LIVE BLOG: Tales of Apple's Demise Are Greatly Exaggerated, Insider Says

The major indices started Wednesday trading on a strong note with the Nasdaq, S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial rising 0.69%, 0.42% and 0.34% respectively. 

Market activity around the world was generally positive Wednesday morning, as stocks in Europe and Asia took a cue from the strong session the Nasdaq and S&P 500 had in the previous day's trading stateside. 

Japan's Nikkei was the outlier, falling 0.31% in trading, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 0.47%, Germany's DAX climbed 0.54% and London's FTSE 100 increased 0.28% with a little over two hours left in trading across the Atlantic. 

The market is buzzing in anticipation of President Donald Trump's speech on tax reform in Indianapolis Wednesday. Following the Senate's decision to drop the latest attempt at health care reform without a vote, Sen. Lindsey Graham of S.C. said that Congress would focus on tax reform before attempting to go back to health care.

The iPhone 8's New Glass Back Isn't as Resilient as Apple Has Suggested

10:10 AM ET

Apple has been plagued by reported soft sales of the latest version of its flagship device, but now third-party insurer SquareTrade has come out with a report saying that the iPhone 8 was significantly more brittle than rival Samsung's (SSNLF) Galaxy 8. 

Squaretrade has a video detailing their findings below. 

  Famed Apple Insider Says iPhone Sales Aren't as Sluggish as Reports Say

Noted KGI Securities Apple Inc. (AAPL) analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says that reports that iPhone 8 sales are weak are overblown, based on estimates of production and research data from Localytics. 

Apple shares bottomed out on Monday before bouncing back slightly Tuesday. Shares are still down nearly 4% over the past 5 sessions due to investor trepidation surrounding sales of its most popular product. 

"We previously estimated the production weighting of new 2017 iPhone models at roughly 50% iPhone X and 50% iPhone 8/ 8 Plus. This matches what we believe is Apple's (US) estimate for demand. At first glance, the combined first-week adoption rate for the iPhone 8/ 8 Plus might appear low (about half that of iPhone 6s/ 6s Plus and 7/ 7 Plus). However, this is due to the fact that the iPhone X is not included, not because iPhone 8/ 8 Plus first weekend sales have been weak," Kuo said in his note, which was obtained by MacRumors.

  VW's Scania Unit Fined $1.03 Billion for Price Fixing

Volkswagen AG's (VLKAY) bad run with regulators continued after the EU Commission fined the German automakers Scania unit $1.03 billion for price fixing its trucks. 

The Commission accuses Scania of colluding with up to five rivals for 14 years to fix truck prices and of passing on the costs of developing cleaner emissions technology. 

VW also faces compensation claims from truck buyers, though Scania deny's any wrongdoing. This week's fine comes just months after VW was fined a record amount by the Commission over its emission scandal. 

Lyft Adds Ford to Roster of Partners in Self-Driving Collaboration 

8:13 a.m. ET

Ford Co. (F) is enlisting ride-hailing service Lyft to help it develop a fleet of self-driving vehicles, the companies announced Wednesday. 

Ford has already announced plans to work with Domino's Pizza Inc.  (DPZ) to use self-driving vehicles for deliveries, and now the company is also seeing what its technology can do for the ride-hailing industry. 

"Lyft has a network of customers, growing demand for rides and strong knowledge of transportation flow within cities. We have experience with autonomous vehicle technology development and large scale manufacturing. Both companies have fleet management and big data experience. With our combined capabilities, we believe we can effectively share information to help make the best decisions for the future," Ford said in a statement. 

Lyft already teams with Jaguar, GM Co. (GM) and Alphabet Inc.'s (GOOGL) Waymo.

Source: LIVE BLOG: Tales of Apple's Demise Are Greatly Exaggerated, Insider Says