Stockwinners Market Radar for November 01, 2017 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

18:47 EDT Otter Tail Power Company requests rate review in North Dakota - Tomorrow, Otter Tail Power Company, a subsidiary of Otter Tail Corporation, will file a request with the North Dakota Public Service Commission, or NDPSC, to increase its rates. The filing starts a nearly year-long process, often referred to as a rate case, during which the NDPSC first reviews the costs the company incurs to provide customers with energy and related services and then determines how much customers should pay for those services. Otter Tail Power Company requested permission to increase non-fuel base rates by approximately $13.1M, or 8.7%. If the NDPSC approves the overall request as filed, a typical residential customer's bill would increase by approximately $11.50 a month and a typical business customer's bill would increase by approximately $22 a month. The increase would be more for some customers and less for others, depending on the rates on which they're served and the amount of energy they use. While the NDPSC considers Otter Tail Power Company's overall request, the company has asked to increase rates on an interim basis by approximately $12.8M. The interim request would be billed uniformly to customers and applies only to base rates. Cost-recovery riders would continue at adjusted rates until the implementation of final rates. If approved, the interim increase would be effective January 1, 2018. It would remain in effect until the NDPSC makes a final determination on the company's overall request, which Otter Tail Power Company expects would be in 2018. If final rates are lower than interim rates, the company will refund customers the difference with interest. If final rates are higher than interim rates, the company won't collect the difference.

18:26 EDT Tesla says three years away from local production in China

18:23 EDT Tesla says no significant CapEx on China until 2019

18:20 EDT Facebook CEO: Fixing ad interference problem 'part of a much bigger focus' - On the company's Q3 earnings conference call, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that Russian interference used the social networks tools to "try to undemrine our values." The CEO went on to say that the first step in fixing the problem of foreign interference on the company's platforms is to help the U.S. government get a "complete picture" of what happened, including working with Congress on legislation to make advertising more transparent. Zuckerberg added that Facebook is already moving forward on its own without legislation to bring advertising to the social network to an even higher standard of transparency than ads on TV or other media. Facebook will also work with other tech companies to help identify and respone to new threats. "This is part of a much bigger focus on protecting the security and integrity of our platform and the safety of our community," the Facebook CEO said. "It goes beyond election, and it means strengthening all of our systems to prevent abuse and harmful content. We're doing a lot here with investment both in people and technology. Some of this is focused on finding bad actors and bad behavior, some is focused on removing false news, hate speech, bullying and other problematic content that we don't want in our community. We already have about 10,000 people working on safety and security, and we're planning to double that to 20,000 in the next year to better enforce our community standards and review ads."

18:09 EDT Tesla says managing CapEx, OpEx in line with fleet

17:49 EDT BP Products NA awarded $605M contract from U.S. Defense Logistics Agency - BP Products North America Inc., Chicago, Illinois, has been awarded an estimated $604,895,386 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment contract for various types of fuel. This is a one-year contract with no option periods. This was a competitive acquisition with 19 offers received.

17:48 EDT Raytheon awarded $371M contract from U.S. Missile Defense Agency - Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems is being awarded an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with a stated maximum value of $371,200,000. Under this follow-on contract, the contractor will provide research and development support for the Army Navy Transportable Radar Surveillance Control Model-2; and Sea-Based X-Band radar. This R&D support includes product improvement; warfighter support; engineering services; Ballistic Missile Defense System test subject matter experts support; modeling and simulation SME support; and cybersecurity.

17:37 EDT FreightCar America suspends dividend payout - The board approved the suspension of the company's quarterly dividend to its shareholders to maintain its strong balance sheet and financial flexibility. The suspension of the quarterly dividend, which was previously $0.09 per share, is expected to result in additional liquidity of approximately $1.1 million per quarter.

17:29 EDT MSD Capital reports 13.6% passive stake in Blueknight Energy Partners

17:27 EDT Atlantica Yield, Algonquin Power announce strategic partnership - Atlantica Yield (ABY) announced a strategic partnership with Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (AQN) to drive accretive growth. Algonquin has reached an agreement with Abengoa to acquire a 25% stake in Atlantica from Abengoa at a price of $24.25 per share, which implies a total equity value of Atlantica Yield of $2.43B. After the closing of this transaction, Algonquin will be Atlantica's largest shareholder. Abengoa has communicated that it intends to sell its remaining 16.5% stake over the upcoming months in a private transaction, subject to approval by the United States Department of Energy. Algonquin has an option to purchase this remaining stake until March 2018. In addition, Algonquin and Abengoa announced they have signed an agreement to create a joint venture to be called AAGES to invest in the development and construction of contracted clean energy and water infrastructure contracted assets.

17:24 EDT Laredo Petroleum backs FY17 production growth target of 16%-19%

17:21 EDT Madison Square Garden: Teneo not providing services related to shareholders - The Madison Square Garden Company made the following statement: "Contrary to unnamed sources that appeared today in a press story, Teneo was not hired to provide, and is not providing, services related to any shareholder matter. MSG announced in mid-July that its long-time Chief Communications Officer was transitioning to a new role as Senior Advisor. Following this announcement, MSG hired Teneo to provide general communications and public relations support. The company is conducting a search for a replacement of its CCO."

17:19 EDT Golden Star Resources backs FY17 gold production view of 255,000-280,000 ounces

17:15 EDT Biogen, Ionis Pharmaceuticals Spinraza reduces risk of infant death due to SMA - Biogen and Ionis Pharmaceuticals announced that the end of study results from ENDEAR, the Phase 3 study of Spinraza for the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy, or SMA, were published today in The New England Journal of Medicine. Spinraza is the first and only approved treatment for SMA. The full manuscript titled, "Nusinersen Versus Sham Control in Infantile-Onset Spinal Muscular Atrophy," appears in the November 2 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine. The two pre-specified ENDEAR primary endpoints were percentage of motor milestone responders, defined as improvements in motor milestone categories in the Hammersmith Infant Neurological Examination and time to death or permanent ventilation. The final analysis demonstrated that a greater proportion of infants treated with Spinraza were motor milestone responders, compared to untreated infants, including full head control, ability to roll over, and independent sitting and standing. Spinraza also met the pre-specified primary endpoint of death or permanent ventilation in the end of study analysis, demonstrating a statistically significant 47% reduction in the risk of death or use of permanent assisted ventilation and 76% reduction for those with shorter disease duration.

17:12 EDT Ashford Hospitality Prime announces sale of Marriott Plano Legacy - Ashford Hospitality Prime announced that it has closed on the sale of the 404-room Marriott Plano Legacy Town Center hotel in Plano, Texas for $104M. The sales price represents a year-end 2017 all-in cap rate of 7.7% on net operating income and a year-end 2017 11.1x all-in Hotel EBITDA multiple. The closing of the sale also completed a reverse 1031 exchange that was initiated to acquire the Hotel Yountville. The sale of the Marriott Plano is another meaningful step in the execution of the Company's non-core portfolio strategy that it announced in January. This transaction follows the Company's June announcement that it had reached an agreement to convert its Courtyard Philadelphia Downtown hotel to an Autograph Collection property. As the Marriott Plano is the lowest RevPAR asset in the Company's portfolio, the Company's pro forma RevPAR after this transaction should increase and be significantly higher than any of its peers, making the Company the publicly-traded lodging REIT with the highest RevPAR and highest asset quality. Additionally, the sale of the Hotel will reduce the Company's leverage and reduce its interest expense by approximately $3.2M annually. The hotel had an existing allocated debt balance of approximately $62.3M that was paid off at closing along with an additional $22.7M of debt pay down used to release the asset from its loan pool. After debt payoff and transaction costs, the net proceeds were approximately $16M. Based upon the prior 12-month period, the Marriott Plano achieved RevPAR of $134 with occupancy of 72% and Average Daily Rate of $185.

17:07 EDT Xtant enters into distribution agreement with curasan - Xtant Medical Holdings announced it has entered into a distribution agreement with curasan, adding a premium line of synthetic scaffolds to its biologics portfolio. Matriform, Xtant's brand of the curasan synthetic product portfolio for orthopedic applications, consists of a composition of pure phase Beta-Tricalcium Phosphate and porcine collagen, and interconnected porosity with a variety of micro, meso, and macro pores. Distribution of Matriform will mark Xtant's entrance into the U.S. orthopedic Bone Graft Substitute market, the largest market globally with an annual market size of over $800M.

17:02 EDT Schweitzer-Mauduit announces 2.4% dividend increase - The company announced a 2.4% increase of its quarterly cash dividend to 43c per share from 42c per share. the dividend will be payable on December 22 to stockholders of record as of December 1.

