Stockwinners Market Radar for July 11, 2018 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

20:34 EDT NEJM publishes results from phase 2 study of vaccines reducing TB infections - Aeras, a nonprofit organization dedicated to developing vaccines against tuberculosis today announced the publication of the full results from a Phase 2, randomized, controlled clinical trial of two TB vaccines- the currently available BCG vaccine and an investigational vaccine, H4:IC31-in the New England Journal of Medicine. This proof-of-concept study showed that vaccination can reduce the rate of sustained TB infections in a high-transmission setting, such as in uninfected, healthy adolescents in the Western Cape of South Africa where the study was conducted. In the trial, revaccination with BCG significantly reduced sustained TB infections in adolescents with a 45.4% vaccine efficacy. H4:IC31 also reduced sustained infections, although not at statistically significant levels, showing 30.5% vaccine efficacy. However, the trend observed for H4:IC31 is the first time a subunit vaccine has shown any signal that it may be able to protect against TB infection or disease in humans. In the trial, TB infections were measured by a blood test converting from negative to positive, and sustained infections were defined by a QFT test that remained positive for at least six months. BCG is the only licensed tuberculosis vaccine available globally. H4:IC31 is an investigative subunit vaccine candidate being developed jointly by Aeras and Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines business of Sanofi (SNY), and the Statens Serum Institut. The clinical trial was funded by Sanofi Pasteur, the United Kingdom's Department for International Development, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Aeras.

18:58 EDT Spirit Airlines reports prelim Q2 TRASM down 6.8% vs. down 6.5%-7.5% last guided - Reports preliminary Q2 Capacity up 30.5% from last year vs. 29% last guided in April. The company further states: "Total revenue for the second quarter 2018 came in more than $10M higher than the mid-point of our implied guidance. During the second quarter 2018, we achieved a better-than-expected completion factor, driving slightly higher capacity, which had a negative impact of approximately 50 basis points on our year-over-year TRASM result. Adjusted cost per available seat mile excluding fuel for the second quarter 2018 is expected to be down approximately 11 percent year over year, better than our previous guidance of down 7.5 to 8.5 percent. We estimate approximately 100 basis points of the better-than-expected performance is related to expense shifting from the second quarter to the fourth quarter 2018 due to timing, with the remainder attributable to better operational performance, including higher completion factor."

18:31 EDT Broadcom confirms offer to acquire CA Technologies for $18.9B in cash

17:58 EDT Farmland Partners says allegations of its improper disclosure are unfounded - Farmland Partners is the subject of an article published anonymously on an unregulated website by the holder of a short position in the company's stock, alleging that the company failed to meet its responsibilities of fair and full disclosure and intentionally misled investors with its financial reporting. Those allegations are false. The company expects to issue a more detailed response in the coming days. In the meantime, the company believes it is appropriate to draw attention to certain facts about the company's loan program that the article omitted and/or misrepresented: The total notes and interest receivable under the Company's loan program was $11.6M, or 1.0% of the Company's total assets, as of March 31, 2018. The program generated $0.5Min net revenues, or 1.1% of total revenue, in the year ended December 31, 2017. The program is directed at farmers, including, as previously disclosed, tenants. It was publicly announced in August 2015, and included in the company's public disclosures since then. None of the borrowers under the program as of March 31, 2018 were related parties, or have other business relationships with the Company, other than as borrowers and, in some cases, tenants.

17:47 EDT Comcast Corp increases superior cash offer for Sky to $34B - Comcast Corporation (CMCSA) published an announcement containing the terms of an increased superior cash offer for the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Sky (SKYAY) to GBP 14.75 per share. This implies a value of $34B (GBP 26B) for the fully diluted share capital of Sky. Additionally, Comcast announced that its increased superior cash offer has been recommended by the Sky Independent Committee of Directors. Comcast has long admired Sky and believes it is an outstanding company and a great fit with Comcast. Today's announcement further underscores Comcast's belief and its commitment to owning Sky. Comcast has committed financing available to satisfy the full cash consideration payable to Sky shareholders under the terms of the acquisition. Comcast has already received relevant regulatory approvals in the EU, Austria, Germany, Italy, and Jersey. Comcast expects to complete the acquisition before the end of October 2018.

17:28 EDT Arthur Rabin reports 6.5% passive stake in Differential Brands

17:05 EDT Casa Systems CFO Gary Hall steps down - Casa Systems announced that Gary Hall, Chief Financial Officer, has provided notice of his intent to leave the company effective August 10, 2018. The Board of Directors of the company has appointed Shaun McCarthy, Vice President of Finance and Corporate Controller, to assume the role of interim CFO, effective August 11, 2018. Mr. McCarthy has more than 25 years of finance and accounting experience and has served as the company's Vice President of Finance and Corporate Controller since 2014. Prior to joining the company, he served as the Vice President of Finance, Corporate Controller and Chief Accounting Officer for Dynamics Research Corporation, as well as Vice President of Finance and Corporate Controller at Axcelis Technologies, Inc. The company expects to retain an executive search firm and commence a formal search for a permanent CFO.

17:05 EDT Archrock appoints Douglas Aron CFO - Archrock (AROC) announced that Douglas Aron has been appointed senior VP and CFO, effective August 13. Aron most recently served as executive VP and CFO of Nine Energy (NINE) during 2017.

17:02 EDT Barrick Gold backs FY18 gold production view 4.5M-5M ounces - Cuts FY18 copper production view to 345M-410M pounds from 385M-450M pounds.

17:01 EDT Broadcom falls, CA Technologies spikes higher after WSJ story of imminent deal - In after hours trading, Broadcom (AVGO) is down over 5% or $12.61 per share to $230.83 per share while CA Technologies (CA) is up almost 16% or $5.87 to $43.08 per share.

16:57 EDT Hydro One to replace board, CEO after approach by the Province of Ontario - Hydro One announced that following an approach by Hydro One to the Province of Ontario, they have entered into an agreement for the purpose of the orderly replacement of the board of directors of Hydro One and Hydro One Inc. and the retirement of Mayo Schmidt as the CEO effective immediately. Consistent in principle with the ability of the Province to remove the entire board of directors pursuant to the governance agreement dated as of November 5, 2015, each of the current directors of Hydro One will resign and be replaced by nominees identified. The new board of directors will initially consist of 10 members. Consistent with the agreement, the province will nominate four replacement directors and the remaining six nominees will be identified through an ad hoc nominating committee comprised of representatives of Hydro One's largest shareholders other than the province. The new board of directors will be responsible for appointing a new chief executive officer who will also be appointed as the eleventh member of the replacement board of directors. Paul Dobson, Hydro One's CFO, has been appointed as acting CEO until such time as the replacement board of directors, once constituted, can appoint a new CEO.

16:33 EDT Intracoastal Capital reports 6.8% passive stake in Fibrocell Science

16:32 EDT Northern Trust COO Jana Schreuder to retire - Northern Trust Corporation announced that Jana R. Schreuder, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, will be retiring from her current role, effective August 31, 2018, after 38 years of service to Northern Trust. "On behalf of our Board, I would like to thank Jana for her exceptional leadership at Northern Trust," Northern Trust Chief Executive Officer Michael O'Grady said. "Jana has excelled as a leader of the Corporation and consistently demonstrated a willingness and drive to take on complex challenges that created value for our clients, partners, communities and shareholders. We wish her well in her future endeavors."

16:31 EDT Weatherford to sell drilling ops in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Algeria for $287.5M - A subsidiary of Weatherford International has signed a definitive agreement with ADES International Holding Ltd. for the sale of Weatherford's land drilling rig operations in Algeria, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia as well as two idle land rigs in Iraq, for an aggregate cash purchase price of $287.5M. The Transaction includes 31 land drilling rigs and related drilling contracts, as well as approximately 2,300 employees and contract personnel. The Transaction is expected to be executed in a series of closings, most of which will be substantially completed in the second half of 2018, subject to regulatory approvals, consents and other customary closing conditions. The purchase price is also subject to a customary post-closing working capital adjustment. Upon closing, Weatherford will use the proceeds to reduce its debt.

16:21 EDT Artisan Partners reports AUM as of June 30 $114.2B - Artisan Partners Asset Management reported that its assets under management as of June 30 totaled $114.2B. Separate accounts1 accounted for $56.8B of total firm AUM, while Artisan Funds and Artisan Global Funds accounted for $57.4B.

16:20 EDT AllianceBernstein reports preliminary AUM $540B as of June 30 - Down from $541B at the end of May. The 0.2% decrease was due to market depreciation, including the negative impact of foreign currency movements during the month, partially offset by total firm-wide net inflows. By channel, net inflows to Institutions and slight net inflows to Private Wealth exceeded net outflows from Retail.

