Despite scandal, Uber raising $1 billion at a $40 billion valuation

Uber CEO Travis Kalanick has been criticized for his company's tactics, but it's not impacting the fundraising.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The company is looking to raise $1 billion in funding at a $40 billion valuation, a source with knowlege of the deal confirmed to CNNMoney. (Bloomberg first reported the valuation last week.) The company, currently valued at $17 billion, would be worth more than Netflix (NFLX, Tech30).

Additionally, Uber is working with Goldman Sachs on a separate round of funding, according to the source. The bank is offering its high net worth clients the option of convertible debt that could eventually be converted to stock. (This was first reported by Fortune.)

This comes just weeks after an Uber executive came under fire for suggesting the company dig up dirt on journalists who criticized the car service.

One investor called the recent controversies "PR misfires" that have yet to affect the business.

"The [company's] numbers are astronomical," he added.

"In terms of brand awareness, there's no company bigger than Uber right now," Bluerun Ventures Partner John Malloy told CNNMoney. "Late-stage investors have an appetite to be involved in ... what's looked at as the breakthrough company."

First Published: December 1, 2014: 7:36 PM ET

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FBI warns of hacking threat after Sony attack

The FBI is warning businesses of a new malicious software that was used to attack Sony Pictures.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The threat comes from the same type of malicious software that infected Sony's computer systems, a law enforcement official told CNN.

As a result of the attack on the Hollywood studio, Brad Pitt's "Fury" and the remake of the musical "Annie," have become available on illicit web sites. Screener copies of at least five unreleased Sony films have also made their way online.

Sony is "exploring the possibility" of a North Korean link to the hacking, according to Re/code and other reports. That's because Sony is about to release "The Interview," a comedy starring James Franco and Seth Rogen. Its plot entails an attempted assassination of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.

Businesses were alerted about the new threat and what the hackers could do once inside the business' computers.

The FBI routinely advises private industry of various cyber threats found during investigations, the FBI said in a statement Monday night.

This data is provided in order to help systems administrators guard against the actions of persistent cyber criminals, it said.

The alert was first reported by Reuters.

CNN's Pamela Brown contributed to this report.

First Published: December 1, 2014: 7:57 PM ET

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Japanese voters to give verdict on Abenomics

HONG KONG (CNNMoney)

At best, his record has been mixed. Yet he's gambled his future by calling snap elections and asking voters to buy his cure of government spending, money printing and reforms for a second time.

So why is Abe confident enough of victory to risk being thrown out of office two years early? The simple answer: There's no obvious alternative, politically and economically.

Japan's opposition is in disarray, and opinion polls indicate his party will win again. That's despite waning support for his economic strategy -- known as Abenomics.

There are good reasons for this. Two years ago, the country was just beginning to emerge from a recession. As the election campaign kicks off Tuesday, the economy has slipped back into reverse.

That's not to say nothing has changed. Higher government spending, massive monetary easing by the Bank of Japan, and modest progress on some reforms has fueled a stock market boom and reversed a trend of falling prices.

The benchmark Nikkei has risen nearly 65% from the beginning of 2013, and core inflation is near 1%.

At the same time, wages have lagged and many of Abe's proposed reforms -- the keys to sustained growth -- failed to launch. On Monday, Moody's slashed Japan's credit rating and expressed reservations over the country's rising debt levels.

Related: Moody's downgrades Japan on debt worries

The bottom line for many economists is that it's too early to throw in the towel. Not least because there are no easy answers. Japan needs growth if it's ever to control government borrowing that has left the nation saddled with debt worth nearly 2.5 years of economic output.

"Japan's economic problems are still far from being solved but that is no reason to abandon the fight against deeply-ingrained deflation with all its associated economic costs," Marcel Thieliant and Mark Williams of Capital Economics wrote in a research note.

Abe is betting that voters will make the same calculation, and he will earn the right to spend four more years steering Japan toward revival.

The most important lesson of the past two years is that Abe and his central bank chief can't do it alone -- and lawmakers will need to bite the bullet on painful reforms.

"Hopefully, the recent weakness of the economy will serve as a wake-up call to policymakers that monetary easing alone is not enough to lift economic growth," Thieliant and Williams said.

Related: Even Abenomics can't ignore Japan debt

First Published: December 1, 2014: 9:16 PM ET

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Sony films surface on pirate sites after hacking attack

Brad Pitt's "Fury" is one of several Sony movies that have appeared online.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Screener copies of at least five unreleased Sony films have made their way online, according to Variety.