16:59 EDT Argentine court dismisses Ecuadorian judgment against Chevron - An Argentine court has dismissed an attempt to enforce a "fraudulent" $9.5B Ecuadorian judgment against Chevron Corporation in the country, the company said. "In a 22-page decision, the National Civil Court No. 61 in Buenos Aires found the plaintiffs failed to prove that the case had any connection to Argentina that would justify recognition of the 2011 Ecuadorian judgment by the country's courts," Chevron said. "In a 22-page decision, the National Civil Court No. 61 in Buenos Aires found the plaintiffs failed to prove that the case had any connection to Argentina that would justify recognition of the 2011 Ecuadorian judgment by the country's courts. The court found that Chevron Corporation is not domiciled and has no assets in Argentina, which "seals the fate of the present exequatur as it is inadmissible to recognize a foreign decision in this jurisdiction where the defendant has no point of connection." The court relied on a previous decision from the Argentina Supreme Court which found that Chevron's indirect subsidiary in Argentina, Chevron Argentina SRL, is a separate entity from Chevron Corporation; not a party to the Ecuadorian lawsuit; and an embargo against its assets in support of the Ecuadorian judgment is "manifestly contrary to Argentinean public policy." The opinion awards costs to Chevron, as the prevailing party."

16:55 EDT Diplomat Pharmacy selected to dispense CALQUENCE - Diplomat Pharmacy has been named to the limited pharmacy panel to dispense CALQUENCE. CALQUENCE, recently granted accelerated approval by the Food and Drug Administration, is indicated to treat mantle cell lymphoma-a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma-in adult patients who have received at least one prior therapy.

16:50 EDT FLEETCOR signs pact with Wal-Mart relating to payment initiatives - FLEETCOR Technologies (FLT) announced the signing of an agreement with Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) relating to two payment initiatives. Walmart will begin accepting FLEETCOR commercial payment cards at all 900 owned, operated and branded Walmart and Sam's Club fueling locations, and more than 2,500 Walmart Auto Care Centers across the United States. As part of the new agreement, FLEETCOR will promote Walmart and Sam's Club locations to its existing customer base. Additionally, approximately 4,000 Walmart employees who use company vehicles to service the Walmart store network will begin to use FLEETCOR's fuel cards to make their fueling purchases. This marks an expansion of FLEETCOR and Walmart's relationship.

16:49 EDT Badger Meter to acquire assets of Carolina Meter & Supply, terms not disclosed - Badger Meter announced it has signed an agreement to acquire assets of Carolina Meter & Supply, based in Wilmington, North Carolina, as well as to hire their five employees. Carolina Meter distributes Badger Meter products to municipal water utility customers in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. Following the acquisition, Carolina Meter will do business as "National Meter & Automation," Badger Meter's wholly-owned distribution sales organization. The acquisition is effective Nov. 1, 2017. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

16:46 EDT TAT Technologies awarded five-year agreement with U.S. military - TAT Technologies announced that its subsidiary, Limco Airepair, has signed a five year agreement with the U.S. military for Maintenance Repair and Overhaul of thermal units on significant platform, valued at $4.5M in revenue.

16:44 EDT Gentherm acquires Etratech Enterprises for approximately $64M in cash - Gentherm announced it has acquired Etratech Enterprises for approximately $64M in an all cash transaction. Etratech, based in Burlington, Canada, specializes in the design, development, and manufacturing of advanced electronic controls and control systems for the Automotive, RV and Marine, Security, Medical and other industries. Etratech's capabilities help OEM customers rapidly innovate and bring new technologies to market. Acquisition Highlights: Etratech estimates revenues of approximately $61M during the twelve month period prior to the acquisition, and forecasts continued revenue growth of at least 15% in 2018. The purchase price of $64M represents approximately 8.5x EBITDA based on trailing 12-months EBITDA at the time of closing. The transaction is expected to be accretive to earnings in fiscal 2017 by approximately 8c per share on a fully diluted pro-forma basis. The purchase was funded from Gentherm's existing available cash. It is anticipated that the acquisition could grow Gentherm's total electronics revenues to approximately $200M by 2019.

16:42 EDT Bojangles announces $50M stock repurchase program - The Bojangles' board has approved a share repurchase program under which it may purchase up to $50M of our outstanding common stock through April 30, 2019.

16:40 EDT Lincoln National raises quarterly dividend 14% to 33c per share - The board of directors of Lincoln National Corporation approved raising the quarterly dividend on its common shares to 33c per share. The dividend represents a 14% increase over the prior-year level. The increased dividend on the common stock will be payable on February 1, 2018, to shareholders of record at the close of business on January 10.

16:36 EDT Williams Partners backs guidance issued at analyst day - Williams Partners said: "The guidance previously provided at our Analyst Day event on May 11, 2017, remains unchanged. The partnership plans to announce its 2018 guidance as part of the release of its fourth-quarter 2017 financial results."

16:34 EDT Web.com acquires assets of Acquisio - Web.com Group announced that it has acquired the assets of Acquisio, a leading local business software provider for online advertising management. The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

16:26 EDT Denny's reports Q3 domestic system-wide same-store sales increase of 0.6% - Q3 domestic system-wide same-store sales increased 0.6%, including growth of 0.6% at company restaurants and 0.6% at domestic franchised restaurants.

16:24 EDT Tesla down 5% in afterhours trading following earnings report

16:24 EDT Tesla sees Q4 capital expenditures of approximately $1B - Tesla said: "Capital expenditures are expected to be approximately $1 billion in Q4, driven largely by milestone payments on Model 3 production equipment, as well as Gigafactory 1, and further expansion of stores, service centers, delivery hubs and the Supercharger network. Model 3 represents a significant milestone in the coming of age of electric vehicles. We aspire to transform other segments of the automotive market in the future. At the unveiling of the Tesla Semi on November 16, 2017, we will demonstrate just how compelling electric drive will be for the global trucking industry."

16:22 EDT Blueprint Medicines announces publication of data for BLU-285 - Blueprint Medicines announced the publication of translational data for its investigational medicine BLU-285 in Science Translational Medicine showing that BLU-285 is a highly selective inhibitor of KIT and PDGFRalpha kinases, which are implicated in multiple diseases including gastrointestinal stromal tumors and systemic mastocytosis. Blueprint Medicines is currently evaluating BLU-285 in two ongoing Phase 1 clinical trials in patients with advanced GIST and patients with advanced SM, and plans to present updated results from both clinical trials in Q4. BLU-285 has induced "meaningful responses and prolonged progression free survival" in patients with KIT-driven and PDGFRalpha-driven GIST, "as well as objective and clinically significant decreases in mast cell burden and improvements in symptoms in patients with advanced SM".

16:21 EDT Tesla sees production rate of 5,000 Model 3 vehicles per week by late Q1 - In its investor letter, Tesla said: "While we continue to make significant progress each week in fixing Model 3 bottlenecks, the nature of manufacturing challenges during a ramp such as this makes it difficult to predict exactly how long it will take for all bottlenecks to be cleared or when new ones will appear. Based on what we know now, we currently expect to achieve a production rate of 5,000 Model 3 vehicles per week by late Q1 2018, recognizing that our production growth rate is like a stepped exponential, so there can be large forward jumps from one week to the next. We will provide an update when we announce Q4 production and delivery numbers in the first few days of January. With respect to the timing for producing 10,000 units per week, it has always been our intention to implement that capacity addition after we have achieved a 5,000 per week run rate."

16:19 EDT aTyr Pharma appoints Sanjay Shukla to succeed John Mendlein as CEO - aTyr Pharma announced that Sanjay Shukla, M.D., M.S., who joined aTyr Pharma as Chief Medical Officer in March 2016, will succeed John Mendlein, Ph.D., as president and CEO. Shukla will also join aTyr's board. Mendlein, who has served as CEO since September 2011 and as a member of the board since July 2010, will continue to serve on the board of aTyr Pharma.

16:17 EDT Impinj down 16% after reporting Q3 earnings, giving Q4 guidance

16:15 EDT Fitbit reports 3.6M devices sold in Q3, up 7% sequentially - Fitbit reports 3.6 million devices sold, up 7% sequentially from the second quarter of 2017. 42% of the activations in the quarter came from customers who made repeat purchases. Of the repeat purchasers, 39% came from customers who were inactive for 90 days or greater.

16:13 EDT Agree Realty names Clayton Thelen as CFO - Agree Realty announced the appointment of Clayton Thelen as CFO and Secretary, effective December 4. Thelen is currently the CFO at AJ Capital Partners, a real estate private equity firm. Prior to joining AJ Capital Partners, he held the position of Vice President, Capital Markets, Acquisitions and Treasurer at Strategic Hotels & Resorts, a publicly traded REIT until its sale in 2015.

16:11 EDT Pioneer Natural raises 2017 capital budget to $2.75B from $2.70B - Pioneer said, "The Company's capital budget for 2017 is being increased from $2.7 billion to $2.75 billion (excluding acquisitions, asset retirement obligations, capitalized interest, geological and geophysical G&A and IT system upgrades). The increase reflects the recent decision to add two rigs in the Spraberry/Wolfcamp to improve operational flexibility by increasing Pioneer's DUC inventory. Once an adequate DUC inventory is built in the second half of 2018, the Company expects to use these two rigs to achieve longer-term production growth targets, which is consistent with the Company's previously discussed plans to add drilling rigs in the second half of 2018 for this purpose. The increased capital spending also includes higher than anticipated completion costs in the Eagle Ford Shale. "

16:10 EDT Facebook CEO says protecting platform more important than maximizing profits - Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in today's earnings release, "Our community continues to grow and our business is doing well. But none of that matters if our services are used in ways that don't bring people closer together. We're serious about preventing abuse on our platforms. We're investing so much in security that it will impact our profitability. Protecting our community is more important than maximizing our profits."