16:19 EDT Costco reports June SSS ex-items up 6.9% - Costco reported net sales of $13.55B for the retail month of June, the five weeks ended July 8, an increase of 11.7% from $12.13B last year. For the first forty-four weeks of fiscal 2018 the Company reported net sales of $116.81B, an increase of 12% from $104.28B last year.

16:17 EDT Nevada Gold announces CEO transition - Nevada Gold & Casinos announced that effective upon the closure of the company's Las Vegas corporate office and relocation of its headquarters to the Seattle Washington area, Victor Mena, VP of Nevada Gold's Washington Operations, will succeed Michael Shaunnessy as president and CEO of the company. Mena has led the operations in Washington since the initial three casinos comprising the unit were first acquired in 2009. His appointment was approved unanimously by the board. Shaunnessy will continue on a temporary basis to assist in the smooth transition and relocation.

16:15 EDT Cloud Peak announces COO transition - Cloud Peak Energy announced that effective July 11, 2018, Bruce Jones, currently Cloud Peak Energy's Senior Vice President, Technical Services, was promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Jones has served as Cloud Peak Energy's Senior Vice President, Technical Services since July 2013. Prior to his appointment as Senior Vice President, Mr. Jones was General Manager of Cloud Peak Energy's Spring Creek Mine from March 2007 to July 2013. In his new role, Mr. Jones will continue to handle the responsibilities of the Technical Services position.

16:06 EDT Terreno Realty reports Q2 occupancy 98.2% vs. 96.9% last year - As of June 30, 2018, Terreno Realty Corporation owned 195 buildings aggregating approximately 12.5M square feet and 11 improved land parcels consisting of 51.4 acres. In addition, Terreno Realty Corporation had four buildings under redevelopment that upon completion will contain approximately 484,000 square feet with a total expected investment of $119.2 million, including redevelopment costs, leasing costs, and capitalized interest of approximately $32.9M: The operating portfolio, excluding four properties under redevelopment, was 98.2% leased to 430 tenants as compared to 97.0% at March 31, 2018 and 96.9% at June 30, 2017; The same store portfolio of approximately 10.7 million square feet was 98.3% leased at June 30, 2018 as compared to 97.4% at March 31, 2018 and 97.8% at June 30, 2017; and Cash rents on new and renewed leases totaling approximately 0.3 million square feet commencing during the second quarter increased approximately 33.9%. Cash rents on new and renewed leases totaling approximately 0.9 million square feet commencing during the six months ended June 30, 2018 increased approximately 18.7%.

16:04 EDT CA Technologies jumps 16% after WSJ says Broadcom close to takeover deal

16:02 EDT Zumiez June SSS increase 2.7% - Zumiez announced, that total net sales for the five-week period ended July 7, 2018 increased 6.0% to $76.5M, compared to $72.2M for the five-week period ended July 1, 2017. The company's comparable sales increased 2.7% for the five-week period ended July 7 compared to a comparable sales increase of 5.3% for the five-week period ended July 1, 2017.

15:05 EDT Precision Therapeutics moves up 15c to $1.32 in afternoon trading - The move higher may be related to a tweet regarding the company being granted a European patent. Reference Link

14:21 EDT resTORbio Inc trading resumes

14:13 EDT ResTORbio Phase 2a data shows improvement in immune function - resTORbio announced newly published data from a Phase 2a clinical trial demonstrating that target of rapamycin complex 1 inhibitor treatment improved immune function and decreased incidence of all infections, including respiratory tract infections, in people aged 65 years and older. RTIs in particular are a significant health risk for the elderly with life-threatening consequences and few treatment options. Data were published in the July 11 online edition of the journal Science Translational Medicine.Inhibition of TORC1 has extended both lifespan and healthspan in multiple pre-clinical species," said Joan Mannick, M.D., Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer of resTORbio. "The results of this Phase 2a trial raise the possibility that TORC1 inhibition also has health benefits in older humans. In the Phase 2a trial, TORC1 inhibitor treatment was associated with a clinically meaningful reduction in the incidence of infections in people aged 65 years and older and an enhancement in the function of the aging immune system as assessed by influenza vaccination response and antiviral gene expression. The results need to be validated in additional clinical trials, but may have broad implications for the treatment of diseases of aging that we are actively investigating with our TORC1 inhibitor program."Based on the results of the Phase 2a study, resTORbio is conducting a Phase 2b clinical trial to further investigate the potential benefits of RTB101 alone and in combination with everolimus in aging-related diseases. In the ongoing Phase 2b study, doses of RTB101 alone and in combination with everolimus are being evaluated as an immunotherapy to decrease the incidence of RTIs in older people at increased risk of morbidity and mortality from RTIs. Dosing has been completed in the Phase 2b study and 16-week topline data are expected to be reported in the third quarter of 2018. .

13:37 EDT Mark Ritchie reports 6.1% passive stake in MYnd Analytics

13:22 EDT Activision rises after esports TV pact with Disney's ESPN, Disney XD - Shares of Activision Blizzard (ATVI) were trading higher in the afternoon after the game maker's Blizzard subsidiary reached a live television agreement with Disney's (DIS) ESPN and Disney XD to broadcast Overwatch League, the esports league based on Blizzard's "Overwatch" video game. WHAT'S NEW: Disney's ESPN, Disney XD and Blizzard Entertainment confirmed an earlier report that they had reached an exclusive multiyear agreement for live television coverage of Overwatch League. Starting with Overwatch League playoff coverage on Wednesday, July 11, across both networks, the 2017-2018 Overwatch League inaugural season concludes with the Grand Finals live from Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, on ESPN and Disney XD July 27-28, the companies said. All coverage also will be available for ESPN and Disney network subscribers to stream live on the ESPN App and DisneyNOW. The companies added that the 2018 Grand Finals telecast on ESPN will mark the first time live competitive gaming has aired on the network in primetime. WHAT'S NOTABLE: On Activision Blizzard's last quarterly conference call on May 3, the company said that Overwatch League was "outperforming expectations" while reaching "millions" each week. In addition, the game maker noted that Overwatch League viewers had an average viewing time of over an hour. ANALYST OPINION: On May 22, BofA/Merrill analyst Justin Post maintained a Buy rating and $76 price target on Activision Blizzard, saying at the time that the company was "best positioned" for the growth of esports, citing the company's established and "dominant" Overwatch League and Call of Duty gaming franchises. PRICE ACTION: In afternoon trading, Activision Blizzard shares gained 1.8% to $77.57. The game maker is scheduled to report second quarter results after the market close on August 2.

13:13 EDT Mark Ritchie reports 6.1% passive stake in MYnd Analytics

13:02 EDT ESPN, Disney XD, Blizzard report exclusive telecast deal for Overwatch League - Disney's (DIS) ESPN, Disney XD and Blizzard Entertainment announced an exclusive multiyear agreement for live television coverage of the Overwatch League, the world's first major global city-based esports league. Beginning with Overwatch League playoff coverage on Wednesday, July 11, across both networks, the 2017-2018 Overwatch League inaugural season concludes with the Grand Finals live from Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, on ESPN and Disney XD July 27-28. All coverage also will be available for ESPN and Disney network subscribers to stream live on the ESPN App and DisneyNOW. To round out the 2018 Grand Finals coverage, a recap show highlighting the biggest moments will air July 29 on ABC. The Grand Finals telecast on ESPN marks the first time live competitive gaming has aired on the flagship network in primetime, and will be the first broadcast of an esports championship on ABC. Overwatch was created by Activision Blizzard's (ATVI) Blizzard Entertainment. "The Overwatch League Grand Finals is by far our most comprehensive television distribution for an esports event over a single weekend: 10 total hours over four networks and three days," said Justin Connolly, Executive Vice President, Affiliate Sales and Marketing, Disney and ESPN Media Networks. "This overall collaboration with Disney/ABC, ESPN and Blizzard represents our continued commitment to esports, and we look forward to providing marquee Overwatch League coverage across our television platforms for fans."

