• The 100 Greatest Things about America 2020
    Yahoo Finance

    The 100 Greatest Things about America 2020

    This Fourth of July Yahoo Finance unveils its list of 100 things that make the nation great, in no particular order.

  • Hamilton Special: 3 Hot Stocks Under $10
    Motley Fool

    Hamilton Special: 3 Hot Stocks Under $10

    Here are some stocks trading for less than that $10 bill that Alexander Hamilton is gracing. I'm not throwing away my shot.

  • Microsoft (MSFT) Launches New Initiative to Help Jobseekers
    Zacks

    Microsoft (MSFT) Launches New Initiative to Help Jobseekers

    Microsoft's (MSFT) new initiatives to aid high-risk communities develop skills and find employment are expected to expedite economic recovery.

  • Google Stays in the Augmented Reality Race with a New Acquisition
    Motley Fool

    Google Stays in the Augmented Reality Race with a New Acquisition

    The tech giant buys a struggling smart glass maker -- but it won’t necessarily launch a new version of Google Glass anytime soon.

  • U.S. Rig Count Declines for the Fourth Consecutive Month
    Zacks

    U.S. Rig Count Declines for the Fourth Consecutive Month

    With oil prices recovering gradually, most analysts opine that the decline in the tally of monthly rig will narrow down further.

  • This Is General Electric's Biggest Long-Term Problem
    Motley Fool

    This Is General Electric's Biggest Long-Term Problem

    The troubles that industrial icon General Electric (NYSE: GE) has been dealing with are headline grabbers. The biggest story has been its heavy debt load and the efforts to sell assets to get its balance sheet back into shape. The first really big issue for General Electric to deal with, without question, was its balance sheet.

  • Is Nintendo Stock a Buy?
    Motley Fool

    Is Nintendo Stock a Buy?

    The video game giant faces tougher headwinds this year as the COVID-19 crisis disrupts its core business.

  • Ford Sees 33.3% Fall in Q2 Sales Volume, Partners With Disney
    Zacks

    Ford Sees 33.3% Fall in Q2 Sales Volume, Partners With Disney

    While Ford's (F) retail sales decline 14.3% in Q2, it records the best retail share of 13.3% in five years, driven by the Built for America campaign and a winning portfolio of pickups, vans and SUVs.

  • Schwab (SCHW) Completes Acquisition of Wasmer Schroeder
    Zacks

    Schwab (SCHW) Completes Acquisition of Wasmer Schroeder

    Schwab (SCHW) closes the buyout of Wasmer Schroeder, thus enhancing its fixed-income capabilities.

  • 3 Cheap Stocks That Could Be Bargains if the Market Crashes
    Motley Fool

    3 Cheap Stocks That Could Be Bargains if the Market Crashes

    The March market crash created some amazing buying opportunities that many investors are likely kicking themselves for missing. Village Farms International (NASDAQ: VFF) fell as low as $2.07 during the March market crash, and the cannabis company's stock has more than doubled since hitting that low point. It may not reach that level again, but if the markets send Village Farms' stock down anywhere near that price, investors shouldn't hesitate to buy it.

  • Zoom’s Newest Challenger: Budding Internet Tycoon Mukesh Ambani
    Bloomberg

    Zoom’s Newest Challenger: Budding Internet Tycoon Mukesh Ambani

    (Bloomberg) -- Zoom, one of the few success stories of the Covid-19 pandemic, now faces a new competitor in an app backed by Asia’s wealthiest person Mukesh Ambani.Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd., which has scored billions of dollars of investments from Facebook Inc. to Intel Corp. for its digital businesses, has launched the JioMeet video conferencing app after beta testing. The app has already garnered more than 100,000 downloads on the Google Play Store after becoming available Thursday evening.Like Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and other services, JioMeet offers unlimited high-definition calls -- but unlike Zoom, it doesn’t impose a 40-minute time limit. Calls can go on as long as 24 hours, and all meetings are encrypted and password-protected, the company said on the JioMeet website.The launch coincided with a nationwide ban on dozens of popular apps from Chinese technology giants including ByteDance Ltd.’s TikTok and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s UC Web, on grounds they threatened security and data privacy. JioMeet went viral Friday on social media alongside the hashtag MadeinIndia.The app is one facet of Ambani’s rapidly expanding digital empire, which includes India’s largest telecom operator with nearly 400 million users. On Friday, Reliance announced Intel Capital has invested $253 million into Jio Platforms Ltd., a unit of Ambani’s oil-to-retail conglomerate. The U.S. chipmaker’s arm is the 11th investor in about as many weeks to announce its backing for the digital services platform, which has now raised about 1.2 trillion rupees ($15.7 billion).“JioMeet will be a very credible disruptor in the space,” said Utkarsh Sinha, managing director of boutique consultancy Bexley Advisors. “Just the fact that it has no time limits on calls makes it a serious challenger to Zoom, despite its entrenchment.”Jio Platforms is amassing a wide range of services from music streaming to online retail and payments, fast turning into an ecommerce juggernaut that can take on Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Amazon.com Inc on its own home turf. Like elsewhere, video conferencing apps have become lifelines for millions of Indians working in cramped homes during Covid-19 lockdowns.JioMeet is also debuting at a time Zoom users have accused the service of security flaws. It’s been accused of siding with China after deactivating accounts of pro-democracy activists in the U.S and Hong Kong, which it said was intended to comply with Chinese law.(Adds total investment in Jio in fifth paragraph.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

