Jumat, 31 Mei 2019

BREAKING: DOJ Preparing Anti-Trust Probe Of Google Examining 'Search And Other Businesses,' Reports Say - The Daily Wire

The U.S. Justice Department is preparing an anti-trust investigation of Google and is expected to examine the tech giant's "search and other businesses."

The Federal Trade Commission, which investigated Google several years ago, is deferring the investigation to the DOJ this time, The Wall Street Journal reported.

"With turf now settled, the department is preparing to closely examine Google’s business practices related to its search and other businesses, the people said," according to The Journal. "It couldn’t immediately be learned whether Google has been contacted by the department. Third-party critics of the search giant, however, already have been in talks with Justice Department officials, some of the people familiar with the matter said."

"The report comes amid discussion from politicians and the public about whether large technology companies should be broken up," CNBC reported. "The Justice Department launched a major antitrust case against Microsoft in 1998 that led to several rules the company had to follow for years."

"Alphabet, which racked up $136.8 billion in revenue in 2018, has faced antitrust pressure in the past," CNBC added. "In 2010, the company faced antitrust complaints from the European Commission regarding ranking of shopping search results and ads, which resulted in Google paying $2.7 billion in 2017. In 2016, the EC complained of certain Android practices to which the company recognized a charge of $5.1 billion in the second quarter of 2018."

The Verge noted that Google has dominated "positions in the markets for search engines, web browsers, mobile operating systems, email, and numerous other product categories, all of which aid in its ability to collect data and serve targeted ads."

President Donald Trump has repeatedly railed against Google, which has been accused by many of having a strong anti-conservative bias.

"Google search results for 'Trump News' shows only the viewing/reporting of Fake News Media. In other words, they have it RIGGED, for me & others, so that almost all stories & news is BAD," Trump tweeted. "Fake CNN is prominent. Republican/Conservative & Fair Media is shut out. Illegal? 96% of results on “Trump News” are from National Left-Wing Media, very dangerous. Google & others are suppressing voices of Conservatives and hiding information and news that is good. They are controlling what we can & cannot see. This is a very serious situation-will be addressed!"

"The only 'Collusion' is that of the Democrats with Russia and many others," Trump said in a tweet last November. "Why didn’t the FBI take the Server from the DNC? They still don’t have it. Check out how biased Facebook, Google and Twitter are in favor of the Democrats. That’s the real Collusion!"

In December, Trump tweeted: "Facebook, Twitter and Google are so biased toward the Dems it is ridiculous! Twitter, in fact, has made it much more difficult for people to join @realDonaldTrump. They have removed many names & greatly slowed the level and speed of increase. They have acknowledged-done NOTHING!"

This March, Trump tweeted: "Facebook, Google and Twitter, not to mention the Corrupt Media, are sooo on the side of the Radical Left Democrats. But fear not, we will win anyway, just like we did before! #MAGA"

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https://www.dailywire.com/news/47914/breaking-doj-preparing-anti-trust-probe-google-ryan-saavedra

2019-06-01 00:55:00Z
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Canada posts weakest back-to-back quarters of growth since 2015 — but that’s not the whole story - Financial Post

OTTAWA — Canada’s economy expanded at an annualized pace of just 0.4 per cent in the first three months of the year, giving the country its weakest back-to-back quarters of growth since 2015.

The real gross domestic product reading for the first quarter followed a revised growth number of just 0.3 per cent in the previous quarter, Statistics Canada said Friday in a new report.

It was the slowest two-quarter stretch of growth since Canada's oil price crisis in 2015

It was the slowest two-quarter stretch of growth since an oil-price plunge caused the economy to shrink over the first half of 2015.

Economists had expected growth at an annualized rate of 0.7 per cent for the first quarter, according to Thomson Reuters Eikon.

The Statistics Canada report said downward pressure on first-quarter growth was driven by weakness in net trade as imports increased 1.9 per cent and export volumes dropped one per cent for their first quarterly decrease since 2017.

Canada also saw a substantial contraction of 9.5 per cent in its exports of farm and fishing products as well as a 2.8 per cent drop in crude-oil shipments.

On the positive side, the agency said overall economic growth was boosted by the highest quarterly level of household spending in two years, following broad-based increases that included strength in auto purchases and audio-visual equipment.

The economy also saw an 8.7 per cent increase in business investments on equipment and machinery — the biggest jolt in 23 years. The surge was fuelled in part by significant investments in aircraft and other transportation equipment, the report said.

Looking ahead, the report’s month-to-month reading for March — the final month of the first quarter — suggested the second quarter could be off to a stronger start. March posted a 0.5 per cent increase compared to a 0.2 per cent contraction in February.

The first-quarter reading Friday was slightly higher than the Bank of Canada’s prediction of 0.3 per cent.

