Author: Press Room

Check out the companies making headlines before the bell:Ciena (CIEN) – The networking equipment maker’s stock surged 19.1% after a substantial top and bottom line beat in its latest quarter. Ciena earned an adjusted 61 cents per share for its latest quarter, compared with a consensus estimate of 8 cents. The company also said it sees “outsized” revenue growth in 2023.GameStop (GME) – GameStop reported a wider-than-expected quarterly loss and sales that fell short of predictions. CEO Matt Furlong said the company had completed necessary investments and would be very judicious in future spending. GameStop moved between gains and losses…

Here’s more bad news for Tesla CEO Elon Musk — as if he needs any. Investors who took short positions in Tesla stock have made an $11.5 billion profit so far this year, according to Wall Street analytics firm S3 Partners, as Tesla shares lost about half their value. That’s a nearly 60% return on the $19.6 billion invested in short positions on Tesla this year. And it’s a nearly 180-degree reversal in how they did in 2021, when their short positions resulted in a combined $10.3 billion loss, after Tesla shares rose 50%. And let’s not forget the $40.7…

Despite the complicated relationship, the two countries are still dependent on each other. Suggestions of Saudi Arabia reorienting its strategic and security alliances away from the US and towards China, are unlikely to be the case at this point, said Prof Hashemi. “The fundamental security relationship – the arms and weapons sales relationship … and the larger political relationship that exists between the United States and Saudi Arabia goes back to World War Two, that hasn’t really changed,” he said. SAUDI-CHINA RELATIONSHIP The warm welcome was not just a show for the US, added Prof Hashemi.  As Riyadh expands its…

CNN  —  Even though the Internal Revenue Service has been steadily chipping away at its major backlog of tax filings, millions of individuals and businesses are still waiting for their tax returns to be fully processed and their refunds to be sent. Dealing with this mountain of paperwork, as well as deploying the nearly $80 billion that Congress gave the agency earlier this year, could fall to Daniel Werfel, whom President Joe Biden nominated last month to be the next IRS commissioner. Werfel, whose Senate confirmation hearing has yet to be scheduled, is no stranger to turmoil at the IRS.…

BEIJING: Hundreds of Chinese Internet users have paid tribute to “martyr” doctor Li Wenliang, who first blew the whistle on the coronavirus outbreak, in the wake of a dramatic reversal of strict COVID-19 rules by the government. Li was in a group of doctors in the central city of Wuhan who warned on social media of a new SARS-like disease spreading in December 2019, and was reprimanded by police for spreading “rumours”. He later died of the coronavirus, triggering an outpouring of grief and anger on a scale and intensity rarely seen in China. And he remains a potent symbol…

A must-pass defense bill now being negotiated in Congress includes new sanctions designed to trip up Russia’s war machine by targeting Moscow’s mountain of gold. The legislative text of the National Defense Authorization bill for fiscal 2023 includes language from a bipartisan bill introduced in March that would make it harder for Russian President Vladimir Putin to use gold to prop up the ruble. If passed, the defense bill would directly sanction any American entities that knowingly transact with or transport gold from Russia’s central bank holdings. The restrictions, tucked inside the 4,400-page legislative text, would similarly penalize American entities…

US gasoline prices are now cheaper than they were one year ago, providing relief to Americans that have spent 2022 grappling with the worst inflation in decades. The average cost of a regular gallon of gas in the United States is now $3.33, according to AAA. One year ago, it was $3.34. Gas prices peaked just above $5 a gallon in June, hitting a record high. Since then, they’ve fallen sharply as an economic slowdown and concerns about a global recession have helped ease demand for oil around the world. Average US prices have dropped by 14 cents over the…

Europe’s passport-free travel zone looks set to welcome Croatia but bar Romania and Bulgaria. EU countries will today vote on whether or not to admit the three nations to the so-called Schengen zone – a pact between countries to abolish border checks for those travelling between their territories.Croatia is likely to receive unanimous support from the 26 Schengen member states. However, Austria is likely to block Romania and Bulgaria, citing a lack of preparedness. “We need more time,” Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said earlier this week.”At the moment, we have 75,000 unregistered illegal migrants in Austria – meaning they have crossed an external EU…

Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, speaks at the Teamsters Local 249 hall during a campaign stop in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S., on Monday, April 29, 2019.Justin Merriman | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesPresident Joe Biden on Thursday is announcing the infusion of nearly $36 billion to shore up a financially troubled union pension plan, preventing severe cuts to the retirement incomes of more than 350,000 Teamster workers and retirees across the United States.The money for the Central States Pension Fund is the largest amount of federal aid provided for a pension plan, the Biden administration said, and…

CNN  —  The House voted to pass legislation on Thursday to protect same-sex and interracial marriage, the last step before the measure goes to President Joe Biden for his signature and becomes law. The House vote was 258 to 169 with 39 Republicans joining the Democrats voting in favor. Loud applause broke out in the chamber when the vote was gaveled to a close. While the bill would not set a national requirement that all states must legalize same-sex marriage, it would require individual states to recognize another state’s legal marriage. The push for a vote on federal legislation protecting…