Today’s Stock Market News

* Stories are summarized by an A.I. * Stocks or companies mentioned: PYPL, Huawei, NKE, DIS, FB, GOOG, MDB, Airbnb, AAPL, and AMD How fintechs aim to disrupt banks while serving the underserved PYPL (Paypal Holdings Inc) | Axios Most fintech startups espouse two lofty goals: disrupting the banks and serving the underserved. Also notable is Kenya, where Safaricom, the big telecom monopoly, did a fantastic job of rolling out a nationwide mobile payments system. In the U.S., the poor tend to be excluded from much of the financial system for various reasons. In countries like Sweden and India, they can mandate moves toward a cashless society and build payments systems to encourage that. But if fintechs start disrupting hidebound banks, or start to dominate the financial sector, then sovereign nations will find themselves with a severely diminished macroprudential toolkit. Read More The U.S. and China Are Talking Trade Again. But They’re Still Far Apart. 002502 (Huawei Technolo...

* Stories are summarized by an A.I. * Stocks or companies mentioned: AAXN, GOOG, NFLX, XOM, TWTR, TransferWise, Huawei, ALXN, CAG, and MSFT Police Body Camera Maker Decides Against Using Facial Recognition AAXN (Axon Enterprise Inc.) | Futurism Axon, the biggest supplier of police body cameras and software in the U.S. just called it quits on using artificial intelligence-powered facial recognition systems for its devices, The New York Times reports. “Face recognition technology is not currently reliable enough to ethically justify its use,” the company’s independent ethics board concluded in a review. This decision is yet another sign that facial recognition technology might not be ready for prime time yet — especially in light of some inherent biases of the technology. While Axon has yet to deploy any facial recognition software in its body cameras, it’s taking a pass for now. Read More Google Maps can now predict how crowded your bus or train will be GOOG (Alphabet Inc.)...

* Stories are summarized by an A.I. * Stocks or companies mentioned: WORK, MSFT, ACER, BAYRY, GE, AAPL. NKE, MU, PSN, and NFLX Why Does Slack Spend So Much on Sales and Marketing? WORK (Slack Technologies Inc) | The Motley Fool Companies that benefit from word-of-mouth referrals tend to also enjoy increased efficiency in terms of sales and marketing expenses. As a percentage of revenue, Slack spends far more than either Dropbox or Atlassian. Income Statement Metric (TTM) Slack Dropbox Atlassian Revenue $454.5 million $1.5 billion $1.1 billion Sales and marketing $257.9 million $384 million $240.8 million Sales and marketing as a percentage of revenue 56.7% 26.3% 21.5%The discrepancy is stark. Slack is already seeing growth decelerate, in which case investing more in sales and marketing is warranted. The smaller cloud storage provider has spent $314 million on sales and marketing over the past year -- 49.8% of revenue. How Blockchain Could Decentralize the Music Industry MS...

* Stories are summarized by an A.I. * Stocks or companies mentioned: SUBX, TSN, SPOT, FDX, MSFT, TGT, DIS, MU, AMD, and GOOG Why The U.S. Still Lags Behind China In Mobile Wallet Adoption SBUX (Starbucks Corporation) | Forbes The U.S. is falling behind much of Asia – especially China – when it comes to mobile wallet adoption, and the gap is growing wider. 1. Credit Card PenetrationAmericans, particularly millennials, are easily seduced into signing up for credit cards, especially those offering rewards. In fact, many have bypassed credit cards entirely, opting to switch from cash to mobile wallets that essentially act like debit cards. The more complicated a mobile payment platform’s design is, the less likely it is to gain mainstream adoption. As China continues to surge in innovation and Americans mount more credit card debt, that shift becomes more likely every day. Justice Department Investigates Chicken Industry TSN (Tyson Foods, Inc) | The Wall Street Journal The U...

* Stories are summarized by an A.I. * Stocks or companies mentioned: AMZN, AAPL, FB, GNC, GOOG, AMC, Huawei, ORCL, Carrefour, and MSFT Big Tech must be regulated now, Bill Gates says AMZN (Amazon.com Inc) | CNN Bill Gates says the US government must step up its regulation of big tech companies, whose influence in culture, business and all areas of life is becoming more pervasive. "Technology has become so central that governments have to think: What does that mean about elections? Gates discussed everything from the early days of Microsoft to his investments in clean energy during the talk. But his thoughts on government interference in the tech sector were particularly relevant given recent government scrutiny of the size, influence and privacy practices of tech companies such asandby both antitrust enforcement agencies and political candidates. Gates said he expects "there will be more regulation of the tech sector," particularly as it relates to privacy issue...

