• Facebook's problems are set to deepen in 2019, according to a note from the Pivotal Research analyst Brian Wieser.
• He argued that issues like data breaches and election meddling had only been made worse by management and that regulation had become inevitable.
• The analyst said investors remained too optimistic about Facebook.
• Wieser added that advertisers might start abandoning Facebook because of what he called its "toxicity"— and there may be trouble ahead in China.

If you thought 2018 was bad for Facebook, just wait for 2019.

That's the verdict of the Wall Street analyst Brian Wieser, who predicts that Facebook's problems "seem likely to worsen" over the next 12 months as it continues to grapple with a "vast" list of issues.

In a note for Pivotal Research on Monday, Wieser wrote that Facebook was tackling issues including "complicity in a genocide," enabling political interference, and privacy scandals — all of which he said were exacerbated by the company's response.

Wieser believes that regulation is inevitable, and indeed, Facebook itself has said it's ready to work with global lawmakers to introduce things like federal privacy laws in the US.

Wieser wrote that the shape regulation would take was "unclear" but that "the follow-on ramifications across the company — from managerial changes at the top to an imposition of new working processes in order to avoid future problems — could be significant, and potentially more expensive than the company (or most of the investment community) anticipates."

Wieser, who has been fairly bearish about Facebook's prospects recently, said that the market remained too optimistic about Facebook and that it could get a nasty wake-up call. "Investors have some appreciation of Facebook's problems at this time, although even now we think some are too positive or otherwise looking past the scale of the risks," he said.

Facebook advertisers may be deterred by 'toxicity'

But perhaps most ominously for Facebook, Wieser thinks advertisers are starting to take notice of the company's woes. More than 98% of the company's $40.6 billion in revenue comes from advertising, and it's second only to Google in terms of market clout. But that may soon be under threat, Wieser suggests.

"The toxicity of the company may also deter commercial partners from choosing to work with Facebook, or otherwise make terms less attractive to Facebook," he added.

Read more: 15 photos we can't stop looking at that highlight tech's wild, apocalyptic year

The idea that Facebook's crises may unsettle advertisers is not new, and there is little evidence as yet that buyers are taking their money elsewhere. Facebook's ad revenue grew 49% to $10.1 billion in the third quarter of last year following scandals including the Cambridge Analytica data breach.

But it's not just reputational issues that Facebook needs to worry about in terms of advertising, Wieser said. Apple shocked Wall Street last week with an earnings warning that partly blamed economic weakness in China, and US President Donald Trump's trade war, for a drop in its revenue forecasts.

And Wieser suggested that Facebook might not be immune to trouble in China. "Facebook likely generated $5-7bn from Chinese advertisers on its platform, whose spending trends might be impacted by economic trends in China or changes in postal regulations," he said.

Pivotal downgraded its price target for Facebook to $113 from $125. Business Insider has contacted Facebook for comment.

SEE ALSO: The $450 billion wipeout: Apple's value has fallen by more than Facebook's entire worth in 3 short months

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NOW WATCH: China made an artificial star that's 6 times as hot as the sun, and it could be the future of energy

• Elon Musk has shared an illustration of a SpaceX steel rocket ship with a mirror-like finish.
• SpaceX is building the vehicle, which Musk called the "test hopper," in Boca Chica, Texas.
• The test hopper is a squat version of a full-scale Starship spaceship that's being designed to send people to Mars.
• Musk said the test hopper could launch in four to eight weeks — nearly a year ahead of schedule.

On Saturday, Elon Musk shared an eye-catching picture of a stainless-steel rocket ship gleaming in the hot Texas sun.

The futuristic image is not a photo but rather a rendering created by SpaceX, Musk's rocket company. However, his company is working quickly to build a real-life prototype of the vehicle in southern Texas.

Musk and Gwynne Shotwell, the president and COO of SpaceX, call the ship the "test hopper" because it's not designed to launch into orbit around Earth. Instead, the somewhat crude and windowless ship will rocket on "hops" that go no more than about 16,400 feet in the air, according to FCC documents.

It's a critical experimental vehicle whose successes (or failures) will inform how SpaceX works toward a full-scale, orbit-ready prototype of Starship: a roughly 18-story spaceship designed to one day ferry up to 100 people and 150 tons of cargo to Mars.

"Starship test vehicle under assembly will look similar to this illustration when finished," Musk tweeted on Saturday, sharing the image below. "Operational Starships would [obviously] have windows, etc."

A full-scale Starship is currently scheduled to launch people for the first time in 2023. That mission is being bankrolled for an undisclosed sum by Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, who plans to pick eight artists as crew members for a flight around the moon.

Following that mission, Musk has said he hopes to launch the first crews to Mars in the mid-2020s, perhaps as early as 2024, for arrival at the red planet in 2025.

The evolution of Musk and SpaceX's 'Tintin' test ship

Musk and Shotwell had previously said the test hopper wouldn't make its first flights until late 2019.

But when asked Saturday on Twitter about the test hopper's first flight, Musk responded that SpaceX is "aiming for 4 weeks, which probably means 8 weeks, due to unforeseen issues."

Either way, that's a major jump in the launch schedule — one that coincides with a recent influx of half a billion dollars.

Read more: Elon Musk said SpaceX is on track to launch people to Mars within 6 years — here's the full timeline of his plans to colonize the red planet

The posts followed Musk's announcement in late December that, indeed, SpaceX is currently building the test hopper at its lesser-known launch site in Boca Chica, which sits at the southernmost tip of Texas.

He also released a photo of the test hopper coming together:

Musk's confirmation and picture came after flurry of photos appeared within the forums of NASASpaceFlight.com, where some dedicated followers of SpaceX congregate to chat about the rocket company's latest activities and share information.

The photos were taken by locals in Boca Chica and showed what appeared to the mythical test hopper being constructed nearly a year ahead of schedule. Musk later said the main parts were being made in Los Angeles and shipped to the semi-remote site for assembly.

Read more: Where SpaceX's most important locations are and what they do

The most recent batch of local images shows workers and cranes assembling sections of the test hopper in plain sight of an access road.

