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Bumble Bee sold and BlackBerry’s tough quarter — 5 things to know today

By
Ben Geier
Ben Geier
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By
Ben Geier
Ben Geier
Down Arrow Button Icon
December 19, 2014, 8:23 AM ET
BlackBerry Ltd. Unveils The Square-Screened Passport Smartphone
John Chen, chief executive officer of BlackBerry Ltd., speaks on a Passport smartphone during a Bloomberg Television interview at a product announcement in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2014.Photograph by Hannah Yoon — Bloomberg/Getty Images

Good morning, friends and Fortune readers.

Can Wall Street make it three in a row? U.S. stock futures are sharply higher in early trading, after Thursday’s 421-point surge for the Dow surge, which added to big gains in the prior session and chalked up a 4.2% two-day rally for the index — its biggest two-day percent gain since November 2011.

Here’s what else you need to know about today.

1. BlackBerry’s rough quarter

The once-powerful smart phone manufacturer BlackBerry (BBRY) once again had a rough quarter, missing estimates and seeing revenue fall. BlackBerry saw a net loss of $148 million, which, to be fair, is much better than the $4.4 billion loss the company saw in the same quarter last year. One bit of positive news is that BlackBerry did manage to create a small profit when one time items are discounted.

2. Bumble Bee Tuna goes to Thailand

Bumble Bee Seafoods, makers of the famous canned tuna, has been sold to Thai Union Frozen Products. The deal is for $1.51 billion, and adds to the Thai company’s tuna portfolio, as it already owns Chicken of the Sea, another popular brand in the U.S.

3. Apple is in trouble again

The BBC has published video of workers in poor conditions in Apple’s (AAPL) Chinese factories, once again bringing scrutiny to the technology company over how its manufacturing units operate. One undercover journalist worked 18 days straight without a day off, and saw workers so tired they were falling asleep on their shifts, the BBC reported.

4. The mayo war comes to a merciful close

Rest easy, folks — your vegan sandwich spread is safe. Food giant Unilever has dropped its lawsuit against tiny company Hampton Creek, Fortune’s Beth Kowitt reports. Unilever, which makes Hellmann’s mayonnaise, had sued Hampton Creek’s Just Mayo, arguing that it is not really mayonnaise because it doesn’t contain eggs.

5. Bieber is down on Instagram

Instagram is purging spam accounts, meaning you may have just lost a lot of followers. So has Justin Bieber, who reportedly saw 3.5 million followers disappear. Kim Kardashian has also lost some fans (1.3 million, apparently). Fortune’s thoughts are with Bieber and Kardashian at this difficult time.

About the Author
By Ben Geier
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