Apple Inc. introduced a new platform that helps businesses manage devices and reach customers, in part by making it easier to advertise on its Maps app. The offering — called Apple Business — lets users configure employee groups and device settings, the company said in a statement Tuesday . The free service will be available April 14 in more than 200 countries and regions, Apple said. “Apple Busin...
Apple Inc. introduced a new platform that helps businesses manage devices and reach customers, in part by making it easier to advertise on its Maps app. The offering — called Apple Business — lets users configure employee groups and device settings, the company said in a statement Tuesday . The free service will be available April 14 in more than 200 countries and regions, Apple said. “Apple Business is a significant leap forward in our decades-long commitment to helping companies of all sizes leverage the power of Apple products and services to run and grow,” Susan Prescott, vice president of enterprise and education marketing, said in the statement. The introduction is part of a push by the tech giant to generate more money from services. Though the company isn’t charging customers for Business, it’s meant to help spur spending on advertising — a growing focus for Apple. With the Maps ads, businesses will appear more prominently when Apple users search for relevant terms. The company plans to begin offering the option this summer in the US and Canada. Bloomberg News reported earlier this week that Apple was preparing to announce the Maps ads. Read More: Apple Is Set to Add Search Advertising to Maps in Services Push Apple Business also will help businesses reach customers through the Mail and Wallet apps and the Siri digital assistant, the company said. The Cupertino, California-based iPhone maker long offered a similar program called Apple Business Connect.
Flocks of Oriental storks gather to migrate north in the waters of Poyang Lake in Hukou county, Jiujiang, Jiangxi province, on March 13, 2026. Photo: VCG After more than two decades of debate, China has cleared the way for a massive water-control project on Poyang Lake, the country’s largest freshwater lake and a wetland of global ecological importance. The Poyang Lake Water Conservancy Project ha...
Flocks of Oriental storks gather to migrate north in the waters of Poyang Lake in Hukou county, Jiujiang, Jiangxi province, on March 13, 2026. Photo: VCG After more than two decades of debate, China has cleared the way for a massive water-control project on Poyang Lake, the country’s largest freshwater lake and a wetland of global ecological importance. The Poyang Lake Water Conservancy Project has been added to Jiangxi province’s 2026 roster of key construction projects, according to a recent notice from the provincial Development and Reform Commission. The listing is widely seen as the long-awaited green light for a plan first floated in 2002 and repeatedly challenged by conservationists, including 15 prominent academics and scientists who once filed a formal objection warning it could undermine protection efforts.
lyash01/iStock via Getty Images Shares linked to U.S. natural gas rose Tuesday, as the Iran war continues to disrupt supplies from the Middle East, including Venture Global ( VG ) up 7.6%, Diversified Energy ( DEC ) up 9.5%, Cheniere Energy ( LNG ) up 2.6%, NextDecade ( NEXT ) up 3.5%, Expand Energy ( EXE ) up 3.2%, Antero Resources ( AR ) up 2.3%, Coterra Energy ( CTRA ) up 3.3%, EQT ( EQT ) up 1...
lyash01/iStock via Getty Images Shares linked to U.S. natural gas rose Tuesday, as the Iran war continues to disrupt supplies from the Middle East, including Venture Global ( VG ) up 7.6%, Diversified Energy ( DEC ) up 9.5%, Cheniere Energy ( LNG ) up 2.6%, NextDecade ( NEXT ) up 3.5%, Expand Energy ( EXE ) up 3.2%, Antero Resources ( AR ) up 2.3%, Coterra Energy ( CTRA ) up 3.3%, EQT ( EQT ) up 1.5%. QatarEnergy on Tuesday declared force majeure on some of its long-term LNG supply contracts, with counterparties including customers in Italy, Belgium, South Korea, and China, after Iranian attacks knocked out 17% of Qatar's LNG export capacity, threatening supplies to Europe and Asia. "U.S. LNG exporters should benefit from the tighter macro, as well as increased diversification," Jefferies analyst Emma Schwartz said in a note, adding "Cheniere's ability to capitalize on the tightness despite low spot exposure, and VG's higher spot exposure is short-term advantageous." Meanwhile, U.S. natural gas futures wobbled between modest gains and losses Tuesday, as traders factored another bearish weather forecast against rising oil prices; front-month Nymex ( NG1:COM ) natural gas for April delivery recently traded up 0.8% to $2.914/MMBtu. ETFs: ( UNG ), ( BOIL ), ( KOLD ), ( UNL ), ( FCG ) More on Cheniere Energy and Venture Global Cheniere Energy: The Biggest Win Is Not Spot Price Arbitrage Cheniere Energy: LNG Demand, AI Power Needs And Buybacks Support Long-Term Upside Venture Global: Buy The Iran Spike
The probability of the ' Clarity Act ' passing this year has jumped to ~68%, rising 3% in just one day on Polymarket, as the stablecoin yield deal debate nears its final stage. Even the Kalshi prediction market isn’t far behind, forecasting a ~64% chance the crypto law clears before August. Kalshi Prediction Market (Website) Let’s uncover what happened—and whether stablecoins should be allowed to ...
