<ul>
<li>Attack in Manchester killed at least 19, injured scores</li>
<li>PM May calls it an &#8220;appalling terrorist attack&#8221;</li>
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<p>British Prime Minister Theresa May and opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn have agreed to suspend election campaigning until further notice following an explosion that killed 19 and injured dozens in the northern English city of Manchester.</p>
<p>May said on Tuesday that authorities were working to establish the details of the blast, adding that it was being treated as an &#8220;appalling terrorist attack&#8221;.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are working to establish the full details of what is being treated by the police as an appalling terrorist attack,&#8221; she said in a statement. &#8220;All our thoughts are with the victims and the families of those who have been affected.&#8221;</p>
<p>Her comments come as Britain prepares for <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/21/uk-conservatives-lead-halved-ahead-of-election-according-to-this-poll.html" target="_self">a general election on June 8</a>.</p>
<p>Initial signs pointed to a suicide bomber as the cause of the blast, said two U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.</p>
<p>Earlier, British police had carried out a controlled explosion on a suspect device as a precaution, adding that the destroyed item turned out to be abandoned clothing rather than something suspicious.</p>
<p>The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said it was closely monitoring the situation in Manchester. In a statement, it said had &#8220;no information to indicate a specific credible threat involving music venues in the United States.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;However, the public may experience increased security in and around public places and events as officials take additional precautions,&#8221; the statement said.</p>
<p>Monday&#8217;s explosion took place at a concert by Ariana Grande and five hours following the incident, the pop singer made her first comment in a tweet.</p>
<blockquote class="embed-container twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-error" data-twitter-extracted-i1495516168827528887="true"><p><a class="inline_asset" href="https://twitter.com/ArianaGrande/status/866849021519966208" target="_self">&#8220;broken. from the bottom of my heart, i am so so sorry. i don&#8217;t have words.&#8221;</a></p></blockquote>


British PM May, opposition leader Corbyn agree to suspend election campaigning

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<p><a class="inline_quotes" href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/F" target="_self" data-gdsid="17077" data-inline-quote-symbol="F">Ford Motor</a> reportedly shuffled its senior leadership team, with plans to replace CEO Mark Fields with executive chief Jim Hackett as a steep <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/02/gm-ford-stocks-stocks-slammed-as-poor-sales-raise-red-flag-about-economy.html" target="_self">stock price decline</a> prompted a review of management, reports said on Monday, citing sources.</p>
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<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="http://fm.cnbc.com/applications/cnbc.com/resources/img/editorial/2017/04/23/104420710-fields-fortt.530x298.jpg?v=1492981533" alt="CNBC's Jon Fortt (l), seated with Ford CEO Mark Fields (r)." width="530" height="298" /></p>
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<div class="caption">CNBC&#8217;s Jon Fortt (l), seated with Ford CEO Mark Fields (r).</div>
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<p>The changes were reported by both Forbes and <a class="inline_asset" title="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/21/business/ford-motor-chief-executive.html?_r=0" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/21/business/ford-motor-chief-executive.html?_r=0" target="_self">the New York Times</a>, citing unnamed officials.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are staying focused on our plan for creating value and profitable growth. We do not comment on speculation or rumors,&#8221; a Ford spokesman said in response to CNBC&#8217;s emailed request for comment.</p>
<div id="inline_movable_ad"> Last week, sources told CNBC that the automaker was planning to <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/16/ford-cutting-jobs-to-jump-start-stalled-stock.html" target="_self">cut 10 percent of its jobs around the world</a> in a bid to increase profits and lift the stock, which is hovering near a five-year low.</div>
<p>Ford&#8217;s share price has dropped nearly 40 percent since <a class="inline_asset" title="CEO Mark Fields" href="http://ceo%20mark%20fields/" target="_self">CEO Mark Fields</a> took the job in 2014. Hackett is currently chairman of Ford Smart Mobility, a Ford Unit started to design, build, grow and invest in emerging mobility services, according the Ford website. He was named to the position March 10, 2016.</p>
<p><a class="inline_asset" title="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/21/business/ford-motor-chief-executive.html?_r=0" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/21/business/ford-motor-chief-executive.html?_r=0" target="_self">Read the full New York Times report here</a>.</p>
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Ford Motor is replacing Mark Fields as CEO

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<p>Economists have long argued that marriage rates are lower in poorer and less well-educated areas because men in those communities aren&#8217;t good financial bets. Without steady incomes, they can&#8217;t reliably contribute to a household, so while women might have children with them, they won&#8217;t commit to men for life. That&#8217;s been the assumption, anyway.</p>
<p>Fracking booms gave two researchers in the Economics Department at the University of Maryland, College Park, a perfect chance to test the hypothesis. What happens when money pours into a place, enriching the men, specifically, and giving them good jobs? More of them will get married, right?</p>
<p>As they discovered, to their surprise, the answer is no.</p>
<div id="inline_movable_ad"> Melissa S. Kearney and Riley Wilson published their findings in a <a class="inline_asset" title="http://papers.nber.org/tmp/96135-w23408.pdf" href="http://papers.nber.org/tmp/96135-w23408.pdf" target="_self">new paper</a> covered by <a class="inline_asset" title="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/05/16/women-just-arent-that-into-the-marriageable-male-anymore-economists-say/?utm_term=.70583aaa1b45" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/05/16/women-just-arent-that-into-the-marriageable-male-anymore-economists-say/?utm_term=.70583aaa1b45" target="_self">the Washington Post</a> that concludes, &#8220;there is no evidence of an increase in marriage rates. The pattern of results is consistent with positive income effects on births, but no associated increase in marriage.&#8221;</div>
<p>In other words, fracking money made more men dad-material, but it didn&#8217;t make them husband-material.</p>
<div id="dart_wrapper_responsiverectangle" class="dart_wrapper dart_ads_noniframe_responsiverectangle badge-ad">Though in more conservative parts of the country like Appalachia, infusions of steady jobs for men in the 1970s and 80s led to more marriages and then more children born in wedlock, the Washington Post reports, this time, though fracking-related wealth produced a localized baby boom, there wasn&#8217;t a corresponding boom in marriages.</div>
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<p>Kearney tells the Post, &#8220;There was a different response this time, and it&#8217;s sobering,&#8221; adding, &#8220;The commitment to childbearing with marriage in the 70s and 80s is just no longer there.&#8221;</p>
<p>The decline in marriage rates in the working class has been going on for long enough now that, in 2012, The New York Times printed a column titled, &#8220;<a class="inline_asset" title="https://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/06/marriage-is-for-rich-people/?_r=0" href="https://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/06/marriage-is-for-rich-people/?_r=0" target="_self">Marriage is for rich people</a>.&#8221; It concludes, &#8220;Rich men are marrying rich women, creating doubly rich households for them and their children. And the poor are staying poor and alone.&#8221; <a class="inline_asset" title="http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2015/12/17/1-the-american-family-today/" href="http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2015/12/17/1-the-american-family-today/" target="_self">40 percent of all babies</a> now are born to single moms or to unmarried partners.</p>
<p>That can be rough on families for numerous reasons. Pooling resources can make many aspects of life easier, from affording a home to being involved at school. Coupling up also helps people stay healthier and live longer, especially <a class="inline_asset" title="http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/marriage-and-mens-health" href="http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/marriage-and-mens-health" target="_self">men</a>.</p>
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<div class="embed-container image">Staying single can be a better bet for women, though, many of whom appreciate having more flexibility in terms of how to structure their personal lives than they did several decades ago. Sociology professor Pepper Schwartz <a class="inline_asset" title="http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/15/opinion/schwartz-single-women/" href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/15/opinion/schwartz-single-women/" target="_self">writes</a>, &#8220;Women now have choices that allow them to customize the arc of their lives and some of them find that it is best for them to put marriage aside.&#8221; Husbands who are &#8220;nonworking, noninvolved,&#8221; she points out, can be &#8220;useless.&#8221;</div>
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<p>Schwartz concludes that, now that they generally have economic and cultural freedom, women no longer are willing to settle: &#8220;While most women still want marriage, they don&#8217;t want it at just any price. They don&#8217;t want it if it scuttles their dreams.&#8221;</p>
<p>A lengthy article in Yes! Magazine makes the case that <a class="inline_asset" title="http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/gender-justice/why-not-getting-married-is-smart-economics-for-women-20160512" href="http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/gender-justice/why-not-getting-married-is-smart-economics-for-women-20160512" target="_self">this is both a logical and positive development for women overall</a>. And that assessment seems to be shared by popular recent TV shows ranging from the sweet (CW&#8217;s &#8220;Gilmore Girls,&#8221; whose four-episode epilogue was released in 2016 on Netflix) to the salty (HBO&#8217;s &#8220;Girls,&#8221; which just finished its six-season run). Despite their differences in tone, both shows foreground a version of success for their heroines that has a lot to do with individual fulfillment and little to do with marriage.</p>
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<p>That said, affluent, professional women usually have an easier time being single by choice, and two-parent households, which tend to have more time as well as more money, have been shown to be good for kids. &#8220;Children whose mothers are continuously married grow up to make higher incomes at age 40 than children raised at some point by single parents,&#8221; <a class="inline_asset" title="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/09/08/children-with-married-parents-are-better-off-but-marriage-isnt-the-reason-why/?utm_term=.128d0dffd1ab" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/09/08/children-with-married-parents-are-better-off-but-marriage-isnt-the-reason-why/?utm_term=.128d0dffd1ab" target="_self">reports</a> the Post. &#8220;Children with married parents also have more engaged parents, and it&#8217;s the engagement that really matters.&#8221;</p>
<p>Given that the Times also <a class="inline_asset" title="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/11/upshot/the-north-south-divide-on-two-parent-families.html" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/11/upshot/the-north-south-divide-on-two-parent-families.html" target="_self">finds</a> that &#8220;the sharp rise in single-parent families has <a class="inline_asset" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/us/two-classes-in-america-divided-by-i-do.html" target="_self">contributed to</a> sky-high inequality,&#8221; many economists have struggled to figure out how to induce working-class couples to marry. But if a steady income doesn&#8217;t make a man marriageable anymore, what does?</p>
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<div class="pro-video-chapters fall dyperf dyMonitor" data-adid="535383||4729|||">Well, larger <a class="inline_asset" title="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/11/upshot/the-north-south-divide-on-two-parent-families.html" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/11/upshot/the-north-south-divide-on-two-parent-families.html" target="_self">religious and cultural expectations</a> can help. But <a class="inline_asset" title="http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2015/12/17/1-the-american-family-today/" href="http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2015/12/17/1-the-american-family-today/" target="_self">education certainly seems to help most</a>, possibly because it speaks to a person&#8217;s long-term job prospects and earning potential.</div>
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<p>Kearney and Wilson say as much in their intro, noting, &#8220;non-marital childbearing has become the norm among young mothers and mothers with low levels of education.&#8221; And according to the Times, states with high rates of education also tend to produce stable families: In &#8220;Minnesota, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Connecticut, at least 51 percent of teenagers are being raised by both biological parents, among the highest rates in the nation.&#8221;</p>
<p>If you want your son to be marriageable one day, tell him to stay in school now.</p>
<p><em>Reporting by <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/ester-bloom/">Ester Bloom</a></em></p>
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Economists: Men now need more than just money to be ‘marriageable’