  • Bloomberg

    Tesla's Overexcited Fans Should Cool Down a Little

    (Bloomberg Opinion) -- Back when Tesla Inc. delivered 95,000 cars to customers during the spring quarter of 2019, the stock price was languishing at about $235 and Elon Musk’s electric car company was valued at “only” $40 billion. Fast forward a year and the shares are now priced at more than $1,200. With a market capitalization of $224 billion, Tesla has surpassed Toyota Motor Corp. as the world’s most valuable automaker.Yet in the second quarter of 2020, Tesla delivered 91,000 vehicles — about 5% fewer than the same period last year. That’s pretty underwhelming for a company whose fans view it as a fast-growing technology company in the mold of Amazon.com Inc., rather than a sluggish metal-bashing carmaker. So how is the massive recent jump in its market value justified?In fairness, it shows resilience to sell this many cars when the company’s main California plant was shut by the pandemic for much of the spring period. Doubtless, Tesla’s new Shanghai plant picked up the production slack, which suggests the expense and effort of getting that China factory up and running was worth it. The launch of Tesla’s new Model Y crossover vehicle will have helped. Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co. both saw their U.S. deliveries decline by a third in the same quarter. Nevertheless, Tesla’s stock market acolytes pushed the shares up another 8% on Thursday, adding $16.5 billion to the market value. Such exuberance is hard to understand. Musk’s company sold 7,650 more vehicles than analysts expected during the second quarter, and the stock price jump equates to about $2 million of added shareholder value for each of those additional sales. This seems a little excessive given that a Tesla Model 3 sells for less than $40,000, and the profit margin on those cars is pretty slim.  The shareholder reaction makes even less sense when you consider that Tesla investors aren’t really meant to buying the stock because of the company’s current sales, which are less than 4% of Volkswagen AG’s. Rather, the investment case is a long-term one: that it will come to occupy a dominant position in clean transport and energy in the years ahead. That explains why the shares trade at 320 times its analyst-estimated earnings this year. Viewed through this lens, Tesla’s ability to shift a few thousand extra cars in recent weeks shouldn’t matter so much for the valuation.  Investors’ tendency to overreact to Tesla news made more sense when its survival was open to doubt. A year ago it was laying off workers, U.S. sales were slowing and its retail strategy was confused. Senior staff kept heading for the exit. The company was burning through cash and ran pretty low on financial fuel. It had just $2.2 billion of cash in March 2019, compared with more than $8 billion now.But subsequent evidence that Tesla can sell cars for more than it costs to produce them has transformed the mood — and with it Tesla’s stock price.Instead of “killing” off Tesla, the tepid electric offerings of established carmakers such as Audi and Mercedes have only underscored the quality of their rival’s battery and powertrain technology (the same can’t be said of Tesla’s build quality). Volkswagen’s software problems with its forthcoming ID.3 electric vehicle suggest catching Tesla won’t be straightforward, even with the Germans’ vast resources.Tesla’s stratospheric valuation appears to have become self-reinforcing. Should it require more money to fund its roughly $9 billion of capital expenditure over the next three years, it can raise it from shareholders without worrying about diluting them too much.Similarly, holders of more than $4 billion of convertible bonds that Tesla issued to fund its expansion should be happy to convert them into stock, rather than demand cash repayment, taking some of the pressure off the company and its balance sheet.  Still, Tesla’s valuation remains impossible to justify by any standard metrics. Analysts’ average price target is more than 40% below the current level. Even Musk has suggested that the share price, which has almost trebled since the start of 2020, is too high — although, as with his taunting of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and his comments about “fascist” lockdowns, it’s usually better to tune out what Musk says and focus on his actions instead.  The skeptics might have more faith in Tesla’s new position as the leader of the automaker pack when Musk stops his provocations and his shareholders stop getting giddy over modest good news.This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Chris Bryant is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering industrial companies. He previously worked for the Financial Times.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinionSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

  • NZD and AUD On The Rise
    FX Empire

    NZD and AUD On The Rise

    Summer holidays combined with Independence Day in the United States can result in very low volatility and overall a boring session on the global indices.

