Wells Fargo's earnings edge up as revenue rises

NEW YORK — Wells Fargo & Co. reported a slightly higher fourth-quarter profit as the country's biggest mortgage lender generated more income from interest payments.

Quarterly net income rose to $5.38 billion from $5.37 billion a year earlier, the San Francisco-based bank said Wednesday. That's after taking out dividends for preferred stock. On a per-share basis, adjusted earnings worked out to $1.02.

The earnings results matched Wall Street's expectations, according to the data provider FactSet.

Revenue rose 4 percent to $21.44 billion in the three months ending in December, which narrowly topped forecasts. Analysts expected $21.24 billion in revenue, according to FactSet.

In a statement accompanying the results, John Shrewsberry, the bank's chief financial officer, said making more loans helped boost revenue. Total loans rose 5 percent to $862.55.

For all of 2014, Wells Fargo's adjusted earnings climbed 4 percent to $21.82 billion, while revenue crept up 1 percent to $84.35 billion.

Shares in Wells Fargo sank $1.15, or 2 percent, to $50.70, in off-hours trading. But Wells Fargo's stock has been on a tear, climbing 14 percent over the year. That's better than the Standard & Poor's 500 index's gain of 10 percent over the same stretch. Ranked by market value, Wells Fargo is now the biggest U.S. bank.

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IRS cuts taxpayer services as filing returns gets harder

WASHINGTON — The IRS is cutting taxpayer services to historically low levels just as President Barack Obama's health law will make filing a federal tax return more complicated for millions of families.

Got a question for IRS? Good luck reaching someone by phone. The tax agency says only half of the 100 million people expected to call this year will be able to reach a person.

Callers who get through may have to wait on hold for 30 minutes or more to talk to a person who will answer only the simplest questions.

"As we enter 2015, we are deeply concerned that taxpayers are receiving markedly less assistance from the IRS now than at any time in recent history," said a report released Wednesday by agency watchdog Nina E. Olson.

IRS Commissioner John Koskinen says budget cuts are forcing the agency to reduce taxpayer services and other functions. The number of audits will decline, technology upgrades will be delayed and the agency might be forced to shut down and furlough workers for two days later this year, Koskinen said.

"People who file paper tax returns could wait an extra week — or possibly longer — to see their refund," Koskinen said in an email to IRS employees this week. "We now anticipate an even lower level of telephone service than before, which raises the real possibility that fewer than half of taxpayers trying to call us will actually reach us."

"Those who do reach us will face extended wait times that are unacceptable to all of us." Koskinen added.

Congress cut the IRS budget by $346 million for the budget year that ends in September 2015. The $10.9 billion budget is $1.2 billion less than the agency received in 2010.

But the spending cuts could actually cost the government money, Koskinen said. Fewer enforcement agents will cost the federal government at least $2 billion in lost tax revenue this year, he said.

Republicans in Congress adamantly oppose Obama's health law, so some have been working to starve the IRS of funds just as its role in implementing the law ramps up.

Olson is the National Taxpayer Advocate, an independent office within the Internal Revenue Service. She released her annual report to Congress Wednesday, less than a week before the start of tax filing season on Tuesday.

She said taxpayers will suffer from service reductions.

"Without adequate support, many taxpayers will be frustrated, some will make potentially costly mistakes, others will incur higher compliance costs when forced to seek information and assistance from tax professionals," Olson wrote.

"Still others," Olson said, "will simply give up and not file."

For the first time, tax filers will have to report information about their health insurance during the previous year. For people who get health coverage through work or government programs like Medicaid, it will mean simply checking a box on their tax return.

Others who got insurance through state and federal marketplaces will have to file a new form, while people who received government subsidies to help pay premiums will have to provide more detailed information.

People who didn't have health insurance last year face fines unless they qualify for a waiver, which requires more paperwork.

The subsidies were based on projected family incomes, so families will have to check to see if their actual incomes were higher or lower. If their incomes were higher than expected, they might have to pay back some of the subsidy, either through a smaller tax refund or a payment.

If their incomes were lower, they might qualify for a larger subsidy, which would come in the form of a larger tax refund.

Taxpayers who get subsidies are supposed to notify the health exchanges during the year if their incomes change or if they have some other life event that changes their eligibility, said Kathy Pickering, executive director of the Tax Institute at H&R Block.

"If somebody got married or divorced, had a baby, got a job, lost a job, anything that changes their income, those consumers needed to go back to the marketplace and update their information," Pickering said. "Most people didn't know to do that or didn't think to do it."