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<p><a class="inline_quotes" href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/.BVSP" target="_self" data-gdsid="570637" data-inline-quote-symbol=".BVSP">Brazilian stocks</a> fell more than 10 percent in opening trade Thursday on an emerging scandal involving the country&#8217;s recently installed president.</p>
<p>Trading of some shares was delayed, Dow Jones reported.</p>
<p>The <a class="inline_quotes" href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/EWZ" target="_self" data-gdsid="103548" data-inline-quote-symbol="EWZ">iShares MSCI Brazil Capped ETF (EWZ)</a>, a heavily-traded U.S. ETF that tracks Brazilian stocks, briefly dropped more than 17 percent in opening U.S. trade.</p>
<div id="inline_movable_ad"> Less than 10 months into the new administration, Brazilian newspaper O Globo reported late Wednesday that Brazilian President Michel Temer gave his blessing to an attempt to pay a potential witness to remain silent in the country&#8217;s biggest-ever graft probe.</div>
<p>Temer told lawmakers Thursday that his government would not be toppled by allegations he was caught on tape trying to buy the silence of a potential witness in a sprawling graft investigation, a senator who was at the meeting told Reuters.</p>
<p><strong>EWZ 5-day performance (extended hours)</strong></p>
<p><strong class=""><img decoding="async" class="inlineChart" src="http://fm.cnbc.com/applications/cnbc.com/resources/editorialfiles/charts/2017/05/1495111691_ewzextended5day170518.jpg" /></strong></p>
<p><em>Source: FactSet</em></p>
<p>Temer&#8217;s office on Wednesday acknowledged he had met in March with the businessman, Chairman Joesley Batista of meat giant JBS SA, but denied any part in alleged efforts to keep jailed former House Speaker Eduardo Cunha from testifying.</p>
<p>O Globo&#8217;s report, which they say three sources familiar with the matter said was accurate, threatened to pull Temer into a corruption scandal that has already entangled several of his closest allies and advisors.</p>
<p>&#8220;We believe the administration&#8217;s economic team is highly concerned the crisis will impact their reform agenda,&#8221; Larry McDonald wrote Thursday in &#8220;The Bear Traps Report&#8221; newsletter. &#8220;Equity prices / valuations are very dependent on completion / passage of these reforms.&#8221;</p>
<p>U.S.-listed shares of major Brazilian stocks plunged in morning trade:</p>
<ul>
<li>State-run <a class="inline_asset" href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/PETR'-BR" target="_self">Petrobras</a> dropped more than 14.5 percent.</li>
<li><a class="inline_quotes" href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/BBDC%27-BR" target="_self" data-gdsid="66854" data-inline-quote-symbol="BBDC'-BR">Banco Bradesco</a> fell more than 18 percent.</li>
<li><a class="inline_quotes" href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/VALE%27A-BR" target="_self" data-gdsid="35798" data-inline-quote-symbol="VALE'A-BR">Vale SA</a> down nearly 8 percent.</li>
<li><a class="inline_quotes" href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/ITUB%27-BR" target="_self" data-gdsid="21767" data-inline-quote-symbol="ITUB'-BR">Itau Unibanco</a> fell 14.5 percent.</li>
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<p>The <a class="inline_quotes" href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/EEM" target="_self" data-gdsid="96178" data-inline-quote-symbol="EEM">iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (EEM)</a> fell more than 2 percent.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.cnbc.com/brazil/" target="_self">Brazil</a> makes up 7.43 percent of the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, <a class="inline_asset" title="https://www.msci.com/documents/10199/c0db0a48-01f2-4ba9-ad01-226fd5678111" href="https://www.msci.com/documents/10199/c0db0a48-01f2-4ba9-ad01-226fd5678111" target="_self">as of April 28.</a> <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/china/" target="_self">China</a> is the country with the greatest weighting, at 27.05 percent.</p>
<p>The <a class="inline_quotes" href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/BRLUSD%3D" target="_self" data-gdsid="41566742" data-inline-quote-symbol="BRLUSD=">Brazilian real</a> fell more than 6 percent against the U.S. dollar Thursday morning.</p>
<p><img decoding="async" class="inlineChart" src="http://fm.cnbc.com/applications/cnbc.com/resources/editorialfiles/charts/2017/05/1495113394_usbrl.jpg" /></p>
<p>The opening drop in the Brazilian stock market triggered a circuit breaker on the Bovespa exchange, Bloomberg reported.</p>
<p>Brazilian equities have surged over the past year, with the EWZ rising more than 45 percent in the period, as investors cheered Temer&#8217;s proposed economic policies. The fund is one of the 20 most actively-traded ETFs in the U.S. market on a daily basis, on average.</p>
<p>&#8220;Brazil blows up every couple years,&#8221; Tim Seymour managing partner of Triogem Asset Management, said in an email. It &#8220;got overcrowded for regional dedicated players.&#8221;</p>
<p>The country&#8217;s stocks are about &#8220;8 percent of the EM index and taking EM down today more than it might,&#8221; Seymour said. &#8220;That creates an opportunity but think about the politics across EM right now.&#8221;</p>
<p>The new president and his promised reforms were supposed to turn the page on Brazil&#8217;s rocky political climate. Temer became leader of the country after President Dilma Rousseff was removed Aug. 31 amid a massive corruption scandal and an economic crisis that crippled Latin America&#8217;s largest country.</p>
<p>&#8220;Now the fear is that Temer might have to leave office like his predecessor, Dilma Rousseff,&#8221; said Komal Sri-Kumar, president of Sri-Kumar Global Strategies. &#8220;But it&#8217;s too early to panic because there are a lot of steps to removing a president in Brazil.&#8221;</p>
<p><a href="http://www.cnbc.com/brazil/" target="_self">Brazil</a> had been an economic stalwart in the region just a few years before Rousseff&#8217;s impeachment, buoyed by surging oil prices. But the collapse in the crude market, coupled with a corruption scandal at Petrobras, led to millions of Brazilians flooding the streets in protest of Rousseff&#8217;s presidency.</p>
<p><em>—Reporting by <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/fred-imbert/" rel="author">Fred Imbert</a> | <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/evelyn-cheng/" rel="author">Evelyn Cheng</a> and Reuters </em></p>
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Brazil stocks plunge on emerging political scandal

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<li>The Dow and S&amp;P recorded their worst day since September of last year. The Nasdaq composite posted its worst session since June 24.</li>
<li>Traditional safe havens, in turn, caught a bid as the benchmark 10-year yield fell to about 2.21 percent. The yen also rose against the dollar to trade at 111.05.</li>
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<div class="source">Fred Imbert | <span class="twitter-url"><a href="http://twitter.com/foimbert">@foimbert</a></span></div>
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<p>U.S. equities closed sharply lower on Wednesday as investors fretted over the latest news coming out of Washington.</p>
<p>&#8220;This is clearly Washington-driven,&#8221; said Michael Shaoul, chairman and CEO of Marketfield Asset Management. &#8220;It&#8217;s a lot like 1998-99, when the market had to deal with the [Monica] Lewinsky scandal.&#8221;</p>
<p>The Dow Jones industrial average ended about 370 points lower, with Goldman Sachs contributing the most losses. The S&amp;P 500 dropped 1.8 percent, with financials tumbling 3.1 percent to lead decliners. Financials posted their worst day since June 24 were pulled down by banks, with the SPDR S&amp;P Bank ETF (KBE) falling 3.9 percent.</p>
<p>The Nasdaq composite lagged, shedding 2.6 percent, and posted its worst session since June 24.</p>
<p>The major indexes also gave up their gains for the month. The Dow and S&amp;P also recorded their worst day since September of last year.</p>
<p>NBC News confirmed Tuesday a report from The New York Times that former FBI Director James Comey put together a memo outlining a conversation in which President Donald Trump allegedly asked <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/16/comey-memo-says-trump-asked-him-to-shut-down-flynn-probe-nyt.html" target="_self">him to halt an investigation into Michael Flynn</a>, the former national security adviser.</p>
<p>Later on Tuesday, House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz asked the FBI for any records it has on <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/16/jason-chaffetz-oversight-panel-will-get-comey-memo-if-it-exists.html" target="_self">communications between Trump and Comey</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;Earnings have provided a good fundamental base for the market, but I&#8217;m beginning to wonder if this news item is the straw that breaks the camel&#8217;s back,&#8221; said David Schiegoleit, managing director of investments at U.S Bank Private Client Reserve.</p>
<p>Traditional safe havens caught a bid as the benchmark 10-year yield fell to about 2.21 percent. The yen also rose against the dollar to trade at 110.99.</p>
<p>&#8220;If special prosecutors are hired or there is more talk about obstruction of justice being an impeachable offense, one can kiss the tax plan, health care plan, and fiscal stimulus plan goodbye for 2017,&#8221; Andy Brenner, head of international fixed income securities at National Alliance Securities, said in a note Monday.</p>
<p>Stocks have rallied all year in part because of the hope for lower corporate taxes. Lately, the major indexes have pushed towards record levels, with the S&amp;P and Nasdaq notching all-time highs earlier this week.</p>
<p>The administration has said in the past that it uses the stock market as <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/23/mnuchin-the-stock-market-is-the-trump-administrations-report-card.html" target="_self">its economic report card</a>, but the White House said Wednesday it had no comment on the sell-off.</p>
<p>But equities would take a big hit if Trump were impeached, Jack Welch, the former CEO of <a class="inline_asset" href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/GE" target="_self">General Electric</a> who has the president&#8217;s ear, <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/17/jack-welch-impeachment-of-trump-would-blow-the-market-away.html" target="_self">told CNBC on Wednesday</a>. &#8220;An impeachment proceeding would blow the market away,&#8221; Welch said on <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/squawk-box-us/" target="_self">&#8220;Squawk Box.&#8221;</a></p>
<p>The <a class="inline_quotes" href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/.VIX" target="_self" data-gdsid="601065" data-inline-quote-symbol=".VIX">CBOE Volatility Index (VIX)</a>, widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, jumped more than 40<a class="inline_asset" title="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/17/fear-returns-to-wall-street-heres-what-works-when-it-does.html" href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/17/fear-returns-to-wall-street-heres-what-works-when-it-does.html" target="_self"> percent Wednesday</a>, lifting it to its highest level since April 21.</p>
<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve had ultra-low volatility for most of this year. These days tend to happen and people sometimes forget that,&#8221; said Jeremy Bryan, portfolio manager at Gradient Investments.</p>
<p>The risk to the Trump agenda also presents a problem for the Federal Reserve, said Larry McDonald, author of <a class="inline_asset" title="www.thebeartrapsreport.com" href="http://www.thebeartrapsreport.com/" target="_self">The Bear Traps Report</a> and head of global strategy at ACG Analytics.</p>
<p>&#8220;Wall St&#8217;s calling for 2-3 more rate hikes this year, seven over the next two years – but Mr. DXY says no way Jose. The FOMC could very well be on Hold for the Rest of 2017,&#8221; McDonald said in a note.</p>
<p>The dollar index (DXY) hovered near its lowest level since November.</p>
<p>The Fed has signaled it intends to raise rates twice more this year, after a quarter-point hike in March. The central bank&#8217;s policymaking committee is slated to meet next month. Market expectations for June rate hike are 69.2 percent, according to the CME Group&#8217;s FedWatch tool.</p>
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Dow sheds 370 points; stocks close lower and wipe out monthly gains on Trump fears