The probability of the ' Clarity Act ' passing this year has jumped to ~68%, rising 3% in just one day on Polymarket, as the stablecoin yield deal debate nears its final stage. Even the Kalshi prediction market isn’t far behind, forecasting a ~64% chance the crypto law clears before August. Kalshi Prediction Market (Website) Let’s uncover what happened—and whether stablecoins should be allowed to offer interest (yield) or not. Recently, Jamie Dimon said if stablecoin companies offer yield, they should be treated like banks and follow the same rules, including capital, liquidity, and compliance standards. However, crypto firms argue, saying digital assets operate differently; strict rules will limit the innovations and reduce returns. According to Eleanor Terrett ’s latest reports, the lawmakers would ban stablecoins from offering interest, directly or indirectly. Although companies can still reward users through loyalty or activity-based rewards, as long as these aren’t economically equivalent to interest. Eleanor Terrett stablecoin yield deal (Twitter) Now, after weeks of failed meetings, discussions, surfaced reports, and deadlocks, a compromise is emerging. "The lawmakers and industry leaders are set to meet in Washington this week to discuss stablecoin yield rules, including Senators Cynthia Lummis, Thom Tillis, and Angela Alsobrooks." Its impact on the crypto market will be significant. Currently Bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) is facing short-term pressure while failing to stay above $72K with a dropping RSI near ~40. This structure can flip if the regulatory and yield moves happen. BTC could aim past ~$78K, breaking ~$72K resistance. In conclusion, the Clarity Act chances are rising, and the final decision on stablecoin yields is expected to be out soon. A favorable outcome can flip BTC while starting a rally among major altcoins like Ethereum ( ETH-USD ), XRP ( XRP-USD ), and Solana ( SOL-USD ). More on Bitcoin USD Bitcoin Says The War Ends Soon Bitcoin: What's Really H...
Douglas Rissing/iStock via Getty Images Mona Mahajan, Edward Jones’ head of investment strategy, believes the broadening of market leadership will continue despite recent geopolitical uncertainty stemming from the Iran conflict, characterizing the current market volatility as a “corrective phase” rather than a severe downturn. In an interview with CNBC, Mahajan expressed cautious optimism about re...
Douglas Rissing/iStock via Getty Images Mona Mahajan, Edward Jones’ head of investment strategy, believes the broadening of market leadership will continue despite recent geopolitical uncertainty stemming from the Iran conflict, characterizing the current market volatility as a “corrective phase” rather than a severe downturn. In an interview with CNBC, Mahajan expressed cautious optimism about recent de-escalation efforts, noting that while “we’re not at the end, but could we be at the beginning of the end? That is a potential.” Mahajan emphasized that the underlying economic fundamentals remain solid, with expectations of approximately 2.5% economic growth and continued positive earnings growth heading into the year. She acknowledged that the oil shock puts upward pressure on inflation and could weigh on consumers and corporations but maintained that these headwinds do not signal a more significant market decline. “Usually if a correction is going to become something worse, you need to see a recession on the horizon or you need to see the Fed raising rates. We don’t see either of those happening for now,” she explained. On inflation, Mahajan noted that while the oil shock could push headline inflation to 3% or higher in the near term, the Federal Reserve is unlikely to respond with rate hikes. “This is a supply shock and not a demand shock,” she said, adding that services inflation, which comprises two-thirds of the inflation basket, continues to moderate over time. For investors looking to position their portfolios, Mahajan recommended diversification across market capitalization, favoring both large-cap and mid-cap stocks, as well as geographic diversification between the U.S. and emerging markets. “We still like parts of tech and AI, but we want to balance that. We like sectors like industrials ( XLI ) and, over time, consumer discretionary ( XLY ) as well,” she noted, emphasizing that the AI story remains a secular theme supporting U.S. markets. Regarding the ...
