The U.S. economy took a hit over the past month due to the damage caused by hurricanes Irma and Harvey, which resulted in the loss of 33,000 jobs in the U.S. This marks the first decline since September 2010, while the unemployment rate fell slightly to 4.2%.
The weekend’s news was dominated by the tech industry as Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) all made headlines ahead of trading Monday.
Apple Inc. (AAPL)
The Apple iPhone X has been leaked in a video.
Over the weekend, a San Jose resident revealed a video of the new Apple device, which is about a month away from its release. A short clip was revealed on Reddit, displaying its “animojis” and other features.
The user moved the phone around so people could see its design, which is relatively similar to recent iPhones, meaning its a little larger than older generations and just as sleek.
A padlock shows the prompt for the Face ID feature, which locks the user out as someone else owns the device. Others have seen the iPhone X making the rounds in the Bay Area a week ahead of its launch.
The pre-orders for the smartphone will begin on Oct. 27, while the official launch will come on Nov. 3. The iPhone X will be available in very limited quantities due to production delays.
Most people won’t get theirs until 2018.
AAPL stock has surged 34.1% year-to-date.
Facebook Inc (FB)
Facebook’s security chief went on a Twitter rant over the weekend regarding criticism on the company’s algorithms.
The social media site has faced backlash from reporters due to the growing amount of misinformation, or “fake news,” that is featured on its sites. CEO Mark Zuckerberg even issued an apology, admitting that this misinformation probably played a role in the 2016 presidential election’s results.
Facebook Chief Security Officer Alex Stamos hit back at claims that the company should work to shut down this misinformation through people who work diligently to eliminate such content instead of using “neutral” algorithms.
Stamos said that these algorithms are not neutral and the company works hard to shut down fake news. “Nobody of substance at the big companies thinks of algorithms as neutral. Nobody is not aware of the risks,” he wrote.
He went on to say that people don’t realize how difficult it is to shut down this harmful content as some “news” providers get around these algorithms and get their misinformation out there.
Stamos is also leading the investigation into Russian election tampering.
FB shares are up 13.7% over the last three months.
Microsoft Corporation (MSFT)
Microsoft may cease supporting Surface hardware in 2019.
Executives from the tech company reportedly said that this brand will be faded out over the coming years. At the tenth Canalys Channels Forum in Venice, Canalys CEO Steve Brazier and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella addressed the matter.
They said that the company would be exiting the product line because Nadella is a “software guy, a cloud guy,” noting that the popular smartphone line will be history soon.
The move makes sense as Microsoft is changing priorities as the industry’s needs continue to shift towards a software- and cloud-centric environment.
“The Surface performance is choppy; there are good quarters and bad quarters, overall they are not making money,” Nadella added. “It doesn’t make sense for them to be in this business.”
MSFT stock have risen 22.3% YTD.
As of this writing, Karl Utermohlen did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
