BITCOIN CLOSES IN ON $9,000 AS FEARS CALM
Bitcoin extended a rebound Monday as the regulatory concerns that have plagued digital currencies this year showed signs of subsiding.
Bitcoin climbed 2 percent to $8,720 as of 2:28 p.m. in New York, bouncing back by almost 50 percent since dipping below $6,000 in intraday trading Feb. 6, according to composite Bloomberg pricing.
After facing weeks of mounting negative headlines that had wiped out billions in value, cryptocurrencies won a reprieve of sorts as top U.S. regulators testifying before a Senate committee called for greater oversight without proposing industrykilling measures.
Barnes & Noble cuts staff after weak holiday sales.
YORK» Barnes & Noble, NEW the nation’s largest bookseller, says it’s laying off staff after a weak holiday shopping season.
The company declined to give the number of jobs cut.
The cuts come after New York-based Barnes & Noble said last month that its sales at established stores slid 6.4 percent during the crucial nine-week period ending Dec. 30.
General Dynamics to buy CSRA for $7 billion.
FALLS
VA.» Defense contractor CHURCH, General Dynamics will spend almost $7 billion to acquire CSRA, with the Trump administration pushing defense spending aggressively higher.
Shares of CSRA Inc., an internet technology company, soared 31 percent in midday trading.
As part of a $4.4 trillion budget for next year unveiled Monday, President Donald Trump requested a record $686 billion for the Pentagon, a 13 percent increase from the 2017 budget enacted last May.
Amazon to lay off “small” number.
YORK» After a ramp-up of hiring last year, Amazon says it will cut a “small” number of positions at its Seattle headquarters.
The company did not give an exact number, but The Seattle Times, citing a person familiar with the cuts, says they affect a few hundred people. That would be a small percentage of the 40,000 people Amazon employs at its headquarters, and an even smaller proportion of its 566,000 employees worldwide.
Amazon’s headcount grew rapidly last year, up 66 percent from 2016. Some was because of its acquisition of Whole Foods and its 89,000 jobs, but Amazon also says it hired 130,000 people last year.