Its revenue for the quarter increased +12.4% from the year-ago period to touch $5.45 billion, and surpassed analysts’ expected $5.40 billion. Sales from the company's  wireless communications business accounted for 31% of total revenue, edging past Broadcom's earlier expectations; but sales from this segment were still 5 percent lower than a year earlier."We benefited from upside volumes of legacy phone generations at our North American OEM customer," President and CEO Hock Tan announced. For the full year, Broadcom projects revenue of $24.50 billion, higher than analysts' estimate of $22.40 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) will be selling some of its software business to Indian software services exporter HCL Technologies for $1.8 billion. Some of the products to be divested include IBM’s secure device management product BigFix, marketing automation product Unica and workstream collaboration product Connections.Slowing revenues of IBM’s software products and/or its increasing focus on cloud computing could potentially have led to the decision.   IBM is in the process of acquiring U.S. open-source software company Red Hat Inc. for $34 billion - a deal that was announced earlier this year. 

A new study by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services says Americans paid $3.5 trillion on healthcare in 2017, which amounts to $10,739 per person." Private health insurance had the highest spending with an increase of 4.2 percent to $1.2 trillion, in 2017.

On Thursday, IBM announced an agreement reached with India’s HCL Technologies Ltd. to sell them select IBM software assets for $1.8 billion, in line with Big Blue’s strategy to focus more on cloud computing. Representing a total addressable market of more than $50 billion, the software assets in scope include products like Appscan for secure application development, BigFix for secure device management, Unica (on-premise) for marketing automation, Commerce (on-premise) for omni-channel eCommerce, Portal (on-premise) for digital experience, Notes & Domino for email and low-code rapid application development, and Connections for work stream collaboration. Although the deal is expected to close by mid-2019, an existing licensing partnership between the two companies will continue for five of the products. IBM has been striving to emerge as a leader in the hybrid cloud market for some time now, but its declining software sales weighed heavy on its latest quarterly revenue – which m

Further, he added that a cut of 1 million barrels should be sufficient enough to stop the fall. With analyst’s expectations of 1.3 million fewer barrels per day from production, the news of only a 1 million product cut hit the market hard.Oil prices dropped 4.7%, renewing fears that the cartel is struggling to respond to a supply glut.

Online retailer Wayfair (NYSE: W) has been on a bit of a roller coaster ride in the last six months.For comparison purposes, the S&P gained just over 10% during the same timeframe. From the end of September through November 19, the stock dropped 44% and has since bounced back.

Micron Technology (Nasdaq: MU) has been caught in a terrible downtrend over the past six months.The overbought/oversold indicators were nearing overbought levels before turning lower on Tuesday. Micron’s fundamentals are pretty good and that makes the downtrend somewhat perplexing.

From the middle of 2016 through the beginning of 2018, HSBC Holdings (NYSE: HSBC) saw its stock price double, moving from $26 a share to over $52.We see that the daily stochastic readings are in overbought territory and just made a bearish crossover on Friday which could signal that the trend channel will continue to define the cycles within the downtrend. One thing that seems to be hounding HSBC is the status of Britain’s exit from the European Union—Brexit.

SecureWorks Corp. raked in $133.1 million in revenues in its fiscal third quarter, beating analysts’ estimate of around $130.6 million. For the current quarter ending January, the information security services company expects to generate revenue in the range of $132 million to $133 million.As for full-year results, it expects revenue  to come in around $520 million to $521 million. However, SecureWorks reported a loss of -$3.7 million in its fiscal third quarter - that’s a loss of -5 cents on a per share basis.  For the full year, SecureWorks projects a loss range of  -1 cent per share to  -45 cents per share.

Dollar General is ramping up its healthy offerings.Having recently added 125 products including yogurt, nuts, protein bars, veggie snacks, and coconut water, the retailer seems to be catering to an increasingly health conscious consumer population. The retailer's new "better for you" additions come under its Good & Smart house brand, while the stores also offer other ‘health-conscious’ brands like Annie's, Back to Nature, Honest, Nature Valley, and Kashi.

According to a report published by Reuters, private equity firm Blackstone Group LP is priming for an initial public offering (IPO) of Alight Solutions LLC, a U.S. provider of healthcare and retirement benefits services.Alight Solutions is expected to be valued at more than $7 billion, including debt. The IPO is expected to hit markets in the first half of 2019, almost two years after Blackstone’s acquisition of Alight for ~$4.8 billion from the insurance broker Aon Plc (AON).

