Square Inc., once known for the little white payment dongles used by small businesses, is deepening its online push with the acquisition of website-creation platform Weebly. The company said Thursday that it plans to acquire Weebly for $365 million in cash and stock, a deal aimed at making it easier for small businesses to have → Read More

Amazon has played the role of bookstore, department store, grocery store — and now — parent. The online retail giant, which announced record earnings on Thursday, announced a new device, Echo Dot Kids Edition, and services for parents and kids on Wednesday, complete with kid-friendly movies, censored songs, bedtime limits and educational Q&As. It will → Read More

If Nashville, Tenn., scores Amazon’s second headquarters, median rent in the already fast-appreciating, temperate-climate entertainment mecca would jump by the most of any of the 20 finalist cities. Higher rents tied to Amazon’s satellite HQ would be felt sharply in Denver and Los Angeles as well, real-estate tracker Zillow said in a recent report. At → Read More

Microsoft Corp. had a choppy extended session Thursday after the company posted better-than-expected earnings. Microsoft stock MSFT, +2.11%  traded up about half a percent in the extended session after closing up 2.1% to $94.26 during regular trading. The stock began after-hours trading down 2% but has since recovered some of those losses. The Redmond, Wash.,-based → Read More

The parents of Otto Warmbier are accusing North Korea of murdering their son and torturing him during his 18 months in captivity in the reclusive regime in a federal lawsuit filed Thursday, according to a report. The 22-year-old University of Virginia undergrad returned from the hermit kingdom in a coma in June 2017 and died → Read More

NORRISTOWN, Pa. — Nearly 14 years after Bill Cosby drugged and molested a woman 30 years his junior, a jury found him guilty Thursday of all charges in his sex assault retrial. The disgraced comedian showed no emotion and looked down at the table in front of him as the jury forewoman read aloud “guilty” → Read More

MARKETWATCH FRONT PAGE Amazon.com Inc.’s massive growth just grew even more massive in the first quarter, as the e-commerce giant reported Thursday that profit more than doubled and sales growth continued to accelerate. See full story. This could be the most important chart of the century for investors Ballooning debt, cash vs. stocks and an → Read More

Getty Images Rev. Patrick Conroy, S.J. Speaker Paul Ryan forced out the Jesuit priest who had served as House chaplain since 2011 because he said in a prayer during deliberations on tax cuts that lawmakers should be “fair to all Americans,” a new report said Thursday. The Rev. Patrick Conroy’s letter of resignation, a copy → Read More

Intel Corp. shares rallied in the extended session Thursday after the chipmaker’s quarterly results and outlook topped Wall Street estimates and sales to data centers came in stronger than expected. Intel INTC, +3.25%  shares rallied 8% after hours, following a 3.3% gain to close at $53.05 in the regular session. The strong results follow similarly → Read More

Amazon.com Inc.’s massive growth just grew even more massive in the first quarter, as the e-commerce giant reported Thursday that profit more than doubled and sales continued to accelerate. Amazon AMZN, +3.96%  reported net income of $1.6 billion, or $3.27 a share, up from $724 million, or $1.48 a share, a year ago. Revenue jumped → Read More