Neha Gupta

On August 23, amid an escalating trade war, President Donald Trump ordered US companies to seek alternatives to Chinese manufacturing.

Nikkei Asian Review reported yesterday that Google (GOOGL) is shifting production of its Pixel smartphone from China to Vietnam.

For a long time, China’s stance concerning cryptocurrencies was unfriendly. As such, Alibaba’s crypto operations took place through third-party companies.

PayPal’s Venmo is facing tough competition from Apple Pay, Zelle, and the new Apple Card. PYPL is diversifying into the global remittances market via Xoom.

Google plans to shut down its cloud-based job recruitment tool, Hire by Google, next fall. HR departments use this tool to simplify the employment process.

Last month, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 0.25%. However, President Trump is pressuring the Fed and calling for more rate cuts.

According to Canalys’s latest report, Baidu beat Google to become the world’s second-largest speaker company by market cap in the quarter.

Bernie Sanders said that if he becomes president, he wants to tax Google and Facebook’s ad revenues to pay for the revival of a new media industry.

Alibaba India paused its investments in startups as competition in the market is heating up. Walmart, PayPal, and Amazon are going big in India.

Alibaba (BABA) is purchasing Kaola, NetEase’s cross-border e-commerce business, for $2.0 billion, Chinese news outlet Caixin reported on August 16.

The escalating US-China trade war hit chip stocks as Trump asked American companies to leave China. China is a major market for many US chip companies.

Last Friday, Google made a move that looks like an attempt to call its troops to order, releasing new guidelines on debates about non-work topics.

AMD stock has fallen again after clocking 52-week highs. The broader stock market turned bearish amid global recession concerns.

PayPal takes on India’s digital payments market as it looks to international markets for growth. India presents a $1.0 trillion opportunity for the company.

Alibaba stock dropped 1.90% on August 22 after a 1.11% fall on August 21. The decline came after its competitor Pinduoduo reported strong earnings results.

This week, we learned about ongoing efforts to end the political crisis in Venezuela. We think that tech companies could benefit if the talks are successful.

President Trump thinks that the warnings about a US economic slowdown or even a recession are a conspiracy. He thinks that economic warnings are fake news.

A revenue miss was the last thing investors expected when PayPal delivered its second-quarter results in July. The stock has since bounced back.

Alibaba (BABA) pushed back its planned secondary stock listing in Hong Kong. Alibaba aimed to raise as much as $20 billion through the listing.

Google’s (GOOGL) search dominance is about to increase. The Internet giant has made its much-awaited Google Go Search app available worldwide.

Baidu (BIDU) has been one of the weakest major Chinese technology stocks this year. However, the company’s second-quarter results cheered up shareholders.

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) stock has surged this year, surpassing its major semiconductor peers. Here’s what’s driving the stock.

Apple’s iPhone business could be impacted as the dispute between Japan and South Korea threatens to disrupt the global semiconductor supply chain.

Huawei plans to launch its own mapping service as soon as this October. But Huawei’s Map Kit will initially not be a consumer mapping service.

Delayed product rollouts caused AMD to lose market share to Intel. Led by CEO Lisa Su, AMD is trying to break with the past.

Could trade tensions between Japan and South Korea narrow Intel’s (INTC) semiconductor sales gap with rival Samsung (SSNLF) this year?

AMD’s exposure to China makes it vulnerable to escalating US-China trade tensions. The yuan’s devaluation could cause massive foreign exchange losses.

This week, Alibaba (BABA) Cloud, Alibaba Group’s cloud computing unit, announced the addition of nine new partners for its China gateway program.

On August 12, Google (GOOGL) unveiled a new login system that doesn’t require passwords, FIDO2-based local user verification.

Users of PayPal’s Venmo app now can access their money instantly for a fee. However, traditional Venmo transfers are still fee-free.

ShipStation has partnered with Alibaba to expand business opportunities for e-commerce sellers in the US, according to a recent statement.

Currently, institutional investors own 71.2% of AMD’s shares. Institutional investors like AMD stock more than Intel (INTC) and Nvidia (NVDA).

On Monday, Forbes China stated that Alibaba was launching a new ride-hailing service. However, Alibaba swiftly denied the report, according to Asia Times.

