Author: arthursheikin@gmail.com

[ad_1] New York CNN  —  Shell rebuffed a Wall Street Journal report that said the oil giant was in early talks to take over rival company BP. “This is further market speculation. No talks are taking place,” the company said in a statement Wednesday. An agreement between the two rival oil corporations would be the largest oil deal in modern times, with BP valued around $80 billion, the WSJ reported. The report about a potential deal comes as geopolitical tensions threaten to jeopardize the broader oil and gas market. “As we have said many times before we are sharply focused…

[ad_1] CNN  —  President Donald Trump stepped up attacks on his handpicked Federal Reserve chairman on Wednesday, claiming Jerome Powell has “low IQ” and suggested that he has narrowed down the list of potential replacements to three or four people. “He’s an average mentally person…Low IQ for what he does,” Trump said of Powell during remarks at a press conference at the NATO summit in the Netherlands Wednesday. “I think he’s a very stupid person, actually.” Trump has been berating Powell all year, arguing the Fed’s reluctance to slash interest rates is costing the federal government hundreds of billions of…

[ad_1] Google is launching a new agentic AI tool that will put its Gemini AI models closer to where developers are already coding. The company announced on Wednesday the launch of Gemini CLI, an agentic AI tool designed to run locally from your terminal. The new tool connects Google’s Gemini AI models to local codebases, and it allows developers to make natural language requests, such as asking Gemini CLI to explain confusing sections of code, write new features, debug code, or run commands. Gemini CLI is part of Google’s efforts to get developers using its AI models in their coding…

[ad_1] Amazon-owned Ring announced on Wednesday that it’s introducing a new AI-powered feature to its doorbells and cameras, which offers users specific text descriptions of current motion activity. Now, when users receive real-time notifications about happenings at their property, the updates will be more descriptive. For instance, “A person is walking up the steps with a black dog,” or “Two individuals are looking into a white car parked in the driveway.” The feature aims to improve upon the vague notifications that were previously available. Now, users will be able to know exactly what is happening and can quickly decide whether…

[ad_1] Synthflow, a startup that has built AI voice agents that can hold “natural-sounding” phone conversations with customers, has raised $20 million in funding.The Berlin-based startup’s platform lets enterprise customers create and deploy AI voice agents without coding expertise. Companies can customize those agents to handle simple inquiries, customer support, and follow-up with actions like appointment scheduling.”You can think of Synthflow as a voice AI platform on a no-code basis that allows businesses to very easily and quickly build and deploy voice AI agents,” Hakob Astabatsyan, cofounder of Synthflow, told Business Insider.Astabatsyan said his startup’s tech can replace traditional automated…

[ad_1] Here are Wednesday’s biggest calls on Wall Street: Loop reiterates Nvidia as buy The firm said Nvidia is firing on all cylinders. “Reiterating our Buy rating and increasing our PT to $250 from $175 as our work strongly suggests that ‘the math just works’, as fantastic as that may sound.” DA Davidson initiates ServiceNow as buy DA said the company is “best-of-breed.” “We are initiating coverage of NOW with a BUY rating and a $1,150 price target. ServiceNow has been a market leading business automation provider for over two decades now.” Jefferies upgrades Stellantis to buy from hold Jefferies…

[ad_1] Sagging home sales underline the difficulties faced by the housing market.Existing home sales fell by 0.7% in May compared with the same month last year, according to the National Association of Realtors, following the slowest April for 16 years. Meredith Whitney thinks the housing market is set for “its worst year in decades.”The CEO of investment research firm Meredith Whitney Advisory Group and senior advisor at Boston Consulting Group told Yahoo Finance that 2023 and 2024 were both bad years, but it’s now looking even worse with about 4 million sales of existing homes expected. Whitney thinks the actual…

[ad_1] Good morning. An American moved to France expecting the workplace dynamics to resemble those back home — they were wrong. For one, they had grown used to friendly yet professional office interactions with clear boundaries. Paris was different, they said. Workplace relationships felt far more personal.In today’s big story, Tesla’s long-awaited robotaxis were rolled out in Austin.What’s on deckMarkets: From interviewing past midnight to scrambling to sign an offer, a PE professional shared his stressful on-cycle recruitment experience.Tech: Apple pulled another ad. What’s going on?Business: Homebuyers can’t afford to ignore the fight between Zillow and Compass anymore.But first, there’s…

[ad_1] JPMorgan sees a rosy outlook ahead for Yum Brands . The bank upgraded shares of the Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut owner to an overweight investment rating from neutral, but analyst John Ivankoe lowered his 12-month price target to $162 per share from $170. This revised forecast is still approximately 14% higher than where shares closed Tuesday. Yum has added more than 6% this year, outperforming a gain of less than 4% for the S & P 500. YUM YTD mountain YUM YTD chart Ivankoe cited several catalysts for the stock, including strong free cash flow generation, a…

[ad_1] New York CNN  —  Bumble, the beleaguered dating app whose stock has lost 90% of its value since going public in 2021, is axing 30% of its workforce. The company announced in a regulatory filing Wednesday that the layoffs amount to 240 positions and will save Bumble $40 million annually. The workforce reduction “realigns its operating structure to optimize execution on its strategic priorities,” with the company reinvesting a “substantial majority” of the money saved into new products and tools. It’s the latest warning sign that younger users are growing frustrated and abandoning online dating, forcing companies like Bumble…