Bill Gates says AI is only the second ‘revolutionary’ tech advancement in his lifetime

Bill Gates says AI is only the second ‘revolutionary’ tech advancement in his lifetime

“‘The development of AI is as fundamental as the creation of the microprocessor, the personal computer, the internet, and the mobile phone.’” — Microsoft-co founder Bill Gates on his blog For the second time in his 67 years, Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates has been truly blown away by a “revolutionary” technology. The first time…

Opinion: Amazon didn’t make money for a decade, but those losses weren’t even close to what startup companies and their investors face now.

Opinion: Amazon didn’t make money for a decade, but those losses weren’t even close to what startup companies and their investors face now.

The bankruptcy of Silicon Valley Bank SIVB, , the nation’s 16th largest bank, has rattled global markets. SVB used short-term deposits to finance investments in long-term bonds, stocks, and mortgages — a wager that interest rates wouldn’t rise. Once the Federal Reserve started raising interest rates aggressively to slow inflation about a year ago, the…

Opinion: ‘Upload your mind’ or alter genetics: Powerful billionaires are pouring money into life-extending technology — and they just might succeed.

Opinion: ‘Upload your mind’ or alter genetics: Powerful billionaires are pouring money into life-extending technology — and they just might succeed.

“ What does it mean to ‘upload your mind’ onto a computer?  ” The search for the Fountain of Youth is an age-old quest. Over the centuries, efforts to extend human lifespan have made a turn from the philosophical to the scientific; nowadays some legitimate progress is being made concerning longevity.  Many companies are deep…

Artificial intelligence is going to replace all but the best stock-picking pros

Artificial intelligence is going to replace all but the best stock-picking pros

Artificial intelligence poses a major threat to the worst stock pickers on Wall Street. Even the mediocre ones might want to start looking for another line of work. But the jobs of the best stock pickers are secure — for now. That’s the conclusion I reached upon analyzing the real-world performance of an AI stock-selection…

‘She is a grifter’: My father set up a trust for my troubled sister, and asked me to be trustee. I don’t want to disappoint him. Should I agree or bail?

‘She is a grifter’: My father set up a trust for my troubled sister, and asked me to be trustee. I don’t want to disappoint him. Should I agree or bail?

Can you help me understand the risks involved in being a trustee? My elderly father wrote a will, with the help of a lawyer, which divides up his substantial assets equally among his children. However, one sibling is a problem child, a spendthrift, and can’t be trusted.  She is a grifter, unmarried, unemployed, broke, drifting,…

One laid-off tech worker’s odyssey: 5 months, 25 interviews, 100 job applications

One laid-off tech worker’s odyssey: 5 months, 25 interviews, 100 job applications

At times, Todd Erickson’s search for a tech job felt more like an odyssey. But after five months, about 100 job applications and more than two dozen interviews with recruiters and companies — including a final series of eight interviews that began in December — Erickson accepted a new job as a technical writer at…

Lufthansa warns of cancellations due to IT outage

Lufthansa warns of cancellations due to IT outage

Deutsche Lufthansa AG LHA, -0.67% said Wednesday that an IT outage triggered by construction work in Frankfurt had caused flight delays and cancellations, with operations expected to stabilize in the early evening. “Fiber-optic cables belonging to a telecommunications service provider were damaged during construction work on tracks in Frankfurt, causing an outage of Lufthansa’s IT…

Supreme Court asks U.S. government to weigh in on Apple patent dispute

Supreme Court asks U.S. government to weigh in on Apple patent dispute

WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court has asked the Biden administration to weigh in on a billion-dollar intellectual property case brought by the California Institute of Technology against Apple Inc. AAPL, +0.88% and Broadcom Inc. AVGO, +0.04% In an order issued on Tuesday, the high court asked the Office of the Solicitor General to submit a brief addressing whether the case is…

Cloud software is suffering a cold November rain. Can Snowflake and Salesforce turn it around?

Cloud software is suffering a cold November rain. Can Snowflake and Salesforce turn it around?

The week after Thanksgiving could determine if cloud software is still too fat or if there are some tasty leftovers for Wall Street. Autodesk Inc. ADSK, +1.82% signaled a slowdown in business spending on Tuesday as executives trimmed their billings outlook for the year, leading Mizuho ‘s desk analyst Jordan Klein to conclude that the…

U.S. expands bans of Chinese security cameras and network equipment

U.S. expands bans of Chinese security cameras and network equipment

The Federal Communications Commission voted 4-0 to ban sales of new telecom and surveillance equipment made by several Chinese companies, arguing that their ownership and practices threaten U.S. national security. The rule change affects 10 companies already subject to other restrictions and prohibits them from marketing or importing new products. They include security-camera makers Hangzhou Hikvision Digital…

I got laid off by a big tech company — where’s my next career move? 