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Follow Stephen Ohlemacher on Twitter: http://twitter.com/stephenatap

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6 evacuate US part of space station; NASA says all are safe

MOSCOW — Astronauts hurriedly evacuated the U.S. section of the International Space Station and moved to its Russian module after a coolant problem emerged Wednesday, but Russian and U.S. officials insisted all six crew were not in any danger.

"The space station crew is safe," NASA spokesman Bob Jacobs said.

An alarm indicating a possible ammonia leak in the cooling system early Wednesday prompted the crew to leave and seal off the American module, but further testing had NASA officials thinking it was just a sensor problem, NASA spokesman Mike Curie said.

Still, the crew planned to finish its work day in the Russian segment and sleep there overnight out of caution, Curie said. There's enough room and food for them to stay there a week but that's not likely to be necessary, he added.

The two space agencies differed on exactly what had occurred as the station orbited about 400 kilometers (250 miles) above the Earth. While the Russian space agency Roscosmos said there was a coolant leak, NASA said in a statement on its online television station there was still "no concrete data that suggests that there was, in fact, an ammonia leak."

Russia's Tass news agency said just about one-third of ammonia was left in the coolant system at the U.S. module and the rest had leaked out. It quoted Roscosmos chief Oleg Ostapenko as saying the situation was still being examined but an "evacuation (of the entire station) is not on the agenda."

NASA said the astronauts evacuated to the Russian module as a precaution.

"We saw an increase in water loop pressure, then later saw a cabin-pressure increase that could be indicative of an ammonia leak in the worst-case scenario," Jacobs said. "So we protected for the worst-case scenario and isolated the crew in the Russian segment of the space station while the teams are evaluating the situation."

The space outpost is now manned by NASA astronauts Barry Wilmore and Terry Virts, Russians Elena Serova, Alexander Samoukutyaev and Anton Shkaplerov and European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti.

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Science Writer Seth Borenstein contributed from Washington.

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US businesses boosted stockpiles in November amid weak sales

WASHINGTON — U.S. businesses added to their stockpiles by a modest amount in November, even though sales were weak for a fourth consecutive month.

Businesses increased stockpiles by 0.2 percent in November, matching the increase in October, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. Total business sales fell 0.2 percent in November following a 0.3 percent drop in October. A separate report Friday says that retail sales declined in December.

While businesses could start cutting back on their stockpiling if sales don't improve, economists remain optimistic. They are expecting a rebound in demand in coming months, given strong employment gains and a big drop in gas prices, which means people have more money to spend on other items.

Further increases in stockpiles to fill empty shelves would likely translate into increased factory production and stronger economic growth.

For November, stockpiles at the wholesale level rose by 0.8 percent, while manufacturing inventories were up a slight 0.1 percent. Retail inventories actually fell 0.1 percent.

A major reason for the bullish outlook on business sales is the improvement in the job market. The economy added nearly 3 million jobs in 2014, the strongest job growth since 1999. The hiring gains mean more people working and rising incomes that should boost consumer spending, which accounts for 70 percent of economic activity.

Many analysts believe the economy will grow by 3 percent in 2015, which would be the strongest annual gain in growth in a decade.

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Obama moves to create first methane limits for gas drilling

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration laid out designs Wednesday to issue the first regulations to cut down on methane emissions from new natural gas wells, aiming to curb the discharge of a potent greenhouse gas by roughly half.

Relying once again on the Clean Air Act, the rules join a host of others that President Barack Obama has ordered in an effort to slow global warming despite opposition to new laws in Congress that has only hardened since the midterm elections. Although just a sliver of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, methane is far more powerful than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere.

The White House set a new target for the U.S. to cut methane emissions by 40 percent to 45 percent by 2025, compared to 2012 levels. To meet that goal, the Environmental Protection Agency will issue a proposal affecting oil and gas production, while the Interior Department will also update its standards for drilling to reduce leakage from wells on public lands.

How much will the regulations cost the energy industry? The White House said it won't have specific estimates until later.

"There are significant, highly cost-effective opportunities for reducing methane emissions from this sector," said Dan Utech, Obama's climate and energy advisor. "We're confident we can do this in a cost-effective way."

Methane, which leaks during production of natural gas, has grown as a concern for environmentalists amid the ongoing boom in drilling for oil and natural gas in the U.S. Yet these rules will target new or modified natural gas wells, meaning thousands of existing wells won't have to comply. The Obama administration left open the possibility it could regulate methane from existing wells in the future while asking the energy industry to take voluntarily steps to curb emissions in the meantime.

