Walt Disney to cut jobs in television unit, Bloomberg News reports

(Reuters) – Walt Disney plans to eliminate some jobs in its TV unit to cut costs in an eroding business, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. The Mouse House will cut about 140 positions, around 2% of staff at Disney Entertainment Television and about 13% of jobs at NatGeo, which is among the worst hit units, the report added. The company’s shares were up about 1% in afternoon trading. Walt … Read more…

Categories Uncategorized

Stocks rise, bond yields pare losses after Fed decision

By Sinéad Carew NEW YORK (Reuters) – MSCI’S global equities index added to gains on Wednesday and the dollar slightly pared losses after the U.S. Federal Reserve held interest rates steady but opened the door to reducing borrowing costs as soon as September. Treasury yields pared losses after a Fed statement in line with market expectations. The central bank noted further progress towards its 2% inflation objective and said the economy “continued to expand at … Read more…

Categories Uncategorized

World stocks mixed amid investor jitters, commodities tumble

By Tom Westbrook and Amanda Cooper SINGAPORE/LONDON (Reuters) – World stocks were mixed in choppy trading on Monday as investors were jittery ahead of major corporate earnings reports and central bank moves, and concern over the global economic outlook dented commodities and oil prices touched early June lows. Global crude benchmark futures fell 1.4% as worry over Chinese energy demand outweighed any concern about tensions in the Middle East or Venezuela. [O/R] Copper and iron … Read more…

Categories Uncategorized

OpenAI starts roll-out of advanced voice mode to some ChatGPT Plus users

(Reuters) -OpenAI is starting to roll out an advanced voice mode to a small group of ChatGPT Plus users, the Microsoft-backed artificial intelligence startup said on Tuesday in a post on X. The company had delayed the roll-out of the realistic voice conversation experience to July from late-June, saying it needed time to reach its launch standard. The new audio capabilities will allow users to speak to ChatGPT and receive real-time responses without delay, as … Read more…

Meta to pay $1.4 billion to settle Texas facial recognition data lawsuit

By Mike Scarcella and Jody Godoy (Reuters) -Meta Platforms has agreed to pay $1.4 billion to Texas to resolve the state’s lawsuit accusing the Facebook parent of illegally using facial-recognition technology to collect biometric data of millions of Texans without their consent. The terms of the settlement, disclosed on Tuesday, mark the largest accord ever by any single state, according to the lawyers for Texas, whose legal team included the plaintiffs firm Keller Postman. The … Read more…

Kamala Harris launches $50 million ad blitz in US presidential race

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris launched a $50 million advertising blitz on Tuesday, capitalizing on the momentum of a fledgling campaign against Republican rival Donald Trump with a one-minute spot titled “Fearless.” It was Harris’ first big ad buy since consolidating support for the Democratic nomination after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race on July 21 and endorsed her. In addition to garnering the backing of big-money donors, Harris has … Read more…

Categories Uncategorized

US-listed crypto stocks retreat following Trump-fueled spike

By Niket Nishant (Reuters) – Shares of New York-listed crypto firms fell on Monday as bitcoin dipped after breaching the $70,000-mark for the first time since mid-June. The sell-off erased gains from earlier in the session, when optimism fueled by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s pro-crypto speech lifted stocks. The volatile cryptocurrency has often seen pullbacks after reaching key milestones as investors book profits. The industry, however, cheered Trump’s promise of friendlier regulation. “Any ‘Trump … Read more…

Categories Uncategorized

Tesla jumps on replacing Ford as Morgan Stanley’s ‘top pick’ in US auto sector

(Reuters) – Tesla shares jumped nearly 6% on Monday after Morgan Stanley named the most valuable automaker its “top pick” in the U.S. automotive industry, replacing Ford. The brokerage said Tesla’s energy business could potentially grow to be worth more than the company’s auto business in the future, as investors were likely to focus on firms that address climate change-related issues. It also expects Tesla to take a more dominant position in the market for … Read more…

Pondera seeks to cash out of Whisker at $1 billion valuation, sources say

By Abigail Summerville NEW YORK (Reuters) – Investment firm Pondera Holdings is exploring options for Whisker, including a sale of its controlling stake that could value the maker of self-cleaning cat litter boxes at close to $1 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. A deal would likely lead to the recapitalization of Whisker, with new debt and equity refinancing its capital structure, said the sources, who requested anonymity as the discussions are confidential. … Read more…

Categories Uncategorized

Charter to pay $15 million to resolve US probe into network outage rules

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Charter Communications will pay a $15 million civil penalty to resolve an investigation into compliance with network and 911 outage notification rules, the Federal Communications Commission said on Monday. The FCC said Charter admitted to violating the agency’s rules on notifications to public safety officials and the commission in connection with three unplanned network outages and hundreds of scheduled maintenance-related network outages that occurred in 2023. The FCC said a February 2023 network … Read more…