In Kobe Bryant’s rookie season for the Lakers in 1996, he played five minutes and scored two points in a disappointing game against the Houston Rockets. “I needed to work harder,” he writes on The Players’ Tribune. But three years later, he remembers, NBA legend Allen Iverson scored 41 points and made 10 assists while playing against him. A year later, he had a second chance at guarding Iverson. He didn’t score once, Bryant recalls of the rematch: “When I started guarding AI, he had 16 at the ha

Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, is the fifth richest person on earth and the model of success for many in Silicon Valley. The critically acclaimed film “The Social Network” portrays Zuckerberg as a cut-throat, if socially awkward, genius and the creation of Facebook as a tumultuous and explosive journey. The film is based on Ben Mezrich’s 2009 book “The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius, and Betrayal.” And, unlike Mezrick, Kirkpatrick a

Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari said Monday he does not believe that spending more to build roads and airports would necessarily result in faster U.S. economic growth. “I don’t see infrastructure holding back our economic growth,” Kashkari said at the Fink Investing Conference at UCLA Anderson, adding that while it is possible better infrastructure could boost productivity, the best thing to spend money on would be the U.S. education system. President Donald Trump has pr

By the year 2048, the only edible substances left on Earth will be man-made hybrid foods portmanteaued within an inch of their lives: Cronuts! Appropriately, Walmart — which by that time will be one of only three mega-corporations that rule the world — is preparing for this dystopian culinary future by unveiling a new cross-bred baked good: the crotilla. “This is destined to be the hottest mashup since tweens started asking for Labradoodles,” the company said in a statement [ed. note: SMH]. Ain’

U.S. stocks opened sharply higher Monday after centrist Emmanuel Macron won a plurality of votes in Sunday’s preliminary French presidential election. “When you look at the estimates of the election polls for the second round, they’re singing a tune that the markets like, and that’s why the markets are celebrating.” “I think you’re just seeing a snapback rally after some concern about the outcome from the election,” he said on “Squawk on the Street.” Fairly high valuations and, until today, a 20

Ten retailers have already filed Chapter 11 this year, setting a record pace for the industry. With AlixPartners predicting 2017 will mark the highest number of retail bankruptcy filings since 2009, a new report from S&P Market Intelligence has named the 10 public companies it finds most at risk over the next year. It includes Sears Holdings, which said Friday that it would shutter 92 Kmart pharmacies and 50 Sears Auto locations this year. If achieved, these savings would be on top of the $1 bil

As a veteran of Wall Street, Art Cashin of UBS told CNBC that a move above 6,000 for the Nasdaq composite would be incredible to watch, but also highlights a trend that’s “somewhat disturbing.” Nasdaq 6,000 for the first time ever, which was looking increasingly closer Monday morning, “would be amazing,” Cashin said on “Squawk on the Street.” “But it also underscores another thing … that it’s really just a handful stocks that have been leading this rally.” “Right now, we’re basically taking do

A new Accenture report shows a dramatic drop in the percentage of people who prefer to watch TV on a regular television set. Among U.S. survey takers, it was marginally higher at 25 percent. Last year, 52 percent of people worldwide and 59 percent in the U.S. said their number one choice was to watch TV on a TV set. “While a great number of people still watch plenty of TV shows on TV sets, our research uncovers a rapid acceleration in their preference for viewing on other digital devices — espec

Tesla has revealed details of its plan to expand its Supercharger network, a top priority for the company. Tesla will double the number of Supercharger stations in 2017, to both expand the reach of its network of fast electric car chargers, and to shorten wait times at existing stations. Tesla began 2017 with 5,000 Superchargers around the world, according to an update to the company’s blog. The company’s plan will increase the number of chargers by 150 percent in North America, adding 1,000 cha

Trump said the world is wearing “blinders” when it comes to North Korea, and has done so for “decades.” “The status quo in North Korea is also unacceptable, and the council must be prepared to impose additional and stronger sanctions on North Korean nuclear and ballistic missileprograms,” he said. The comments came after Trump held separate private phone calls with both Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Fears have grown that North Korea could attempt another nu

