Business news briefs Jan. 3: Wall Street's rocky ride continues - Akron Beacon Journal

STOCKS

Wall Street turbulence

continues into new year

The roller-coaster ride on Wall Street resumed Wednesday, the first trading day of the new year, as stocks plunged early on, then slowly recovered and finished with a slight gain.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped as much as 398 points in the first few minutes of trading after more shaky economic news from China. But it gradually recouped those losses, and a small rally over the last 15 minutes of trading left major indexes a bit higher than where they started.

That kind of whiplash was typical during the last three months of 2018, and many strategists think it is likely to continue.

COMPANIES

RPM International to pay

dividend to shareholders

RPM International Inc. will pay a regular quarterly cash dividend of 35 cents per share on Jan. 31 to stockholders of record as of Jan. 16.

This will mark RPM's 45th consecutive year of increased cash dividends. That places the Medina company among less than half of 1 percent of all publicly traded dividend paying U.S. companies; 41 other companies have consecutively paid an increasing annual dividend over the same period of time or longer.

GASOLINE

GasBuddy predicts pricing

will reach $3 peak in May

A price-tracking service says the national average for gasoline will surge to about $3 a gallon by May before easing the rest of 2019.

GasBuddy predicted Wednesday that the full-year average price will settle at $2.70 a gallon, about 3 cents lower than 2018.

The U.S. average is about $2.22 a gallon now, down 70 cents from three months ago due to lower oil prices.

GasBuddy predicts prices will rise this spring as OPEC cuts oil production and the U.S. economy remains strong, generating demand for gasoline.

Oil prices climbed Wednesday. Benchmark U.S. crude rose 2.5 percent to $46.56 a barrel in afternoon trading in New York. International Brent crude was up 2.2 percent to $55 a barrel in London.

RETAIL

Lord & Taylor flagship

locks its doors forever

After 104 years, Lord & Taylor's flagship store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan has locked its doors forever.

The venerable department store famed for its animated holiday windows closed down Wednesday afternoon, ending a blowout sale that left whole floors empty. By the end, clothes that once sold for as much as $100 were going for $5.99.

The 11-story building has been sold to the WeWork space-leasing company for more than $850 million.

Forty-five other, smaller Lord & Taylor stores remain open, mostly on the East Coast and none in Ohio. In addition, Lord & Taylor-branded merchandise is being sold online through the Walmart website.

The brand is owned by Canadian corporate giant Hudson's Bay Co.

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