Dominic Raab appointed UK foreign secretary, first secretary of state: statement

LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson named Dominic Raab as foreign minister and first secretary of state on Wednesday, a return to office for the former Brexit minister who quit Theresa May’s government over her deal to leave the European Union.

Bernie Madoff Asks Donald Trump To Reduce 150-Year Ponzi Scheme Sentence

Bernie Madoff wants a favor from Donald Trump: He’s asking the president to reduce his 150-year prison sentence.

The 81-year-old Ponzi schemer has filed a petition for clemency with the Department of Justice. He’s seeking not a complete pardon, just a reduced sentence, according to FoxBusiness.com.

Madoff pleaded guilty to 11 crimes in 2009 that were connected with what CNBC called the largest Ponzi scheme in history. Prosecutors said his company, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, swindled thousands of investors out of billions of dollars.

The Justice Department would not reveal when Madoff’s request was submitted, but noted that it typically takes from one month to three months for a clemency application to appear on its website, which Madoff’s now does. The DOJ website lists the status of Madoff’s clemency case as “pending.”

It’s unclear whether Trump will consider the request.

Trump, in his 2009 book “Think Like a Champion,” calls Madoff “without a doubt a sleazebag and a scoundrel without par,” according to U.S. News. Trump said he turned down Madoff’s investment pitch because “I’m not a fund guy.”

The Justice Department says on its website that it has received 1,003 petitions for pardons and 5,657 for sentence commutations since Trump has been president. So far, Trump has granted 10 pardons and four commutations.

Mueller On Trump’s WikiLeaks Praise: ‘Problematic Is An Understatement’

Former special counsel Robert Mueller said Wednesday that Donald Trump’s praise for WikiLeaks after it released hacked materials from his opponent’s campaign was more than “problematic.”

During testimony with the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) read several quotes from Trump praising WikiLeaks after the group released hacked emails from Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign. 

“Do any of those quotes disturb you, Mr. Director?” Quigley asked Mueller after reading a series of quotes from the president. “How do you react to them?”

“Problematic is an understatement, in terms of giving some hope or boost to what is and should be illegal activity,” Mueller said.

Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election determined that the hacked communications released by WikiLeaks originally came from Russia.

Trump praised WikiLeaks numerous times over the course of his campaign.

“This WikiLeaks stuff is unbelievable … you gotta read it,” he said at a 2016 campaign rally. 

PTC Inc. Q3 adjusted earnings Miss Estimates

Below are the earnings highlights for PTC Inc. (PTC):

-Earnings: -$14.76 million in Q3 vs. $17.00 million in the same period last year.
-EPS: -$0.13 in Q3 vs. $0.14 in the same period last year.
-Excluding items, PTC Inc. reported adjusted earnings of $26.87 million or $0.23 per share for the period.
-Analysts projected $0.34 per share
-Revenue: $295.61 million in Q3 vs. $315.08 million in the same period last year.

US STOCKS SNAPSHOT-S&P, Nasdaq close at records after reassuring chip news

July 24 (Reuters) – The S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit record closing highs on Wednesday after reassuring comments from Texas Instruments about global chip demand blunted the impact of weak earnings reports from Boeing and Caterpillar.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 81.44 points, or 0.3%, to 27,267.75, the S&P 500 gained 13.97 points, or 0.46%, to 3,019.44 and the Nasdaq Composite added 69.69 points, or 0.84%, to 8,321.09. (Reporting by Sinéad Carew; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

Andrew Copp signs with Winnipeg Jets

WINNIPEG – The Winnipeg Jets and Andrew Copp have signed a two-year contract with an average annual value of US$2.28 million dollars.

The move comes a day after an arbitrator awarded Copp a two-year, $4.56-million contract.

The forward has played four full seasons with the Jets and had 25 points, including a career-high 11 goals, last season.

Copp made his debut for the Jets in 2015, after playing three seasons for the University of Michigan.

Align Technology stock plummets more than 20% as China sales woes hit earnings forecast

Align Technology Inc. ALGN, +0.81% shares plunged more than 20% in late trading Wednesday, after the company said that China sales were hurting and gave a weaker-than-expected forecast. Align’s second-quarter results easily beat expectations, but Chief Executive Joe Hogan noted that case shipments of its signature Invisalign dental product were lower, and financial results for the third quarter would be affected. "In Q2, total Invisalign case shipments were lower than expected, primarily due to a softness in China related to a tougher consumer environment and slower growth in young adult case in North America," Rogan said in the announcement. "Given the uncertainty in China, our outlook for the third quarter reflects a more cautious view for growth in the Asia Pacific region." Align reported second-quarter earnings of $147.1 million, or $1.83 a share, on revenue of $600.7 million, easily beating the average analyst estimate of $1.43 a share on revenue of $598 million, according to FactSet. For the third quarter, Align predicted earnings of $1.09 to $1.16 a share, lower than the year-ago quarter, and revenue of $585 million to $600 million. Analysts on average expected third-quarter profit of $1.45 a share on sales of $624 million, according to FactSet. After closing with a 0.8% gain at $275.16, shares fell lower than $220 in after-hours trading Wednesday.