<p>Christina Farr | <span class="twitter-url">@chrissyfarr</span></p>
<ul>
<li>Each year, Amazon holds an annual meeting to discuss whether it should break into the pharmacy market, said a source familiar.</li>
<li>This year, it is getting more serious and is looking to hire a general manager.</li>
<li>Industry experts say this could be a multibillion market opportunity for the e-commerce company.</li>
</ul>
<p><a class="inline_quotes" href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/AMZN" target="_self" data-gdsid="9399" data-inline-quote-symbol="AMZN">Amazon</a> is hiring a business lead to figure out how the company can break into the multibillion-dollar pharmacy market.</p>
<p>For the last few years, Amazon has held at least one annual meeting at its Seattle, WA headquarters to discuss whether it should enter the pharmacy business, says two people familiar with the company&#8217;s plans.</p>
<p>But this year, with the rise of high-deductible plans and the trend towards consumers paying for health care, it is ready to get more serious.</p>
<p>Two people said that it&#8217;s not a done deal that Amazon will move into this space, given the complex web of established players. But it is bringing on a new general manager to lead the team and formulate a strategy, and is deep in discussions with industry experts. That hire would sit under the consumables business, the source said.</p>
<p>Another person said it&#8217;s started to recruit more broadly from the pharmacy space.</p>
<p>The company recently started <a class="inline_asset" title="https://www.amazon.com/Medical-Supplies-Equipment-Health-Care/b?ie=UTF8&amp;node=3775161" href="https://www.amazon.com/Medical-Supplies-Equipment-Health-Care/b?ie=UTF8&amp;node=3775161" target="_self">selling medical supplies and equipment</a> in the U.S., and <a class="inline_asset" title="https://www.amazon.jobs/en-gb/jobs/529509" href="https://www.amazon.jobs/en-gb/jobs/529509" target="_self">is hiring for its</a> &#8220;professional health care program&#8221; to ensure that the company is meeting regulatory requirements. It also hired Mark Lyons two months ago from Premera Blue Cross. A source said that Lyons is tasked with building an internal pharmacy benefits manager for Amazon employees, which might be later scaled out.</p>
<p>Amazon declined to comment.</p>
<p><a class="inline_asset" title="http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/04/19/business/amazon-launches-same-day-delivery-service-for-food-and-medicine/" href="http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/04/19/business/amazon-launches-same-day-delivery-service-for-food-and-medicine/" target="_self">Japan Times reported</a> in April of this year that the company expanded its Prime Now delivery service to include drug and cosmetic sales, with the support of local partners. Amazon&#8217;s category page on its Japanese site now includes &#8220;pharmaceuticals,&#8221; and sells drugs to patients with approval from a pharmacist.</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-123879" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/amzn-pharmacy-japan.530x298.png" alt="" width="530" height="298" /></p>
<p>Amazon often tests new product lines in non-U.S. markets, before it assesses whether to roll it out in the domestic market. The company tested its secret drone-delivery program in Canada, for instance.</p>
<p>In the United States alone, more than 4 billion prescriptions are ordered every year. In 2015, patients, insurance companies and other payers spent an estimated $300 billion on prescription drugs.</p>
<p>For Amazon, it&#8217;s a lucrative market that would require navigating a variety of existing players. For consumers with a high dollar deductible, Amazon could someday be a go-to destination to shop for drugs.</p>
<p>&#8220;I think Amazon would introduce a lot of transparency to what drugs really cost,&#8221; said Stephen Buck, a health entrepreneur and co-founder of <a class="inline_asset" title="https://www.goodrx.com/" href="https://www.goodrx.com/" target="_self">GoodRx</a>, a service that promises to save consumers on the price of prescription meds. Buck sees a slew of potential opportunities for Amazon, including a product that competes with pharmacy benefits management or PBM giants, like <a class="inline_quotes" href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/ESRX" target="_self" data-gdsid="16738" data-inline-quote-symbol="ESRX">Express Scripts</a> and <a class="inline_quotes" href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/CVS" target="_self" data-gdsid="14561" data-inline-quote-symbol="CVS">CVS Health</a>.</p>
<p>Buck estimates that it&#8217;s a $25 to $50 billion market opportunity for Amazon, if executed well. But the company would also face challenges entering a regulated market it. &#8220;Prescription transfer laws and e-prescribing make a little bit more difficult than putting something in a cart and checking out,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>Amazon previously backed a &#8220;dotcom&#8221; darling called Drugstore.com in the late 1990s, with CEO Jeff Bezos taking on a director role. At that time, it was speculated that Amazon could carve out a huge chunk of the prescription and over-the-counter drug sales market. Drugstore.com later sold to Walgreens, which eventually shut it down.</p>


Amazon is hiring people to break into the multibillion-dollar pharmacy market

<p>General Electric (GE) and the Addis Ababa Institute of Technology (AAiT) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to &#8220;frame an ongoing collaboration&#8221; with the aim of &#8220;enabling capacity development programs focused on renewable energy.&#8221;</p>
<p>In a news release on Monday, GE added that the ultimate goal was to develop a renewables &#8220;center of excellence&#8221; at the AAiT. The center would, among other things, act as both a learning hub for undergraduates and a research incubator for graduates.</p>
<p>GE said that it had been working with the AAiT since the end of last year to develop and implement programs focused on skills development. In March this year, engineers from GE Renewable Energy Hydro gave seminars to AAiT students and staff on hydro turbines and generators.</p>
<p>According to the International Hydropower Association (IHA) the untapped potential of hydropower in Ethiopia &#8220;amounts to around 45,000 MW (megawatts).&#8221; In addition, the IHA says that hydro is responsible for more than 80 percent of electricity produced in the country.</p>
<p>&#8220;The MoU with AAiT is a new milestone for GE Renewable Energy in Ethiopia,&#8221; GE Renewable Energy&#8217;s Yves Rannou said during the MoU&#8217;s signing ceremony.</p>
<p>&#8220;It enables sharing current industry expertise and experience with students and faculty at AAiT in order to build a highly-qualified workforce that will support the social and economic development of the country,&#8221; Rannou added.</p>