  • NZD/USD Forex Technical Analysis – Needs to Hold .6483 to Sustain Upside Momentum
    FX Empire

    NZD/USD Forex Technical Analysis – Needs to Hold .6483 to Sustain Upside Momentum

    The direction of the NZD/USD on Friday is likely to be determined by trader reaction to the minor 50% level at .6483.

  • Facebook Under Fire as Companies Pause Social Media Ads: List
    Bloomberg

    Facebook Under Fire as Companies Pause Social Media Ads: List

    (Bloomberg) -- Here’s a list of companies that are planning to halt spending on social media. Some have joined a boycott of Facebook Inc. after critics accused the social network of inadequately policing hateful and misleading content on its platform:Harley Davidson Inc. -- The motorcycle maker said in an email it was pausing Facebook ads in July “to stand in support of efforts to stop the spread of hateful content.”Pernod Ricard SA -- The French distiller of Jameson whiskey and Absolut Vodka, which spends more than 1.5 billion euros ($1.69 billion) on advertising annually, is boycotting Facebook and some other U.S. sites through July 31 and working with partners on an app to help victims of online abuse.Daimler AG -- The Mercedes-Benz maker is pausing its paid advertising on Facebook platforms in July, while adding that it expects to the relationship to resume because it’s confident the social-media company will take “necessary steps.”Molson Coors Beverage Co. -- The brewer is choosing to pause advertising on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter while it reviews its own standards and ways to protect the brands and guard against hate speech, Chief Marketing Officer Michelle St. Jacques said in an internal email.Constellation Brands -- The maker of Corona beer and Kim Crawford wines is pausing Facebook ads for the month of July.Dunkin’ Brands Group -- The donut chain is temporarily pausing its paid media on Facebook and Instagram, a spokesperson says, adding that it’s in discussions with Facebook about efforts to stop hate speech and thwart “the spread of “racist rhetoric and false information.”Lego A/S -- Stopping all advertising on social media for at least 30 days to review its standards and will “invest in other channels” during that time.The Body Shop -- The beauty chain says it’s halting paid activity on all Facebook channels and asking the social-media company to enhance and enforce its content-moderation policies.Starbucks Corp. -- Pausing advertising on all social media platforms. Will post on social media without paid promotion.Microsoft Corp. -- Paused global advertising spending on Facebook and Instagram because of concerns about ads appearing next to inappropriate content, according to a person familiar with the matter.Unilever Plc -- Halting advertising on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter in the U.S. through Dec. 31.Volkswagen AG -- The ad stop on Facebook affects the direct ad accounts of the German manufacturer’s brands, including Porsche, Audi and Lamborghini. VW, its ad agencies and the Anti Defamation League will enter talks with Facebook over how to deal with hate speech, discrimination and false information, according to an emailed statement.Mars -- Starting in July, a pause on paid advertising globally across social-media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat.Target Corp. -- Pausing ads on Facebook in July.Coca-Cola Co. -- Pausing advertising on all social media platforms.Clorox Co. -- Will stop advertising spending with Facebook through December.Conagra Brands Inc. -- Will stop advertising in U.S. on Facebook and Instagram through the rest of the year.Ford Motor Co. -- Halting U.S. social media for 30 days, won’t purchase social media ads for Bronco unveiling.Honda Motor Co. -- “For the month of July, Honda will withhold its advertising on Facebook and Instagram, choosing to stand with people united against hate and racism.” Acura, a Honda brand, said in a tweet that it was “choosing to stand with people united against hate and racism.”Hershey Co. -- Will halt spending on Facebook in July and cut its spend on the platform by a third for the remainder of the year, according to Business Insider.Diageo Plc -- Pausing paid advertising globally on major social media platforms beginning in July.PepsiCo Inc. -- Pulling ads on Facebook from July through August.Verizon Communications Inc. -- “We’re pausing our advertising until Facebook can create an acceptable solution that makes us comfortable and is consistent with we’ve done with YouTube and other partners,” said John Nitti, chief media officer for Verizon.SAP SE -- “We will suspend all paid advertisements across Facebook and Instagram until the company signals a significant, action-driven commitment to combatting the spread of hate speech and racism on its platforms.”Levi Strauss & Co. -- Pausing all paid Facebook and Instagram advertising globally and across all brands through July.Diamond Foundry Inc. -- Pulling all of advertising from Facebook, including Instagram, for the month of July.Patagonia Inc. -- Will pull all ads on Facebook and Instagram, effective immediately, through at least the end of July, pending meaningful action from Facebook.Viber Media Inc. -- The messaging service, owned by Japanese conglomerate Rakuten, plans to cut ties with the social network entirely, according to the Guardian.VF Corp. -- The North Face will pause ads on Facebook for the month of July. Vans, another VF brand, will also pull ad dollars from Facebook and Instagram next month, and said it will use the money to support Black communities through empowerment and education programs.REI -- “For 82 years, we have put people over profits. We’re pulling all Facebook/Instagram advertising for the month of July.”Upwork Inc. -- No Facebook advertising in July.Eileen Fisher Inc. -- Pulling ads from Facebook through July.Adidas AG -- Will stop ads on Facebook and Instagram internationally through July, according to Adweek.Puma SE -- Will stop all advertisements on Facebook and Instagram throughout July.Madewell Inc. -- Will pause ads on Facebook and Instagram through July.Pfizer Inc. -- Removing all advertising from Facebook and Instagram in July, calls on Facebook to heed the concerns of the StopHateForProfit boycott campaign “and take action.”Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. -- To pause Facebook advertising beginning July 1, according to an email.Chobani -- The Greek-yogurt company paused all paid social-media advertising.Peet’s Coffee -- Paused advertising on Facebook.Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. -- ”In support of the StopHateForProfit campaign, we have globally suspended our Facebook and Instagram activity, including advertising and non-paid content, until the end of July.”(Updates with Sony Interactive Entertainment)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

