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(Bloomberg) -- U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren is drafting a bill that would call on regulators to retroactively review about two decades of “mega mergers” and ban such deals going forward.Warren’s staff recently circulated a proposal for sweeping anti-monopoly legislation, which would deliver on a presidential campaign promise to check the power of Big Tech and other industries. Although the Trump administration is currently exploring their own antitrust probes, the proposal is likely to face resistance from lawmakers.According to a draft of the bill reviewed by Bloomberg, the proposal would expand antitrust law beyond the so-called consumer welfare standard, an approach that has driven antitrust policy since the 1970s. Under the current framework, the federal government evaluates mergers primarily based on potential harm to consumers through higher prices or decreased quality. The new bill would direct the government to also consider the impact on entrepreneurs, innovation, privacy and workers.Warren’s bill, tentatively titled the Anti-Monopoly and Competition Restoration Act, would also ban non-compete and no-poaching agreements for workers and protect the rights of gig economy workers, such as drivers for Uber Technologies Inc., to organize.A draft of Warren’s bill was included in an email Monday from Spencer Waller, the director of the Institute for Consumer Antitrust Studies at Loyola University Chicago. Waller urged fellow academics to sign a petition supporting it. He said Warren was working on the bill with Representative David Cicilline, the most prominent voice on antitrust issues in the House. Waller declined to comment on the email.Representatives for Cicilline and Warren declined to comment. The existence of the bill and Warren’s support of it were reported earlier this week by the technology publication the Information.In Washington, there is some support across the political spectrum for increased antitrust scrutiny of large technology companies. Warren positioned herself as a leader on the issue this year while campaigning on a plan to break up Big Tech. She has repeatedly called for unwinding Facebook Inc.’s acquisitions of WhatsApp and Instagram, along with Google’s purchase of YouTube and advertising platform DoubleClick.It’s not clear when a bill would be introduced or whether it would move forward in its current form. Cicilline has said he would not introduce antitrust legislation until he concludes an antitrust investigation for the House Judiciary Committee in early 2020.Amy Klobuchar, a Senator from Minnesota who’s also vying for the Democratic nomination, has pushed legislation covering similar ground. Klobuchar plans to introduce additional antitrust legislation soon, according to a person familiar with the matter who wasn’t authorized to discuss the plans and asked not to be identified.Any proposal would face significant hurdles to becoming law, and Warren’s version could be particularly problematic because it promotes the idea that antitrust enforcement is equivalent to being against big business, said Barak Orbach, a law professor at the University of Arizona who received a draft of the bill. “The way I read it is that Elizabeth Warren is trying to make a political statement in the course of her campaign,” Orbach said. “It’s likely to have negative effects on antitrust enforcement, so I just don’t see the upside other than for the campaign.”The bill proposes a ban on mergers where one company has annual revenue of more $40 billion, or where both companies have sales exceeding $15 billion, except under certain exceptions, such as when a company is in immediate danger of insolvency. That would seemingly put a freeze on many acquisitions for Apple Inc., Alphabet Inc., Facebook, Microsoft Corp. and dozens of other companies. The bill would also place new limitations on smaller mergers.Chris Sagers, a law professor at Cleveland State University, said the proposal would serve as an effective check on corporate power. “I don’t think you’ll have new antitrust policy until Congress says the courts have incorrectly interpreted the statutes,” he said. “Someone has to do what Elizabeth Warren is doing.”(Michael Bloomberg is also seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.)To contact the reporters on this story: Eric Newcomer in San Francisco at enewcomer@bloomberg.net;Joshua Brustein in New York at jbrustein@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Milian at mmilian@bloomberg.netFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. antitrust enforcers have broadened their scrutiny of Amazon.com Inc. beyond its retail operations to include its massive cloud-computing business, according to people familiar with the matter.Investigators at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission have been asking software companies recently about practices around Amazon’s cloud unit, known as Amazon Web Services, said the people, who declined to be named because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly.The outreach by the FTC signals that the agency, which is already looking at Amazon’s conduct in its vast online retail business, is taking a broader look at the company to determine whether it could be violating antitrust laws and harming competition.The FTC and Amazon declined to comment. The agency’s scrutiny won’t necessarily result in an enforcement action against the company.AWS dominates the market for foundational cloud-computing technology that provides the storage and computing power needed to run applications. It is several times bigger than its next largest rival, Microsoft Corp.’s Azure, according to analyst estimates. Gartner Inc. puts AWS’s share at 48% and Microsoft’s at 16%.AWS accounted for 60% of Amazon’s operating income in the most recently reported 12 months. The unit’s profitability in recent years has helped keep investors happy even as the company continues to spend heavily to expand both its retail and cloud-computing businesses.Amazon also sells an array of products that run on top of those basic services, such as databases, machine-learning tools and data-warehousing products. It competes with hundreds of other software companies large and small that offer similar products.One issue the FTC could look at is whether Amazon has an incentive to discriminate against those software companies, which sell their products to clients of AWS, while at the same time competing with Amazon. The fear is that Amazon could punish the companies that work with other cloud providers and favor those that it works with exclusively.The dynamic echos that in Amazon’s retail marketplace, where third-party sellers depend on the platform to reach customers because of its size, but in many cases they also compete with Amazon’s own products. That’s a conflict that threatens competition, according to critics.The FTC’s Amazon inquiry is part of antitrust investigations sweeping across the technology industry. Federal and state authorities are investigating Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Facebook Inc. while the House Judiciary Committee is examining conduct of those companies as well as Amazon and Apple Inc.\--With assistance from Matt Day.To contact the reporters on this story: Dina Bass in Seattle at dbass2@bloomberg.net;David McLaughlin in Washington at dmclaughlin9@bloomberg.net;Naomi Nix in Washington at nnix1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Sara Forden at sforden@bloomberg.net, ;Jillian Ward at jward56@bloomberg.net, Andrew PollackFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

