Upbeat economic data haven’t made for upbeat markets in 2016. Much of the focus, according to Drew Matus, deputy chief U.S. economist at UBS, has been on GDP. But his key to the U.S. economy is diving into “simple data” like weekly jobless claims. “If claims don’t go up, nothing bad is happening,” Matus told CNBC’s “Worldwide Exchange” on Thursday. “If something bad happens, someone’s going to get fired. That’s the key to my forecasting right now.” Claims are increasing, however, in the energy sector. Oil and gas companies continue to scale back production amid a global crude glut and…
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Activision-Blizzard broke an incredible streak Thursday when it reported its disappointing fiscal fourth-quarter results. For the first time in 10 years, it missed its revenue guidance, said Michael Pachter of Wedbush Securities. And if it hadn’t been for a congressional decision in December to reinstate investment tax credits for increasing research spending, it would have missed its earnings per share target, as well. That was just the tip of the bad news for the video-game publisher. The company’s mighty “Skylanders” franchise showed its first signs of weakness, with disappointing holiday sales; officials warned that this year’s “Call of Duty” installment…
The tech industry is rallying behind Apple in its appeal against a court order asking it to help the FBI unlock an iPhone 5c, with Facebook, Google and Microsoft planning submissions in court in support of the iPhone maker. “The industry is aligned on this issue and Facebook is participating in a joint submission with other technology companies,” a spokeswoman for the company wrote in an email Thursday. Other companies expected to join in making the submission are Twitter and Amazon.com, but there might be others. Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of…
Vlad, 05 February, 2016 Samsung Android Rumors Last year Samsung managed to anger many Note series fans in Europe by not officially launching theGalaxy Note5 on the continent in 2015. For some reason, Samsung decided that only the Galaxy S6 edge+ was to be sold in Europe, at least at first. While the Note5 did eventually become available too, many early adopters didn’t like how they were forced to pick the phablet with the curved screen even if they wanted the one with the S Pen. Amazingly, Samsung seems to have learned something from that ordeal. If a new report…
Getty Images Boxes move along a conveyor belt at an Amazon fulfillment center in Tracy, California. There’s value in some of the technology leaders, so I wanted to embrace them. If I don’t make a “trade” when I think it’s compelling, then shame on me. Active managers should be active. And that’s what I’m doing for my CNBC Pro “Platinum Portfolio” stock picks. [“source -cncb”]
As digital sales of video games take a bite out of its bottom line,GameStop is dipping its toes into potential new revenue streams that are a bit outside its comfort zone. The retailer announced Thursday it will act as the publisher for the new title from storied game developer Insomniac Games, creators of the “Ratchet and Clank” series and “Sunset Overdrive.” In practical terms, that means it will be the exclusive brick-and-mortar retailer for “Songs of the Deep,” though players will be able to purchase digital copies through PC distribution services, the Xbox Marketplace and the PlayStation Store. GameStop will…
Getty Images Madden NFL 16 by EA Sports. It’s not uncommon for video game companies to run simulations of big games in their products to whip up a little consumer interest before the events. But when Electronic Arts’ “Madden NFL” puts on its prognostication helmet, it’s worth listening to what it has to say. The long-running franchise, coming off last year’s perfect prediction of the game, has projected the winner for Super Bowl 50: the Carolina Panthers. The video game predicts the Panthers will keep pounding to beat the Denver Broncos on Sunday by a score of 24-20, with a…
Games that can communicate intelligently with players will be the next landmark advance in gaming, according to industry legend Robert J. Mical. But virtual reality headsets were less likely to take off a big way, Mical, who is best known for co-inventing the Atari Lynx and the 3DO Interactive multiplayer, told CNBC at the EmTech Asia conference in Singapore on Wednesday. A 32-year veteran of the gaming industry and currently director of games at Google, Mical said, “The next generation of games are going to have machine intelligence built into them [ with] the ability to really communicate with humans.”…
Neurons (stock illustration). Credit: © ktsdesign / Fotolia Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health say they have developed tiny “mini-brains” made up of many of the neurons and cells of the human brain — and even some of its functionality — and which can be replicated on a large scale. The researchers say that the creation of these “mini-brains,” which will be discussed at the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference in Washington, DC on Feb. 12 at a press briefing and in a session on Feb. 13, could dramatically change how new drugs…
Boy with glasses (stock image). The number with vision loss from high myopia is expected to increase seven-fold from 2000 to 2050, with myopia to become a leading cause of permanent blindness worldwide. Credit: © gamelover / Fotolia Half the world’s population (nearly 5 billion) will be short-sighted (myopic) by 2050, with up to one-fifth of them (1 billion) at a significantly increased risk of blindness if current trends continue, says a study published in the journal Ophthalmology. The number with vision loss from high myopia is expected to increase seven-fold from 2000 to 2050, with myopia to become a…