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Kuwait telco Zain eyes technology investments: CEO

By Matt Smith DUBAI (Reuters) – Kuwait’s Zain will investment more in technology firms in parallel industries and is considering buying into two digital advertising companies, the telecom operator’s chief executive said on Monday. Zain, like many Gulf telecoms operators, has suffered as subscriber growth stagnated and replacement services such as instant messaging and Internet-based calls replaced higher-margin text messages and conventional phone calls. Last week, it announced a link-up

Wild trading exposed flaws in ETFs

The extreme stock-market gyrations in August exposed cracks that many critics had warned about in the booming business of exchange-traded funds—cracks that fund managers such as BlackRock Inc. are now acknowledging as they work to figure out what went wrong.

Fischer's 2014 why-wait wisdom points to Fed liftoff this week

Stanley Fischer offered a word to the wise in 2014 that resonates today as he and other Federal Reserve officials face their toughest decision in years — the benefits of waiting can be overrated. Slowing economic growth abroad and volatile stock prices at home are prompting some U.S. central bankers to rethink whether now is the best time for the first interest-rate increase since 2006. One option, says former Fed

Google hires Truecar's Krafcik to head its driverless car unit

With the hiring of Krafcik, currently the president of automotive pricing terminal Truecar Inc (TRUE.O) and a former CEO of Hyundai Motors America, Google is starting to look at the project as a potential and relevant business in the near future. Chris Urmson, who has been head of the self-driving car program since 2009, will continue overseeing the project as its technical lead, the company said in an emailed statement.