Category: Stock Market News

Tim Raines, Jeff Bagwell and Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez were elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Wednesday, while Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens received the most votes of their candidacies to date, suggesting that the taint of baseball’s steroid era is washing away and that they could eventually be voted in. Bagwell, who hit 448 home runs over a 15-year career, led the voting and was named on 86.2% of ballots. Raines, who stole 808 bases in his career, was elected in his 10th and final year of eligibility, receiving 86%. 13-time Gold Glove catcher Rodriguez got 76% in his first time on the ballot. Candidates needed 75% to be inducted. Relief pitcher Trevor Hoffman fell just short, with 74%, as did outfielder Vladimir Guerrero, who got 71.7%. Clemens and Bonds received 54.1% and 53.8%, respectively, the first time either got more than 50%. The three inductees will enter the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., on July 30.

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Analysts at UBS late Wednesday downgraded energy giant Exxon Mobil Corp. to sell, saying the company is likely to underperform relative to its global peers on production growth for “several years.” The analysts cut their price target on the shares to $77, from $86. Exxon also offers a lower dividend yield and trades at a premium to peers, the analysts said. In separate reports Wednesday, the UBS analysts also downgraded shares of EP Energy Corp. and upgraded the stocks of Devon Energy Corp. and Southwestern Energy Co. to neutral, saying they favor exploration and production companies that are lower cost and offer better valuations. Energy stocks on the S&P 500 collectively fell 0.3% Wednesday, whereas the S&P 500 index gained 0.2% for the day. Shares of Exxon were down 0.3% in late trading, after ending the regular session down 1.2%.

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The American Petroleum Institute late Wednesday reported a drop of 5 million barrels in U.S. crude supplies for the week ended Jan. 13, according to sources. Analysts polled by S&P Global Platts forecast a decline of 900,000 barrels. The API data also showed a jump of 9.8 million barrels in gasoline supplies and a rise of 1.2 million barrels in distillates, sources said. Supply data from the Energy Information Administration will be released Thursday morning, a day later than usual because of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. February crude was at $51.38 a barrel in electronic trading, up fromthe contract’s settlement of $51.08 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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Netflix Inc. shares were up more than 7% in after hours trade on Wednesday following the company’s fourth-quarter earnings report. Netflix added 7.05 million subscribers in the quarter, much improved from the 3.57 million it added during the third quarter. Net income for the quarter was $66.7, million or 15 cents per share, compared with $43.2 million, or 10 cents per share, during the same quarter a year ago. FactSet’s EPS consensus was 13 cents. Revenue for the quarter hit $2.48 billion, compared with $1.82 billion a year ago and just above FactSet’s $2.47 billion revenue consensus. Shares of Netflix have gained 28% in the trailing 12-month period, outperforming the S&P 500 Index , which is up nearly 21% during the same time frame.

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Shares of La Quinta Holdings Inc. rose nearly 4% late Wednesday after the hotel chain said it is pursuing to split its business in two stand-alone, publicly traded companies. The deal could involve “spinning off our owned real estate assets as a separate company,” La Quinta said in a statement. There is “no assurance” the split will happen, the Irving, Texas, company said. J.P. Morgan is acting as financial advisor. Shares of La Quinta had ended the day up 1.4%, compared with gains of 0.2% for the S&P 500 index.

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Shares of Rent-A-Center Inc. fell more than 16% late Wednesday after the rent-to-own retailer said it expects lower fourth-quarter sales and per-share losses. Quarterly sales are expected to be down about 14%, the Plano, Texas, company said in a statement. Per-share losses are seen between 20 cents a share and 30 cents a share in the quarter, it said. Rent-A-Center has not completed its financial statement reporting process, it said. “The fourth quarter proved to be more challenging than expected,” interim CEO Mark E. Speese said. Its portfolio increased sequentially, as it typically does during the quarter, but the company was heavily promotional, impacting the period, he said. Rent-A-Center is expected to report full quarterly results Feb. 13. Shares of Rent-A-Center ended the regular trading day up 1.4%, in contrast with gains of 0.2% for the S&P 500 index.

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U.S. stocks rose moderately on Wednesday as gains in financials offset weakness in telecommunications shares but the Dow Jones Industrial Average bucked the trend to close at its lowest of 2017. The S&P 500 gained 4 points, or 0.2%, to close at 2,271. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 22 points, or 0.1%, to end at 19,804 while the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 16 points, or 0.3%, to close at 5,555. Major indexes traded within a tight range as sentiment remained subdued ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on Friday.

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Mallinckrodt PLC said Wednesday afternoon that it had settled with the Federal Trade Commission over allegations that it used its monopoly to hike drug prices. The settlement is still subject to approval by the FTC, the company said. Earlier Wednesday, shares fell after the Washington Post reported that the FTC was about to bring charges. Shares were down as much as 8% before a trading halt. Company shares have dropped 29.4% over the last three months, compared with a 6.1% rise in the S&P 500 .

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — In a speech to the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen said she expects interest rates to rise a few times per year until the end of 2019. “As of last month, I and most of my colleagues–the other members of the Fed Board in Washington and the presidents of the 12 regional Federal Reserve Banks–were expecting to increase our federal funds rate target a few times a year until, by the end of 2019, it is close to our estimate of its longer-run neutral rate of 3 percent,” she said. “Right now our foot is still pressing on the gas pedal, though, as I noted, we have eased back a bit.” Yellen also pointed out slow productivity growth is likely to prevent the Fed from a more aggressive pace of hiking. Yellen is due to take questions, and is due to deliver a different speech more specifically on the economic outlook on Thursday night.

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Oil futures fell by nearly 3% Wednesday as concerns over climbing U.S. shale output pushed prices to their lowest in about a week. Those concerns outweighed some earlier support from growing signs that major crude producers have kept output in check as promised. February West Texas Intermediate crude fell $1.40, or 2.7%, to settle at $51.08 a barrel–the lowest finish since Jan. 10, according to FactSet data.

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