Though long in the works, the methane plans come at a particularly sensitive moment for Obama's environmental agenda. Republicans, incensed that Obama has made copious use of executive action to sidestep Congress on climate and other issues, have made rolling back those actions one of their first orders of business this year now that they control both chambers of Congress.

Obama's intention to eventually force industry to cut methane emissions has long been part of his broader strategy on climate change, and Wednesday's announcement may prove to be incremental.

Last year, the White House said the EPA would study how methane is released during drilling and determine whether it needed new regulations. That the administration has now decided it does need more regulations will surprise few. But the key details — how the regulations will affect industry's bottom line and how deeply they'll reduce greenhouse gases — won't come until the government formally proposes the rule. That won't come until later this year, with plans to finalize it in 2016 — the last year of Obama's presidency.

Officials couldn't say how far the rules will go toward meeting Obama's goal to cut overall greenhouse gas emissions up to 28 percent by 2025, other than that the contribution would be "significant." But environmentalists argue that cutting methane is key to curbing climate change, and some scientists have said that without methane controls, the country's shift from coal to natural gas will have less of an environmental benefit. "This is a landmark moment," said Fred Krupp of the Environmental Defense Fund.

The oil and gas industry has insisted such rules aren't necessary because the industry is already working to reduce methane leakage. After all, methane is natural gas, so the less that leaks during production, the more of it that companies have left to sell.

"We're doing a good job," said Howard Feldman, the regulatory director at the American Petroleum Institute. He noted that existing pollution rules on smog-forming pollutants have had the added benefit of cutting methane. "We don't think it's necessary to go after methane in any way, shape or form."

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Associated Press writer Dina Cappiello contributed to this report.

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Reach Josh Lederman on Twitter at http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP

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Weather Channel to pair Jim Cantore, Sam Champion in new morning-TV mix

The Weather Channel is flooding the zone of morning television by adding one of the nation's most popular weather trackers to a time slot that already has several of them.

The cable network is making Jim Cantore a co-host on "AMHQ," its daily morning show that has been hosted since its inception by former "Good Morning America" weatherman Sam Champion, while also expanding the program to weekends. "AMHQ" airs at 7 a.m. and is preceded by "Wake Up With Al" featuring "Today" meteorologist Al Roker, meaning Weather Channel will boast three of the nation's best-known weather forecasters every weekday morning. Cantore will join the morning lineup January 26.

At the heart of the maneuver is a desire on the part of Weather Channel executives to grow stronger amid a clutch of morning programs on cable networks and local TV stations, said David Clark, the network's president, in an interview. "We are not satisfied. It's early days with the show. Morning television is a marathon," said Clark. "We need to be a steady habit for people, and that's what we are moving toward."

Weather Channel caused a storm of sorts in late 2013 when it poached Champion from the ABC morning program, which had surged past NBC's "Today" as the nation's most-watched morning-news show. Champion had appeared on "GMA"since 2006, but the Weather Channel offer provided more money, a chance to gain a managing editor title and the opportunity to be closer to family. "AMHQ" debuted in March of last year.

Executives at the network had in recent months begun to discern a rapport between Champion and Cantore, said Clark, particularly when Cantore made "AMHQ" appearances. In mid-fall, the network started to consider the idea more seriously, even having Champion and Cantore co-host a few evening specials. "It really zinged. It really worked," said Clark. The new arrangement does not require a reworking of anyone's current contract, he said.

Cantore, who has gained a fan base by holding forth in the midst of storms and raging winds, will not be stuck indoors when torrents of snow and rain start to swell elsewhere. "Jim will always be out in the weather when it's happening," Clark said.

The duo will be joined by meteorologist Jennifer Delgado, who Clark said arrives with "a big personality" and the ability to hold her own with the others.

"AMHQ" has been keeping viewers longer than programming that was previously in its time slot. The average time viewers spent with the program in December was 32 minutes, up 3% from a year ago, according to Weather Channel data.. Meantime, the length of tune in for people between the ages of 25 and 54, the demographic most coveted by advertisers in news programming, was 16.3 minutes, up 6% from a year earlier.

But "AMHQ" brings in fewer ad dollars than its competitors, according to data from Kantar Media. "AMHQ,"which was not on the air as long as its rivals in 2014, snared approximately $16.5 million between its launch and the end of September. MSNBC's "Morning Joe" notched about $19.6 million in the first nine months of the year, according to Kantar. HLN's "Morning Express with Robin Meade" lured about $22.9 million in the same time period, while CNN's "New Day"captured about $43.2 million and Fox News Channel's "Fox & Friends" lured about $48.9 million.

