China legalizes Uber; The man who made Google 'Googley' steps down, and more news.

No more grey area for Uber in China: Ride-sharing services have struggled in cities and nations across the globe, but it will no longer be an issue in China: the country is making ride-sharing legal. Even though Uber and its local competitor Didi Chuxing have been successfully operating in China (including snapping up investments from Apple and Alibaba), they've done so amidst regulatory uncertainty. These new rules, which will take effect November 1st, make China the largest country to formally legalize ride-sharing at the national level. 

Can Google stay Googley?  Google has named Eileen Naughton, formerly of Time Inc. and currently VP of sales and operations for Google in the UK and Ireland, the new VP of People Operations (human resources). Naughton replaces Laszlo Bock, who's stepping down after ten years of shaping Google's unique company culture. He'll stay on as an adviser to Sundar Pichai. Naughton seems well-placed to build on Bock's legacy: she's one of the highest rated managers by employees, and she's a founding member of the company's women's org, Women@Google. Naughton will oversee HR, recruiting, and benefits for Google's 64,000 global employees.

Can Google — er, Alphabet —pull a Facebook? Facebook's earnings "blew away" estimates yesterday, and now it's Alphabet's turn. The company isn't expected to knock it out of the park like Facebook: Alphabet missed estimates last quarter and growth for Google's ad business is "simmering." Expect to see more rumblings on the non-advertising sides of the business, including some insight into those moonshots — only three of which currently make money.

Other earnings today: Shell's quarterly profit dropped 93% year over year (ouch), while Volkswagen's after-tax profit fell 56%. Some silver lining for VW: even though operating profit for the Volkswagen brand was down 12% from the previous year, "that was a drastic improvement over the first quarter, when the division barely broke even." Amazon also reports earnings today after the close, and analysts expect solid results. 

#Quote

"My real task is to run a great company. There's 330,000 people that work at GE. They don't want their CEO to be a politician."

GE Chairman & CEO Jeff Immelt, in conversation with Dan Roth

One beeeeellion iPhones: Less than a day after its earnings call, Apple announced the sale of its billionth iPhone in an employee meeting. "It's become more than a constant companion," Cook said. "iPhone is truly an essential part of our daily life." It's also an essential part of Apple's business: sales of the device account for about two-thirds of the company's revenue, and since the last quarter of 2009, the iPhone — just the device, not apps or accessories — has brought in over $580 billion. Which is why it's so concerning that sales slipped 27% last quarter. 

The end of an era? Amidst weak sales, Boeing is considering ending production of its iconic 747. The company has produced more than 1,500 of the planes since it launched in 1970, and it's credited with making air travel more affordable. It's also been flying US presidents since 1990, and a new version is expected to serve the president in 2023. Boeing now plans to manufacture just six 747s a year starting in September.

Today in Brexit: LLoyds Bank has announced that it's cutting 3,000 more jobs and closing 200 additional branches by the end of next year, in a response to Brexit uncertainty. The bank, partially owned by the UK government because of a financial crisis bailout, had already planned to reduce £1B in costs by the end of 2017 (including eliminating 9,000 jobs), and it will now cut an extra £400M in annual costs by the end of next year.