  • Google, Temasek Are Said to Be in Talks to Invest in Tokopedia
    Bloomberg

    Google, Temasek Are Said to Be in Talks to Invest in Tokopedia

    (Bloomberg) -- Google and Temasek Holdings Pte are in negotiations to join a funding round of between $500 million and $1 billion for Indonesian e-commerce giant PT Tokopedia, according to people familiar with the matter.Tokopedia, the online marketplace backed by SoftBank Group Corp.’s Vision Fund, has held talks with U.S. internet giants including Facebook Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Amazon.com Inc., the people said. But Google and Temasek have been more active in their negotiations and those talks may conclude in coming weeks, they said, asking not to be identified because the discussions are private.America’s largest internet corporations have looked increasingly toward Asia as growth in the U.S. and Europe slows, seeking to tap the region’s rapidly growing smartphone-savvy population. Facebook is buying a stake in India’s Jio Platforms, while its WhatsApp unit struck a deal last month to invest in ride-hailing and food delivery giant Gojek. Representatives for Tokopedia and Temasek declined to comment. Google didn’t respond to an email seeking comment.The backing of Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Singaporean state investment firm Temasek would mark a major boost for one of Southeast Asia’s biggest e-commerce operators. Tokopedia co-founder and Chief Executive Officer William Tanuwijaya built the country’s most valuable startup after Gojek after scoring early backing from SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. co-founder Jack Ma. It now plans to list shares at home as well as in another as-yet-undecided location, Tanuwijaya told Bloomberg News in October.Read more: SoftBank’s Bet on Sharing Economy Backfires With CoronavirusTokopedia came close to finalizing its latest financing this year before news emerged of a recent data theft attempt that may have affected 15 million of its users, one of the people said. It was also held back by the Covid-19 pandemic, which is rapidly changing the online shopping landscape in the world’s fourth most populous nation.E-commerce platforms are now moving quickly to serve the millions of people forced to make their first online purchases during widespread lockdowns. Singapore-based rival Shopee -- a unit of Sea Ltd. -- is catching up, while Alibaba last month appointed a longtime veteran to head up Lazada and “fight harder” as competition heats up.Indonesia has become a key battleground between the regional rivals: The country’s e-commerce market is projected to expand from $21 billion in 2019 to $82 billion by 2025, according to a recent study by Google, Temasek and Bain & Co.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

  • Google Probe Has States Split on Strategy With U.S. Antitrust Case Looming
    Bloomberg

