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Avis Budget Group Inc. has named Larry De Shon as the company’s next chief executive officer, succeeding Ronald Nelson. De Shon, who is currently president of international business, will become president and chief operating officer effective Oct. 1 and then CEO on Jan. 1, 2016. Nelson will stay on as executive chairman at that point to help with the transition. He has been CEO since 2006. Avis Budget Group’s vehicle rental brands include Avis, Budget, Zipcar, Payless, Apex in Australia and New Zealand, and Maggiore in Italy. Avis shares are down 30.7% for the year so far. The S&P is down 3.7% for the same period.

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From:: Stock Market News

Kohl’s Corp. said it will hire more than 69,000 seasonal workers for the holiday shopping season, up from the more than 67,000 seasonal workers hired a year ago. The discount department store chain expects to hire an average of 50 people for each of its 1,166 stores, plus about 9,500 people for its distribution and e-commerce fulfillment centers. The company will add about 660 people to its credit operations. Most of the seasonal jobs will be filled by mid-November. “We want to ensure we provide the excellent service and easy experience Kohl’s customers expect, whether shopping in stores or online,” said Chief Administrative Officer Richard Schepp. The stock, little changed in morning trade Wednesday, has tumbled 19% over the past three months, while the S&P 500 has slipped 5.4%.

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From:: Stock Market News

U.S. stocks opened marginally higher, as investors remained cautious ahead of the start of the Federal Reserve’s much-anticipated two-day meeting. The S&P 500 opened 5 points, or 0.3%, higher at 1,983. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 45 points, or 0.3%, to 16,645 at the open. The Nasdaq Composite began the day up 8 points, or 0.2% at 4,869.

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From:: Stock Market News

Pinnacle Foods Inc.’s raised on Wednesday its quarterly dividend by 8.5% to 25.5 cents a share, effective in the third quarter. The new dividend will be payable on Oct. 9 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on Sept. 28. At Tuesday’s closing price of $44.63, the new dividend would represent an annual yield of 2.3%, compared with the S&P 500 dividend yield of 2.2%, according to FactSet. “This dividend increase, which marks the third rate increase we’ve taken since initiating our quarterly dividend program shortly after our IPO in March 2013, reflects the ongoing strength of our cash flow performance and our continued confidence in our business model,” said Chief Executive Bob Gamgort. Shares of the company, which brands include Birds Eye frozen foods and Hungry-Man frozen dinners, were still inactive in premarket trade. They have gained 4.5% over the past three months, while the S&P 500 has lost 5.6%.

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From:: Stock Market News

News Corp. said on Wednesday it was buying social video ad platform company Unruly Holdings Ltd. for 58 million British pounds, or about $90 million, in cash. The deal also includes potential payments of up to 56 million pounds, or about $86 million, if certain performance objectives are achieved. Through its video distribution platform and video-sharing tracking capabilities, Unruly uses historic sharing behavior to predict the potential for video ads to go viral. New Corp. expects its business unit, such as realtor.com, Fox Sports and HarperCollins Publishers, to begin offering Unruly products to their advertising partners in the coming months. News Corp.’s stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has lost 8.9% over the past three months, while the S&P 500 has declined 5.6%. MarketWatch, the publisher of this report, is owned by News Corp. unit Dow Jones.

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From:: Stock Market News

The dollar appreciated against the euro and the yen Wednesday after official data showed consumer prices declined in August for the first time since the beginning of the year. The CPI decreased by a seasonally adjusted 0.1% last month. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected no change. The euro rose to $1.1260 from $1.1220 shortly before the data was released. The Dollar weakened to 120.50 yen from 120.70 yen. The pound was little-changed at $1.5452 after the data.

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From:: Stock Market News

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – The consumer price index fell in August for the first time since the start of the year, mainly because of a sharp drop in gasoline prices. The CPI dipped a seasonally adjusted 0.1% last month, the first decline since January. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected no change. Energy prices declined 2%, the Labor Department said Wednesday. Food prices rose 0.2%, however, led by another big increase in the cost of eggs. Excluding food and energy, so-called core consumer prices rose 0.1% in August. Over the past year the main CPI has risen by an unadjusted 0.2%, the same as in the prior month. Core prices are up 1.8% in the same span, also unchanged. The low level of inflation is unlikely to give the Federal Reserve any urgency to raise interest rates this week. Real hourly wages, meanwhile, jumped 0.5% in August, reflecting lower inflation and a bump in hourly pay. Real wages have climbed a modest 2% in the past 12 months.

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From:: Stock Market News

SynCardia Systems filed for an initial public offering of 2.5 million shares, to raise up to $30 million. The medical technology company, which makes temporary artificial hearts, expects the IPO to price between $10 and $12 a share. SynCardia has applied to have its stock listed on the Nasdaq Global Market under the ticker symbol “TAHT.” Roth Capital Partners is the sole book-running manager of the IPO, while Maxim Group and Monarch Capital Group are co-managers. If the underwriters exercise options to purchase additional shares, SynCardia could raise up to $34.5 million. The company plans to use the proceeds from the IPO for research and development, for sales and distribution, to pay down debt and for general corporate purposes.

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From:: Stock Market News

FedEx Corp.’s stock dropped 3.1% in premarket trade Wednesday, after the package delivery giant reported fiscal first-quarter earnings that missed expectations and lowered its full-year outlook. Earnings rose to $692 million, or $2.42 a share, from $653 million, or $2.26 a share, in the same period a year ago, but fell short of the FactSet consensus of $2.45 a share. Revenue increased to $12.3 billion from $11.7 billion, in line with the FactSet consensus, as better-than-expected revenue from its FedEx Ground segment offset misses in the Express and Freight businesses. The company lowered its full-year EPS outlook to a range of $10.40 to $10.90 from $10.60 to $11.10, due primarily to weaker trucking industry demand and higher-than-expected self-insurance reserves and operating costs at it FedEx Ground business. “FedEx Corp. is performing solidly given weaker-than-expected economic conditions, especially in manufacturing and global trade,” said Chief Executive Frederick Smith. The stock has tumbled 15% over the past three months through Tuesday, while the S&P 500 has lost 5.6%. On Tuesday, FedEx announced shipping rate increases for its express, ground and freight businesses.

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From:: Stock Market News

B/E Aerospace Inc. said Wednesday it expects to book after-tax charges of about $30 million in the third quarter to cover cost cuts, including shedding about 450 employees and the closure of some facilities. The cuts are needed to improve efficiencies to combat slower revenue growth expected in 2015 and 2016, Chief Executive Amin Khoury said in a statement. “We expect our initiatives to offset inflationary pressures on wages, occupancy and infrastructure costs and enable us to continue to generate incremental year-over-year margin improvement.” he said. Khoury said the company is still expecting 2015 revenue of about $2.8 billion and earnings per share of about $3.03, excluding the charges. The company expects 2016 revenue to grow 1% to 2%, followed by stronger growth in 2017. Shares were not yet active in premarket trade, but are down 14.8% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has lost 4%.

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From:: Stock Market News