16:08 EDT GoPro reports Q3 gross margin about 40%

16:04 EDT Kratos Defense awarded $11.3M contract modification - Kratos Defense & Security Solutions announced that it has received a modification under an existing contract from the U.S. Air Force to update satellite control and management systems. Valued at approximately $11.3M, the update will allow system-consolidation, architectural updates, and security improvements to support current and future military communication satellite missions while decreasing operation and maintenance costs.

16:02 EDT Zumiez reports October SSS increased 6.6% - Zumiez announced that total net sales for the four-week period ended October 28 increased 10.0% to $61.5M, compared to $55.9M for the four-week period ended October 29, 2016. The company's comparable sales increased 6.6% for the four-week period.

14:55 EDT Rockwell Automation raises quarterly dividend 10% to 83.5c per share - The board of directors of Rockwell Automation declared a quarterly dividend of 83.5c per share on its common stock, payable on Dec. 11, 2017, to shareowners of record at the close of business on Nov. 13, 2017. "Over the last five fiscal years, we have returned just over $4B, or 87% of our free cash flow, to shareowners through dividends and share repurchases," said Blake Moret, Rockwell Automation president and CEO. "The 10% increase reflects our confidence in Rockwell Automation's ability to generate cash throughout the cycle and our commitment to returning cash to shareowners while investing in the business. Since 2010, the company has increased its dividend by an average of 13% per year."

14:32 EDT Papa John's blames NFL for disappointing pizza sales - During the company's earnings call, Papa John's (PZZA) founder, chairman and CEO John Schnatter pointed the finger at the NFL for his company's reduced outlook, saying the league's leadership hurt the company's shareholders by hammering pizza sales. RESULTS: Last night, Papa John's reported third quarter earnings per share of 60c, which was in-line with consensus estimates, and third quarter revenue of $431.7M, above the expected $427.7M. The company also cut its FY17 earnings per share growth view to 3%-7% from 8%-12%, and cut its FY17 North America comparable sales outlook to up to 1.5% from 2%-4%. NFL 'POOR LEADERSHIP': During the company's earnings call today, John Schnatter blamed the NFL for weaker pizza sales, saying: "The NFL hurt us. More important, it has hurt us by not resolving the current debacle to the players and owners' satisfaction, and its leadership has hurt Papa John's shareholders. [...] We are certainly disappointed that the NFL and its leaders did not resolve the ongoing situation to the satisfaction of all parties involved. This should've been nipped in the bud a year and a half ago. Like any sponsors, we are in contact with the NFL and when the problems get resolved between the players and the owners, we are optimistic that the best years are ahead. For good or bad, leadership starts by the top and this is an example of poor leadership." WHAT'S NOTABLE: Schnatter has appeared in several advertisements alongside some of the NFL's most famous players, such as Peyton Manning and JJ Watt, and the company has been an NFL official pizza sponsor since 2010. The CEO has also donated to the campaign of President Trump, who has been very critical of football players taking a knee during the national anthem this season. The controversy started last year, when Colin Kaepernick, at the time the San Francisco 49ers quarterback, decided to remain seated while the national anthem was being performed as a form of protest against what he believed to be racial inequality and police brutality. Later in the season, Kaepernick decided to take a knee after meeting with a veteran and football player. Since then, several other players have taken a knee, locked arms, raised fists or engaged in other forms of protest during the national anthem. PRICE ACTION: In afternoon trading, Papa John's has dropped almost 9% to $62.12.

14:00 EDT Federal Reserve leaves interest rates unchanged at 1.00%-1.25%

13:22 EDT Southern Company sees additional equity needs for Vogtle - Sees additional equity needs for Vogtle project. Sees an increase in debt needs for Vogtle project as well.

13:12 EDT Southern Company: Economic growth remains 'encouraging' - Sees Georgia Power (SO) deciding on nuclear project by February 2018. Sees sale of Toshiba (TOSBF) payment by year end. Sees better productivity at Vogtle site. Says economic growth remains "encouraging." Says experiencing strong residential customer growth. Says seeing strong growth in commercial sector. Says ongoing adoption of new technology offsets such growth in other areas. Says advancement of digital commerce continues to negatively impact prospects for growth in the commercial sector. Comments taken from Q3 earnings conference call.

13:02 EDT Network-1 receives new patents from USPTO expanding Cox patent portfolio - Network-1 Technologies announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued U.S. Patent No. 9,805,066 and U.S. Patent No. 9,807,472 to Network-1. The claims in the newly issued patents are generally directed towards methods of content identification and performance of actions following therefrom. The newly issued patents arise from patent applications contained in the patent portfolio acquired by Network-1 from Professor Ingemar Cox in 2013. The Portfolio includes patents relating to enabling technology for identifying media content, such as music and videos, and taking further actions to be performed based on such identification including, among others, the insertion of advertisements and the facilitation of the purchase of goods and services relating to the media content. Since December 2016, Network-1 has received eight new patents in the Portfolio. Since the acquisition of the Portfolio, Network-1 has filed twenty-four additional patent applications, fifteen of which have been issued bringing the total Portfolio of granted patents to twenty. Nine applications relating to the original specification are still pending and Network-1 anticipates further issuances of additional claims for this Portfolio.

12:25 EDT Interactive Brokers reports October DARTs up 16% vs. last year - Interactive Brokers Group reported its electronic brokerage monthly performance metrics for October: 698 thousand Daily Average Revenue Trades, 16% higher than prior year and even with prior month; Ending client equity of $120.6B, 47% higher than prior year and 4% higher than prior month; Ending client margin loan balances of $25.3B, 45% higher than prior year and 1% higher than prior month; Ending client credit balances of $47.2B, 13% higher than prior year and even with prior month; 465 thousand client accounts, 24% higher than prior year and 2% higher than prior month; 352 annualized average cleared DARTs per client account; Average commission per cleared client order of $3.81 including exchange, clearing and regulatory fees.

12:21 EDT Mercedes-Benz USA reports October sales up 1.0% to 28,995 units - Mercedes-Benz USA reported October sales of 28,955 units, an increase of 1.0% from the 28,659 vehicles sold during the same period last year. Mercedes-Benz Vans reported October sales with 2,446 units and smart reported 140 units, bringing the MBUSA grand total to 31,541 vehicles for the month. On a year-to-date basis, Mercedes-Benz retails totaled 271,205 units.

11:36 EDT Devon Energy: 'Our industry in general has not delivered acceptable returns'

11:20 EDT Cantel Medical increases semiannual cash dividend to 8.5c from 7c - Cantel Medical announced that its board approved an increase in its semiannual cash dividend from 7c to 8.5c per outstanding share of the company's common stock. The dividend is payable on January 31, 2018 to shareholders of record at the close of business on January 17.

11:10 EDT Devon Energy says sees potential to monetize less competitive assets - Sees potential to monetize several billion dollars of less competitive assets in a "measured" fashion over the next few years. Says 2018 capital plans are intended to optimize returns not production growth. Comments taken from the Q3 earnings conference call. Devon is up 4.75% to $38.65 in late morning trading.

11:05 EDT Trump says Congress should consider repealing ObamaCare's individual mandate - President Donald Trump just tweeted, "Wouldn't it be great to Repeal the very unfair and unpopular Individual Mandate in ObamaCare and use those savings for further Tax Cuts.... .....for the Middle Class. The House and Senate should consider ASAP as the process of final approval moves along. Push Biggest Tax Cuts EVER." Publicly traded companies in the healthcare insurance space include Aetna (AET), Anthem (ANTM), Centene (CNC), Cigna (CI), Health Net (HNT), Humana (HUM), Molina Healthcare (MOH), UnitedHealth (UNH) and WellCare (WCG).

10:52 EDT JPMorgan says buy American, sell United in airline ratings shake-up - In a research note to investors, JPMorgan analyst Jamie Baker upgraded American Airlines (AAL) to Overweight, while cutting United Continental (UAL) and Spirit Airlines (SAVE) to Underweight, and Alaska Air (ALK) and JetBlue (JBLU) to Neutral following quarterly results from the group. BUY AMERICAN AIRLINES: JPMorgan's Baker upgraded American Airlines to Overweight from Neutral and raised his price target on the shares to $65 from $53, citing a newfound momentum, peer-leading valuation and expected Revenue Per Available Seat Mile, or RASM, outperformance. The analyst told investors that the company is in the midst of several revenue-accretive initiatives including an expansion of Basic Economy and higher paid load factors in the domestic premium cabin. Baker believes these initiatives will drive higher returns and stronger unit revenue, with guidance for the fourth quarter suggesting that American is benefiting from prudent revenue management and making early progress on its goals. Following what he views as an overdone correction in the shares after third quarter earnings, the analyst said he views the risk-to-reward in the stock as attractive and recommends investors take advantage of any continued weakness in the share price. SELL UNITED, SPIRIT: Meanwhile, JPMorgan's Baker downgraded United Continental to Underweight from Neutral and lowered his price target on the shares to $60 from $68, noting that its turnaround appears grounded, and investor patience is wearing thin despite RASM guidance that mostly emerged at the better end of expectations. The analyst told investors that he is "increasingly concerned" about the lack of revenue vigor that United has displayed in light of stepped-up competition. Additionally, Baker viewed the company's third quarter earnings call as "uniquely weak" since management was not able to respond to basic investor inquiries as to why its turnaround initiatives are not being reflected in its financial results. The analyst added that he no longer views United's plans to close the margin gap with Delta (DAL) as credible in their current iteration, and management would need to articulate a clearer and more achievable set of goals with measurable benchmarks for success before he would get comfortable with the risk-to-reward on the shares. Baker also downgraded Spirit Airlines to Underweight from Neutral, while raising his price target on the shares to $39 from $37. The analyst argued that he views the stock's risk/reward as unfavorable relative to peers, while the company's lack of willingness to fine tune its strategy in light of its competitor responses gives him reason for caution. MOVING TO THE SIDELINES: Additionally, JPMorgan's Baker downgraded Alaska Air to Neutral from Overweight and cut his price target on the shares to $74 from $107. The analyst pointed out that he believes a "series of execution missteps" makes for a less attractive profile relative to peers. Another name that saw a rating change was JetBlue, with Baker downgrading the stock to Neutral from Overweight and lowering his price target on the shares to $22 from $29 as investor focus on cost discipline and margins has him more cautious on JetBlue than previously. Any combination of an unfavorable pilot contract outcome, a decision to enter the Transatlantic market, or a reduction in aggregate demand could jeopardize the company's ex-fuel cost target for 2018-2020, the analyst contended. PRICE ACTION: In morning trading, shares of American have gained about 2% to $47.79, while United's stock is fractionally down to $58.3 and Spirit is down 0.6% to $36.88.

