Stockwinners Market Radar for July 19, 2018 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

20:04 EDT Cadence Design announces Sigrity 2018 release - Cadence Design announced its Cadence(R) Sigrity 2018 release, which includes new 3D capabilities that enable PCB design teams to accelerate design cycles while optimizing cost and performance. A unique, 3D design and 3D analysis environment integrating Sigrity tools with Cadence Allegro technology provides a more efficient and less error-prone solution than current alternatives utilizing third-party modeling tools, saving days of design cycle time and reducing risk. In addition, a new 3D Workbench methodology bridges the gap between the mechanical and electrical domains, allowing product development teams to analyze signals that cross multiple boards quickly and accurately. Since many high-speed signals cross PCB boundaries, effective signal integrity analysis must encompass the signal source and destination die, as well as the intervening interconnect and return path including connectors, cables, sockets and other mechanical structures. Traditional analysis techniques utilize a separate model for each piece of interconnect and cascade these models together in a circuit simulation tool, which can be an error-prone process due to the 3D nature of the transition from the PCB to the connector. In addition, since the 3D transition can make or break signal integrity, at very high speeds designers also want to optimize the transition from the connector to the PCB or the socket to the PCB. The Sigrity 2018 release enables designers to take a holistic view of their system, extending design and analysis beyond the package and board to also include connectors and cables, all of which can impact optimization of the high-speed interconnect. An integrated 3D design and 3D analysis environment allows PCB design teams to optimize the high-speed interconnect of PCBs and IC packages in the Sigrity tool and automatically implement the optimized PCB and IC package interconnect in Allegro PCB, Allegro Package Designer, or Allegro SiP Layout without the need to redraw. Until now, this has been an error-prone, manual effort requiring careful validation. By automating this process, the Sigrity 2018 release reduces risk, saves designers hours of re-drawing and re-editing and can save days of design cycle time by eliminating editing errors not found until the prototype reaches the lab. This reduces prototype iterations and potentially saves hundreds of thousands of dollars by avoiding re-spins and schedule delays.

19:28 EDT Comstock Resources acquires Haynesville shale assets for $31M - Comstock Resources, Inc. announced that it was the successful bidder on Package 2 - North Louisiana Properties at an auction held July 17, 2018, that was conducted under the Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings of Enduro Resource Partners LLC, et. al. The North Louisiana properties consist of approximately 21,000 gross acres (9,900 net) primarily in Caddo and DeSoto Parishes in Louisiana. Comstock bid $31.0 million, subject to purchase price adjustments, for the properties which include 120 (26.2 net) producing natural gas wells, 49 (14.7 net) of which produce from the Haynesville shale. Current net production from the properties being acquired is approximately 26 million cubic feet per day of natural gas following the recent completion of four (1.1 net) long-lateral Haynesville shale wells. The acquisition, which is subject to the issuance of a Final Sales Order by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, will have an effective date of January 1, 2018, and an anticipated closing date of July 31, 2018. Comstock estimates that it is acquiring 288 Bcfe of proved reserves which are 12% developed. Comstock has identified 112 (31.0 net) potential drilling locations on this acreage, 21 (17.9 net) of the future locations would be operated by Comstock.

19:04 EDT On The Fly: After Hours Movers - UP AFTER EARNINGS: Celanese (CE) up 6.2%... Limelight Networks (LLNW) up 4.3%... Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) up 3.8%... Microsoft (MSFT) up 3.3%... Skyworks Solutions (SWKS) up 2.6%... Capital One (COF) up 2.1%... E*Trade (ETFC) up 0.2%. ALSO HIGHER: PTC Therapeutics (PTCT) up 7.8% after acquiring Agilis Bio... Redwood Trust (RWT) up 7.0% after entering S&P SmallCap 600 index... American Electric (AEP) up 1.5% after Goldman Sachs upgrade... WEC Energy Group (WEC) up 1.3% after Goldman Sachs upgrade. DOWN AFTER EARNINGS: Skechers (SKX) down 24.4%. ALSO LOWER: FTD Companies (FTD) down 15.9% after CEO resignation and review of strategic alternatives... Zynebra Pharma (ZYNE) down 18.4% after equity offering.

