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By Mark Calvey

Protesters gathered at First Republic Bank’s San Francisco headquarters at lunchtime Tuesday got the message they wanted to hear: The bank will step up efforts to ensure its mortgages don’t finance the eviction of longtime tenants under the state’s controversial Ellis Act.

“First Republic understands the community’s concerns about the implications of the Ellis Act on tenants,” the bank said in a statement distributed to protesters. “We have changed our lending policy to minimize the repurposing… …read more

From:: biz journal foreclosures

Yum Brands, Inc. has named Micky Pant chief executive officer of Yum Brands China Division, succeeding Sam Su who has announced his retirement. Pant has been with the company for a decade. According to a statement from Greg Creed, chief executive of Yum! Brands , Pant was previously CEO of KFC globally and president of KFC and Pizza Hut for Yum Restaurants International. Su will serve as an executive advisor through Feburuary 2016 and remain on the Yum Brands board of directors. Yum Brands has also named Joey Wat chief executive officer of KFC China, Peter Kao as chief executive officer of Pizza Hut China and Roger Eaton as chief executive officer of the KFC Division outside of China and India. China is a key market for Yum, accounting for about half of the company’s sales. But sales have taken a hit following questions about food quality.

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From:: Stock Market News

The American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday reported that crude supplies fell by 2.3 million barrels for the week ended August 14, according to sources. Analysts polled by Platts forecast a decline of 1.2 million barrels. The more closely watched Energy Information Administration report is due Wednesday. September crude traded at $42.36 a barrel on Globex, down from the $42.62 settlement on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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From:: Stock Market News

Sina Corp. and Weibo Corp. both gained in late trading Tuesday after the Chinese Internet companies announced earnings. Sina, an online media powerhouse that derives most of its revenue from advertisements, reported second-quarter net income of $12.9 million, or 19 cents a share, on sales of $213.6 million. After adjustments, Sina profit fell to 6 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected adjusted earnings of 5 cents a share on revenue of $200.3 million. Weibo, Sina’s social-media arm that was spun off in 2014, reported earnings of $4.2 million, or 2 cents a share, on revenue of $107.8 million; adjusted earnings were 5 cents a share. Analysts expected Weibo to report adjusted profit of 2 cents a share on sales of $104.7 million. Sina shares added nearly 2% in the extended session after closing with a 2.8% loss at $38.92, and Weibo jumped about 6% after closing up 2.7% at $13.44.

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From:: Stock Market News

Web.com , an internet services company, said Tuesday that the credit card information of 93,000 of its customers may be compromised after an unauthorized breach of its computer systems. The breach occurred on August 13, and the company said it reported the attack to authorities and credit card processors. The company said it is working with an IT firm on an investigation into the matter and making “significant investments” in security for its internal systems. It said it will offer one year of credit monitoring protection to affected customers “as a further precaution.” All affected customers will receive an email and a letter describing the company’s actions.

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

Fitch Ratings on Tuesday upgraded Greece’s credit rating one notch to CCC from CC, citing the finalization last week of a rescue deal between Athens and its eurozone creditors. An initial disbursement of 23 billion euros, or $25.6 billion, this week will ease the “acute liquidity strain” of recent months, covering the repayment of 3.2 billion euros of bonds held by the European Central Bank due on Thursday as well as a European Financial Stabilization Mechanism bridge loan maturing in September, the ratings firm said. “Last week’s deal was reached relatively quickly and without the brinkmanship seen in the runup to previous deadlines,” which suggests relations with creditors has improved, Fitch said. Greece’s ruling Syriza party can rely on support from centrist parties to carry key votes in parliament but risks an internal split that could lead to snap elections before year-end, Fitch acknowledged.

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From:: Stock Market News

As second-quarter earnings season winds down, the S&P 500 is basically assured of suffering the first revenue recession since the Great Recession. With 94% of the S&P 500 companies (471 out of 502) having reported results, reported revenue has declined 3.6% from a year ago, according to FactSet. That follows a 2.8% decline in the first quarter. The rule of thumb is, an economic recession is defined as two-straight quarters of gross domestic production contraction. The S&P 500 is currently on course for the first back-to-back quarters of declining revenue since the four-quarter stretch from Q4 2008 to Q3 2009. Since Alcoa Inc. unofficially kicked off the second-quarter reporting season after the July 8 close, the S&P 500 has advanced 2.4%. But for the Dow Jones Industrial Average , since the first component, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. , reported results ahead of the July 14 open, the Dow has lost 2.6%. And although only 11 of the 30 components missed revenue expectations, the stocks of 18 components have declined since they reported results.

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From:: Stock Market News

Promontory Financial Group, a major advisor to U.S. banks, was ordered by the New York Department of Financial Services to pay fine of $15 million over allegations it had put its own business interests before its obligations to regulators during its consulting work at Standard Chartered Bank. Promontory also agreed to a six-month abstention from new consulting engagements that require disclosure of confidential information by the regulator. The NYDFS had alleged that Promontory’s work lacked objectivity and was not reflective of its best independent judgment. Promontory admitted that, in certain instances, its actions during the Standard Chartered engagement did not meet regulatory requirements for consulting work performed on behalf of NYDFS.

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From:: Stock Market News

Shares of Etsy Inc. fell nearly 7% in midday trade Tuesday, snapping a six-day winning streak, the longest in the company’s brief history as a public company. Its shares traded around $16.18 in afternoon trade on relatively normal volume, pushing them down more than 22% on the month, versus flat performance for the broader S&P 500. The craft-goods e-commerce company went public on May 20 at $16 a share. On Aug. 4, it reported weaker-than-expected quarterly earnings, triggering a greater-than 28% share-price slide in a single trading session.

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From:: Stock Market News

Home Depot Inc.’s stock surged 2.3% in active midday trade Tuesday to a record high, as better-than-expected fiscal second-quarter results were further supported by upbeat housing starts data. The stock hit an intraday record of $123.80, and was on track to post the 16th record close this year. Volume of 6.8 million shares as of 12:30 p.m. Eastern was already more than the full-day average of 4.5 million shares, according to FactSet. Credit Suisse analyst Seth Sigman said that although expectations had moved up ahead of the home improvement retailing giant’s results, “the underlying performance remains very encouraging,” including sales strength in big-ticket items and progress with the professional and contractor services business. Separately, data showed that construction of new homes in the U.S. increased in July at the fastest rate since October 2007. Home Depot’s stock has climbed 17% year to date, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has slipped 1.6%.

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