The vehicle doesn't yet have a seamless mirror finish, as Musk's rendering suggests it might (there are ridges between the steel panels), but it's not supposed to look perfect. In fact, there is a decent chance it could fail or explode, as is common during early test launches and has happened to many early SpaceX creations.

Musk has described Starship as as a "Tintin" rocket, referencing the famous 20th-century Belgian comics series (which feature a two-part space-exploration story).

"I love the Tintin rocket design, so I kind of wanted to bias it towards that," he said during a press conference in September. "If in doubt, go with Tintin."

From carbon-fiber to stainless steel that looks like 'liquid silver'

The choice of polished stainless steel is a major shift from what Musk called his "final iteration" of the rocket's design.

In September, Musk revealed design updates for his two-part Mars launch system, called the Big Falcon Rocket. The Starship that Musk unveiled then was slated to be about 30 feet wide and 180 feet tall, and sit atop a roughly 219-foot-tall rocket booster that Musk now calls Super Heavy. Both parts were supposed to be made primarily of carbon-fiber composites, which can be many times lighter yet many times stronger than steel alloys.

Materials science and aerospace experts interviewed by Business Insider had some reservations about the choice of carbon fiber for the spaceship, given the punishing environment of space and the difficulty in repairing carbon-fiber parts on Earth, let alone in space or on another planet.

Super Heavy may yet be built mostly out of carbon-fiber, since it won't reach orbit and will instead land back on or near its launch pad for reuse. But it appears Musk and his engineering team are now committed to making Starship out of a stainless-steel alloy.

Musk said SpaceX's newly developed Raptor engines, which will power the vehicle, will be made of an in-house "superalloy" called SX500. He's also suggested that the final steel body of Starship will "look like liquid silver" and act as its own heat-sink — likely without protective thermal tiles, as NASA's space shuttle used — during the blazing-hot reentry into Earth's or Mars' atmosphere.

"I will do a full technical presentation of Starship after the test vehicle we’re building in Texas flies, so hopefully March/April," he tweeted on December 22.

SEE ALSO: An extraordinary year of rocket launches, meteor showers, and space exploration is here. This is a 2019 calendar of space events you can't miss.

DON'T MISS: 'This is more than just a landing': Why China's mission on the far side of the moon should be a wake-up call for the world

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NOW WATCH: How SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Virgin Galactic plan on taking you to space

• David Beckham appeared on the front cover of the latest issue of Love magazine wearing bright teal eyeshadow.
• Bold eye makeup was tipped to be one of the biggest beauty trends of 2019, according to Stylist.
• Beckham was decked out in custom Dior for the magazine feature, which focused on his first time on the football pitch.
• The soccer star has never been one to shy away from daring fashion choices — lest we forget the his-and-hers leather combos of 1999.

You may have read about the new beauty look that swept the Golden Globes red carpet on Sunday.

According to Stylist, bold, colorful eyeshadow was cited as one of the biggest makeup trends for 2019, with stars like Lupita Nyong'o, Camilla Belle, and Lili Reinhart giving it a run out in various shades at the awards show.

Now, the beauty trend has a new, unlikely ambassador: David Beckham.

The soccer star appeared on the front cover of the latest issue of Love magazine wearing a custom-made Dior white blazer, striped shirt, and bright teal eyeshadow.

"From the very first time he set foot on the field, David Beckham knew he wanted to be a football player," the magazine captioned the photo on Instagram.

"I was always that kid in the corner that didn't really say much," Beckham told the magazine.

"I knew that once I was on the field, I was confident. It was all I ever wanted: to be a professional footballer."

Love also shared some trippy visuals of the cover star's interview, featuring Beckham rubbing the eyeshadow down over his cheeks and turning dramatically to the camera.

The bold look drew a mixed reaction from fans commenting on Instagram. While some called the look "iconic,""terrific," and "amazing," another said: "Oh my god what did you do to him!!!"

Beckham has never been one to shy away from daring fashion choices, though — like the time he and wife Victoria wore his-and-hers leather Versace or the time he wore a durag and sleeveless shirt.

Though his outfit choices have certainly been toned down over the years, there's no arguing that Beckham is a men's fashion icon.

So, will we all be wearing eyeliner in the near future? If Becks is doing it...

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NOW WATCH: Bernie Madoff was arrested 10 years ago today — here's what his life is like in prison

• The best wedding photographs from 2018 have been revealed in the International Wedding Photographer of the Year Awards.
• From touching, intimate moments and breathtaking scenes to hilarious snaps of people being caught off-guard, the photos have come in from all over the world.
• We've rounded up the best of the best.

In the eyes of most people, your wedding should be one of the most special days of your life. And of course, photographs can play a huge role in giving you memories to cherish forever.

Wedding photography is big business, and the International Wedding Photographer of the Year (IWPOTY) Awards celebrate the very best.

Any wedding photographer — whether full-time or part-time, professional or amateur — is eligible to enter each year, and a panel of judges from around the world choose the winners from various categories, including Black and White, Couple Portrait, and Bridal Party.

Read more: 25 beautiful and intimate award-winning photos show the reality behind weddings around the world

The winners for 2018 have been revealed, and they include a couple under the stars in Australia, groomsmen hiding in corn fields in Canada, and friends pouring shots of vodka into a man's mouth in India. 

Unsurprisingly, a lot of the images come from countries with dramatic landscapes providing epic backdrops, such as New Zealand, Norway, and Canada, while others simply capture beautiful moments at just the perfect time.

Scroll down to see the winner, runners-up and some of the other stunning wedding photos featured in the awards.

Grand Winner: Couple Portrait: Dan O'Day, Australia

O'Day used coloured smoke bombs to create atmospheric images for bride and groom Jess and Des. 

"I managed to stop them from giggling and being in love with that 'just married' vibe on their faces for about .06 of a second so that I could get my 'dramatic tortured artist' fix and guide them through the slice of light," he said.

