"They seem hell-bent on taking on Wall Street, they seem to hate hedge funds and threads are peppered with insults about 'boomer' money."

Those were the words of Neil Wilson, chief analyst at Markets.com, about the online vigilante investors currently causing turmoil on the Dow and Nasdaq. Shares in the struggling video game retailer GameStop have risen more than 300 percent in the past week after amateur investors, banding together on the Reddit website, launched a counter-attack on the short-sellers at top U.S. hedge funds. 

Elsewhere, lockdown blues didn't stop consumers splashing out on the latest iPhone 12 and other costly Apple goods in the run up to Christmas. Sales for the last quarter of 2020 at the tech giant were up a fifth on the previous year.

And the boom in tech stocks like Apple's pushed the value of Norway's sovereign wealth fund, the world's biggest, to a new high last year. The nation of 5.3 million is now sitting on a well-upholstered cushion of $1.3 trillion.

Louise Greenwood

Digital business correspondent 

P.S. Did someone forward this to you? Sign up here

Trading volumes on the U.S. markets have been pushed to heights not seen since the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, as amateur investors battle with hedge funds seeking to "short" some of their favorite companies. 

Gaming enthusiasts have been celebrating after an online campaign on the Reddit site rallied the price of bricks-and-mortar retailer GameStop. Members of the group known as "Wallstreetbets" have piled into the company's shares in a move known as a "short squeeze," that has pushed up the firm's stock price from just over $17 at the start of the month to around $150. Analysts believe the estimated 4.3 million members of Wallstreetbets are now targeting stock in other troubled companies including Nokia and BlackBerry.

Fourth-quarter sales at tech giant Apple surged to $111 billion as buyers splashed out on the new iPhone 12, along with iPads and laptops over Christmas. Sales in total were up 21 percent on the same period in 2019, as pandemic conditions push users online for everyday activities. More than 1.65 billion Apple devices are now active globally, including more than a billion iPhones.

The European Commission is to open a formal investigation into the practices at food giant Mondelez, the owner of Toblerone, Oreo and Milka chocolate brands. Regulators are examining whether the U.S.-based multinational hindered cross-border sales within the single market, pushing up consumer prices. 

Shares in the electric car market leader Tesla fell in late trading on Wednesday, despite the firm recording its first annual profit. Operating income rose to $575m in the last quarter of 2020. However, analysts say figures have been boosted by the firm's sale of regulatory credits, awarded to Tesla by state and federal government for its zero environmental pollution record, to other car makers. 

The Boeing 737 Max has been cleared for return to service by regulators in the UK and EU. The airplane was taken out of use following two fatal crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia. However, after an independent review, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency said it had "every confidence" in the craft. 

The EU has attacked drugmaker AstraZeneca over what it calls a "continued lack of clarity" on its COVID-19 vaccine delivery schedule. AstraZeneca said only a fraction of the jabs it had agreed to deliver between January and March will now arrive due to production issues. Talks have so far failed to resolve the dispute. 

Economic confidence across the eurozone has fallen again, amid concerns about the impact of ongoing lockdowns among member states, according to the latest data. The European Commission sentiment index dropped to 91.5 from a revised 92.4 in January with a more downbeat outlook registered in the retail and services sectors. 

The planned merger between French and Italian ship makers Chantiers de l'Atlantique and Fincantieri has collapsed amid COVID-19 concerns. The deal, provisionally agreed three years ago, had not yet been passed by European regulators, but has floundered on pandemic worries and concerns over industry monopolization and higher prices.

The UK government has canceled a proposed post-Brexit review of workers' rights after protests from opposition politicians and trade unions. After reports that scrapping the EU working times directive, which caps the working week at 48 hours, was under consideration, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has told the UK press that "the review is no longer happening."

The rising value of tech stocks has contributed an extra $123 billion to the world's biggest sovereign wealth fund. By the latest overall valuation, the equity portfolio at Norway's sovereign wealth fund stands at $1.3 trillion, with tech stocks delivering an estimated 42 percent return last year, while real estate holdings fell slightly.

READ MORE

WHY IS THE UK DEATH TOLL SO HIGH?

HOW FISH BEHAVE LIKE CYCLISTS

RICH GET RICHER IN PANDEMIC

WATCH: Want to see some of the beautiful sculptures masterfully carved for the Snow Sculpture Contest in Valloire?

Shares in Boeing were trading down on Wednesday, after the aircraft maker reported a record net loss of $11. billion in the fourth quarter. That's despite EU regulators saying the company's 737 Max plane was safe for use, after a two-year ban following the deaths of 346 crew and passengers in two fatal crashes. 

CGTN Europe spoke to John Grant, chief analyst at the global travel data firm OAG, on the 737s controversial return to the skies.

I think we have to trust the regulators because they regulate just not this aircraft, but every other commercial aircraft that's in operation. What we had seen was a really cozy, close relationship between Boeing and the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) which is their regulator and shortcuts were being taken. And, you know, the inquiry came down very heavily and criticized both the FAA and Boeing about that ... interestingly, on this occasion, most other countries accept the approval of the FAA because they are experts and Boeing is a very big, very big company. But on this occasion, the European Union and every other major country is applying its own regulatory approval. So I'm very surprised if that's going to be an issue.

Winning back passenger confidence and the pandemic both remain major obstacles, don't they? 

I think the pandemic is probably more of an obstacle at this moment in time than the actual aircraft type. You know, we've got to rebuild as an industry - consumer confidence, health protocols. We've not been helped by any governments. Talking to each other and developing common standards are now 12 months into this event, beginning to talk about travel and passports. So I think we've got to rebuild that confidence and, thereafter, the max has its own challenges that it needs to overcome. ... It's got to be a carefully managed reintroduction back into commercial use. 

No one is flying. With current restrictions in place, is certification likely to have any practical effect?

The benefits for airlines that have this aircraft is that, you know, it's 20 percent cheaper to operate. But quite frankly, at the moment, you know, they're walking around with about 25 percent of seats being filled. So they don't have any problems about capacity. Yes, they'd like to reduce their operating cost, and indeed, it's a buyer's market for this aircraft, as Ryanair as they typically do, stepped in last month and placed an order... But for many airlines, this is just another problem. Crews have got to be retrained. They've got to be recertified. Cabin staff have got to go through their checks and their checks certification programs.

And finally, EU citizens are exercising more control over their personal data online according to the latest figures. One in two people aged between 16-74 are now blocking access to their data by online advertisers, while use of other controls are growing.