Alibaba's astronomical Singles' Day sales failed to boost its share price, with shares closing down 2 percent in New York on Wednesday, so what happened?

The e-commerce giant handled $14.3 billion in sales over the 24-hour shopping period, a 60 percent increase compared to 2014. At first the stock was up until the 51-year old founder Jack Ma made some cautionary comments about growth expectations in China and the impact on Alibaba.

The Company’s founder said the next five to 15 months would be a tough time for the mainland, citing the impact of President Xi Jinping's anti-corruption fight. But he said Beijing's 7 percent gross domestic product (GDP) target was still achievable during that time frame.

In a bigger perspective, Alibaba shares are down more than 20 percent from last year as the world's second-largest economy grows at its slowest pace since 2009, with GDP sliding below 7 percent in the July-September quarter following weakening investment, excess capacity in the industrial sector and a strong currency.

Because Alibaba's business model relies on consumption, a broad economic slowdown is worrisome in the longer term and shadowing any short-term boost from record Singles' Day sales.

"The largest area of concern for Alibaba is the slowdown of Chinese growth and how that might hurt the domestic consumption, and that's the dark cloud over all the Chinese internet names today.

Others were more upbeat on Alibaba's outlook as they acknowledge that negative sentiment on the company's stock was directly tied to views on the broader economy, but said it was misguided. They believe that this is a complete misread for China internet/e-commerce, because those companies are delivering solid fundamentals even during a time that the country is slowing.

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China's online shoppers spent billions today, smashing records on "Singles' Day."

The annual online shopping festival, the Chinese version of "Cyber Monday" is the biggest single day of shopping anywhere in the world.

Within the first eight minutes, customers had spent $1 billion on Alibaba's popular shopping platforms, Taobao and Tmall. By 12:32 p.m. in China, gross merchandise volume settled through its payment service, Alipay, topped $9.3 billion, breaking last year's tally.

Numbers climbed rapidly as shoppers bought refrigerators, dresses, purses, groceries and more. Sales on this day beats Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales in the U.S.

Singles' Day in China began as a clever counter to Valentine's Day. It takes place each year on Nov. 11 -- or 11/11, which represents four single people. Originally, lonely singles were encouraged to pamper and spoil themselves and other single friends by going shopping for gifts. Now, it's morphed into a crazy shopping bonanza that rakes in tons of cash for brands and retailers, both big and small.

This year's blowout featured more than six million products from 40,000 merchants and 30,000 brands from 25 countries on Alibaba's shopping platforms. Other online platforms, such as JD.com (JD), also got in on the game, with international brands and retailers, including Macy's, Costco, Apple and Nike, offering deals on everything from sneakers to smartphones.

The 24-hour sale is expected to generate 760 million packages for delivery, 40% more than last year, China's postal bureau estimated. Many delivery services hired thousands of temporary workers to ease the burden.

Huge signs advertising promotions started popping up last month. Some shoppers prepared themselves in advance to make sure they could get their hands on the best deals.

Shoppers weren't the only ones competing for the goods. China's e-commerce firms also gear up for the big day, and compete with each other over final sales amounts.

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Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump weighed in on the latest odd Starbucks controversy, saying that maybe Americans shout boycott the Company.

Trump thinks it is reasonable to boycott Starbucks after the coffee giant announced it would abandon its Christmas-themed cups.

"I have one of the most successful Starbucks, in Trump Tower. Maybe we should boycott Starbucks? I don't know. Seriously, I don't care. That's the end of that lease, but who cares?" Trump told a crowd in Springfield, Illinois, on Monday. "If I become president, we're all going to be saying Merry Christmas again, that I can tell you. That I can tell you."

Trump's comments, on the eve of the next Republican presidential debate, is his latest rhetoric to win over Christian evangelicals who are much of the base in states like Iowa and South Carolina. Trump is grappling with Ben Carson, the other Republican front-runner and an evangelical favorite, in those two early voting states.

Starbucks said earlier that it had removed "symbols of the season" used in the past, which have included reindeer and ornaments, in favor of a simple, two-toned red cup. Some Christian leaders have long attacked secular businesses for waging a "War on Christmas" and prevented customers and employees from sharing Christmas greetings.

Trump previously pledged to his allegiance to Christmas during a campaign rally in October. "I guarantee if I become president, we're going to be saying 'Merry Christmas' at every store," he had said.

