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8A Daily News – Friday, January 17, 2014 Weak earnings drag US stocks mostly lower NEW YORK (AP) — A batch of negative company news gave investors something to fret over Thursday. A day after eking out its first record high of 2014, the stock market lost ground Thursday as electronics retailer Best Buy, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, and railroad operator CSX had disappointing earnings news. Consumer discretionary companies and banks fell the most. The Standard & Poor's 500 index slipped 2.49 points, or 0.1 percent, to 1,845.89, retreating from the all-time high it hit the day before. Best Buy fell the most in the S&P 500 index after the company reported a decline in sales during the crucial holiday season. Its shares plunged $10.74, or 29 percent, to $26.83. Investors had high hopes that Best Buy, which has faced intense competition from companies like Amazon.com, would put itself back on track. The stock soared 236 percent last year. Wall Street However, the company said Thursday that the aggressive price-matching policy it offered during the holidays backfired and sales fell 0.8 percent compared to a year ago. Best Buy is not the only retailer to disappoint investors in the last week. Bed Bath & Beyond, Family Dollar and Target all cut their full-year outlooks last week after a weak holiday season. The only bright spot in the retail industry was Macy's, and even it announced layoffs of 2,500 employees as part of a restructuring. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 64.93 points, or 0.4 percent, to 16,417.01. The Nasdaq composite had a modest gain of 3.80 points, or 0.1 percent, to 4,218.69. Goldman Sachs was the biggest drag on the Dow, falling $3.58, or 2 percent, to $175.17. The bank reported a drop in fourth-quarter profit due to problems in its mortgages and bond trading division. However, Goldman's earnings did beat analysts' expectations. The bond and mortgage businesses were also weak at Citigroup, whose results fell short of expectations. The stock dropped $2.39, or 4 percent, to $52.60. The stock market is ''fragile'' right now, said Scott Clemons, chief investment strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman. ''If something were to go wrong, like if this earnings season continues to disappoint, I think any negative market reaction would be magnified,'' Clemons said. ''The market is not as resilient as it was last year.'' The company disappointments were not limited to retailers and banks. CSX warned investors that it might be difficult to reach its own profit targets over the next two years because of ongoing weak demand for coal. The news pushed CSX down $1.99, or 7 percent, to $27.24. Other railroad stocks including Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern also fell. It's still very early in earnings season. Roughly 70 members of the S&P 500 index report next week, including Microsoft, IBM, Delta Air Lines and McDonald's. Quincy Krosby, a mar- ket strategist with Prudential Financial, said the market desperately needs companies to deliver on expectations this quarter and should find more direction next week once more companies release their results. ''We need the econom- ic data and corporate earnings to be strong enough to support these valuations,'' Krosby said. Investors retreated into traditional ''safe havens'' like government bonds, high-dividend stocks and gold. The yield on the 10year Treasury note fell to 2.84 percent from 2.89 percent the day before. Bond yields fall as their prices rise. Gold rose $1.90, or 0.2 percent, to $1,240.20 an ounce. In other company news: — CEC Entertainment, the parent company of the Chuck E. Cheese pizza parlor chain, rose $6.32, or 13 percent, to $54.75. CEC agreed to be bought by the private equity firm Apollo Global Management for $950 million. — Nu Skin plunged $30.43, or 26 percent, to $84.80. Chinese officials accused Nu Skin of operating a pyramid scheme. Nu Skin, based in Provo, Utah, sells skin care and nutritional products through a direct-selling model. US officials call for more safety for oil by rail By MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press Greenville Rancheria Tribal Health Center 1425 Montgomery Road, Red Bluff 530-528-8600 Opening Saturdays for Walk-ins only Starting January 18th, 2014 8:00 am to 5:00 pm Closed 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm for lunch and Dental Clinic 343 Oak Street, Red Bluff 530-528-3488 Opening one Saturday a month Scheduled Appointments and Emergency Walk-ins Starting January 18th, 2014 8:00 am to 5:00 pm Closed 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm for lunch Call for your appointment today. U.S. transportation officials on Thursday pressed for companies to come up with safer ways to transport oil on the nation's rail lines following some explosive accidents as crude trains proliferate across North America. After a closed-door meeting with oil and railroad executives in Washington, D.C., Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said the industry agreed to make voluntary changes aimed at accident prevention within the next 30 days. Topping the list are plans to analyze the risks of oil trains that in recent years began passing regularly through major metropolitan areas across the U.S., Foxx said. The results could be used to alter some routes, government officials said. Railroads also will consider where oil trains could be slowed down, to lessen the potential danger in areas that pose the greatest threat to public safety. ''The industry, if they are moti- vated, can take preventative steps that will enhance the safety of the movement of these materials across the country,'' Foxx said. The Obama administration is under increased pressure to take action after fiery accidents over the past seven months in North Dakota, Quebec, Alabama and New Brunswick. But a safety advocate said the proposed measures fail to resolve a crucial and longstanding problem: defects in many of the tank cars used to haul crude. ''Just moving the problem around is not solving it,'' said Karen Darch, president of the village of Barrington, Ill., and co-chair of a coalition of local officials who have pushed for rail safety enhancements. ''If you did that, you are creating too high a risk for the area where (oil trains) might be rerouted.'' The recent accidents revealed significant gaps in federal oversight of the rail industry, and emergency officials in cities and towns across the U.S. have said they would be ill- prepared to handle another derailment. Under current rules, shipments of most hazardous liquids including oil do not have to undergo the type of risk studies proposed Thursday. Those studies are limited to a handful of radioactive, explosive and highly-toxic chemicals. The rapid expansion of crude-byrail has been fueled by booming U.S. production of shale oil, particularly in the Bakken oil patch of North Dakota and Montana. Trains hauling up to 3 million gallons of crude per shipment to refineries pass through hundreds of small towns and dozens of cities, from Chicago and Kansas City, to Philadelphia and Seattle, according to local officials and federal accident records. Last year, after a runaway train hauling North Dakota crude derailed and exploded in the town of Lac-Megantic, Quebec, incinerating much of the downtown and killing 47 people, the rail industry adopted voluntary speed restrictions for trains hauling hazardous liquids. RUNNINGS ROOFING Sheet Metal Roofing Residential Commercial • Composition • Shingle • Single Ply Membrane All makes and models. We perform dealer recommened 30K, 60K, 90K Members Welcome SERVICES AT LOWER PRICES Smog Check $ starting at 95 $ 29 + 8 certificate 25 (MOST CARS & PICK-UPS) 527-9841 • 195 S. 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