GE looks to develop renewable energy skills in Ethiopia

<p>Brian Roberts | CNBC Contributor</p>
<p>Millennials don&#8217;t have it like the boomer generation.</p>
<p>Compared to our predecessors, the cost of living is higher, taxes are higher and decent paying jobs are scarcer. Without the basics covered, it&#8217;s that much harder for millennials to land ― let alone excel in ― leadership roles.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s hard to want to put in extra effort at the office when you&#8217;re feeling undervalued. For millennials who feel caged by constraints like this, the solution may be a lot simpler than you think: Pack your bags<i>.</i></p>
<p>That&#8217;s right. Move.</p>
<p><a class="inline_asset" href="http://growella.com/" target="_self">Growella</a>, a media site that helps millennials make smart money, career and lifestyle choices, conducted a comprehensive study on the <a class="inline_asset" href="https://growella.com/working/top-ranked-cities-for-millennials/" target="_self">best cities for millennials</a> in the U.S. The cities were ranked by pulling data from more than 70 public, available resources.</p>
<p>They looked at everything from availability of entry-level jobs to take home pay and more. Ultimately, the study boiled down to answering this question: Is it possible to earn a living, have a life and still set aside money for your future? And if so, where?</p>
<p>For instance, New York City wages are higher compared to a lot of places, but net income ― what you take home ― isn&#8217;t.</p>
<p>&#8220;What you make isn&#8217;t always &#8216;what you make.&#8217; Favorable tax rates and a low cost of living can be the great equalizer in some cities,&#8221; says Dan Green, the founder and CEO of Growella.</p>
<p>In short: Cities with greater career opportunities and less expenses might afford millennials opportunities they crave. These include the ability to focus on bigger goals and become leaders in fields they&#8217;re passionate about.</p>
<p>&#8220;Each of the top five has a character and prevailing industry, from technology and robotics to finance and other fields,&#8221; he says.</p>
<p>According to the study, these are the top five cities for millennials and their prevailing industries:</p>
<h2 class="subtitle">1. Durham, North Carolina</h2>
<div id="attachment_123649" style="width: 610px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-123649" class="size-full wp-image-123649" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Durham.600x400.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="400" /><p id="caption-attachment-123649" class="wp-caption-text">Barry Winiker | Getty Images<br />An office complex in Durham, North Carolina</p></div>
<p><strong>Industries:</strong> Life sciences and IT</p>
<p>For millennials with leadership aspirations in the life sciences or IT sector, go to Durham. The city is home to Duke University and Research Triangle Park, a preeminent high-tech research hub. Plus, with over 100,000 residents between the ages of 18 to 34, there&#8217;s no shortage of other ambitious millennials to connect with.</p>
<h2 class="subtitle">2. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania</h2>
<div id="attachment_123674" style="width: 610px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-123674" class="size-full wp-image-123674" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/104460422-Pittsburg.600x400.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="400" /><p id="caption-attachment-123674" class="wp-caption-text">Danita Delmont | Getty Images</p></div>
<p><strong>Industries:</strong> Tech and robotics</p>
<p>When people first think of Pittsburgh, they think of steel. But the &#8216;Steel City&#8217;, once known as a vibrant steel manufacturing city, is now buzzing with &#8220;technology and robotics&#8221; according to Dan Green. Ambitious millennials will also love Pittsburgh for it&#8217;s rich art and cultural scene, and with over 346,400 people between the ages of 18 to 34 in Pittsburgh, there&#8217;s no shortage of folks to enjoy it with.</p>
<h2 class="subtitle">3. Nashville, Tennessee</h2>
<div id="attachment_123675" style="width: 610px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-123675" class="size-full wp-image-123675" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/104460390-Nashville.600x400.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="400" /><p id="caption-attachment-123675" class="wp-caption-text">Danita Delmont | Getty Images<br />The Nashville, Tennessee skyline</p></div>
<p><strong>Industries:</strong> Healthcare and publishing</p>
<p>If you&#8217;re looking to make a name for yourself in healthcare, publishing ― and we can&#8217;t forget music ― then Nashville may be the place for you. Having just spent a week there with other young professionals, I can attest to the opportunities Nashville has for anyone looking to make a name, regardless of the industry. Although you may know it as &#8220;Music City&#8221; my one Lyft driver referred to it as &#8220;Crane City&#8221; due to the sheer number of cranes dotting the skyline, office buildings and apartments.</p>
<h2 class="subtitle">4. Des Moines, Iowa</h2>
<div id="attachment_123676" style="width: 610px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-123676" class="size-full wp-image-123676" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/104460374-Des_Moines.600x400.png" alt="" width="600" height="400" /><p id="caption-attachment-123676" class="wp-caption-text">Jeremy Woodhouse | Getty Images<br />The Des Moines, Iowa skyline</p></div>
<p><strong>Industry:</strong> Insurance</p>
<p>This city, although not as popular as the other names on this list, is one of the best places for leaders in America. Business costs are far below the national average, and it&#8217;s been a hotbed of economic growth since 2010. Insurance is a key industry here.</p>
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<p>Millennials don&#8217;t have it like the boomer generation.</p>
<p>Compared to our predecessors, the cost of living is higher, taxes are higher and decent paying jobs are scarcer. Without the basics covered, it&#8217;s that much harder for millennials to land ― let alone excel in ― leadership roles.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s hard to want to put in extra effort at the office when you&#8217;re feeling undervalued. For millennials who feel caged by constraints like this, the solution may be a lot simpler than you think: Pack your bags<i>.</i></p>
<div id="inline_movable_ad"></div>
<p>That&#8217;s right. Move.</p>
<p><a class="inline_asset" href="http://growella.com/" target="_self">Growella</a>, a media site that helps millennials make smart money, career and lifestyle choices, conducted a comprehensive study on the <a class="inline_asset" href="https://growella.com/working/top-ranked-cities-for-millennials/" target="_self">best cities for millennials</a> in the U.S. The cities were ranked by pulling data from more than 70 public, available resources.</p>
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<p><span class="video-icon"><a class="" href="http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000603143" data-videoid="3000603143" data-videotype=""><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" title="Professionals in these cities take home the most money after rent and taxes" src="http://fm.cnbc.com/applications/cnbc.com/resources/img/editorial/2017/03/21/104354743-makeit_cities_disposable_income_after_rent_taxes_mezz.600x400.jpg?v=1490104745" alt="Professionals in these cities take home the most money after rent and taxes" width="600" height="400" /></a></span></p>
<div class="headline">Professionals in these cities take home the most money after rent and taxes</div>
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<div class="group">
<p>They looked at everything from availability of entry-level jobs to take home pay and more. Ultimately, the study boiled down to answering this question: Is it possible to earn a living, have a life and still set aside money for your future? And if so, where?</p>
<p>For instance, New York City wages are higher compared to a lot of places, but net income ― what you take home ― isn&#8217;t.</p>
<p>&#8220;What you make isn&#8217;t always &#8216;what you make.&#8217; Favorable tax rates and a low cost of living can be the great equalizer in some cities,&#8221; says Dan Green, the founder and CEO of Growella.</p>
<p>In short: Cities with greater career opportunities and less expenses might afford millennials opportunities they crave. These include the ability to focus on bigger goals and become leaders in fields they&#8217;re passionate about.</p>
<p>&#8220;Each of the top five has a character and prevailing industry, from technology and robotics to finance and other fields,&#8221; he says.</p>
<p>According to the study, these are the top five cities for millennials and their prevailing industries:</p>
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<h4 class="subtitle">1. Durham, North Carolina</h4>
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<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="http://fm.cnbc.com/applications/cnbc.com/resources/img/editorial/2017/05/10/104460386-Durham.600x400.jpg?v=1494423377" alt="An office complex in Durham, North Carolina" width="600" height="400" /></p>
<div class="attribution">Barry Winiker | Getty Images</div>
<div class="caption">An office complex in Durham, North Carolina</div>
</div>
<div class="group">
<p><strong>Industries:</strong> Life sciences and IT</p>
<p>For millennials with leadership aspirations in the life sciences or IT sector, go to Durham. The city is home to Duke University and Research Triangle Park, a preeminent high-tech research hub. Plus, with over 100,000 residents between the ages of 18 to 34, there&#8217;s no shortage of other ambitious millennials to connect with.</p>
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<h4 class="subtitle">2. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania</h4>
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<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="http://fm.cnbc.com/applications/cnbc.com/resources/img/editorial/2017/05/10/104460422-Pittsburg.600x400.jpg?v=1494424090" alt="586905657" width="600" height="400" /></p>
<div class="attribution">Danita Delmont | Getty Images</div>
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<p><strong>Industries:</strong> Tech and robotics</p>
<p>When people first think of Pittsburgh, they think of steel. But the &#8216;Steel City&#8217;, once known as a vibrant steel manufacturing city, is now buzzing with &#8220;technology and robotics&#8221; according to Dan Green. Ambitious millennials will also love Pittsburgh for it&#8217;s rich art and cultural scene, and with over 346,400 people between the ages of 18 to 34 in Pittsburgh, there&#8217;s no shortage of folks to enjoy it with.</p>
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<h4 class="subtitle">3. Nashville, Tennessee</h4>
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<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="http://fm.cnbc.com/applications/cnbc.com/resources/img/editorial/2017/05/10/104460390-Nashville.600x400.jpg?v=1494423568" alt="The Nashville, Tennessee skyline" width="600" height="400" /></p>
<div class="attribution">Danita Delmont | Getty Images</div>
<div class="caption">The Nashville, Tennessee skyline</div>
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<div class="group">
<p><strong>Industries:</strong> Healthcare and publishing</p>
<p>If you&#8217;re looking to make a name for yourself in healthcare, publishing ― and we can&#8217;t forget music ― then Nashville may be the place for you. Having just spent a week there with other young professionals, I can attest to the opportunities Nashville has for anyone looking to make a name, regardless of the industry. Although you may know it as &#8220;Music City&#8221; my one Lyft driver referred to it as &#8220;Crane City&#8221; due to the sheer number of cranes dotting the skyline, office buildings and apartments.</p>
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<h4 class="subtitle">4. Des Moines, Iowa</h4>
<div class="group"></div>
</div>
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<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="http://fm.cnbc.com/applications/cnbc.com/resources/img/editorial/2017/05/10/104460374-Des_Moines.600x400.png?v=1494423113" alt="The Des Moines, Iowa skyline" width="600" height="400" /></p>
<div class="attribution">Jeremy Woodhouse | Getty Images</div>
<div class="caption">The Des Moines, Iowa skyline</div>
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<div class="group">
<p><strong>Industry:</strong> Insurance</p>
<p>This city, although not as popular as the other names on this list, is one of the best places for leaders in America. Business costs are far below the national average, and it&#8217;s been a hotbed of economic growth since 2010. Insurance is a key industry here.</p>
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<h4 class="subtitle">5. Charlotte, North Carolina</h4>
<div id="attachment_123677" style="width: 610px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-123677" class="size-full wp-image-123677" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/104460361-Charlotte.600x400.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="400" /><p id="caption-attachment-123677" class="wp-caption-text">Walter Bibikow | Getty Images</p></div>
<p><strong>Industry:</strong> Finance</p>
<p>When you think of finance, you probably think of Wall Street, but you should probably be thinking about the city of Charlotte instead. Boasting almost 300,000 people between the ages of 18 to 34, it&#8217;s the second largest banking center in the United States and the perfect place for millennials looking to rise the financial ranks.</p>
<p>Check out the full list <a class="inline_asset" title="https://growella.com/working/top-ranked-cities-for-millennials/" href="https://growella.com/working/top-ranked-cities-for-millennials/" target="_self">here</a>.</p>
</div>