12:45 EDT Twitter announces plans for changes that may impact follower counts - Twitter's Vijaya Gadde, the company's Legal, Policy and Trust & Safety Lead, reported in a post to the company's safety blog that this week the company will be removing locked accounts from follower counts across profiles globally. "As a result, the number of followers displayed on many profiles may go down. Most people will see a change of four followers or fewer; others with larger follower counts will experience a more significant drop. We understand this may be hard for some, but we believe accuracy and transparency make Twitter a more trusted service for public conversation," the blog post stated. Reference Link

12:35 EDT General Mills sees $1B in net sales from e-commerce by FY20

12:13 EDT Comstock Resources jumps 10% after getting commitments on credit facility - Comstock Resources announced on Tuesday that it has obtained commitments from a syndicate of thirteen banks for a new five year reserve-based revolving credit facility with an initial borrowing base of $700M. "We are excited to have completed this part of our refinancing plan and appreciate the support from Bank of Montreal and the other twelve banks comprising our new bank group. We are looking forward to the August 10th annual meeting when our shareholders will vote on the Jones contribution, the cornerstone of our refinancing plan", stated M. Jay Allison, chairman and CEO. Shares of Comstock Resources are currently up 10.33% or $1.15 to $12.28 per share.

12:00 EDT U.S. Cellular falls -11.3% - U.S. Cellular is down -11.3%, or -$4.48 to $35.09.

12:00 EDT Farmland Partners falls -27.3% - Farmland Partners is down -27.3%, or -$2.36 to $6.29.

12:00 EDT Britannia Bulk rises 7.2% - Britannia Bulk is up 7.2%, or 44c to $6.51.

11:57 EDT Abercrombie & Fitch, sbe announce exclusive global partnership - sbe announced an exclusive partnership with specialty retailer Abercrombie & Fitch, a division of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. The partnership will integrate the iconic apparel brand with global sbe properties through a series of bespoke co-branded events and pop-up shops at selected properties. Additionally, members of the A&F Club, the brand's loyalty program, will be rewarded with special benefits across sbe's hotels, restaurants and entertainment venues. A&F and sbe are focused on creating unique experiences for its customers and providing opportunities for its members and guests to deepen their connection and loyalty through exclusive events. The partnership will be brought to life in the coming months through a series of events. The first of these events, A&F's DO IT IN DENIM launch, took place at the Mondrian Los Angeles. Attendees, including A&F Club members, had the opportunity to see and try the brand's new denim collection. Throughout the partnership, guests at sbe hotels will also have select access to Abercrombie & Fitch pop-up shops and exclusive offers, while members of the A&F Club can enter to win VIP access to grand openings and other cultural events at sbe properties.

11:04 EDT Medtronic receives FDA approval for less-invasive heart pump implant procedure - Medtronic has received FDA approval for a less-invasive implant approach of its HVAD) System, a left ventricular assist device for patients with advanced heart failure. The HVAD System is the smallest commercially available LVAD, and the only LVAD approved in the U.S. for implant via thoracotomy, a small lateral, surgical incision between the patient's ribs on the left side of the chest. The HVAD System is the only LVAD approved in the U.S. and Europe for implant via a thoracotomy as well as a median sternotomy. It is approved to treat patients with advanced, refractory heart failure as a bridge to cardiac transplantation and as destination therapy in patients for whom subsequent transplantation is not planned. In addition to this approval, new surgical implant tools tailored to assist physicians with the thoracotomy approach for the HVAD System are now available in the U.S. and in CE Marked countries.

10:46 EDT Trump Effect: Pfizer under pressure after talk with President prompts rollback - After speaking with President Donald Trump, Pfizer (PFE) stated that it will roll back its July 1 price increases "to give the president an opportunity to work on his blueprint to strengthen the healthcare system and provide more access for patients." Additionally this morning, the company announced that it will reorganize into three units, separating its consumer health-care business, which the drugmaker has been trying to sell since last year, from its groups focused on "innovative" medicines" and "established" medicines. PRICE ROLLBACK: In a statement provided to CNBC's Meg Tirrell yesterday, Pfizer said it will roll back its July 1 price increases "to give the president an opportunity to work on his blueprint to strengthen the healthcare system and provide more access for patients." The company released the statement following an "extensive discussion" with President Trump. Pfizer said it will return such prices to their pre-July 1 levels as soon as technically possible, and the prices will remain in effect until the earlier of when the president's blueprint goes into effect or the end of the year. In addition, the drug giant said that the price declines the company took as of July 1 will remain in effect. This comes after President Trump called out the company and other drugmakers for raising prices. In a tweet, Trump previously said Pfizer and peers "should be ashamed that they have raised drug prices for no reason," accusing the company and industry of "merely taking advantage of the poor and others unable to defend themselves, while at the same time giving bargain basement prices to other countries in Europe and elsewhere." BUSINESS REORGANIZATION: This morning, Pfizer also announced it will organize the company into three businesses, namely a science-based Innovative Medicines business that will now include biosimilars and a new hospital business unit for anti-infectives and sterile injectables; an off-patent branded and generic Established Medicines business operating with substantial autonomy within Pfizer; and a Consumer Healthcare business. These changes will be effective at the beginning of the company's 2019 fiscal year, and are not expected to impact current capital allocation priorities or full-year 2018 financial guidance. READ-THROUGH TO OTHERS IN THE SECTOR: Commenting on the events, Wells Fargo analyst David Maris told investors that drug stocks will not react favorably to this news, given the chilling effect this will likely have on others looking to take price increases. Nonetheless, the analyst pointed out that the price increases taken in July are only small compared to other increases taken over the past year or several years, so the impact of the rollback to the healthcare system is insignificant in the big picture. Maris also added that he believes the administration's and other key legislators' focus is not only on drug pricing, but on the overall supply chain and delivery system, including drug rebating, co-pay coupons, etc. WHAT'S NOTABLE: According to Bloomberg, Gilead (GILD), Roche (RHHBY), Novo Nordisk (NVO) and Novartis (NVS) have all sent notices to California health plans rescinding or reducing previously announced price hikes in the wake of a new drug pricing transparency law that was enacted in the state. The California measure, which is among the most aggressive efforts by states to rein in drug costs, is being challenged in court by the drug industry's lobbying group, the report noted. Other large cap pharmaceutical companies include AstraZeneca (AZN), Bristol-Myers (BMY), Eli Lilly (LLY), GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Merck (MRK), and Sanofi (SNY). PRICE ACTION: In morning trading, shares of Pfizer have dropped about 0.5% to $37.28. "Trump Effect" is The Fly's recurring series of exclusive stories that highlight stocks that are being impacted, or are predicted to be impacted, by the comments, actions and policies of President Trump and his administration.

10:26 EDT Exxon Mobil launches loyalty program to replace Plenti - ExxonMobil (XOM) announced its launch of Exxon Mobil Rewards+, a new loyalty program that will enable customers to earn and redeem points on fuel, car washes and convenience store purchases at participating Exxon and Mobil U.S. stations. Exxon and Mobil customers who participated in the previous Plenti program and meet the eligibility criteria will receive a new Exxon Mobil Rewards+ card in the mail. Unused Plenti points will be matched by the new program after registration, the company noted. American Express (AXP) previously announced in April that it would be ending the Plenti program will end on July 10.

10:10 EDT Chinese tech stocks fall after Trump administration plans additional tariffs - Shares of U.S.-listed China technology stocks including Alibaba (BABA), Baidu (BIDU), JD.com (JD), iQIYI (IQ) and Vipshop (VIPS) are falling after the Trump administration announced plans to implement additional tariffs on Chinese goods. ADDITIONAL TARIFFS: On Tuesday, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative released a list of 10% tariffs on $200B in Chinese goods, escalating a growing trade war with Beijing, CNBC reported. The tariffs, which will undergo a two-month review process, are roughly equal to China's exports to the U.S. and some of the products on the list are from sectors of Made in China 2025, a strategic plan to make China a leader in global industries like technology. When compiling the list, the office considered what products could cause disruption to China's economy, according to a senior administration official. "For over a year, the Trump Administration has patiently urged China to stop its unfair practices, open its market, and engage in true market competition," U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said in a statement. "Rather than address our legitimate concerns, China has begun to retaliate against U.S. products." The move comes after President Donald Trump threatened to implement tariffs on at least $500B on Chinese goods if China retaliated against the $34B in tariffs that went into effect Friday. Despite the threats, China established retaliatory tariffs. CHINA RESPONDS: On Wednesday, China's commerce ministry said the proposed U.S. tariffs on the additional $200B of goods are "completely unacceptable" and Beijing will have to respond, Reuters reported. The ministry said the actions taken by the Trump administration hurt America's own interests, China and the rest of the world. VIPSHOP DOWNGRADE: Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs analyst Ronald Keung downgraded Vipshop to Neutral from Buy and lowered his price target to $13.10 from $19.20. The analyst said that while he sees the company as "an innovative player exploring newer e-commerce models," he believes there is "fierce competition" and near-term risk to consensus earnings estimates as management steps up its marketing spending on attracting new users. The cost of attracting new users will drag on margins for the coming quarters, Keung said. However, he still sees long-term upside from the company's partnerships with JD and Tencent (TCEHY), as well as new initiatives such as the mini program open platform. PRICE ACTION: In morning trading, shares of Alibaba trading in New York dropped 1.85% to $188.99, Baidu fell 0.4% to $260.27, JD.com was down 1.7% to $37.03, iQIYI dropped 0.6% to $30.09 and Vipshop fell 2.3% to $10.44.

