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Impact of Twitter outages grows as stock traders go social

Twitter suffered its largest outage in some time Monday following an error in a "routine change" to the microblogging site.

In a statement, the company said the site was not available from 1:08 p.m. to 1:33 p.m. PT. A mere 25 minutes. For the 200 million Twitter users, that was a while, at least since the days of the regular "fail whale."

But now that Bloomberg terminals -- the computers that Wall Street analysts, financial types, and traders use -- have tweets flowing through them, there's a greater onus of responsibility … Read more

With Skillfeed, Shutterstock aims to rework online training

Shutterstock has launched a new subscription service called Skillfeed designed to connect professionals who need to learn how to use their computers with creative types who want to make videos that do the teaching.

With the $19-per-month service, subscribers can watch as many videos as they want, either longer-form courses or shorter "snacks" good for smaller periods of free time, said David Fraga, Skillfeed's general manager. And content contributors get paid: Shutterstock keeps 70 percent of the proceeds, but the rest is divided among all contributors based on what fraction their videos were of the total time … Read more

Tesla stock revs up after first profitable quarter

Tesla's stock is on a roll following the electric car company's blockbuster first quarter.

As of about 9:15 a.m. PT Thursday, shares had already risen almost 25 percent in trading, reaching close to $70 apiece.

Investors were clearly geared up by Tesla's first-quarter results, in which the company reported a profit of $11 million, its first time in the black since it launched 10 years ago. The company also witnessed an 83 percent jump in revenue, which hit $562 million.

Some Apple talk may also have aroused investor interest.

In an interview with Bloomberg published … Read more

Exiting Facebook board member dumps $38 million in stock

Jim Breyer, the early Facebook investor who is leaving the company's board, has dumped roughly $38 million worth of Facebook stock, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing published Monday.

Breyer is a venture capitalist whose firm, Accel Partners, was one of the social network's first investors. The filing from Wednesday shows that he sold 1.3 million of his own shares, valued between $28.19 and $29.03. The amount is a drop in the bucket for Breyer, who is still hanging onto 7.8 million shares, which were worth roughly $223.6 million at the … Read more

Microsoft shares hit five-year high despite Windows 8 flop

The news may seem bleak for Microsoft these days, what with Windows 8 sales disappointing, and the PC market itself sliding.

But don't tell Wall Street. Microsoft shares closed Tuesday at $33.10, their highest level in more than five years.

Microsoft shares have been moribund for the better part of the last decade. Investors have come to view the company, once the most valued stock in the world, as one with limited growth opportunity, particularly as rivals Apple and Google race ahead in key consumer markets.

The recent stock bounce, which gained momentum earlier this month, is largely … Read more

Apple preps bond sale effort

Apple is readying a bond offering, its first since 1996.

The program, which The Wall Street Journal says could be finalized later today, is designed to help Apple pay for the more than $100 billion it plans to pay shareholders over the next few years.

Apple detailed initial plans for the program in a regulatory filing on Monday, and once again on Tuesday. It's a mix of notes and securities that mature beginning in 2016, and go through 2043, though Apple did not provide prices. Bloomberg suggests the total could go as high as $17 billion.

The bond sale … Read more

Apple shares sputter after profit decline

Apple's shares were hovering around the $400 mark again today, and not in a good way.

By the end of trading on Wednesday, the shares had largely pulled themselves out of their funk, closing at $405.46, just a hair below the previous day's close.

But things were a bit gloomier in the first few hours of trading Wednesday, when shares in the high-profile technology company were generally down 1 percent or more to just around $401, with a handful of dips into the $399 range or below. Shares had closed Tuesday, just ahead of Apple's earnings … Read more

The 404 1,254: Where can you spare a Bitcoin? (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Check out the new Web site for Jill Schlesinger, CBS News senior business analyst!

- Bitcoin bubble burst? Currency suffers dramatic correction.

- Bitcoin drops another 35 percent as exchange reopens.

- Apple earnings could bring profit setback, despite record sales.… Read more

Apple stock dips below $400 before rebound

Apple's shares finally sagged below the $400 point.

Just before 10 a.m. PT today, the stock dipped below that round number, if only momentarily, crossing a threshold that seemed unlikely when it was high and mighty at more than $700 a share last September. That registered as the day's low of at $398.11, though the stock quickly rebounded to around the $403 mark.

Apple's shares closed the day at $402.80, a drop of 5.5 percent from the previous day's close.

Some Wall Street analysts put the blame on a disappointing quarterly forecastRead more

Goldman says 'sell' Microsoft, others downgrade stock

Goldman Sachs recommended selling Microsoft today in the wake of brutal first quarter PC shipment numbers.

Heather Bellini, an analyst at Goldman Sachs, recommended that investors sell the stock -- downgrading it from a neutral rating, according to Bloomberg.

"Quarterly results will "gradually deteriorate unless Microsoft successfully repositions itself as a more meaningful participant in the new era of consumer compute," Bellini wrote in a note to investors.

This critique comes after a report from IDC Wednesday showed PC shipments sinking 14 percent worldwide in the first quarter, the worst quarter ever reported by IDC. The market … Read more