Apple slapped with landmark $14.5B EU tax penalty

Stocks (^DJI, ^GSPC, ^IXIC) are under pressure at midday, with utilities (XLU) leading the way down, and with financials (XLF) the only sector in the green. Alan Valdes, director of floor operations at Silverbear, joins us live from the New York Stock Exchange.

To discuss the other big stories of the day, Alexis Christoforous is joined by Yahoo Finance’s Rick Newman and Thomson Reuters correspondent Bobbi Rebell, author of “How to be a Financial Grownup.” Yahoo Tech founder David Pogue also joins us to talk the latest in tech.

Apple slapped with landmark $14.5B EU tax penalty
Wouldn’t we all like to have a 0.005% tax rate? That was Apple’s effective tax rate in Ireland in 2014. The European Union isn’t happy, and just slapped the gadget giant with a $14.5 billion penalty—plus interest. Apple and Ireland are pledging to appeal the ruling in EU courts, which could take years. What are they saying about this?

Falling union membership hurts all workers’ pay: study
The decline of unions in America has hurt the pay of all workers. That’s the upshot of a new labor study by the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think tank. It says if union membership had stayed at 1979 levels, the average non-union, male worker would have earned about $2,700 more in 2013. In case you’re wondering, only about 10% of private-sector workers were in unions in 2013—down from about a third in 1979.

J.Crew to sell women’s clothes at Nordstrom
Retailers Coach and Michael Kors are trimming their department store relationships amid declining foot traffic and deep discounts, but J.Crew is heading in the other direction. The preppy brand is striking a partnership with Nordstrom to have an assortment of women’s wear sold in 16 Nordstrom stores around the country.

David Pogue unveils the new Moto Z + Moto Mods
You might not have heard of modular smartphones, but they have been around for a while. The idea is that by mixing and matching parts, you can not only make a smartphone more modular, but also make it more environmentally friendly. Well, Yahoo Tech founder David Pogue has been a bit skeptical of the idea, but nevertheless, he will be unveiling the new Moto Z on Facebook Live today at 3:00 pm ET. Moto Mods snap onto your phone using integrated magnets and they have an Insta-Share Projector feature that streams shows and movies and images on any surface up to 70″.