10:07 EDT Cepsa to convert detergent plant to Honeywell UOP solid bed technology - Honeywell announced that Cepsa will convert an alkylation unit using hydrofluoric acid to Honeywell UOP's solid bed Detal-Plus technology at its refinery in San Roque, Spain. The unit produces linear alkylbenzene, which is used to make a variety of different detergent formulations, including biodegradable household detergents. Honeywell will provide catalysts and adsorbents, basic engineering design and other associated services for the complex. When completed in 2020, this project will mark the world's first conversion of an HF alkylation unit to solid bed technology. With the conversion to Detal-Plus technology, the plant's capacity will increase by 50,000 metric tons to 250,000 metric tons of LAB per year. The Detal-Plus technology, which was co-developed with Cepsa, is the first solid bed technology with the flexibility to produce LAB for a variety of different detergent formulations.

10:03 EDT NI, Spirent collaborate on 5G performance test solution - NI (NATI) and Spirent Communications (SPT) announced their collaboration to develop test systems for 5G New Radio devices. The collaboration will allow 5G chipset and device manufacturers to validate the performance of 5G NR smartphones and IoT devices in the lab without requiring access to expensive and complex 5G base stations. Recently the 5G standards body, 3GPP, officially approved the first round of 5G specifications in June 2018. This important step will be followed by the specification of new architectural options and additional capabilities as the standard is expanded over the coming months and years. Consequently, device test solutions must be flexible to quickly adapt to these changes and to allow future upgrades while avoiding costly hardware changes as the standards evolve. To that end, Spirent Communications has adopted NI's flexible software defined radio products in the development of its 5G performance solution. Spirent's solution will employ NI's USRP devices and mmWave Transceiver System and will include 5G NR test scenarios for mobile location, video, data, audio, and calling performance. Key architectural details of the solution include the use of LabVIEW FPGA to emulate layer 1 through layer 3 of the 5G NR protocol stack.

10:00 EDT Farmland Partners falls -8.7% - Farmland Partners is down -8.7%, or -75c to $7.90.

10:00 EDT Britannia Bulk rises 3.4% - Britannia Bulk is up 3.4%, or 21c to $6.28.

10:00 EDT Cars.com rises 5.9% - Cars.com is up 5.9%, or $1.76 to $31.38.

09:47 EDT MSC Industrial falls -7.6% - MSC Industrial is down -7.6%, or -$6.45 to $78.19.

09:47 EDT Micro Focus falls -11.3% - Micro Focus is down -11.3%, or -$1.93 to $15.18.

09:47 EDT ProShares Trust Ultra VIX Short Term Futures ETF rises 5.7% - ProShares Trust Ultra VIX Short Term Futures ETF is up 5.7%, or 56c to $10.38.

09:47 EDT American Airlines drops after cutting revenue per seat mile guidance - Shares of American Airlines (AAL) dropped in early trading after the company lowered its total revenue per available seat mile guidance for the second quarter. UPDATED Q2 OUTLOOK: In a regulatory filing out this morning, American Airlines lowered its TRASM guidance for the quarter to up approximately 1%-3% year-over-year from its previous view of up about 1.5%-3.5%. This change from previous guidance is due to lower than anticipated domestic yields, it said. Additionally, American said it now expects Q2 cost per available seat mile, or CASM, excluding fuel and other items, will be up about 2.5% year-over-year, below its previous guidance of up about 3.5%. The carrier said the lowered guidance is due primarily to lower than anticipated maintenance expense and the application of higher airport rent settlement credits. OTHER GUIDANCE: The company expects its total pre-tax net special items in Q2 will approximate $215M. The company also lowered its outlook for Q2 consolidated capacity to 72.9 billion available seat miles from 73.1 billion, while increasing its estimate for the average per-gallon fuel price to $2.24-$2.29 from $2.18-$2.23. UPDATE ON PSA AIRLINES: Additionally, American provided an update on PSA Airlines, one of its wholly-owned regional carriers, which experienced an IT issue on June 14 that impacted its operations and resulted in the cancellation of approximately 3,000 flights over the following week. American said it estimates that the event impacted pre-tax income negatively by about $35M. ELIMINATION OF PLASTIC STRAWS: Meanwhile, Reuters reported this morning that American Airlines will no longer offer plastic straws and stir sticks onboard its flights and in its lounges. Beginning this month, drinks in its airport lounges will come with biodegradable straws and wooden stir sticks instead of plastic utensils, while the phase-out onboard its planes will begin in November, with bamboo replacing plastic straws and stirrers. This follows an announcement by Starbucks (SBUX) this week that it will eliminate plastic straws, as well as similar plans by Sea World (SEAS), Hyatt Hotels (H) and Royal Caribbean (RCL). PRICE ACTION: In early trading, American Airlines is down over 3.4% to $37.79.

09:28 EDT American Airlines slips after lowering Q2 TRASM view - American Airlines stated in a regulatory filing earlier that the company now expects its second quarter total revenue per available seat mile, or TRASM, to be up approximately 1.0%-3.0% year-over-year, versus its previous guidance of up approximately 1.5%-3.5%. This change from previous guidance is due to lower than anticipated domestic yields. American shares are down about 2% to $38.42 before the opening following the update.

09:17 EDT A.O. Smith names Kevin Wheeler as CEO, succeeding Ajita Rajendra - The A. O. Smith Board of Directors announced Ajita Rajendra will transition from chairman and CEO to executive chairman of the corporation, effective Sept. 1, at which time, Kevin Wheeler will assume the role of president and CEO. Rajendra will continue to lead the company's Board of Directors as the executive chairman and will remain involved in the company's strategy development, mergers and acquisitions, investor relations, and executive talent development for the Milwaukee-based water technology company. Wheeler joined A. O. Smith in 1994 as a regional sales manager for the former Water Products Company. He has held a number of senior leadership positions during his 24 years with the company, including vice president-international with responsibility for all European and Asian water heating operations, senior vice president and general manager of the U.S. retail water heater business, and senior vice president and general manager of the North America, India, and Europe water heating business.

09:08 EDT Seven Stars Cloud Group partners with Fundamental Interactions - Seven Stars Cloud Group announced a long-term relationship and strategic licensing agreement with New York-based Fundamental Interactions, a provider of enterprise market center technology. Through this agreement, SSC will leverage core Fundamental Interactions technology and the Velocity Ledger platform to support the tokenization, secondary trading and settlement of new blockchain-based securities. The Velocity Ledger platform is in operation for various approved entities by the SEC and FINRA. Velocity Ledger is a blockchain-based, software-as-a-service platform that operates as a private blockchain solution and interacts with all of the major public blockchains. Seven Stars Cloud will work with issuers and underwriters of securities in order to source a wide array of financial products. Post issuance, these financial products will undergo a comprehensive rating system to provide transparency into the underlying assets.

09:06 EDT CPI Card Group announces collaboration with Commercial Business Systems - CPI Card Group announced a collaboration with Commercial Business Systems, or CBS, a provider of software and IT services for credit unions, to integrate CBS' CAMS-ii credit union accounting and management system and CPI's Card@Once solution to streamline instant issuance of EMV-enabled cards. The integrated instant issuance offering from CPI and CBS equips credit unions with an end-to-end print and activation solution allowing branches to respond immediately to members for new and replacement cards. CAMS-ii software relieves credit unions of the time-consuming, resource-heavy responsibilities of information management, while Card@Once adds simple, cost-effective instant issuance to a credit union's capabilities. A core integration between the solutions allows credit unions to activate cards during printing to the Card@Once printer from their CAMS-ii user interface, eliminating the need for dual entry.