10:47 EDT FMC Corporation announces completion of transactions with DowDuPont - FMC Corporation (FMC) announced it has successfully completed the closing of its two pending transactions with DuPont. The companies signed a definitive agreement on March 31 and have now satisfied all necessary conditions and approvals. FMC has acquired the portion of DuPont's Crop Protection business it had to divest to comply with the European Commission ruling related to its merger with The Dow Chemical Company, which was completed on August 31, 2017, to form DowDuPont (DWDP). Additionally, FMC has completed the sale of FMC Health and Nutrition to DuPont. FMC noted it will provide a first look at the combined company and the integration of this acquisition next week, as part of its third quarter earnings conference call on Tuesday, November 7.

10:29 EDT Honda reports October U.S. sales up 0.9% to 127,353 vehicles - American Honda Motor reported October sales of 127,353 Honda and Acura vehicles, an increase of 0.9% vs. October 2016. Honda Division, with strong sales of passenger cars, reported an increase of 1.2% on sales of 114,655. Acura Division sales were down 1.3% on sales of 12,698 vehicles.

10:20 EDT Ford says expects 'trench warfare' in truck market

10:09 EDT Ford sees economic growth continuing into Q4

10:05 EDT Ford sees total October industry SAAR in 18M vehicle range - Says overall industry down about 3% in October 2017 compared to October 2016. Sees total industry sales of 1.35M vehicles in October, with overall industry SAAR right around 18M vehicles "give or take." Says industry incentive spend up $70 y/y, down about $190 vs. September. Sees increase in fleet sales y/y in November. Comments taken from Ford's October U.S. sales conference call. Ford is up 1.43% to $12.44 in morning trading.

09:54 EDT MiMedx announces lawsuit settlement with Halo Wound Solutions - MiMedx announced that the company has agreed to a confidential settlement of the lawsuit the company filed against BioResolutions LLC d/b/a Halo Wound Solutions and one of the Halo executives. In addition to an undisclosed monetary settlement, other settlement terms were reached. Certain of these additional settlement terms include: for a period of two years Halo will not sell amniotic tissue products, human tissue/skin substitute products to MiMedx' existing customers; and for a two-year period, Halo will not solicit MiMedx employees to work for Halo in any fashion or to leave MiMedx's employment.

09:48 EDT Hill International awarded $4.4M contract from European Investment Bank - Hill International announced that it has received a contract from the European Investment Bank, financed under the European Union's Neighbourhood Investment Facility, to provide project management and technical assistance support services for the Cairo Metro - Line 3 project. The six-year contract has an estimated value to Hill of approximately $4.4M.

09:43 EDT Bioverativ to present new data on rare blood disorder programs at ASH 2017 - Bioverativ announced that it will present data showcasing its work to advance therapies for people affected by hemophilia, cold agglutinin disease, sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemia at the 59th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology, December 9 -12 in Atlanta, Georgia. Highlights at ASH will include an oral presentation of Phase 1/1b safety and efficacy data on BIVV009, an investigational first-in-class, monoclonal antibody developed to treat cold agglutinin disease. Cold agglutinin disease is a poorly understood chronic, autoimmune hemolytic anemia with no approved therapies. The company will also share new research that will help characterize the burden of CAgD and the risk of thromboembolic events, and increase the understanding of morbidity and mortality associated with this rare blood disorder. Bioverativ plans to start two Phase 3 clinical trials of BIVV009 in CAgD by the end of the year. The company will also have several presentations on its hemophilia therapies, including preclinical findings from a first-of-its-kind study using radiolabeled imaging to understand the impact of extravascular distribution of factor IX therapies on joint health. Data supporting extended prophylactic dosing intervals with ELOCTATE, Fc Fusion Protein] for hemophilia A and ALPROLIX for hemophilia B will also be discussed in two joint poster presentations with Sobi.

09:33 EDT GM says on track to end 2017 with 'significantly' lower inventory than end-2016 - GM said it reduced month-end inventory from September and is on track to close 2017 with "significantly fewer vehicles in stock than in December 2016." Daily rental sales in 2017 are expected to be down about 50,000 units year over year, GM added.

09:31 EDT TransCanada launches binding Open Season for Marketlink - TransCanada launched an Open Season to solicit binding commitments from interested parties for transportation of crude oil on Marketlink from Cushing, Oklahoma to markets on the U.S. Gulf Coast. Interested parties may submit binding bids for transportation capacity during the Open Season that will close at 12 p.m. MST on November 28, 2017.

09:30 EDT Nissan's October U.S. sales increased 8.4%, Bloomberg reports

09:27 EDT Alexion to present ALXN1210 Phase 1/2 study data at ASH meeting - Alexion Pharmaceuticals announced that researchers will present new data from two Phase 1/2 clinical studies of ALXN1210, the company's investigational long-acting complement inhibitor, in patients with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria. PNH is a chronic, progressive, debilitating and potentially life-threatening ultra-rare blood disorder characterized by complement-mediated hemolysis. Researchers will also present data from the International PNH Registry, including efficacy and safety outcomes for Soliris treatment for patients with PNH. These data will be presented at the 59th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting & Exposition, to be held December 9-12, 2017, in Atlanta.

09:23 EDT Novartis presenting data for several blood disorders at ASH Meeting - Novartis will present new data from across its hematology portfolio at the upcoming 59th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting & Exposition, Atlanta, December 9-12. More than 75 abstracts will be presented on Novartis' development program for serious blood diseases, including primary results of pivotal Kymriah Phase II JULIET study in relapsed/refractory DLBCL. Kymriah suspension for intravenous infusion is a T cell immunotherapy, indicated for the treatment of patients up to 25 years of age with B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia that is refractory or in second or later relapse. Additional results evaluating Kymriah in pediatric ALL and in relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma will be presented. Data for Kymriah include results from the primary analysis of the JULIET study in adult patients with relapsed or refractory DLBCL, demonstrating sustained complete response rates based on extended follow up, and efficacy and safety findings from additional treated patients compared to a previously presented interim analysis. Additionally, results of a cost-effectiveness analysis of Kymriah for the treatment of relapsed or refractory ALL in the U.S. will be presented in an oral presentation. Other presentations include: post-hoc sub-analysis of crizanlizumab - SEG101, formerly SelG1 - SUSTAIN trial evaluating time to first sickle cell pain crisis; outcomes from matched analysis of Molecular Recurrence-free Survival from EURO-SKI and ENESTfreedom trials following Tasigna vs. imatinib in patients with CML-CP eligible for Treatment-free Remission; and additional data on Rydapt, Revolade/Promacta, Exjade/Jadenu and Jakavi.

09:22 EDT GlycoMimetics says GMI-1271 data shows improved clinical outcomes in AML - GlycoMimetics announced that data related to its lead clinical candidate, GMI-1271, will be highlighted in two oral presentations at the 59th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Expo. The ASH meeting will take place in Atlanta, GA, December 9-12. The oral presentations at the ASH meeting will include results of a Phase 1/2 clinical study of GMI-1271, the company's E-selectin antagonist, and a preclinical study demonstrating one mechanism by which E-selectin mediates resistance to chemotherapy. The clinical data will show that the drug candidate improved clinical outcomes in relapsed/refractory as well as newly diagnosed AML patients. The preclinical data point to E-selectin dependent upregulation of tumor survival pathways, which are inhibited by GMI-1271. Specifically, the abstract reports that among all relapsed/refractory AML patients treated at the recommended Phase 2 dose, the remission rate was 41% and overall response rate was 50%. In the newly diagnosed AML population, the remission rate was 68% and ORR was 80%. For both relapsed/refractory and newly diagnosed patients treated in the Phase 2 portion of the trial, the abstract reports that median overall survival and disease-free survival had not been reached. Updated duration of remission and survival data for both populations will be presented at the ASH meeting.

