged to the sub-$200 levels at the start of 2019 -- which analysts see as a buying opportunity. A strong Q4 performance by the company rekindled expectations of strong growth potential in 2019, as Arista maintains healthy routing and enterprises businesses. According to analysts, webscale spending, which slowed in the second half of 2018, didn’t have much impact on networking as it did for compute and storage, as networking didn't share in the upside in webscale capex.Further, as webscale networks get more complex and less susceptible to falling memory prices, networking is likely to gain more share and importance also. Analysts also think that with healthy cloud revenues and supporting long-term cloud spending growth, a robust ~40% 100G growth and Arista's strong 100G share of around 25% might prove pivotal for the company in 2019.

Toy making giants, Hasbro Inc. and Mattel Inc., both ended 2018 on a low after broad-based underperformance. Even still, many analysts continue to have a Buy rating on Hasbro but lowered the price target to $102 from $110.For Mattel, analysts still have a neutral rating with a $12 price target, down from $13. The reasons for pinning hopes on Hasbro to bounce back in 2019 -- despite forecasts of average growth in the new year -- are a combination of Hasbro’s strong product pipeline, on-going efficiencies, and easing revenue headwinds as well as a high single-digit dividend increase, and the possibility of more share repurchases that are likely to attract investors. A lower than estimated Q4 performance indicates that the market is still dealing with the Toys 'R' Us bankruptcy last year, but the brighter side is that stores don’t seem to have a lot of leftover toys indicating reduced inventory liquidations. In the case of Mattel, analysts are hopeful the reduced invent

After serving as chairman for more than three and a half years at GlaxoSmithKline Plc, Philip Hampton is resigning from his post. The news comes a month after the announcement from GSK’s Chief Executive Emma Walmsley that the company will be split into two businesses — one for prescription drugs and vaccines, the other for over-the-counter products. In December, it was announced that GSK and Pfizer would combine their consumer health businesses in an all-equity deal.GSK will own 68 percent of the joint venture.

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde warned the "risk of a sharper decline in global growth has certainly increased," but also indicated that the headwind is unlikely to snowball into a global recession anytime soon.China’s macroeconomic slowdown amidst U.S. tariffs was mentioned as a potent cause of concern about global markets and economies. The IMF projects the U.S. economy to grow at 2.5% in 2019 followed by a slower 1.8% in 2020.  

New Age Beverages Corp. is joining hands with Docklight Brands to launch a line of Bob Marley-themed cannabis-infused beverages. The product line is also a collaboration with Marley – the brand formed by legendary reggae artist Bob Marley's family and  private equity firm Privateer Holdings (the latter backs cannabis-focused Docklight Brands). Colorado, Oregon, Washington and Michigan would be the initial markets to get a taste of the Marley+CBD beverages.Over time, New Age plans to make the drinks available to more places. Marley-branded CBD-infused drinks marks New Age’s expansion into the hemp space – an apparently much-coveted sector today.

DowDuPont's Agriculture Division, called Corteva Agriscience, plans the commercial launch of its Enlist E3 soybeans in the U.S., Canada and Brazil starting this year.Enlist E3 soybeans include advanced herbicide tolerance through three action modes. DowDuPont also plans to expand the availability of its Qrome products across the U.S. Corn Belt.

And now, Hostess Brands, B&G Foods and Ferrero have reportedly offered their first-round bids on the brands, according to a CNBC report citing people familiar with the matter.Some private equity firms are also reportedly eyeing the brands. In recent years, we’ve witnessed Ferrero, Hostess and B&G focus on expanding their offerings, by acquiring various snacks/cookie brands.

Apple just launched three new smart battery cases for its newest iPhones.Read More...