18:32 EDT Lancet study shows benefit of Baricitinib 4 mg for treatment of SLE - Eli Lilly (LLY) and Incyte (INCY) announced that results of a global systemic lupus erythematosus, or SLE, Phase 2 study for baricitinib were published by The Lancet. The study, the first completed Phase 2 study of a JAK inhibitor in SLE, showed that a statistically significant proportion of patients treated with 4 mg of baricitinib achieved resolution of their SLE-related arthritis or rash compared to placebo at week 24, the primary endpoint for the trial. Lilly plans to initiate Phase 3 trials to evaluate the safety and efficacy of baricitinib for the treatment of SLE in the second half of 2018. In the study, 314 patients were randomized 1:1:1 to receive placebo, baricitinib 2 mg or baricitinib 4 mg. Patients treated with 4 mg of baricitinib experienced improvements compared to placebo on several pre-specified secondary endpoints. Compared to placebo, a statistically significant greater proportion of patients treated with 4 mg of baricitinib experienced lower overall disease activity at week 24 as measured by the SLE Responder Index 4. A statistically significant greater proportion of patients treated with 4 mg of baricitinib achieved a state of low disease activity, as measured by the Lupus Low Disease Activity State, and experienced improvements in pain from baseline, two exploratory endpoints of the study. The percentage of patients stopping therapy through the 24-week treatment period was 21% in the placebo group, 18% in the 2-mg dosing group and 17% in the 4-mg dosing group. The most common treatment emergent adverse events in the baricitinib groups were upper respiratory tract infections, including viral upper respiratory infections, and urinary tract infections. The frequency of serious adverse events was 5% for placebo, 10.5% in the 2-mg dosing group and 9.6% in the 4-mg dosing group; the most common SAEs were serious infections. One case of deep vein thrombosis was reported in the 4-mg dosing group. There were no deaths, malignancies, major adverse cardiovascular events, tuberculosis, or serious herpes zoster infections.

18:02 EDT Microsoft sees Q1 effective tax rate slightly lower - Sees Q1 Productivity/Business processes revenue of $9.25B-$9.45B. Sees Q1 Intelligent Cloud revenue $8.15B-$8.35B. Sees Q1 More Personal Computing revenue $9.95B-$10.25B.

17:57 EDT Microsoft sees improvement in Commercial Cloud in FY19 at more moderate rate

17:55 EDT Microsoft CFO says no impact from FX for FY19 - Says COGS may be impacted by 1pct point.

17:35 EDT Kenon announces Barak Cohen intends to step down as co-CEO - Kenon Holdings announces that Barak Cohen, Co-CEO of Kenon, has informed the Board of Directors of Kenon of his intention to step down as Co-CEO, with effect from September 1. Mr Cohen has been appointed as a member of the Board of Directors of Kenon, with effect from the date of his resignation as Co-CEO. Mr Cohen will also remain a director of Kenon's subsidiary OPC Energy Ltd and Qoros, in which Kenon has a 24% interest.Mr Cohen's transition from day to day management of Kenon as Co-CEO to a Board level supervisory role follows the positive developments in Kenon's businesses in the past twelve months, which have changed the scope of Kenon's businesses. These developments include the transactions related to the new investor in Qoros, the sale of the Inkia power businesses and the IPO of OPC Energy Ltd, all in furtherance of Kenon's strategy. The Kenon Board of Directors thanks Mr Cohen for his service as Co-CEO and welcomes him to the Board. Mr Robert L. Rosen, who is currently Co-CEO of Kenon, will remain as CEO of Kenon following Mr Cohen's resignation.

17:16 EDT Equity Bancshares reports Q2 EPS 44c, consensus 67c - Reports Q2 loan loss provision $750K vs. $628K a year ago. Q2 net charge-offs were a net recovery of $17K vs. net charge-offs of $108K a year ago. Tangible book value per common share was $18.16 at June 30, 2018.

17:12 EDT Intuitive Surgical says still awaiting initial China quota - Says procedure growth led by general surgery. Says substantial opportunity to create surgeon value. Says pleased with Japan customer base and training facilities. Says awaiting initial China quota and atmosphere of trade war talks not helping. Says tariffs do impact suppliers. but the estimated impact is modest in terms of product costs for systems. Says not enough impact to consider passing on costs to customers.

17:10 EDT Twitter appoints Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Robert Zoellick to board - Twitter announced the appointments of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Robert Zoellick to Twitter's board as new independent directors, effective immediately. Marjorie Scardino will be stepping down from the board for personal reasons at the end of the year. "Ngozi and Bob are distinguished leaders with unparalleled global perspective and policy expertise," said Omid Kordestani, executive chairman of Twitter. "We are confident they will be incredible assets to Twitter as we continue to focus on driving transparency and making Twitter a safer, healthier place for everyone who uses our service."

17:03 EDT State Street raises quarterly dividend 12% to 47c from 42c per share - Payable on Monday, October 15 to common shareholders of record at the close of business on Monday, October 1.

17:01 EDT Peabody Energy raises quarterly dividend 10% to 12.5c per share - Peabody announced that its board of directors has declared a quarterly dividend of 12.5c per share on the company's common stock, payable on Aug. 23, 2018 to shareholders of record on Aug. 2, 2018. Today's dividend announcement reflects an increase of nearly 10% over last quarter's dividend per share, in recognition of the company's strong ongoing cash flow generation.