Only the customers can decide whether they think it’s justified to boycott Starbucks because of a change in their cups design and the fact that they don’t want to tell their customers ‘Merry Christmas’ anymore.

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Apple CEO Tim Cook is out creating a buzz for the 12-inch iPad Pro tablet, which launches later this week, and he doesn't really see why anybody would need a full personal computer anymore.

In an interview with The Telegraph, Cook said, "I think if you're looking at a PC, why would you buy a PC anymore? No really, why would you buy one?"

He continued: "Yes, the iPad Pro is a replacement for a notebook or a desktop for many, many people. They will start using it and conclude they no longer need to use anything else, other than their phones."

But recent history is against him. The iPad has seen seven straight quarters of declining sales — measured against the previous year — dipping below 10 million for the first time since mid-2011, and analysts seem to have given up on it.

The overall tablet market has been declining for the past year as well. Meanwhile, Apple's Mac business has been doing better than ever before, last quarter, the company sold a record 5.71 million Macs.

The iPad Pro is Apple's latest attempt to reverse this trend. Like the Microsoft Surface, which Cook once described as being like a combination refrigerator and toaster, the iPad Pro comes with an optional attachable keyboard. You can also buy a stylus for it to sketch on the screen. It also has a larger screen than those of previous iPads, coming in at almost 13 inches diagonally.

Cook acknowledged that the larger iPhone screen, introduced with the iPhone 6 in 2014, might have hurt iPad and iPad Mini sales. But he said Apple didn't mind as long as it was eating itself.

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The dollar is inching closer and closer to being worth the same as one euro. The last time that happened was 13 years ago.

So will the dollar really close on the euro anytime soon?

And if so, what does that mean for consumers, businesses and investors?

This year, the dollar has surged against the euro and most other global currencies. The U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the dollar versus the euro, Japanese yen, British pound, Canadian dollar, Swedish krona and Swiss franc, is up nearly 10% so far in 2015.

The main reason? Economic conditions in the United States are better than Europe and Japan. The value of a nation's currency typically rises and falls along with its economy.

As a result, the Federal Reserve is likely to soon hike interest rates, even as the European Central Bank and many other global central banks have been cutting rates. The dollar picked up even more steam Friday after a solid United States jobs report boosted the chances that the Fed may raise rates next month.

The euro is currently worth about $1.07, while this time a year ago, for each euro you got around $1.24. The drop in the value of the euro has been stunning. And it doesn't look like it's over just yet.

So if it the Dollar will keep gaining momentum, who will win and who will lose?

The strong dollar makes the price of imported goods cheaper in the United States, and gives advantage to Americans traveling abroad. The dollar has more purchasing power.

But the strong dollar is not good news for large corporations with a big international presence. For example, look at online travel agency Priceline, on Monday Shares tumbled nearly 10% after the company issued an earnings outlook that was below forecasts.

During a conference call with analysts, Priceline CEO Darren Huston said its domestic travel business has been strong and that Chinese travelers are still taking many trips to the U.S. But added that "generally almost everyone else is going a little less to the U.S. because of the currency effect."

The strong dollar has also hurt Coca-Cola (KO), IBM (IBM, Tech30), Caterpillar (CAT) and Procter & Gamble (PG) this year. That's something the Fed is going to have to watch closely before it decides to raise rates.

While many economists and Wall Street strategists now think a rate hike is all but certain at the Fed's next meeting in December, investors shouldn't ignore the role the dollar may play in the decision.

To put it in simple words: the strong dollar is hurting Corporate America. An eventual rate hike should boost the dollar further, especially if the ECB, the People's Bank of China and others continue to cut rates.

So when coming to conclusion, a strong dollar is good and bad at the same time, it depends who you’re asking. One can just hope he’s on the winning side of things when it comes to the rise of the Dollar.

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Investigators of the Russian plane crash in Egypt are "90 percent sure" the noise heard in the final second of a cockpit recording was an explosion caused by a bomb.

The Airbus A321 crashed 23 minutes after taking off from the Sharm al-Sheikh tourist resort eight days ago, killing all 224 passengers and crew.

Islamic State militants fighting Egyptian security forces in Sinai said they brought it down. "The indications and analysis so far of the sound on the black box indicate it was a bomb," said the Egyptian investigation team member, who asked not to be named due to sensitivities. "We are 90 percent sure it was a bomb."

His comments reflect a much greater degree of certainty about the cause of the crash than the investigation committee has so far declared in public.

