Early premarket gappersGapping up:
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Gapping down:
- BOX -7%, ASRT -4.4%, ROKU -3.6%, TLRD -3.2%, TLRD -3.2%, SCSC -2.7%, HRB -2%
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As noted in a new SEC filing, the Apple CEO this week has sold 265,160 worth of AAPL shares, with the price of those shares ranging from $216.96 to $218.54. Through this sale, Cook was able net some $57.8 million. The remaining 294,840 shares – worth around $63 million – were withheld by Apple for taxes.
Of the 560,000 shares awarded to Cook last week, 280,000 were vested RSUs based on AAPL’s performance in comparison to other companies in the S&P 500. As we noted last week, Apple stock had to out-perform two-thirds of the S&P 500 companies for Cook to receive those shares. The other 280,000 shares were part as compensation that Cook receives as Apple CEO.
This is a trend that will continue for Cook. He is set to receive 560,000 AAPL shares every year for the next three years, so long as he remains Apple CEO and AAPL continues its strong performance.
Last year, Cook netted a total of $102 million between salary, incentives, and equity awards. Cook has said that he plans to give away all his wealth through a systematic approach to charity and giving. His net worth is currently estimated at $600M-$700M.
Iran-based political influence operation - bigger, persistent, global - https://reut.rs/2wxtbk6
LONDON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An apparent Iranian influence operation targeting internet users worldwide is significantly bigger than previously identified, Reuters has found, encompassing a sprawling network of anonymous websites and social media accounts in 11 different languages.
Facebook and other companies said last week that multiple social media accounts and websites were part of an Iranian project to covertly influence public opinion in other countries. A Reuters analysis has identified 10 more sites and dozens of social media accounts across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
U.S.-based cyber security firm FireEye Inc and Israeli firm ClearSky reviewed Reuters’ findings and said technical indicators showed the web of newly-identified sites and social media accounts - called the International Union of Virtual Media, or IUVM - was a piece of the same campaign, parts of which were taken down last week by Facebook Inc, Twitter Inc and Alphabet Inc.
IUVM pushes content from Iranian state media and other outlets aligned with the government in Tehran across the internet, often obscuring the original source of the information such as Iran’s PressTV, FARS news agency and al-Manar TV run by the Iran-backed Shi’ite Muslim group Hezbollah.
PressTV, FARS, al-Manar TV and representatives for the Iranian government did not respond to requests for comment. The Iranian mission to the United Nations last week dismissed accusations of an Iranian influence campaign as “ridiculous.”
The extended network of disinformation highlights how multiple state-affiliated groups are exploiting social media to manipulate users and further their geopolitical agendas, and how difficult it is for tech companies to guard against political interference on their platforms.
In July, a U.S. grand jury indicted 12 Russians whom prosecutors said were intelligence officers, on charges of hacking political groups in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. U.S. officials have said Russia, which has denied the allegations, could also attempt to disrupt congressional elections in November.
Ben Nimmo, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab who has previously analyzed disinformation campaigns for Facebook, said the IUVM network displayed the extent and scale of the Iranian operation.
“It’s a large-scale amplifier for Iranian state messaging,” Nimmo said. “This shows how easy it is to run an influence operation online, even when the level of skill is low. The Iranian operation relied on quantity, not quality, but it stayed undetected for years.”
FURTHER INVESTIGATIONS
Facebook spokesman Jay Nancarrow said the company is still investigating accounts and pages linked to Iran and had taken more down on Tuesday.
“This is an ongoing investigation and we will continue to find out more,” he said. “We’re also glad to see that the information we and others shared last week has prompted additional attention on this kind of inauthentic behavior.”
Twitter referred to a statement it tweeted on Monday shortly after receiving a request for comment from Reuters. The statement said the company had removed a further 486 accounts for violating its terms of use since last week, bringing the total number of suspended accounts to 770.
“Fewer than 100 of the 770 suspended accounts claimed to be located in the U.S. and many of these were sharing divisive social commentary,” Twitter said.
Google declined to comment but took down the IUVM TV YouTube account after Reuters contacted the company with questions about it. A message on the page on Tuesday said the account had been “terminated for a violation of YouTube’s Terms of Service.”
IUVM did not respond to multiple emails or social media messages requesting comment.
The organization does not conceal its aims, however. Documents on the main IUVM website iuvm.org said its headquarters are in Tehran and its objectives include "confronting with remarkable arrogance, western governments and Zionism front activities."
