Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg poses for a photo before the the CBS Democratic Presidential Primary Debate at the Charleston Gaillard Center. Mike Bloomberg’s campaign is holding talks with two unions and is signalling to its employees that it is open to them joining the groups. The development comes as a member of the Campaign Workers Guild said on Twitter that he was calling on members of Bloomberg’s presidential campaign to discuss the idea of unionization. Campaign worke

Videoconferencing software company Zoom has brought in more active users so far this year than it did in 2019 amid corporate concerns about the spread of coronavirus, Bernstein Research analysts wrote in a note distributed to clients on Wednesday. “As one might expect, Zoom’s revenue shows a strong correlation with MAUs [monthly active users], DAUs [daily active users] and downloads,” wrote Bernstein’s Zane Chrane and Michelle Isaacs, who have the equivalent of a buy rating on Zoom stock. Zoom h

The notice, which appears at the top of product search results, includes a link for users to “Learn more about Coronavirus protective measures.” It instructs users to visit the CDC website for more information about prevention and treatment of the disease. Amazon has also cracked down on listings on its marketplace that claim to help stop the spread of the coronavirus. Facebook said it would remove content with “false claims or conspiracy theories” about the coronavirus, while Google launched a

Bob Iger’s surprise announcement that he’s stepping down as CEO of Disney and handing the reins over to parks chairman Bob Chapek comes during a time of massive change at the company. For much of its existence, Disney’s media business thrived by selling its channels, movies and TV shows through cable networks and other distributors. Over time, that means Disney will become less reliant on the money it collects based on the dwindling pool of cable subscribers and more reliant on selling directly

Nutanix shares sank as much as 24% in extended trading on Wednesday after the developer of cloud storage and networking software cited coronavirus concerns as one reason for lowering its 2020 revenue outlook. In fiscal 2019, about 22% of Nutanix’s revenue came from the Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) region. A total of more than 80,200 cases have been confirmed worldwide, the vast majority in China, with 2,704 deaths. In addition to slashing its revenue guidance, Nutanix said software and support b

Workday has canceled its annual internal sales meeting over fears of the coronavirus outbreak and will be moving the program online. The Workday Sales Kickoff, or SKO, was scheduled for March 2 through March 4 in Orlando, Florida, and was supposed to draw around 3,000 people, a spokeswoman told CNBC. The flu-like coronavirus, named COVID-19, has affected over 80,000 people globally and killed at least 2,700 since it was discovered Dec. 31 in China. Workday’s decision to make this year’s conferen

Moody’s Investor Service is slashing its global vehicle sales forecast as the coronavirus outbreak reduces demand and disrupts automotive supply chains. The firm now expects global auto sales to slump 2.5% in 2020 instead of a 0.9% drop previously expected. Moody’s cited the COVID-19 epidemic as well as stricter emissions regulations for the overall decline in vehicle sales from 90.3 million to 88 million. Moody’s, which forecasts global GDP growth of 2.4% in 2020, said its outlook for the autom

Stringent travel restrictions imposed on inbound flights from China to contain the coronavirus outbreak become “irrelevant” in a potential pandemic because “you can’t keep out the entire world,” a top U.S. health official said a day after the Trump administration braced the public for its eventual spread here. “When you have multiple countries involved, it’s very difficult to do; in fact, it’s almost impossible.” Fauci said he doubts the U.S. would adopt similar methods. “The wild card here is t

As fans continue to mourn the death of NBA legend Kobe Bryant, a Los Angeles auction house will sell off a game-worn jersey from the 1998-99 season, along with other Bryant memorabilia, including signed trading cards, basketballs and a replicated jersey. The Nate D. Sanders Auction House has set a minimum bid price of $20,000 for the jersey. However, a Kobe Bryant & Michael Jordan dual-signed playing card has one bid at the minimum set price of $8,250. A spokesperson for the Nate D. Sanders Auct

Billionaires should be grateful for their good fortune and stop being so sensitive to public criticism and name-calling by politicians, tech billionaire Chamath Palihapitiya said Wednesday. “My main hang up has been the constant attacking of wealthy people, the villainizing of the billionaire class,” he said on CNBC. Palihapitiya responded that billionaires need to better understand the perspective of the millions of Americans who have not seen their wealth soar from the stock market or other in