A Lead investigator said on Saturday that the plane appeared to have broken up in mid-air while it was being flown on auto-pilot, and that a noise had been heard in the last second of the cockpit recording. But he said it was too soon to draw conclusions about why the plane crashed.

Confirmation that militants brought down the airliner could have a devastating impact on Egypt's lucrative tourist industry, which has suffered from years of political turmoil and was hit last week when Russia, Turkey and several European countries suspended flights to Sharm al-Sheikh and other destinations.

It could also mark a new strategy by the hardline Islamic State group which holds large parts of Syria and Iraq. Asked to explain the remaining 10 percent margin of doubt, the investigator declined to elaborate, but cited other possibilities on Saturday including a fuel explosion, metal fatigue in the plane or lithium batteries overheating.

He said debris was scattered over a 13-km (8-mile) area "which is consistent with an in-flight break-up".

"What happened in Sharm al-Sheikh last week, and to a lesser extent with the ... (Germanwings) aircraft, are game changers for our industry," Emirates Airlines President Tim Clark said, referring to the crash of a Germanwings airliner in the French Alps in March, believed crashed deliberately by its co-pilot.

Clark said he had ordered a security review but was not suspending any flights as a result of the disaster. Emirates does not operate regular flights to Sharm al-Sheikh.

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond also said the incident could lead to changes in flight security.

"If this turns out to be a device planted by an ISIL operative or by somebody inspired by ISIL, then clearly we will have to look again at the level of security we expect to see in airports in areas where ISIL is active," Hammond told the BBC.

Islamic State militants fighting security forces in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula have said they brought down the aircraft as revenge for Russian air strikes against Islamist fighters in Syria. They said they would eventually tell the world how they carried out the attack.

If the group was responsible, it would have carried out one of the highest profile killings since al Qaeda flew passenger planes into New York's World Trade Center in September 2001.

In St Petersburg, where the flight was headed on Oct. 31, the bell of St Isaac's Cathedral rang 224 times and a service was held in memory of the victims.

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In a new report released on Sunday, the World Bank has warned that more than 100 million people could be pushed back into poverty within 15 years due to rising temperatures and extreme weather.

The World Bank also said climate change was already preventing people escaping poverty but the situation could get much worse.

"This report sends a clear message that ending poverty will not be possible unless we take strong action to reduce the threat of climate change on poor people and dramatically reduce harmful emissions," said World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim.

Crop failures due to drought, big rises in food prices after "extreme weather events," and a higher incidence of disease following heat waves and floods would hurt the poorest the hardest, the World Bank said in a statement.

The report found people in Africa and South Asia were especially vulnerable.

Stephane Hallegate, an economist who led the team preparing report, said that the future for these 100 million people is not yet determined.

"We have a window of opportunity to achieve our poverty objectives in the face of climate change, provided we make wise policy choices now," he said.

That would mean tackling the cause of climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, as well as taking steps to reduce the impact on the poor such as improved social safety nets and healthcare, building better flood defenses and developing climate-resistant crops, the report said.

The report comes roughly a month before top officials from around the world will attend the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Paris.

Previously, Nature Climate Change published studies indicating climate change could make parts of the Middle East too hot for human beings to survive.

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This is how our Signals look just minutes after the crucial U.S jobs report. As you can see in the picture below, 9/10 of our Signals were correct by the time the announcement was out.

The report was huge for the U.S economy, Here are the big numbers:

- US economy added 271,000 jobs in October, and the unemployment rate dropped to 5%. That unemployment rate is now at the lowest level since April 2008, and economists consider a 5% rate to indicate full employment.

Average hourly earnings grew 0.4% month-on-month, better than forecast. The report had been expected to lift the pace of jobs growth from the unexpected slump we saw over the last two months.

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The Fed needs to see one thing in Friday's big jobs report: 'further improvement'

On Friday morning, (8:30am Eastern Time), the Bureau of Labor Statistics will release the employment report for October.

This report will be a good indication of how comfortable the Federal Reserve might be with actually raising rates at its December meeting.

Here’s what Wall Street is expecting:

Nonfarm payrolls: +182,000

Unemployment rate: 5%

Average hourly earnings month-on-month: 0.2%

Average hourly earnings year-on-year: 2.3%

Average weekly hours worked: 34.5

Change in manufacturing payrolls: -4,000

The Fed needs to be confident that, as it has said repeatedly, there is "further improvement" in the labor market and that the slowdown in jobs growth during the summer wasn't indicative of a new, negative trend for the US economy.