While PayPal’s (PYPL) Venmo has been crushing its competition, PayPal recently launched Xoom’s
digital remittance service in 32 European markets.

China’s anti-corruption agency, CCDI, recently mentioned Alibaba as one of the country’s technology giants battling high-profile internal corruption.

On August 6, Baidu stock fell below $100 for the first time in five years. In part, this decline resulted from the trade tensions between the US and China.

Chip giant AMD has unveiled two new graphics cards dubbed the “NVIDIA Killers.” Navi 21 and Navi 23 are the new GPUs slated for release in 2020.

In April, Alphabet’s Google and Amazon agreed to set aside some of their differences to cooperate in distributing their digital video services.

Smart home demand is on the rise around the world, and Google Nest Hub is among the contenders looking to feed that demand.

Alphabet’s (GOOGL) Waymo has sued a company going by the same name. This news comes after PayPal sued a startup, Lenmo, for illegal brand squatting.

Alphabet (GOOGL) wants to reduce its reliance on Google’s advertising business. As a result, the company has made a lot of other bets.

AMD (AMD) had an exhilarating year in 2018. Its stock opened the year at $10.42 and went on to grow 214% by September.

Alibaba’s earnings report for the June quarter, which it’s set to release on August 15, could help shed more light on the impact of the trade war.

In March, PayPal announced that it was investing $750 million in MercadoLibre (MELI), a leading South African e-commerce company.

For AMD stock, the impressive run in recent weeks stems from analysts’ positive ratings. Analysts are still bullish about the stock’s prospects.

Google (GOOGL) is under scrutiny over a controversial collaboration with Huawei that allegedly threatened American’s privacy.

PayPal’s (PYPL) second-quarter revenue rose 12% year-over-year to $4.31 billion, and its adjusted EPS jumped 47% YoY to $0.86.

Alibaba (BABA) plans to report its results for the June quarter on August 15. Wall Street expects Alibaba to report revenue of $15.9 billion and EPS of $1.50.

Alibaba’s (BABA) cloud computing business is on investors’ radar as the company gets set to report its results for the first quarter of fiscal 2020.

Google (GOOGL) is making some hardware products using recycled materials as it tries to reduce the environmental impact of its operations.

Amazon’s sustainable packaging plan for third-party sellers becomes effective September 1. AMZN has trimmed 244,000 tons of packaging material in 10 years.

Amazon’s (AMZN) Alexa Auto can be found in a few car models, allowing consumers to order goods from Amazon for delivery directly to their car.

Huawei has unveiled a new OS, Hongmeng, after being placed on a US trade blacklist. The new OS is a direct replacement of Google’s Android.

On Wednesday, AMD launched an improved version of the EPYC chips. AMD revealed that Twitter (TWTR) and Google (GOOGL) might acquire the chips.

Baidu’s (BIDU) search engine dominance in China is facing its biggest test. Baidu is facing immense pressure from Alibaba, Tencent, and Sogou.

Facebook (FB) launched its rebranding program with Instagram and WhatsApp. Instagram has over 1 billion users, and WhatsApp has 1.5 billion users.

Amazon’s managers have been accused of operating an illegal racketeering scheme. Allegedly, Amazon poached high-value eBay third-party sellers.

Russia’s big tech companies such as Yandex (YNDX) have been shaken after a Russian lawmaker drafted a law to limit foreign ownership of these firms.

The Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust probe of Facebook (FB), which Facebook disclosed late last month, could be earth-shattering.

Ahead of its launch, Facebook’s Libra is already making waves. However, despite the benefits up for grabs, there’s a chance it might not come to life.

Snap (SNAP) stock’s turnaround is in the limelight after a rollercoaster 2018.

Pinterest’s Q2 results are scheduled to be released on Thursday. For fiscal 2019, Pinterest expects to report revenues of $1.06 billion–$1.08 billion.

Netflix’s content costs have been on the rise as it invests in expanding and diversifying its catalog. Last year, it spent $12 billion on content.

Square (SQ) plans to release its second-quarter earnings results on August 1. What’s in the cards? Back in May, it shared its outlook.