16:58 EDT Arosa Capital reports 9.99% stake in Workhorse Group - The Reporting Persons acquired the securities reported herein for investment purposes in the ordinary course of business. The Company has agreed to appoint a representative designated by Arosa Capital to the Company's Board of Directors. Arosa Capital has designated Michael L. Clark as its designee to the Board.

16:56 EDT Discover announces new $3B share repurchase plan, raises dividend to 40c - Discover announced that its Board of Directors has approved a new $3B share repurchase program and increased the quarterly common stock dividend from 35c to 40c per share. The new share repurchase program expires on January 31, 2020, and may be terminated at any time. This is a five quarter share repurchase program and replaces the prior five-quarter, $2.75B program. The Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of 40c per share of common stock payable on September 6 to holders of record at the close of business on August 23.

16:47 EDT JCO publishes pivotal Phase 3 data for Jazz Pharmaceuticals' Vyxeos - Jazz Pharmaceuticals announced that data from the pivotal Phase 3 study of Vyxeos (daunorubicin and cytarabine) liposome for injection compared to standard of care cytarabine and daunorubicin (7+3) were published online in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. The study evaluated the efficacy and safety of Vyxeos compared to 7+3 in 309 patients who were between 60 to 75 years of age with newly diagnosed therapy-related acute myeloid leukemia (t-AML) or AML with myelodysplasia-related changes, a rapidly progressing and life-threatening blood cancer. The study met its primary endpoint as Vyxeos demonstrated a superior improvement in overall survival compared to the 7+3 treatment regimen. The median overall survival for the Vyxeos treatment group was 9.6 months compared with 5.9 months for the 7+3 treatment group (2-sided p value = 0.005; HR [95% confidence interval] = 0.69 [0.52, 0.90]). Vyxeos was also associated with a significantly higher remission rate than 7+3 with a complete response rate of 38% versus 26%; p=0.036. In addition, the overall rate of hematopoietic stem cell transplant was 34% in the Vyxeos arm and 25% in the 7+3 arm. The reported adverse reactions with Vyxeos were generally consistent with the known safety profile of cytarabine and daunorubicin therapy. Vyxeos was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in August 2017, and is the first FDA-approved treatment specifically indicated for adults with newly-diagnosed t-AML or AML-MRC. Data from the study formed the basis of the FDA application and the Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) to the European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use.

16:42 EDT Ingevity files suit against BASF for infringing on canister systems patent - Ingevity has taken proactive steps to protect and defend its patent covering canister systems used in the control of automotive gasoline vapor emissions.The company today brought a range of legal actions against two companies - BASF Corp., Florham Park, New Jersey, and MAHLE Filter Systems North America, Inc., Murfreesboro, Tennessee - alleging patent infringement. Ingevity's patent covers certain canister systems designed to achieve gasoline vapor emission levels that comply with the most stringent U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Tier 3 and California LEV III regulations. Ingevity's patent rights preclude third parties - including competitors, suppliers, testing facilities and automotive original equipment manufacturers - from engaging in development activities, such as prototype creation, testing, marketing and qualifying, during the life of the patent which is set to expire in March 2022. "Ingevity has invested and is continuing to invest significantly in our automotive gasoline vapor emission control technology," said Michael Wilson, Ingevity's president and CEO. "Our leadership and expertise in this application are unique and it's incumbent upon us to defend our innovations against infringement - including premature development activity - for the benefit of our customers and shareholders. What's more, we continue to build new capacity and develop new patented technologies to help solve our customers' challenges just as we have successfully done for the past four decades." Ingevity's suit against BASF, filed in U.S. District Court in Wilmington, Delaware, alleges that BASF is infringing Ingevity's patent through the development and marketing of a product that would presumably compete with Ingevity's "honeycomb" technology. Ingevity's suit against MAHLE, filed in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Illinois, also alleges that MAHLE has engaged in development activities, as well as the manufacture, marketing and sale of infringing canisters. "We remain confident in the strength of our intellectual property, including this patent and our other patent-protected technologies," said Wilson. "As such, we remain confident in the short- and long-term outlook for this business."

16:33 EDT Spirit of Texas Bancshares to acquire Comanche National Corporation - Spirit of Texas Bancshares announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire through a series of mergers Comanche National Corporation and its subsidiary, Comanche National Bank, in a cash and stock transaction for total consideration valued at approximately $55.9M based on Spirit's closing price of $20.36 per share on July 18. Under the terms of the Agreement, Spirit will issue 2.14M shares of its common stock and pay an estimated $12.2M in cash, after taking into account Comanche's estimated transaction costs and subject to certain other adjustments, to the shareholders of Comanche National Corporation. Comanche shareholders will own approximately 18% of the outstanding capital stock of Spirit once the transaction is complete. The board of directors of each company has unanimously approved the transaction, and certain large shareholders of Comanche have entered into agreements with Spirit pursuant to which they have agreed to vote their shares of Comanche common stock in favor of the transaction. The transaction is expected to close in Q4, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals and the approval of Comanche's and Spirit's shareholders.

