DALLAS (AP) -- US oil has shot above $70 a barrel for the first time since late 2014, foreshadowing costlier gasoline and consumer goods. It's not clear that higher crude prices will threaten economic growth, however, and stocks are moving higher. Many factors are behind the increase including the possibility that President Donald Trump will scrap the deal that eased sanctions on Iran. That could pinch exports from that key oil producer. SEATTLE (AP) -- Nestle is paying more than $7 billion to handle global retail sales of Starbucks's coffee and tea outside of its coffee shops.

Microsoft $MSFT smashed analysts expectations for its December quarter earnings report Wednesday after the close. Once again $MSFT Cloud earnings powered revenue. Microsoft's Azure cloud-computing segment continued to expand, posting strong gains in its business selling web-based services to corporate customers. Microsoft did not give March-quarter guidance in its earnings news release. Microsoft's Azure cloud computing platform growth has slowed down over the last few quarters but annually it's still showing near 100 percent annual growth.