For decades now, semiconductors have been made using ever-finer wiring, enabling the famous Moore's law, which predicts a doubling of performance every two years or so. But, as transistors have gotten smaller, some chipmakers are struggling to keep up.
Driving the news: The latest shift to 7-nanometer wiring is proving to be the toughest yet. Intel has already admitted challenges and now one of the other industry giants, GlobalFoundries, said Monday it's going to focus on other types of advances rather than moving to 7 nanometers amid the high costs of the new generation.
The monthly U.S. Consumer Confidence Index rose from 127.9 in July to 133.4 in August, hitting its highest mark since October 2000 and beating Reuters analysts' prediction that it would fall to 126.7.
Why it matters: The economy is humming, and any suggestion that the consumer mood was faltering because of trade disputes may have been premature, says Jim Baird, Chief Investment Officer for Plante Moran Financial Advisors. The stock market is on a record-breaking bull run, unemployment is low, and GDP growth topped 4% last quarter for the first time since 2014.
Twitch, the Amazon-owned video-streaming service used primarily for esports, is beginning to give Google-owned YouTube a run for its money.
Why it matters: Twitch will help drive Amazon's rising advertising business, but it also leaves the platform vulnerable to some of the safety, business and philosophical headaches that some of its rivals have faced for years.
In July, CNN reported that former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen had privately claimed President Trump knew in advance about the 2016 Trump Tower meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and Russians — and now Lanny Davis, Cohen's attorney, says he was an anonymous source for that story, reports Buzzfeed News' Steven Perlberg.
The bottom line: Davis, who told Perlberg he also served as an anonymous source for several other media outlets looking to confirm the CNN story, now says he doesn't know whether Cohen has any new information about the Trump Tower meeting. Davis told Axios' Jonathan Swan earlier this month that Cohen still doesn't know whether Trump knew about the infamous meeting.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced details Monday of its "temporary relief" plan to help farmers who have been hit hard by retaliatory tariffs.
The details: The department will make up to $4.7 billion available to help offset the costs of the trade war. U.S. soybean farmers are expected to receive the bulk of the payments at $3.6 billion.
CBS was hit with a class action shareholder lawsuit on Monday, which argues that the media giant made a material omission and misled shareholders when it failed to disclose sexual harassment allegations against its Chairman and CEO Leslie Moonves, Variety reports.
The context: Six women accused Moonves of sexual misconduct during the 1980s in a Ronan Farrow-authored piece in The New Yorker in July, which featured dozens of current and former CBS employees stating that Moonves' problematic behavior was well-known at the network.
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman made the decision to to nix the plan to list a portion of Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s national oil company, on the stock market, according to Reuters.
Why it matters: The expected IPO was a project of the king’s son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is working to overhaul the country’s economy and society to be more open under his "Vision 2030" program. But, per Reuters, some believe that Salman's move away from the IPO shows that — as long as he remains in control — Saudi Arabia may not be truly committed to an open and transparent economy.
Dan discusses the bull and bear cases for Bitcoin with CNBC's Melissa Lee. Plus talk of Elon Musk and Warren Buffett. All in 10 minutes, to make you smarter faster.
The tech-laden Nasdaq broached the 8,000 mark for the first time ever after reports that the U.S. and Mexico struck a partial NAFTA deal. The Dow also rose above 26,000 for the first time since February, CNBC reports.
Why it matters: This is the latest example of investors reacting to good news on the trade front, which has been considered a headwind for the markets.
