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maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 10 FEBRUARY 2016 11 Business Today www.creditinfo.com.mt info@creditinfo.com.mt Tel: 2131 2344 Your Local Partner for Credit Risk Management Solutions Supporting you all the way Market commentary: Rough start to the week as European shares tumble Global stocks got off to a rough start to the week. European shares tumbled to a 16-month low on Monday, with investors rattled over a slowdown in global eco- nomic growth, and fresh concerns about the banking sector. Most major European banks saw their shares take a hit at the start of the week. This is bad news for the financial sector, showing that investors are starting to think that banks may not be as solid as they previously thought. Germany led the declines, with Deutsche Bank shares falling over 8%. Elsewhere in the sector, BNP Paribas, ING, Barclays and Credit Suisse were all down by more than 4%. Energy stocks also lost ground, with Chesapeake Energy the latest casualty, plunging as much as 50%, before recovering some losses. This drop came as a result of multiple reports that it has hired restructuring attorneys. Already drowning is more than $10 billion in debt, the company has been hit by a steep fall in both oil and gas prices. Chesapeake is scheduled to disclose its fourth-quarter and full year 2015 results on 24 February. Twitter users went into meltdown over the weekend, venting their frustration through a newly created hashtag, #RIPTwitter. This was vigorously used to express fury at the news that the company may be changing the way tweets appear on users' timelines. Twitter's shares have already fallen 32% this year, with the company under pressure to reverse the fortunes of the social media company. Concerns over the global economy have added an extra shine to safe haven assets such as gold. RandGold Resources were among the biggest winners on the day, as their shares sailed to the top of the FTSE 100 on Monday, after beating expectations in their full year results. The unforeseen rise in cash flow led the company to increase its annual dividend by 10%, sending its shares soaring. Wall Street was deep in the red in volatile trading on Monday as technology stocks continued to sell off, and oil prices remained under pressure. Companies as big as Facebook and Amazon also experienced a drop in their share prices, as Wall Street spend a large part of the day in sell-off mode. It was also a rough day for Cognizant Technology Solutions after its shares sank over 6%. This drop came as a result of the company's earnings and revenue forecasts being well below expectations. Cognizant stock shed $3.98 and now stands at $54.56. In trouble… A former executive at Harman International has been arrested and accused of insider trading. Dennis Hamilton, former vice- president of Tax was charged with securities fraud in connection with trades in the company's stock that prosecutors estimate landed him over $130,000. Prosecutors are arguing that Hamilton bought 17,000 shares of Harman for an account he holds with his wife the day before the company released its first-quarter earnings. Hamilton is in trouble since he listened in to the teleconference in which the results were discussed, and also received an e-mail containing a draft of the earnings press release. A spokeswoman of Harman said Hamilton is no longer a company employee. The cherry on the cake lies in the fact that Harman could face as much as 20 years in prison if convicted. This article was issued by Rebecca Naudi, Trader at Calamatta Cuschieri. For more information visit, www.cc.com. mt. The information, view and opinions provided in this article is being provided solely for educational and informational purposes and should not be construed as investment advice, advice concerning particular investments or investment decisions, or tax or legal advice. Calamatta Cuschieri & Co. Ltd has not verified and consequently neither warrants the accuracy nor the veracity of any information, views or opinions appearing on this newspaper. Google boss becomes highest-paid in US The chief executive of Google, Sundar Pichai, has been award- ed $199m in shares, a regulatory fi ling has revealed. It makes him the highest-paid chief executive in the US. Pichai became chief executive of the search engine giant following the creation of its parent, Alphabet. The founders of Google, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, have amassed fortunes of $34.6bn and $33.9bn, according to Forbes. Pichai, 43, was awarded 273,328 Alphabet shares on 3 February, worth a total of $199m, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The new award of shares takes Pichai's total stock value to approximately $650m. Mr Pichai's share award will vest incrementally each quarter until 2019. In other words, full control over the shares will pass to him on a gradual basis. The Google chief executive joined the company since 2004, initially leading product management on a number of Google's client software products, including Google Chrome] and Chrome OS, as well as being largely responsible for Google Drive. He also oversaw the development of Gmail and Google Maps. He previously worked in engineering and product management at Applied Materials and as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company. Net neutrality ruling shuts down Facebook's Free Basics app in India India's telecoms regulator has blocked Facebook's Free Basics in- ternet service app as part of a ruling in favour of net neutrality. The scheme offered free access to a limited number of websites. However, it was opposed by supporters of net neutrality who argued that data providers should not favour some online services over others. The free content included selected local news and weather forecasts, the BBC, Wikipedia and some health sites. "No service provider shall offer or charge discriminatory tariffs for data services on the basis of content," ruled the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. The body had been investigating whether any online content should be prioritised over others, or offered for free while others were not. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said he would work to make Free Basics legal. "While we're disappointed with today's decision," he wrote. "I want to personally communicate that we are committed to keep working to break down barriers to connectivity in India and around the world. "Connecting India is an important goal we won't give up on, because more than a billion people in India don't have access to the internet. We know that connecting them can help lift people out of poverty, create millions of jobs and spread education opportunities." The World Wide Web Foundation, founded by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the web, welcomed the regulator's decision. "The message is clear: We can't create a two-tier Internet - one for the haves, and one for the have- nots," said programme manager Renata Avila. "We must connect everyone to the full potential of the open Web. "We call on companies and the government of India to work with citizens and civil society to explore new approaches to connect everyone as active users, whether through free data allowances, public access schemes or other innovative approaches."