Apple boosts AI spending as outlook brightens

 

Apple’s iPhone generated $49.02 billion, narrowly missing the $49.33 billion Wall Street forecast. The stock fell 3% after the report before climbing 5% after hours. Executives said capex will rise in the holiday quarter to back expanding AI work, with CFO Kevan Parekh noting continued investment in the product roadmap....

Amazon cites culture in 14000 layoffs

 

Amazon cut 14,000 jobs this week, with CEO Andy Jassy saying the move was driven by culture rather than costs or AI. He outlined a push to raise performance standards, enforce discipline, and strip away layers that have slowed decisions as the company seeks to move faster amid an AI...

Controller absences snarl East Coast air travel

 

Air traffic controller absences on Thursday slowed or halted operations at several airports, with Orlando International reporting average delays of 2 hours 40 minutes, some near 12 hours, and several cancellations after an FAA advisory warned no certified controllers would be available to land arrivals. JFK briefly imposed a ground...

Disney channels pulled from YouTube TV amid blackout

 

Disney’s networks, including ESPN and ABC, went dark on YouTube TV as carriage talks collapsed over price. Google said it would start pulling channels at midnight ET Oct. 31, though some viewers reported losing access earlier; DVR recordings were also removed. YouTube TV will offer a one-time $20 credit if...

Amazon and Apple spark Asian stocks rebound

 

Asian equities edged toward record levels as upbeat results from Amazon and Apple rekindled risk appetite, nudging US equity futures higher after a brief lull in the global rally. MSCI’s regional gauge rose 0.4% and Japan gained 1%, while mainland China and Hong Kong slipped. Apple advanced in late trading...

Canva launches unified Affinity app with AI

 

Canva unveiled Affinity by Canva, a single app that merges Photo, Designer, and Publisher, free to use with a Canva account while generative AI tools live behind its $120 per year plans. Version 3 runs natively on Intel and Apple Silicon Macs and on x86 and Arm Windows, with an...

Farmers welcome China soybean pledge with caution

 

American farmers welcomed China’s pledge to purchase at least 25 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans annually for the next three years, plus 12 million between now and January, but warned the move won’t fix rising costs for fertilizer, machinery and seed. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said China will drop...

Cramer upgrades Meta and Microsoft amid selloff

 

Stocks slid Thursday as Meta plunged about 12% and Microsoft fell more than 3% despite solid results and higher spending plans. Jim Cramer called Meta’s drop a buy and the CNBC Investing Club lifted both Meta and Microsoft to its top 1 rating. He applauded the Federal Reserve’s quarter-point cut...

Trump and Xi ease tariffs boost farm purchases

 

U.S. President Donald Trump said a 100-minute meeting with China’s Xi Jinping produced key decisions, including cutting a fentanyl-related tariff hike from 20% to 10% and extending a truce on steeper increases. China said average tariffs will drop to 47%. Trump touted planned Chinese purchases of U.S. soybeans; Treasury Secretary...

Tech stocks diverge after earnings and tax hit

 

Meta shares sank more than 12% at Thursday’s open, putting the company on track for its steepest single-day slump in years after a nearly $16 billion tax charge knocked quarterly earnings below Wall Street forecasts. Microsoft fell 2.2% to about $529.40 despite beating estimates, weighed by a $3.1 billion OpenAI-related...