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Moody’s Investors Service on Friday downgraded ratings on Sears Holdings to Caa2 from Caa1, sending the credit further into speculative, or “junk” territory. The action reflects the retailer’s steadily deteriorating performance after it said holiday same-store sales fell 12% to 13% from the year-earlier period. “Although Sears has been able to fund its continued cash shortfalls through planned asset monetization, and additional financings, a meaningful business turnaround in fiscal 2017 is critical given the continued reduction of its asset base”, Moody’s Vice President, Christina Boni said in a statement. “We expect operating cash flow to approach a disappointing loss of $1.5 billion for fiscal 2016.” Sear’s most active bonds, the 6.625% notes due October 2018 were trading at 93 cents on the dollar, according to MarketAxess.

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From:: Stock Market News

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the federal agency that oversees the commodity futures, options and swaps industry, named J. Christopher Giancarlo acting chairman on Friday. Giancarlo succeeds Timothy Massad, a Democrat, who was appointed by former President Obama in June 2014 and resigned in early January. Giancarlo, a Republican, joined the CFTC as a commissioner in June 2014.

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From:: Stock Market News

AutoZone Inc. said Friday that it will hire more than 12,000 part-tme and full-time workers through April. The most hiring will occur in New York City, Oakland, CA, Cincinnati and Columbus, OH, New Orleans, Atlanta, Dallas and Pittsburgh. The company will hire across a number of positions, including sales representatives and store managers. Applications must be submitted online at autozone.com/careers. AutoZone shares are nearly flat in Friday trading, and are up nearly 8% for the last year. The S&P 500 index is up 22% for the past 12 months.

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From:: Stock Market News

Oil futures settled higher on Friday, supported by declines in crude output among major producers. Data released Friday from Baker Hughes, however, showed a sharp weekly rise of 29 rigs actively drilling for oil, prompting prices to pare some of their earlier gains. February West Texas Intermediate crude rose $1.05, or 2%, to settle at $52.42 a barrel. The contract, which expired at the settlement, gained 0.1% for the week. March WTI crude , the new front-month contract, added $1.10, or 2.1%, to $53.22.

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From:: Stock Market News

Gold futures climbed Friday as weakness in the U.S. dollar and uncertainty surrounding Donald Trump’s presidency helped to lift prices by roughly 0.7% for the week. February gold rose $3.40, or 0.3%, to settle at $1,204.90 an ounce.

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From:: Stock Market News

Data from Baker Hughes Friday revealed that the number of active U.S. rigs drilling for oil jumped higher by 29 to 551 rigs this week. The oil rig count had edged lower last week, but rose in each of the 10 previous weeks. The total active U.S. rig count, which includes oil and natural-gas rigs, also rose by 35 to 694, according to Baker Hughes. February West Texas Intermediate crude was up $1.02, or 2%, at $52.39 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange from Thursday’s settlement. It traded below the $52.59 it traded at before the rig data.

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From:: Stock Market News

The Mexican peso rallied after President Trump’s inauguration speech didn’t specifically mention Mexico. The country was a frequent target of criticism by Trump, who had pledged to build a wall along the U.S. southern border. The peso, which fell about 20% over the past 12 months, rose 1.3% on Friday, with the dollar buying 21.66 compared with 21.56 late Thursday in New York. The peso is still on track to post weekly declines against the dollar.

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From:: Stock Market News

U.S. stocks maintained modest gains shortly after President Donald Trump delivered his inaugural speech, reiterating his campaign slogan to “Make America Great Again”. The S&P 500 was up 6 points, or 0.3%, at 2,270. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 16 points, or 0.3% to 5,556. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 67 points or 0.4%, to 19,798. The U.S. dollar briefly weakened but was unchanged after the speech. The ICE dollar index was at 101.00

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From:: Stock Market News