Opening Bell: Stocks Are Slammed, Retail Sales Disappoint

U.S. stocks tumbled at the open on Friday amid falling oil prices, worries about China’s economy and softness in retail sales. Fresh data from the Commerce Department showed a 0.1 percent decline in retail sales in December. For 2015, sales are up just 2.1 percent, compared to 3.9 percent during the year before. Meanwhile, banking giant Wells Fargo (WFC) posted earnings per share of $1.03, a penny ahead of estimates. Revenue came in at $21.6 billion, just shy of forecasts. The bank saw a $131 million increase in net interest margin. TheStreet’s Jim Cramer holds Wells Fargo in his Action Alerts PLUS charitable trust. And finally, General Electric (GE) agreed to sell its appliance unit to Haier, a Chinese appliance company. The transaction, valued at $5.4 billion comes after regulators nixed GE's move last year to sell the unit to Swedish appliance company Electrolux. TheStreet’s Scott Gamm has more from Wall Street.