* Stories are summarized by an A.I. * Stocks or companies mentioned: SPOT, V, DIS, GOOG, BA, TMICY, Huawei, ADBE, FB, and TSLA What's Behind Facebook's Digital Currency And Why Spotify Is Interested SPOT (Spotify Technology SA) | Forbes This week, tech giant, Facebook, released a whitepaper – an informational vision document typically reserved for startups, along with an announcement of Libra, a “stable” digital currency the company hopes to bring to life in 2020. In March, Spotify announced its music tech would come preinstalled on Samsung mobile devices – a popular device brand in developing regions. With recent acquisitions in the podcasting space, Spotify stands to serve more content than ever globally. While France does not oppose Facebook’s decision to create an instrument for financial transactions, it does oppose that instrument become a sovereign currency. “Privacy and security is a myth that people in the US still believe,” says Allyson Toy, a music culture s...

* Stories are summarized by an A.I. * Stocks or companies mentioned: GOOG, SHOP, CCL, WORK, PYPL, AMZN, T, FB, 002502(Huawei Technology Company Ltd), and Echo Blank Slate: Google to Stop Producing Its Own Tablet Computers GOOG (Alphabet Inc) | Fortune Google is giving up its tablet business and is doubling down on laptops. The announcement comes amid speculation that Google had two new tablets under development that would serve as follow-ups to the Pixel Slate. Many reviews noted the Pixel Slate was a luxury that simply wasn’t worth it, given competing, lower-cost tablets. While Google is abandoning its tablet business, Osterloh said Google would continue to support Pixel Slate owners for the long term. In previous years, the company has used it to introduce the Google Home smart assistant, new Pixel phones, tablets, and laptops. Shopify Fulfillment Network: How the New Service Competes With Amazon SHOP (Shopify Inc) | Footwear News Shopify executives celebrate the ringi...

* Stories are summarized by an A.I. * Stocks or companies mentioned: Slack Technologies, FB, LMT, GOOG, UNP, PYPL, AAPL, QCOM, 002502 (Huawei Technology Company Ltd), DVA Slack Goes Public Tomorrow and Its Stock Just Got a ‘Reference Price’ of $26 a Share Slack Technologies | Barron's Slack Technologies is going public tomorrow via a direct listing, and the New York Stock Exchange has just established a reference price of $26 a share. In Spotify’s case, the stock opened 25.6% above the reference price, at $165.90, and then closed the first day of trading at $149.01. Slack’s reference price is below its previous high private market trade of $31.50. With about 600 million shares outstanding, the reference price would give Slack a market value of $15.6 billion, or about 26 times the midpoint of the company’s revenue guidance for the current fiscal year of $590 million to $600 million. Fed, Congress Promise Scrutiny of Facebook Cryptocurrency FB (Facebook Inc) | The Wall...

* Stories are summarized by an A.I. * Stocks or companies mentioned: BYND, DIS, GWPH, S, NVDA, GOOG, FB, AAPL, HPE, and Litecoin Foundation Meatless alternatives are on the rise — but so is global meat consumption BYND (Beyond Meat Inc)  |   CNBC When it comes to the burgers or steaks on your plate, looks and tastes can be deceiving as "meatless meat" and "plant-based meat" gain traction. Sales of meat alternative grew 30% in 2018 compared to the previous year, according to Nielsen Product Insider. While the alternative meat market could grow to be worth $140 billion globally in the next ten years, according to Barclays, it's still a small percentage of the current $1.4 trillion global meat market which is also showing no signs of slowing down. Yet, some critics argue there is no conclusive evidence that alternatives have better nutritional value than real meat. Disney’s upcoming streaming service is even hotter than expected DIS (The Walt Disney Compa...

* Stories are summarized by an A.I. * Stocks or companies mentioned: MGI, 002502 (Huawei Technology Company Ltd), GOOG, NVDA, CHWY, FB, AAPL, Lime, AMZN, and MA Ripple Announces Strategic Partnership with Money Transfer Giant, MoneyGram MGI  (Moneygram International Inc.)  |   Business Wire Ripple, a provider of leading enterprise blockchain solutions for global payments, has agreed to enter into a strategic partnership with MoneyGram (NASDAQ: MGI), one of the world’s largest money transfer companies. Through this strategic partnership MoneyGram will be able to settle key currencies and match the timing of funding with its settlement requirements reducing costs, improving its balance sheet efficiency, and reducing risk. A Huawei Ban May Not Be the Answer 002502 (Huawei Technology Company Ltd)  |   Nasdaq The U.S. ban on Huawei products may not be the best way to handle the national security concern the issue has raised. This would force Huawei to us...

* Stories are summarised by an A.I. Boeing Chief Acknowledges ‘Mistake’ Over 737 Max Warning Light BA (The Boeing Company)  |   The New York Times Boeing’s chief executive said on Sunday that the company made a “mistake” in how it handled a cockpit warning light on the 737 Max. Dennis Muilenburg, the executive, made the comments while addressing reporters on the eve of the Paris Air Show, one of the most important sales events for aircraft manufacturers around the world.When Boeing began delivering the Max to airlines in 2017, the company believed that the light was operational on all the jets. Genius.com accuses Google of copying its song lyrics GOOG (Alphabet Inc.)  |   The Verge In the last couple of years, if you type a song title into Google, you’ll get a box that includes the its lyrics, alongside the usual search results. It’s a useful tool, but one company that specializes in song lyrics, Genius Media, says that Google has been copying their lyrics...