09:18 EDT Kitov Pharmaceuticals receives favorable FDA response to NT219's pre-IND package - Kitov Pharmaceuticals has received the FDA's response to the NT219's pre-IND meeting package. FDA has agreed to the proposed Chemistry Manufacturing and Controls, preclinical, and clinical development plans for NT219. For the clinical development plan, the FDA agreed with TyrNovo's proposed development plan to test NT219 in combination with gemcitabine for the treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer. The FDA further agreed that the initial clinical trial with NT219 will be a Phase I/II clinical trial, and that "the overall design of proposed first-in-human trial appears reasonable". The FDA further agreed that one-month animal toxicology studies for NT219 would be sufficient to support the IND and that no toxicology studies of NT219 together with gemcitabine would be necessary. The company now expects an IND submission during the first half of 2019.

09:16 EDT Ford reports October U.S. sales up 6.2% to 200,436 vehicles - Retail performance was up 3.5% versus a year ago, on sales of 148,105 vehicles. Fleet sales, as expected, increased 14.6% due to order timing, with 52,331 vehicles sold.

09:13 EDT On The Fly: Pre-market Movers - UP AFTER EARNINGS: Sodastream (SODA), up 4.3%... Clorox (CLX), up just under 1%... Thomson Reuters (TRI), up marginally... Amarin (AMRN), up 5.6%... Allergan (AGN), up 1.5%... Estee Lauder (EL), up 7%... Garmin (GRMN), up 4.7%... U.S. Steel (X), up 8.9... Devon Energy (DVN), up 2.3%. DOWN AFTER EARNINGS: Zimmer Biomet (ZBH), down 7.9%... Electronic Arts (EA), down 1.8%... Check Point (CHKP), down 9.2%... Nova Measuring (NVMI), down 6.6%.

09:11 EDT Nutanix sees 71% CAGR in customer purchases in SLED vertical - Nutanix announced that from the start of its fiscal year 2015, which began on August 1, 2014, to the end of its fiscal year 2017, which ended on July 31, 2017, the company saw a 71% CAGR in total purchase counts made by state, local and education customers. Nutanix's SLED customers, which include notable entities such as the City of Plano, the City of Redmond, Clark County Nevada, Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, Texas A&M University System, and Western Washington University, have selected its enterprise cloud software because of its wide range of workloads, and ability to simplify and scale datacenter operations, deliver significant cost savings and support hybrid cloud strategies. In addition, SLED customers have been drawn to Nutanix because it provides them with the freedom to choose hardware, hypervisor and cloud. However, even with the array of hypervisor options, many SLED customers have opted to use AHV, the Nutanix hypervisor. In the past fiscal year, Nutanix has seen rapid adoption of AHV for its ability to simplify datacenter operations and lower operating costs. Customers that deploy AHV as their primary hypervisor have eliminated third-party virtualization licensing costs given that Nutanix incorporates AHV seamlessly into its infrastructure stack so customers no longer have to purchase a standalone, additional product from a third-party provider. Given that the benefits of AHV directly correspond with the needs of SLED IT teams, adoption of Nutanix AHV has grown by 214% since the end of fiscal year 2016 to the end of fiscal year 2017 in the SLED market.

09:09 EDT Kadmon to present data from ongoing KD025 study at ASH 2017 meeting - Kadmon Holdings announced that it will present updated clinical data from an ongoing Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating KD025, its Rho-associated coiled-coil kinase 2 inhibitor, in patients with chronic graft-versus-host disease. The data will be presented as a poster at the 59th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting in Atlanta, December 9-12, 2017. Details of the poster presentation are as follows: Title: Initial Results of KD025-208: A Phase 2a Open Label Trial of KD025 for Steroid-Dependent Chronic Graft Versus Host Disease Session: 722. Clinical Allogeneic Transplantation: Acute and Chronic GVHD, Immune Reconstitution: Poster II. KD025-208 is an ongoing Phase 2 clinical trial of KD025 for the treatment of cGVHD, a serious complication following allogeneic bone marrow or stem cell transplantation. The trial is being conducted in adults with steroid-dependent or steroid-refractory cGVHD and active disease. The dose-finding study includes 48 patients divided into three cohorts at different dose levels, enrolled sequentially following a safety assessment of each cohort. As previously reported, in a preliminary analysis of data from the lowest-dose cohort, KD025 200 mg QD demonstrated clinically meaningful responses, with no drug-related serious adverse events recorded. In October 2017, KD025 received orphan drug designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for cGVHD.

09:09 EDT Jaguar Health's Napo Pharmaceuticals launches new website for Mytesi - Jaguar Health said that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Napo Pharmaceuticals, has launched a significantly enhanced version of Mytesi.com, the website for Mytesi, Napo's first-in-class anti-secretory human prescription drug. The new Mytesi.com website is designed to provide both people living with HIV or AIDS, and clinicians and other healthcare professionals with information about HIV-related diarrhea and Mytesi. For PLWHA, the site provides product information in consumer-friendly language, tools to help them facilitate a conversation about HIV-related diarrhea with their physician-including a symptom checklist and a diarrhea symptom questionnaire that can be printed and provided to the doctor-and information about the Mytesi Copay Savings Card.

09:07 EDT Volt Information Sciences receives $5M in net cash from NewNet settlement - Volt Information Sciences announced it has entered into a settlement agreement with NewNet Communication Technologies, LLC and the Company's affiliate Volt Delta Resource Holdings.The settlement related to the Company's December 2014 sale of its Computer Systems segment, Volt Delta, to NewNet, a transaction which generated proceeds of $10.0 million in the form of an interest-bearing note maturing on December 1, 2018. The December 2014 transaction also included a working capital adjustment and certain indemnity claims which remained outstanding prior to October 27, 2017. Under the agreement, NewNet agreed to pay off the Note more than a year early for $7.5 million. Volt agreed to settle the outstanding working capital adjustment, receivables under the transition services agreement, and other indemnity claims for $1.5 million. The net result is the Company received cash from NewNet of $5 million on October 27, 2017, as well as a $1 million promissory note maturing no later than January 31, 2018. The Company and NewNet agreed to a mutual release, relieving all parties of their obligations and settling minor indemnity claims.

09:06 EDT Exxon Mobil, Renewable Energy agree to extend research program based on findings - ExxonMobil (XOM) and Renewable Energy Group (REGI) announced that by utilizing REG's patented fermentation technology, the companies' joint research program has demonstrated the ability to convert sugars from a variety of non-edible biomass sources into biodiesel. During their initial research, the companies successfully validated the feasibility of the REG Life Sciences fermentation technology across multiple cellulosic sugar compositions produced with a variety of methods from various non-edible biomass sources. The research also confirmed REG Life Sciences technology is capable of achieving substantial reductions of full-lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions compared to traditional diesel fuel. ExxonMobil signed an agreement with REG in January 2016 to study the production of biodiesel through fermentation of renewable cellulosic sugars from sources such as agricultural waste. The companies have agreed to extend the research program based on their positive findings and are excited to continue to jointly explore the technology's potential for scalability.

09:05 EDT Weatherford says targeting break even cash flow in 2018

09:04 EDT Select Comfort changes name to Sleep Number - Select Comfort Corporation announces that effective today it changed its name to Sleep Number Corporation with NASDAQ ticker symbol SNBR. "The alignment of our corporate name with our renowned consumer brand is an important progression in our company's continued evolution as the sleep innovation leader," said Shelly Ibach, president and CEO of Sleep Number. "With our smart, effortless sleep technology, we are improving our customers' well-being by redefining quality sleep."

09:03 EDT Fiat Chrysler reports October U.S. sales down 13% to 153,373 units - FCA US reported sales of 153,373 units, a 13% decrease compared with sales in October 2016. In October, retail sales of 130,153 units were down 4% compared with the same month in 2016 and represented 85% of total sales. In line with FCA's strategy to reduce sales to the daily rental segment, fleet sales of 23,220 units were down, as expected, 43% year over year.

09:03 EDT Fair Isaac approves $250M stock repurchase program - Fair Isaac has approved a stock repurchase program to acquire up to $250M of the company's outstanding common stock. This new program was approved following completion of FICO's previous stock repurchase program finished in October.

09:02 EDT Allergan: Splitting company would be 'at least a few years of work'

09:01 EDT Amazon opens Black Friday Deals Store - Amazon announced the opening of its Black Friday Deals Store, "officially marking the start of the holiday shopping season. The Black Friday Deals Store offers deals across every category now through Black Friday. Customers can find deals on everything from toys and electronics to holiday entertaining essentials and wardrobe must haves - all in one convenient location. Today, customers can save up to 30% on favorite toys including Baby Alive Sweet Tears, Dropmix, Tickle Me Elmo and more. This holiday season, customers can also expect great deals on premium TVs from brands like LG, Samsung and Sony, as well as popular toys from LEGO, Melissa & Doug, Nerf, Paw Patrol, Star Wars and more."

08:59 EDT Weatherford says expects oil prices to be 'range-bound' near term - Expects commodity prices to improve long-term.

08:57 EDT Allergan confirms will begin Teva share sale in 'next several days' - Allergan (AGN) expects to complete the selling of Teva (TEVA) shares in 2018.