The 5 best cities for millennials to start their careers

<p>Arjun Kharpal</p>
<ul>
<li>The WannaCry ransomware hackers have received around $50,000 worth of bitcoin so far.</li>
<li>The amount the hackers will demand is expected to double from $300 to $600 on Monday.</li>
</ul>
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<p>Hackers who locked files on 200,000 computers globally and asked for a <a class="inline_quotes" href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/BTC%3D-USS" target="_self" data-gdsid="76662810" data-inline-quote-symbol="BTC=-USS" rel="noopener">bitcoin</a> ransom payment to unlock them, have only made around $50,000, an industry source told CNBC, despite the large scale of the attack.</p>
<p>On Friday, a <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/14/cyber-attack-hits-200000-in-at-least-150-countries-europol.html" target="_self" rel="noopener">virus known as WannaCry</a> infected machines across 150 countries. It&#8217;s known as ransomware which is a malicious piece of software that encrypts a user&#8217;s files then demands them pay money to unlock them. In this case, the hackers asked for $300 worth of bitcoin.</p>
<p>James Smith, CEO of Elliptic, a London-based start-up that helps law enforcement agencies track criminals using the cryptocurrency, said his company had uncovered that since Friday, around $50,000 worth of bitcoin payments have been made to the hackers by 7 a.m. ET on Monday. This was up from $45,000 at 4 a.m. ET.</p>
<p>&#8220;We have seen the number of payments start to go up today,&#8221; Smith told CNBC Monday.</p>
<p>After 72 hours from when the attack started on Friday, the hackers said the fine would double to $600, and after seven days, the files would be permanently locked.</p>
<p>&#8220;We think over the course of today as we approach the first deadline where fines double we will see a bigger increase (in bitcoin payments),&#8221; Smith added.</p>
<p>The amount paid so far is still a small amount despite the global nature and scale of the attack. Security experts and government agencies have been urging people not to pay the ransom.</p>
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<h4 class="subtitle">Why payments have been slow</h4>
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<p>One of the major reasons for the slow payments is perhaps because many people wouldn&#8217;t know how to obtain and pay in bitcoin.</p>
<p>&#8220;If a business is told it needs to pay this amount of bitcoin, most companies will be asking what bitcoin is … it&#8217;s not straightforward,&#8221; Smith explained.</p>
<p>Obtaining large amounts of the cryptocurrency might take some time, and then setting up an account via a bitcoin wallet and exchange would also require a long onboarding process.</p>
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<p>At the same time, researchers have seen no evidence that paying the cybercriminals necessarily unlocks your files.</p>
<p>&#8220;The decryption process itself is problematic, to say the least,&#8221; cybersecurity firm Check Point said in a blog post on Sunday.</p>
<p>&#8220;Unlike its competitors in the ransomware market, WannaCry doesn&#8217;t seem to have a way of associating a payment to the person making it. Most ransomware … generate a unique ID and bitcoin wallet for each victim and thus know who to send the decryption keys to. WannaCry, on the other hand, only asks you to make a payment, and then … wait.&#8221;</p>
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<h4 class="subtitle">Tracing bitcoin</h4>
<div class="group">
<p>Hackers who deploy ransomware often ask for payments in bitcoin as it is often believed to be completely anonymous. But law enforcement agencies, working with companies like Elliptic, have figured out ways to trace this.</p>
<p>It traces so-called bitcoin addresses back to people. These addresses are required to make payments to other people or organizations. At the moment, Elliptic is working on trying to trace the payments, but Smith said this would become clearer when the hackers try to withdraw their bitcoin in fiat currency.</p>
<p>&#8220;The attackers haven&#8217;t moved it. In previous cases we have been able to work with law enforcement to see where the funds move because ultimately the attacker wants to turn it back into a currency they want to spend,&#8221; Smith explained.</p>
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Hackers who infected 200,000 machines have only made $50,000 worth of bitcoin

<p>Can a mobile application that uses artificial intelligence become a useful tool in the fight against online bullying?</p>
<p>Bark, a mobile safety app created by a startup founded by a Twitter alumnus, is hoping to do just that. The software employs machine learning to detect signs of negative behavior on a teen&#8217;s phone, including cyberbullying, sexting, depression and suicidal thoughts.</p>
<p>Parents initially sign up through Bark&#8217;s website, then get their children to connect their social media accounts. The software will read the accounts, but will not store or share any of the data.</p>
<p>Founder and CEO Brian Bason got the idea for Bark while still working for Twitter, which had acquired his previous start-up called Niche. With two kids just old enough to have phones, he felt that even though he worked in technology, he didn&#8217;t know how to keep track of them online.</p>
<p>&#8220;Our view is that there are a lot of tools out there that just expose all of the kids&#8217; activity,&#8221; Bason told CNBC. &#8220;This preserves the child&#8217;s privacy and builds trust.&#8221;</p>
<p>According to the National Institute of Mental Health, suicide is the second leading cause of deaths for young adults and adults ages 15 to 34. In recent years, the problem of teen suicide has taken on a new dimension because of the proliferation of technology.</p>
<p>The stakes are high, as parents search for new ways to safeguard their children from the harmful side effects of online interaction. In popular culture, a new Netflix show, &#8220;13 Reasons Why,&#8221; has stoked more discussion by tackling the prominent role of social media and cell phones in teenagers&#8217; lives — and their impact on teen psychology.</p>
<p>&#8220;We teach our kids to look both ways when they cross the street. Don&#8217;t talk to strangers. We need to do the same thing for children with digital uses,&#8221; said Bason. &#8220;The scope has expanded. As a parent, it opens up what you have to consider. The vast majority of kids have internet-connected devices.&#8221;</p>
<p>Bark&#8217;s app doesn&#8217;t give parents full access to their children&#8217;s social activity, but it monitors for potential issues and identifies language that may be of concern. Codes like &#8220;CD9&#8221; or &#8220;9&#8221; — which stands for &#8220;parents are nearby,&#8221; or &#8220;53X&#8221; for &#8220;sex&#8221; are examples of what the software tags in its search.</p>
<p>&#8220;We keep our ear close to the ground. We have a youth advisory council to understand trends,&#8221; Bason told CNBC.</p>
<p>The app lets the machine learning algorithm do all the work, operating in the background of apps and mining for red flags. It also works with most social platforms, such as Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, YouTube, and Kik, among others.</p>
<p>Bason mentions that in the past few months, the company has flagged at least two dozen potentially fatal, suicide-related situations. In those instances, parents said they weren&#8217;t aware anything was going on, but the app allowed them to step in and intervene.</p>
<p>Bark monitors tens of millions of messages per month with kids on the platform, sending about 500 messages a week and on the higher end 1,000 a day. It costs $99 a year per family and supports an unlimited number of children and connections.</p>
<p>Bark has pulled in $3 million in venture funding.</p>
<p>&#8211; Reporting by Deborah Findling	| @dfindles</p>


An app that helps protect kids from cyberbullying

<p><a class="inline_quotes" href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/BTC%3D-USS" target="_self" data-gdsid="76662810" data-inline-quote-symbol="BTC=-USS" rel="noopener">Bitcoin</a> is &#8220;fully valued&#8221; and could see a pullback in the short term after hitting $1,600 for the first time on Monday, according to one investor, but the price could go as high as $4,000 over the next 14 months.</p>
<p>The cryptocurrency has been on an <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/27/bitcoin-jumps-to-a-new-all-time-high-above-1300-capping-20-april-surge.html" target="_self" rel="noopener">upward move since April</a> and was trading around $1,575.52 by early afternoon trading in London after hitting an all-time high $1,601.05 during morning trade, according to the Coindesk bitcoin price index.</p>
<p>In the last 30 days, bitcoin has risen over 33 percent.</p>
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<p><strong>Negative bitcoin news</strong></p>
<p>The rally may seem perplexing given that there have been a number of setbacks for the cryptocurrency.</p>
<p>These include:</p>
<ul>
<li>The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/10/reuters-america-us-sec-rejects-application-to-list-bitcoin-etf.html" target="_self" rel="noopener">deciding to reject</a> a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) proposed by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. This is now <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/26/bitcoin-price-sec-winklevoss-etf-review.html" target="_self" rel="noopener">under review</a> however. An ETF would have given further credibility to bitcoin and helped more institutional investors get involved.</li>
<li>A fierce debate over the future of bitcoin&#8217;s structure. The <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/17/bitcoin-price-blockchain-fork-ethereum.html" target="_self" rel="noopener">full explanation can be read here</a>.</li>
<li>Issues with some exchanges, particularly Bitfinex, which cut off their access to the banking system meaning customers couldn&#8217;t make withdrawals in fiat currency.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>So why the rally?</strong></p>
<p>At the same time, there have been some positive developments.</p>
<p>Firstly, <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/12/bitcoin-price-rises-japan-russia-regulation.html" target="_self" rel="noopener">Japan legalized the cryptocurrency</a> as a payment method recently and this has led to a greater amount of bitcoin being bought with yen, according to Aurelien Menant, founder and CEO of Gatecoin, a regulated blockchain assets exchange based in Hong Kong.</p>
<p>The second reason could be to do with a change in the code of another cryptocurrency called litecoin.</p>
<p><strong>What happened with litecoin and why does it matter to bitcoin?</strong></p>
<p>Last month, there was a change in the code behind the technology that underpins litecoin. It is known as Segregated Witness (SegWit) and it allows the speed of transactions using the cryptocurrency to increase.</p>
<p>This has given hope that bitcoin could see a similar thing.</p>
<p><strong>Fork debate recap</strong></p>
<p>To understand the issue, it&#8217;s key to look at how bitcoin transactions are processed. Transactions by users are gathered into &#8220;blocks&#8221; which is turned into a complex math solution. So-called miners, using high-powered computers work these solutions out to determine if the transaction is possible. Once other miners also check the puzzle is correct, the transactions are approved and the miners are rewarded in bitcoin.</p>
<p>But there is a big backlog in transactions and the speed at which these are processed is slowing. That&#8217;s because the rules of bitcoin only allow a certain amount of transactions through in one block.</p>
<p>In mid-March, the price of bitcoin saw a big drop because the community was afraid of a so-called &#8220;hard fork&#8221; which could <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/17/bitcoin-price-blockchain-fork-ethereum.html" target="_self" rel="noopener">have led to two blockchains forming</a>, and therefore two separate cryptocurrencies.</p>
<p>But the example of litecoin shows that a so-called &#8220;soft fork&#8221; can happen which would increase the block size for bitcoin without major disruption.</p>
<p>&#8220;That example of a successful soft fork in litecoin has made people start to think that we could get a successful SegWit implementation in bitcoin and that could increase capacity and move us to the next level,&#8221; Daniel Masters, director at Global Advisors Bitcoin Investment Fund (GABI), told CNBC by phone.</p>
<p>GABI is an investment fund that is listed on The International Stock Exchange on the Channel Islands.</p>
<p><strong>And what does this mean for price?</strong></p>
<p>While bitcoin has seen a recent rally, previous peaks have seen sharp pullbacks in prices. Masters said the price rise has been &#8220;violent in the short-term&#8221; with bitcoin &#8220;fully valued for the moment&#8221;. This could lead to a pullback to around $1,100.</p>
<p>However, the long-term outlook remains strong.</p>
<p>&#8220;In the 8- to 14-month horizon, my forecast would be around $4,000,&#8221; Masters told CNBC.</p>
<p>Others also expect high prices. Gatecoin&#8217;s Menant said prices should climb beyond $3,000 this year.</p>