On Wednesday, Fed chair Janet Yellen reminded markets that a December rate hike was "a live possibility" as she testified before the House Financial Services Committee. This comment is part of why Friday's report, the first of two before the Fed's December meeting, is quite important.

In a sense, markets are back where they were just before Fed's September meeting when every data point appeared almost like a road block that had to be cleared. The difference is that during this run-up to the December meeting, the Fed has been more aggressive about prepping markets for a hike should the data line up.

Economists also expect the unemployment rate to drop to 5% for the first time since April 2008.

That's a level most economists consider to be “full employment”, one hurdle that the Fed is likely to want to clear before raising interest rates.

If all goes well, and the U.S economy will show signs of further improvement, we can expect the USD to rise against the EUR. This is a good chance for traders to make profits from the USD/EUR pair on Friday. 

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Europe predicts massive wave of refugees will keep on flowing to the continent.

The European Union is predicting that 3 million more migrants could arrive in the 28-nation bloc by the end of next year, with the refugee emergency already providing a serious test of EU capacities to provide shelter and welcome the new people.

More than 700,000 people have come to Europe seeking sanctuary or jobs so far this year, overwhelming reception centers and border authorities.

EU autumn economic forecasts released on Thursday show that based on current migrant entries and a "technical assumption" about future flows, arrival rates are unlikely to slow before 2017.

The EU's executive Commission said that "overall, an additional 3 million persons is assumed to arrive in the EU over the forecast period."

The Commission says the refugee crisis has resulted in additional government spending but that it could have a small, positive impact on European economies within a few years.

However the EU said the real impact on national budgets is difficult to predict, given a lack of complete and reliable data about exactly who is arriving in the bloc and whether they are staying.

Most people are arriving in Europe through Italy and Greece, while Hungary and Austria have been affected by heavy migrant flows. Germany and Sweden are also feeling the impact.

Those nations, among others, want the EU to apply its budget rules with flexibility, taking into account Europe's biggest refugee emergency in well over half a century.

The Commission said Thursday that Sweden, which has the highest share of refugees per capita, is likely to feel the economic impact most, perhaps 0.5 percent of its gross domestic product this year.

Other hard-hit migrant transit and destination countries are likely to see an impact of 0.2 percent of their GDPs in 2015. While acknowledging the potential short-term impact, the Commission did not clearly state whether it would be flexible on budget policy.

However a senior EU official said on Wednesday that some flexibility might be allowed "taking into account well-specified costs and for a limited period of time."

"This has been an asymmetrical shock for some member states," said the official, briefing reporters on condition that he not be named.

As long as any help is "one-off, short-term," members of the euro single currency bloc would agree to it, he said.

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Facebook stock hits all-time high, again.

Facebook Inc posted surprisingly strong profit and revenue growth as the world's largest social network grew even larger, with a rise in mobile users and advertising that lifted its stock to an all-time high.

The company reported audience numbers that suggest it is set to take on mainstream media as an advertising force, helping investors to overlook Facebook's huge spending on hiring and building data centers.

Facebook now has 8 billion video views per day from 500 million people, compared with 4 billion views in April.

And Facebook's website and Instagram photo-sharing app, which opened up its platform to all advertisers in the third quarter, account for more than 1 in 5 minutes spent on mobile devices in the United States, Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said.

"In the medium to long run, we believe that we're not competing between Facebook and Instagram. We're competing with other forms of media," Sandberg told analysts on a conference call after the earnings report.

Facebook had 1.55 billion monthly active users as of Sept. 30, up 14 percent from a year earlier. Of these, 1.39 billion used the service on mobile devices.

"Growth is happening across the board and we're of course looking for a lot of growth in the future in emerging markets," Sandberg said in an interview. "We're also pretty focused on helping bring the next set of people who are not online, online."

Ad revenue grew 45.4 percent to $4.30 billion, with 78 percent of that coming from mobile versus 66 percent in the year-ago quarter. "Part of the upside came from Instagram. The Instagram monetization engine has been turned on really rapidly for the coming quarters and years," said Arvind Bhatia, an analyst with SterneAgee.

Facebook did not disclose Instagram's ad sales figures. But the app is expected to bring in $595 million in mobile ad revenues this year, while its ad revenue is projected to grow to $2.8 billion by 2017.