APP STORE AND SATIRICAL CARTOONS
IUVM uses its network of websites - including a YouTube channel, breaking news service, mobile phone app store, and a hub for satirical cartoons mocking Israel and Iran’s regional rival Saudi Arabia - to distribute content taken from Iranian state media and other outlets which support Tehran’s position on geopolitical issues.
Reuters recorded the IUVM network operating in English, French, Arabic, Farsi, Urdu, Pashto, Russian, Hindi, Azerbaijani, Turkish and Spanish.
Much of the content is then reproduced by a range of alternative media sites, including some of those identified by FireEye last week as being run by Iran while purporting to be domestic American or British news outlets.
For example, an article run by in January by Liberty Front Press - one of the pseudo-U.S. news sites exposed by FireEye - reported on the battlefield gains made by the army of Iranian ally Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. That article was sourced to IUVM but actually lifted from two FARS news agency stories.
FireEye analyst Lee Foster said iuvmpress.com, one of the biggest IUVM websites, was registered in January 2015 with the same email address used to register two sites already identified as being run by Iran. ClearSky said multiple IUVM sites were hosted on the same server as another website used in the Iranian operation.
Fortum head of M&A to leave
Mr Kari Kautinen, Senior Vice President, Solar & Wind Development and M&A has decided to leave Fortum. It has been mutually agreed that Mr Kautinen will continue his duties until the end of September 2018. Mr Kautinen joined Fortum in 1998 and has been a member of the Fortum Executive Management since 2014. Prior to his current role he was in charge of Fortum’s Strategy as well as Mergers and Acquisitions in the management team. Replacement arrangements have been initiated.
“Kari has played a central role in transforming Fortum with innovative and value -accretive transactions, including the divestment of the distribution business, restructuring of our ownership in Hafslund and the recent investment in Uniper. His contribution has also been invaluable in starting up and growing Fortum’s solar and wind business. On behalf of Fortum, I want to thank Kari for his dedication and wish him all the best in his future undertakings,” says Pekka Lundmark, President and CEO of Fortum.
Link to original source.
We’re likely just a few weeks away from Apple’s iPhone event, and Ming-Chi Kuo has released his latest predictions. The supply chain analyst echoes his long-running prediction of three new iPhones announced during the week of September 9, but Kuo believes only the two OLED models will actually be released next month.
Citing its production schedule, Kuo predictions that the 6.1-inch iPhone, expected to be the entry-priced model in the flagship lineup, will indeed ship “slightly later” than the two OLED models that Kuo says will be available in September. The timing suggests a release in October, although Kuo doesn’t specify. Apple announced the iPhone 8 and iPhone X last September, but the premium model wasn’t actually released until early November.
Kuo goes on to predict that the 6.1-inch and 6.5-inch iPhones will ship in single- and dual-SIM configurations depending on market and region. Kuo adds that the new 5.8-inch iPhone will have a single SIM tray and embedded SIM support, but the eSIM “may not be activated.”
Kuo is also negative on the recent rumor that new iPhones will work with the Apple Pencil despite the larger displays. Kuo’s reasoning is simply that it would not offer a good user experience to date
>>> Up
* Allianz Upgraded to Buy at SocGen; PT 215 Euros
* Duerr Upgraded to Buy at DZ Bank; PT 50 Euros
* Ferrari Upgraded to Buy at HSBC
* Scor Upgraded to Overweight at JPMorgan; Price Target 42 Euros
* Stroeer Upgraded to Buy at HSBC; PT 72 Euros
* United Internet Upgraded to Buy at Kepler Cheuvreux; PT 56 Euros
>>> Down
* Brunello Cucinelli Downgraded to Hold at Jefferies; PT 39 Euros
* Greenyard Downgraded to Hold at Berenberg
* Inditex Downgraded to Underweight at Morgan Stanley; PT 21 Euros
* Pharmagest Inter@ctive Downgraded to Add at Gilbert Dupont
* VTB GDRs Downgraded to Underweight at Morgan Stanley; PT $1.10
>>> Initiation
* Adler Real Estate Rated New Buy at Deutsche Bank; PT 20 Euros
* Capital & Regional Rated New Buy at Berenberg; PT 60 Pence
* Chemring Group Rated New Market Perform at Raymond James
* Givaudan Rated New Overweight at Morgan Stanley; PT 2,600 Francs
* GVC Rated New Overweight at Morgan Stanley; PT 13.30 Pounds
* Intu Rated New Buy at Berenberg; PT 2.30 Pounds
* Symrise Reinstated Equal-weight at Morgan Stanley; PT 75 Euros
>>> Call