Over the past year, Europe's tech sector has been overshadowed by privacy scandals, stricter regulation and the trade war between the U.S. and China. But there's one bright spot where the outlook isn't quite so bleak: cloud computing.READ MORE...

The investment company also lowered its price target on the coffee chain to $68 from $75.  China will cut its GDP growth target for 2019 to 6 percent from 6.5 percent at a government meeting in March, according to a Reuters report citing policy sources. China’s policymakers are also reportedly considering stimulus measures to boost the economy amidst trade tensions with the U.S. and slowing  domestic demand.

After cloud computing, Amazon might be gearing up for yet another battleground: gaming. The e-commerce giant is reportedly in talks with publishers about releasing games on a new service by 2020. is reportedly considering venturing into yet another business the gaming business, according to an article by  The Information.In October 2018, Microsoft expressed its plans to  start testing a cloud gaming Project xCloud, which followed its January 2018 acquisition of PlayFab, a start-up that provides cloud-based technologies for game developers.

Ontario, Canada's largest province, is getting ready to announce the results of its cannabis lottery, possibly today.Companies, and individuals, seeking to open pot shops had earlier this week to express interest and the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario will pick the winners at random. Those selected through the lottery will have five business days to turn in their application along with a $6,000 non-refundable fee and a $50,000 letter of credit. The licences are being divided regionally, with five going to the east of the province, seven in the west, two in the north, six in the Greater Toronto Area and five in Toronto itself. Recreational cannabis can currently only be purchased legally in Ontario through a government-run website, with the first private stores set to open April 1.

Besides minor delays, federal employees with mortgages will also face problems as their first payments come due with no paycheck. If you're getting a Federal Housing Administration or Department of Veterans Affairs loan, it's likely you can expect delays in the underwriting process, and it's possible your closing date will be pushed back as well.According to USDA data, the department guaranteed or made about 10,000 single-family loans each month in the most recent fiscal year that ended in September.

Netflix, Hulu and Roku Inc. all recently declared strong subscriber and ad revenue growth in 2018 -- proving that streaming and digital media is not only here to stay, but also remains on a strong growth path. Hulu, a joint venture with Walt Disney Co., Twenty-First Century Fox Inc., and Comcast Corporation, announced its largest annual increase in history in 2018: adding 8 million live TV and on-demand subscribers, putting it over the 25 million subscriber mark for the first time.The company also reported its ad revenue at just under $1.5 billion, up more than 45% over 2017. Hulu’s announcement is followed by Roku’s, which reported that its fourth quarter active accounts went over 27 million -- up about 40% on a y-o-y basis -- and that its streaming hours were over 70% from the same quarter last year. According to analysts, these reports underscore steaming digital viewing on the rise, which is also good news for advertisers.

Yatra Online, a NASDAQ-listed online travel service provider which operates Yatra.com, declared on Wednesday the acquisition of the Chennai, India-based corporate travel services provider PL Worldways Limited (PLW). Although the financial details of this transaction are yet to be disclosed, Yatra is optimistic that this acquisition will help them buttress its foothold in South India and will add over 100 corporate clients to Yatra’s existing portfolio of over 700 companies. Dhruv Shringi, co-founder and CEO Yatra Online, said that this acquisition will add to the existing reputation of PL Worldways in South India that already has a strong customer focus and consumer service.This new development will further enhance Yatra’s position in the corporate travel sector and a strong presence in South India has long been in its priority list. The acquisition will also offer an opportunity to cross sell Yatra’s vast hotels network to PLW’s large client portfolio.

US pharmaceutical giant, Pfizer, has recently confirmed the closure of its two Hospira manufacturing plant sites in India, one at Aurangabad (Maharashtra) and the other at Irungattukottai (Tamil Nadu).This decision has jeopardized those jobs and no compensation has been discussed so far. The decision to close down these two plants was reached after a thorough evaluation that revealed long-term irrevocable losses making manufacturing unfeasible at these sites.  The IKKT plant used to manufacture generic injectable cephalosporin, penems and penicillin for the US, EU and other global markets.

Chinese consumers may have soured on some American products, like iPhones, but they have only sweetened on U.S. residential real estate. READ MORE...

Riyadh (AFP) - OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia said Wednesday that its huge oil reserves, already the second largest in the world behind only Venezuela, are even bigger than previously thought. READ MORE...

(Bloomberg) -- The lights would stay on if California utility giant PG&E Corp. files for bankruptcy.But the company, its customers and investors would be set for years of uncertainty. While utility bankruptcies are rare, they can result in anything from a healthy company to a breakup, with business units sold off like spare parts.

Here are two more ways a partial government shutdown could affect Americans if it continues: millions won’t get food stamps and the economy will grow at a slower pace. READ MORE...

Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump is increasingly eager to strike a deal with China soon in an effort to perk up financial markets that have slumped on concerns over the trade war, according to people familiar with internal White House deliberations. READ MORE...

Morgan Stanley is shifting its focus from defensive stocks to cyclical stocks as Wall Street starts pulling away from bear market territory, chief U.S. equity strategist Michael Wilson told CNBC on Tuesday. READ MORE...

NEW YORK (AP) -- Millions of small business owners will be in uncharted waters this tax season as they try to determine if they qualify for a deduction that could exempt one-fifth of their income from taxes. READ MORE...

AT&T (T - Get Report) is planning to hand walking papers to employees in at least 10 operations centers around the country, according to a report by Vice's Motherboard. The reported cuts come as AT&T puts the final wraps on its $85 billion merger with Time Warner, with such corporate combinations often spawning efforts to cut costs and eliminate redundancies. READ MORE...

BlackRock Inc., the world's largest asset manager, is cutting 3% of its global workforce.About 500 people will lose their jobs in the coming few weeks, according to a memo obtained by Bloomberg.  “Market uncertainty is growing, investor preferences are evolving and the ecosystem in which we operate is becoming increasingly complex,” Rob Kapito, BlackRock’s president, said in the memo. The firm is seeking to “move decisively to refocus our resources where the impact will be greatest” and to operate more efficiently, Kapito wrote.

The semiconductor sector has been hit particularly hard in the recent market decline, but Broadcom (Nasdaq: AVGO) has held up better than most.The stock did gap sharply lower back in July, but has been rallying since then. The daily chart shows a particular bullish formation has formed in the last three months and that is a Three Rising Valley pattern.

AMD CEO Lisa Su used a CES keynote address on Wednesday to unveil the Radeon VII, a new high-end gaming chip that will rely on an advanced 7-nanometer (7nm) manufacturing process, and also shared details about 7nm desktop and server CPUs that will be arriving later this year.READ MORE...

Target saw a surge of shoppers head to its stores and website during the 2018 holiday season, a sign that its investments in store remodels and delivery services are paying off, and an early sign that consumers across the U.S. spent more on gifts this year.READ MORE...