(Bloomberg) -- Slack Technologies Inc. gave an upbeat quarterly forecast, demonstrating the software maker’s resilient growth despite intensifying competition from Microsoft Corp.Revenue will be $172 million to $174 million in the period ending in January, which would be 42% year-over-year at the midpoint, the San Francisco-based company said Wednesday in a statement. Analysts, on average, estimated $173.2 million, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.Chief Executive Officer Stewart Butterfield has sought to boost the number of paying customers for his company’s workplace messaging and workflow software, versions of which can be used for free. Slack, which had a direct listing on the New York Stock Exchange in June, is being challenged by Microsoft, the world’s largest software maker, which has a rival product called Teams that it sometimes gives to clients at no cost. Slack said it reached more than 105,000 paid customers in its second earnings report as a public company, fewer than the 106,700 analysts expected.“It was a great quarter for revenue growth,” Butterfield said in an interview. “We call out the enterprise growth specifically.”Competition with Microsoft has had a smaller effect on the business than some expected, he said. “There’s still a lot of market confusion and we’re going to have to work harder to dispel that. If you think about those concentric circles, there’s a lot where we don’t compete at all.”In the period ended Oct. 31, sales jumped 60% to $168.7 million. Analysts projected $156.2 million. Slack reported an adjusted loss of 2 cents a share for the quarter, compared with analysts’ estimates of 8 cents.The number of large customers grew 67% to 821 compared with a year earlier, slower than the pace in the fiscal second quarter, when the metric was 75%. For the first time, Slack disclosed that more than 50 customers are spending more than $1 million in annual recurring revenue on the company’s software.Shares gained about 2% in extended trading after closing at $21.66 in New York. The stock has dropped 17% since its initial public listing.Still, investors are wary about the competition from Microsoft. Slack said billings will be $745 million to $760 million in the fiscal year, the midpoint falling short of analysts’ average estimate of $754.3 million.Slack also announced that Chamath Palihapitiya, a venture capitalist and early investor in Slack, is stepping down from the board. Palihapitiya, who served as a director since 2017, will be replaced by Mike McNamara, former chief executive officer of Flex Ltd.Bloomberg Beta, the venture capital arm of Bloomberg LP, is an investor in Slack.(Updates with comments from CEO in the fourth paragraph)To contact the reporter on this story: Nico Grant in San Francisco at ngrant20@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Jillian Ward at jward56@bloomberg.net, Andrew Pollack, Alistair BarrFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

A series of product announcements highlighted Amazon’s intentions to weave its services more closely with on-premises data centers, an area where Microsoft is particularly strong.

Google (GOOGL) co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin stepped down from active management of the internet giant's parent company Alphabet.

Slack Technologies Q3 earnings handily beat analyst estimates on revenue and billings while guidance met expectations amid rising competition with Microsoft.

Microsoft Corp. on Wednesday announced that its board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.51 per share. The dividend is payable March 12, 2020, to shareholders of record on Feb. 20, 2020. The ex-dividend date will be Feb. 19, 2020.

CRM stock has lagged software group peers as investors digest a number of big industry acquisitions, such as Tableau. Could digital transformation growth drive a Salesforce stock rally?

Speaking to shareholders at Microsoft Corp.'s annual meeting on Wednesday, Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella outlined Microsoft's opportunity and responsibility: to help its customers and partners thrive in a world where every company is a technology company and to create technology that benefits everyone on the planet, including the planet itself.

Slack beat analysts third quarter top- and bottom-line expectations Wednesday, but the stock fell after hours as fourth-quarter guidance was slightly lighter than expected. Fourth-quarter guidance was slightly off, however, with the company expecting to lose between 6 cents and 7 cents per share. Slack has had a rough go since it debuted on the New York Stock Exchange in June at $38.50, as increased competition from Microsoft has investors spooked.

Revenue increased year-over-year, but earnings fell Continue reading...