08:53 EDT Ackman says Herbalife short represents 3% of capital - Bill Ackman of Pershing Square is speaking on CNBC.

08:51 EDT Weatherford sees $1B in profit improvement from reorganization - Sees improvement over next 18 months.

08:50 EDT Ackman says ADP's core enterprise product is not competitive - Pershing Square's Bill Ackman is speaking on CNBC.

08:47 EDT Patrick Industries completes acquisition of Indiana Transport, - Patrick Industries has completed the acquisition of the business and certain assets of Elkhart, Indiana-based Indiana Transport, a transportation and logistics service provider primarily to original equipment manufacturers and dealers in the recreational vehicle market. The company projects Indiana Transport's full-year 2017 revenues to be approximately $100M and expects the acquisition to be immediately accretive to 2017 EPS. Indiana Transport utilizes independently contracted drivers to haul travel trailers, fifth wheels, gooseneck trailers and utility trailers from RV OEM plants to dealer lots across the country. The acquisition was funded under the company's existing credit facility. Patrick will continue to operate the business on a stand-alone basis under the Indiana Transport brand name in its existing facilities.

08:45 EDT Adamas Pharmaceuticals up 6.6% to $26.28 after Kerrisdale reveals stake

08:44 EDT Kerrisdale Partners reports 6.5% stake in Adamas Pharmaceuticals - In a tweet last night, ahead of this morning's regulatory filing revealing a 6.5% stake in Adamas Pharmaceuticals, Kerrisdale Capital said: "We've bought 7% of a heavily shorted biotech that's worth 4x+ higher than current trading levels. Releasing report tomorrow." Reference Link

08:43 EDT Commvault's Data Platform selected by Iowa Judicial Branch for data management - Commvault's Data Platform has been deployed by the Iowa Judicial Branch to drive widespread adoption of data-driven electronic filings of court, case and evidentiary materials. The Iowa Judicial Branch is also examining how it can use Commvault archiving and analytics to improve management of and secure insights on online file submissions, emails and other data.

08:41 EDT LTI Trucking Services selects ORBCOMM for cold chain monitoring solution - ORBCOMM announced that LTI Trucking Services, a nationwide truckload carrier and full-service logistics company based in St. Louis, MO, has selected ORBCOMM to provide its industry-leading cold chain telematics solution to track, monitor and control its fleet of refrigerated trailers. ORBCOMM will provide cellular connectivity, state-of-the-art hardware, wireless fuel and door sensors, along with a web-based reporting platform for optimal fleet management. LTI will use ORBCOMM's cold chain telematics solution to provide comprehensive temperature, fuel management and maintenance data for its refrigerated trailer fleet transporting perishable food, beverage and confectionary products. Leveraging ORBCOMM's solution, LTI will fully integrate the data with its proprietary back-office platform to optimize asset utilization and compliance with the FDA's Food Safety Modernization Act. ORBCOMM's advanced solution also integrates closely with McLeod LoadMaster transportation management platform. The Loadmaster two-way interface enables LTI to capture near real-time trailer data, including operational condition and GPS position, through one comprehensive system.

08:40 EDT Bill Ackman says no plans to fire lots of ADP workers - Pershing Square's Bill Ackman is speaking on CNBC.

08:39 EDT Skyline Medical enters into strategic collaboration with Helomics - Skyline Medical and Helomics Corporation announced a strategic collaboration to use the Helomics D-CHIP platform to develop new approaches for personalized cancer diagnosis and care. Helomics has amassed large quantities of data on patients with cancer as part of its ChemoFx precision cancer diagnostic. This rich "big-data" repository contains the drug response profiles of over 149,000 patient tumors and their molecular, genomic, biochemical and histopathology data coupled to de-identified patient demographics. D-CHIP uses a proprietary AI-powered bioinformatics engine to uncover actionable insights from this data to aid disease diagnosis, develop new diagnostics and therapies, perform better clinical trials and inform drug repurposing programs. Furthermore, as one of the only diagnostic companies to be part of the UK's 100,000 Genome Project GENE consortium, Helomics has been working closely together with other Pharma companies, researchers and the UK NHS, providing a unique perspective on how best to use patient whole genome sequence data to look for new diagnostic biomarkers for cancer.

08:38 EDT New York Times sees FY CapEx $90M-$95M - The company expects the following on a pre-tax basis in 2017: Depreciation and amortization: $60 million to $65 million, Interest expense, net: $18 million to $20 million, and Capital expenditures: $90 million to $95 million.

08:37 EDT New York Times sees Q4 total subscription revenue up in high teens vs. last year - Total subscription revenues in the fourth quarter of 2017 are expected to increase in the high-teens compared to the fourth quarter of 2016. Total advertising revenues in the fourth quarter of 2017 are expected to decrease in the high single-digits compared with the fourth quarter of 2016. Operating costs and adjusted operating costs are expected to increase in the high-single digits in the fourth quarter of 2017 compared with the fourth quarter of 2016.

08:35 EDT Kamada reports AAT Phase 2 trial top-line results - Kamada announced top-line results from the company's Phase 2 trial of Alpha-1 Antitrypsin, or AAT, in newly diagnosed type-1 diabetes, or T1D, patients. The study included 70 patients ranging from 8 to 25 years old. While in the overall study population no significant treatment effect was observed, in the pre-determined subgroup of patients between the ages of 12 and 18 years old, a trend toward better efficacy was demonstrated in the high dose arm of AAT represented in terms of beta-cell function preservation, lower average of total daily insulin usage and a better glycemic control measured by lower average HbA1c. "Given this study was not powered to show efficacy, the results are very encouraging," said Peter Gottlieb, M.D., Professor of Pediatric and Medicine, Barbara Davis Center for Diabetes, University of Colorado School of Medicine and a leading member in TrialNet, an NIH-sponsored network of institutions and researchers dedicated to the prevention of type-1 diabetes. "These findings suggest that administration of AAT could be an effective treatment option for newly diagnosed T1D patients who are 12-18 years old. The results of this subgroup are intriguing and warrant further studies in a larger population. Subgroup segmentation by age is common in this complicated disease, and the fact that we see the same positive trend in this age group for all three measures - C-peptide, daily insulin requirement and HbA1C - suggest that the results are consistent and could be promising."

08:33 EDT Groupon names Steve Krenzer as COO, effective immediately - Groupon today announced that Steve Krenzer will join the company as COO, effective immediately. Krenzer was most recently the CEO of Core Digital Media, a leading online direct-response advertising company and one of the Internet's largest display advertising providers. At Groupon, Krenzer will have ultimate oversight for the company's North America and International segments, as well as Global Marketing and Global Operations.

08:32 EDT Groupon raises FY adjusted EBITDA view to $225M-$245M from $215M-$240M - Groupon is updating its outlook for 2017, which reflects current foreign exchange rates, as well as expected marketing investments and cost benefits associated with our streamlining initiatives. The basis for our full year 2017 guidance is continuing operations. For the full year 2017, Groupon is raising its expected gross profit guidance range to $1.305 billion to $1.355 billion. Groupon is raising its expected Adjusted EBITDA guidance range to $225 million to $245 million in 2017.

08:21 EDT MagneGas 'significantly' expands relationships with largest distributors - MagneGas announced that its three largest MagneGas distributors have all agreed to significant increases in MagneGas2 purchases due to increased end market demand. As part of the agreement, the distributors have agreed to minimum purchases to maintain areas of preferential treatment, which, based on current projections, would represent a minimum three-fold increase in sales from these distributors beginning in the fourth quarter of 2017.

08:20 EDT Silicom's networking card selected by Fintech company - Silicom has been awarded a design win from a leading Fintech player for its Field Programmable Gate Array-based networking card. The customer plans to use the Silicom solution in all of its deployments moving forward, with resulting revenues expected to ramp up to approximately $1M per year. The Design Win is for Silicom's highest-end FPGA-based card to date.

08:12 EDT Electronics for Imaging, Xeikon enter into strategic partnership - Electronics For Imaging and Xeikon, a division of Flint Group, announced they have entered into an exclusive partnership for the EFI Jetrion digital label and narrow web inkjet printing systems. Under the partnership, Xeikon will service, support and supply the worldwide Jetrion customer base, and continue the direct sales of Jetrion digital label printing systems as part of the Xeikon portfolio of digital dry toner and UV inkjet presses for the self-adhesive label market.

