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BUSINESSThursday 31 December 2015
Another drop in energy stocks leads market lower Ride-hailing app
ALEX VEIGA
AP Business Writer
The latest downturn in
crude oil prices put in-
vestors in a selling mood
Wednesday, pulling U.S.
stocks lower for the second
time this week.
The market decline, which
wiped out some of the
gains from a rally the day
Trader Gregory Rowe, center, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. The latest down-
turn in crude oil prices put investors in a selling mood Wednesday, pulling U.S. stocks lower for the
second time this week.
before, came on lighter-
than-usual trading ahead
of the New Year’s Day holi-
day.
Energy companies fell the
most among the 10 sectors
in the Standard & Poor’s
500 index, 1.5 percent. The
sector is down 23.8 percent
for the year. Southwest-
ern Energy fell 6.8 percent,
while Consol Energy sank
5.6 percent.
The price of oil shed 3.4
percent on Wednesday,
Pep Boys agrees to be bought by Icahn for $1 billion to borrow some of their in-
NEW YORK (AP) — Pep
Boys will be acquired by
Carl Icahn for $1 billion,
ending a weeks-long bid-
ding war with the Japa-
nese tire company Bridge-
stone.
The deal is expected to
close in the first quarter of with Bridgestone Corp.,
next year.
Icahn Enterprises offered
$18.50 in cash for each
share of Pep Boys on Tues-
extending its losses for the
year to nearly 40 percent.
“You have oil prices affect-
ing the market negatively
today,” said Quincy Krosby,
market strategist for Pru-
dential Financial.
“You throw in exceedingly
low volume and it’s a reci-
pe for skewing the market,
in this case to the down-
side.”
The Dow Jones industrial
average fell 117.11 points,
or 0.7 percent, to 17,603.87. Brent crude, which is used
The S&P 500 index dropped
15 points, or 0.7 percent, to slid $1.33, or 3.5 percent, to
2,063.36. The Nasdaq com-
posite lost 42.09 points, or
0.8 percent, to 5,065.85.
The day’s market action
cut into the S&P 500’s slim
gain for the year.
The index remains essen-
tially flat with an increase
of 0.2 percent this year. The 6.8 percent, to $6.30.
day, $1.50 more per share
than the most recent offer
from Bridgestone.
With the contest becom-
ing too rich, Bridgestone
bowed a few hours later.
Because Pep Boys had
already agreed to a deal
Icahn Enterprises will pay a
$39.5 million break-up fee.
Pep Boys - Manny, Moe &
Jack, based in Philadel-
Nasdaq is up about 7 per- Consol Energy shed 46
cent, while the Dow is on cents, or 5.6 percent, to
track to end 2015 with a $7.78. Natural gas compa-
loss of 1.2 percent. ny Chesapeake Energy fell
The major stock indexes 18 cents, or 3.9 percent, to
headed lower from the $4.40.
get-go on Wednesday as In other energy trading
investors tracked the lat- in New York, wholesale
est swings in oil and natural gasoline fell 5 cents, or 3.6 Uber and Lyft, says it will
gas prices. percent, to $1.23 a gallon,
Benchmark U.S. crude fell while heating oil declined
5 cents, or 4.5 percent, to
$1.079 a gallon.
Natural gas slumped 15.6
cents to $2.214 per 1,000
cubic feet.
(AP Photo/Richard Drew) Traders found good rea-
sons to bid up other stocks.
$1.27 to close at $36.60 Weight Watchers Interna-
a barrel in New York. It’s tional vaulted 19 percent
down 39 percent this year. after announcing an ad-
vertising campaign featur-
to price international oils, ing Oprah Winfrey, who
owns a 10 percent stake
close at $36.46 a barrel in in the company. The stock
London. added $3.68 to $23.05.
Several energy companies In Europe, trading volumes
closed lower, including No- were low on the last full
ble Energy, which fell $1.18, day of the year ahead of
or 3.5 percent, to $32.22, the New Year’s holiday.
and Southwestern Energy, Many European markets
which tumbled 46 cents, or will be open only for a half
day on Dec. 31. Germany’s
DAX fell 1.1 percent, while
France’s CAC 40 lost 0.5
percent. Britain’s FTSE 100
slipped 0.6 percent.
Precious and industrial met-
als prices ended mixed.
Gold lost $8.20 to $1,059.80
an ounce, silver fell 9 cents in the ride-hailing market.
to $13.84 an ounce and
copper gained 1 cent to
$2.15 a pound.
Bond prices edged higher.
The yield on the 10-year
Treasury note fell to 2.29
percent.
In currencies, the dollar
rose to 120.55 yen from
120.39 yen late Tuesday.
The euro slipped to $1.0924
from $1.0939. q
phia, operates more than he has been looking for a
800 locations around the company to pair with Auto
country that sell auto parts, Plus, an auto parts distrib-
fixes vehicles and offer uter that Icahn Enterprises
other services. The com- bought earlier this year.
pany’s tire business has Shares of Pep Boys fell 57
been under pressure and cents, or 3 percent, to
it has looked for new ways $18.37 in morning trading
to generate cash. Wednesday. Icahn Enter-
Icahn said in a statement prises LP shares slipped 77
that Pep Boys has “enor- cents, or 1.3 percent, to
mous growth potential.” $60.75.q
The activist investor said
company Sidecar
stopping service
MARLEY JAY
AP Markets Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — Delivery
and ride-hailing pioneer
Sidecar, which struggled to
compete with bigger rivals
stop offering services.
In a message posted to
Medium, co-founders Sunil
Paul and Jahan Khanna
said Sidecar’s rides and
deliveries will end at 5 p.m.
Eastern time on Thursday.
“Today is a turning point for
Sidecar as we prepare to
end our ride and delivery
service so we can work on
strategic alternatives and
lay the groundwork for the
next big thing,” they wrote.
The three-year-old San
Francisco company’s in-
vestors included Google
Ventures and Richard
Branson. While Uber Tech-
nologies says it’s operating
68 countries and Lyft gives
rides in 190 cities, Sidecar
didbusiness in just eight
markets across the U.S.
Paul and Khanna posted
that Sidecar faced a “cap-
ital disadvantage.”
Uber and Lyft have raised
billions of dollars in fund-
ing, and along the way
they have taken the lead
Chinese taxi-hailing com-
pany Didi Kuaidi recently
announced a partnership
with Lyft. Apps for hail-
ing rides have become a
huge business in just a few
years, but it’s not clear how
many companies will sur-
vive as the industry grows.
Companies are grappling
with new regulations and
unionization pushes and
other industries are trying
novations. Since Sidecar
was struggling to gain pas-
sengers, it tried to retool in
August by focusing on busi-
ness-to-business deliveries
of food and products over
giving rides.
Harry Campbell, who
drives part-time for Lyft
and Uber and blogs as The
Rideshare Guy, said that
distinction won’t exist in a
few years. Today Uber and
Lyft mostly move passen-
gers and Postmates only
delivers food, but he thinks
the companies will evolve
into networks.q