The daily business briefing: May 17, 2016

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1. Home Depot beats estimates in rare good news for retailers
2. Apple shares soar on news of Berkshire Hathaway stake
3. Stocks mixed as oil rally cools
4. Waze challenges Uber and Lyft with carpooling app
5. Ad executive behind famous '70s Coke commercial dies at 89

published 17 May 2016

1. Home Depot beats estimates in rare good news for retailers

Home Depot posted quarterly profits that beat Wall Street's expectations on Tuesday. The company reported net earnings of $1.44 per share, compared to an average analyst estimate of $1.35 per share. Home Depot, the world's largest home-improvement chain, credited consistent weather with a 9 percent rise in sales, a rare recent success story among retailers. The chain's shares rose 1.4 percent in early trading Tuesday, after gaining 2.3 percent in 2016 through Monday.

Apple stock rose by 3.7 percent on Monday after billionaire investor Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway revealed that it had bought a $1 billion stake in the iPhone maker. Berkshire Hathaway acquired the stake before Apple in April reported its first quarterly sales drop in 13 years. It was a rare investment in technology for Berkshire Hathaway, although Apple has strong cash flow and a cheap valuation, two factors Buffett seeks. Buffett also hinted at another tech move by saying he might back a bid for Yahoo's internet business.

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U.S. stock futures wavered early Tuesday as a rally in oil prices showed signs of fading. Crude oil prices jumped by 3 percent on Monday to 2016 highs after Goldman Sachs said the global oil glut was over. World shares gained ground on Tuesday after oil's rise and news of a $1 billion investment in Apple by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway helped to increase investors' appetites for riskier assets.

Google's Waze traffic navigation app announced Monday that it is testing a carpooling app in the latest challenge to Uber. In the test, the app — Waze Rider — will let more than 25,000 employees at select companies in the San Francisco Bay Area hitch rides with Waze drivers with similar commutes. Google purchased Waze for $1 billion in 2013, setting up a showdown against ride-sharing powerhouses Uber and Lyft, which have their own carpooling options allowing riders to cut their trip costs.

Bill Backer, the ad executive behind the legendary 1971 Coke commercial "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (in Perfect Harmony)," died at his home in Virginia on Friday. He was 89. His team also came up with "Things go better with Coke," "Miller Time," and a long list of other successful ad campaigns. Still, he always knew it was the Coke song, featured in the Mad Men finale, he would be remembered for. "If you come up with what's basically a little hymn to getting the world together, it's a contribution," he once said.

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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.