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Wyndham Worldwide Corp. said Thursday it will pay $1.95 billion in cash to buy La Quinta Holdings Inc.’s hotel franchise and management businesses. Under terms of the deal, La Quinta shareholders will receive $8.40 a share in cash, a total of about $1 billion, Wyndham will repay about $715 million in La Quinta debt and Wyndham will set aside $240 million in reserves for estimated taxes in connection with the spinoff of La Quinta’s owned real estate assets. La Quinta’s stock closed Wednesday at $19.45, giving the company a market capitalization of $2.28 billion. “La Quinta will immediately become one of our flagship brands,” said Wyndham Chief Executive Geoff Ballotti. “It is an exceptionally strong brand that is led by service-minded associates who deliver some of the highest customer engagement levels in our industry.” Wyndham and La Quinta shares were not active in premarket trade. La Quinta’s stock has run up 35% over the past 12 months, while Wyndham shares have soared 52% and the S&P 500 has climbed 23%.

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From:: Stock Market News

Shares of Countrywide PLC tanked 17% on Thursday after the real estate agent said 2017 profit is expected to have fallen by 9%. In a trading update before the company releases its full-year report in March, Countrywide said total profit is forecast to come in at £672 million, compared with £737 million a year ago. Profit in the sales and lettings business is expected to be £360 million, down 14% from 2016, reflecting a “a disappointing fourth quarter performance,” Countrywide said.

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From:: Stock Market News

The American Petroleum Institute reported Wednesday that U.S. crude supplies dropped by 5.1 million barrels for the week ended Jan. 12, according to sources. However, the API data, which was released a day later than usual because of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, showed a rise of 1.8 million barrels in gasoline stockpiles, while inventories of distillates rose by 609,000 barrels, sources said. Supply data from the Energy Information Administration will be released Thursday morning. Analysts polled by S&P Global Platts expect the EIA to report a decline of 425,000 barrels for crude inventories. They also forecast a rise of 2.7 million barrels for gasoline and a decline of 850,000 barrels for distillate supplies. February crude was at $64.07 a barrel in electronic trading, up from the settlement of $63.97 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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From:: Stock Market News

Shares of Kinder Morgan Inc. rose nearly 2% late Wednesday after the oil and gas infrastructure company reported fourth-quarter adjusted per-share earnings and sales above Wall Street expectations. Kinder Morgan said it lost $1.05 billion, or 47 cents a share, in the quarter, versus a net income of $170 million, or 8 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted for one-time items, Kinder Morgan earned 21 cents a share in the quarter, compared with 18 cents a share a year earlier. The company called the quarter “solid” and pinned the GAAP loss on a non-cash accounting charge related to the reduction in corporate income tax rates. “While the recently enacted Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 will ultimately be moderately positive for KMI, the reduced corporate income tax rate causes certain deferred-tax assets to be revalued at 21 percent versus 35 percent,” the company said in a statement. Kinder Morgan will take an about $$1.4 billion non-cash accounting charge for the quarter, it said. Revenue rose to $3.63 billion in the quarter, compared with $3.39 billion a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected adjusted earnings of 18 cents a share on sales of $3.55 billion for the fourth quarter. For the year, the company said it plans to declare dividend of 80 cents a share, achieve a distributable cash flow of about $4.57 billion, or $2.05 a share, and invest $2.2 billion in “growth projects”. Shares of Kinder Morgan ended the regular trading day up 0.9%.

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From:: Stock Market News

Alcoa Corp. shares dropped in the extended session Wednesday after the aluminum producer’s quarterly results fell short of Wall Street estimates. Alcoa shares dropped 5.4% to $53.89 after hours. The company reported a fourth-quarter loss of $196 million, or $1.06 a share, compared with a loss of $125 million, or 68 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted earnings were $1.04 a share. Revenue rose to $3.17 billion from $2.54 billion in the year-ago period. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated earnings of $1.23 a share on revenue of $3.28 billion.