16:31 EDT Delta Air Lines, WestJet to create new transborder joint venture - Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) and WestJet (TSX: WJA) have signed a definitive agreement to create a comprehensive transborder joint venture arrangement that will offer customers an extensive route network within the U.S. and Canada. The agreement deepens the existing codeshare partnership between the carriers and follows the signing of a memorandum of understanding in December 2017 announcing the intention to form a joint venture. The joint venture will provide substantial reach into Canada and the U.S. with transborder service to more than 30 cities covering over 95% of U.S.-Canada demand, providing customers of both airlines with more travel choices than ever before. The new JV will also enable Delta and WestJet to compete more effectively against other carriers. Upon receipt of regulatory approvals in Canada and the U.S., Delta and WestJet will work together to implement all aspects of the enhanced cooperation including expanded codesharing, more closely aligned frequent flyer program and reciprocal elite benefits, joint growth across their U.S./Canada transborder network, and co-location at key hubs with more seamless passenger and baggage transit. The agreement will also include the ability to cooperate on cargo accompanying passenger flights as well as corporate contracts.

16:28 EDT First American lowers monthly dividend to 7c from 7.5c per share - The distribution will be payable on August 15, 2018, to shareholders of record as of August 2, 2018. The ex-dividend date is expected to be August 1, 2018.

16:20 EDT Hartford Financial raises quarterly dividend to 30c from 25c per share - The dividend is payable on Oct. 1, 2018, to shareholders of record at the close of business on Sept. 4, 2018.

16:18 EDT FTD Companies explores strategic alternatives, announces CEO to step down - FTD Companie announced that its board has initiated a review of strategic alternatives focused on maximizing stockholder value. The strategic alternatives expected to be considered include, but are not limited to, a sale or merger of the company, FTD continuing to pursue value-enhancing initiatives as a standalone company, a capital structure optimization that may involve potential financings, or the sale or other disposition of certain of the company's businesses or assets. FTD has retained Moelis as financial advisor to assist with its strategic alternatives review. The FTD board also announced that it has appointed Scott Levin, currently FTD's executive VP, general counsel and secretary, as interim president and CEO. Levin succeeds John Walden, who has stepped down from these positions and from FTD's board of directors, effective immediately. FTD also announced a corporate restructuring and cost savings plan, under which it has identified opportunities to optimize its operations, drive efficiency and reduce costs. Under this plan, FTD expects to generate approximately $18M-$23M in annualized run-rate cost savings in 2019, with approximately $4M-$5M in savings expected in the second half of 2018. FTD expects to incur pre-tax restructuring and corporate reorganization costs in the second half of 2018 in connection with the implementation of this plan. The company expects to disclose an estimate of these costs when it reports financial results for Q2. As a result of these corporate restructuring efforts, the COO position held by Simha Kumar has been eliminated, effective immediately. In addition, Jeffrey D. T. Severts, FTD's executive VP and CMO, will be leaving the company following a transition of his marketing responsibilities to Jay Topper. Topper, who joined FTD as CIO in October 2016, has been promoted to the newly expanded role of executive VP and CDO. FTD's floral and gifting general managers will now report directly to the CDO.

16:16 EDT Skyworks raises quarterly dividend by 19% to 38c per share - The dividend is payable on August 28, 2018, to stockholders of record at the close of business on August 7, 2018.

16:15 EDT E-Trade reports Q2 DARTs 258.8K vs. 208.2K last year - Q2 trading days 64.0 vs. 63.0 last year. Q2 total trades 16.6M vs. 13.1M last year. Q2 average commission per trade $7.31 vs. $8.02 last year. Q2 net new brokerage account growth rate 20.3% vs. 4.7% last year. Q2 total customer assets $440.7B vs. $348.2B last year.

16:14 EDT FTD Companies announces CEO John Walden to step down

16:13 EDT FTD Companies initiates review of strategic alternatives

16:11 EDT Microsoft CFO said 'exceptional sales execution' drove growth in all segments - "Exceptional sales execution delivered double-digit revenue growth across all segments and strong progress against our strategic priorities, anchored by commercial cloud revenue growing 53% year-over-year to $6.9 billion," said Amy Hood, executive vice president and CFO of Microsoft.

16:09 EDT Microsoft reports Q4 More Personal Computing revenue $10.8B - Revenue in More Personal Computing was $10.8B and increased 17%, up 16% in constant currency. Windows OEM revenue increased 7%, driven by OEM Pro revenue growth of 14%. Windows commercial products and cloud services revenue increased 23%, up 19% in constant currency, driven by an increased volume of multi-year agreements and the mix of products that carry higher in-quarter revenue recognition. Gaming revenue increased 39%, up 38% in constant currency, with Xbox software and services revenue growth of 36%, up 35% in constant currency, mainly from third party title strength. Surface revenue increased 25%, up 21% in constant currency, driven by strong performance of the latest editions of Surface against a low prior year comparable. Search advertising revenue excluding traffic acquisition costs increased 17%, up 16% in constant currency, driven by higher revenue per search and search volume.