09:02 EDT Oncobiologics regains compliance with Nasdaq listing requirements - Oncobiologics announced that, on July 10, 2018, the company received formal notice from The Nasdaq Stock Market that the company has evidenced compliance with the applicable requirements for the continued listing of the company's securities on The Nasdaq Capital Market, including the minimum $35M market value of listed securities requirement. Accordingly, the company's previously disclosed matter before the Nasdaq Hearings Panel has been closed. The company remains subject to a 180-day grace period, through October 23, 2018, to regain compliance with Nasdaq's minimum $1.00 per share bid price requirement for continued listing. In order to evidence compliance with that requirement, the company must evidence a closing bid price of at least $1.00 per share for a minimum of ten consecutive business days on or before October 23, 2018. If the company does not timely regain compliance, the company's securities would be subject to delisting; however, the company would be entitled to request a hearing before a Nasdaq Hearings Panel, which request would stay any delisting action by Nasdaq pending the ultimate conclusion of the hearing process.

08:50 EDT Fly Intel: Pre-market Movers - UP AFTER EARNINGS: Fastenal (FAST), up 7%. ALSO HIGHER: Achieve Life Sciences (ACHV), up 48% after a meeting with the FDA was reported to have "further defined Achieve's Phase 3 clinical program" and expected future new drug application submission... Asterias Biotherapeutics (AST), up 26% after announcing that the Safety Review Committee for the first clinical trial of AST-VAC2 recommended continuing the trial without modification... Scynexis (SCYX), up 15% after the company's "positive" Phase 2b trial results of oral SCY-078 in Vulvovaginal Candidiasis prompted Needham analyst Alan Carr to upgrade the stock to Buy... Myriad Genetics (MYGN), up 4% after the stock was upgraded to Overweight at Morgan Stanley. DOWN AFTER EARNINGS: AngioDynamics (ANGO), down 9%... MSC Industrial (MSM), down 5%. ALSO LOWER: HealthStream (HSTM), down 2% after analysts at Baird and Barrington each downgraded the stock to Neutral-equivalent ratings... Saratoga Investment (SAR), down 7% after announcing a 1M share common stock offering.

08:36 EDT ViewRay's MRIdian Linac selected by French center for MR radiation therapy - ViewRay's MRIdian Linac radiation delivery with MR image guidance has been selected for installation at Centre Georges-Francois Leclerc in Dijon, France as part of a tender award contract with UNICANCER, a hospital network of 19 French Comprehensive Cancer Centers. UNICANCER is the only French hospital federation exclusively dedicated to oncology and the leading academic promoter of oncology clinical trials in Europe.

08:34 EDT L3 Technologies acquires Azimuth Security, Linchpin Labs for $200M - L3 Technologies announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Azimuth Security and Linchpin Labs, two information security businesses that strengthen L3's existing C6ISR capabilities and create synergies to drive future growth in cyber and international markets. The acquired companies will become L3 Trenchant upon completion of the transaction and will help deliver advanced capabilities integral to a variety of complex ISR and classified missions. The combined purchase price for the two businesses was approximately $200M. The purchase price is subject to an upward adjustment of up to approximately $32M, payable in L3 common stock, based on the combined company's post-acquisition sales for each of the 12-month periods ending June 30, 2019 to 2021, which would be payable in 2019 to 2021. This transaction is anticipated to be completed during the second half of 2018, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. For 2019, Trenchant is expected to add approximately $65M to net sales after amortization of acquired deferred revenue and to be slightly earnings per share accretive after employee retention expenses and business combination purchase accounting adjustments, including intangible asset amortization expenses. The purchase price, excluding the potential contingent consideration, represents a multiple of approximately 7x Trenchant's estimated 2019 earnings before interest, taxes, and depreciation and amortization.

08:33 EDT Capstone secures 4.4 MW of five year long-term service contract renewals - Capstone Turbine Corporation announced that it has secured several significant Factory Protection Plan aftermarket long-term service contract renewals from a key U.S. oil and gas producer. The FPP renewals are for nine separate contracts, of which seven are five year extensions and two are four year and four month extensions. E-Finity Distributed Generation, Capstone's exclusive distributor for the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States and a leading power solutions provider in the Marcellus and Utica shale regions, secured the follow-on FPP contract renewals to cover a major gas producer's growing microturbine fleet at multiple locations. E-Finity maintains a fleet of approximately 600 microturbines in continuous duty operation. The renewal FPP contracts cover a total of 4.4 MWs and include C30, C65 and C1000 series microturbines. As a result of these latest contract extensions, E-Finity now has 68% of its commissioned Capstone turbines under long-term FPP contracts.

08:32 EDT Halozyme: FDA accepts BLA for subcutaneous formulation of Herceptin - Halozyme Therapeutics (HALO) announced that the U.S.FDA has accepted a Biologics License Application from Genentech, a member of the Roche Group (RHHBY), for a subcutaneous formulation of trastuzumab (Herceptin) in its FDA-approved breast cancer indications. This is a co-formulation with Halozyme's proprietary recombinant human hyaluronidase enzyme, which is approved and marketed under the Herceptin SC brand in many countries outside the U.S. Roche reported total 2017 sales of Herceptin in the United States of 2.7B CHF. Sales of subcutaneous trastuzumab will be dependent on market adoption.

08:17 EDT Dunkin' Brands names David Hoffmann as CEO, succeeding Nigel Travis - Dunkin' Brands (DNKN) announced that David Hoffmann has been appointed CEO, effective immediately. He will also serve on the company's Board of Directors and remain President of Dunkin' Donuts U.S. The members of the Dunkin' Brands Leadership Team will now report to Hoffmann who is succeeding Nigel Travis. Travis is retiring from the role he has held since January 2009. Additionally, the company announced that Travis has been named Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors and will remain actively involved with the company, with a particular focus on the continued development of the international businesses. Before joining Dunkin' Brands, Hoffmann spent a total of 22 years with McDonald's (MCD) including time as a crew member while in high school.

08:15 EDT Seattle Genetics announces results of two Phase 1b trials - Seattle Genetics announced that results of a phase 1b clinical trial of tucatinib in combination with standard of care agents for the treatment of patients with advanced HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer were recently published in the journal The Lancet Oncology. Results demonstrated that tucatinib in combination with trastuzumab and capecitabine was generally well-tolerated and had encouraging clinical activity in heavily pre-treated patients with advanced HER2+ breast cancer, including those with brain metastases. A separate phase 1b clinical trial of tucatinib in combination with ado-trastuzumab emtansine was published in JAMA Oncology. Results showed an acceptable safety profile and preliminary antitumor activity among heavily pretreated patients with HER2+ metastatic breast cancer, with and without brain metastases. Tucatinib is an oral, small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor that is highly selective for HER2. The first trial was a phase 1b triplet study was an open-label dose-escalation and expansion cohort study of tucatinib in combination with capecitabine and/or trastuzumab in patients with HER2+ metastatic breast cancer, including those with or without brain metastases. The objective of the study was to assess the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and antitumor activity, and to determine the recommended phase 2 dose of tucatinib in combination with these agents. Once a recommended phase 2 dose of 300 mg BID was established in the triplet combination, an expansion cohort using that regimen was opened. The trial enrolled 60 patients with HER2+ metastatic breast cancer who had previously received a median of three HER2-targeted agents, such as trastuzumab, pertuzumab, lapatinib or T-DM1. The second trial was a phase 1b, open-label dose escalation and expansion cohort study of tucatinib in combination with T-DM1 enrolled 57 patients with HER2+ breast cancer. The objective of the study was to assess the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and antitumor activity, and to determine the recommended phase 2 dose of tucatinib in combination with T-DM1. Participants in the study previously received a median of two prior HER2-directed therapies.

08:10 EDT BioCryst provides update after termination of merger with Idera Pharmaceuticals - BioCryst (BCRX) provided an update on the company's strategic and financial outlook as a standalone company following the recent termination of its merger agreement with Idera Pharmaceuticals (IDRA). Jon P. Stonehouse, president and CEO of BioCryst, said, "We are moving forward executing our standalone strategy with a great deal of confidence in our programs, our pipeline and our ability to drive value for our stockholders. We have been, and will continue to be, focused on advancing our early- and late-stage programs toward commercial launch and getting new and valuable medicines into the hands of physicians as they treat serious conditions. We are making excellent progress on enrollment in the APeX-2 pivotal trial of BCX7353. We remain on track to read out the results of efficacy and safety from the first 24 weeks of APeX-2 in the first half of next year. Also, we are on track for a first half of 2019 initiation of a Phase 1 clinical trial for our ALK-2 inhibitor program for treating fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva, or FOP. In addition, we have completed enrollment in all three dose cohorts of the ZENITH-1 proof-of-concept Phase 2 clinical trial. We continue to expect to report top-line results from the 750 mg cohort in the third quarter of 2018 and look forward to the continued progress of each of our ongoing trials."