Why did Goldman miss first quarter earnings, while its competitors announced strong results with big gains from trading? That was the big question asked by many investors last week and we’re beginning to find out the reason. “The bank incurred tens of millions of dollars in losses on companies including Peabody Energy Corp. and Energy Future Holdings Corp. Borrowings from retailers including Rue 21 Inc., Gymboree Corp. and Claire’s Stores Inc. also stung,” the report said, citing people familiar

“The market is looking past all these little land mines, hoping for tax reform, hoping for deregulation, hoping for infrastructure, hoping for an orderly normalization of [monetary] policy,” El-Erian said. On Sunday, U.S. stock futures opened sharply higher as early results from the French presidential election showed Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen advancing to a runoff. El-Erian said he finds the rally interesting as the result was the one that was largely predicted by pollsters and market w

Global banking stocks rallied after it was announced Sunday that centrist Emmanuel Macron will advance in the French election to take on Marine Le Pen, a far-right candidate. Investors rushed into bank stocks, fleeing safe havens like government bonds and gold as interest rates moved higher. This was the scenario nervous traders going into the weekend wanted most, and it removed a heavy uncertainty overhanging global markets and the euro since the start of the year. The yield on the 10-year Trea

Voters who wish to hold Trump to the contract would do well to read the fine print. But he believes Trump will ultimately get judged on the “big-ticket” pledges that require congressional action — namely tax reform, health-care changes and infrastructure funding. “What people are focused on are jobs — beyond the executive orders — health care, the broader economy, taxes,” Hudak said. It’s hard to hang a presidential legacy on executive orders.” Here’s a summary of how Trump has fared on some of

In almost all the cases, workers flouted rules requiring an outbound telephone call to confirm the transaction. Making it worse, many signed forms saying that they had spoken with the customer when the only communication they had was by e-mail. Debra Ferrara, a former client service associate at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, falsified forms for five wire transfers totaling $108,680, saying she’d spoken with the client when she hadn’t. In a settlement with FINRA in June 2016, the broker agreed to

With President Donald Trump’s 100-day mark in the White House coming Saturday, a new poll finds that he is “the least popular chief executive in modern times.” His approval rating sits at 42 percent, a new Washington Post/ABC News poll found. However, the poll found that Trump has one remarkable achievement on his so-called balance sheet that’s related to the economy. According to the poll, 30 percent think the economy is “getting better,” 18 percent “getting worse,” 49 percent “staying the same

“This community taught me that ordinary people, when working together, can do extraordinary things,” Mr. Obama said. Aides have said Mr. Obama does not intend to use his platform to directly challenge President Trump, despite his successor’s aggressive efforts to reverse many of Mr. Obama’s legacy-making accomplishments. And they might even ask him the question directly: What does he think of the way Mr. Trump is leading the country after eight years of the Obama administration? “If you’re tired

Albertsons, the US supermarket operator controlled by buyout group Cerberus Capital Management, is exploring a takeover of high-end grocer Whole Foods, according to two people briefed about the matter. The US private equity group that backs Albertsons has had preliminary talks with bankers about making a bid for Whole Foods, said one person close to the buyout firm. Cerberus is likely to team up with other investors to carry out a successful deal given Whole Foods’ size. Some analysts said Alber

TLT, the ETF that tracks long-term U.S. Treasury bonds, dropped as much as half a percent on Monday, as yields hit their highest since mid-April. But Gordon says the charts show that the drop in TLT won’t stop there, as the ETF has a “pretty good ceiling in place around the $124 mark.” “As TLT bond prices drop, yields are going up equally and on the opposite side, which is helping the banks.” In fact, the financials-tracking ETF (XLF) rallied more than 2 percent Monday thanks to the fall in bond

A congressional vote on a Republican healthcare plan may not come for weeks as leaders in the House of Representatives and the Senate continue negotiations over possible proposals, the White House said on Monday. Any vote on healthcare legislation would be determined by Republican congressional leaders and when they have enough votes to pass a plan, White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters at a daily news briefing after U.S. President Donald Trump last week said he was in no rush for a v