Catch up on the weekend’s top five stories with this list compiled by The Fly: 1. Alibaba’s (BABA) UC Browser, which is rarely used in the West, has outflanked Google’s Chrome in some of Asia’s fastest-growing markets, according to The Wall Street Journal. Users say UC Browser works better in countries dominated by low-end smartphones and spotty mobile service, the report added. 2. Compass Group (CMPGY) CEO Richard Cousins and four members of his family were killed when the seaplane they were flying in crashed into a Sydney river on New Year’s Eve, according to Reuters. 3. None of the fast-growing giants, namely Facebook (FB), Amazon (AMZN), Netflix (NFLX) and Alphabet (GOOG; GOOGL), pay a cash dividend, but that may change before long, Jon Swartz wrote in this week’s edition of Barron’s. Facebook is pushing up against the limits of growth, and if growth begins to taper, investors will begin calling for new strategies, such as dividends and stock buybacks, he notes. Several factors make Facebook the most likely FANG candidate to offer a dividend, perhaps as early as 2019, including sufficient earnings, Swartz contended. 4. Disney (DIS) and Lucasfilm’s “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” has crossed the $1B mark at the global box office in a relatively strong New Year’s weekend in terms of moviegoing. The film stayed atop the box office chart throughout the holidays, grossing another $52.7M from over 4,200 theaters for the three-day and $68.1M for the four-day holiday weekend. “The Last Jedi” received an A CinemaScore and got a 91% from Rotten Tomatoes. 5. Chevron (CVX), GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Corning (GLW) saw positive mentions in Barron’s.
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