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BUSINESSWednesday 6 January 2016
US indexes end mostly higher; GM, Ford slip on sales
MARLEY JAY
AP Markets Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S.
stocks managed some
small gains Tuesday, but
not enough to make up for
Trader Jonathan Corpina, center, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday,
Jan. 5, 2016. U.S. stocks managed some small gains Tuesday, but not enough to make up for big
losses from the day before.
big losses from the day be-
fore.
Utilities and telecommu-
nications stocks rose the
most. General Motors and
Ford dropped as their De-
cember sales fell short of
analysts’ estimates.
The Dow Jones industri-
al average gained 9.72
points, or 0.1 percent, to
17,158.66. The Standard &
Poor’s 500 index edged up
4.05 points, or 0.2 percent, weak while global stock-
Yahoo pulls plug on video hub as firm refocuses
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) —
Yahoo pulled the plug on
an online video hub that
had once been envisioned
as the beleaguered com-
pany’s answer to Netflix
and YouTube.
The end of the Yahoo
Screen is part of a purge
being directed by CEO
Marissa Mayer with hopes
of generating greater profit ing and iterating on our
elsewhere.
Mayer oversaw an over-
haul of Yahoo Screen 16
months ago that came in
the form of a new mobile
application, thousands of
clips from NBC’s “Saturday
Night Live” and a wide va-
to 2,016.71. The Nasdaq
composite fell 11.66 points, veyed by Platts said they
or 0.2 percent, to 4,891.43, believe refining decreased
as shares of Apple sank 2.5
percent.
Stocks spent most of the
day alternating between
small gains and losses, and
turned positive in the last
hour of trading. The rela-
tively stable trading came
a day after a plunge in Chi- barrel in London.
na’s main index set off a
bout of selling in global
markets.
Despite increased tensions
in the Middle East, energy
prices continued to tumble
because demand appears
riety of other popular TV
shows.
But Yahoo Screen never at-
tracted the vast audiences
that flock to Netflix and
YouTube.
Yahoo is now scattering
its video across its digital nity,” that had flopped.
magazines and other ser-
vices, such as Yahoo Music.
“We’re constantly review-
products as we strive to
create the best user expe-
rience,” Yahoo said in a
printed statement.
Mayer has pledged to jetti-
son technology that fails to pecting the steepest de-
justify the amount of mon-
ey that Yahoo has been in-
piles are large. Analysts sur- also fell.
Automakers reported that
last month was the best De-
last week and stockpiles will cember in the history of the
grow again. U.S. auto industry, with 1.6
U.S. crude fell 79 cents, or million cars and trucks sold.
That helped make 2015 the
biggest sales year in the in-
dustry’s history. But shares
General Motors and Ford
slumped as their monthly
(AP Photo/Richard Drew) totals fell short of analysts’
projections.
2.1 percent, to $35.97 a Shares of GM fell 88 cents,
barrel in New York. Brent or 2.6 percent, to $32.43
crude, a benchmark for in- and Ford declined 25 cents,
ternational oils, fell 80 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $13.72.
or 2.1 percent, to $36.42 a Auto parts supplier Delphi
Automotive gave up $2.33,
The biggest losses be- or 2.8 percent, to $81.66.
longed to drilling services Gun makers continued
companies. Ensco lost $1, to trade higher as Presi-
or 6.3 percent, to $14.89 dent Barack Obama an-
and Diamond Offshore Drill- nounced executive ac-
ing decreased $1.05, or 4.8 tions intended to reduce
percent, to $20.80. Trans- gun violence and unregu-
ocean and Baker Hughes lated sales.
The prospect of additional
background checks and
other restrictions often
boosts demand for guns.
Smith & Wesson rose $2.58,
or 11.1 percent, to $25.86
and Sturm Ruger gained
$4.15, or 6.8 percent, to
$65.54. Late Monday, Smith
& Wesson raised its profit
estimates for the year, say-
ing sales were better than it
had expected. The stocks
also rose Monday because
background checks surged
in December, suggesting
strong sales.
Smith & Wesson has more
than doubled over the last
year and Sturm Ruger is up
87 percent. q
vesting in them. missions, since the compa-
Yahoo telegraphed that its
video expansion was falter- ny lured Mayer away from
ing in October when it dis-
closed a $42 million charge Google to become its CEO
to account for original
shows, such as “Commu- three-and-a-half years
Mayer is expected to pro- ago.
vide more details about her
latest plans for reorganiza- Shares of Yahoo have fall-
tion in about three weeks
when the Sunnyvale, Cali- en by about 35 percent
fornia,
company announces its since the end of 2014 as
fourth-quarter results.
Industry analysts are ex- the difficulty of reviving
cline in Yahoo’s revenue, company revenue growth
after subtracting ad com-
has become evident, and
that has increased the
pressure on Mayer to take
more drastic measures.
There have even been calls
for Yahoo to sell all of its on-
line operations, but Mayer
and the company’s board
have rebuffed those de-
mands to far. q
Brash, fee-happy
CEO of Spirit Airlines
abruptly replaced
SCOTT MAYEROWITZ
AP Airlines Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — Ben Bal-
danza, who led the indus-
try push for more and more
airline fees, is out as CEO of
Spirit Airlines.
Spirit was losing money un-
til Baldanza, 54, took over
in 2006. He oversaw the air-
line’s transformation into an
“ultra-low cost carrier,” an
airline that didn’t include
anything in its base fare
and charged extra for seat
assignments, snacks, soda,
boarding passes and even
using the overhead bin.
To cram more people into
its jets, Baldanza stripped
passengers of the ability to
recline their seats. He spun
the move as making the
seats “pre-reclined.”
Known for his brash, no-ex-
cuses style, Baldanza said
that if people didn’t like
the fees, they could fly an-
other airline.
Baldanza at times rev-
eled in the animosity that
he helped to generate.
Taped to the side of a cor-
ner bookshelf in his office
was an expletive laden
email from one disgruntled
traveler that, in part, read:
“I just want to let you know
that your company sucks
and your policy will run it
into the ground.”
Baldanza’s over-the-top
style often carried over into
the airline’s ads.
When former U.S. Rep.
Anthony Weiner admit-
ted to sending lewd pho-
tos to women, the airline
launched “The Weiner
Sale: With Fares Too HARD
to Resist.” The airline once
hired bikini-clad pole-
dancers to drive around
Los Angeles with a sign
saying: “You can take me
home for $9.”
For many, Spirit’s prices
are irresistible. For those
who play the game right,
sit in the middle seat and
bring very little luggage,
the savings are substantial.
That has helped the airline
become one of the na-
tion’s fastest-growing and
most-profitable carriers. It
now has 375 daily flights
to 56 destinations in the
U.S., Latin America and the
Caribbean.q