On Thursday, Carolyn Wilkins, the central bank’s senior deputy governor, said the recent economic slowdown was temporary. She said growth has already been accelerating in the second quarter — which the Bank of Canada has predicted will post 1.3 per cent growth.

From there, Wilkins said Canada’s economic expansion should pick up its pace throughout the rest of 2019.

Even with the expected domestic improvement, she underlined risks to the outlook. She warned the highly uncertain international trade environment — including the ongoing U.S.-China trade war — poses a threat for Canada.

Wilkins also listed trade disruptions such as Beijing’s new restrictions on some Canadian agricultural products. A diplomatic conflict has intensified in recent months, leading China to reject shipments of some key Canadian goods, including canola.

The central bank is also monitoring the possibility of a trade feud between the U.S. and the European Union. U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to apply tariffs on autos from the EU.



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May 31, 2019 at 11:05PM
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Uber beats sales estimates, while losing US$1B in a quarter - BNNBloomberg.ca

Uber Technologies Inc. (UBER.N), in its first financial report as a public company, posted first-quarter sales near the high end of its previously disclosed preliminary results. The company also reported a US$1.01 billion quarterly loss, among the largest of any public company.

Nelson Chai, the chief financial officer, laid out a path for costs to eventually come down. On a conference call after the report, Chai said Uber will cut back on customer promotions and that marketing expenses as a percentage of revenue should decline in the second quarter. Shares jumped as much as 4.3 per cent in after-hours trading, following Chai's comments.

The world’s biggest ride-hailing operator generated US$2.76 billion in adjusted revenue in the first three months of the year, an increase of 14 per cent and just exceeding analyst estimates of US$2.75 billion. The company, which has under-performed in its first weeks of trading, didn’t issue a forecast in the report Thursday.

Uber’s loss in a single quarter was larger than that of North American rival Lyft Inc. in all of last year, though it fell within the preliminary range Uber had issued on May 13. In the same period last year, Uber had a profit of $3.75 billion, thanks to the sale of international assets. On an operating basis, Uber's losses more than doubled in the first quarter from the year before.

The stock first started trading on May 10, when it opened below the IPO price of $45 a share. It has remained beneath that point ever since. The price at the close on Thursday was US$39.80, giving the business a market value of US$67 billion.

Wall Street researchers are still trying to get a handle on how to evaluate the money-losing ride-hailing business. Analysts from at least two dozen banks have been unable to cover Uber because their employers worked on the company’s initial public offering, which was the biggest on a U.S. stock exchange in five years.

Although Lyft beat analysts’ expectations by just about every measure this month in its first financial report, the stock fell. Lyft and Uber have both seen heavy interest from short sellers skeptical of their ability to build sustainable businesses. Both stocks got a boost in extended trading from the Uber CFO's comments about reduced spending.

But Chai didn't rule out further heavy spending and reiterated on the conference call that 2019 would be an “investment year.” He said in a statement in the report: “Our investments remain focused on global platform expansion and long-term product and technology differentiation, but we will not hesitate to invest to defend our market position globally.”

One number analysts have their eyes on: Growth of gross bookings, a key measure of what customers spend with Uber, is slowing. They totaled US$14.7 billion in the quarter, an increase of 34 per cent, compared with 37 per cent in the fourth quarter. Uber said bookings grew 41% from a year before, after adjusting for currency fluctuations and excluding regions where the company no longer operates.

Another key question for investors is how cutting losses, should that even happen, would impact long-term demand for Uber's services, Tom White, an analyst for D.A. Davidson, wrote in a note to clients. That could open a door for analysts to spend time digging into more fine-grain metrics.

In the report Thursday, Uber offered new quarterly data. The company revealed that revenue in Latin America fell 13 per cent from a year before amid increased competition. Meanwhile, revenue grew by 26 per cent in the U.S. and Canada.

Uber doesn’t disclose performance data for its individual business units by region. Globally, growth in adjusted net revenue for ride-hailing, which excludes subsidies paid to drivers, stood at 10%, while food delivery sales grew by 31 per cent.

Even by nontraditional metrics, there are signs of weakness. Uber said its core platform contribution margin -- a measure of financial health for the ride-hailing and food-delivery businesses -- was -4.5 per cent. This wasn't as bad as Uber's most pessimistic expectation, but it’s a troubling sign for investors who want to see the economics of the business improve. The contribution margin was 17.9 per cent in the same period last year. Global competition has taken a toll.

Uber said it expects to improve the contribution margin in the second quarter and continue to do so through the rest of the year.



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May 31, 2019 at 03:21AM
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YouTube to shutter its Toronto creator space - CBC.ca

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Ottawa posts $14.9-billion deficit in March - The Globe and Mail

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Are You Ready for Amazon or Comcast to Be the Next Big Wireless Carrier? - Gizmodo

Illustration for article titled Are You Ready for Amazon or Comcast to Be the Next Big Wireless Carrier?
Photo: Getty

While the T-Mobile–Sprint merger still hasn’t gotten the green light from the Justice Department, the FCC has already approved the deal and as part of the FCC’s stipulations, T-Mobile/Sprint would be forced to sell off Boost Mobile. However, the more important question is trying to figure out which company would be interested in buying Boost and making a bigger push into the wireless market.

