Category: Stock Market News

BP PLC Chief Executive Bob Dudley said on Tuesday the oil major has adjusted to persistently lower oil prices, preparing to operate in an environment with prices as low as $50 a barrel. Speaking at the “Oil & Money” conference in London, the oil executive said his company last year needed oil prices around $60 a barrel to balance income and costs, but that the number now is south of $55 a barrel. “But we can operate in the $50 dollar range if we have to going forward and still invest in growth,” he said. His comments come as oil prices have been bouncing around $50 in recent weeks, with investors welcoming a preliminary deal by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to cut output in a bid to stem the glut in the global oil market. “I don’t think demand will fall off a cliff. The issue is more of oversupply. Our industry has been impacted by our own success, particularly by the shale revolution. But the long term demand will keep growing,” Dudley said at the conference.

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U.K. bond yields rose as prices dropped Tuesday, as data showed U.K. inflation jumped to its highest in nearly two years. Consumer price inflation rose to 1% in the year to September, the Office for National Statistics said, outstripping expectations of a rise to 0.8%. Inflation last logged a 1% rate in November 2014. Bond prices slipped after the report, sending the yield on the 10-year gilt up less than 1 basis point to 1.12%. The yield on the U.K.’s 30-year bond edged up less than 1 basis point to 1.78%. Yields on Monday traded around their highest since the June 23 Brexit vote as many investors prepared for the prospect of higher inflation in the wake of the pound tumbled since June. The pound held steady around $1.2252 after the inflation report.

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Celanese Corp. shares advanced in the extended session Monday after the specialty materials company topped Wall Street earnings estimates. Celanses shares rose 3.2% to $65.58 after hours. The company reported adjusted third-quarter earnings of $1.67 a share on revenue of $1.32 billion. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated earnings of $1.60 a share on revenue of $1.38 billion. Separately, Celanese said it will acquire Forli, Italy-based plastics company Softer Group for an unspecified price.

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Moody’s Investors Service on Monday downgraded United Parcel Service Inc. debt one notch to A1, saying the delivery and logistics company is unlikely to improve its creditworthiness amid “elevated debt level” and a previously announced increase in capital spending. Shares of UPS were flat in late trading Monday after ending the regular session down 0.4%.

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United Continental Holdings Inc. shares were subdued in the extended session Monday after the airline topped Wall Street estimates for the quarter. The company reported adjusted third-quarter earnings of $3.11 a share on revenue of $9.91 billion. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast earnings of $3.07 a share on revenue of $9.9 billion. At last check, United shares were up 0.3% at $53.20 following an initial 1% gain after hours.

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International Business Machines Corp. shares fell late Monday after the company reported third-quarter earnings above Wall Street expectations but flat sales. IBM said it earned $2.85 billion, or $2.98 a share, in the quarter, compared with $2.95 billion in the third quarter of 2015. Adjusted for one-time items, IBM said it earned $3.29 a share in the quarter. Revenue reached $19.2 billion, flat compared to the year-ago quarter. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected IBM to report adjusted earnings of $3.23 a share on sales of $19 billion. IBM kept its 2016 expectations of adjusted earnings of at least $13.50 a share. Shares fell 1.4% in the extended session after ending the regular trading day up 0.2%.

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The Securities and Exchange Commission fined Lime Energy $1 million and four of its former executives agreed to settle charges for an alleged accounting fraud that pushed revenue into earlier periods to meet targets. The energy services company allegedly recorded recognized $20 million in revenue improperly from at least 2010 to 2012. The alleged scheme centered on recording revenue for newly signed contracts before year-end before the paperwork was received and then eventually revenue on contracts that didn’t exist. The SEC alleged the company’s then-corporate controller Julianne M. Chandler approved accounting entries worth millions of dollars in additional 2011 revenue well after the year-end close. In February 2012 before finalizing 2011 results, the company’s then-executive vice president James G. Smith allegedly sent Chandler more fake accounting entries. The company and executives neither admitted nor denied the allegations. The four executives will pay a total of $150,000 in additional penalties. Chandler and Smith also agreed to five year officer and director bar. The company’s former utilities division vice president of operations Joaquin Alberto Dos Santos Almeida agreed to a permanent officer-and-director bar. The company’s then-CEO John E. O’Rourke and then-CFO Jeffrey R. Mistarz voluntarily reimbursed the company for cash bonuses and certain stock awards they received during the period when the company committed accounting violations eliminating the need for the SEC to pursue a clawback action under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

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Oil production from seven major U.S. shale plays is forecast to decline by 30,000 barrels a day to 4.429 million barrels a day in November from October, according to a monthly report from the Energy Information Administration released Monday. Oil output at the Eagle Ford shale play in South Texas is expected to see the largest decline, down 35,000 barrels. However, output from the Permian Basin, which covers parts of western Texas and southeastern New Mexico, is expected to climb by 30,000 barrels a day. November West Texas Intermediate oil traded at $49.98 a barrel, down 37 cents, or 0.7%, on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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Shares of LendingClub Corp. tumbled 8.1% in active afternoon trade Monday, after the online credit marketplace disclosed it was raising interest rates to lenders in response to increased delinquencies. The selloff put the stock on track for a fifth-straight loss to 2 1/2-month low. Volume of 13.7 million shares was more than double the full-day average. In a filing late Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said it was raising rates by a weighted average of 0.26 percentage points, as it has continued to observe higher delinquencies, an increased propensity to accumulate debt and lower credit scores. “Although the trend can now be observed across grades, it is less notable in lower risk grades and more notable in higher risk grades, particularly grades E, F and G, which account for approximately 12% of platform volume,” Chief Investment Officer Siddhartha Jajodia wrote in a letter to investors. The stock has now plunged 55% year to date, while the SPDR Financial Select Sector ETF has slipped 0.3% and the S&P 500 has gained 4%.

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Macy’s Inc. said Monday that it is adding Brookstone merchandise, which includes kitchen gadgets, audio technology and more, to 347 stores nationwide and its website for the holiday shopping season. The launch adds to the retailer’s consumer electronics offerings. On Friday, Macy’s opened The Apple Shop, a permanent addition to its Herald Square store in New York City, selling Apple Inc. iPhones, iPads and other items. It’s the only store to have the hub at this time, though the Apple Watch will be available at more than 180 stores nationwide and on the company’s website. Macy’s says it will open one hour earlier this year on Thanksgiving, at 5 p.m., to begin Black Friday sales, with most stores staying opening until 2 a.m. A Macy’s spokesperson says the company is looking for sales associates to volunteer for Thanksgiving hours. Associates working on the holiday will get overtime pay. Macy’s shares are down 0.7% in Monday trading, but up 1% for 2016 so far. The S&P 500 Index is up 4.2% for the year to date.

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