08:06 EDT Synaptic, AMD collaborate on enterprise-grade biometric PC security - Synaptics Incorporated (SYNA) together with AMD (AMD) announced a joint initiative centered on delivering a new industry benchmark in highly-secure biometric fingerprint authentication for enterprise/commercial and consumer notebook PCs based on next-generation AMD Ryzen Mobile platform and Microsoft's (MSFT) next-generation operating system. The collaboration brings a new level of security for AMD-based laptops by leveraging Synaptics' unique FS7600 Match-in-Sensor fingerprint sensor technology with powerful AMD Ryzen Mobile processors, and Microsoft's forthcoming biometric security OS including Windows Hello. Synaptics' Match-in-Sensor technology is the industry's first fully hardware encapsulated fingerprint sensor and matching solution. Hardened authentication is literally "off the grid", isolating fingerprint image enrollment, pattern storage and biometric matching within the fingerprint sensor to provide best-in-class protection against on-device threats. Match-in-Sensor fingerprint authentication is a System-on-Chip architecture in which a single device performs both input/output functions with an in-sensor microprocessor executing firmware. By performing security sensitive functions completely inside the SoC, Match-in-Sensor adds a new level of security due to total isolation from the host operating system.

08:06 EDT UroGen Pharma submits IND application for UGN-102 - UroGen Pharma announced that it submitted to the FDA an Investigational New Drug, or IND, application for UGN-102 for the treatment of patients with low-grade non-muscle invasive bladder cancer at the end of Q2. If accepted, the company expects to begin a Phase 2b clinical trial in the United States in Q3. UGN-102 represents the second product candidate in UroGen's pipeline and addresses an unmet medical need in the treatment of patients with relapsing urothelial cancer of the urinary bladder. The proposed Phase 2b single-arm, open-label, multi-center trial is designed to assess the efficacy and safety of UGN-102 as a potential first-line chemoablation agent in the treatment of patients with LG NMIBC at risk for recurrence. Transurethral resection of bladder tumor followed by adjuvant chemotherapy or immunotherapy is the current standard of care. In 2012, the annual incidence of urothelial bladder cancer was 80,000 in the United States with a prevalence of 700,0001. NMIBC accounts for approximately 80% of all new cases of bladder cancer diagnosed in the United States each year, with the majority of patients experiencing life-long, repetitive surgical treatment for cancer recurrence.

08:05 EDT Walmart launches tools to make shopping for school year easier - Walmart announced its plans to help customers gain back time in a big way by launching new tools that make shopping for the new school year faster and easier. "Last year, Walmart integrated the popular resource TeacherLists into a dedicated online destination called School Supplies List that enabled parents to find and shop for their child's specific classroom supply list on Walmart.com. New this year, Walmart is expanding the experience to the Walmart app where parents can search and shop for their child's actual list and then use the app to locate the store aisle the item is in. Also new this year, customers will have the option to choose the products and brands from the school supplies list. Walmart is also helping college students subtract the stress of outfitting their dorm room with a new way to shop online called Buy the Room. Available today, Buy the Room allows customers to add a group of items to their cart to shop a complete dorm look. Walmart will launch with nine curated collections that each feature up to 20 of the most sought-after items college students search for and purchase at the low prices Walmart is known for. Walmart customers love Online Grocery Pickup and Delivery. This year, more customers will be able to get their back-to-school shopping done without ever leaving their vehicle, since Walmart has made Online Grocery pickup available in twice as many stores as last year and has doubled the assortment of back-to-school and college products available during the season. And, for the first time, Walmart is offering Online Grocery Delivery as a convenient way to have these back-to-class items delivered directly to homes in dozens of markets, like Atlanta, Denver and Houston. In addition, the vast majority of back-to-class items are available for free two-day shipping on orders over $35 without a membership fee. This year, Walmart is making hundreds more back-to-class items available via Pickup, so parents and students can order all of their supplies and gear online and pick it up at the store closest to campus within seven days of ordering the item. How's that for saving time - and headaches? Pickup will also be available for school supplies, offering parents a convenient way to get these items and other back-to-school essentials, like granola bars and new shoes, in one easy trip."

08:04 EDT Hancock Jaffe initiates analysis of bioprosthetic heart valve for FDA submission - Hancock Jaffe Laboratories announced that it has initiated an analysis of its bioprosthetic heart valve in order to determine what additional testing is needed in order to submit an Investigational Device Extension application to the United States Food and Drug Administration.The company has engaged Michael Nilo of Nilo Medical Consulting Group, to assist with the initial regulatory analysis. Nilo has significant insider experience with the FDA, having worked as a lead reviewer with the FDA's cardiac medical device review team. The company has also retained Boston MedTech Advisors, which in addition to its expertise with the FDA and regulatory agencies throughout the world, also specializes in competitive market analyses and strategies for medical device development and commercialization. While suitable for patients of all ages, Hancock Jaffe's smaller diameter, porcine tissue-based bioprosthetic heart valve, addresses the specific needs of pediatric patients undergoing valve replacements for congenital and/or acquired cardiac valve disease. The heart valve makes use of titanium wires embedded within the wall of the bioprosthetic valve itself, eliminating the need for externally supporting structures commonly referred to as stents. Hancock Jaffe's unique, stentless design enables a larger valve to be placed in the patient's annulus, the site of the inflow of the patient's original valve. Preclinical studies have demonstrated that the internalization of the supporting structures greatly increases the volume of blood with each heartbeat. The combination of reduced size and increased output makes the bioprosthetic heart valve an ideal candidate for pediatric patients who would otherwise need multiple valve replacement surgeries to implant successively larger heart values to accommodate growth.

08:03 EDT AbbVie provides update on Phase 3 Study of ibrutinib - AbbVie (ABBV) announced an update on a Phase 3 study of ibrutinib in untreated diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, an aggressive form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. IMBRUVICA is a first-in-class Bruton's tyrosine kinase inhibitor jointly developed and commercialized by Pharmacyclics LLC, an AbbVie company, and Janssen Biotech (JNJ). IMBRUVICA has been available in the U.S. since 2013 and is FDA-approved for use in five B-cell blood cancers, as well as in chronic graft-versus-host-disease for a total of eight FDA-approved indications. The DBL3001 study evaluated the addition of ibrutinib to a chemotherapy regimen consisting of five different agents used in combination - rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone - versus R-CHOP plus placebo. R-CHOP is the current standard of care in newly diagnosed DLBCL patients and provided as a first-line therapy for most patients today. The study was conducted in a subset of untreated DLBCL patients identified to have the non-germinal center B cell or activated B-cell subtypes of this disease. Patients identified with non-GCB or ABC subtypes typically have poorer treatment outcomes and have greater unmet medical need. At conclusion of the study, data collected found that ibrutinib plus the chemotherapy regimen, R-CHOP, was not superior to R-CHOP alone, and that the study did not meet its primary endpoint of improving event-free survival in the targeted patient population. However, clinically meaningful improvements were observed in a patient sub-population that warrant further analysis. Full results from this study will be presented at an upcoming scientific conference and published in a peer-reviewed medical journal.

07:55 EDT Gridsum renews contract with SAIC Volkswagen - Gridsum (GSUM) has renewed its contract with SAIC Volkswagen Automotive, an automobile manufacturing company headquartered in Anting, China and a joint venture between Volkswagen (VLKAY) and SAIC Motor. SAIC VW engaged Gridsum in 2016 to transform their digital marketing strategies using Gridsum's Marketing Automation Suite.

07:47 EDT Jacobs Engineering awarded feasibility study contract by Equinor Energy - Jacobs Engineering was awarded a feasibility study contract from Equinor Energy to evaluate the possibilities for building a hydrogen production plant, including CO2 capture and export facilities, in Eemshaven, the Netherlands. The hydrogen will be supplied as fuel to an existing natural gas-fired power plant that will be converted into a hydrogen-fueled power plant designed to lower the plant's carbon emissions at a large scale. The study performed by Jacobs will focus on the objective of selecting the most effective reformer technology for hydrogen production together with a suitable CO2 capture technology. The first of three Magnum plant units should be converted to run on natural gas by early 2024.

07:35 EDT PAVmed announces Shaun O'Neil as CCO - PAVmed (PAVM) announced that it has named Shaun O'Neil to serve as its first CCO. O'Neil will oversee all aspects of the domestic and international commercialization of PAVmed's products including sales and marketing, clinician engagement and professional education. He will officially assume his role on July 23 reporting directly to Lishan Aklog, PAVmed's chairman and CEO. O'Neil brings to PAVmed more than 15 years of sales and marketing leadership, and product and business development expertise in both startup and established companies, including a particularly "strong" track record in growing sales and increasing market share for innovative medical devices. Most recently he served as regional sales manager for AngioDynamics (ANGO) peripheral vascular division, where he oversaw multiple territory managers and clinical specialists. He was responsible for multiple product launches and was a recipient of sales and performance awards.

