Facebook has planned a three-year commitment to invest $300 million towards news/journalism sector. "We don't want publishers to be dependent on us, but we do want to support them," Campbell Brown, Facebook's Vice President of global news partnerships, said in a telephone interview, according to CNN. Facebook will hold a two-day summit in March for further discussions with local news publishers, as revealed by Brown (according to CNN's report). Facebook’s funding will support non-profit organizations like the Pulitzer Center and Report for America, among other publishers. Local websites and newspapers have apparently been facing thinning readership largely due to proliferation of social networking/digital giants like Facebook and Google  who are rapidly grabbing the largest shares in the advertising industry.

Tesla has been working closely with white hat hackers for years in order to make its vehicle software safer and now it’s taking an unprecedented step: it’s going to be giving away a Model 3 to a hacker who can crack the vehicle. Over the past 4 years, Tesla has been running a bug bounty program and according to sources familiar with the effort, the company has given away hundreds of thousands in rewards to hackers who exposed vulnerabilities in its systems. READ MORE...

The company projected a negative free cash flow of $3 billion in 2018, and has similar expectations for this year. Increase in subscription prices could potentially be a way to ease cash outflow pressures, especially as the company seems  gung-ho on bulking up programming. The company reported last quarter that it had more than 58 million subscribers in the US, and 137 million globally.Piper Jaffray's Michael Olson mentioned in a report last week that the streamer will add more subscribers in the U.S. than Wall Street analysts are expecting. Netflix’s price hike and plans of beefing up content come at a time when competition looks to get hotter in the online streaming space.

Ford Motor and Volkswagen  are joining hands to build commercial vans and medium-sized pickup trucks as early as 2022. The partnership, announced Tuesday at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, is expected to bolster annual pre-tax operating results for both companies from 2023.Additionally, the automakers inked a "memorandum of understanding" to collaborate on self-driving vehicle research. But the two firms will not buy ownership stakes in each other. Ford CEO Jim Hackett said, "Ford and Volkswagen will continue operating as two separate and competitive entities".

UnitedHealth shares jumped 1 percent in premarket trading Tuesday after it reported fourth-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street's expectations, helped by growth in its services business. Here's UnitedHealth's results vs. what Wall Street expected: Earnings: $3.28 per share vs. $3.21 per share, forecast by Refinitiv. Revenue: $58.42 billion vs. $58.01 billion, forecast by Refinitiv. READ MORE...  

Apple wanted to use Qualcomm's 4G LTE processors in its newest iPhones, but the chipmaker wouldn't sell to it, Apple's operating chief testified Monday. And that's had a ripple effect on how quickly Apple can make the shift to 5G.READ MORE...

Despite registering a solid year-over-year increase in the fourth quarter, JP Morgan’s profit fell short of analysts’ expectations. The bank's earnings per share of $1.98 was below the $2.20 per share average estimate of analysts surveyed by Refinitiv.Producing $1.86 billion in revenue, the fixed-income trading segment fell short of the $2.2 billion estimate. The company's total revenue increased +4 percent to $26.8 billion,  but was slightly below analysts' $26.84 billion estimate. Nevertheless, the bank raked in $7.1 billion in total profit – which is nearly +70% higher compared to the year ago period.

In the third quarter, the bank showered $7.4 billion towards share buybacks, which is nearly triple the amount it spent the year before. In September 2016, Wells Fargo got itself in a controversy after announcing that it had fired 5,300 employees over several years for creating millions of fake accounts.That’s 45% higher than what the bank typically spent during the prior eight quarters. A company’s stock buyback lowers the count of its outstanding shares, and therefore potentially jacks up the company’s earnings per share (EPS).

UBS, the world's largest wealth manager, said investors should keep their money in the stock market this year regardless of their risk appetite.Read More...

Canada-based Canopy Growth Corp. is reportedly spending up to $150 million to build its first production facility in the U.S. after it was granted a hemp license by New York state. According to Bloomberg, the U.S. farm bill legalized hemp and hemp-derived cannabidiol last month, and Canopy said Monday it’s been granted a license by New York to process and produce hemp and plans to establish a hemp industrial park in the state focused on extraction and product manufacturing. “I applaud the political leadership at the federal and state level that has allowed today’s announcement to become reality,” Canopy Chief Executive Officer Bruce Linton said in a statement.

In last year's volatile market, healthcare remained a strong investment for those seeking growth.As we start 2019, healthcare remains a favorite sector of Wall Street, according to a report in Reuters.  Supporters say the healthcare sector has reasonable valuations, strong balance sheets and dividend payments. For 2019, healthcare companies in the S&P 500 are expected to increase earnings by 7.5 percent, ahead of the 6.3 percent growth estimated for S&P 500 companies overall, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

itch Ratings lowers the long-term default rating on J.C. Penney (JCP+0.8%) to B- from B. Read More... 

G&E Corp (PCG.N), owner of the biggest U.S. power utility by customers, said on Monday it is preparing to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as soon as this month amid pressure from potentially crushing liabilities linked to California’s catastrophic wildfires in 2017 and 2018. Read More...   

At the Atlantic Council Global Energy Forum in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo revealed his hope that 2019 will deliver a more balanced oil market. However, he also voiced his concern that the lingering trade dispute between the U.S and China -- two of the largest sources of energy demand -- may significantly affect international trade by disrupting growth prospects in major Asian markets. Outside of the U.S, India and China are the brightest spots in terms of demand for energy.

Companies like Airbnb, Uber, Slack, Pinterest, and others had signaled plans to IPO this year, but those plans may be changing given the uncertain market environment being made potentially worse by the government shutdown. According to Ryan Gilbert, general partner at Propel Venture Partners, the IPO calendar is looking empty for the first quarter and these delays are bound to have a "knock-on effect.Currently, with the exception of emergency and/or law and enforcement situations, most of its other functions are closed. Last year, the highest number of VC-backed companies entered the public markets since 2014.

The government of Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will face a confidence vote Wednesday after a coalition partner quit over a naming deal with neighboring Macedonia. The vote raises questions about the future of Tsipras' leadership and whether a snap election in the highest indebted euro zone economy could be just around the corner.READ MORE...

Citigroup posted fourth-quarter profit that beat analysts' expectations on better-than-expected expense declines and loan losses.READ MORE...

That would value Gannett at around $1.4 billion. MNG, publisher of the Denver Post and the Boston Herald, already owns a 7.5% stake in Gannett.In a letter to shareholders, MNG has argued, "Gannett shareholders cannot sit by and watch further value erode while the Board casts about for a strategy and a leader, especially when there is an opportunity to maximize value right now". Gannett, which publishes USA Today, has indicated that it will “carefully review” the proposal and will arrive at a decision that is “in the best interest of the company and Gannett shareholders”. 

Ford Motor is gearing up to launch new electric cars as soon as next year, CEO Jim Hackett told CNBC on Sunday. Ford has previously announced its plans to invest $11 billion in electric vehicles by 2022 and produce 40 hybrid and fully electric cars, in a plan to revive its slowing business.READ MORE...

Google employees, who walked out of offices around the world in November in protest of sexual harassment policies, are extending their critiques to the rest of the industry.The organizers are launching a social media campaign Tuesday to educate the public and protest the issue of forced arbitration by tech companies.