According to a recent report from Reuters, it seems one potential candidate is online retailer megacorp Amazon, which, according to sources familiar with the matter, is not only interested in buying Boost Mobile, but possibly acquiring wireless spectrum that the new T-Mobile/Sprint would need to also divest as part of the merger.

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Currently, it’s not entirely clear why Amazon is suddenly interested in operating its own MVNO (mobile virtual network operator). However, it seems one of the big lures of the deal would be the ability to use T-Mobile’s wireless network to enhance its service for at least six years. And with Google already operating its own MVNO in Fi, it probably shouldn’t be a surprise that Amazon is entertaining the idea of doing the same.

That said, Amazon may not be the only company eye the potential future sale of Boost Mobile; based on a report from Bloomberg, it seems Comcast is also interested in acquiring Boost Mobile if and when a T-Mobile/Sprint merger gets approved.

For Comcast, the deal makes a lot more sense, as it’s already a player in the wireless space thanks to Xfinity Mobile. Currently, Xfinity Mobile’s service relies on a network of wifi hotspots and cell coverage that runs off Verizon’s 4G network, so the addition of Boost Mobile, its estimated 7 million subscribers, and added wireless spectrum would give Comcast and Xfinity Mobile a lot more resources to work with.

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But where things get really interesting is, according to another Bloomberg report, in order for the Justice Department to approve the merger, T-Mobile/Sprint may have to help create a whole new national wireless carrier to ensure that even after the companies merge, there will be four major wireless providers instead of just three.

This would mean simply renting bandwidth from one of the other carriers wouldn’t be enough, as the new entity would need to operate its own network, including all the equipment, wireless spectrum, and cell towers necessary to make that happen. That would be a huge endeavor, even for companies with deep pockets like Amazon or Comcast.

If that did happen, it would mean living in a world where the U.S.’s four big wireless carriers are AT&T, Verizon, new T-Mobile, and either Comcast or Amazon. For a lot of people, that’s a chilling thought. Sure, right now it’s just speculation. But what if? Which company do you think would make a better—or worse—nationwide wireless carrier: Comcast or Amazon?

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https://gizmodo.com/are-you-ready-for-amazon-or-comcast-to-be-the-next-big-1835147723

2019-05-31 14:49:00Z
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Uber Lost $1 Billion In 1st Quarter, Hopes Profit-Slashing Price Cuts Ease Up Soon - NPR

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Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi says he expects Uber and Lyft will be easing off their price-slashing battle soon. Richard Drew/AP hide caption

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Richard Drew/AP

For most companies, losing $1 billion in a quarter would be a big disappointment. But Uber's first report as a publicly traded company was actually better than it had warned investors to expect.

The ride-hailing and food-delivery giant brought in more than $3 billion in revenue in the first three months of 2019 — a 20% jump from the same quarter a year earlier.

Before going public earlier this month, Uber had told investors to be prepared for an even larger loss in the first quarter. Now, it's telling them it expects the price-cutting competition that has hurt its profits to ease up soon.

Uber has burned through money for years by spending heavily on growth — offering financial incentives to attract new riders and drivers, and taking on the costs of expanding into new markets around the world. So far, that growth has never translated into profits.

Uber's IPO did not go well. Despite pricing its shares relatively conservatively, at least compared with early expectations, the company saw its stock drop immediately, and it finished day one lower than it started. Since then, Uber shares have never sold at the value set for the initial offering.

Wall Street liked what it saw in Uber's first earnings report. Its stock was up more than 1% in early trading Friday.

Uber's earnings report shows the company continues to expand rapidly, especially in Uber Eats, its food delivery branch. In South America, however, the company saw revenue shrink as it faces intense competition from rival Didi.

In the U.S., meanwhile, Uber is facing off with its smaller competitor Lyft.

Around the world, competition in ride-hailing is driving down prices and contributing to Uber's losses. In the earnings call on Thursday, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said he expects Uber and Lyft, at least, will be easing off their price-slashing battle soon.

"The competition is going to be more healthy," he said. "It's going to be based on brand and product and technology, which we think is the right way to compete, versus throwing money at the problem."

He also acknowledged that Uber has faced headwinds in the U.S. due in part to the tremendous damage to the brand over the past few years — marked by sexual harassment allegations, reports of illegal business practices, data breaches and other scandals.

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https://www.npr.org/2019/05/31/728576269/uber-lost-1-billion-in-1st-quarter-hopes-profit-slashing-price-cuts-ease-up-soon

2019-05-31 13:54:00Z
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