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DSW delivers mixed bag, CBS holds shareholders meeting, Facebook reportedly files controversial patent

DSW, CBS, Facebook, WPP and Daimler are the companies to watch.

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  DSW delivers mixed bag, CBS holds shareholders meeting, Facebook reportedly files controversial patent

  Yahoo Finance
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  Lawyer: Google's new sexual harassment policy is a 'bait-and-switch'

  Yahoo Finance

Dell votes to buy back VMware tracking stock and go public again

Dell just announced that it has agreed to buy back the VMware tracking stock from the EMC acquisition. With today's move, Dell will return to being publicly traded. Sixty-one percent of shareholders voted in favor of the deal. It's unclear how Wall Street will deal with the $50 billion debt load the company is carrying as a result of that $67 billion EMC acquisition from two years ago, but chairman and CEO Michael Dell got the results he wanted.

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  Apple Pay finally launches in Germany

  TechCrunch
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  Introducing the startups and agenda for Startup Battlefield Africa

  TechCrunch

Monday was a 'moral victory' for investors

Markets rebounded from early losses to close in the green on Monday but the market still remains in an overall downtrend and the pattern continues to be discouraging for investors.

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  Why China's sales ban of Apple iPhones isn't as bad as it sounds

  Yahoo Finance
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  Apple says iPhones remain on sale in China following court injunction

  TechCrunch

Last-minute tips for health coverage before Dec. 15 deadline

Saturday, Dec. 15 is the last day most Americans can sign up for an Obamacare health plan if they want coverage at the first of the year.

Instagram launches walkie-talkie voice messaging

You'd think Facebook would be faster at copying itself. Five years after Facebook Messenger took a cue from WhatsApp and Voxer to launch voice messaging, and four months after TechCrunch reported Instagram was testing its own walkie talkie feature, voice messaging is rolling out globally on Instagram Direct today. The feature offers an off-camera asynchronous alternative to the video calling feature Instagram released in June.

Why Ford, Tesla, and General Motors Are Up Today

The broader market started December 11 on a positive note, with the S&P 500 benchmark trading at a 1.3% rise as of 9:34 AM EST. Auto stocks are leading the stock market rally (QQQ) today. General Motors (GM), Ford Motor Company (F), and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCAU) have risen 3.5%, 3.2%, and 2.5%, respectively.

Counterweights: PPI, Trade Talks & the Fed

A PPI headline of +0.1% for November was better than the -0.1% analysts had been expecting, though down from the unrevised +0.6% in October.

Is Trump Turning Out to Be a Savior for the Auto Industry?

Since President Donald Trump began his presidential campaign, he has been targeting auto companies (XLY) for cutting jobs and making US auto workers suffer. On many occasions, he has openly spoken out against large auto companies, including General Motors (GM), Ford Motor Company (F), and Toyota Motors (TM), for selling foreign-made vehicles in the US market.

Dell Wins Shareholder Vote to Return to Public Markets

The world’s largest private technology company on Tuesday secured more than 61 percent of tracking stock DVMT’s unaffiliated shareholders. DVMT acts as a proxy for Dell’s stake in software maker VMware Inc. Round Rock, Texas-based Dell will buy out DVMT in a cash and share-swap deal that values DVMT’s market capitalization at $23.9 billion.

Wall Street Urgently Pushes Its D.C. Wish List as Time Runs Out

With less than two weeks for Congress to cut a deal to fund federal agencies, financial firms and their allies on Capitol Hill have begun the annual ritual of trying to attach goodies to must-pass legislation that could benefit banks, asset managers and private equity firms. Financial firms are seeking tweaks to the Dodd-Frank Act including the widely reviled Volcker Rule as well as steps to make it easier for new companies to go public. With partisan fights over whether the broader spending legislation will include high-profile items like President Donald Trump’s requested $5 billion to fund a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, the financial services industry isn’t optimistic there will be much appetite to include policy changes affecting them.