Good morning, friends and Fortune readers.
U.S. stock index futures are edging lower this morning, following five straight days of losses for the major indexes, setting Wall Street up for its fourth negative week out of the past six. Energy stocks look set to rebound alongside a bounce in the price of crude.
In economic news, U.S. consumer prices recorded their biggest decline in six years in December, a new report released this morning shows. And industrial production declined 0.1% in December — the first drop since August.
Intel’s (INTC) shares are lower this morning after the chipmaker gave a disappointing forecast for revenue and gross margins for this quarter. And there’s more trouble in the teen retail space: Wet Seal has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Here’s what else you need to know about today.
1. Goldman Sachs checks in.
The giant of Wall Street put out earnings this morning. Goldman (GS) reported a 7% drop in quarterly profit as investment banking revenue slid and an unexpected bout of market volatility in December hit revenue in its business that trades bonds, currencies and commodities. The bank’s net income fell to $2.17 billion, or $4.38 per share, in the fourth quarter from $2.33 billion, or 4.60 per share, a year earlier.
2. Schlumberger cuts deep.
Oilfield services company Schlumberger (SLB) is seeing the effects of a diving oil market, announcing yesterday it will be cutting 9,000 jobs, around 7% of its total workforce. Though it was expected that jobs would be cut, analysts were surprised by the scope of the layoffs. The company also said it will see $1.77 billion in charges in the fourth quarter.
3. Amazon has continental trouble.
Amazon (AMZN) has been paying too little in taxes in Europe, according to the European Union, which announced its findings yesterday, noting that authorities in Luxembourg — the tiny European nation where Amazon’s European operations are based — have been favorable to the multinational company. Amazon’s business in Europe represents around 20% of the company’s worldwide sales.
4. More trouble for Uber.
The transportation startup is hailing more controversy. This time, a women in India is looking to sue the ride-sharing service after she was allegedly raped by a driver in Delhi. The woman is said to have approached American attorney Douglas Wigdor, who represented Nafissatou Diallo, the maid who accused former International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault in 2011.
5. BP catches a break.
BP will face a maximum fine of $13.7 billion under the Clean Water Act for its Gulf of Mexico oil spill, several billion less than feared, after a judge found on Thursday the size of the spill was smaller than the U.S. government claimed. The ruling was made yesterday by District Court Judge Carl Barbier. The actual amount of the fines will be determined in a trial in New Orleans next week.
—Reuters contributed to this report.