Facebook's huge $3.0 billion spending, up 68 percent from the third quarter last year, did not seem to worry investors or analysts. "I think the investors would like the company to continue to invest given that the opportunity is pretty large," said Shyam Patil of Susquehanna Financial Group.

The stock rose about 5 percent to an all-time high of $109.34 in extended trading, before paring gains to about 4 percent. It closed earlier at $103.94.

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Twitter Inc. is doing all it can to start changing its bad run in recent months.

The Company has replaced the star-shaped “Favorite” button with the heart-shaped “Like” button. The news was reported on Tuesday, and the change has been credited to the company's aim to make the platform more user-friendly for newcomers.

Twitter’s Product Manager, Akarshan Kumar wrote: “The heart is more expressive, enabling you to convey a range of emotions and easily connect with people. And in our tests, we found that people loved it.”

The change had been requested by majority investor Chris Sacca, in June. In a blog post titled “What Twitter Can Be,” Mr. Sacca outlined various issues that the company has faced recently. He also came up with his own solutions to those problems.

The investor recommended removing the Favorites button, and using a Like button instead. He stated the same thing that the company noted in its post today: “It is now clear from across the Internet and throughout the world of apps that the heart is universally understood and embraced.” Mr. Sacca also pointed out that the use of the heart button on Twitter’s video-streaming app Periscope had received positive feedback from users.

The micro-blogging social network has not given credit to the investor for initiating this change. By adopting this policy, the company is somewhat following arch-rival Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB), which uses its own thumbs-up button for likes.

The company has rolled out the changes only a few weeks after announcing that co-founder Jack Dorsey would head the company as its permanent CEO. The new chief has committed to accelerate user growth by making more positive changes to the core product. As part of these changes, Twitter users should also expect to see an extension of the 140-character limits on tweets.

In contrast, Facebook still remains one step ahead of the change with its proactive approach. Earlier in August, the company said that it would be adding six new buttons to accompany the like button that include “Angry,” “Sad,” “Wow,” “Yay,” “Haha,” and “Love.” For now, these buttons are available only in Spain and Ireland, but users all over the world can expect to see them soon.

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Auto makers in the U.S. said car sales rose by a double-digit percentage in October, driven by the month having five weekends and continued strong demand for larger vehicles amid low oil prices.

Overall, car sales are on track to reach their highest October sales volume since 2001. General Motors Co. said the seasonally adjusted annual selling rate for light vehicles reached an estimated 18.2 million units in October.

GM led the Big Three, posting a 15.9% jump to 262,993 light vehicles sold in the month, which surpasses the estimate for 12% growth from car research firm Edmunds.com.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV recorded a 14.7% leap, propelled in part by searing demand for the auto maker’s Jeep brand, and was above the 14% estimate. Ford Motor Co.’s 13.4% growth in sales, came in a bit lower from expectations for 14.2% growth.

Car shoppers continued to drive away in larger, pricier vehicles amid low interest rates, cheap fuel and a stronger economy. The October numbers also were helped by another weekend in the month versus last year.

Nissan Motor Co. finished the month 12.5% higher than last year at 116,047 light vehicles. Overall sales of Nissan crossovers, trucks and SUVs rose 26% for an October record as Rogue sales shot up 70% and the Murano crossover jumped 25%.

Fiat Chrysler—which recorded its best sales for the month since 2001—sold 195,545 vehicles, compared with 170,480 for the month last year, extending the Italian-U.S. company’s sales-gains streak to 67 months.

Jeep brand sales spiked 33%. Eight Fiat-Chrysler vehicles posted their best October ever: Dodge Charger, Dodge Challenger, Dodge Journey, Jeep Cherokee, Jeep Compass, Jeep Patriot, Jeep Wrangler and Ram ProMaster.

Overall, U.S. auto sales are expected to increase 12% year-over-year to 1.43 million vehicles. Compact utilities are expected to hit their third month as the top segment with 40% growth. “Exploding popularity” of small utility vehicles means small and midsize cars are losing market share. The firm estimates market share for both smaller-car segments will drop more than a full percentage point.

Volkswagen AG is seen as a black mark on the month following fallout from its emissions scandal.

October could be the last month Volkswagen’s Audi sales remain untainted. On Monday, the Environmental Protection Agency slapped additional Clean Air Act violations on the German auto maker, widening the scandal to thousands of more diesel-powered vehicles, including multiple Audi models.

