—-
Google 4Q revenue grew, but not enough for Wall Street
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google's revenue grew, but Wall Street wanted more. Parent company Alphabet's stock fell nearly 5% after financial results came out Monday, even as profits beat expectations for the last three months of the year. Alphabet earned $10.7 billion, or $15.35 per share, in the final three months of 2019. Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting $12.49 per share. But net revenue was $37.6 billion, short of the $38.4 billion expected. Alphabet makes the majority of its money from selling targeted advertising across the web, apps and Google products including its search engine and video streaming site YouTube.
___
Super Bowl ads dialed up fun as an antidote to politics
NEW YORK (AP) — In the real world, political primaries are looming, impeachment is ongoing and heavy news never seems to stop. But during commercial breaks in the Super Bowl, advertisers did their best to serve up an antidote heavily spiked with fun. True, political ads invaded the game, with President Trump and Michael Bloomberg, one of his Democratic challengers, both running spots. But mostly advertisers struck back with millions spent on celebrities, humor and even some weirdness. One collection of ads sent celebrities and products into space; others pushed the boundaries of bizarre humor and brought back the recently expired Mr. Peanut.
___
Jeff Bezos sued by girlfriend's brother for defamation
NEW YORK (AP) — Michael Sanchez, the brother of Jeff Bezos's girlfriend, is suing the Amazon founder for defamation. He alleges that Bezos and his team falsely told reporters that Sanchez provided personal photos of Bezos to the The National Enquirer. In the complaint filed Friday in Los Angeles, Sanchez says he has lost clients and has been shunned by family and friends. The lawsuit doesn't specify how much money he is seeking.
___
Ryanair delays growth targets due to Boeing Max jet trouble
LONDON (AP) — Europe's busiest airline is interested in ordering a new, larger version of the grounded Boeing 737 Max. Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary expressed interest in the larger plane on Monday even as he said that the grounding of the Max will delay his airline's growth targets. The budget carrier plans to extend by a year or two its target of flying 200 million people per year. It now expects to make that target in 2025 or the year after. The 737 Max was grounded worldwide in March after two crashes within five months killed 346 people in Indonesia and Ethiopia.
___
Survey: U.S. factories expand for first time since July
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. factories expanded unexpectedly last month, snapping a five-month losing streak. The Insitute for Supply Management, an association of purchasing managers, said Monday that its manufacturing index rose to 50.9 in January, from 47.8 in December. Anything above 50 signals expansion. The index had showed U.S. manufacturing contracting from August through December, partly because President Donald Trump's trade war with China had raised costs and uncertainty. Economists had expected another bad month in January.
___
YouTube: No 'deepfakes' or 'birther' videos in 2020 election
YouTube is making clear there will be no “birtherism” on its platform during this year's U.S. presidential election. It's a belated response to a type of conspiracy theory more prevalent in the 2012 race. The Google-owned video service is also reiterating that it won't allow election-related “deepfake” videos and anything that aims to mislead viewers about voting procedures and how to participate in the 2020 census. YouTube clarified its rules ahead of the Iowa caucuses Monday. The company is mostly reiterating content guidelines that it has been putting in place since the last presidential election in 2016.
___
FTC sues to block Harry's sale to Schick owner Edgewell
NEW YORK (AP) — The Federal Trade Commission is suing to block a merger that would combine old-school shaving company Schick with upstart rival Harry's. The FTC says the merger would eliminate a key competitor from the market that had driven down razor prices and encouraged innovation. Edgewell Personal Care announced in September that it was buying Harry's for $1.37 billion in a deal that was expected to close this year. Edgewell's Schick is the No. 2 razor brand in the U.S. behind Gillette. Edgewell CEO Rod Little said the company is reviewing the FTC's decision and will “respond in due course.”
___
Stocks rise on Wall Street, but virus worries remain
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks rose on Wall Street and across Europe on Monday to recover some of their losses from earlier weeks, but markets are still far from giving the all-clear on the virus outbreak that has spread to more than 20 countries. A warning signal of recession in the bond market is still flashing red, and oil tumbled on worries about weakened demand. Chinese stocks lost nearly 8% after investors got their first chance to catch up to losses that have hit other markets.
___
The S&P 500 rose 23.40 points, or 0.7%, to 3,248.92. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 143.78, or 0.5%, to 28,399.81, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 122.47, or 1.3%, to 9,273.40. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks gained 18.14 points, or 1.1%, to 1,632.21.