Bitcoin hits $1,600 for the first time and one investor says it could rally to $4,000 in a few months

<div class="inline-player"> By Anita Balakrishnan | <span class="twitter-url">@MsABalakrishnan</span></div>
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<li>Apple&#8217;s market capitalization hit a new record of $800 billion</li>
<li>It remains the world&#8217;s most valuable public company after earnings</li>
<li>Warren Buffett praised the iPhone</li>
<li>Drexel Hamilton says Apple could be a trillion-dollar company with iPhone 8</li>
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<p><a class="inline_quotes" href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/AAPL" target="_self" data-gdsid="8016" data-inline-quote-symbol="AAPL">Apple</a>&#8216;s stock continues to hit new highs — and on Monday, investors pushed Apple&#8217;s total market value to over $800 billion.</p>
<p>Apple shares briefly surpassed a price of $153.44 a share, and with Apple&#8217;s 5.214 billion shares outstanding, according to its <a class="inline_asset" title="http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/AAPL/3444379778x0xS1628280-17-4790/320193/filing.pdf" href="http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/AAPL/3444379778x0xS1628280-17-4790/320193/filing.pdf" target="_self">latest quarterly report</a>, that makes its total market capitalization just over $800 billion.</p>
<p>Shares hit a high of $153.70 on Monday, before closing at $153 a share, up 2.7 percent.</p>
<p>The iPhone maker reported <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/02/apple-earnings-q2-2017.html" target="_self">mixed quarterly earnings</a> last week, selling fewer phones than expected, though at more expensive prices. But chief executive <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/tim-cook/" target="_self">Tim Cook</a> attributed some of the slowdown to the fact that consumers are holding out for the next launch, anticipated in September.</p>
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<p>Wall Street seems to agree — analysts have upped the stock&#8217;s 12-month price target nearly 30 times so far this May, according to FactSet. Drexel Hamilton analyst Brian White released Apple&#8217;s highest price target on the Street on Monday, which at $202 a share would put Apple over the <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/08/apple-just-got-its-most-bullish-forecast-yet-worth-1-trillion-in-a-year.html" target="_self">$1 trillion mark this year.</a></p>
<p>While that number may seem eye-popping, the company is already 80 percent of the way there — at least in the view of investors, who consider the company&#8217;s future earnings and cash, as much as its current product line up.</p>
<p>&#8220;What we&#8217;re starting to see here are dark clouds around this valuation of Apple — which has been with the company for several years — starting to part ways,&#8221; White told CNBC&#8217;s &#8220;<a href="http://www.cnbc.com/halftime/" target="_self">Fast Money: Halftime Report</a>&#8221; on Monday.</p>
<p>Despite the company&#8217;s <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/02/apple-record-market-cap-776-6-billion-ahead-of-earnings.html" target="_self">record-high market capitalization</a>, the iPhone 8, repatriation of foreign cash and new innovations on the horizon could fuel more upside for Apple shares, White said. Plus, the company&#8217;s weak performance in China could be turning a corner, White predicts.</p>
<blockquote><p>Shares of Apple popped on Monday, after famed investor <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/warren-buffett/" target="_self">Warren Buffett</a> also praised the company, calling the iPhone &#8220;<a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/08/billionaire-investor-warren-buffett-says-its-very-easy-to-see-where-apple-is-with-consumers-at-any-time.html" target="_self">a very, very, very valuable product</a>.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>Apple is also one of many technology companies that have been buoyed by a recent rally in the stock market. The Nasdaq 100, for example, closed at an all-time high on Friday.</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;Our numbers are actually pretty conservative going into what I think will be a big cycle,&#8221; White said.</p></blockquote>
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<h4 class="subtitle">Apple&#8217;s rise to $800 billion</h4>
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Apple market cap tops $800 billion for the first time

<div class="source">Uptin Saiidi</div>
<p>So, you have your own startup idea you can&#8217;t get it out of your mind. How do you bring it to life?</p>
<p>During InnovFest unbound, an event in Singapore that connects startups with corporates, CNBC asked three entrepreneurs who built their own businesses how they got started. The roster included Malcolm Rodrigues, CEO of MyRepublic, an internet services provider; Shaul Olmert, CEO of online publishing platform Playbuzz; and Steve Melhuish, co-founder of PropertyGuru, a real estate listings platform.</p>
<p><strong>1. It&#8217;s always the right time to launch your startup.</strong></p>
<p>Despite global venture funding going down last year, the market is still ripe for startups, those who have done it say. &#8220;There&#8217;s always excuses that it&#8217;s not the right time, but it always is,&#8221; said Playbuzz&#8217;s Olmert, who spent most of his career climbing the corporate ladder before taking the leap into his own venture.</p>
<p>&#8220;I think everybody should do a startup,&#8221; Rodrigues added. &#8220;It changes how you view life. Whether you do it when you&#8217;re out of school or when you&#8217;re 40 years old, you&#8217;re never too late. However, he warned that if you don&#8217;t have your own idea that excites you, then it&#8217;s best to go into a corporate job.</p>
<p>Ideally, however, entrepreneurs get started on failing early, he joked. &#8220;You&#8217;re going to fail three times before you&#8217;re successful, so do it early, get it out of the way.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>2. When you reach your breaking point, jump the corporate ship.</strong></p>
<p>Melhuish spent more than a decade working for a corporation in the telecom space, before starting his real-estate platform. After leaving a corporate job, he took 6 months off to travel throughout Southeast Asia. &#8220;There&#8217;s a big world out here and it was a big change.&#8221;</p>
<p>So, you have your own startup idea you can&#8217;t get it out of your mind. How do you bring it to life?</p>
<p>During InnovFest unbound, an event in Singapore that connects startups with corporates, CNBC asked three entrepreneurs who built their own businesses how they got started. The roster included Malcolm Rodrigues, CEO of MyRepublic, an internet services provider; Shaul Olmert, CEO of online publishing platform Playbuzz; and Steve Melhuish, co-founder of PropertyGuru, a real estate listings platform.</p>
<p><strong>1. It&#8217;s always the right time to launch your startup.</strong></p>
<p>Despite global venture funding going down last year, the market is still ripe for startups, those who have done it say. &#8220;There&#8217;s always excuses that it&#8217;s not the right time, but it always is,&#8221; said Playbuzz&#8217;s Olmert, who spent most of his career climbing the corporate ladder before taking the leap into his own venture.</p>
<p>&#8220;I think everybody should do a startup,&#8221; Rodrigues added. &#8220;It changes how you view life. Whether you do it when you&#8217;re out of school or when you&#8217;re 40 years old, you&#8217;re never too late. However, he warned that if you don&#8217;t have your own idea that excites you, then it&#8217;s best to go into a corporate job.</p>
<p>Ideally, however, entrepreneurs get started on failing early, he joked. &#8220;You&#8217;re going to fail three times before you&#8217;re successful, so do it early, get it out of the way.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>2. When you reach your breaking point, jump the corporate ship.</strong></p>
<p>Melhuish spent more than a decade working for a corporation in the telecom space, before starting his real-estate platform. After leaving a corporate job, he took 6 months off to travel throughout Southeast Asia. &#8220;There&#8217;s a big world out here and it was a big change.&#8221;</p>
<div id="attachment_122355" style="width: 810px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-122355" class="wp-image-122355 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/shutterstock_334043420.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="600" /><p id="caption-attachment-122355" class="wp-caption-text">Photo: Shutterstock</p></div>
<p>&#8220;I like to have more control over my destiny and being an entrepreneur allows you to control things a bit better.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>3. Avoid the naysayers. Better yet, ignore them.</strong></p>
<p>Entrepreneurship isn&#8217;t built into everyone&#8217;s DNA. &#8220;I was a very happy corporate soldier for a while, and then things started going wrong for me,&#8221; Olmert recalled. &#8220;I realized not everything I touch turns to gold. I was suffering maybe an early mid-life crisis.&#8221;</p>
<p>That&#8217;s when he came up with the idea to start Playbuzz.</p>
<p>&#8220;Not a single person I shared my idea with told me I should go for it,&#8221; he said. &#8220;At a certain person I realized, even though nobody encouraged me, I&#8217;m still obsessed with this idea and I said &#8216;I&#8217;m doing it anyway.'&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>4. Millennials are here, so embrace them.</strong></p>
<p>PropertyGuru has adapted for a more millennial-centric work environment, adding flexible work schedules, hot desks instead of permanent work stations, and even created a different performance structure that recognizes employees more often.</p>
<p>&#8220;The reality is millennials are here, you cant avoid them,&#8221; co-founder Melhuish said. &#8220;They&#8217;re probably the most creative and disruptive, in a positive way. We can&#8217;t sit here and complain about how they&#8217;re a pain to manage.&#8221;</p>
<p>Rodrigues added that millennial culture exists because of technology. &#8220;You can sit in your mother&#8217;s basement, have a one gig connection, code an app, launch it without every leaving home and you don&#8217;t spend a lot of money doing it.&#8221;</p>
<p>He added: &#8220;I love millennials because its a dawn of a new age. It&#8217;s about self-expression and individuality.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>5. Empower your team to try every department.</strong></p>
<p>&#8220;The world is moving so fast and startups are inherently more risk-taking,&#8221; Melhuish said. He cited an employee who joined the customer service team and later went to work in sales. That person then moved countries several times, all while working for the same company.</p>
<p>&#8220;Startups enable that, but corporate are more about managing risk,&#8221; he added.</p>
<p><strong>6. The morning routine is overrated.</strong></p>
<p>Some execs swear by their morning routine, which often includes an early morning email inbox cleaning or meditation session. Those things are just not for everyone.</p>
<p>Melhuish said he wished he&#8217;d spend ten minutes doing meditation and an hour workout every morning, but his reality is different. &#8220;I don&#8217;t really have a solid routine. I keep it flexible.&#8221;</p>
<p>Rodrigues said his routine depended largely on geography. &#8220;It depends on what country you&#8217;re in. Mornings are my busiest time. &#8220;You&#8217;re bombarded with so much information.&#8221; Instead, he takes evenings to calm down and relax.</p>
<p>In general, Olmert is against any kind of rigid routine. &#8220;Structuring a routine is like trying to impose your idea on a world, rather than respond to it,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p><strong>7. Stay focused on the big picture.</strong></p>
<p>Despite growing fast and having offices around the world, Olmert occasionally gets nervous about his business.</p>
<p>&#8220;Sometimes you doubt yourself, but you need to ask the questions to reach the point where you&#8217;re confident in what you&#8217;re doing,&#8221; Olmert said.</p>