Scott Kirby, CEO of United Airlines, addresses the significant uncertainties currently facing the airline industry. Speaking with Lisa Abramowicz on "Bloomberg Open Interest," Kirby says demand has been strong and comments on the frustrations surrounding long TSA lines and the impact of rising oil prices on fares. (Source: Bloomberg)
Scott Kirby, CEO of United Airlines, addresses the significant uncertainties currently facing the airline industry. Speaking with Lisa Abramowicz on "Bloomberg Open Interest," Kirby says demand has been strong and comments on the frustrations surrounding long TSA lines and the impact of rising oil prices on fares. (Source: Bloomberg)
Lemon_tm/iStock via Getty Images The following segment was excerpted from Columbia Cornerstone Growth Fund Q4 2025 Commentary. U.S. equities posted a gain of 2.41% in the fourth quarter, as measured by the Russell 1000 Index. The positive three-month return was primarily a function of the same factors that propelled stocks over the full year: namely, better-than-expected economic growth, robust co...
Lemon_tm/iStock via Getty Images The following segment was excerpted from Columbia Cornerstone Growth Fund Q4 2025 Commentary. U.S. equities posted a gain of 2.41% in the fourth quarter, as measured by the Russell 1000 Index. The positive three-month return was primarily a function of the same factors that propelled stocks over the full year: namely, better-than-expected economic growth, robust corporate earnings results and inflation that largely remained below an annualized rate of 3%. The U.S. Federal Reserve continued to ease policy, cutting rates by a quarter point at its meetings in October and December and announcing an end to the multi-year effort to reduce the size of its balance sheet. Stocks also remained supported by ongoing excitement surrounding the artificial intelligence ( AI ) theme, albeit with a brief stretch of concern in November that AI-related equities were in a "bubble." Notably, the quarter was characterized by a broadening of leadership away from the mega-cap technology stocks that had been key drivers of market performance for most of the year, as value stocks outpaced their growth counterparts. At the style level, value stocks rose 3.81% — based on the Russell 1000 Value Index — and outpaced the 1.12% gain for the Russell 1000 Growth Index. Top holdings (% of net assets): as of December 31, 2025 NVIDIA ( NVDA ) 13.03 Apple ( AAPL ) 10.72 Microsoft ( MSFT ) 10.68 Amazon.com ( AMZN ) 6.17 Alphabet-A ( GOOGL ) 5.37 Broadcom ( AVGO ) 4.79 Meta Platforms ( META ) 4.41 Eli Lilly & Company ( LLY ) 3.76 Visa ( V ) 2.90 Netflix ( NFLX ) 2.11 Top holdings exclude short-term holdings and cash, if applicable. Fund holdings are as of the date given, are subject to change at any time, and are not recommendations to buy or sell any security. Click to enlarge Top five contributors - Effect on return (%) as of December 31, 2025 Alphabet-A 1.22 Eli Lilly & Company 1.01 Apple 0.69 Alphabet-C ( GOOG ) 0.58 Exact Sciences ( EXAS ) 0.43 Click to enlarge Top fi...
Apple ( AAPL ) announced a new enterprise-focused platform on Tuesday, Apple Business, which the tech giant says includes key services companies need all in one platform. The new platform brings mobile device management, and will allow companies to configure employee groups, device settings, security, and apps with Blueprints. It will also allow companies to set up business emails, calendars, and ...