“In this year of booming auto sales, no auto maker should be relieved to see flat year-over-year performance, but this may be the best that Volkswagen can hope for this month,” said Edmunds.com analyst Jessica Caldwell. “Until VW starts down a road to recovery by informing owners of a specific fix to their diesel vehicles, the company is likely to make far fewer sales than this surging market would otherwise deliver to them.”

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Instagram star exposes why life on social media is far from the real thing

Model Essena O'neill said that going to scenic places and taking pictures just to get likes and compliments is not life.

Australian model Essena O'neill has more than half a million followers on Instagram and around 260,000 subscribers on YouTube. She had the life most people living in the digital age envied, yet she has decided to quit social media, and while doing so, she exposed the real stories behind the seemingly-perfect life she flaunted online.

"Social media is not real life," she decried.

The 19-year-old model, who earned her living through brand-sponsored posts and online advertisements, shared a raw and emotional video blog on her YouTube page, explaining the real reason why she is quitting social media.

"I am quitting social media to tell everyone, anyone that I was miserable. I had it 'all' and I was miserable," she said, adding that she decided to do it for her younger self who didn't get to live life because she was too focused on concocting a perfect life online that would be the envy of many.

O'neill added that she didn't get to live her real life, by just being with people and talking to them, because she was too busy "living in the screen and wishing that people would value" her.

She added that going to scenic places and taking pictures just to get likes and compliments is not life.

"You want to be valued and loved, but you also want to be free. You don't have to go on social media to connect. You don't have to prove your life on Instagram for it to be a good life."

To those dreaming of building a career by blogging, she gave this advice: "I have everything to lose by doing this. But to the majority of the people without a career on social media, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain."

She said that she was prompted to expose the social media industry when she turned off her smartphone for a week and that she didn't recognize herself when she wasn't connected to the digital world.

"There were so many things I could have done with my time. I could have just enjoyed, [but instead] I threw away real connections. I was, somehow, showing people that likes and views equal worth," thus she decided to create the movement "Let's Be Game Changers."

She added that the movement is bigger than her and what she is doing is a statement that real life isn't through screens. "You don't have to do anything but explore what excites you."

In an Instagram post, her edited caption revealed that she was then paid $400 to post a photo of her wearing a dress from a clothing brand when she only had 150,000 followers, but those with more than half a million followers, online brands pay up to $2,000 per post.

She asked for support, because her exposé and decision to leave the industry left her broke, adding that she can't even afford to pay her rent anymore.

Click here to watch the full video:

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Activision Blizzard is purchasing King Digital, the makers of popular game Candy Crush, for a total equity value of $5.9 billion. The deal is all in cash.

The sale was unanimously approved by the boards of both Activision and King. It is expected that the sale will completed by Spring 2016.

With the acquisition, Activision Blizzard will add two of the top five US mobile games to its already impressive war chest of intellectual properties, including Call of Duty, World of WarCraft, StarCraft, Hearthstone, Guitar Hero, Destiny and others.

Here's the statement from Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard:

“The combined revenues and profits solidify our position as the largest, most profitable standalone company in interactive entertainment. With a combined global network of more than half a billion monthly active users, our potential to reach audiences around the world on the device of their choosing enables us to deliver great games to even bigger audiences than ever before.”

The purchase is a major signal by Activision that it plans to move more aggressively into mobile gaming. As of its 2nd quarter earnings, just 5 percent of its net revenue came from mobile and other sources. 54 percent came from console games, 21 percent from online and 14 percent from PC gaming.

That should change. King Digital reported $490 million in second quarter revenue in August, according to the Wall Street Journal. All of that is from web and mobile games.

Though Candy Crush has been a rousing commercial and popular success since it was first launched in 2012, King has struggled to release another title even coming close to the puzzle game's popularity.

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This car is faster than Ferrari and Bugatti, but its price tag is nowhere near any of them.

The new Tesla Model S P90D, a 7-seat electric car, accelerates faster than sports cars from Ferrari, Lamborghini and Bugatti, according to tests by the car enthusiast magazine Motor Trend.

The all-wheel drive P90D went from a dead stop to 60 miles an hour in a mind-blowing 2.6 seconds, according to the magazine. The average family sedan today takes about 8 seconds to do the same.

Among the cars that would take longer to reach highway speeds, according to Motor Trend, are the $400,000 Lamborghini Aventador and the $2 million Bugatti Veyron, both two-seat high-performance sports cars.