Runner-Up: Couple Portrait: Dan O'Day, Australia

Runner-Up: Engagement: Jason Tey, Australia

"This image was taken in the Lancelin sand dunes, a beach-side town about 140 kilometres north of Perth," said Tey. "Out there it is so dark you're left in awe at how vast and magnificent the universe is."

• Digital trust is the confidence people have in a platform to protect their information and provide a safe environment for them to create and engage with content.
• Business Insider Intelligence surveyed over 1,300 global consumers to evaluate their perception of Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
• Consumers’ Digital Trust rankings differ across security, legitimacy, community, user experience, shareability, and relevance for the six major social networks.

If you feel like “fake news” and spammy social media feeds dominate your Internet experience, you’re not alone. Digital trust, the confidence people have in platforms to protect their information and provide a safe environment to create and engage with content, is in jeopardy.

In fact, in a new Business Insider Intelligence survey of more than 1,300 global consumers, over half (54%) said that fake news and scams were "extremely impactful” or “very impactful” on their decision to engage with ads and sponsored content.

For businesses, this distrust has financial ramifications. It’s no longer enough to craft a strong message; brands, marketers, and social platforms need to focus their energy on getting it to consumers in an environment where they are most receptive. When brands reach consumers on platforms that they trust, they enhance their credibility and increase the likelihood of receiving positive audience engagement.

The Digital Trust Report 2018, the latest Enterprise Edge Report from Business Insider Intelligence, compiles this exclusive survey data to analyze consumer perceptions of Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

The survey breaks down consumers’ perceptions of social media across six pillars of trust: security, legitimacy, community, user experience, shareability, and relevance. The results? LinkedIn ran away with it.

As the most trusted platform for the second year in a row – and an outlier in the overall survey results – LinkedIn took the top spot for nearly every pillar of trust — and there are a few reasons why:

• LinkedIn continues to benefit from the professional nature of its community — users on the platform tend to be well behaved and have less personal information at risk, which makes for a more trusting environment.
• LinkedIn users are likely more selective and mindful about engagement when interacting within their professional network, which may increase trust in its content.
• Content on LinkedIn is typically published by career-minded individuals and organizations seeking to promote professional interests, and is therefore seen as higher quality than other platforms’. This bodes well for advertisers and publishers to be viewed as forthright, honest, persuasive, and trustworthy.

Want to Learn More?

Enterprise Edge Reports are the very best research Business Insider Intelligence has to offer in terms of actionable recommendations and proprietary data, and they are only available to Enterprise clients.

The Digital Trust Report 2018 illustrates how social platforms have been on a roller coaster ride of data, user privacy, and brand safety scandals since our first installment of the report in 2017.

In full, the report analyzes key changes in rankings from 2017, identifies trends in millennials' behavior on social media, and highlights where these platforms (as well as advertisers) have opportunities to capture their attention.

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• Sears will ask a bankruptcy judge to pursue liquidation after rejecting a $4.4 billion takeover bid from its chairman, Eddie Lampert, according to Reuters.
• Lampert's hedge fund, ESL Investments, said his bid would have kept up to 50,000 of Sears' 68,000 workers employed.

Sears on Tuesday will ask a bankruptcy judge to liquidate after rejecting a $4.4 billion takeover bid by the company's chairman, Eddie Lampert, according to Reuters.

This would mark the end of the iconic retailer, which has survived two world wars and the Great Depression but failed to rebound from several years of sales declines under the control of Lampert, a Goldman Sachs executive turned hedge fund manager.

Lampert's hedge fund, ESL Investments, said his bid would have kept up to 50,000 of Sears' workers employed.

When Sears filed for bankruptcy in mid-October, it had 687 stores and about 68,000 workers.

Sears and ESL Investments did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Read more:Inside Sears' death spiral: How an iconic American brand has been driven to the edge of bankruptcy

Sears' sales tumbled from $53 billion in 2006 to less than $17 billion in 2017.

Lampert has blamed the company's decline on the media, shifts in consumer spending, and the rise of e-commerce, among other reasons.

For years, he has kept the ailing retailer afloat through billions of dollars in loans from ESL, the selling off of valuable real estate, and the slow dismantling of Sears' exclusivity over some big American brands.

Some stores have suffered severe decay, such as crumbling walls, cracked floors, collapsing ceilings, and a lack of working toilets for weeks on end, according to store visits and interviews with Sears employees over the past two years.

Critics have blasted Lampert for not investing more in stores, but he has defended his strategy.

"I was criticized for not investing enough in the stores," Lampert said in 2013. "My point of view is we couldn't invest in everything."

SEE ALSO: Sears chairman Eddie Lampert submits $4.4 billion bid in hopes of rescuing the company from imminent death

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NOW WATCH: Target has a few sneaky ways it gets customers to spend more money

• It's time to start looking ahead to this year's big games!
• Things kick off soon with the launch of a long-awaited sequel, "Kingdom Hearts 3," in late January.
• Some major games are expected in 2019: "The Last of Us: Part II" on PlayStation 4 and a brand new "Pokémon" game for the Nintendo Switch are highlights of the year.

With 2018 in the past, we're hurriedly preparing for 2019's major video game launches. 

What does the new year bring? Plenty! The year starts with a trip into the worlds of Disney with the long-awaited arrival of "Kingdom Hearts 3" in January. Not too long after that, the folks behind "Mass Effect" have a brand-new series launching in February: "Anthem." 

And that's just the first two months of the year! Here's a look at 2019 in games:

SEE ALSO: Forget about 'Fortnite' — the new 'Call of Duty' makes 6 brilliant changes to the Battle Royale formula

1. "Resident Evil 2" (re-mastered)

The long-awaited remake of fan-favorite horror classic "Resident Evil 2" is nearly ready — it's set to arrive early in 2019, just like so many other great games currently in development.

"Resident Evil 2" introduced the world to Leon S. Kennedy (seen above) — the main character in "Resident Evil 4." Kennedy and Claire Redfield find themselves in the middle of a surprise zombie outbreak in the fictional town of Raccoon City. It's an action-packed introduction to many of the major themes of the "Resident Evil" franchise, and it's getting gorgeously remade for modern consoles.