07:33 EDT Moleculin Biotech expands operations to Australia - Moleculin Biotech announced it has formed Moleculin Australia Pty. Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary to oversee preclinical development in Australia. "The Australian government provides a very aggressive incentive for research and development carried out in their country," said CEO Walter Klemp. "For companies like Moleculin with less than $20,000,000 AUD group turnover, it can amount to a rebate of up to 43.5% of qualified R&D expenditures. Having an Australian subsidiary provides a great opportunity to speed up preclinical development and reduce the overall cost of our continued drug development efforts."

07:32 EDT Corium announces issuance of patent for Corplex Donepezil Transdermal System - Corium International announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued a new key patent related to the company's Corplex Donepezil Transdermal Delivery System, a once-weekly patch that delivers the most commonly prescribed medication for Alzheimer's patients. U.S. Patent No. 10,016,372 provides coverage of methods of administering donepezil through the skin to achieve safe, effective and sustained delivery of the drug for a 7-day wear period. As previously announced, the Corplex Donepezil TDS has achieved positive results in clinical bioequivalence testing, and Corium is preparing to file a New Drug Application in early 2019 for the product based on these results. The new patent is eligible for listing in the FDA Orange Book, and its life extends at least to July 2037. Corium has several additional pending patent applications relating to various aspects of Corplex Donepezil, as well as similar products.

07:16 EDT Garmin flight deck selected for supersonic fleet of F-5 aircraft - Garmin announced the selection of a tandem Garmin integrated flight deck by Tactical Air Support for its fleet of supersonic F-5 fighter aircraft. This configuration, which consists of a G3000 flight display and dual Garmin touchscreen controllers, has an open architecture design that integrates with typical mission equipment and hardware so pilots experience a single integrated cockpit system. Utilizing this rapidly deployable solution, the first flight of the Garmin-equipped F-5 is expected later this year.

07:12 EDT Pershing Gold files NI 43-101 compliant feasibility study for Relief Canyon - Pershing Gold has filed on SEDAR its NI 43-101 compliant Feasibility Study report for the Relief Canyon mine.

07:10 EDT Bristol-Myers' Opdivo approved for MSI-H/dMMR metastatic colorectal cancer - Bristol-Myers announced Opdivo - nivolumab - 3 mg/kg plus low-dose Yervoy - ipilimumab - 1 mg/kg injections for intravenous use received approval from the FDA for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients 12 years and older with microsatellite instability high or mismatch repair deficient metastatic colorectal cancer that has progressed following treatment with a fluoropyrimidine, oxaliplatin and irinotecan. Approval for this indication has been granted under accelerated approval. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials. The application was granted Priority Review and Breakthrough Therapy Designation by the FDA. Among the 82 patients who received prior treatment with a fluoropyrimidine, oxaliplatin and irinotecan, 46% responded to treatment with Opdivo + Yervoy. The percentage of these patients with a complete response was 3.7%, and the percentage of patients with a partial response was 43%. Among these 38 responders, the median DOR was not reached; 89% of those patients had responses of six months or longer, and 21% had responses of 12 months or longer. This trial is ongoing. Among all enrolled patients, 49% responded to treatment with Opdivo + Yervoy; 4.2% experienced a complete response, while 45% experienced a partial response. Opdivo was discontinued in 13% of patients and delayed in 45% of patients due to an adverse reaction. Serious adverse reactions occurred in 47% of patients. The Opdivo + Yervoy combination is also approved in two other tumor types, advanced renal cell carcinoma and unresectable or metastatic melanoma. Continued approval for these accelerated approval indications may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in the confirmatory trials.

07:05 EDT Asterias announces positive outcome from Safety Review Committee for AST-VAC2 - Asterias Biotherapeutics announced that the Safety Review Committee for the first clinical trial of AST-VAC2, held a scheduled meeting to review the safety and tolerability data generated in the first patient enrolled in the study and recommended continuation of the study and moving to parallel enrollment of the second and third patients in the advanced cancer cohort, as planned per the study's protocol. This initial clinical trial, which is being sponsored, managed and funded by Cancer Research UK under a collaboration between Asterias and Cancer Research UK, will examine the safety and tolerability of AST-VAC2 in non-small cell lung cancer as the study's primary endpoints. Secondary and tertiary endpoints of the study include evaluations of the immunogenicity of AST-VAC2 in NSCLC. "Based on its review of all available study data after five doses in the first patient, the Safety Review Committee's recommendation to continue the trial without modification reaffirms our belief that AST-VAC2 is safe and well-tolerated," said CMO Edward Wirth."The committee concluded that the trial can proceed as planned per protocol - an important step as we continue the clinical development of AST-VAC2." The Safety Review Committee reviewed all of the accumulated safety data generated to date for the first patient in Arm A, who by the time of the review had received five, weekly doses of 10 million AST-VAC2 cells. As specified in the AST-VAC2 clinical trial protocol, the Safety Review Committee meets on a dosing-driven basis to review safety and tolerability data from the ongoing trial.

07:03 EDT OCHWW names Samantha Dolin chief creative officer - Ogilvy CommonHealth Worldwide, a WPP Health & Wellness company, announced that creative lead Samantha Dolin will join the agency July 16 as chief creative officer, North America, where she will oversee the agency's New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Canadian-based offices. In her new role as CCO, Dolin will apply her collective expertise and work with the creative team in place to help set the standard for creative excellence and drive the strategic creative vision for client brands and the agency as a whole. Dolin comes to OCHWW following a successful tenure of seven years at Evoke Health, where she most recently served as EVP, executive creative director and oversaw a large book of business including agency of record accounts, digital agency of record accounts, and launch brands.

07:02 EDT Advanced Voice Recognition Systems files infringement complaint against Apple - Advanced Voice Recognition Systems announced that it has filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court-Northern District for Arizona against Apple for infringement of U.S. Patent No. 7,558,730 entitled "Speech Recognition and Transcription Among Users Having Heterogeneous Protocols." The '730 Patent is the first of AVRS' family of patents in the field of speech recognition and transcription The complaint asserts that Apple's Siri, a voice-activated intelligent assistant which provides, among other things, voice recognition and natural language understanding solutions, and which is included in many Apple products such as the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, the Apple HomePod and the iOS, macOS, watchOS and tvOS operating systems, infringes the '730 Patent. The complaint alleges that Apple has been aware of the '730 Patent since at least 2013 and has been willfully infringing the patent since then. The lawsuit seeks reasonable royalty damages for Apple's alleged unauthorized use of the '730 Patent and enhanced damages for its alleged infringement of the patent. President and CEO of AVRS, Walter Geldenhuys, stated, "We believe our patents are among the most valuable of our assets and we intend to vigorously enforce our rights." Geldenhuys commented that "AVRS offered Apple a license to the '730 Patent but Apple refused to take one and we felt that this left us no choice but to file a lawsuit."

06:47 EDT Corindus names Aquilla S. Turk as Chief Medical Officer, Neuroendovascular - Corindus announced that Aquilla Turk has joined the company as Chief Medical Officer, Neuroendovascular. Turk is a practicing physician at the Medical University of South Carolina where he serves as Director of the Stroke and Cerebrovascular Program, Director of the Neuroendovascular Program, and Professor with a joint appointment in the Departments of Radiology and Neurosurgery. Turk will serve alongside Aaron Grantham, Corindus' Cardiovascular CMO, to spearhead the company's clinical initiatives and expand robotic treatment into neurovascular procedures, specifically targeting acute ischemic stroke. In addition to Turk's appointment, Corindus has established a Physician Steering Committee dedicated to Neuroendovascular Procedures, which will be led by Turk.

06:44 EDT Glencore establishes committee for response to U.S. subpoena - On 3 July 2018, Glencore announced that a subsidiary had received a subpoena from the United States Department of Justice to produce documents and other records with respect to compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and United States money laundering statutes. The requested documents relate to the Glencore Group's business in Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Venezuela from 2007 to present. A committee of the Board has been established to oversee the Company's response to the DOJ's subpoena. This committee comprises the Chairman, Tony Hayward, Leonhard Fischer, Independent Non-Executive Director, and Patrice Merrin, Independent Non-Executive Director. Chairman Tony Hayward said, "Glencore takes ethics and compliance seriously throughout the Group. The Company will cooperate with the DOJ, while continuing to focus on our business and seeking to maximise the value we create for our diverse stakeholders in a responsible and transparent manner."