16:09 EDT Capital One CEO says 'we saw credit improvement across our businesses' - "Capital One delivered another quarter of strong financial performance as we continued to invest to grow and drive our digital transformation," said Richard D. Fairbank, Founder, Chairman and CEO. "We saw credit improvement across our businesses, and growth math is now helping overall domestic credit card trends."

16:08 EDT Intuitive Surgical CEO comments on recent clearances of SP surgical system - Commenting on the announcement, Gary Guthart, President and CEO of Intuitive Surgical, said, "We are pleased with our customers' increased use of da Vinci in the second quarter and the financial results that follow. We remain dedicated to working with our customers to deliver superior programs, while continuing to build on our record of innovation - including the recent clearances of our SP surgical system and 3rd generation stapling platform."

16:08 EDT Capital One reports Q2 net interest margin of 6.66%, down 27 basis points - Reports: Efficiency ratio of 47.61%; Efficiency ratio excluding adjusting items was 49.28%; Operating efficiency ratio of 41.7%; Operating efficiency ratio excluding adjusting items was 43.08%.

16:07 EDT SeaChange promotes Marek Kielczewski to CTO - SeaChange promoted Marek Kielczewski to Chief Technology Officer to lead its technology innovation and execution. Kielczewski joined SeaChange in May 2016 through the acquisition of DCC Labs, where as CEO he led DCC Labs through a period of sustained growth over seven years.

16:06 EDT Microsoft reports Q4 Productivity and Business Processes revenue $9.7B - Revenue in Productivity and Business Processes was $9.7B and increased 13%, or 10% in constant currency. Office commercial products and cloud services revenue increased 10%, up 8% in constant currency, driven by Office 365 commercial revenue growth of 38%, up 35% in constant currency. Office consumer products and cloud services revenue increased 8%, up 6% in constant currency, and Office 365 consumer subscribers increased to 31.4M. LinkedIn revenue increased 37%, up 34% in constant currency, with continued acceleration in engagement highlighted by LinkedIn sessions growth of 41%.

16:05 EDT Amgen and Cedars-Sinai partner for improved healthcare quality - Amgen and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center are partnersing to help support the improvement of healthcare quality in the treatment of multiple therapeutic areas that could include oncology, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis and migraine. The organizations intend to jointly undertake research projects in one or more of these therapeutic areas. They also plan to focus on projects that could achieve better clinical outcomes, experience and patient satisfaction. Proposed initial projects under the three-year agreement focus on cancer therapies. The partnership also plans to evaluate various ways to help improve medication adherence through technological or other healthcare solutions.

16:04 EDT 1st Source raises quarterly dividend 31.58% to 25c per share - 1st Source said that, at its July 2018 meeting, its board approved a cash dividend of 25c per common share, up 31.58% from the 19c per common share declared a year ago, and up 4.17% from the 24c per common share in the prior quarter. The cash dividend is payable to shareholders of record on August 6, 2018 and will be paid on August 15, 2018.

16:01 EDT Aeglea appoints Anthony Quinn president, CEO - Aeglea BioTherapeutics announced the appointment of Anthony Quinn as the company's president and CEO, effective immediately. Dr. Quinn has been a member of the company's board since 2016 and had served as interim CEO since July 2017.

16:00 EDT Central Valley Community raises quarterly dividend to 8c from 7c per share - The dividend is payable on August 17, 2018 to shareholders of record as of August 3, 2018.

15:59 EDT Natural Health Trends not commenting on alleged Chinese probe - Contacted by The Fly following reports that Chinese authorities were investigating the company, a spokesperson for Natural Health Trends "declined to comment." In late afternoon trading, shares of Natural Health Trends have dropped over 14% to $20.51.

15:50 EDT General Dynamics Information Technology awarded $553M IDIQ contract - General Dynamics Information Technology, or GDIT, will continue its support of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA's, Research and Development High Performance Computing System, or R&D HPCS. NOAA awarded CSRA LLC, a managed affiliate of GDIT, the $553M indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity, or IDIQ contract. It includes a base period of nine years with one option year. CSRA LLC was awarded the initial contract on May 7, 2010. The new contract was signed on June 14, with a period of performance through June 13, 2028. Under the IDIQ contract, GDIT, through its affiliate CSRA LLC, will provide the labor, materials, high performance computing components and technical expertise required to operate, maintain and enhance NOAA's R&D HPCS.