Release Date: January 25, 2019

Platform(s): Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC

2. "Kingdom Hearts 3"

Woody, Buzz, Rex and the rest of the "Toy Story" gang are moving from film to video games with "Kingdom Hearts 3," an upcoming Xbox One and PlayStation 4 action-adventure game.

The game is the long-anticipated third entry in the "Kingdom Hearts" series — the last major entry, "Kingdom Hearts 2," launched all the way back in 2005 on the PlayStation 2. In "Kingdom Hearts," various Disney characters and their worlds are mashed up with characters that would be right at home in a "Final Fantasy" game.

Alongside the cast of "Toy Story" (and their Earth-like setting), "Kingdom Hearts 3" also stars Goofy and Donald Duck. You may've noticed a third character here — that's "Sora," the main character of "Kingdom Hearts 3" and who you'll play as.

Release Date: January 29, 2019

Platform(s): PlayStation 4, Xbox One

3. "Far Cry New Dawn"

A new "Far Cry" game? Didn't one of those come out, like, in 2018?

Yep! That game was "Far Cry 5," and it came out back in late March on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. The open-world first-person shooter was set in America for the first time ever, and featured a new antagonist: a maniacal cult leader with nuclear ambitions.

"Far Cry New Dawn" is a sequel to that game, set in a post-apocalypse Montana 17 years after the events of "Far Cry 5." The trailer alludes to a period of extreme weather following a nuclear detonation, eventually leading to a new world — a world where people shoot sawblades from crossbows, apparently.

Release Date: February 15, 2019

Platform(s): Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC

• Ned Curic, Amazon's vice president of Alexa automotive, previously worked at Toyota, and said Amazon and Toyota have similar cultures of innovation.
• Curic said he believes many automakers will thrive as electrification and autonomy become more common.
• Automakers are quickening the rate at which they develop software for their vehicles, Curic said, and he cited investments they have made in electric vehicles, autonomous driving technology, and mobility services as evidence that they can respond to Silicon Valley rivals like Uber and the Google spin-off Waymo.

Ned Curic, Amazon's vice president of Alexa automotive, moved from Toyota to Amazon in 2017 to head its effort to integrate Alexa into cars. His move could have been seen as evidence that, as some transportation industry experts and observers have suggested, Silicon Valley could eventually develop an edge over traditional automakers. But Curic said in an interview with Business Insider that he found Toyota and Amazon to have comparable cultures of innovation.

"The two companies are quite similar," he said.

During his time at the automaker, Curic contributed to the founding of Toyota Connected in 2016, a spin-off that was designed to focus on mobility services and data analytics. Toyota Connected has since helped to develop a car-sharing service based in Hawaii and a self-driving concept vehicle.

Read more: Apple, Waymo, and even Amazon will have a huge advantage against Tesla in the race to launch self-driving taxis, one Wall Street analyst says

Toyota's history of innovation has inspired Silicon Valley, Curic said. The automaker is known for its renowned production system based on constant, incremental improvements and a "just-in-time" assembly process that delivers parts as they're needed, reducing inventory.

But Toyota is not the only automaker with an eye toward the future. Automakers are quickening the rate at which they develop software for their vehicles, Curic said, and he cited investments they have made or plan to make in electric vehicles, autonomous driving technology, and mobility services as evidence that they can respond to Silicon Valley rivals like Uber and the Google spin-off Waymo.

General Motors in 2016 bought the autonomous driving startup Cruise, which is seen by industry experts as one of the leaders in the race to introduce autonomous ride-hailing services like the one Waymo debuted on a limited scale in December. And Volkswagen has said it will spend $50 billion on electric vehicles and autonomous driving technology in the next five years.

While the auto industry is in the middle of what may become its largest transformation in over a century, Curic said he believes many automakers will thrive as electrification and autonomy become more common.

"Many [automakers] are going to come out very, very successful through this transition," he said.

• Read more about automotive technology:
• Here's why a little-known autonomous trucking company is beating Tesla and Waymo in the race for driverless big rigs
• Look for in-car experience to dominate CES
• Ford could launch new wireless, connected-car tech by 2022
• 'Pull into a secure location': Here's what Waymo tells autonomous car test drivers to do when they're threatened

SEE ALSO: The 11 coolest cars we can't wait to see at CES

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NOW WATCH: This Rolls-Royce feature might be the world's fanciest way to tailgate

• Aurora Cannabis on Tuesday provided second-quarter guidance that anticipates quarterly revenues will grow 327% year-over-year.
• The cannabis producer said it is well positioned to achieve sustained positive earnings before some items beginning in its fiscal fourth-quarter in 2019.
• Shares were gaining ground early Tuesday.
• Watch Aurora Cannabis trade live.

Aurora Cannabis was up almost 2%, to $5.35 a share, before Tuesday's opening bell after the company provided second-quarter guidance that suggests monster sales growth.

The cannabis producer said Tuesday it anticipates revenue for the quarter ended in December of between $50 million and $55 million, compared to $11.7 million for the same quarter in the prior year, implying 327% growth.

The management also expected selling, general, and administrative expenses to be roughly consistent with the previous quarter. As a result, Aurora Cannabis said it believes it's well positioned to achieve sustained positive EBITDA beginning in Fiscal Q4 2019.

"Revenue growth for the quarter was driven by the Company's strong position in the adult consumer use market in Canada, continued shipments of medical cannabis to Aurora's expanding base of approximately 71,000 patients in
Canada, and relatively stable, supply restricted shipments, to its growing international markets," the company said in a press release.

Aurora Cannabis is set to report its results ahead of the opening bell on February 11.

Shares were down 32% in the past year.

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NOW WATCH: The equity chief at $6.3 trillion BlackRock weighs in on the trade war, a possible recession, and offers her best investing advice for a tricky 2019 landscape

• CES (Consumer Electronics Show) used to be the biggest tech event of the year.
• Close to 5,000 companies go to Las Vegas for the industry trade show — but Apple has never been one of those companies. 
• Apple took a different approach to maximize press coverage by carefully choosing the date to announce new product launches and minimize competition for big tech headlines and stories. 
• Other companies like Motorola, Samsung, Google, Blackberry followed suit, which could have contributed to a 2,000 drop in CES attendees in 2018.

