With Snap’s ad revenue projected by eMarketer to reach $1 billion this year, it can still be a strong digital advertising presence. Here’s what advertisers tell CNBC it needs to do:Get advertisers to use and understand it”Advertisers don’t use it personally,” said Matt Britton, CEO of marketing firm Crowdtap. “The core audience from Snap is the reason why advertisers are there,” said Chris Paradysz, co-CEO of PMX Agency. Invest more in advertising sales and engineeringAdvertisers want Snap to sh

Don’t let this spring’s home-buying frenzy drive you into bidding on the wrong house. Mortgage applications for home purchases continued to rise for the week ending May 5, reflecting a 6 percent increase from the same week a year ago, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Meanwhile, listing prices continue to climb as well: As of March, the median list price for a home reached $245,000, up from $229,000 a year ago, according to data from Zillow. The market has become so competitive that

A dollar resurgence is on the horizon, says one technician who sees bullish signals in the charts for the U.S. currency. “We saw a surge in the dollar index as that Trump reflationary narrative really takes off,” he said Wednesday on CNBC’s “Trading Nation.” The technician considers the 50-week moving average “support” for the dollar, meaning he sees the currency bouncing up once the wedge meets the line. Finally, Ross points out that there looks to be a “bullish engulf” on the dollar chart’s ca

Sterling, meanwhile, hit a one-week low against the dollar after the Bank of England’s inflation report showed interest rates are unlikely to rise within the next two years. The BoE’s Monetary Policy Committee also voted 7-1 in favor of keeping interest rates on hold this month. In late morning trading, the dollar fell 0.46 percent against the safe-haven yen to 113.73 yen. Against another safe-haven currency, the Swiss franc, the dollar fell 0.31 percent to 1.0056 franc. The dollar index was dow

Gold rose on Thursday as European and U.S. stock markets retreated, though it pared gains after data showing a tightening jobs market and accelerating inflation lifted the dollar and pulled U.S. bond yields from earlier lows. The metal is consolidating after sliding to its lowest in eight weeks on Tuesday at $1,213.81, analysts said. Spot gold rose 0.40 percent to $1,223.51 per ounce, following eight sessions in which prices have been flat or fallen. Some physical buying has come through of late

Oil prices rose more than 1 percent on Thursday, as large drawdowns in U.S. inventories and growing support for continued OPEC output cuts boosted confidence that a seemingly insurmountable glut might finally diminish. Brent rose 50 cents, or 1 percent, higher at $50.72 a barrel by 2:38 p.m. U.S. light crude oil settled Thursday’s session 50 cents, or 1.1 percent, higher at $47.83. U.S. crude stockpiles posted their biggest weekly drawdown since December as imports dropped sharply, while invento

When it comes to apps they’re using these days, teens and millennials say Snapchat is king — no surprise there. One question asked which apps they were using currently that they weren’t using a few months ago: Snapchat and Amazon came in first and second. (Other popular apps— Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest — came in third, fourth and fifth respectively.) Buying online allows Gen Z and millennial buyers to get feedback on the products, something they wanted in their shopping experience. Other a

Apple will spend $1 billion to double the size of its data center east of Reno, NV, and expects to add at least 100 new employees to run it. The company told CNBC that this investment is separate from the $1 billion investment in U.S. manufacturing that CEO Tim Cook revealed to “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer in an interview last week. Apple has already invested over $1 billion in the facility, and more than 700 employees work there, the company told CNBC. The Reno City Council approved the expansio

That’s the promise of an exploding number of mental health entrepreneurs, who are exploring opportunities to monitor users’ smartphone behavior to detect a variety of symptoms — all with their consent. Insel, a psychiatrist and the former chief of the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health, was tasked with forming a team dedicated to innovating in mental health with new technology. Mental health technology is a big market opportunity, with studies finding that some 30% of people will experien

The important thing is that each understands the other’s priorities and concerns, and then they can work from there. The important thing is that each understands the other’s priorities and concerns, and then they can work from there. Have your own credit history: Consider having each spouse establish their own credit history, even if they share a credit card account because it’s likely one spouse will pass before the other. Another advantage is the surviving spouse generally won’t be liable for

