Amazon has become inspired by Prime’s offers for free delivery within two days against online purchases for more than $100. Instead of spending more for shipping, Amazon is slowly approaching towards own delivery system through purchasing trucks and building own warehouses. These efforts have engaged current assets and narrow down fourth quarter profit. But 26% rise in yearly sales indicates a very different outlook.
Industry
SARB Increases Benchmark Rates, Commercial Banks Follow Trait, Job Cutting Feared
South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has announced increasing key interest rates by fifty basis points to 6.75% on Thursday. It has also slashed down growth forecast to 0.9%. SARB has increased the interest rates for the second time with an interval of weeks. However, the rate hike will influence the Banks’ expenses and banking industry may witness job cutting as cost minimization effort.
Tesla Denies to Launch Two New Cars in March
Tesla denies rumor that the electric car maker will launch two new models in March. However, the company will build a third generation platform for its vehicle to support its sedan and SUV model.
Oxitec’s Gene Modified Mosquitoes Appear As Lone Mean To Fight Against Spread of Zika Virus
WHO on Thursday has warned for probable spread of Zika virus across the North and Central American countries. Ahead of rising concerns for Zika spreading, drug makers and scientists have commented that manufacturing of an appropriate vaccine may even require a decade. These warnings has opened a huge business potential for Oxitec, an Intrexon subsidiary. Oxitec’s gene modified mosquitoes are capable of ensuring security against Zika for large populations.
SkyBender: Google’s Secret Drone Project in New Mexico Using 5G Internet With a Cost of $300,000
Google has been reported to conduct secret tests over drones under codename of SkyBender at Spaceport America in New Mexico. The tech giant is using 5G wireless that involves millimeter wave technology which is considered as the future of high speed data transmission technology. Though the test results have been kept secret, but the $300,000 tests bring fortune for Virgin Galactic Spaceflights, reportedly suffering from cash crunch.
Latest News
Federal Reserve Bank will issue a much tougher annual stress test this year. The test aims to prevent recurrence of 2008 crisis, analyzing resilience of 33 large U.S. banks against the worse-case hypothetical scenario..
BugSec and Cynet, two computer security companies have identified a security loophole in LG’s G3 smart phones. A built in app in G3 smart phones, naming Smart Notice, has enabled hackers to use the loophole to steal data. Upon information and following demonstrations from the researchers, LG has released a new version of Smart Notice containing a patch and urges users to run the new app ASAP.
Microsoft Corp said its quarterly profit beat analysts' view, propelled by mounting demand for its cloud products. Quarterly net income, on an adjusted basis, amounted to $6.3 billion, up from $5.8 billion in the same period last year.
Reddit has initiated testing the official Android app on Thursday after releasing the beta version on December. Volunteers taking part in the previous test also remain as the first opportunists to test the official version. The official version is expected to override the hiccups existed in the third party application. The CEO of Reddit has hinted for going through massive modernization processes throughout 2016.
The Safari fault which has affected a range of Apple devices has been fixed. The fault was related to Apple's Safari Suggestions feature. Simply disabling this feature will stop Safari crashing says iOS developers.
South Korean steelmaker POSCO announced a consolidated net profit, excluding minority interests, of 181 billion won for 2015, down from 626 billion won in the previous year.
South American nation Venezuela is suffering from gasoline smuggling to neighboring nations. Gasoline is heavily subsidized in Venezuela. The cheaper gasoline smuggling has become a major revenue source in the crisis-hit Venezuelan economy. Venezuela's President has deployed soldiers in large number to keep constant vigil on its borders. Venezuela is losing foreign exchange revenue in US dollars because of smuggling of gasoline.
Global investors are withdrawing from Russian stock markets as volatility is high in equities and currency Ruble. The continuous drop in oil price is impacting the Russian economy much as it's the main revenue source for the country. The gap between onshore and offshore traded equities is narrowing down as foreign investors are selling off.
South African largest iron ore producer Kumba cuts as many as 3900 miners after prices plunged. Kumba decided to restructure the Sishen mines to become a low cost pit configuration and as a result, about 2,633 employees of Kumba and 1,300 contractors will be affected.