7 tips to execute your startup idea, from 3 entrepreneurs who did it

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<p>The constant connectedness of life in 2017 often puts a premium on speed: the sooner, the faster, the better. &#8220;The more output you produce, the better your shot at stumbling onto greatness,&#8221; according to organizational psychologist and &#8220;Option B&#8221; co-author, Adam Grant.</p>
<p>Not so, says best-selling author <a class="inline_asset" href="http://www.newyorker.com/contributors/malcolm-gladwell" target="_self">Malcolm Gladwell</a> — instead, greatness is about performance.</p>
<p>&#8220;In any kind of high-stakes job where the penalty for error is high, you can&#8217;t afford to have hares,&#8221; <a class="inline_asset" title="https://heleo.com/conversation-malcolm-gladwell-on-why-we-shouldnt-value-speed-over-power/13687/" href="https://heleo.com/conversation-malcolm-gladwell-on-why-we-shouldnt-value-speed-over-power/13687/" target="_self">Gladwell tells Grant</a> during an interview at Wharton Business School.</p>
<p>Gladwell, who studied <a class="inline_asset" title="http://gladwell.com/outliers/outliers-q-and-a-with-malcolm/" href="http://gladwell.com/outliers/outliers-q-and-a-with-malcolm/" target="_self">individuals who have achieved remarkable success</a> for his book &#8220;Outliers,&#8221; uses lawyers as an example of where the relationship between speed and performance can break down.</p>
<p>&#8220;We do not want the high output, lots-of-errors lawyer,&#8221; says Gladwell.</p>
<p>&#8220;Can you imagine a lawyer who said, &#8216;Here&#8217;s the contract, take a look. If it turns out it&#8217;s not right we can just go back and do another version later,'&#8221; says Gladwell. &#8220;Are you kidding? That&#8217;s a disaster.&#8221;</p>
<p>Gladwell continues: &#8220;In the financial crisis, someone put the comma in the wrong place and ended up paying $20 a share for Lehman and not $2 a share. Who was the person who read that document at 2:00 in the morning? The hare.&#8221;</p>
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<div class="group-container "><span class="quote">&#8220;IN ANY KIND OF HIGH-STAKES JOB WHERE THE PENALTY FOR ERROR IS HIGH, YOU CAN&#8217;T AFFORD TO HAVE HARES.&#8221;</span><span class="author">&#8211; Malcolm Gladwell, best-selling author</span></div>
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<p>In some cases, working more slowly, producing less but higher quality work results in greater levels of success. For instance, the publishing industry pressures writers to write quickly, but Gladwell says quality work takes time.</p>
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<p>&#8220;As a writer, my principal observation about why other writers fail is that they are in too much of a hurry,&#8221; says Gladwell. &#8220;I don&#8217;t think the problem with writing in America right now is a failure of output. I think it&#8217;s a failure of quality.&#8221;</p>
<p>The New Yorker, which Gladwell writes for, is a good example.</p>
<p>&#8220;The New Yorker is a hit-driven enterprise, that probably eight articles a year account for 90 percent of people&#8217;s interest in the product, and so to the extent you could encourage people to write fewer hits, you&#8217;re better off.&#8221;</p>
<p>Generalizing that speed is correlated with competence is a good way to miss out on some very talented people, according to Gladwell.</p>
<p>He suggests using apprenticeships or trial periods when hiring, which he says are a version of privileging power over speed. By giving potential hires a reasonable period of time to demonstrate their competence, managers are able to assess the strength of candidates without biasing for how fast they work.</p>
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<p>Gladwell concludes: &#8220;Let&#8217;s create a safe space for the neurotic tortoise.&#8221;</p>
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Malcolm Gladwell: Here’s why you should slow down and do less

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<p>Emmanuel Macron has fought off populist opponent Marine Le Pen and won the race to become France&#8217;s next president.</p>
<p>The centrist candidate secured approximately 65 percent of votes to far-right Le Pen&#8217;s 35 percent, according to a Kantar Sofres poll, in what has been one of the most significant elections in France&#8217;s recent history.</p>
<p>Macron&#8217;s win signals a victory for both pro-Europeans and pollsters, who correctly predicted his lead. CNBC takes a look at the En Marche (translated as &#8220;onwards&#8221;) party leader&#8217;s next steps towards the Elysee Palace.</p>
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<p><strong>What happens now?</strong></p>
<p>Macron will be inaugurated within the week, with many commentators suggesting May 11 as the most likely date.</p>
<p>At this point he will replace the outgoing President Francois Hollande and attentions will turn to the upcoming parliamentary elections.</p>
<p>On June 11 and 18, French citizens will once again head to the polls for two rounds of voting to elect the country&#8217;s 577 members of parliament.</p>
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<p><span class="video-icon"><a class="" href="http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000616409" data-videoid="3000616409" data-videotype=""><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" title="French structural reforms will take years: Economist" src="http://fm.cnbc.com/applications/cnbc.com/resources/img/editorial/2017/05/07/104451621-1ED1-ESB-DavidOwen-050717.600x400.jpg?v=1494186074" alt="French structural reforms will take years: Economist" width="600" height="400" /></a></span></p>
<div class="headline">French structural reforms will take years: Economist  <time>Friday, 5 May 2017 | 9:39 AM ET | 03:24</time></div>
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<p>The June elections will be the first test of Macron&#8217;s presidential authority. The independent En Marche movement currently has no parliamentary seats, and without parliamentary backing Macron will be unable to <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/02/macron-victory-start-of-political-upheaval-for-france.html" target="_self">enact his reform proposals</a>.</p>
<p>However, the latest OpinionWay-SLPV Analytics polls &#8211; the first for the June elections &#8211; suggests that Macron is on track to win 249 to 286 seats. This would put him ahead of centrist and conservative parties&#8217; 200 to 210 seats; the Socialist left&#8217;s 28 to 43; and the far-right National Front&#8217;s 15 to 25.</p>
<p>Once the seats have been filled on June 18, Macron&#8217;s next task will be to appoint his prime minister.</p>
<p><strong>What does this mean for markets?</strong></p>
<p>Global markets soared when Macron emerged as the front runner in the <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/23/france-presidential-election-results-exit-polls-2017.html" target="_self">first round of voting on April 23</a> and will be buoyed further as the risk of an EU break-up abates.</p>
<p><a class="inline_quotes" href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/EUR%3D" target="_self" data-gdsid="617254" data-inline-quote-symbol="EUR=">The euro</a> jumped to six-month highs against the dollar when markets opened Sunday evening. The single currency reached $1.1010 as fears over a Le Pen-endorsed departure were quashed.</p>
<p>The euro closed at $1.0995 Friday, marking a somewhat muted increase of 0.13 percent. Commentators had predicted that the euro could rise as high as 5 percent against the dollar in the days preceding the vote.</p>
<p>Elsewhere, the French <a class="inline_quotes" href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/.FCHI" target="_self" data-gdsid="585994" data-inline-quote-symbol=".FCHI">CAC</a> index is likely to continue its rally as markets <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/04/macron-win-stocks-markets.html" target="_self">celebrate their anticipated outcome</a>. The benchmark reached a more than nine-year high Thursday last week after Macron appeared the victor in the final televised debate ahead of Sunday&#8217;s vote.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, other European bourses are expected to show relief as the integrity of the EU remains intact. Germany&#8217;s <a class="inline_quotes" href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/.GDAXI" target="_self" data-gdsid="569857" data-inline-quote-symbol=".GDAXI">DAX</a> broke through its all-time ceiling following Macron&#8217;s success in the first round.</p>
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<p><span class="video-icon"><a class="" href="http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000616400" data-videoid="3000616400" data-videotype=""><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" title="Subdued atmosphere at losing National Front headquarters" src="http://fm.cnbc.com/applications/cnbc.com/resources/img/editorial/2017/05/07/104451603-1ED1-ESB-ClaireFournier-050717.600x400.jpg?v=1494181096" alt="Subdued atmosphere at losing National Front headquarters" width="600" height="400" /></a></span></p>
<div class="headline">Subdued atmosphere at losing National Front headquarters  <time>Friday, 5 May 2017 | 9:34 AM ET | 02:20</time></div>
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<p>However, with a Macron win largely priced in by markets, the likely duration of these gains is unclear.</p>
<p>At the other end, gold is likely to see some volatility to the downside in the short term at least. Typically a hedge in times of political uncertainty, the election of an establishment president could spark and unwinding in safe-haven trades.</p>
<p><strong>What does this mean for French politics?</strong></p>
<p>Though he is an independent candidate who brought France&#8217;s traditional ruling parties to their knees in the first round, Macron is largely considered a continuation of mainstream politics in France.</p>
<p>He promises major reforms in labor and taxation to boost the country&#8217;s growth prospects, as well as a 50 billion euro ($54.7 billion) stimulus package; however, his stance on fundamental issues such as EU membership and currency remains firmly with the status quo.</p>
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<div class="caption">Far right Presidential candidate Marine Le Pen addresses voters.</div>
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<p>Nevertheless, the success of Le Pen in this close-fought race has shown the country&#8217;s deep-rooted political discontent.</p>
<p>With employment, immigration and continued terrorist threats at the top of people&#8217;s concerns, Macron will have a fight on his hands to win over both his fellow politicians and citizens of this deeply divided nation during his five-year term.</p>
<p><strong>What does this mean for Europe?</strong></p>
<p>Europe will breathe a collective sigh of relief as France&#8217;s commitment to the European project is upheld.</p>
<p>Under a Le Pen victory, the EU would have faced the prospect of significant overhauls, a referendum on the membership of one of its founding members, and the potential collapse of its currency union. However, 39-year-old Macron has said that he is dedicated to an outward-looking France, including maintaining its future within the EU.</p>
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<div class="embed-container image">Europe will now turn its focus to Germany&#8217;s Federal election in September and on-going Brexit negotiations. With a pro-European French president now in place, the EU will have a strengthened hand as talks with Britain develop.</div>
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<p>&#8220;From the perspective of what it means for the U.K. I think it means it&#8217;s going to be tough, but, in fairness, given everything we&#8217;ve seen over the course of the last three weeks, we already knew it was going to be tough,&#8221; Simon Derrick, chief currency strategist at BNY Mellon, told CNBC shortly after the result.</p>
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<p><span class="video-icon"><a class="" href="http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000616411" data-videoid="3000616411" data-videotype=""><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" title="What Macron's victory could mean for Brexit" src="http://fm.cnbc.com/applications/cnbc.com/resources/img/editorial/2017/05/07/104451627-1ED1-ESB-SimonDerrick2-050717.600x400.jpg?v=1494187112" alt="What Macron's victory could mean for Brexit" width="600" height="400" /></a></span></p>
<div class="headline">What Macron&#8217;s victory could mean for Brexit</div>
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Macron is France’s next president — here’s what happens next

