Once upon a time, a regular hacker could make decent money in the world of ransomware, malicious software that locks up parts of a victim’s computer and demands payment to restore access. Now those days are gone. I blame globalization. Ransomware has only recently entered the public consciousness, thanks to the high-profile extortion of a Los Angeles hospital and …

  New York / Bloomberg U.S. stocks fluctuated amid a batch earnings after erasing an early decline, while investors awaited clues on the path of interest-rate increases before a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen on Friday. HP Inc. sank 4.9 percent after forecasting earnings that may miss analyst projections. Signet Jewelers Ltd. dropped 14 percent as its profit …

Dubai / Reuters Gulf stock markets extended losses in early trade on Thursday with banks leading Saudi Arabia down, as investors continued to pull out of equities over concerns about the region’s economic slowdown and policies of austerity. The Saudi index, which on Wednesday fell below minor technical support on the April low of 6,066 points, sank a further 1.4 …