Markets
US economy contracts in 2020; worst performance since 1946
That gain had followed a record-shattering annual plunge of 33.4% in the April-June quarter, when the economy sank into a free-fall. The top contributors to the decline of GDP growth for the fourth quarter of 2020 were Construction which declined 25.3 percent; Other Services, 45.2 percent; and Accommodation and Food Service Activities, 42.7 percent. [Full Article...]
Global team disables world's most unsafe malware
What made it so risky is the malware was offered for hire to other cybercriminals to install other types of malware, such as banking trojans or ransomwares , onto a victim's computer. An indictment unsealed Wednesday said Vachon-Desjardins took part in a scheme to extort an unnamed Tampa, Florida, business. Microsoft claimed past year that it had led a major offensive operation to take dow... [Full Article...]
PH economy contracts by more than 9 percent in 2020
The October to December economic performance, on the other hand, was better than the minus 11.4-percent in the third-quarter and minus 16.9-percent seen the second-quarter. The services sector also declined by 9.1 percent. In 2020, PSA said AFF contracted 0.2 percent; Services, 9.1 percent; and Industry, 13.1 percent. [Full Article...]
Yellen makes history as first female Treasury chief
Yellen will work with Congress on President Joe Biden's 1.9-trillion-dollar economic package to fight the impact of the coronavirus pandemic . The 74-year-old economist won an overwhelming majority in Monday's Senate confirmation vote. [Full Article...]
Axis Bank's net profit for the Q3 of 2020-21 fell 36%
The net interest income (NII), however, surged 14 per cent to Rs 7,373 crore compared to Rs 6,453 crore in the year ago period, the private lender said in a regulatory filing. "Accordingly, the GNPA ratio as per said IRAC norms as on Dec 31 would have been 4.55 per cent and Net NPA ratio would have been 1.19 per cent". With proforma slippages (adjusted for the Supreme Court's interim order), Gro... [Full Article...]
Tesla reports US$721m in 2020 earnings, first profitable year
A year earlier, Tesla lost $862 million. Apart from its financials, Tesla is expected to reveal some details on the company's flagship vehicles, whose production was suspended late last month. Tesla's vehicle sales rose 36% a year ago, but the company fell just short of its annual goal to deliver 500,000 vehicles. Tesla's Battery Day event announced the company's custom-designed 4680 cells, an... [Full Article...]
Elon Musk says Tesla has better software, hardware than Google's Waymo
Asked during the conference call why he's confident Tesla can reach fully autonomous Level 5 by year's end, Musk said: "It's based on progress we're making in each beta iteration". Shares dipped 3pc in after hours trading. The company has defied skeptics by achieving sustained income growth and been rewarded with a record stock price and placement on the Standard & Poor's 500 index. [Full Article...]
Apple, not Amazon, is now the world's most valuable brand
Chinese brands stood out among the world's most valuable brands according to an annual report by Brand Finance , a brand valuation and strategy consultancy. Two of its subsidiaries are worth more in terms of brand: Taobao is up 44% to $ 53.3 billion, and Tmall is up 60% to $ 49.2 billion. The only other insurer in the top 100 is German insurance group Allianz , whose US$20.2 billion brand value ... [Full Article...]