Here is the conservative policy take on health insurance: A free market guarantees the highest-quality, lowest-price service in any market. If we all truly want better health care, the only way to provide it is through measures that incentivize a higher supply of health care, not a rationing of the available care through redistributionist schemes. It may bring down the cost of health care in states that opt out of Obamacare regulations, but it does not get rid of the federal mandate. Advocates o

Lifelong learning is the “ongoing, voluntary, and self-motivated” pursuit of knowledge for either personal or professional reasons. The pursuit of knowledge is easier than it has ever been before. Digging deeper will separate you from the crowd and allow you to become a better version of yourself. You can’t get away with staying comfortableIf you have ever wondered what you can do to become a well-rounded person and increase your rate of success, you will find these books useful. If you are cons

With each company I lead, I’ve learned more about what creates a culture where amazing, high-performing creatives thrive. However, I’ve found the best way to motivate high-performers is really simple: Get back to the basics and treat them like adults. The mission of my current company, Chatbooks, is to strengthen family relationships through our photo books. They’re automatically created from your social media and smartphone photos, and are a great way for kids to re-live family memories. For us

The Senate Intelligence Committee has invited ousted FBI Director James Comey to testify next week. Democratic Sen. Mark Warner, the panel’s vice chairman, said the committee sent a request Wednesday morning but has not heard back yet. President Donald Trump fired Comey on Tuesday, and the president said Wednesday that the FBI director “was not doing a good job.” Most Republican lawmakers, though, have resisted those calls and said that the Senate Intelligence Committee’s probe into Russian inte

The White House said Wednesday that President Donald Trump’s confidence in ousted FBI Director James Comey eroded over the last “several months,” as the Trump administration played more defense after the surprise Tuesday firing. Trump also told Fox Business in an April interview that he had confidence in Comey. Trump fired Comey on Tuesday, and the president said Wednesday that the FBI director “was not doing a good job.” Sanders highlighted that many Democrats had heavily criticized Comey in th

Jim Cramer rang the lightning round bell, which means he gave his take on caller favorite stocks at rapid speed:Rite Aid Corporation: “Pain! I foresee pain, because they put [the Walgreens deal] to the FTC saying, ‘Listen, you’ve got to put up or shut up.’ Cara Therapeutics: “Yeah, the stock has been hammered since we had them on, but you know what, I’m sticking by it. Pandora Media Inc.: “Don’t buy, don’t buy, don’t buy, don’t buy.” Mad Money Twitter – Jim Cramer Twitter – Facebook – Instagram

“Nvidia’s chips are being used by everybody, from Lockheed Martin for reliable virtual reality for the U.S. Navy to Ikea,” Cramer said. With the new administration promising to bolster the U.S. military and e-commerce sales on the rise, the forecast for that area of Nvidia’s business looks sunny as well. Nvidia’s third booster comes from the data center space, where its business is now three times larger than it was one year ago, Cramer said. Fourth but not least is Nvidia’s burgeoning auto busi

But as the market soared higher, Cramer offered an explanation for why the market may not be so hostage to Washington after all. With that in mind, Cramer turned to some of the investing opportunities he has found in a market split between bearish buyers and bargain buffs. First is the gaming sector, where Cramer said it is worth waiting a day or two for a decline. While some may try to draw connections between Trump and, for example, the massive gaming community, Cramer sees few links between W

The CBOE Volatility Index appears to be playing a game of limbo. “We have a historically low level of realized volatility in the markets. Furthermore, the low levels of actual volatility are easily flowing into the implied volatility measured by the VIX. “We’ve gotten to very, very low levels in the past, in the early 1990s. The volatility index was trading just a hair above the 10 level in Wednesday trading.

On Tuesday at the company’s annual Build conference in Seattle, Microsoft executives spent hours showing how they plan to change that. CEO Satya Nadella also pointed out one edge that Microsoft still has over Amazon: its massive reach in enterprises. In doing so, Microsoft is trying to make it more worthwhile for developers to build for Cortana, and open up its services for more third-party features. Also, longtime Microsoft partners HP and Intel will be working to build Cortana-enabled devices.