06:34 EDT Travelers outlines framework for autonomous vehicle insurance - The Travelers Institute, the public policy division of The Travelers Companies, yesterday released a white paper, "Insuring Autonomy: How auto insurance can adapt to changing risks," at the 2018 Automated Vehicles Symposium. The white paper presents Travelers' assessment of the existing auto insurance structure, both personal and commercial, in the context of resolving claims and providing fair compensation to accident victims as vehicles become more autonomous. "With the increasing adoption of semi-autonomous vehicles and the potential for fully autonomous vehicles, several policy-related questions and challenges are beginning to emerge," said Michael Klein, Executive Vice President and President, Personal Insurance at Travelers. "It's important that the insurance industry play a central role in policymaking discussions to develop a uniform legal and regulatory framework for autonomous vehicles. Ensuring that a clear risk transfer mechanism is in place will help facilitate the development of autonomous vehicles and the improved safety we expect they will bring to our roads." Among other things, the white paper offers the following recommendations to facilitate an effective auto insurance system: Develop a model state law relating to autonomous vehicle insurance that builds on the current state-based regulatory and oversight structure. Require vehicle owners -- including personal, ride-sharing and company-owned vehicles -- to purchase and maintain adequate insurance. Provide for sufficient coverage to account for the more expensive technology used in autonomous vehicles. Establish strong cybersecurity requirements for autonomous vehicles, including appropriate data-sharing protocols. Utilize insurers' extensive consumer communication programs to help educate customers and the public on autonomous vehicle safety. Ensure representation of the insurance industry in policymaking and stakeholder forums.

06:21 EDT Microsoft confirms new Surface Go tablet with 10-inch screen - Microsoft (MSFT) on Tuesday announced the new Surface Go tablet. Microsoft says, the "new Surface Go is perfect for all your daily tasks, giving you laptop performance, tablet portability, and a stunning touchscreen with the power of Windows 10. Surface Go Signature Type Cover and Surface Pen sold separately." The starting price for the new tablet is $399. It is available for preorder starting July 10 and will ship in August. The Fly notes that the new tablet will compete with Apple's (AAPL) least expensive iPad. Reference Link

06:02 EDT Roadrunner to evaluate financing alternatives - Roadrunner Transportation Systems confirmed that the company is now current with SEC filing requirements after filing on June 29, 2018, its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2018. The company expects to file its second quarter Form 10-Q and future filings on a timely basis. The company reported positive comparable trends in its Truckload & Express Services and Ascent Global Logistics segments in the first quarter of 2018 versus the first quarter of 2017. The company expects continued positive trends in these segments in 2018. Roadrunner also expects sequential quarterly improvement in LTL operating results in the 2018 second quarter and anticipates improvements in operating trends in the second half of 2018 compared to the first half. Roadrunner also announced today that a special committee of its board of directors, consisting solely of independent directors, has been appointed to review and evaluate the company's financing alternatives. In connection with this evaluation, the company has engaged Barclays Capital to provide financial advice regarding the company's capital structure and to provide financial advisory services in connection with the strategic development of the company's business plans. Capital raising alternatives could include a rights offering or other forms of new equity or debt capital. Roadrunner may enter into discussions with its various stakeholders as part of this evaluation. CEO Stoelting said, "Based on our longer-term business plans and focus on driving sustainable returns on invested capital, the company expects to achieve revenue of over $2.2 billion and Adjusted EBITDA of over $100 million by the end of 2020. This represents a 2020 target for Adjusted EBITDA margin similar to the company's restated 2015 revenue and Adjusted EBITDA of $2.0 billion and $93.6 million, respectively. We believe that the structural changes currently being implemented will make future profitability more resilient and better position the company for growth. We plan to work with Barclays to identify the optimal capital structure given our long-term business plans."

05:48 EDT Canadian National investing $315M in Ontario's rail infrastructure in 2018 - CN said it plans to invest approximately $315 million in Ontario in 2018 to expand and strengthen the company's rail network across the province. "We are investing for the long haul with these projects to boost capacity and network resiliency to meet growing demand across our economy," said Michael Farkouh, vice-president of CN's Eastern Region. "Our investments in track and intermodal yard capacity combined with new equipment will help us deliver superior service to our customers in Ontario and North America. Additionally, our substantial investments to renew our existing railway infrastructure underscores our commitment to operating safely." The Ontario investments are part of CN's record $3.4 billion capital program for 2018. They include a new train passing siding in CN's transcontinental corridor through Northern Ontario linking Toronto and Winnipeg, and intermodal rail yard expansions that will improve efficient movement of containers into and out of the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area. Other capital program elements will focus on the replacement, upgrade and maintenance of key track infrastructure to improve overall safety and efficiency.

05:31 EDT 21st Century Fox boosts offer for Sky to GBP 14 or $32.5B - 21st Century Fox (FOXA) and the Independent Committee of Sky PLC (SKYAY) announced that they have reached agreement on an increased recommended pre-conditional cash offer for the fully diluted share capital of Sky which Fox and its affiliates do not already own at a price of GBP 14.00 for each Sky share. The price of GBP 14.00 per Sky share represents an increase of approximately 12% to the Comcast (CMCSA) offer price of GBP 12.50 per Sky share announced on April 25, Fox says in a statement. Under the terms of the increased offer, Sky shareholders will be entitled to receive for each Sky share GBP 14.00 in cash. The increased price includes an amount in lieu of a final dividend in respect of the financial year ended June 30, 2018. It is intended that the acquisition will be implemented by means of a scheme of arrangement under applicable U.K. law. The Sky Independent Committee announced that it intends to unanimously recommend that the Sky shareholders unaffiliated with 21st Century Fox vote in favor of the scheme and take no action in relation to the Comcast offer. Fox currently anticipates that the acquisition will complete in Q3 of 2018. Fox added that the Sky acquisition is not a condition to completion of the Disney (DIS) transaction. Completion of the Sky acquisition will not affect the amount or form of consideration that stockholders of 21st Century Fox receive in the Disney deal, it said. "We strongly believe that a combined 21CF and Sky will be a powerful driver for the continued growth and vibrancy of the UK and broader global creative industries. The enhanced scale and capabilities of the combination will enrich Sky's ability to continue on its mission for years to come, especially at a time of dynamic change in our industry. This transformative transaction will position Sky so that it can continue to compete within an environment that now includes some of the largest companies in the world, but none of whom have demonstrated the same local depth of investment and commitment to the UK and to Europe," added Fox.

05:21 EDT Cedar Fair reports revenues through July 4th weekend about $563M - Cedar Fair reported preliminary net revenues through July 8, 2018, of approximately $563 million, on 11.1 million guest visits, average in-park per capita spending of $45.87 and out-of-park revenues of $70 million. This period represents approximately 40% of the Company's total operating days for 2018. When compared with the same period a year ago, net revenues were down 2%, or $10 million, the result of a 3%, or 314,000-visit, decrease in attendance. This was partially offset by a 3%, or $2 million, increase in out-of-park revenues, including resort accommodations, and a slight increase in average in-park per capita spending when compared with the same period last year.

05:17 EDT Staffing 360 Solutions hires Alicia Barker as COO - Staffing 360 Solutions announced that it has hired Alicia Barker as its COO, effective July 1. Barker has assumed responsibility for the company's operations, human resources and communications and will report directly to Brendan Flood, STAF 360's Chairman and CEO. Barker has been providing consulting services to STAF 360 since December 2017 and has been working with its management team on the restructuring of the business into three distinct business streams; Commercial Staffing (US), Professional Staffing (UK) and Professional Staffing (US) - and the identification and hiring of Presidents for each of these business segments.

05:11 EDT Systemax receives irrevocable binding offer from Bechtle to acquire Inmac Wstore - Systemax announced it has received an irrevocable binding offer from Bechtle AG to acquire Inmac Wstore, Systemax's France-based IT value added reseller business. Pursuant to the offer, Systemax has the right to sell Inmac Wstore to Bechtle on the terms specified in the offer, and it has granted Bechtle exclusivity for a limited period. Pursuant to applicable French law, acceptance or rejection of the offer by Systemax will only follow consultation with Inmac Wstore's works council, which is expected to take up to several weeks. Upon conclusion of the works council consultation and if the offer is accepted by Systemax, it is expected the parties would enter into a definitive agreement, at which time additional details would be disclosed. The proposed sale would then be subject to customary closing conditions and deliverables, including receipt of France regulatory approvals, and it would be expected to close in late 2018. Disclosure of this offer at this time allows Bechtle to fulfill its disclosure obligations in Germany.