NEW YORK >> Wall Street got its first taste of bitcoin on Monday, with the price of the first-ever futures contract for the digital currency jumping 20 percent. It’s a step forward for the bitcoin, which has soared this year despite concerns that the surge of investor interest has transformed it from a new-age currency into just the latest speculative bubble.
Apple orchestrates deal for song app Shazam
SAN FRANCISCO >> Apple has bought Shazam, the maker of a song-recognition app that Apple’s digital assistant Siri has already been using to help people identify the music playing on their iPhones. The companies didn’t disclose the price of the acquisition announced Monday, but previous reports placed the value at about $400 million. Siri began drawing upon Shazam’s technology to answer questions about songs in a 2014 update to the iPhone’s operating system.
Boeing raises dividend 20 percent
CHICAGO >> Boeing Co. is handing out more goodies to investors already flush from the company’s leap to the top of the Dow Jones Industrial Average — all while plotting its biggest investment since the 787 Dreamliner more than a decade ago.
The quarterly dividend will rise 20 percent to $1.71 a share, Boeing said in a statement Monday, surpassing analyst expectations. Directors also authorized $18 billion in share buybacks, up from a $14 billion program put in place a year ago.
Chief Executive Officer Dennis Muilenburg is making good on a promise to return cash gains to shareholders as the carbon-composite Dreamliner has become a rainmaker over the past year, ending years as a cash drain. The plane maker is also speeding factory output as it tries to profit from a record order backlog, which provides a cushion from the cyclical market swings that have hurt other industrial giants such as General Electric Co.
The strategy is nearing its biggest test yet as a major potential investment looms. Boeing directors are studying whether to move forward with their first all-new jetliner since the 787, which saddled the company with $30 billion in deferred costs after its tardy debut. Development costs for the proposed new plane would probably run between $10 billion and $15 billion, said aerospace analyst Richard Aboulafia.
ON THE MOVE
ABC Stores’ Finance Department has announced that John Han is their assistant controller. Han was previously the associate vice president of Advancement Services at the University of Hawaii Foundation.
Xerox Hawaii has announced the following appointments:
>> Robert Williamson, a Hawaii island resident, has been named as marketing representative for Xerox Hawaii, located on the Big Island. Williamson previously operated and owned a health care consulting company called iCare Innovations, located on Hawaii island.
>> Torey Knight has been named as the marketing representative for Xerox Maui. Knight was previously a direct sales representative for Oceanic Time Warner Cable.