Weather Channel will launch a weekend edition of the show as part of an effort to appeal to viewers planning leisure time. The new weekend edition will air from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. Eastern will be hosted by meteorologists Kait Parker and Reynolds Wolf. The extension will launch January 31. "We haven't focused on it enough," he said of weekend mornings.

Two other "AMHQ" staffers will be getting new roles at Weather Channel as a result of the shuffle. Maria LaRosa will be getting her own show and time slot on the network as part of the new weekend focus, while Mike Bettes is slated to host a new evening program starting in late March.

© 2015 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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EU offers some budget relief to struggling nations

BRUSSELS — The European Union is giving member states struggling with debt more leeway in their spending plans despite EU rules on deficits and debt.

EU officials raised the possibility Wednesday for nations like Italy and France to contribute to a planned 315 billion euro ($371 billion) investment scheme to spur growth and jobs in Europe, even if their budgets are already under scrutiny by the EU for overspending.

Those that have an EU-approved plan of structural reforms also qualify.

But countries must otherwise respect their medium-term budget plans or face possible sanctions. Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said: "We haven't changed the rules."

A Commission official on Wednesday said his office is "open for discussion" with countries looking to take advantage of the new rule flexibility, as the bloc eases off its austerity policies of recent years.

If a country does so, the commission could choose not to penalize it even if its budget deficit technically breaches the ceiling of three percent of GDP, he said.

The official spoke only on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to publicly address the issue.

The biggest advantage for those in financial trouble would come from funding the investment plan, due for launch by mid-2015.

The EU is due in March to examine Italy's finances after ruling last year that its draft budget could breach the rules.

When asked Tuesday whether Rome would contribute to the investment scheme, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said only that "Italy is ready to play its role."

The head of the BUSINESSEUROPE lobby, Markus J. Beyrer welcomed the new flexibility but warned that it "must be accompanied by proper enforcement" to ensure that EU countries take serious steps to ensure growth.

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US stocks drop at open on disappointing retail sales report

NEW YORK — U.S. stocks fell sharply at the opening of trading Wednesday after a government report showed retail sales declined last month despite lower gas prices and a pickup in hiring. All 10 sectors of the Standard and Poor's 500 index were lower, led by raw materials companies. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to its lowest level since May 2013. Copper prices plunged to a five-year low.

KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 14 points, or 0.7 percent, to 2,009 as of 10:06 a.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 161 points, or 0.9 percent, to 17,453. The Nasdaq composite fell 13 points, or 0.3 percent, to 4,648.

SLUMPING SALES: The Commerce Department reported early Wednesday that retail sales fell 0.9 percent in December, the biggest decline since January last year. The drop shows consumers are reluctant to spend despite lower gas prices and a pickup in hiring.

DISMAL FORECAST: The World Bank downgraded its forecast for global growth this year to 3 percent from 3.4 percent. It blamed sluggish economies in Europe and Japan, and a slowdown in China.

COPPER CAPITULATES: The price of copper, a metal used in many industries, plunged for a second day following the World Bank's downgrade. It fell 4.5 percent to $2.53 a pound. Mining stocks fell sharply as a result. Freeport-McMoRan plunged $2.10, or 10 percent, to $18.93.

ANALYST'S TAKE: "Copper can be a good leading indicator for the global economy because it is widely used in construction and manufacturing processes," said Fawad Razaqzada, a technical analyst at Forex.com.

BANK BLUES: JPMorgan Chase fell $2.22, or 3.8 percent, to $56.58 after reporting a 7 percent drop in fourth-quarter earnings. The bank was hit by more legal costs and a decline in trading revenue.

EUROPEAN COURT RULING: The euro dropped to a nine-year low of $1.1725, below its launch rate of $1.1747. It recovered to trade flat on the day at $1.1782. The trigger for the decline was a ruling from an advocate general with the European Court of Justice that the European Central Bank's offer in 2012 to buy government bonds of troubled countries is legal in principle.

Analysts said that ruling has cleared the way for the ECB to announce a program to buy government bonds at its Jan. 22 policy meeting.

EUROPE FALLS: France's CAC 40 was down 1.3 percent while Germany's DAX fell 1.1 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 dropped 2.4 percent, underperforming its peers because miners make up a big chunk of the index.

ASIA'S DAY: Japan's Nikkei 225 dropped 1.7 percent and South Korea's Kospi edged down 0.2 percent. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong slipped 0.4 percent. The Shanghai Composite index surrendered 0.4 percent.

BONDS: The yield on the 10-year Treasury note dropped to 1.82 percent from 1.90 percent late Tuesday, a large move.

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Pylas reported from London.