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From:: Stock Market News

The Dow Jones Industrial Average Wednesday booked its best single-session rise in about seven weeks on the back of a sharp rise in shares of Boeing Co. The Dow rose more than 320 points at at 26,115, which marked a fresh intraday high. Boeing’s share rally , up 4.7%, or around $15.85, contributed about 110 points to that rally to the close. A $1 move in any one of the price-weighted Dow’s 30 components equates to a 6.83-point swing. Moves in Boeing’s stock have been the the most influential for the blue-chip average over the past several months. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 index ended up 0.9%, driving past a round-number at 2,800, while the Nasdaq Composite Index rallied sharply higher, to finish up 1% at 7,298. The run-up for equities followed an upbeat report from the Federal Reserve’s Beige book, an anecdotal account of business conditions in the central bank’s key business districts. The report suggested that stubbornly low wage growth may be on the rise. Wednesday’s move for stocks also comes after the market experienced a reversal on Tuesday on fears of a government shutdown and weakness in the energy market.

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From:: Stock Market News

U.S. stocks closed higher on Wednesday, with major indexes ending at records and the Dow closing above 26,000 for the first time as equities jumped in a broad advance. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 324 points, or 1.3%, to 26,117. The S&P 500 advanced 26 points, or 0.9%, to 2,803. The Nasdaq Composite Index closed up by 75 points, or 1%, to 7,298. All three closed at records. The day’s gains were broad, with all 11 of the S&P 500’s primary sectors ending higher, although technology shares were the biggest gainers of the day, up 1.5%. Positive sentiment was supported after the Beige Book from the Federal Reserve portrayed an economy that is steadily growing, although opinion on the latest tax reform was mixed. Among the day’s most active movers, both Bank of America and Goldman Sachs fell after reporting their quarterly results. Bank of America lost 0.2% while Goldman lost 1.9%. On the upside, International Business Machines Corp. rose 2.8% after Barclays upgraded the stock to overweight from underweight.

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From:: Stock Market News

General Electric Co.’s stock tumbled 4.8% in afternoon trade Wednesday, putting it on track for the lowest close in over six years, as investors continued to express concerns over the billions in surprise losses in GE’s legacy insurance business. After rallying as much as 9.6% in 2018 through last Thursday, then gave everything back, and then some after the insurance loss news. J.P. Morgan analyst Stephen Tusa reiterated his underweight rating on the stock, and price target of $16, which is about 7.8% below current levels, saying the charge GE disclosed Tuesday was “materially larger than expected, and the implications of dealing with it are dilutive to earnings, [free cash flow] and utlimately value.” The stock was trading around $17.34, below the 2017 low close of $17.36 on the last day of that year, and on track for the lowest close since Dec. 20, 2011. The stock has now plunged 25.2% over the past three months and 44.5% the past 12 months, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained 9.6% the past three months and 23.7% the past year.

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From:: Stock Market News

President Donald Trump said Wednesday he is considering a “fine” as part of a probe into China’s alleged theft of intellectual property. The U.S. has begun a trade investigation into the issue and Trump said action would come soon. “We have a very big intellectual property potential fine going, which is going to come out soon,” Trump told Reuters in an interview. He didn’t specify what he meant by a fine, however.

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From:: Stock Market News

The Dow Jones Industrial Average Wednesday afternoon was on track for its best single-session rise in about seven weeks on the back of a sharp rise in shares of Boeing Co. The Dow was rising more than 320 points at at 26,113, which would mark a fresh intraday high. Boeing’s share rally , up 3.5%, or around $12, was contributing about 80 points to that burst higher. A $1 move in any one of the price-weighted Dow’s 30 components equates to a 6.83-point swing. Moves in Boeing’s stock have been the the most influential for the blue-chip average over the past several months. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 index was up more than 1%, driving past a round-number at 2,800, while the Nasdaq Composite Index also was rallying sharply higher, up 1.2% at 7,300. The run-up for equities followed an upbeat report from the Federal Reserve’s Beige book, an anecdotal account of business conditions in the central bank’s key business districts. The report suggested that stubbornly low wage growth may be on the rise. Wednesday’s move for stocks also comes after the market experienced a reversal on fears of a government shutdown and weakness in the energy market.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News