•Facebook shares declined by 20 percent after the social-media company reported below-expectation revenue growth rates in its second-quarter earnings announcement. The decline wiped away nearly $120 billion in market value.
•Fortune 100 construction equipment company Caterpillar Inc. revealed that newly imposed U.S. tariffs will reduce the company’s bottom line by up to $200 million. It intends to offset these losses by increasing prices and focusing on a stricter cost discipline.
•California has reached its 2020 greenhouse gas emission goal years ahead of schedule as the California Air Resources Board released its emissions report data for 2016, the latest year available. The state now produces less emissions than it did in 1990, and state law mandates another 40 percent decline by 2030.
•The European Commission has ordered a $5 billion fine against Google for unjustly pushing the company’s own Chrome and Search apps on Android smartphone users. Manufacturers were required to install the software as a condition of licensing Google’s Android mobile operating system. The fine is the largest ever imposed by the European Commission.
•One of the most difficult tests in finance, the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Program, has announced it will be adding a section on cryptocurrencies and blockchain in its 2019 exam. The addition confirms the recent surge of interest in the area and will be categorized under a new topic called “Fintech in Investment Management.”