08:09 EDT Charles River presents neuroscience drug research at Neuroscience 2017 - Charles River Laboratories International announced that its team of neuroscience drug discovery experts is presenting 27 scientific posters, both independently and collaboratively with clients, at Neuroscience 2017, the 47th annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience. Throughout the conference, Charles River experts will be presenting posters and hosting discussions on the latest innovations in neuroscience research, including innovative tools and applications for research on drugs targeting Huntington's, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Multiple Sclerosis, and other neurological disorders. Noteworthy posters include: Assay development and validation of a high content-based high-throughput assay to measure alpha-synuclein aggregation in dopaminergic human neurons differentiated in vitro. This study, with the Michael J. Fox Foundation, describes an assay that can be used to test drugs for Parkinson's disease. Results of a phenotypic HTS to identify small molecule modulators of mutant HTT levels in hES cells as HD therapies. This study, presented in conjunction with CHDI Foundation, used stem cells with the Huntington's disease mutation to create a high-throughput screen for compounds that decrease levels of the mutant protein that causes the disease. Deficits in Touchscreen-based Operant Tasks and Fear Conditioning Memory in the Cuprizone Model of Multiple Sclerosis. Leveraging touchscreen technology, this study tested cognitive function and memory in mice with an MS-like condition. During the conference, Charles River will host short discussion sessions in Booth #1115, covering topics including profiling ion channels, PET imaging in neuroinflammation, and the use of CRISPR in neuroscience drug discovery. In August, Charles River announced the acquisition of Brains On-Line, a neuroscience-focused provider of microdialysis and in vivo efficacy and pharmacokinetics testing. Together, Brains On-Line and Charles River are a premier early-stage research and development partner for neuroscience drug discovery. During Neuroscience 2017, visit the Brains On-Line, a Charles River Company, Booth for select poster reprints and to speak to experts in neuroscience research.

08:06 EDT Heska signs 7-Year agreement with PetVetCare centers - Heska announced an agreement to supply over 100 PetVetCare Centers veterinary hospitals with in-house laboratory diagnostic equipment and supplies through 2024, which may be extended by the Parties. Heska's in-house blood diagnostics analyzers will be placed into PetVetCare's general, specialty referral, and emergency hospitals throughout the United States. PetVetCare currently represents roughly 0.5% of full-service veterinary hospitals in the U.S.

08:05 EDT Duff & Phelps to be acquired by the Permira funds for $1.75B - Duff & Phelps, a global valuation and corporate finance advisor, and Permira, the global private equity firm, announced that a company backed by the Permira funds has agreed to acquire Duff & Phelps for $1.75B. Selling equity holders include The Carlyle Group, Neuberger Berman, the University of California's Office of the Chief Investment Officer of the Regents and Pictet & Cie. As part of the transaction, the Duff & Phelps management team will maintain a significant equity stake in the firm and will continue to lead the company in their current roles. The transaction is subject to customary conditions and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2018.

08:03 EDT Baxter launches PD-first program for employees and families - Baxter International In announced a new PD-first program for its employees and family members aimed at improving education and awareness of dialysis treatment options, including peritoneal dialysis. Working with its health plan administrator, Baxter will offer the PD-first program to its U.S. employees and their covered family members starting January 1, 2018. Employees and covered family members who are receiving chronic kidney disease care will have access to case management support and education materials that provide information on available dialysis options. Following their treatment decision, a Baxter employee or family member who requires dialysis and chooses PD will be eligible to receive a monthly self-care payment, given the active role the patient and/or family member must take in administering home dialysis care.

08:02 EDT Repligen's OPUS Pre-Packed Columns selected by Purolite - Repligen's OPUS technology has been selected by Purolite Life Sciences, a provider of agarose chromatography resins, to provide its customers with an end-to-end solution for the downstream purification of biologic drugs, specifically monoclonal antibody-based biologics. Under the terms of the agreement, Purolite will promote the full range of Repligen's GMP-ready OPUS pre-packed columns to customers.

08:01 EDT American Express, Hilton announce new Hilton Honors co-branded credit cards - American Express (AXP) and Hilton (HLT) announced the details of the upgraded American Express Hilton Honors co-branded credit card portfolio, which features four new Cards designed to give consumers and small businesses more choice, more benefits and more value. As previously announced, American Express will become the exclusive issuer of Hilton Honors credit cards in the United States. Designed for the occasional traveler, the no-annual-fee Hilton Honors American Express Card received an upgrade, including the removal of foreign transaction fees.

07:42 EDT Sensus Healthcare launches SRT-100 in China for keloid prevention - Sensus Healthcare has launched the SRT-100 in China for the treatment and prevention of keloids with Chindex Medical. Sensus also extended its exclusive distribution agreement with Chindex Medical, a joint venture between Fosun Pharma and Chindex International, through 2020. In July, the SRT-100 received clearance from the China FDA for the treatment and prevention of keloids.

07:39 EDT BMO Financial Group names Darryl White as CEO - BMO Financial Group's Board of Directors announced the appointment of Darryl White to the role of CEO. White previously held the role of COO.

07:37 EDT UGI Corporation acquires Rockdale midstream assets in accretive deal - UGI Energy Services LLC, a subsidiary of UGI Corporation, announced the acquisition of midstream assets from Rockdale Marcellus LLC by its wholly owned subsidiary, UGI Texas Creek LLC. UGI Texas Creek acquired 100% of a midstream system located in Tioga, Lycoming and Bradford counties, Pennsylvania. The system is composed of more than 60 miles of natural gas gathering lines, along with dehydration and compression facilities. UGI Texas Creek received a dedication from Rockdale for the 1 Tcf of gas to be produced from the 42,000 acres associated with the midstream system described above. The midstream investment is expected to be immediately EPS accretive and grow to 4c accretive by year three.

07:36 EDT Calpine sees transaction with Energy Capital Partners closing in 1Q18 - On August 17, 2017, we entered into a merger agreement pursuant to which Energy Capital Partners, along with an investor consortium, will acquire Calpine for $15.25 per share in cash, or approximately $5.6 billion. The agreement includes a 45-day "go shop" period that expired on October 2, 2017, without a superior offer having been identified. The transaction is subject to approval by stockholders representing a majority of outstanding shares of common stock of Calpine. In addition, the transaction is subject to various regulatory proceedings before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, New York Public Service Commission and Public Utility Commission of Texas. The requisite waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act was terminated on September 27, 2017. We expect the transaction to close in the first quarter of 2018.

07:35 EDT Clean Harbors lowers FY17 adjusted EBITDA view to $420M-$430M - Previously $435M-$475M. "As we enter the final quarter of 2017, we are focused on achieving profitable growth and margin expansion," the company said. "We see favorable trends across much of our business, particularly on the waste disposal side. Therefore, we anticipate Adjusted EBITDA growth in the fourth quarter and entering 2018 with positive momentum." Based on its year-to-date financial performance and current market conditions, Clean Harbors lowered its 2017 Adjusted EBITDA guidance to a range of $420M to $430M. A reconciliation of the company's annual Adjusted EBITDA guidance to net income guidance is included below. On a GAAP basis, the cpmpany's guidance is based on 2017 net income in the range of $11M to $19M. Adjusted net income for 2017, which includes the loss on early extinguishment of debt, the gain on sale of business and the recognition of the non-cash tax benefits in Canada, is in the range of $16M to $19M

07:23 EDT CytoSorbents awarded $1M in Phase II SBIR funding for hyperkalemia research - CytoSorbents announced the award of a Defense Health Agency Phase II Small Business Innovation Research contract managed by the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command to optimize new treatment approaches for severe hyperkalemia that do not require blood purification. This award, valued at a total of $999,871 over 29 months, follows the completion of the previously announced $150K Phase I SBIR for the program. The company is developing new approaches to treat severe hyperkalemia, which can be performed in the field by a trained medic, with limited materials and without electricity, and without the need for blood purification.

07:20 EDT Allergan says has 'strong arguments' for appeal of RESTASIS court decision - Regarding the RESTASIS Federal District Court decision, CEO Saunders added, "We have strong arguments for an appeal and we filed a notice of appeal with the Court. If a generic product enters the market, Allergan is ready to mitigate that impact by growing our base business, reducing costs and deploying our balance sheet. We will also deliver on our capital commitments, including increasing our dividend and paying down debt."

07:18 EDT Weight Watchers names Michael Korcuska Chief Product Officer - Weight Watchers announced that Michael Korcuska has been appointed Chief Product Officer. Korcuska joins Weight Watchers from Greylock Partners where he provided counsel to its portfolio companies as Executive-in-Residence.

07:15 EDT GSK, Innoviva announce 'positive' data in Anoro Ellipta study - GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Innoviva (INVA) announced positive data from a study comparing a once-daily long-acting muscarinic antagonist and a long-acting beta agonist fixed-dose combination, Anoro Ellipta and Stiolto Respimat, for symptomatic patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. These data have been published today in Advances in Therapy and are being presented today at the CHEST annual meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians in Toronto, Canada. The primary endpoint for this eight-week, open-label, cross-over study of 236 patients with COPD was the demonstration of non-inferiority of UMEC/VI compared to TIO/OLO in improving lung function, as measured by trough FEV1 at week eight. This endpoint was met, and furthermore UMEC/VI demonstrated superiority to TIO/OLO, with a difference in treatment effect of 52mL on trough FEV1 at week eight. Both treatments demonstrated a comparable tolerability and safety profile with an overall incidence of on-treatment adverse events of 25% in the UMEC/VI group and 31% in the TIO/OLO group. The most frequently-reported adverse events were upper respiratory tract infections, cough and diarrhoea.

