Advertisers Are Reportedly Moving Dollars From Google to Amazon
Amazon Inc. (AMZN) is benefiting from an advertiser exodus from Alphabet Inc.'s (GOOGL) Google imprint, according to a CNBC report that cites numerous anonymous executives at multiple media agencies.
The move towards Amazon presents an existential threat for Alphabet which gets over $94 billion, or 86% of its annual revenue, from advertising.
Google is still the dominant destination for digital advertising, representing about 37% of digital ad budgets in 2018, according to reports.
Most of the shift is occuring int he consumer packaged goods industry, according to CNBC.
Apple Denies Bloomberg Report About Chinese Spying
Apple's (AAPL) chief security officer told Congress on Sunday that there was no truth to a Bloomberg report that Chinese hardware had been implanted in some of its servers in an attack on its supply chain.
"Apple's proprietary security tools are continuously scanning for precisely this kind of outbound traffic, as it indicates the existence of malware or other malicious activity. Nothing was ever found," Apple Vice President for Information Security George Stathakopoulos wrote in the letter provided to Reuters.
Apple told the press last week that the Bloomberg report was inaccurate and that the FBI never contacted the company over concerns.
Saudi Arabia Is Investing $45 Billion With SoftBank
The Saudi Arabia sovereign Public Investment Fund announced that it is making a second $45 billion investment in SoftBank's Second Vision Fund.
The Kingdom is doubling up on its bet on Second Vision Fund because, as Mohammed bin Salman, chairman of the fund and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince, Saudi Arabia saw "a huge benefit from the first one."
The PIF's assets have risen to just under $400 billion with a target of reaching $600 billion by 2020. "I believe we will surpass that target in 2020," the Crown Prince said.
Premarket
U.S. futures are falling sharply ahead of Monday's market open with the Dow and Nasdaq both indicated to drop triple digits once trading begins.
Dow futures are falling 0.37%, indicating an open 100 points lower, while Nasdaq futures are falling 1.37%, indicating an open 103 points lwoer, and S&P futures are falling 0.25%, indicating an open 7 points lower.
Asian markets had a rough day of trading, with the Shanghai Composite dropping an enormous 3.72%, the Nikkei falling 0.8%, and the Hang Seng declining 1.4%.
In Europe, the FTSE 100 was down 0.63%, the DAX declined 0.9%, and the CAC 40 fell 0.91% with about four hours left in trading.