US director Steven Spielberg poses during a photocall for his film ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’ at the 61st Cannes International Film Festival on May 18, 2008 in Cannes, southern France. Indiana Jones’ iconic bullwhip will no longer be in the hands of director Steven Spielberg. On Wednesday, Variety reported that Spielberg will not direct the fifth movie in the Indiana Jones franchise and director James Mangold (“Ford v. Ferrari”) is now in talks to take the helm. Spielbe

With the new website, customers will be able to check out with one click. “We have [website] traffic, but because functionality isn’t great, you may not get the whole way to checkout,” he said. Lowe’s shares were down more than 4% on Wednesday, while Home Depot shares edged up less than 1%. Home Depot shares, which have a market cap of $259 billion, have gained more than 26% over the past year. Lowe’s shares are valued at $87 billion, and are up about 9% over the same period.

And while the company reported its second straight quarter of same-store sales growth in North America with an increase of 3.5%, full-year same-store sales growth in the region still fell 2.2%. Papa John’s said it is gathering real-time information from its team on the ground and is monitoring the spread of the virus closely. For the full year 2020, Papa John’s is currently guiding for international same-store sales growth of between 1.5% to 4%, and the company reported international same-store

Wall Street analysts were shocked after Disney announced on Tuesday that its long-time CEO Robert Iger would step down and become executive chairman effective immediately. The media giant said chairman of Disney parks, experiences and products, Bob Chapek will take over. While analysts urged investors to remain calm, many questioned the timing amid coronavirus outbreak, the launch of Disney+, and integration of Fox assets among other things. Shares of the company were down 1.16% in early trading

A man walks past shelves of Coca-Cola bottles and cans at a shopping mall in Lagos, Nigeria November 5, 2019. (This story is for CNBC Pro subscribers only.) The coronavirus driven market sell-off has pushed bond yields to record lows as investors fled to safe havens from risky assets. But history shows some equities get a boost from from plunging rates. These stocks are often stable companies that pay hefty dividends, which can look more and more attractive in a world of low yields.

Virgin Galactic co-founder Sir Richard Branson, CEO George Whitesides and Social Capital CEO Chamath Palihapitiya pose together outside of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) ahead of Virgin Galactic (SPCE) trading in New York, U.S., October 28, 2019. Virgin Galactic Chairman Chamath Palihapitiya thinks the recent rally by Wall Street’s favorite speculative stock is not the sign of a bubble, pointing instead to the space tourism company’s growing demand from possible customers. Shares of Virgin G

Traders work in the S&P 500 options pit at Cboe Global Markets Inc. in Chicago, Illinois. (This story is for CNBC Pro subscribers only.) The coronavirus wiped trillions of dollars from the U.S. stock market during the two-day sell off this week, but the crazy trading could actually end up benefiting certain stocks.

Chamath Palihapitiya speaking at the 2017 Delivering Alpha conference in New York on Sept. 12, 2017. Billionaire investor Chamath Palihapitiya disagrees with Berkshire Hathaway chairman Warren Buffett on the value of bitcoin, as Buffett declared earlier this week that cryptocurrencies have “no value.” “He is completely wrong and outdated on this point of view,” Palihapitiya said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Wednesday. Buffett thinks that cryptocurrencies “don’t produce anything” and have zero value

A contractor views the construction site of a residential building in New York. (This story is for CNBC Pro subscribers only.) Long-maturity bond rates tumbled to record lows amid the monster sell-off triggered by the coronavirus fears. While most stocks have been battered on economic growth concerns, this environment can bode well for one specific group of stocks, Wall Street analysts said.

At a recent record high, the Dow’s performance since Trump’s election exceeded 60% before falling more than 10 percentage points amid the sell-off. These calculations measure the percent price change of the Dow over a given period and exclude fixed returns like dividends. “In the 22 prior four year cycles, the S&P 500’s median gain was 9.26% with positive returns nearly three quarters of the time,” he added. He did so earlier this month, when the U.S. stock market hit all-time highs. “New Stock