    Google Probe Has States Split on Strategy With U.S. Antitrust Case Looming

    (Bloomberg) -- With the U.S. Justice Department nearing a lawsuit against Alphabet Inc.’s Google for antitrust violations, a coalition of states that are conducting a parallel investigation are divided over the best strategy for taking on the internet giant, according to people familiar with the matter.While the multistate investigation into Google’s dominance of the digital advertising market is in its final stages, some state attorneys general are advocating to take more time to investigate Google’s conduct in other markets and potentially bring a broader case against the company, said the people, who asked not to be named discussing a confidential matter.The disagreement could affect whether states join a Justice Department complaint about Google. Like the states, federal antitrust enforcers have been investigating whether Google is thwarting competition in the digital advertising market, where it holds a commanding position.The Justice Department, which is coordinating with the states, wants to move quickly, two of the people said, and is on track to file a complaint this summer, another person said, though it wasn’t clear what conduct the complaint will ultimately target. The department declined to comment.“While we continue to engage with ongoing investigations, our focus is on creating free products that lower costs for small businesses and help Americans every day,” Google said in a statement.State attorneys general can play a pivotal role in enforcement cases against companies when they band together in group investigations. They joined the Justice Department in suing Microsoft Corp. in 1998 for antitrust violations. The case nearly led to the break-up of the company when a judge sided with the government. After an appeals court reversed the ruling, the Justice Department under the George W. Bush administration settled the case.Two people familiar with the states’ investigation said the split among the states reflects normal tension about the best litigation strategy. A broad complaint would cover more conduct but would take more time to complete.Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is leading the investigation into Google’s conduct in the digital advertising market, which was announced in September on the steps of the Supreme Court. Other states, including Utah and Iowa, are focusing on internet search. Google dominates web search in the U.S., and rivals have complained that the company has prioritized its own services, such as travel and restaurant reviews, in results.Texas declined to comment. Representatives from Utah and Iowa didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.The digital advertising part of the probe focuses on Google’s control of the tools that deliver display ads across the web. Google owns much of the technology used by publishers and advertisers to buy and sell advertising space. Google has been accused of using its dominance to siphon advertising dollars from publishers.Earlier: Google Antitrust Road Map Goes to DOJ With U.S. Suit LoomingTexas is in the later stages of its probe in advertising and could join the Justice Department’s case with some states, said two of the people. States are still waiting to get a full look into the federal complaint, one of the people said.The investigations are so complex that few among the enforcers have a sense of what the Justice Department and all the states are doing, two of the people said.The investigation into online search is not advanced as far as Texas’s probe into the digital ad market, and some states are pushing for more time to investigate, said the people. At one point, states were also looking the company’s mobile operating system, Bloomberg reported last year, though it wasn’t clear whether that is an active part of the investigation.The chief executive officer of Google search rival DuckDuckGo Inc. said last month that state and federal enforcers have asked detailed questions about how to limit Google’s power in the search market as recently as the spring.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

  • 'People can't apply to jobs they don't know exist': 2 simple ways employers can find Black talent
    Yahoo Finance

    'People can't apply to jobs they don't know exist': 2 simple ways employers can find Black talent

    As companies struggle to invest in diversity, Harlem Capital managing partner Jarrid Tingle shares two tangible ways to make meaningful change.

  • Halliburton (HAL) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know
    Zacks

    Halliburton (HAL) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know

    In the latest trading session, Halliburton (HAL) closed at $12.57, marking a +0.8% move from the previous day.

  • Here's Why Microsoft Stock Was Up 11% in June
    Motley Fool

    Here's Why Microsoft Stock Was Up 11% in June

    Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) increased another 11.1% in June, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence. With investments in personal computers, cloud, and video games, Microsoft continued to excel even while people were sheltering at home during the coronavirus pandemic. Microsoft has been so successful that it's closing physical retail locations for good.

  • Why Shares of Graf Industrial Are Soaring Today
    Motley Fool

    Why Shares of Graf Industrial Are Soaring Today

    Shares of Graf Industrial (NYSE: GRAF) gained 20% on Thursday after the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) announced plans to merge with a maker of sensors for self-driving vehicles. The deal would move its merger partner, Velodyne Lidar, onto public markets, joining a host of other companies to use SPACs to go public in recent months. Velodyne Lidar said Thursday it would combine with Graf Industrial to create a company with a pro forma market capitalization of $1.8 billion.

