The daily business briefing: January 29, 2019

1. PG&E files for bankruptcy protection

PG&E, owner of the nation's largest power utility, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Tuesday to help it deal with crushing liabilities linked to Northern California wildfires in 2017 and 2018. The utility's transmission lines are suspected of starting last year's Camp Fire, although an investigation is still ongoing. That fire killed 86 people and destroyed nearly 14,000 homes. Damage claims from that fire total $8.4 billion. PG&E said in a statement on its website that it expects no disruption in its services due to the bankruptcy process. "We are continuing to provide safe and reliable electric and natural gas service. We are not 'going out of business,'" the company said.

CNBC NPR

2. Apple to release patch for FaceTime bug

Apple announced on Monday night that it will release a software patch later this week for a bug that lets people placing a call using FaceTime hear audio from the recipient before they answer. The audio can be heard while the phone is still ringing, even if the recipient never accepts the call. The bug is connected to the Group FaceTime feature, which Apple disabled late Monday. The tech news site 9to5Mac reported that in order to hear through someone's phone before they picked up, you just needed to call them using FaceTime, then swipe up on the screen and add yourself to the call. If the recipient hit the power button to end the call, the camera started broadcasting video.

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The Wall Street Journal

3. CBO: Shutdown cost the economy $11 billion

The 35-day government shutdown cost the American economy $11 billion, $3 billion of which will never be recovered, an analysis released Monday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office revealed. The loss of work from federal employees, suspension of federal services, and decreased economic demand chiefly contributed to the slowdown, the report says. America's GDP took a 0.1 percent hit in the last quarter of 2018 due to the shutdown, and the impact will be a 0.2 percent loss in the first quarter of 2019, which will amount to an estimated overall loss of 0.02 percent of GDP throughout 2019. A separate CBO economic outlook report also found that, if taxation and spending remains unchanged, the federal deficit will grow to an annual total of $1 trillion in the next decade.

CBO CNBC

4. DOJ reveals Huawei charges; China objects

The Justice Department on Monday unveiled charges against Chinese telecom giant Huawei, some subsidiaries, and Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou for allegedly stealing trade secrets, obstructing justice, and dodging economic sanctions on Iran. The indictments say Huawei, its affiliate in Iran, and Meng played roles in defrauding four large banks by getting them to clear transactions with Iran that violated international sanctions. One of the banks was previously identified as HSBC, although the banks were not mentioned by name in the indictments. Meng, the daughter of Huawei's founder, was arrested last year in Canada at Washington's request, and faces possible extradition to the U.S. China accused the U.S. of using "state power to smear and crack down on targeted Chinese companies" in an effort to "kill" them.

The New York Times CNN

5. Stocks mixed with corporate earnings and Huawei charges in focus

U.S. stock index futures were mixed early Tuesday as U.S. charges against Chinese tech giant Huawei threatened to ratchet up trade tensions between the world's two biggest economies. The news came as Chinese Vice Premier Liu He heads into meetings with U.S. officials on Wednesday and Thursday. The two sides are trying to hammer out a comprehensive trade deal before the end of a truce in their trade war. Investors also will focus on a flurry of earnings reports; 3M, Biogen, LVMH, Pfizer, Verizon, and Harley-Davidson reported before the bell. Pfizer and Harley shares fell after they reported disappointing results. Amgen, Apple, and eBay will come in after the day's trading ends.

CNBC MarketWatch