Author: GT

Lastly, major U.S. equity indexes, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq, appeared headed for the death cross, a bearish technical pattern involving the 50-day simple moving average’s (SMA) move below the 200-day SMA and the dollar index looked oversold as per the 14-day relative strength index. Both observations called for caution in risk assets. The key events and data to watch out for the week ahead are Monday’s stock market reaction to Trump’s tariff exclusions, Wednesday’s U.S. retail sales and Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech and earnings reports on Wall Street on Friday. Stay Alert! Crypto: April 14, 2025: Filecoin…

ChatGPT’s image generation feature has sparked a new wave of personalised digital creations, with LinkedIn users leading a trend of turning themselves into action figures. The craze began picking up momentum after the viral Studio Ghibli-style portraits sees users sharing images of themselves as boxed dolls – complete with accessories and job-themed packaging. There are several variations in the latest wave of AI-generated self-representation. The most common format is similar to a traditional action figure or Barbie doll, with props like coffee mugs, books, and laptops reflecting users’ professional lives. The images are designed to resemble toy store displays, complete…

Former U.S. Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan said Monday that Facebook “panicked” when making the acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp as smartphone use took off.”It saw companies like Instagram and WhatsApp experiencing astronomical growth, and that’s the point at which it resorted to this buy-or-bury scheme where, if it couldn’t outcompete a rival, it either bought them out or cut them off its network,” Khan said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, begins a trial with the FTC on Monday. The government alleges that the company monopolized the personal social networking market with…

Intel on Monday said it has agreed to sell 51% of its Altera semiconductor business to Silver Lake, a private equity firm. The deal, which values Altera at $8.75 billion, will make the division “operationally independent,” Intel said in a press release. The chipmaker will retain a 49% stake in Altera, which will be led by Raghib Hussain, who’s set to succeed Sandra Rivera as CEO on May 5. “Today’s announcement reflects our commitment to sharpening our focus, lowering our expense structure, and strengthening our balance sheet,” said Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan in a statement. “Altera continues to make progress…

LONDON (AP) — Social media company Meta said Monday that it will start using publicly available content from European users to train its artificial intelligence models, resuming work put on hold last year after activists raised concerns about data privacy. The company, which owns Facebook and Instagram, said that it would train its AI systems using public posts and comments shared by adult users in the 27-nation European Union. “People’s interactions with Meta AI — like questions and queries — will also be used to train and improve our models,” the company said in a blog post. Meta is making…

(Bloomberg) — Michael Saylor’s Strategy took advantage of the large price swings in the company’s common shares last week to purchase $285.8 million more of Bitcoin (BTC-USD). Most Read from Bloomberg While the stock fluctuated from losses of as much as 11% to gains of around 25% during the week, the former MicroStrategy Inc. said it sold shares through its at-the-market program to finance the crypto purchases. Hedge funds have been driving some of the demand for the company’s convertible debt, as they seek out Strategy for trades that incorporate buying the bonds and selling the shares short, essentially betting…

This combination of pictures created on April 09, 2025 shows US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff after a meeting with Russian officials at Diriyah Palace, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on February 18, 2025 (L); and Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi speaking to AFP during an interview at the Iranian consulate in Jeddah on March 7, 2025.Evelyn Hockstein | Amer Hilabi | AFP | Getty ImagesDUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Talks between U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration and Iran’s government on a potential renewed nuclear agreement began on a positive note over the weekend, representatives of both countries said, despite enduring…

A handful of engineers who worked at Lucid Motors and on Apple’s electric car project have launched a new startup that puts a fresh spin on electric hub motors. The new startup, called Conifer, has developed its motor to be free of rare earth elements by using more abundant ferrite magnets, which the company says not only reduces cost but limits supply chain risk. Conifer also says its proprietary stator offers higher efficiency and power than comparable options while being half the size.The company’s timing — a new volatile era of tariffs and a trade war with China — is…

Pumpjacks are seen in oilfields along Highway 33, known as the Petroleum Highway, west of Buttonwillow, Kern County, California on April 9, 2025. Frederic J. Brown | Afp | Getty ImagesU.S. crude oil rose more than 1% Monday after President Donald Trump exempted smartphones, computers and other tech devices from his steep tariffs on goods imported from China.U.S. crude oil was up 90 cents, or 1.46%, to $62.40 per barrel, while global benchmark Brent rose 88 cents, or 1.36%, to $65.64 per barrel.Trump has slapped 145% tariffs on China, while hitting pause on duties for most other countries for the next…

LONDON (AP) — Sony said it will raise prices starting Monday for some PlayStation 5 video game consoles in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, citing global economic turmoil. The company unveiled the price hikes of at least 10%, saying it was a “tough decision” amid the “backdrop of a challenging economic environment, including high inflation and fluctuating exchange rates.” The recommended retail price for a PS5 Digital Edition will go up to 499 euros ($570) in Europe, according to a post Sunday on the official PlayStation blog. That’s up from 449 euros in a previously announced pricing update in 2022.…