Real Estate Daily News Buzz is designed to give news snippets to readers that our (yet to be award winning) editors thought you could use to start your day. They come from various business perspectives, real estate, government, the Fed, local news, and the stock markets to save you time. Here you will find the headlines and what the news buzz for the day will be.
Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average slid 170.50 points, or 1%, to 17,737.37. The Standard & Poor's 500 index shed 17.33 points, or 0.8%, to 2,044.81. The NASDAQ composite lost 32.12 points, or 0.7%, to 4,704.07.
Benchmark U.S. crude fell 43 cents to close at $48.36 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils used by many U.S. refineries, fell 85 cents to close at $50.11 in London, a 5 1/2-year low. Wholesale gasoline fell 1.8 cents to close at $1.323 a gallon. Heating oil fell 0.8 cent to close at $1.703 a gallon. Natural gas rose 1.9 cents to close at $2.946 per 1,000 cubic feet.
‘MACY’S’, ‘RUBY TUESDAY’, ‘BED, BATH & BEYOND’, ‘ABB VIE’ and ‘FIVE BELOW’ ALL MARKET MOVERS FRIDAY
NEW YORK, N.Y. – Stocks that moved substantially or traded heavily Friday on the New York Stock Exchange and the NASDAQ Stock Market:
NYSE:
Macy’s Inc., down $1.89 to $65.92. The department store operator said it will restructure its merchandising and marketing operations and will close 14 stores.
Ruby Tuesday Inc., down 83 cents to $6.27. The chain-restaurant operator’s quarterly revenue fell short of expectations, with sales at restaurants open at least a year declining.
The Container Store Group Inc., down $3.02 to $18.19. The storage products retailer’s quarterly profit met expectations, but its revenue fell short of forecasts.
DuPont Co., down $1.03 to $73.50. A hedge fund led by activist investor Nelson Peltz announced plans to nominate its own slate of four directors to chemical company’s board.
AbbVie Inc. down $1.85 to $65.78. The drugmaker delivered what some analysts saw as a conservative forecast for 2015 earnings growth.
NASDAQ:
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc., down $5.36 to $74.09. The home goods retailer’s quarterly profit met Wall Street expectations, but its revenue fell short of forecasts.
Agenus Inc., up $1.18 to $5.29. The biotechnology company signed a licensing, development and commercialization deal with Incyte Inc. for immuno-therapeutics.
Five Below Inc., down $8.44 to $35.18. The discount clothing retailer expects fourth-quarter results at the low end of its guidance because of weak holiday sales.
BODY CENTRAL GOES OUT OF BUSINESS; CLOSES ALL STORES SUNDAY
NEW YORK, N.Y. – Clothing retailer Body Central is going out of business and closing all its stores Sunday evening, according to an attorney for the company. Body Central Corp., based in Jacksonville, Florida, had said earlier this week that it was “experiencing significant liquidity challenges” and was working with advisers to evaluate its options. As of Jan. 6, the company had 265 stores in 28 states. Gardner Davis, an attorney for the company, said it had about 2,500 employees, who were notified of the closures Friday. Davis said the company had sought to reorganize its business, but “simply couldn’t raise the capital.” Body Central was founded in 1972 and caters to women in their late teens to mid-30s, according to the company’s website.
JC PENNEY’S STORE CLOSURES TO COST ABOUT $38 MILLION
NEW YORK, N.Y. – JC Penney Co. says the closure of about 40 of its stores will cost around $38 million. The department store chain said it will book pre-tax charges of $21 million in the fourth quarter of its fiscal 2014, and another $17 million will be incurred later. The company will cut about 2,250 jobs as it tries to improve its profitability. Earlier this week it started notifying workers at stores slated to be closed. Penney expects to complete most the store closures by April. A year ago, it announced plans to close 33 stores and cut about 2,000 jobs. The company, based in Plano, Texas, has about 1,060 stores. It has been trying to recover from a botched plan to reinvent itself under former CEO Ron Johnson.
SONY PICTURES CEO HAD ‘NO PLAYBOOK’ FOR MEGA-HACK ON STUDIO
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The hackers "burned down the house," but employees kept Sony Pictures from losing even a day on its film and television productions, said the studio's CEO, Michael Lynton. In a wide-ranging interview, Lynton describes the isolation and uncertainty the attack created and the unique position the company found itself in, in a case that's undoubtedly being closely watched in boardrooms around the world.
FROM QUIRKY TO REVOLUTIONARY, THE CES SHOW HAD THEM ALL
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Sure, the International CES show was chock full of connected cars, smart home sensors, music gear and computer gadgets, as you'd expect. There were even drones buzzing the 160,000-plus people that tromped across the 2.2-million-square-feet of exhibit space along the Las Vegas Strip. Of the tons of products on display, there were some that just inspired, brought a chuckle, or made you just say, hmmm. For full coverage from the show go to https://www.cnet.com/ces/
ACTIVIST INVESTOR INTENSIFIES FIGHT OVER DU PONT’S FUTURE
NEW YORK (AP) -- A fight for control of DuPont Co. is intensifying after the hedge fund led by activist investor Nelson Peltz announced plans to nominate its own slate of four directors to the industry titan's board. Trian Fund Management LP, which holds about a 2.7 percent stake in DuPont, has been hammering away at the more than 200-year-old, $67.5 billion chemical company for almost two years now, pushing to split it into two. Trian has called for the agriculture, nutrition and health and industrial biosciences units to be combined into a single growth company, separate from the more cyclical businesses of performance materials, safety and protection, and electronics and communication. It also wants the performance chemicals unit separated.
US HOUSE OVERWHELMINGLY APPROVES BILL FOR OIL PIPELINE
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. House overwhelmingly passed a bill Friday authorizing a major oil pipeline, despite a renewed pledge by the White House to veto the legislation after a state court removed a major obstacle. The Keystone XL pipeline has been one of the biggest areas of conflict between President Barack Obama and Congress. The pipeline would move tar sands oil from Canada to refineries on the Gulf of Mexico coast.
30 YEARS LATER, 'BACK TO THE FUTURE' CAR IN LEGAL BATTLE
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) -- As "Back To The Future" celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, there's a legal tussle over the futuristic car that provided the guts for the flying time machine used by Michael J. Fox in the classic 1985 film. Maverick automaker John DeLorean's eponymous creation co-starred in the 1985 movie. Now, DeLorean's widow, Sally, claims in a federal lawsuit that Texas-based DeLorean Motor Co. has been illegally using the DeLorean name to sell hats, pens, notebooks, key chains and other items, and has illegally licensed the name and images to other companies including Nike, Mattel, Urban Outfitters and Apple. The company has never been formally affiliated with the one DeLorean started.
ASIA’S RICHEST TYCOON ANNOUNCES BUSINESS EMPIRE OVERHAUL
HONG KONG (AP) -- Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, who has been Asia's richest person for nearly two decades, announced Friday a reorganization of his sprawling ports-to-mobile phone conglomerate into two new listed companies. Li and members of his family control Hong Kong-listed Cheung Kong and its affiliate Hutchison Whampoa. Through a series of stock transactions, the conglomerate will be rebirthed as a company overseeing all of its real estate assets and a second company for non-property businesses.