Has The iPhone Lost Its Luster?

Sponsored by   EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW, RIGHT NOW. #IBTPulse   Has The iPhone Lost Its Luster? Tech giant Apple will report its fourth-quarter earnings after the closing bell Tuesday, and iPhone sales will be the focus of investors' attention. Analysts expect the company to report weak smartphone sales growth of slightly more than 1 percent for the holiday quarter and, worryingly, forecast the first ever drop in iPhone sales for the March quarter. Schengen Scheme On The Brink Of Collapse The future of Europe's passport-free travel area, a key pillar of the European project, looks increasingly insecure, after EU interior ministers agreed to call for an extension of national border controls within the 26-country area in response to the continent's immigration crisis. Governments can suspend the scheme for two years, a move Holland's interior minister said was now “inevitable.” Another Bad Day For China's Markets Chinese shares plunged to their lowest close since late 2014 in trading Tuesday, with Shanghai's Composite Index down 6.4 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng down 2.4 percent. Weak Chinese economic data and further falls in the price of oil continued to unsettle investors, raising the prospect of another bad day for Wall Street. Strikes Threaten Transport Chaos In France Taxi drivers and air-traffic controllers will join a strike called by unions representing France's 5 million civil servants over lost buying power and public-sector reform. Taxi drivers plan to block airports in Paris, Toulouse, Marseille and Bordeaux to protest deregulation and the rise of ride-sharing apps like Uber. Air-traffic controllers want better pay and pensions. HERE'S WHAT YOU MISSED LAST NIGHT. Backlash Builds Against Google's UK Tax Deal A deal between the search giant and British tax authorities, which saw the company pay £130 million in back taxes is turning into a PR nightmare for all involved. Prime Minister David Cameron is now distancing himself from his own finance minister's assessment of the deal as a “major success,” after lawmakers lined up to condemn the payment as “derisory.” Critics say the company should have paid 10 times what it actually did. Charney Out For Good At American Apparel A judge rejected an eleventh-hour bid from the clothing company's controversial founder to return to the firm. Instead, the court approved a plan backed by the majority of the company's creditors, which will see it taken private and rendering Dov Charney's ownership stake worthless . Charney was fired by the board in 2014, amid accusations he misused company funds and sexually harassed employees. Malaysian PM Cleared Over Multimillion 'Gift' The country's attorney general announced that $681 million transferred into the bank account of Prime Minister Najib Razak was a “gift,” from members of the Saudi royal family. Razak has been facing calls to resign over the payment, as well as over the disappearance of $2 billion from state-backed investment fund 1MDB. JPMorgan To Settle Most Lehman Claims The bank is to pay $1.42 billion in cash to resolve most of a lawsuit accusing it of draining Lehman Brothers of critical liquidity in the final days before the investment bank's September 2008 collapse. Lehman's creditors charged that JPMorgan did not need the collateral and extracted a windfall at their expense. More than $105 billion has already been paid to Lehman's unsecured creditors.   7 Hanover Square, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10004 © 2015 IBT Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Please add pulse@ibt-mail.com to your contacts Unsubscribe | Privacy Policy