I got laid off by a big tech company — where’s my next career move? 

Being let go is hard, especially with the cost of living on the rise, and talk of a recession looming.  Earlier this month, Tesla founder TSLA, +1.22% Elon Musk fired 7,500 Twitter staff, representing nearly 50% of its global workforce, just days after he took over the social-media company in a $44 billion deal.  Facebook’s…

‘No housing market is immune to home-price declines’: Home values are already falling in these pandemic boomtowns.

‘No housing market is immune to home-price declines’: Home values are already falling in these pandemic boomtowns.

Rising rates and waning buyer demand is finally weighing on home prices.  With the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaging at 7.12%, according to Mortgage News Daily, Zillow Z, +2.66%, Realtor.com, and John Burns Real Estate Consulting, all noted price drops in cities that were hot over the last two years. Most of these cities were pandemic…

What smart strategies can lower your tax bill as year-end approaches? Read this before making any tax moves.

What smart strategies can lower your tax bill as year-end approaches? Read this before making any tax moves.

With year-end rapidly approaching, it’s time to consider moves that will lower your 2022 tax bill and hopefully position you for tax savings in future years too. This column is Part 1 of our two-part list of suggested year-end strategies.  While the fates of the economy and the stock market remain uncertain, it now appears…

Here’s how Palo Alto Networks stacks up against its main competitors

Here’s how Palo Alto Networks stacks up against its main competitors

Shares of Palo Alto Networks soared as much as 12% on Aug. 23 after the network security company reported results for its fiscal fourth quarter and said it expected sales to increase by at least 25% in fiscal 2023. Palo Alto PANW, +11.45% CEO Nikesh Arora described the company’s fiscal guidance as “prudent.” MarketWatch’s Wallace…

Stock buybacks near $800 billion this year after hitting all-time record

Stock buybacks near $800 billion this year after hitting all-time record

Companies already announced another $800 billion deluge of planned stock buybacks this year, after last year’s record of almost $1.2 trillion, according to a tally from EPFR. That’s a bigger batch than most years in roughly the past decade (see chart), with the proposed 1% tax on share buybacks under the Inflation Reduction Act viewed…

Does ‘last hired, first fired’ still hold true? What to know if you’ve just landed a new job as recession talk gets louder

Does ‘last hired, first fired’ still hold true? What to know if you’ve just landed a new job as recession talk gets louder

Julian Hurst was ready for a change after more than a decade of work as a lawyer. After months of networking, the 44-year-old Austin, Texas resident pulled off a career pivot to a software startup in the legal technology sector. “For me, it was like an answer to a prayer,” said Hurst, noting that he’s…

‘My husband and my father never really got along’: How do I ensure my husband of 26 years never gets his hands on my inheritance of several million dollars?

‘My husband and my father never really got along’: How do I ensure my husband of 26 years never gets his hands on my inheritance of several million dollars?

Dear Quentin, I’ve been married 26 years, and my husband and my father have never really gotten along well. At some point in the near future, I will inherit a significant amount of money (several million dollars). I want to spend and invest this money as I wish.  If anything happens to me, I want…

Opinion: ‘A perfect business for an inflationary environment.’ Why this veteran value investor is bullish on a beaten-down telecom stock.

Opinion: ‘A perfect business for an inflationary environment.’ Why this veteran value investor is bullish on a beaten-down telecom stock.

Charter Communications CHTR is one of the largest cable companies in the U.S. Our firm views it as an investment in three distinct businesses: cable TV; broadband internet, and wireless. Cable TV is a high-revenue, low-margin business — most of the revenue (deservedly) goes to content providers. This business is in a mild, long-term, steady…

‘We’re headed for a family feud’: My father offered his 3 kids equal monetary gifts. My siblings took cash. I took stock. It’s soared in value — now they’re crying foul

‘We’re headed for a family feud’: My father offered his 3 kids equal monetary gifts. My siblings took cash. I took stock. It’s soared in value — now they’re crying foul

Dear Quentin, Several years before my father’s death, he offered me and my two siblings each an early “cash gift” from his estate in the amount of whatever the maximum non-taxable amount was at the time. He was an active investor and offered the gift in the form of the stock instead of cash. My siblings…