Matt Stuart: CES used to be the biggest tech event of the year. Every January, almost 5,000 companies and 180,000 people descended on Las Vegas, for the biggest industry trade show in the world. Every electronics company you've ever heard of is there, along with thousands of others that you haven't. Except for Apple, and that matters a lot.

Apple never had a booth at CES. Instead, the company would offer a keynote at the annual Macworld Expo, an event dedicated to all things Mac. iTunes, Safari, the Mac mini, and even the iPhone all saw their debut at various Macworld events. It was at the Macworld in 2007 that Steve Jobs said the company would be changing its name from Apple Computer to Apple Inc.

Steve Jobs: So, we're announcing today, we're dropping the "Computer" from our name, and from this day forward, we're going to be known as Apple Incorporated.

Matt Stuart: Apple stopped presenting at Macworld in 2009. Instead choosing to put on their own events, like the annual September keynote that introduces the new iPhone. Meanwhile, other companies continued to debut their new products for the year at CES. Motorola, Samsung, Microsoft, and many other companies all used that week in January to show off all their new offerings. If it had any sort of combination of wires, batteries, a screen, or used the internet, it probably debuted at CES. And that began to become a problem.

As tech products like smartphones became more and more ubiquitous, products that were unveiled at CES would all overshadow one another, leading to less headlines and coverage for each new product. A new Android phone might be universally praised, but that didn't matter if a rival introduced theirs on the next day.

Many of the big tech names all began to mirror Apple's approach. Companies like Motorola, Samsung, Google, Blackberry — remember them — and Microsoft all began to host their own events on their own day. The events became news themselves. Outlets would cover the invitations sent to influencers and the press, and speculate in the days leading up to the event what might be announced. By choosing a day a company knows nothing else will be announced, executives can count on many of the big tech headlines and stories being solely about them.

Just look at OnePlus. This past fall they had planned to unveil the new OnePlus 6T on October 30th, but when Apple announced the 2018 iPad event for the same day, OnePlus rescheduled their event to a day earlier. OnePlus CEO Pete Lau even acknowledged the problem on the company's message boards.

"We have only just begun our journey, and cannot afford to let one of the most important products in our history be affected by another great product launch."

The number of CES attendees in 2018 dropped by 2,000 compared to 2017. That might sound like a lot, but when we're talking about 180,000 people, it's a little more than one percent.

So, for now, CES continues to be an important event in the tech world, despite Apple and other tech giants going their own way when it comes to introducing new products. It provides a great opportunity for smaller tech companies to get their products out there, and for consumers to learn about upcoming technology like connected cars. But more importantly, it's still an event that puts much of the tech industry in one place at the same time, and there's still a lot to be said for that human connection. 

Join the conversation about this story »

• Morgan Stanley equity strategists think stocks will rise 8% into year-end.
• But they need to see a few developments, including a pause in the Federal Reserve's interest-rate hiking path, before deeming a sustained stock-market bottom.
• US  equity markets have posted modest gains so far this year.

Morgan Stanley's equity strategists are positive stocks will end the year higher. But with so much uncertainty looming on the horizon, they need to be convinced of a few things before declaring stocks are out of the woods.

"We are definitely more constructive than we have been in over a year based on valuation, sentiment, and positioning, but we don't think it is time to blow the all clear signal yet," a team of equity strategists led by Michael Wilson told clients in a note on Monday.

"Multiples across the globe are well below 5-year averages and the equity risk premium in the US reached levels last seen in early 2016. However, we don't expect this slowdown to be as severe, suggesting it's priced at the index level."

Wilson and his team have a year-end price target of 2,750 on the S&P 500, implying a rise of nearly 8% from Monday's closing price. The S&P 500 has posted a gain of 1.6% so far this year despite volatility produced by ongoing trade negotiations between the US and China, the government shutdown, and Apple's quarterly revenue warning last week.

Here's a breakdown of some developments Morgan Stanley identified which would lead them to believe stocks can meaningfully bottom at this juncture.

• Work off technical damage. The market has experienced "significant" technical damage, Morgan Stanley said. For example, just under 20% of S&P 500 members are trading above their respective 200-day moving averages — a dismal reading near an eight-year low. Additionally, the S&P 500 itself is trading meaningfully below its own 50- and 200-day moving averages. "There is quite a bit of overhead resistance that will need to be worked through," they said. 
• An increasingly dovish Fed. The strategists said the Federal Reserve needs to shift from an increasingly dovish tone to "more dovish action," like halting its interest-rate hiking path and/or reducing its balance sheet. Until then, Wilson's team thinks "it will be hard to sustain a rally much above the old support of 2600-2650."
• Digesting negative numbers. Investors have to "get past some incrementally negative data points" weighing on the market like last week's disappointing ISM purchasing managers index data and Apple's quarterly revenue warning. Morgan Stanley said those two events were "unlikely isolated incidents."
• Hedge funds are bearish, but not bearish enough. The strategists' internal hedge-fund data shows exposures have not been this low since 2016 on a net basis, and 2012 on a gross basis. While this shows investors are "appropriately bearish," and gives Morgan Stanley reason to grow more constructive at this point, sentiment has not become extreme enough to call for a sustainable market bottom.

Morgan Stanley's price target for its "bull case" is 3,000, implying a rise of nearly 18% from current levels. Its "bear case" of 2,400 implies a drop of 6%.

Read more: JPMORGAN: These 2 charts show a blistering stock market rebound is just getting started

More granularly, the firm recommends overweight positions in consumer staples, energy, financials, and utilities. It recommends underweight positions in consumer discretionary and technology.

When it comes to preference for value stocks over growth stocks, the firm prefers value due to its view that value is cheap relative to history. "Growth stocks can still work as long as you don't overpay for them," they conclude.