  • Facebook Accused by Black Manager of Systemic Discrimination
    Bloomberg

    Facebook Accused by Black Manager of Systemic Discrimination

    (Bloomberg) -- Facebook Inc. was accused of systemic discrimination in hiring, compensation and promotion of Black people in a complaint to federal civil rights authorities.Thursday’s complaint to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission by a Washington-based operations program manager adds pressure on the social network, which is facing an advertising boycott over its failure to remove violent, divisive, racist and discriminatory posts. Along with other major tech companies, Facebook also has been criticized for its lack of diversity.Oscar Veneszee Jr., a decorated 23-year U.S. Navy veteran hired by the company in 2017 to recruit other workers retired from the armed services, said he filed the complaint after his objections to Facebook managers over treatment of African Americans went nowhere. It was filed as a class action to represent other Black people who’ve experienced discrimination inside the company, as well as those who claim they were unfairly denied jobs with the social network.“The only way to get contributions from Black experience is to have more Black employees at the company,” Veneszee said in an interview. “I think the desire is there, but I don’t think there’s an understanding of what’s required to transition to a company that’s more open, to being diverse, bold.”Facebook said “we take any allegations of discrimination seriously and investigate every case.””We believe it is essential to provide all employees with a respectful and safe working environment,” spokesperson Pamela Austin said in an email.Facebook, along with Google and Microsoft Corp., have renewed pledges to prioritize diversity in the wake of nationwide protests and calls to end systemic racism after the police killing of George Floyd. Veneszee said he was motivated to complain to the EEOC in part by recent protests.“We are really as a country talking about getting it right this time,” Veneszee said in the interview. “As I look at our response, I don’t think it has connected to the pain deep enough in order to develop solutions that are going to be better for us as a company.”A recent Bloomberg News analysis of diversity reports published by the world’s biggest tech companies shows little progress has been made transforming them from a predominantly white and male universe, with Black workers remaining mostly absent from management ranks and underrepresented in technical roles.Read More: Zuckerberg Agrees to Meet With Groups Behind Advertising BoycottDespite success at his job and positive feedback from managers, Veneszee said in the complaint, he was denied promotions, stalled by evaluations that said he merely “meets all expectations” as he ran into hostility and discrimination.Veneszee described his frustration as a Black employee of a company where, according to Facebook’s own figures, just 1.5% of employees in technical roles in the U.S. were Black in 2019, and 3.1% were Black among senior leadership. Those percentages have barely budged even as the company has added tens of thousands to a workforce that has grown by 400% over the last five years, according to the complaint.“There’s really no representation of diversity, of Black employees in mind, all the way across the company,” he said in the interview.Veneszee recalled being forced to apologize to a white recruiter after questioning a plan for interns that listed only one of the nation’s more than 100 Historically Black Colleges and Universities. He was told the question drove the recruiter to tears. After being routinely told that he must use the right “tone,” he said he came to realize the company is tone deaf toward Blacks.“Me asking about HCBU shouldn’t make you feel attacked, it shouldn’t offend you if we’re talking about diversity,” Veneszee said. He said it made him feel as if “the way I say things fell on a different set of ears at Facebook.”An EEOC spokesman said the agency can’t confirm or deny when complaints are filed and said they are handled confidentially.Veneszee’s lawyer, Peter Romer-Friedman of the Gupta Wessler firm, said the alleged violations of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in the complaint should be viewed as an invitation to negotiate.The complaint seeks an independent monitor to determine if Facebook is making progress hiring more Blacks, or if stronger measures are required, he said.“We’re trying to extend an olive branch,” the lawyer said in an interview. “Oscar’s not trying to burn down the company from the inside or outside.”(Updates with company comment in fifth paragraph)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

  • 'It's Tesla's world and everyone else is paying rent': analyst
    Yahoo Finance

    'It's Tesla's world and everyone else is paying rent': analyst

    Here's why Tesla's stock continues to be on fire.

  • Why the Earnings Surprise Streak Could Continue for Halliburton (HAL)
    Zacks

    Why the Earnings Surprise Streak Could Continue for Halliburton (HAL)

    Halliburton (HAL) has an impressive earnings surprise history and currently possesses the right combination of the two key ingredients for a likely beat in its next quarterly report.

  • Disney Finds New Avenue for Revenue in Partnership With Ford
    Motley Fool

    Disney Finds New Avenue for Revenue in Partnership With Ford

    Entertainment giant Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) has been suffering for the past few months while its parks and experiences were closed, and only a few have recently reopened. Its main revenue driver during the COVID-19 pandemic has been its streaming services, and it's been finding innovative ways to make them more profitable, such as releasing new films straight to streaming. A new partnership with the Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) is another path to bringing in much-needed cash.