15:19 EDT Boeing signs President Trump's 'Pledge to America's Workers' - Boeing committed to providing enhanced career opportunities for more than 100,000 current and future U.S. employees over the next five years in support of President Donald J. Trump's "Pledge to America's Workers," the company announced. As part of that pledge, Boeing will offer a combination of increased work-based learning, continuing education, on-the-job training and re-skilling. Heidi Capozzi, senior VP of Human Resources, said, "When we asked our people how best to invest in their learning and development they spoke up loud and clear. We listened and read every single idea that was submitted. Our long-term plans represent a down payment on the future of our employees and tomorrow's technical workforce."

13:38 EDT Jazwares partners with Epic Games to create Fortnite toys - Jazwares, a subsidiary of Alleghany (Y), announced a new partnership with Epic Games to create a wide range of Fortnite toys, in a deal brokered by IMG. Jazwares' new Fortnite branded collection will feature true to game figures, Domez, loot boxes, playsets, environments, game-replica weapons and tools, plush, vehicles, and more. Launching in December 2018, the collection will be available for purchase at retailers around the globe. Epic Games is 40% owned by Tencent (TCEHY) and is part of Disney's (DIS) Accelerator Program.

13:14 EDT Before the Move: Watch Biogen ahead of Alzheimer's data presentation - Biogen will be presenting data from its Alzheimer's disease clinical development portfolio at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Chicago, which will take place between July 22 and 26. Leerink analyst Geoffrey Porges believes data from BAN2401 could drive Biogen's shares $20 down if the company presents a marginal result or $40 up on very positive data. ALZHEIMER'S DATA AT AAIC: Biogen has announced it will present data from its Alzheimer's disease clinical development portfolio at the upcoming Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Chicago. Data being presented are part of Biogen's research programs targeting several of the identified causes of Alzheimer's disease, focusing on early-stage disease. Biogen presentations will include a new analysis from the Phase 1b study of aducanumab, an investigational anti-amyloid beta antibody therapy for mild cognitive impairment and mild dementia due to Alzheimer's disease. Aducanumab is currently being evaluated in two global Phase 3 studies, ENGAGE and EMERGE, which are designed to evaluate its safety and efficacy in slowing cognitive and functional impairment. In addition, Biogen's collaborator Eisai (ESALY) will present topline Phase 2 clinical study results of BAN2401, an anti-amyloid beta protofibril antibody, and data on elenbecestat, a BACE inhibitor. $40 UP, $20 DOWN: In a research note ahead of AACI, Leerink's Porges told investors that Biogen's stock faces "tremendous volatility" around the presentation of BAN2401 data. The analyst's scenario analysis suggests that a marginal result could see Biogen's stock fall to the $334 range, while very positive data could offer upside to about $393. Based on his analysis, the analyst believes that the two most important things to see next week are a sizeable effect on the ADCOMS - Alzheimer's Disease Composite Score - endpoint in the highest dose at 18 months and strong trends toward benefit, perhaps reaching statistical significance, on traditional cognitive measures that are sub-components of the combined ADCOMS endpoint. In his research, Porges found a substantial gap between investors' and physicians' thresholds for a meaningful positive effect in reducing cognitive decline. Investors have suggested that a 20% reduction in the rate of decline would be positive whereas even "amyloid-ologists" in the specialist community suggested that they would need to see higher degrees of benefit to be impressed, he contended. Nonetheless, the analyst pointed out that it seems highly unlikely that the phase 2 BAN2401 study would suffice for regulatory approval without a phase 3 trial, even if cognitive endpoints are met with high significance. It seems more likely to him that, if the data next week are encouraging, Biogen and Eisai will begin planning a phase 3 pivotal study over the next 12 months to maintain BAN2401 as a back-up option to aducanumab ahead of the 2020 readout. Porges reiterated a Market Perform rating and $325 price target on Biogen shares. Meanwhile, his peer at Morgan Stanley told investors that he remains constructive on Biogen into full BAN2401 data. Analyst Matthew Harrison believes an ADCOMS response above investors' expected level of 20% is likely and could drive Biogen's shares up as much as 20%. Harrison reiterated an Overweight rating and $366 price target on Biogen shares. PRICE ACTION: In afternoon trading, shares of Biogen are fractionally down to $358.50. "Before the Move" is The Fly's recurring series of exclusive stories that identify potentially market moving events, along with analyst predictions, ahead of the news.

12:48 EDT Penn National secures approvals from OCCC, LGCB for pending Pinnacle acquisition - Penn National Gaming (PENN) announced that, at separate meetings, the company received approvals from the Ohio Casino Control Commission, or OCCC, and the Louisiana Gaming Control Board, or LGCB, in connection with the company's pending acquisition of Pinnacle Entertainment (PNK), subject to customary conditions. The completion of the proposed transaction is contingent on receipt of additional regulatory approvals, as well as certain other conditions.