Now read:

• The best-performing investment of 2018 came as a shock to everyone — and the stars are now aligned for its continued dominance
• A group of Wall Street firms are planning to launch a stock exchange that should 'scare the living daylights out of NYSE and Nasdaq'

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NOW WATCH: The equity chief at $6.3 trillion BlackRock weighs in on the trade war, a possible recession, and offers her best investing advice for a tricky 2019 landscape

Tech companies and auto companies are all racing to be the first to roll out self-driving cars onto the road.

The stakes are high for everyone involved. The self-driving revolution and the prevalence of ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft threatens to reduce individual car ownership, which would eat into a sizable piece of automakers' core business.

Meanwhile, tech companies are jockeying for a piece of the self-driving-car market, which Apple CEO Tim Cook dubbed"the mother of all AI projects." These companies are all looking to deploy self-driving cars as part of a commercial ride-hailing service that would operate similarly to how Uber and Lyft do now.

In a new free report, Business Insider Intelligence — Business Insider's premium research service — takes an in-depth look at the most expansive self-driving-car tests taking place in the US, and offers insights on the leaders in the self-driving-car race.

To get your copy of this free report, click here.

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• North Korean leader Kim Jong Un traveled to China on his family's personal armored train on Tuesday.
• Not much is known about this train, but previous accounts and footage show it to be filled with French wine, Apple computers, and plush leather seats.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un spent his 35th birthday traveling to Beijing, where he will reportedly spend four days meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

State media showed Kim walking along a red carpet to board his family's personal armored train — a 21-carriage green train with a distinctive yellow line running across it.

Not much is known about the Kim family train, but previous accounts and footage show it to be filled with imported French wine, Apple computers, and plush leather seats.

Photos from North Korean state media provide a rare look inside the unusual vehicle — take a look inside:

SEE ALSO: Photos over 70 years show how North Korea's Kim family went from starving guerilla fighters to going toe-to-toe with Trump

North Korean TV on Tuesday aired footage of Kim's departure for Beijing. He is seen walking along a red carpet to board the train, and waving to dozens of government officials and army officers who lined up to send him off.

Tweet Embed:
//twitter.com/mims/statuses/1082554439062433792?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Footage of Kim Jong-un's departure for Beijing aired on North Korean TV. pic.twitter.com/XOeJQnaTdZ

Kim also used this train on his first trip to China last March. That trip was largely kept secret, but North Korea watchers immediately recognized the green train with yellow horizontal lines, which both Kim and his father Kim Jong Il had used before.

When Kim Jong Il travelled on the train, power to other lines would be shut down so nobody could get in his way.

Source: The Chosun Ilbo

• Uber is in no rush to go public this year, according to CEO Dara Khosrowshahi.
• Khosrowshahi told The Wall Street Journal that he and investors would be "disappointed" if there was no IPO but that "the company would be just fine."
• The comments appear to be a softening of Khosrowshahi's position last year, when he consistently said Uber was "on track" for a 2019 initial public offering.

Uber may not go public this year after all, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has told The Wall Street Journal.

In an interview published Tuesday, Khosrowshahi said the company was in no rush to go public and may choose to bide its time and ride out rough market conditions.

"We'll do it when we're ready, and, hopefully, the markets will be in a good state," he said, adding that the ride-hailing firm had "a strong balance sheet so we don't need to go public this year."

"It's a desire," he continued, going on to say that "if it doesn't happen it doesn't happen."

"I'd be disappointed and I think our shareholders would be disappointed but the company would be just fine," he said.

The comments appear to be a softening of Khosrowshahi's position last year, when he consistently said Uber was "on track" for a 2019 initial public offering. He did, however, add the caveat of "market conditions permitting" during an interview with Reuters in September.

Read more: Facebook's disastrous run will only worsen in 2019, and advertisers may be turned off by its 'toxicity'

Since that interview, tech stocks have taken a hammering, led by companies including Apple and Facebook. The former has lost more than $450 billion from its valuation since it hit a record high of $1.12 trillion in October, and last week issued its first earnings warning in nearly 17 years.

But Uber's youth means it's not subject to the same market forces as more established players, Khosrowshahi said. "I view us as a company that's still very, very young and has a long way to go and therefore hopefully won’t be as subject to cycles the way, let's say, Apple or Samsung is," he explained.

Khosrowshahi added that Uber's earnings remain healthy despite market gloom, with revenues up.

Uber could be valued at a massive $120 billion if it goes public this year, according to proposals put forward to the company from Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. The valuations are 66% higher than Uber's most recent valuation, which pegged the company at $72 billion after Toyota invested $500 million into the ride-hailing firm.

Now tell us what you think!

SEE ALSO: Uber's CEO says the company is 'on track' to go public by the end of next year

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• Amazon may double its air fleet size to 100 planes by 2025. 
• Amazon Air isn't likely to compete with USPS, UPS, or FedEx as a third-party air cargo provider, but it shows that it might be moving away from using the services.
• Morgan Stanley said the additional planes could be a revenue opportunity cost for both FedEx and UPS of around 10%. 

Two days before Christmas, Amazon announced it would add 10 additional planes to its air fleet.

And a closer look at Amazon's leasing agreements with Air Transport Services Group and Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, two aircraft leasing companies, suggests many more planes are in Amazon Air's future.

According to a Morgan Stanley investor note from January 7, Amazon's most recent agreement with Air Transport Services Group includes an option to lease 17 additional planes by 2025. Amazon's 2016 deal with Atlas Air includes a similar option to add 27 planes by 2025. 

If Amazon were to take lease of all available additional planes, that would nearly double its fleet from 50 planes to 92. 

Read more:Amazon posing a threat to FedEx is a 'fantastical' idea, CEO said — but the reality is much more complicated

Morgan Stanley analysts wrote in the January 7 note that Amazon's plan "puts them on an eventual path to 100 planes."

Amazon does have the space for all of that. It plans to expand its hub at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport to three million square feet. The space could accommodate more than 100 Amazon Air cargo planes.