Shopify (SHOP) is set to report its Q2 results tomorrow. Investors will be paying close attention to updates on the company’s recent initiatives.

Amazon is planning to expand its operations, a move that’s poised to give rise to new job opportunities in the local economy.

Amazon (AMZN) has set sights on the Indian market as it looks to expand its e-commerce empire.

Square’s (SQ) hiring spree is about to swing into high gear.

Investors want to understand how Spotify is growing its audience and coping with competition in the streaming music marketplace.

Zynga (ZNGA) plans to report its second-quarter earnings results on July 31. What’s on its upcoming second-quarter scorecard?

Big tech is changing rapidly. Australia has become the first country seeking to set up a regulatory body to police Google (GOOGL) and Facebook (FB).

PayPal has sued a little-known loans startup for trademark infringement. The startup in question is Lenmo, a peer-to-peer lending platform.

Facebook’s FTC settlement and antitrust probe overshadowed a great achievement by the company in the last quarter.

Alphabet finished the second quarter with 107,646 full-time staff. We can expect its head count to keep rising from now on for a variety of reasons.

Twitter (TWTR) delivered strong performance indicators in the second quarter due to strength in US advertising.

EU scrutiny over Amazon’s (AMZN) possible anti-competitive behavior is taking shape.

PayPal (PYPL) has banned far-right media figure Joe Biggs from its platforms, meaning he is no longer able to use its payment platform and Venmo app.

PayPal (PYPL) stock dropped as investors reacted to the company downgrading its 2019 revenue outlook. But PayPal’s fundamentals remain strong.

As part of a proposed beta update, Google wants to make it possible for Google Assistant to send messages even from a locked device.

Facebook recently agreed to pay $5.0 billion to settle privacy violation charges by the Federal Trade Commission.

The FTC isn’t finished with Facebook (FB) yet. On Wednesday, Facebook informed investors about the FTC antitrust probe, which started last month.

An Activision Blizzard–Disney merger is looking very possible. After months of stock price decline, Activision Blizzard (ATVI) has become an acquisition target for several companies.

Snap (SNAP) had an impressive second quarter, with Snapchat’s daily active user count increasing by 13 million to reach 203 million.

It may be too early to declare Snap’s turnaround complete based on the company’s spectacular second-quarter results alone.

Snap has largely avoided data privacy and online misinformation challenges. In contrast, the issues have plagued Facebook (FB) and Google (GOOGL).

A recent investigation by the Washington Post discovered Facebook accounts, pages, and groups promoting fake Libra cryptocurrency deals.

The US Justice Department has opened an antitrust review of America’s big technology companies.

Etsy (ETSY) stock price edged higher on the confirmation that the company is expanding into a new vertical.

Netflix (NFLX) has long relied on international markets to drive its streaming video business growth.

Netflix (NFLX) hit a rough patch in the second quarter. The company’s number of US subscribers declined for the first time in nearly a decade.

In an attempt to expand and diversify its revenue sources, Yelp has introduced new paid subscription services aimed at businesses users.

During President Vladimir Putin’s annual address in June, he said that Yandex is competing successfully with global giants like Google in the Russian market.

Zynga (ZNGA) is counting on new games to drive its revenue growth in the second half of this year.

Although ~$130 billion is up for grabs in America’s digital advertising market this year, according to eMarketer, companies with larger audiences such as Google (GOOGL) and Facebook (FB) could capture the lion’s share at the expense of smaller players such as Snap (SNAP).

Snap’s (SNAP) goal is to become a global company, chief strategist Jared Grusd said at The Wall Street Journal’s Technology Conference in Hong Kong in June.

Snap (SNAP) has sold its location data business, Placed, to Foursquare, which sells location data and services to brands and other companies.

Snap (SNAP) has launched a new program to attract more advertising dollars. The Moments in Focus program, rolled out this month, helps brands reach the Snapchat audience with the right message on the right occasion.

Music appears to be working well for Snap (SNAP) in its efforts to retain Snapchat users and attract more people to the app.

In India, Snap (SNAP) faces fierce competition from Facebook (FB) and Twitter (TWTR) for social media users and advertisers.

Google (GOOGL) is gearing up to launch its Stadia game subscription service at a time when demand for game subscription services is soaring among American youth.