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GM predicts pretax earnings, profit margin rise in 2015

DETROIT — General Motors says it expects pretax earnings and profit margins to increase this year over last, after adjusting last year for recall costs.

The company also predicts improved automotive results in all of its regions. It gave no specific numbers. GM is scheduled to release its fourth-quarter and 2014 earnings on Feb. 4.

GM also reiterated 2016 financial targets of 10 percent pretax profit margins in North America and a return to profitability in Europe. It also expects to maintain strong profit margins in China. Profit margin is the percentage of revenue that a company gets to keep.

The company expects 9 percent to 10 percent profit margins overall by early next decade.

GM made the predictions at a Deutsche Bank conference for analysts in Detroit on Thursday.

GM issued 84 recalls last year covering more than 30 million vehicles in North America, costing the company more than $2.8 billion. The spate of recalls began with faulty small-car ignition switches that are responsible for at least 45 deaths and 68 injuries. GM acknowledged knowing about the bad switches for more than a decade, yet it didn't start recalling the cars until early 2014.

CEO Mary Barra told the conference that the company didn't do everything perfectly on the recalls, but said it now has permanent systems, processes and behavior changes in place to make sure it doesn't happen again.

GM plans to reach its goals by leading in product and technology, expanding the Chevrolet and Cadillac brands globally and continuing to grow in China.

Company President Dan Ammann told the conference the company plans numerous new products during the next couple of years, including top-selling models such as the Chevrolet Cruze compact car, Chevy Malibu midsize car and Chevrolet Equinox small crossover SUV.

The company has 27 new models coming globally this year, and 38 in each of 2016 and 2017, he said.

"All major-volume entries get all-new models the next couple of years," Ammann said.

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Boston.com’s Boehner poisoning article sparks furor

The Boston Globe's boston.com this morning was silent amid a furor of criticism over their article mocking death threats aimed at Republican House Speaker John Boehner.

Boston.com spokeswoman Mary Zanor did not return an email or call for comment today.

The story, written by Boston.com associate editor Victor Paul Alvarez and posted on the website's "Top News" section last evening, was headlined "Would Anyone Have Noticed if Bartender Succeeded in Poisoning John Boehner?"

"The question is: Would anyone have noticed? Stories about Boehner's drinking have circulated for years. His drinking inspired a blog called DrunkBoehner, and in 2010 he brought booze back to Washington," the story read. "Had he been poisoned as planned, perhaps his pickled liver could have filtered out the toxins."

The cutline on the Associated Press photo attached to the story reads: "House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, has been known to get hammered from time to time."

Michael R. Hoyt, 44, of Deer Park, Ohio, was indicted in federal court last week. He had tended bar at the Wetherington Country Club, where Boehner is a member.

In an email to Boehner's wife, Hoyt wrote: "If I had any intention of hurting Mr. Boehner, I could have poisoned his wine at Wetherington many, many times," according to a criminal complaint.

The boston.com story prompted immediate outrage online, both in the story's comments section and on social media.

"It's hate speech," wrote one commenter. "If a commenter said this about Obama, the FBI would be at their door."

Another commenter said, "This piece goes over the line. Remove it, please."

There was also backlash on Twitter.

"Imagine a plot involving the assassination of Obama getting this sort of treatment from the media," wrote one tweeter.

Another wrote: "To Boston.com, John Boehner's death would be funny. This hateful column is featured as "Top News."

"Boston.com does satire now?" tweeted Sue O'Connell, co-publisher of Bay Windows, "Then they should hire an satirist."

At about 9:30 this morning — about 14 hours after the story was posted — the sentence referencing Boehner's liver was removed. At the bottom of the story, an "editor's note" was added: "A previous version of this article made an unsubstantiated reference to the health of Speaker Boehner."

Boston.com is owned by Boston Globe Media Partners LLC.

The flap is the second in a month for boston.com, which in December suspended the site's deputy editor for creating a T-shirt that mocked a Harvard professor who, she reported, had sent emails to a Chinese restaurant complaining about his takeout bill. Boston.com had to pull a follow-up story Hilary Sargent wrote claiming the professor had emailed a racial slur to the restaurant.

In the Boehner case, the suspect had told police he was "going to shoot Boehner and take off" and that he had a loaded .380 Beretta automatic handgun. Police later recovered a Beretta from his home, records state.

After he called 911 in October, Hoyt was committed to a mental facility. On Dec. 16, he was transferred to the Bay State's 
Devens Federal Medical Center for a psychiatric evaluation, according to court records.

The complaint says Hoyt was treated for a previous psychotic episode about two years ago. He was prescribed medication, "which he voluntarily stopped taking" about six months ago, the complaint states.

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