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The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported on Wednesday that crude inventories climbed by 8.4 million barrels for the week ended Jan. 22. The American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday reported an 11.4 million-barrel increase, according to sources. Analysts polled by Platts expected crude supplies to be up 3.5 million barrels. Gasoline supplies rose by 3.5 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles fell by 4.1 million barrels last week, according to the EIA. March crude was at $30.97 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down 48 cents, or 1.5%. Prices traded at $30.69 before the data.

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Herbalife Ltd. said Wednesday it has hired a lobbyist to manage its relationship with state and local governments. The nutritional products company said Tyrone Bland is joining its corporate affairs team as vice president of state and local government relations. Bland was previously a managing partner at Porter Tellus LLC. Herbalife has famously been embroiled in a battle with Pershing Square Capital Management LP’s William Ackman, who has accused the company of operating a pyramid scheme. The activist investor has a billion dollar short position on the stock, or a bet that it would fall. Herbalife has denied the accusations, and its stock soared 66% in 2015.

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Caterpillar Inc.’s stock slumped 1% in morning trade Wednesday, after the agricultural equipment maker reported sharp declines in machine sales in December. On a rolling three-month period through December, total worldwide machine sales fell 16% from a year ago, led by 38% decline in Latin America and a 21% drop in Asia/Pacific. Within the energy and transportation segment, total sales fell tumbled 32%, led by a 58% plunge in transportation products and a 29% plummet in oil & gas products. The stock has dropped 17% over the past three months, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has lost 8.6%.

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U.S. stocks opened lower on Wednesday tracking a renewed rout in oil prices amid a flurry of weaker-than-expected earnings reports. Shares of Apple Inc. and Boeing Inc. tumbled after posting earnings that disappointed. The S&P 500 opened 7 points, or 0.4%, lower at 1,896. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 115 points, or 0.7%, to 16,056. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite began the day down 24 points, or 0.5%, at 4,543.

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AmeriQuest, Inc., a financial services company, said Wednesday that it was postponing its $74 million initial public offering due to “volatile market conditions.” The company was expected to price Tuesday. With the initial public offering, the company said it would offer 6.15 million shares at an expected price range of $11 to $13 to raise $74 million. So far this year, no companies have gone public. Nordic Realty Trust, Inc. is expected to price its initial public offering Wednesday, and after initially postponing the pricing, Shimmick Construction Company Inc. may price this week.

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Media General Inc.’s stock rose 2% in premarket trade Wednesday, after the local media company agreed to be acquired by Nexstar Broadcasting Group Inc. in a deal valued at $4.6 billion. Under terms of the deal, Media General shareholders will receive $10.55 in cash and 0.1249 Nexstar shares for each Media General share they own. Based on Tuesday’s closing prices, the deal values Media General’s stock at $16.69, which is 3.5% above Tuesday’s closing price of $16.13. Nexstar said it expects the deal, which the companies anticipate will be completed late in the third quarter to early in the fourth quarter, to boost free cash flow per share by about 34% to $10.50 for the 2015 to 2016 period. The deal follows the termination of the proposed merger between Media General and Meredith Corp. , which means Meredith Corp. will receive a deal-termination fee of $60 million. Shares of Nexstar and Meredith were still inactive ahead of Wednesday’s open.

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OpenTable, the Priceline-owned online reservations site, has named Jeff McCombs, formerly the chief financial officer at FlipBoard, as its CFO. Before FlipBoard, McCombs was the global head of business operations for Facebook’s ad business and held executive roles at Yahoo . Shares of Priceline were down 3.4% in pre-market trade Wednesday.

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The premarket selloffs in the shares of Apple Inc. , Boeing Co. and United Technologies , which all reported quarterly results, can be blamed for all of the 74-point drop Dow industrials futures ahead of Wednesday’s open. Apple’s stock slid $3, or 3%, to $96.99 in premarket trade, which would shave about 21 points off the price of the Dow Jones Industrial Average , after the technology giant reported late Tuesday fiscal first-quarter sales that missed expectations. Boeing’s stock tumbled $8.51, or 6.6%, to $119.50, which would cut the Dow’s price by 58 points, after the aerospace giant provided a downbeat 2016 outlook. United Technologies’ stock dropped 85 cents, or 1%, to $84.80, which would lower the Dow’s price by 6 points, after the industrial conglomerate missed fourth-quarter sales expectations by a wide margin.

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Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc. was upgraded Wednesday to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital Markets, which cited a recovery from a difficult financial and operating environment from three years prior. Analyst David Francis said in a note that “we believe the team has put Allscripts firmly back on the right track-just in time to take advantage of the Population Health demand wave that is finally forming on the near-term horizon.” The company now has a foundation for modest revenue growth and leveraged earnings performance for years, he said, pointing to recent growth in customers in the U.S. and abroad, and investments allowing Allscripts to participate in the coming demand wave. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has gained 2.7% over the past three months, while the S&P 500 has lost 7.9%.

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Shares of The Boeing Company fell 4% after the company beat fourth-quarter earnings expectations but issued a full-year guidance that was below expectations. The company reported net income of $1.03 billion, or $1.51 per share, down from $1.47 billion, or $2.02 per share, in the year-earlier period. Boeing reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.60, above the FactSet consensus of $1.27 per share. Boeing reported revenue of $23.6 billion, above $24.5 billion in the year-earlier period and above the FactSet consensus of $23.5 billion. The company issued full year 2016 guidance of $8.45 to $8.65 per share and revenue of $93 billion to $95 billion, below the FactSet consensus of $9.41 and $97 billion respectively.

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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