There are a few cars that are quicker, but very few. Among them are the Ferrari LaFerrari and the Porsche 918 Spyder, both plug-in hybrid supercars with price tags much higher than the Tesla. Prices for the Model S P90D electric car, with Tesla's new Ludicrous Mode performance software, start at about $120,000.

The P90D has two electric motors, one driving the front wheels, the other back wheels that can produce up to 762 horsepower. Unlike gasoline engines which have certain speed ranges in which they pull best, electric motors produce full pulling power at all speeds.

P9OD’s fast acceleration seems almost unreal. "For the first few seconds, you're accelerating faster than free-fall," said Motor Trend road test editor Chris Walton, "so it's literally like being on an amusement park ride."

Also, unlike other cars, the Model S accelerates almost noiselessly, making the experience even stranger, he said.

Ludicrous Mode is also available on the Model X SUV. A next-generation Tesla Roadster sports car, due out in four years, will have a mode called "Maximum Plaid," Tesla has said, which should be even faster.

Tesla recently released new software updates for the Model S that allow the car to steer itself, to some extent, and also to brake automatically to avoid hitting other cars.

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Instagram has launched a new video channel that will feature curated photos and videos from users focused around specific events. Available through the photo sharing app’s Explore tab, the feature looks a bit similar to Twitter’s Moment offering, or even Snapchat. Naturally, the first album was dedicated to Halloween.

This feature opened up today for users in the U.S. and will showcase the “best videos” that users have posted on the service. It’s said that an editorial team at Instagram will play a part in choosing what’s featured. You can cycle through different video clips and if you’re interested in the creator of that piece of content, you can tap on their username and go directly to their profile or to that post.

Instagram said that there are 80 million photos shared on its social network every day, but hasn’t revealed how many videos are posted.

Although only one video album is currently displayed, it’s likely that others will soon be added, including those around politics, protests, Thanksgiving and other holidays, or any other major events taking place around the world.

But in the meantime, if you’re still out trick-or-treating or are planning to, you can plan ahead and see if one of your Instagram videos gets chosen. You can submit your post by using the hashtag #IGHalloween and the company will evaluate it.

It’s also quite possible we will see Instagram eventually incorporate ads into these channels, much as Twitter is doing through its recently introduced Promoted Moments. Currently, the company told that it has no plans to open its channel to advertisers, it will likely take the time to review the situation in order to not compromise the user experience, but as it continues to expand its advertising offering, the introduction of ads is probably only a matter of time.

Two years ago, Instagram debuted its video capability to the world, allowing users to assemble 15-second clips that rivaled Vine and other competitors. With Instagram videos, users can now take a video, apply a filter, and share it with the world. This new channel will give some of the best of those videos an even better chance of being discovered while encouraging users to discover new feeds to follow.

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China wants to double its economy by 2020.

China has set its goal of doubling the size of China's economy to $12 trillion by 2020.

The highly ambitious doubling from 2010 levels is one of the government's top priorities announced at the end of a week-long meeting in Beijing, where officials discussed the country's social and economic agenda for the next five years.

"Development is still the top priority," the government said in its official summary of the "five-year plan." Beijing also called for "medium-high economic growth," but didn't provide further details or specific targets.

Economists say China's economy will have to average a minimum of 6.5% growth over the next five years to reach the goal, a slower pace than the roughly 7% expansion posted so far this year.

Leaders have been under pressure in recent months to boost the economy, as China is now posting its worst GDP growth figures since the financial crisis. But officials didn't unveil major stimulus measures, instead putting forth a loose framework that emphasized manufacturing and increased R&D spending.

The most significant development from the meeting was a decision to roll back the decades-long one-child policy, and allow all couples to have two children.

The move is aimed at countering China's shrinking workforce and fast-aging population, two demographic factors that are holding back the economy.

But experts say it will be decades before babies born under the new policy are able to enter the workforce. Plus, some couples may not be interested in having more kids, given the higher cost-of-living and heavy pollution.

For the first time, the government has made going green a key objective. China has in recent years grown more environmentally conscious, even setting goals to cut polluting emissions. Analysts expect the government to introduce financial incentives for green technologies and products.

Beijing also reiterated economic reforms announced in previous years, in particular are long-term plans to allow market forces to play a greater role in the economy, and to put greater emphasis on higher consumption.

Specific growth targets and the government's full five-year plan are expected to be released in March, according to state media.

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The extreme camera maker's shares nosedived by 16% on Thursday to the lowest level since going public. GoPro (GPRO, Tech30) stock is not only on track for its worst day ever, it’s now close to its IPO price of $24.