Apple ( AAPL ) announced a new enterprise-focused platform on Tuesday, Apple Business, which the tech giant says includes key services companies need all in one platform. The new platform brings mobile device management, and will allow companies to configure employee groups, device settings, security, and apps with Blueprints. It will also allow companies to set up business emails, calendars, and directory services with their domain name. Employee accounts can get 5 GB worth of free storage for iCloud, and U.S. customers can get additional iCloud storage up to 2 TB, starting at $0.99 per user per month. AppleCare+ for Business coverage is available per device or per user, and costs $6.99 per month, or $13.99 per month per user for up to three devices, Apple added. “Apple Business is a significant leap forward in our decades-long commitment to helping companies of all sizes leverage the power of Apple products and services to run and grow,” said Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president of Enterprise and Education Marketing, in a statement . “We’ve unified Apple’s strongest business offerings into one simple, secure platform, delivering key features for organizations in every stage and sector, including built-in device management, collaboration tools, and additional ways to reach new customers. We can’t wait to see how Apple Business helps companies spend more time focusing on what they love and connecting deeply with their communities.” As part of the announcement, Apple also confirmed that the new platform allows businesses in the U.S. and Canada to place ads inside its Apple Maps app “during key search and discovery moments,” starting this summer. The ads will appear at the top of a user's search results (and a new Suggested Places experiences location) and will be clearly marked. Speaking to its focus on privacy, Apple said user location and the ads they see and interact with in Maps are not associated with a user's Apple Account. Additionally, the data stays on the...
Apple ( AAPL ) announced a new enterprise-focused platform on Tuesday, Apple Business, which the tech giant says includes key services companies need all in one platform. The new platform brings mobile device management, and will allow companies to configure employee groups, device settings, security, and apps with Blueprints. It will also allow companies to set up business emails, calendars, and ...
Apple ( AAPL ) announced a new enterprise-focused platform on Tuesday, Apple Business, which the tech giant says includes key services companies need all in one platform. The new platform brings mobile device management, and will allow companies to configure employee groups, device settings, security, and apps with Blueprints. It will also allow companies to set up business emails, calendars, and directory services with their domain name. Employee accounts can get 5 GB worth of free storage for iCloud, and U.S. customers can get additional iCloud storage up to 2 TB, starting at $0.99 per user per month. AppleCare+ for Business coverage is available per device or per user, and costs $6.99 per month, or $13.99 per month per user for up to three devices, Apple added. “Apple Business is a significant leap forward in our decades-long commitment to helping companies of all sizes leverage the power of Apple products and services to run and grow,” said Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president of Enterprise and Education Marketing, in a statement . “We’ve unified Apple’s strongest business offerings into one simple, secure platform, delivering key features for organizations in every stage and sector, including built-in device management, collaboration tools, and additional ways to reach new customers. We can’t wait to see how Apple Business helps companies spend more time focusing on what they love and connecting deeply with their communities.” As part of the announcement, Apple also confirmed that the new platform allows businesses in the U.S. and Canada to place ads inside its Apple Maps app “during key search and discovery moments,” starting this summer. The ads will appear at the top of a user's search results (and a new Suggested Places experiences location) and will be clearly marked. Speaking to its focus on privacy, Apple said user location and the ads they see and interact with in Maps are not associated with a user's Apple Account. Additionally, the data stays on the...
Hong Kong’s legislature will retain the power to scrutinise boundary changes for the Northern Metropolis megaproject proposed by the executive branch, the city’s development chief has said, addressing concerns over proposed laws to fast-track the scheme. Under proposed legislation comprising six main subsidiary laws designed to remove bottlenecks in the massive scheme near the border with mainland...
Hong Kong’s legislature will retain the power to scrutinise boundary changes for the Northern Metropolis megaproject proposed by the executive branch, the city’s development chief has said, addressing concerns over proposed laws to fast-track the scheme. Under proposed legislation comprising six main subsidiary laws designed to remove bottlenecks in the massive scheme near the border with mainland China, the city’s leader and the Executive Council will be empowered to adjust its boundaries,...