Talking Biz News Today – Jan. 6, 2015

Some of Wednesday’s top business news stories:

The Wall Street Journal

Spirit Airlines names industry veteran Fornaro as new CEO, by Tess Stynes 

Volkswagen shares fall on fears of bigger U.S. penalty, by Aruna Viswanatha and Mike Spector

Bloomberg

This time Mideast tensions are bad news for oil, by Angelina Rascouet and Anthony Dipaola 

Fitbit takes on Apple Watch with the Blaze, by Stephen Pulvirent

The Associated Press

Iran, Saudi Arabia tensions can’t halt slide in oil prices, by David Koenig 

Yahoo pulls plug on video hub as CEO refocuses company

Reuters

Major U.S. airlines up fares in sign of first sector-wide hike since June, by Jeffrey Dastin 

U.S. auto sales on pace for record year in 2015 after strong December, by Bernie Woodall

Quartz

A cornerstone of Marissa Mayer’s plan to turn around Yahoo is crumbling, by Alice Truong 

Lululemon has snapped back into shape for 2016, by Marc Bain 

News about business journalism:

Dow Jones creates new publishing unit headed by Latour

Fast Company hired VentureBeat’s Sullivan

The Verge is trying to shed its male-centered image

Price tag for Dolan biz papers: $35 million

FT shuffles senior editors, with more to come

Wired expands transportation coverage

This date in business journalism history:

2011: Unemployment was top network TV biz news story in 2010

2013: Financial Times needs to explain its future