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(Bloomberg) -- LinkedIn’s senior executive in charge of human resources has resigned after breaking compliance rules, according to people familiar with the matter.Christina Hall left the Microsoft Corp.-owned company because of an internal compliance issue, the people said, asking not to be identified because the details aren’t public. LinkedIn Chief Executive Officer Jeff Weiner announced the move to staff on Tuesday, they said.“Nina McQueen will lead our global talent organization on an interim basis while we conduct an internal and external search for a replacement,” said Ngaire Moyes, spokeswoman for LinkedIn, in an emailed statement on Wednesday, declining to comment further.Hall, who had been at LinkedIn for six years, led the company’s human resources team, and oversaw hiring and benefit programs at the company. A former lawyer, she previously held roles in the compensation departments of Facebook Inc. and Intuit Inc., according to her LinkedIn profile. She’d held her current title since September 2018.She didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.Microsoft acquired LinkedIn in 2016 in an all-cash purchase valued at $26.2 billion.(Updates with details on Hall’s background in fourth paragraph.)To contact the reporters on this story: Giles Turner in London at gturner35@bloomberg.net;Amy Thomson in London at athomson6@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Giles Turner at gturner35@bloomberg.netFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

(Bloomberg) -- Larry Page and Sergey Brin just got a $2 billion retirement gift from investors.The Google co-founders, who announced on Tuesday they were stepping down from day-to-day management of parent Alphabet Inc., added about $1 billion each to their net worth as of 10:15 a.m. in New York, after the firm’s shares rose 1.8%.They each own about 6% of the internet giant and still control Alphabet through special voting shares.The gains come as investors welcome Sundar Pichai’s elevation to chief executive officer of Alphabet, replacing Page in the role. It means the three most valuable U.S. tech firms no longer have a founder at the helm.Like Apple Inc.’s Tim Cook and Microsoft Corp.’s Satya Nadella, Pichai is a long-time lieutenant who steadily worked his way up the corporate ladder. More than 15 years after he joined the Mountain View-based company he’s replacing Page in the top job. Brin is stepping down as president, leaving Pichai as undisputed leader.The shift reflects Google’s accession into corporate middle age. Started in a California garage by Brin and Page in 1998, the firm had revenue of $137 billion in 2018 and today boasts a market value of $893 billion. That’s behind only Apple and Microsoft on the S&P 500 Index.Founder FreeOther Silicon Valley giants are also founder free. Larry Ellison’s Oracle Corp. is headed by Safra Catz, though Ellison is still involved as the company’s chairman. Some younger companies -- such as Uber Technologies Inc. and We Co. -- have turned to outsiders amid turmoil.There are some notable exceptions. Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg are still at the helm of Amazon.com Inc. and Facebook Inc. respectively, which are the fourth- and fifth-largest U.S. companies by market value.Such a transition has proved to be a boon for Apple and Microsoft. The iPhone maker’s shares have risen by more than 400% since Cook took the helm in August 2011 and Microsoft has quadrupled on Nadella’s watch.Since 2015, Pichai has served as CEO of Google, by far the company’s biggest division. During his time in that job, Alphabet’s shares doubled in price even as the company wrestled with increased scrutiny from regulators and lawmakers.Unusual PositionTheir success has placed the trio among America’s richest executives. Each are worth hundreds of millions of dollars thanks to stock awards they’ve received.Pichai, 47, is in an unusual position for a top executive. Unlike Cook and Nadella, who stand fourth and sixth on Bloomberg’s executive pay ranking, almost all of Pichai’s stock awards have vested, filings show.By contrast, Cook, 59, still has as many as 1.8 million restricted stock units worth about $500 million set to vest through August 2021, according to a recent filing. Nadella, 52, could earn as many as 1.8 million Microsoft shares through a long-term performance-based stock award that is currently worth about $275 million.The Alphabet board will likely move to rectify this discrepancy. But however they decide to compensate Pichai, he’ll still lag far behind the wealth accrued by Brin and Page. The pair have a combined net worth of about $125 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.(Updates net worth gains and share price in second paragraph.)\--With assistance from Anders Melin, Mark Bergen and Gerrit De Vynck.To contact the reporter on this story: Tom Metcalf in London at tmetcalf7@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Pierre Paulden at ppaulden@bloomberg.net, Steven Crabill, Peter EichenbaumFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

At the Cascadia Rail Summit outside Seattle, a fledgling scheme to bring high-speed rail from Portland to Vancouver found an enthusiastic reception.

If you're looking for a profitable portfolio of stocks that will offer the best of value and growth investing, try the growth at a reasonable price or GARP strategy.

Macroeconomic woes and decline across all its segments hurt Marvell (MRVL) fiscal Q3 results. However, continued deal wins and strong demand from enterprise and datacentre markets are positives.

Amazon's (AMZN) cloud computing arm announced AWS Wavelength, which combines 5G network with AWS compute and storage services.

AMD unveils that it is enabling an open ecosystem for high performance Mini PCs.

Amazon (AMZN) announces three new renewable energy projects in the United States and Spain in a bid to save the environment.