The amazing GoPro story has come crashing into a harsh reality: The market for extreme sports enthusiasts who have the money for the amazing devices may just not be all that big.

GoPro's gravity-defying sales growth is coming back to earth. Sales exploded by 72% in the second quarter, but slowed to 43% last quarter and now GoPro is warning sales will actually drop during the holiday season.

It's not that GoPro's cameras are not good enough, they're fantastic devices. The problem is GoPro is struggling to expand beyond a niche market to mass appeal.

GoPro investors agree. “You need a broad market,” said Roger Kay, a tech analyst who is president of Endpoint Technologies Associates.

GoPro dropped a bomb on investors late Wednesday when it reported earnings and sales that badly missed targets. Fears about GoPro's future were amplified by the company saying holiday sales will tumble.

GoPro burst onto Wall Street in June 2014 when it sold shares to a public growing increasingly fascinated by the gadget maker's brand. The stock skyrocketed, more than quadrupling in just four months.

But investors are quickly realizing the young, hip, athletic audience that GoPro appeals to isn't representative of the typical American consumer. "Another problem: Most of the young, hip people are struggling with money, and these products aren't cheap," Kay said.

GoPros aren't cheap. But they are getting cheaper, and that's alarming Wall Street. Piper Jaffray slapped a rare "underperform" rating on GoPro due in part due to disturbing pricing trends. GoPro's HERO4 Session is now fetching "only" $300 on Amazon (AMZN, Tech30), down from $400 in mid-September, according to a PiperJaffray report titled "GoPro likely to GoLow(er)."

Questions about GoPro's future are causing Wall Street to mark down the way the stock is valued. Instead of the fast-growing media and Tech Company GoPro aspires to become, investors are applying lower, more hardware-like multiples to the stock.

None of this means GoPro can't return to flight eventually. The company has a series of ambitious efforts underway, including expanding into the rapidly-growing drone market, launching a new editing software platform and monetizing its awesome content of extreme sports activities. GoPro recently surpassed 1 billion views on its YouTube channel.

"You need all of that stuff to hit and spark up the growth rate again for the shares to get back," said Stone.

GoPro founder and CEO Nick Woodman insists he and his employees are far more focused on the long-term vision than the recent stock turbulence. “Everybody within GoPro is very excited and determined...It makes it easy for us as a team to look past what the stock is doing today and focus more on where we are going to be in the next three to five years.”

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China will ease family planning restrictions to allow all couples to have two children after decades of the strict one-child policy, the ruling Communist Party said on Thursday, a move aimed at alleviating demographic strains on the economy.

The policy is a major liberalization of the country's family planning restrictions, already eased in late 2013 when Beijing said it would allow more families to have two children when at certain conditions.

A growing number of scholars had urged the government to reform the rules, introduced in the late 1970s to prevent population growth spiraling out of control, but now regarded as outdated and responsible for shrinking China's labor pool.

For the first time in decades the working age population fell in 2012, and China, the world's most populous nation, could be the first country in the world to get old before it gets rich.

China will "fully implement a policy of allowing each couple to have two children as an active response to an aging population", the party said in a statement carried by the official Xinhua news agency.

Wang Feng, a leading expert on demographic and social change in China, called the change an "historic event" that would change the world but said the challenges of China's aging society would remain.

"It's an event that we have been waiting for a generation, but it is one we have had to wait much too long for," Wang said. "It won't have any impact on the issue of the aging society, but it will change the character of many young families," Wang said.

Critics said the relaxation of rules was too little, too late to redress substantial negative effects of the one-child policy on the economy and society.

Many couples who were allowed another child under the 2013 rules decided not to, especially in the cities, citing the cost of bringing up children in an increasingly expensive country.

State media said in January that about 30,000 families in Beijing, just 6.7 percent of those eligible, applied to have a second child. The Beijing government had said last year that it expected an extra 54,200 births annually as a result of the change in rules.

Chinese people took to microblogging site Weibo, China's answer to Twitter, to welcome the move, but many said they probably wouldn't opt for a second child. "I can't even afford to raise one, let alone two," wrote one user.

William Nee, a China researcher at human rights campaign group Amnesty International, welcomed the move, but urged China to go further.

"China should immediately and completely end its control over people's decisions to have children. This would not only be good for improving human rights, but would also make sense given the stark demographic challenges that lie ahead," he said.

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