Author: ricardofrancois

SpaceX's next-generation Starship spacecraft aboard its powerful Super Heavy rocket prepares for a third launch from the company's Boca Chica launch pad on an unmanned test flight, near Brownsville, Texas, on March 13, 2024.Joe Skipper | ReutersElon Musk's SpaceX is preparing to launch its third Starship test flight on Thursday morning after federal regulators approved the attempt.The Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday issued SpaceX the launch license the company needs to fly its newest Starship prototype.The FAA said SpaceX “met all safety, environmental, policy and financial responsibility requirements.”SpaceX is targeting a launch window between 8 a.m. ET and 9:50 a.m.…

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Check out the companies making headlines after the bell. UiPath – Shares rose 8% after the software company reported fourth-quarter results that beat analysts' expectations. UiPath reported adjusted earnings of 22 cents per share on $405 million in revenue, higher than the 16 cents per share on $384 million in revenue analysts polled by LSEG, formerly Refinitiv, expected. SentinelOne – The cybersecurity name fell 10% after publishing first-quarter and full-year guidance that came in line with analyst estimates, according to LSEG. SentinelOne reported an adjusted loss of 2 cents per share on revenue of $174 million in the fourth quarter,…

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Kevin Plank, founder of Under Armour, during an interview on CNBC's “Mad Money” on February 28, 2018.Scott Milin | CNBCUnder the armor It announced Wednesday that CEO Stephanie Lennartz will step down from her position just over a year after she started, and founder Kevin Plank will return as CEO of the brand.Lennartz took over as CEO of Under Armor in February 2023 after spending nearly 30 years at Marriott International, most recently as its president. Plank, who founded Under Armor in 1996, stepped down as CEO about four years ago but remains chairman of the sports company.Blank will take…

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Federal prosecutors launched their second attempt to convict former Los Angeles Deputy Mayor Raymond Chan on corruption charges this week by portraying him as a central figure in a sprawling “pay-to-play” scheme.In opening arguments Tuesday, an Assistant U.S. Attorney said. Brian R. Feirstein told jurors that Chan and former City Councilman Jose Huizar used the downtown real estate boom of the previous decade to enrich themselves and their allies.Feierstein described Chan as an important intermediary between Chinese developers looking to build high-rise buildings downtown and Huizar, who chaired the powerful committee that served as a clearinghouse for such projects.”[Chan] “He…

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Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading. Cryptocurrency Stocks – Stocks whose performance is tied to the price of Bitcoin rose as the cryptocurrency rose to another record high for the third day in a row. Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase lost 1.7% and bitcoin proxy MicroStrategy rose nearly 10.9%. In the cryptocurrency mining sector, Marathon Digital lost 2.4%, while Riot Platforms added nearly 1%. CleanSpark gained about 3.8%. Texas Roadhouse – The restaurant chain added 2.6% on the upgrade, beating Bird. The company said the Kentucky-based chain should be able to continue to climb, even as it sits near…

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Don Lemon took his first lesson in doing business from Elon Musk, the volatile owner of the social media platform X.The former CNN host interviewed Musk on the first edition of his new podcast, “The Don Lemon Show,” which was scheduled to launch next week on X, formerly known as Twitter, and other online platforms.Lemon said Wednesday in an X post that Musk was unhappy with the meeting and terminated the deal to move the software onto the platform. The episode will be broadcast on Monday on YouTube and other platforms. Lemon said he would publish the interview on X…

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Events: The UK House of Commons Treasury Committee gets evidence from Chancellor Jeremy Hunt about the Spring Budget statement he presented to Parliament last week. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz receives Thai Prime Minister Sritha Thavisin in Berlin. Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen meets with her Georgian counterpart Iliya Darciashvili in Helsinki.Economic Indicators: The UK publishes its January GDP estimates. Production fell by 0.3 percent in the last quarter of 2023, pushing the country into a technical recession. Russia publishes consumer price index data. Inflation is rising, along with interest rates, driven by the country's massive defense spending.Corporate Updates: Release results…

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Open Editor's Digest for freeRula Khalaf, editor of the Financial Times, picks her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.Talent agency UTA has parted ways with veteran Hollywood broker Michael Kassan, sparking a bitter legal battle over various allegations over the use of a $950,000 “special expenses” fund.The international agency acquired Cassan's strategic consultancy MediaLink in 2021 for $125 million from UK-based Ascential, and made Cassan a partner.Utah said in a statement that Kassan was fired “following a thorough and comprehensive third-party investigation into the misappropriation of company funds,” adding that it filed a lawsuit against Kassan this week.But Cassin rejected…

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The bar's annual message Provides an outline of a business that is healthy and growing. The bar is large enough that when we consider its growth, we have to compare it to the overall growth in the payment space overall. By this measure, the company is outperforming its market. Key growth points In its annual letter, Stripe noted that it surpassed the $1 trillion measure of total payment volume in 2023, a large and round number, if imprecise. This threshold is certainly notable, but when combined with recent growth numbers it becomes even more impressive. In 2023, its payout volume…

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Artificial Intelligence: The new technology that has revolutionized the sector Just_super | E+ | Getty ImagesThe European Union Parliament on Wednesday approved the world's first major set of basic regulations governing artificial intelligence (AI) at the forefront of technology investment.The European Union mediated a temporary political consensus in early December, and it was approved in the parliament session on Wednesday, with a majority of 523 votes in favor, 46 votes against, and 49 no votes cast.“Europe is now setting global standards in artificial intelligence,” Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for the Internal Market, wrote on X.European Parliament President Roberta Mizzola described…

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