Business Briefs – July 20, 2017

China Clamping Down on Use of VPNs to Evade Great Firewall

BEIJING (AP) – China is tightening control over use of virtual private networks in a move that foreign companies worry might disrupt their operations or jeopardize trade secrets and information about customers. In a letter to corporate customers, the biggest Chinese internet service provider says VPNs can connect only to a company’s headquarters abroad — not to any other sites outside China.

Trump Administration Pulls Health Law Help in 18 Cities

CHICAGO (AP) – President Donald Trump’s administration has ended Affordable Care Act contracts that brought assistance into neighborhoods in 18 cities, meaning shoppers on the insurance exchanges will have fewer places to turn for help signing up for coverage. Community groups say the move was announced to them by contractors last week, and some call it an attempt to damage the health law’s marketplaces by a president who has made clear his intention to let “Obamacare” fail.

The Importance of Bigger Earnings for Stock Funds

NEW YORK (AP) – This earnings season is off to a good start, and the encouraging run is expected to keep going. Instead of excitement, though, the reaction so far from Wall Street has been more like relief. That’s because the strong reports that are forecast would be more a justification for the big moves that stock prices have already made rather than reason for further gains.