07:13 EDT Halyard Health announces sale of S&IP business to Owens & Minor for $710M - Halyard Health (HYH) announced it has entered into a definitive agreement with Owens & Minor (OMI) to sell its Surgical and Infection Prevention business for $710M. S&IP provides healthcare supplies and solutions that target the prevention of healthcare-associated infections. The purchase price of $710M also includes the Halyard Health brand and the company's current information technology platform. The company has initiated a rebranding process and development of a new information technology platform. Halyard's remaining business is expected to undergo a phased restructuring to address dis-synergies and corporate costs associated with the divestiture. The company expects these dis-synergies to be eliminated through a multi-year transformation. Halyard will provide information technology and other transition services to Owens & Minor for at least one year after closing as they integrate the S&IP business into their ownership. Transition services will also be provided by Owens & Minor to Halyard. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions and is expected to close in first quarter 2018. The company will continue to be headquartered in Alpharetta, Ga.

07:11 EDT Owens & Minor to acquire Halyard Health's S&IP business for $710M - Owens & Minor (OMI) announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the surgical and infection prevention business of Halyard Health (HYH) for approximately $710M in cash. The highly complementary business will increase scale and profitability across Owens & Minor's global business, while also enhancing the company's owned-brand product portfolio and expanding the company's global network into new markets and channels. With the S&IP transaction, Owens & Minor expects to acquire approximately $1B in revenues and approximately $80M of annual EBITDA. Additionally, Owens & Minor expects annual pre-tax synergies to reach approximately $40M by year three post-closing. Owens & Minor intends to finance the transaction with a combination of cash and debt, and has obtained committed financing, subject to customary closing conditions, from BofA Merrill Lynch in connection with the planned acquisition. Owens & Minor expects the transaction to be accretive to non-GAAP diluted earnings per share in 2018, with increasing accretion thereafter. The transaction, which has been approved by the boards of directors of both companies, is expected to close in the first quarter of 2018, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, including Hart-Scott-Rodino.

07:08 EDT RedHill Biopharma submits NDA to FDA for Rizaport - RedHill Biopharma together with IntelGenx announced that they have resubmitted the 505(b)(2) New Drug Application, or NDA, for Rizaport 10mg to the FDA. Following a first NDA submission to the FDA in March 2013, RedHill and IntelGenx received a Complete Response Letter from the FDA. The questions raised by the FDA, which triggered the current resubmission, primarily related to third party chemistry, manufacturing and controls and to the packaging and labeling of the product. The FDA letter raised no questions or deficiencies relating to Rizaport's safety and bio-equivalence data and did not require additional clinical trials. If the Rizaport NDA resubmission is deemed complete and permits a full review by the FDA, a Prescription Drug User Fee Act date is expected to be set by the FDA for the first half of 2018.

07:06 EDT ArQule granted Miransertib rare pediatric disease designation by FDA - ArQule, Inc announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Rare Pediatric Disease Designation to miransertib, or ARQ 092, for the treatment of Proteus syndrome. Under the FDA's rare pediatric disease priority review voucher program, the sponsor may be eligible for a voucher that can be used to obtain priority review for a subsequent human drug application if it meets relevant statutory requirements associated with the program, including FDA approval of the drug in this indication. The FDA previously granted Orphan Drug Designation to miransertib for the treatment of Proteus syndrome, a rare disease characterized by overgrowth of the skeleton, skin, adipose tissue and central nervous system. Miransertib is an orally available, selective pan-AKT inhibitor. ArQule is enrolling a phase 1/2 trial for Overgrowth Diseases, including Proteus syndrome and PROS, driven by either the AKT or PI3K mutation. The phase 1 portion of the trial is enrolling six patients in a dose escalation cohort. An additional 10 patients will be enrolled in an expansion cohort as part of the phase 2 portion of the trial. In parallel with the company sponsored phase 1/2 trial, ArQule will continue to provide miransertib on a named patient basis to those patients unable to travel to a clinical trial site due to severe disease.

06:56 EDT Lannett comments on amended civil complaint - Lannett responded to the allegations in the amended civil complaint by a number of states' attorneys general pending in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against a number of sellers of generic pharmaceuticals involving a number of products. Lannett has reviewed the complaint and believes the price fixing allegations regarding the single product named in the complaint that Lannett sells are meritless. The company intends to vigorously defend the claims in the lawsuit.

06:54 EDT Estee Lauder CEO: 'We benefitted from a continued acceleration in China' - Fabrizio Freda, President and CEO, said, "We delivered an outstanding financial performance in our fiscal 2018 first quarter, demonstrating the power of our diverse brand portfolio to leverage our multiple engines of growth. Building on the global momentum of the last fiscal year, we benefitted from a continued acceleration in China, Hong Kong, travel retail and global online, strength in several developed and emerging markets in Europe, and incremental sales from Too Faced and BECCA. Our online and travel retail channels and most luxury and mid-sized brands posted double-digit sales gains. In addition, we saw encouraging signs of improvement in some U.S. prestige department stores, and our targeted expansion into more specialty-multi doors to reach new consumers continued to help us gain share. Sales growth in the Estee Lauder brand continued to accelerate, generating double-digit gains in the quarter. Our earnings per share reflected the strong sales gains combined with our success in leveraging those sales through cost saving initiatives, efficiencies and continued financial discipline. For the full fiscal year, our forecast reflects strong programs supported by focused advertising and marketing spending and sustained investments to further build capabilities for the long term. With this strong start to fiscal 2018 and our confidence in the potential for our business, we are raising our full-year constant currency sales growth forecast to between 8% and 9% and increasing our constant currency earnings per share growth estimate, before restructuring charges, to 12% to 14%."

06:52 EDT Macau reports October casino revenue up 22.1% to 26.63B patacas - Macau's gaming bureau reported October gross revenue from games of fortune in the region rose 22.1% year over year to 26.63B patacas. Publicly traded companies in the Macau gaming space include Las Vegas Sands (LVS), MGM Resorts (MGM), Wynn Resorts (WYNN) and Melco Resorts (MLCO).

06:37 EDT Magellan Health raises FY17 cash flow from operations view to $210M-$230M - Prior view was $150M-$182M.

06:19 EDT Pershing Square's Bill Ackman sends letter to ADP's board - Bill Ackman of Pershing Square sent a letter to ADP's board which stated in part, "I recognize that we are in the midst of a proxy contest and that the election is less than a week away. I also understand that the full board does not review press releases before they go out so I haven't taken any of your press releases personally. That said, it is important that we get along for the benefit of all of ADP's stakeholders, and that we keep this contest focused on the substantive issues at hand. We intend to be a major shareholder of ADP for a long time. As such, we care about the company's reputation and its credibility. When the company issued a press release yesterday in response to our letter to ISS (which can be found here), it unfortunately continued to make various misleading and unsupportable statements that could prove damaging to the company's credibility and reputation. Many assertions in ADP's press release were unrelated and/or nonresponsive to the issues we raised in our letter to ISS, or inaccurate as we detail below. Sophisticated institutions who follow ADP have the time and resources to analyze these issues, and as a result, they are not likely to be misled by ADP's press release. Small investors, however, who do not closely follow the company, are more likely to be misled by the company's statements. This is unfortunate." Reference Link

06:04 EDT American Midstream Partners to acquire Southcross Energy Partners - American Midstream Partners announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire certain assets of Southcross Holdings, and has proposed to merge Southcross Energy Partners into a wholly owned subsidiary of AMID in two separate transactions valued at approximately $815 million, including the repayment of net debt. As a result of the transactions, the pro forma partnership with an enterprise value of $3 billion is expected to generate annualized 2018 Adjusted EBITDA in excess of $300 million. AMID has agreed to acquire equity interests in certain Southcross Holdings' subsidiaries that directly or indirectly own 100% of the limited liability company interests of the general partner of SXE and approximately 55% of the SXE common units by issuing 3.4 million AMID common units, 4.5 million new Series E convertible preferred units, options to acquire 4.5 million AMID common units and the repayment of $139 million of estimated net debt. The Preferred Units will be issued at a price of $15.00 per unit and may be paid-in-kind at the AMID common unit distribution rate at AMID's option for two years. AMID will have the right to convert the Preferred Units to AMID common units if the AMID 20-day volume weighted average price exceeds $22.50. The Options are American-style call options with an $18.50 strike price that expire in 2022. Public unitholders of SXE will receive 0.160 AMID common units for each SXE common unit in a unit-for-unit merger, which is anticipated to have minimal, if any, tax recognition for such unitholders and which represents a 5% premium to the 20-day volume weighted average exchange ratio of AMID and SXE common units as of October 30, 2017. The SXE transaction is conditioned on the Southcross Holdings transaction, and until both transactions have closed AMID, Southcross Holdings and SXE will continue to operate as separate companies. AMID expects the proposal to be attractive to public holders of SXE common units as it will permit them to participate in the future anticipated growth of AMID's businesses, including the benefit of AMID's cash distributions on common units, currently paying $1.65 per common unit annually.

05:31 EDT Biohaven Pharmaceutical announces FDA clearance of BHV-0223 IND application - Biohaven Pharmaceutical announced that the FDA has notified the company that it may proceed with its clinical investigation of sublingual BHV-0223 as a potential treatment for patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, or ALS. The FDA clearance to proceed was received following Biohaven's submission of an investigational new drug, or IND, application for this program, and the company expects to commence a bioequivalence study of BHV-0223 in the current quarter. Biohaven previously received regulatory feedback from the FDA that the Section 505(b)(2) pathway is acceptable for BHV-0223 in ALS, and that beyond this study, no additional efficacy or toxicology studies will be necessary for the submission of a new drug application.