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FAANG Report: Backlash building against Amazon's second HQ; Facebook woos teens

Last updated: 14:40 13 Nov 2018 EST, First published: 13:10 13 Nov 2018 EST

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Amazon decision on headquarters comes under attack.

A backlash is already building against Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) after the retail behemoth said it will split its second headquarters between New York City and a suburb of Washington, DC, a report by NBC News said.

Congresswoman-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said she received concerned calls from residents in her Queens district, which is adjacent to where the Amazon offices will be located. She characterized the general sentiment about Amazon moving into the area as “outrage.”

Amazon made the surprise decision to split the second headquarters between two locations after a year-long bidding frenzy that started with proposals from 238 cities.

“Amazon is a billion-dollar company. The idea that it will receive hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks at a time when our subway is crumbling and our communities need MORE investment, not less, is extremely concerning to residents here,” she tweeted Monday.

Amazon shares were up 0.5% to $1,644.57 by midsession on Tuesday.  

Services of Alphabet Inc's Google (NASDAG:GOOG) were down for an hour Monday after its IP addresses were routed from normal paths through Nigeria, China and Russia, a report by Engadget said.

Some of Google's most sensitive data, including its corporate WAN infrastructure and VPN, were reportedly redirected, the report said.

The problem started when a carrier in Lagos, Nigeria, improperly declared its own system as the correct route to several hundred IP prefixes belonging to Google.

China Telecom accepted the route (also improperly) and declared it worldwide. That, in turn, was picked up by Russia's Transtelecom and other large ISP services. Later on, the same Nigerian carrier made a second incorrect IP declaration that sent Google partner Cloudflare's IP addresses on a similar joyride.

Google shares added 0.5% to $1,043.83.

FAANG Report: Google expanding presence in New York

Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FBrolled out the launch of a new app aimed at competing against the massive video media app TikTok (formerly Musical.ly) and winning back teenage users, a report by Rolling Stone said.

The app, Lasso, lets users share 15-second “short-form, entertaining videos” and touts, per Facebook’s pointed wording, a “massive music library,” which comes from the company’s licensing deals struck with major publishers and record labels earlier this year.

Facebook rolled out the new platform without fanfare, possibly following in the lead of TikTok/Musical.ly, which rose to stardom more from word-of-mouth popularity than professional promotion.

Lasso users can log in with existing accounts on either Facebook or Instagram, and the company says the videos they create can eventually be shared on both platforms as well.

Facebook stock gained 1% to $142.98. 

READ: Apple shares tank as supplier warnings fuel concerns about iPhone sales

Analysts of Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) have a long history of misreading weak iPhone demand based on supplier rumors, and then getting it spectacularly wrong, a report in CNBC said.

In 2013, after Barclays lowered iPhone sales estimates, citing "our checks in the supply chain," Apple reported 2.4 million more units shipped than the research firm predicted.

In 2017, Citi called iPhone demand "modest" and "tempered," and Apple beat Wall Street projections for iPhone shipments by about 1 million.

Ahead of Apple's fiscal second-quarter report in May, the company's market value dropped by more than $60 billion in just three trading sessions and at least five analysts adjusted estimates. Reported shipments fell just shy of consensus estimates, but analysts admitted they were overly panicked.

Apple shares eased 0.03% to $194.10.

READ: Netflix trials new ‘Ultra’ subscription plan in Europe

Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) said it will test a lower-priced version of its film and television streaming service in some markets such as Asia to boost sales, a report by Bloomberg said.

The company hasn’t committed to lowering prices anywhere, but does want to experiment, Chief Executive Officer Reed Hastings said in an interview Friday. He didn’t say when or where the test would be conducted.

A lower-priced offering would be a departure for Netflix, which has maintained or raised prices in major markets as it adds content and invests in local productions to draw subscribers.

While the company alluded to experiments with cheaper subscription deals in a conference call last month on its earnings, this is the first time Netflix has said it will test a lower-priced tier in some markets, the report said.

Netflix stock increased 1.05% to $297.16.

Reporting by Rene Pastor, contactable on rene.pastor@proactiveinvestors.com

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