The FBI is reportedly involved in the investigation into the apparent leak.

"The theft of Sony Pictures Entertainment content is a criminal matter, and we are working closely with law enforcement to address it," a Sony Pictures spokesperson said in a statement.

On Sunday, "Fury," which is still in theaters, and "Annie," which is scheduled to premiere December 19, were both on the Top 100 downloaded movies list of the file-sharing site The Pirate Bay.

Three other forthcoming Sony films -- "Still Alice," "Mr. Turner," and "To Write Love on Her Arms" -- have also appeared on file-sharing sites.

An extensive cyber-attack disrupted Sony Pictures' computer systems last week, causing corporate email to be crippled and forcing some employees to rely entirely on telephone calls for communication. The company is still recovering.

While the timing does match up, there has been no independent confirmation that the cyber-attack was the cause of the film leak.

A group calling itself "Guardians of Peace" appeared to take credit for the attack last week.

Re/code reported on Friday that Sony is "exploring the possibility" of a North Korean link to the hacking. That's because Sony is about to release "The Interview," a comedy starring James Franco and Seth Rogen. Its plot entails an attempted assassination of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.

The regime in Pyongyang has been fuming about the movie for months; in June, a spokesman for the North Korean Foreign Ministry called it "undisguised terrorism and a war action" and hinted at consequences to come.

"Those who defamed our supreme leadership and committed the hostile acts against the DPRK can never escape the stern punishment to be meted out," the spokesman said.

The comedy is scheduled to be released on December 25. It does not appear to be circulating online like "Fury" and "Annie" now are.

Jose Pagliery contributed reporting.

First Published: November 30, 2014: 9:09 PM ET

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Fewer shoppers hit the stores on Black Friday

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The National Retail Federation, which tracks customer visits to stores as well as sales, reported that 5.1 million fewer people were out shopping on Black Friday than last year. That was a decline of about 7%.

On Thanksgiving Day itself, when many of the largest retailers opened with doorbuster deals between 6 and 8 p.m., the retail group found that around 1.8 million fewer shoppers went out than last year.

Overall, traffic was also down over the long weekend: About 5% fewer shoppers visited stores from Thanksgiving through Sunday.

Related: Where to find Cyber Monday deals

The NRF gets its numbers from a survey of about 4,600 Americans.

But note that a separate report from Shoppertrak, which uses data from retailers rather than a survey of shoppers, actually found a 27% increase in Thanksgiving traffic over 2013.

Two things are certain: More people are shopping online, and the holiday deals (in stores and online) are less concentrated on the one four-day weekend than they used to be.

As a result, stores are bracing for "a marathon not a sprint," said Matthew Shay, president and CEO of the retail federation.

Americans are also spending less over the Thanksgiving weekend, the retail survey showed.

Shay said it was tough to predict whether consumers were spending less than they expected because they're concerned about the economy or because they believe better deals are to come. But he stood by his organization's prediction of a 4.1% increase in holiday spending over the whole season, which began on November 1 and runs through the end of December.

Related: Pot sellers push 'Green Friday'

Much of that will likely be driven by online spending.

Americans spent 14% more online on Thanksgiving than last year, according to data from IBM. Online shopping on Black Friday was up nearly 10%.

The National Retail Federation warned that sales numbers on Cyber Monday may also slump as retailers spread out their sales throughout the month.

"It's safe to assume that as consumer demand drives this 24/7 seamless, frictionless get-it-how-you-want-it environment that Cyber Monday will continue to evolve as well," Shay said.

Related: Black Friday is just another busy shopping day

Related: Best Buy crashes amid Black Friday deals

First Published: November 30, 2014: 4:59 PM ET

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NBC's Dr. Nancy Snyderman still on the bench

Dr. Nancy Snyderman of NBC.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

NBC News said she'd return to work sometime in November, but November is over. And the network is not giving a new date for her return.

But sources at the network say she is still expected to be back on the air sometime soon.

Snyderman, NBC's chief medical editor, stoked controversy in October when she violated a voluntary Ebola-related quarantine, seemingly contradicting what she'd said on television about safe medical practices.

Snyderman had been covering the Ebola outbreak in Liberia with a team that included Ashoka Mukpo, a freelance cameraman. When Mukpo was infected with Ebola, Snyderman and the rest of the team members returned to the United States. She said they would "self-quarantine on our own."

"We'll approach this very cautiously, and probably more judiciously than other people, because we want to send the right message," Snyderman said on NBC's "Today" show on October 3.