Meanwhile, last month Amazon announced it will expand its 72,000-square-foot cargo facility at Chicago Rockford International Airport to 200,000 square feet. It also announced last month it would build a new regional hub at Fort Worth Alliance Airport, and a new sorting facility in Ohio's Wilmington Air Park.

An expanded Amazon Air fleet is bad news for UPS and FedEx

Morgan Stanley analysts estimated that, if Amazon ramps up to 100 planes by 2025, for which Amazon has the space, that would be a revenue opportunity cost for both FedEx and UPS of around 10%. 

Morgan Stanley analysts wrote earlier this month that Amazon saves $2 to $4 per package when using its private fleet. That's as much as $2 billion (6% of its shipping expenditure) in savings.

People often pit Amazon's private air fleet against UPS, USPS, FedEx, and the like. But analysts say Amazon Air isn't likely to compete as a third-party air cargo provider anytime soon.

But those shipping firms do depend on Amazon as a customer. Amazon comprises around 3-5% of FedEx's revenue, while Amazon's revenue percentage at UPS is around the low teens, according to Trip Miller, founder and managing partner of Gullane Capital. (Gullane Capital has shares in Amazon and FedEx.)

SEE ALSO: Amazon just expanded their fleet to 50 aircraft — and it shows that FedEx and UPS are starting to lose one of their biggest customers

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• The 2019 61st Grammys award ceremony is airing this February. 
• Artists like Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, and Usher first walked the Grammys red carpet over a decade ago. 
• A lot of artists, like Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga, have changed their style quite a bit since they first attended the Grammys. 

With the 61st annual Grammys coming up, it’s hard not to look back on all of the shows that have come and gone. As viewers, we've watched so many iconic musicians get nominated for awards, win big, give epic performances, and sometimes wear a very memorable look on the red carpet. 

That being said, as much as it's fun to look back on big wins, it’s always fun to look back and see what some of our favorite artists looked like back when they made their first appearances at the Grammys. 

Here's what 25 musicians looked like at their first Grammys.

Drake walked his first Grammys red carpet in 2010.

This year, Drake has been nominated for seven Grammys, and over the course of his career, he's already won three of them. Collectively, he's been nominated 42 times. Drake's first appearance was at the 2010 Grammys where he received two nominations for his hit single "Best I Ever Had."

Rihanna made her first Grammys appearance in 2008.

In 2008, Rihanna had her first Grammys experience, scoring four overall nominations and one win: she scored the award for best rap/song collaboration for "Umbrella." In total, she has nine Grammys.

Who could forget Britney Spears' first Grammys appearance in 2000?

Back in 2000, Spears' career was just getting started and she received two big Grammy nominations, including one for best new artist. In the coming years, she'd be nominated for a Grammy six more times and win once. 

• President Trump declared on December 19 that ISIS was "defeated in Syria" and that US troops would therefore leave.
• The situation is much more complicated.
• The US wants Turkey to hold the line and take on the remnants of ISIS, which is not totally defeated.
• It also wants assurances that Turkey will not attack Kurdish militants in Syria, which Turkey considers terrorists.
• US National Security Adviser John Bolton went to Turkey this week to secure these.
• But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday refused to agree to Bolton's conditions and said he "made a serious mistake."
• It is not clear how Trump will be able to deliver on his promise if the US and Turkey cannot agree.

President Donald Trump's controversial plan to pull US troops out of Syria is starting to fall apart already, because Turkey — which the US wants to step up when it leaves — won't agree to the White House's terms.

The cracks in the plan became evident today when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan publicly condemned National Security Advisor John Bolton, who is visiting the country to insist that Turkey fulfills the criteria for a US withdrawal.

Bolton told reporters on Sunday that he would seek Turkey's assurance that it will not attack Kurdish militants in northern Syria after the US is gone.

US forces in Syria currently fight alongside the People's Protection Units (YPG), a Kurdish militia in Syria.

Turkey considers the YPG to be terrorists, because of their connection to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a group in Turkey which Ankara considers a terrorist organization.

The US believes that its withdrawal from Syria could leave YPG fighters vulnerable to Turkish attacks.

Bolton said on Sunday, according to the BBC: "We don't think the Turks ought to undertake military action that is not fully co-ordinated with and agreed to by the United States."

He said the conditions are "at a minimum so they don't endanger our troops, but also so that they meet the President's requirement that the Syrian opposition forces that have fought with us are not endangered."

Erdogan on Tuesday refused to give such assurance, and slammed Bolton's thinking as "a serious mistake."

He told his AK Party at the Turkish parliament in Ankara, according to Reuters: "If they are terrorists, we will do what is necessary no matter where they come from."

"Bolton has made a serious mistake and whoever thinks like this has also made a mistake. It is not possible for us to make compromises on this point."

He added, according to Ragip Soylu, the Turkey correspondent at the Qatari-funded Middle East Eye: "Saying that Turkey targets Syrian Kurds, which is a lie itself, is the lowest, most dishonorable, ugliest, most banal slander ever."

Read more: Trump says 'the generals' asked for more time in Syria, but he said 'Nope' because 'We've knocked them silly'

Erdogan's remarks appear to have opened up a new rift between the US and Turkey.

Bolton, who is in the Middle East this week, will leave Turkey on Tuesday without meeting Erdogan at all, the Associated Press reported.

His Turkish counterpart, Presidential Spokesman Ibrahim Kalin, abruptly canceled a scheduled joint press conference after their meeting, Agence France-Presse reported.

Trump announced his decision to pull all 2,000 troops out of Syria on December 19, claiming that it was because "we have defeated ISIS in Syria"— contradicting analyses from the US-led coalition that the "mission in northeast Syria remains unchanged."

The president appeared to walk back his claim the next day, saying in a tweet: "Does the USA want to be the Policeman of the Middle East, getting NOTHING but spending precious lives and trillions of dollars protecting others who, in almost all cases, do not appreciate what we are doing? ... Time for others to finally fight."

The decision to withdraw from Syria has been controversial. Jim Mattis, the former US defense secretary, and Brett McGurk, who was the top US official leading the 79-nation fight against ISIS, both resigned over it.

