Reuters Insider - U.S. Morning Call: Apple invites Hollywood to Silicon Valley in TV push

Black Box

25/03/2019 12:38

Click the following link to watch video: https://share.insider.thomsonreuters.com/link?entryId=1_1s00ht6y&referenceId=1_1s00ht6y&pageId=ReutersNews
Source: Reuters Insider

Description: Apple is expected to finally lift the curtain on Monday on a
secretive, years-long effort to build a television and movie offering designed
to compete with big media companies and boost digital services revenue as
iPhone sales taper.
Short Link: https://reut.rs/2up095K

Video Transcript:

Good morning. I'm Angeline Ong and this is your US morning call. Our top story
this Monday: Apple will finally lift the curtain on a secretive effort - years
in the making - to build a television and movie offering. Hollywood
celebrities are likely to trek to Apple's Cupertino home to greet the debut of
a revamped Apple TV digital storefront. Apple has commissioned programming
from A-list names such as Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Oprah Winfrey
and Steven Spielberg.
The move is designed to compete with big media companies like Netflix and
Amazon, to boost revenues as iPhone sales begin to taper off. Special Counsel
Robert Mueller has found no evidence of collusion between US President Donald
Trump's campaign and Russia in the 2016 election but he left unresolved the
issue of whether Trump obstructed justice by trying to undermine the
investigations. Even though Mueller's findings were inconclusive, US Attorney
General William Barr says Mueller's team failed to find sufficient proof to
warrant bringing charges against the President.

This was an illegal takedown that failed and, hopefully, somebody is going to
be looking at the other side. So, it's complete exoneration. No collusion; no
obstruction. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Lawyers say the information released so far doesn't paint a full picture. Some
say it could be months before the American people find out the whole story.

For the American public, this actually doesn't mean all that much, it's a day
we have all been waiting for but in a way it is an incredibly anti-climactic
day because it is entirely possible we really won't get information for months
and months.

Markets around the world have slumped on fears of a recession in the US. On
Wall Street this morning, the Dow Jones is likely to open around a tenth of a
percent lower, the S&P also expected to fall while Nasdaq futures trading some
0.4% lower. 

People are really concerned that we are going to enter a recession and that we
are overdue for a correction in the US equity markets. There were people that
were talking that maybe the European economy would pick up and bail us all
out. But that apparently isn't happening and as a matter of fact, their
picture looks far worse than ours right now. 

Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans says it's understandable
for markets to be nervous when the yield curve flattens. But he says he's
still confident about the US economic growth outlook. In what many see as a
bad omen for the economy, yields on benchmark US 10-year treasury notes fell
further below three-month rates on Monday.
It's an inversion that has in the past signaled the risk of recession. Now
Boeing will brief more than 200 global airline pilots, technical leaders and
regulators on Wednesday on software and training updates for its 737 MAX
aircraft. The meeting is a sign Boeing is nearing completion on a solution to
return the grounded fleet to commercial service, although it will still need
approval from regulators. Ethiopian Airlines has expressed confidence in the
planemaker despite the recent crash. Let's have a look at some stocks to watch
this morning then - and Alphabet's YouTube is denying reports it pans to end
high-budget dramas and comedies on its paid service platform. Bloomberg had
reported that the platform has stopped accepting new pitches for high-budget
scripted shows. Thermo Fisher Scientific, the world's largest maker of
scientific instruments, has agreed to buy Brammer Bio in a roughly $1.7
billion all-cash deal. And sources say the telecommunications equipment and
software vendor Avaya is considering a leveraged buyout offer from a private
equity firm that values it at more than $5 billion. This includes debt. And
that's today's morning call. I'm Angeline Ong, and this is Reuters