Finance and Economy

Ant Group, the parent company of the payment app Ali Pay, has raised $34 billion making it the largest IPO in history! It beat the previous record held by Saudi…

Financial giant JP Morgan Chase has joined the crypto currency wave with the launch of their own crypto currency development called Oynx. The company announced that a major client has…

Another sign of the times: Online payment giant Paypal has announced support to key crypto currencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin to be available as forms of payment. Paypal…

Stock markets around the world have soared to near record highs, bouyed by a growing Japanese Economy and robust recovery in the U.S. markets. Driven by record low global interest…

In a substantial gain in 4 straight months, the U.S. economy has added 217,000 new jobs in May. The unemployment rate has stayed at 6.3%, the lowest in more than…

The White House announced that President Obama will be using his executive directives to force the EPA to curb carbon emissions and put an end to federal funding for new…

The city of Seattle, Washington has raised its minimum wage to $15/hr., the highest in the U.S. The federal minimum wage is $7.25/hr. while the state of Washington itself has…

Mark Zuckerburg, the CEO of Facebook, and his wife Priscilla Chan have announced a $120 million pledge to help struggling bay area schools in California. Zuckerburg, who turned 30 this…

It has been confirmed that Steve Ballmer, the former CEO of Microsoft has agreed to purchase the Los Angeles Clippers for a reported $2 billion. This is the highest sale…

GrabTaxi, the taxi-hailing app for Southeast Asia, has just raised a $15 million round of investment to fuel their growth. With demand in Singapore and Bangkok Thailand growing, GrabTaxi has…

Apple has confirmed plans to acquire Dr. Dre’s Beats Electronics and Beats Music service for $3 billion. Both Dr. Dre and co-founder Jimmy Iovine will be joining Apple, and the…

In another positive sign for the U.S. economy, new home sales hit a 3 1/2 year high with a 6.4% increase in sales from last month. New home sales also…

Google is now the world’s most valuable brand, pushing ahead of Apple this year in the 2014 BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Brand ranking. Google’s value rose 40% last year…

It’s time for the annual Skyscraper Award from Emporis, and this year’s winner was The Shard in London, England! Congrats to them, and to facinating buildings around the world. http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/19/travel/skyscraper-award/

AT&T announced plans to acquire DirecTV, the largest satellite TV operator in the U.S. for $48 billion. The combined merger will turn AT&T into a cable and broadband internet power…

In a bit of good news for Americans, unemployment rates have fallen in nearly all state in April, with 25 of those states falling to below 6%. Though the figures…

New Zealand has become one of the first countries since the 2008 financial crisis to achieve a budget surplus. Its economy grew by 4% and plans to spend the surplus…

In part due to what economists coin “Abenomics”, Japan’s economy grew by 5.9%, the fastest in the last 3 years according to the Associated Press. Strong private consumption, residential investments,…

New York city is converting 10,000 of its outdated payphone stations into free Wifi hotspots in a move to both re-purpose existing equipment and create ad revenues for the city…

Gas prices in California and across the U.S. saw a continued drop in price from the last week of April, according to GasBuddy.com. The national average is expected to be…