<p>Arjun Kharpal</p>
<ul>
<li>Nintendo is aiming for operating profit of 65 billion yen this fiscal year, which if realized, would represent a 121 percent rise from the 29.4 billion yen operating profit it reported for the year ended March 31, 2017.</li>
<li>Nintendo said it is aiming for 10 million units of sales for the new Switch console this fiscal year.</li>
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<p><a class="inline_quotes" href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/7974.T-JP" target="_self" data-gdsid="6767" data-inline-quote-symbol="7974.T-JP">Nintendo</a> said on Thursday that it expects profit for its current fiscal year to jump by 121 percent, hitting a seven-year high, thanks to strong sales of its new Switch console, older hardware and mobile gaming efforts.</p>
<p>The Japanese gaming giant forecast for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2018:</p>
<ul>
<li>Net sales of 750 billion yen ($6.7 billion)</li>
<li>Operating profit of 65 billion yen</li>
<li>10 million units of the Switch consoles to be sold</li>
</ul>
<p>On Thursday, Nintendo reported earnings for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2017. The key figures are:</p>
<ul>
<li>Net sales of 489.1 billion yen, a 3 percent year-on-year decline, but beating its own guidance</li>
<li>Operating profit of 29.4 billion yen, a fall of 10.7 percent year-on-year</li>
</ul>
<p>Nintendo&#8217;s forecasts, however, set it up for a strong year ahead. Its forecast of 65 billion yen of operating profit, if realized, would mark a 121 percent increase. It would also be the biggest profit since the fiscal year ended March 2011. The company is aiming to sell 10 million Switch units. The console, which went on sale last month, has already seen 2.74 million units sold, with 5.46 million units of software sold.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s a positive announcement to kick of the fiscal year for Nintendo, after spending much of the previous 12 months trying to consolidate its business. The company has launched a number of mobile games including <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/08/pokemon-go-earns-200-million-in-first-month-beating-candy-crush.html" target="_self">last summer&#8217;s hit &#8220;Pokemon Go&#8221;</a> and more recently &#8220;Super Mario Run&#8221;. Mobile had been an area Nintendo had previously lost out on, but it is now making strong progress and expects it to be one of its &#8220;major pillars of profits&#8221; in the mid-to-long-term.</p>
<p>Thanks to its efforts in mobile, Nintendo&#8217;s brand has also seen a strong revival, and the company has managed to tap into some of the nostalgia around its past games and consoles. Last year, the company released a <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/11/nintendo-nes-classic-short-supply-buy-one-online-ebay-for-1000.html" target="_self">Nintendo Classic Edition</a>, which came with pre-installed games and cost $59.99. It quickly sold out with some going on eBay for <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/20/nintendo-snes-mini-release.html" target="_self">as much as $5,000</a>. Nintendo said the NES Classic launched to &#8220;widespread popularity&#8221;.</p>
<p>And the knock-on effect has been seen in sales of Nintendo hardware. The company said the 3DS handheld console, which was released in 2011, saw a 7 percent year-on-year rise in sales. This was helped by strong titles such as &#8220;Pokemon Sun&#8221; and &#8220;Pokemon Moon&#8221;, which gained popularity because of &#8220;Pokemon Go&#8221;.</p>
<p>&#8220;The release of the smart device application &#8216;Pokemon Go&#8217; led to increased sales of software in the Pokémon series and drove the Nintendo 3DS family hardware sales growth outside of Japan,&#8221; Nintendo said in its earning statement.</p>
<p>Investors have been supportive of Nintendo&#8217;s turnaround efforts with shares up 60 percent in the last 12 months. The stock also has 5 strong buy ratings, 10 buy ratings, 5 holds, 1 sell and 1 strong sell, showing the bias is generally positive towards the company&#8217;s shares. The mean price target on the stock is 31,175 yen, which represents around 14 percent upside from Thursday&#8217;s close, Reuters data shows.</p>
<p>&#8220;The brand has been reinvigorated and now with that revitalized branding of the licenses, this year and into next year is about pushing on with new differentiated cutting edge tech,&#8221; Neil Campling, head of global technology, media and telecom research at Northern Trust Capital Markets, told CNBC by phone.</p>
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Nintendo’s comeback is starting to take hold as it forecasts a 121% profit surge this year

<p>Sophia Yan</p>
<p>Robots are likely to replace 50 percent of all jobs in the next decade, according to Kai-Fu Lee, founder of venture capital firm Sinovation Ventures and a top voice on tech in <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/china/" target="_self">China</a>.</p>
<p>Artificial intelligence (AI) is the wave of the future, the influential technologist told CNBC, calling it the &#8220;singular thing that will be larger than all of human tech revolutions added together, including electricity, [the] industrial revolution, internet, mobile internet — because AI is pervasive.&#8221;</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;It is the decision engine that will replace people,&#8221; Lee said, adding that AI capabilities far exceed those of humanity.</p></blockquote>
<p>For example, he said, companies in which his firm has invested can accomplish feats such as recognizing 3 million faces at the same time, or dispersing loans in eight seconds.</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;These are things that are superhuman, and we think this will be in every industry, will probably replace 50 percent of human jobs, create a huge amount of wealth for mankind and wipe out poverty,&#8221; Lee said, later adding that he expected that displacement to occur in the next 10 years.</p></blockquote>
<p>Lee&#8217;s views on technology are widely followed in part because he previously headed Google China before founding his venture capital firm. He has also held executive posts at many other major tech companies, including Apple and Microsoft, and he has celebrity status in the industry and in China — with millions of social media followers on multiple platforms.</p>
<p>Speaking with CNBC from the Global Mobile Internet Conference in Beijing, Lee tackled the big question: Will human still have a place in the world as machines grow more intelligent?</p>
<p>The answer, he said, is that nothing can replace human-to-human interaction.</p>
<p>&#8220;Touching one&#8217;s heart with your heart is something that machines, I believe, will never be good at,&#8221; he said, explaining that service jobs should be considered &#8220;first-class&#8221; employment.</p>
<p>And while all of this change is happening, traditional companies like banks, insurance firms and hospitals, are simply moving to slow, Lee said. And it&#8217;s too bad, he added, because they &#8220;possess the biggest treasure&#8221; in the form of troves of data.</p>
<p>&#8220;Because AI is about taking data into insight and decision, so I anticipate [the] internet sector, entrepreneurial sector, to continue to grow and in many cases displace and even wipe out traditional companies in China,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>Chinese tech tycoons like <a class="inline_quotes" href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/700-HK" target="_self" data-gdsid="2284" data-inline-quote-symbol="700-HK">Tencent</a> and <a class="inline_quotes" href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/BABA" target="_self" data-gdsid="" data-inline-quote-symbol="BABA">Alibaba</a>, for instance, have forged the way in mobile payments — it&#8217;s become pervasive for consumers to pay for everything from rent to transportation through mobile wallets and transfers. Meanwhile, China&#8217;s giant state-owned banks are just barely starting to catch on, Lee said.</p>


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British PM May, opposition leader Corbyn agree to suspend election campaigning

Ford Motor is replacing Mark Fields as CEO

Economists: Men now need more than just money to be ‘marriageable’

Brazil stocks plunge on emerging political scandal

Dow sheds 370 points; stocks close lower and wipe out monthly gains on Trump fears

Amazon is hiring people to break into the multibillion-dollar pharmacy market

GE looks to develop renewable energy skills in Ethiopia

The 5 best cities for millennials to start their careers

Hackers who infected 200,000 machines have only made $50,000 worth of bitcoin

An app that helps protect kids from cyberbullying

Bitcoin hits $1,600 for the first time and one investor says it could rally to $4,000 in a few months

Apple market cap tops $800 billion for the first time

7 tips to execute your startup idea, from 3 entrepreneurs who did it

Malcolm Gladwell: Here’s why you should slow down and do less

Macron is France’s next president — here’s what happens next

Nintendo’s comeback is starting to take hold as it forecasts a 121% profit surge this year

Artificial intelligence will replace half of all jobs in the next decade, says widely followed technologist

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