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• Tenshin Nasukawa has welcomed Conor McGregor's mixed martial arts challenge.
• But Nasukawa has a few demands that would prove problematic to any negotiations with McGregor and the Irishman's employer, the UFC.
• Nasukawa wants the fight to be competed at a weight that is alien to McGregor, in a kickboxing ring rather than a UFC cage, and wants to make McGregor play the waiting game rather than book the bout now.
• McGregor has other fights that could prove far more lucrative, with rematches against Nate Diaz and Khabib Nurmagomedov likely options.
• A Nasukawa vs. McGregor exhibition could, therefore, remain talked about on social media platforms only, rather than on the negotiating table in UFC boardrooms.

Tenshin Nasukawa has welcomed Conor McGregor's mixed martial arts challenge but has issued demands that could prove problematic in negotiating with the Irishman and his employer, the UFC.

Nasukawa rose to international prominence when the Asian combat sports firm Rizin held a press conference to announce an exhibition bout between the 20-year-old kickboxer and American fight veteran Floyd Mayweather last year.

Nasukawa was annihilated by Mayweather in an exhibition that lasted just 136 seconds on December 31, but even though he was knocked down three times the event still managed to capture the imagination of McGregor, who issued a come-and-fight-me plea on Twitter.

Read more: Conor McGregor says Floyd Mayweather's Tenshin Nasukawa matchup is like 'something out of Rush Hour 5'

"I wish to go to Tokyo to face Tenshin Nasukawa in a mixed martial arts exhibition bout,"McGregor tweeted on Sunday.

It only took Nasukawa a day to respond but the Japanese fighter has told McGregor he has conditions that the UFC star must accept if their exhibition is to go ahead.

Here they are:

1. McGregor must weigh-in at 58kg (127.8 pounds)
2. The bout must be fought under kickboxing rules in a ring
3. It must be held after Nasukawa has competed in the RISE kickboxing grand prix this year

Read more: Floyd Mayweather's fight against Tenshin Nasukawa was 'fake,' according to a former UFC heavyweight

"Dear Mr. McGregor,"Nasukawa wrote on Instagram. "Thank you very much for remembering my name. I'm honored that you would even consider fighting me.

"58kg, kickboxing rules would probably get us in the ring sometime in the near future. I will fight my RISE world GP this year so please watch your diet and wait for me!"

Weight matters

By demanding McGregor weighs no more than 58kg (127.8 pounds), Nasukawa gives himself a massive advantage. This weight is closer to his natural competing weight (121 pounds) but it would also give McGregor a problematic weight-cut.

This is because McGregor currently competes as a UFC lightweight, which means his fighting weight is 70.3kg (155 pounds). Even though McGregor previously campaigned as a featherweight at 65.7kg (145 pounds), cutting further to 127 pounds would be improbable, if not impossible.

McGregor's challenge specifically referenced mixed martial arts rules in a cage and so Nasukawa's insistence on kickboxing rules in a ring further distances himself from the Irishman's original offer.

Nasukawa stressed that the upcoming RISE kickboxing grand prix is a more important competition for him than any exhibition against McGregor, and McGregor himself has potential big-money rematches against Khabib Nurmagomedov and Nate Diaz to campaign for.

So, for now, it is likely this event could remain the talk of social media, rather than the talk of any negotiating room.

SEE ALSO: Tenshin Nasukawa says he didn't earn the right to fight Floyd Mayweather and underestimated the unbeaten boxer

DON'T MISS: Floyd Mayweather's fight against Tenshin Nasukawa was 'fake,' according to a former UFC heavyweight

UP NEXT: Conor McGregor's rematch against Khabib Nurmagomedov 'should happen' this year, UFC boss says

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Consumers having been “cutting the cord,” or canceling their pay-TV subscriptions in favor of internet-delivered alternatives, for years now, but the trend reached new heights in 2017. 

There’s little reason to believe that this phenomenon will slow down any time soon either, so pay-tv providers will have to find new ways to generate revenue as their primary source continues to erode. 

One of the most prominent ways media companies are recuperating cord-cutting losses is by launching their own direct-to-consumer streaming services. 

But what makes for a successful streaming video service? 

The Business Insider Intelligence Digital Media research team has written a note breaking down the evolving landscape of streaming video on-demand (SVOD). The note looks at which characteristics consumers care about most in a streaming service and which are just "nice to have." 

To get your FREE copy, click here.

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• Taylor Swift famously made "squad goals" a thing in 2015.
• Swift's squad consists of more than two dozen individuals.
• Swift appears to still be friends with most of the squad.

Back in 2015 and 2016, Taylor Swift was the reigning queen of the "squad." Swift and her crew of (mostly) gal pals graced headlines for years and had some seriously enviable moments. Swift brought her gang of best friends onstage at her 1989 tour, celebrated with them at her annual July 4th parties, and even cast most of them in her "Bad Blood" music video.

This group of individuals became known as Taylor Swift's "squad," but in the last two years, the squad has gone seemingly silent on social media.

Here's what Taylor Swift's "squad" is up to now.

Karlie Kloss was once considered Swift's best friend.

Karlie Kloss was once famously considered Swift's "best friend" and the highest ranking member of "the squad." At the time they met, Kloss was the buzziest new model on the scene and she and Swift solidified their new friendship with a well-documented road trip to Big Sur.

Kloss recently got married and confirmed that she and Swift are still close.

Over the years the tabloids liked to speculate that the two had a falling out, but Kloss revealed to Vogue in October 2018 that "Taylor and I are still really good friends." Kloss is still modeling, still coding, still an entrepreneur, and most recently — a wife. She married Joshua Kushner this year, though it's unclear if Swift attended the wedding.

Cara Delevingne met Swift at the 2013 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.

Like a lot of Swift's model friends, Cara Delevingne and Swift seemed to link up after Swift performed at the 2013 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. Soon after they were often spotted hanging out in New York City. Delevingne was another of the friends to appear in the "Bad Blood" music video.