12:09 EDT New Jersey American Water signs agreement to purchase Roxbury Water Company - New Jersey American Water announced today it has signed an agreement to acquire the Roxbury Water Company, a family-owned and operated water utility that provides service to nearly 3,900 customer accounts in Morris County, N.J. In addition to growing the company's customer base, the acquisition of this system will help strengthen New Jersey American Water's ability to provide water in the water scarce Highlands Region. Financial and other terms of the sale were not disclosed. New Jersey American Water will complete the acquisition upon approval from the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. New Jersey American Water is a subsidiary of American Water.

12:07 EDT Marriott Vacations says identified disbursements during June totaling $9.9M

12:05 EDT Marriott Vacations says identified fraudulently induced payment disbursements - In a regulatory filing, Marriott Vacations said that during June it identified "fraudulently induced electronic payment disbursements we made to third parties in an aggregate amount of $9.9M resulting from unauthorized third-party access to our email system. Upon detection, we immediately notified law enforcement authorities and relevant financial institutions and commenced a forensic investigation. As a result, we have since recovered $3.2M and expect to recover a significant portion of the remaining $6.7M through recovery of the disbursed funds and applicable insurance coverage. However, this recovery process may take up to several months. We will record a loss of $6.7M in our consolidated financial statements for the second quarter of 2018. Any recoveries will be recorded in our results in the future. Our investigation is ongoing. There is no indication at this time that this event involved access to any of our other systems or data and no other misappropriation of assets has been identified."

11:35 EDT Medtronic starts enrollment in trial for ECG Belt for heart failure therapy - Medtronic announced first enrollments in a new clinical trial evaluating the ECG Belt Research System, ECG Belt, as a diagnostic tool for optimizing cardiac resynchronization therapy, CRT,for patients with heart failure. The first patient enrolled in the ECG Belt for CRT Response trial was at Mercy Medical Center - West Lakes in Des Moines, Iowa, by Troy Hounshell, D.O., Iowa Heart Center. The ECG Belt is investigational and not approved for sale in the United States. ECG Belt for CRT Response is a prospective, randomized, interventional, investigational study that will initially enroll patients in 10 centers across the U.S. The trial will compare patients treated with CRT and ECG Belt diagnostics to patients treated with standard CRT. The study will expand to additional sites worldwide to ensure a total of 400 randomized patients.CRT is an established treatment option for indicated patients with heart failure in which an implantable device sends low levels of energy through thin wires, called leads, to stimulate the lower chambers of the heart to improve its pumping efficiency. The therapy has been demonstrated to improve survival and quality of life, and to reduce hospitalizations."The aim of this technology is to give physicians immediate feedback that may impact clinical decision making at the time of implant and also during follow-up visits," said Dr. Hounshell, electrophysiologist at Iowa Heart Center, and the site's principal investigator in the study. "By pairing CRT with the ECG Belt, we have the potential to provide a more personalized and noninvasive approach to help heart failure patients."

11:04 EDT CT, Prologis complete $47M sale of two buildings in Northern California - CT has sold two newly-constructed industrial buildings at its NorCal Logistics Center in Stockton, Calif. to Prologis for $47M. The two buildings total 575,127 square feet and mark the initial completion of CT's three-building Phase I development of the larger 4.4 million-square-foot NorCal Logistics Center. Prologis paid approximately $82 per square foot for the buildings, which were unleased and in shell condition at closing. CT was represented in the sale by Kevin Dal Porto, Blake Rasmussen and John McManus of Cushman & Wakefield; Prologis was self-represented.

10:49 EDT Liberty Expedia Holdings (Series B) trading resumes

10:36 EDT Cisco rises as Amazon denies plans to build rival hardware - Shares of Cisco (CSCO) are on the rise after Amazon (AMZN) said it is not planning to start selling network switches to other businesses. Piper Jaffray analyst James Fish sees the confirmation by the e-commerce giant as removing the potential shadow of Amazon on the networking space, with Cisco's main challenge remaining around Arista Networks (ANET) taking market share and shifting its business model toward software. AMAZON NOT AIMING TO SELL NETWORK SWITCH: Amazon has officially denied that AWS plans to start selling network switches to other businesses, according to MarketWatch. "Cisco and AWS have a longstanding customer and partner relationship, and during a recent call between Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins and AWS CEO Andy Jassy, Andy confirmed that AWS is not actively building a commercial network switch," a Cisco Systems spokesman had told the publication, a statement later confirmed by an AWS spokeswoman. Last week, The Information's Wayne Ma and Kevin McLaughlin had reported that the e-commerce giant's cloud unit was considering selling its own networking switches for business customers. The report, which cited a person with direct knowledge of the unit's plans and another person who has been briefed on the project, said AWS' plans could pose "a direct challenge to incumbents in the business-like Cisco." PIPER SAYS FEARS 'OVERBLOWN AS SUSPECTED': In a research note to investors following Amazon and Cisco's confirmation that the former is not entering the network switching market as previously speculated, Piper Jaffray's Fish argued that the new information removes the potential "shadow of Amazon on the space," making second quarter earnings more about the fundamentals than competitive hype. The analyst noted that he continues to recommend Cisco and Arista as his top networking picks as he had suspected the fears were "overblown" around Amazon. Additionally, Fish pointed out that whitebox switching has consistently represented less than 3% of the overall switching market and has not had as large of an impact as many suspected. Overall, with the removal of the Amazon threat for now, Cisco's main challenge remains around Arista Networks taking market share and shifting its business model towards software, he contended. WHAT'S NOTABLE: Commenting on the first media report pointing to a potential Amazon entry into the network switch space, JPMorgan analyst Samik Chatterjee previously argued that Arista, Cisco and Juniper Networks' (JNPR) underperformance was "largely led by panic," as the overall financial implication of AWS' supposed entry into the networking equipment market on branded switch manufacturers would be limited. The piece of data center capital spending from large enterprise customers that AWS was thought to potentially target is only a $2.5B opportunity relative to the $12B data center switching and $16B campus switching market, Chatterjee said. PRICE ACTION: In morning trading, shares of Cisco have gained about 1% to $42.57, while Arista's stock has gained over 2% to $280.29. Shares of Juniper are fractionally down to $28.11.

