volatile day yesterday on good volume. energy retreating as opec cuts its demand forecast. yum brands problems continue in china. cutting their profit outlook for the second time this year. costco out with earnings, beating estimates. stock s up more than 20% this year. looking to add to those gains today. oil prices sliding again this morning, close to some new multiyear lows. opec cutting its demand forecast to below 29 million barrels a day, more than a million less than the cartel is currently producing. it s actually a 12-year low, guys, on demand. goldman out today saying the tax cut that consumers are getting, not 75 billion like they thought. now after that opec meeting, it s going to be $125 billion. well, look, it s remarkable for 317 million americans. there are many companies that when we get to 50 then become different in that they re not as positive because there s some companies that rely on fuel conservation as a major business. they will not you will
not like this. good wednesday morning, everyone. i m john muller. and i m marci gonzalez in for diana perez. we begin with high-level talks aimed at putting an end to the tense situation between ukraine and russia. secretary of state john kerry meeting with russia s foreign minister in paris this morning. kerry is also speaking with ukraine s foreign minister who hitched a ride to france on the secretary of state s plane. abc s tahman bradley is following all of it from washington. reporter: the u.s. and other nations are still trying to defuse the volatile standoff in ukraine. in crimea, tensions remain high with russian and ukrainian troops staring each other down. walking the streets of kiev yesterday, kerry saw the shrines where ukrainians died in last month s protests. the secretary blasted vladimir putin s invasion of crimea. it is not appropriate to invade a country and at the end of a barrel of a gun dictate what you are trying to achieve. reporter: putin
he was our friend, our confidant. he was just an all-around good guy. darryl cox sang alongside a.b. for 20 years. he d seen the fresh-faced young pastor grow into an accomplished and devoted preacher. all of the things that he helped my family with over the years, he was always there. he watched his frerngsd the pastor, raise his music-loving family. a.b. and his wife jewel even performed together. they sang together many, many times. they were quite the duo. duets were a concern in the church. it seemed like the all-american couple. the couple s daughters, julie and amy. my mom and dad were people who loved each other, took care of each other and just a very close family. a deep sadness fell over the shermers in 1999 when a.b. s wife of 30 years suddenly died. his daughter recalls their father being overcome with grief. he was very lonely. it was a hard year after. he was a sad guy, huh? uh-huh. very lonely. but life goes on and their father did