She said the self-quarantine would last for 21 days. But within days of touching down in the U.S., Snyderman was seen outside her home in New Jersey. The sighting was soon reported by local news media, leading the state of New Jersey to enforce a mandatory quarantine.

Snyderman said in a subsequent October 13 statement that "members of our group violated those guidelines and understand that our quarantine is now mandatory until 21 days have passed." She said she was "deeply sorry for the concerns this episode caused."

Since then, Snyderman hasn't been heard from -- not a peep on television, Twitter or Facebook.

Meanwhile, people continue to leave comments on her Facebook page.

"Are you still NBC's chief medical editor?" one person asked last week.

"She violated the public trust for take-out," another person wrote on Snyderman's Facebook page, apparently addressing NBC. "Don't think we won't notice if you slip her back in."

Related: How NBC News quarantined Snyderman story

With Snyderman's apology in October came mounting questions about her credibility.

"NBC must now decide whether Snyderman's credibility is too damaged for her to continue reporting on Ebola or other medical issues and, if so, for how long," the Associated Press said.

But the network signaled that it still supported her. At the end of Snyderman's 21-day quarantine period, on October 22, NBC News president Deborah Turness said the correspondent and her crew would be taking some additional time off. The network had encouraged this -- partly to let some time pass before putting Snyderman back on TV.

Turness said in an internal memo, "we very much look forward to their return next month," meaning sometime in November.

But Snyderman never appeared on the network in November. Employees at NBC News, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the only people who know her fate are the top executives of the news division. And those executives aren't talking. A network spokeswoman declined to comment on Sunday.

But several of the employees said they do expect to see Snyderman back on the air soon, in one form or another. One of the employees said Snyderman may be reintroduced through an interview on "Today" or "NBC Nightly News" that allows her to clear the air about her absence.

Snyderman did not respond to requests for comment.

In the meantime, NBC News has signed up another medical correspondent, Dr. Natalie Azar, on a part-time basis. Azar is a rheumatologist who teaches at New York University's Langone Medical Center and discusses medicine on local and national television shows.

She spoke about Ebola many times on NBC's newscasts in October, and in early November she was given the title of "NBC News medical contributor."

First Published: November 30, 2014: 4:35 PM ET

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America's dual economy

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

If you're a glass half-full type, it's easy to point to the fact that the economy is expanding again and unemployment is at a six year low. Gas is back under $3 a gallon, the stock market is at an all-time high and this year's job gains are on track to be the best since 1999.

America is certainly better off than it was during the financial crisis, and the nation looks a lot stronger economically than Japan and Europe.

America has added 2.3 million jobs in 2014

But there's a glass half-empty side of this economy, too.

Wages aren't rising for most Americans. A middle class family is actually bringing home the same income as it did in 1995, and millions of people want full-time jobs but are stuck in part-time positions.

There's no denying the rich are getting richer and the rest are stagnating.

The fact is there is truth in both sides -- the result of a slow-burn recovery from the worst financial crisis in generations.

Why voters hate the Obama economy

Here are the three key stats to that drive home America's dual economy:

1. Lucky to be employed.

On Friday the government reported another strong month of job gains. The unemployment rate is 5.8%, not far from what most economists think is typical rate of around 5% when the economy is humming along.

But the improving number masks the fact that the U.S. has 2.9 million people who have been out of work for half a year or more. That's double the number of long-term unemployed than before the recession.

Even more troubling is that the U.S. has over 7 million people who are working part-time but want full-time employment.

2. Wages aren't growing.

Americans are spenders. We like to buy things and that powers our economy. But people can't make purchases if they don't have money. That's why it's so worrying that U.S. wages aren't getting any bigger.

Wages today are about the same as they were just before the recession.

In the past year, wages went up about 2%, but that is just ahead of how fast costs have been rising so the gains are basically canceled out.

The complete list of companies that are open and closed on Thanksgiving

3. More gains went to Wall Street than Main Street.

The one area that has bounced back since the end of the recession is the stock market. It bottomed out in March 2009 and has been on an incredible tear ever since.

The S&P 500 -- the benchmark index that has a lot of funds that mimic or track it -- is up nearly 200% since that 2009 low point.

But the catch is that only half of Americans have any money in the stock market. So all those gains have only exacerbated the "have versus have not" economy.

Wealthy whites are the most likely to own stocks. And since the rich own more stocks, they benefited more.

First Published: November 7, 2014: 4:43 PM ET

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