BUSINESS NEWS MAY 2ND, 2016
Stocks closed higher Monday as Wall Street shook off last week's sharp decline and as Japanese stocks continue to struggle on dashed hopes for more stimulus moves. The Dow Jones industrial average closed higher by 117.52 points, or 0.7%, to 17,891, after falling 230 points last week. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 0.8% to 2081. The Nasdaq composite index gained 0.9% to 4818 and broke a 7-day losing streak. Oil prices fell as U.S. benchmark crude dropped 2.3% to $44.86 a barrel. Today's gains come on the first trading day of May which kicks off what is traditionally known as the worst-six month period for stocks. The adage "Sell in May and go away" is a strategy that advises investors to avoid stocks until October.
ORACLE ACQUIRES OPOWER IN $532 MILLION DEAL
Software giant Oracle has acquired cloud-based energy software company Opower in a $532 million cash deal. The Redwood Shores, Calif. maker of cloud and software management systems will pay $10.30 per share of Opower, which supplies utilities with cloud-based energy efficiency services and other software. The price represents a 30% premium over Opower's closing share price Friday of $7.90. The companies expect the deal to close by the end of 2016. Opower (OPWR) shares were up more than 29% in premarket trading. Oracle (ORCL) shares closed Friday down 1.17% to $39.86.
AUSTRALIAN SAYS HE CREATED THE CONTROVERSIAL BITCOIN
The mystery creator of the digital currency bitcoin has finally stepped forward. Or has he? Australian inventor Craig Steven Wright announced Monday that he is "Satoshi Nakamoto," the elusive, pseudonymous bitcoin founder. In interviews with the Economist, BBC, GQ and a few bitcoin insiders, bolstered by a technical demonstration intended to prove that he and Nakamoto are one and the same, Wright tried to lay to rest one of the biggest mysteries in the tech world. But Wright, who first emerged as a leading Nakamoto contender last December , may not have closed the case.
HISTORIC CRUISE ARRIVES IN CUBA'S HAVANA HARBOR
A boisterous welcome greeted the first American visitors to walk out the Sierra Maestra cruise terminal on Monday. Several hundred Cubans gathered in Plaza de San Francisco to witness the historic arrival. "I am here just to see it," said Mayalin Suarez Rubio, 41, a Cuban whose daughter lives in Hialeah. "We say welcome." Suarez, like many in the joyous crowd, was not there because she knew anyone arriving on the Adonia, but just wanted to witness another chapter in the welcomed opening with Cuba begun with the normalization of relations between the U.S. and the Castro government.