CNBC reports that federal prosecutors in Manhattan requested the pause because they feared a separate criminal probe they were conducing could be harmed by a request by plaintiffs in the civil case to ask new questions of two ex-JP Morgan metals traders and the bank's global head of base and precious metals trading. Details are still unknown of the criminal investigation.However, the criminal case became public last month when John Edmonds, a former JP Morgan metals trader, made a plea deal with prosecutors which has since been unsealed.

Volume, however, was 19 percent lower than the same period one year ago. Refinancing was the key to volume with lower interest rates affecting the numbers.Mortgage interest rates are still 89 basis points higher than a year ago and home prices are still gaining, making home buying ever more expensive.

Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei, the world’s largest telecom equipment manufacturer and second-largest smartphone maker, has been arrested in Vancouver, Canada on suspicion she violated U.S. trade sanctions against Iran, as first reported by The Globe and Mail. READ MORE...

American International Group (AIG) is set back by an estimated $750 million to $800 million in catastrophe losses so far during the 2018 fourth quarter (excluding December), as revealed by CEO Brian Duperreault. Duperreault also indicated that Wildfires in California, net of reinsurance, will add between $150 million and $175 million to the insurance company's net pretax losses for the fourth quarter.He also mentioned AIG's Life and Retirement unit's earnings will decline for the second half of 2019, owing partly to investment in new business and "growth initiatives”. However, AIG expects to generate an overall 8% adjusted return on equity going into 2019, in part due to a slight underwriting profit in its general insurance unit - according to Duperreault.

Brands-owned pizza chain’s largest acquisition so far. David Gibbs, CFO of Yum!Yum’s other brands might also gain from the deal by getting access to QuikOrder’s  data on consumers. Data from QuikOrder could help Pizza Hut (and other brands of Yum) derive relevant insights into consumer preferences such as what they like to order or how often they use they the online platform to order – information that should come in handy for any restaurant/fast-food chain's marketing/sales strategies. Earlier this year, Yum invested in a 3% stake in online food-ordering company Grubhub.

Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo launched its autonomous taxi service in the Phoenix area on Wednesday. Named Waymo One, the taxi service with self-driving technology will be operating in a roughly 100-mile zone in the Phoenix suburbs of Chandler, Tempe, Mesa and Gilbert.There are plans to eventually transition the service into a fully driverless one. Riders can book a cab on the Waymo app, and will be able to see price estimates before they decide to confirm the trip.

Brazilian state-run oil company, Petroleo Brasileiro SA, commonly known as Petrobras, revealed that it plans to raise around $26.9 billion through asset sales and partnerships by 2023, as part of its new five-year business plan. Under this plan, the company intends to raise $84 billion in investments, while boosting investments on the front edge of anticipated production boom in Brazil. According to the company, it aims to make $84.1 billion in investments from 2019 to 2023, compared to its previous five-year investment plan of $74.5 billion from 2018 to 2022. The Company plans to put its fertilizer plants, liquefied petroleum gas unit and its biodiesel and ethanol businesses under the hammer. With Petrobras trying to stay on course for its effort to reduce one of the heftiest debt loads among oil companies worldwide - $88 billion in gross debt -- this divestment strategy can be highly beneficial for the company. Although this plan doesn’t seem contain any major surprise, i

Amidst the stock market’s continued downside volatility, utilities have emerged as the safe haven -- moving higher last week as the broader market felt intense selling pressure. On a 52-week intra-day high basis, six of the 11 S&P 500 sectors were mostly in a correction mode from their most recent highs -- but not Utilities. Larger-than-average dividend yields and steady revenue streams are arguably what helped Utilities gain investor favor in times of tumult.With investors worried about slowing global economic growth, trade woes with China, and a flattening yield curve, the relative safety of Utilities has gained more attention. A few stocks investors might consider if looking for Utilities plays are Entergy Corporation (ETR, +1.33%), Edison International (EIX, +1.28%) and Exelon Corporation (EXC, +1.01%).

Auto parts retailer AutoZone’s earnings and same-store sales exceeded expectations for the quarter ending November 17. Net income increased to $13.47 per share, from $10 a share of the year-ago period."Net income and diluted earnings per share benefited from a lower effective income tax rate, primarily due to tax reform," the company said in its earnings statement. Domestic same-store sales rose +2.7% in the quarter from the same period a year ago, beating analysts’ estimates of +2% increase.