10:25 EDT PPG directors approve 7% dividend increase to 48c per share - The board of directors of PPG approved a 3c per share increase in the company's dividend, declaring a regular quarterly dividend of 48c per share, payable Sept. 12 to shareholders of record Aug. 10. "This 7% increase in our per-share quarterly dividend is a reflection of the strong cash generation of our business portfolio and reaffirms our commitment to reward our shareholders with sustainable dividend increases," said Vince Morales, PPG SVP and CFO.

10:02 EDT B. Braun to acquire bloodlines business of NxStage Medical, terms not disclosed - B. Braun Medical has signed an agreement to acquire the bloodlines business operated under the Medisystems name by NxStage Medical. The acquisition is subject to Federal Trade Commission approval and contingent upon the closing of the pending merger of NxStage with a subsidiary of Fresenius Medical Holdings. The B. Braun acquisition of the bloodlines business is expected to take place in 2018.

10:00 EDT Alcoa falls -6.1% - Alcoa is down -6.1%, or -$2.93 to $45.03.

10:00 EDT GATX rises 9.8% - GATX is up 9.8%, or $7.58 to $84.87.

10:00 EDT Dominion Midstream rises 33.3% - Dominion Midstream is up 33.3%, or $4.55 to $18.20.

09:49 EDT AbbVie falls after Citron puts $60 price target on shares - Citron Research just tweeted, "$ABBV the next great drug short. TGT price $60 Gottlieb's comments for biosimilars and the removal of safe harbor is a DIRECT hit on Abbvie's abuse of Humira. Citron to release a series of reports detailing the Dirty Money. POTUS, AMZN, and now FDA on the case $60 in 12 months." Shares of AbbVie are down 4%, or $4.14, to $90.26 in morning trading.

09:47 EDT Tribune Media falls -6.7% - Tribune Media is down -6.7%, or -$2.30 to $31.80.

09:47 EDT Berkshire Hills Bancorp rises 8.5% - Berkshire Hills Bancorp is up 8.5%, or $3.45 to $44.25.

09:47 EDT Dominion Midstream rises 33.7% - Dominion Midstream is up 33.7%, or $4.60 to $18.25.

09:34 EDT Trump says EU has 'taken advantage' of U.S. after Google fine - President Trump tweeted this morning, "I told you so! The European Union just slapped a Five Billion Dollar fine on one of our great companies, Google. They truly have taken advantage of the U.S., but not for long!"

09:28 EDT Boeing announces $100B in orders and commitments at Farnborough Airshow - Boeing strengthened its position as the global leader of the aerospace industry, booking historic orders and showcasing its innovation and strategy for growth at the Farnborough International Airshow. At the close of the industry portion of the show, Boeing announced a total of $98.4B in orders and commitments for commercial airplanes at list prices and $2.1B in commercial and defense services orders and agreements. At the show, Boeing also revealed its 2018 Commercial Market Outlook, raising its 20-year outlook for commercial airplanes and services to $15.1T. The global market is forecast at almost 43,000 new airplanes, valued at $6.3T, and demand for $8.8T worth of commercial services through 2038. The strength of the cargo market, noted in the CMO, was underscored by more than 50 freighter orders and commitments at the show. During the show, Boeing also announced its collaboration with artificial intelligence company SparkCognition to deliver unmanned aircraft system traffic management solutions. This announcement coincided with the launch of Boeing NeXt, an incubator organization for future commercial mobility solutions that will shape the emerging world of travel and transport. Boeing NeXt will leverage the company's research and development activities and investments in areas such as autonomous flight, smart cities and advanced propulsion, and address transportation challenges of the future by moving people and goods with proven technology. Boeing also highlighted its commitment to future aerospace innovators with a $5M investment in Newton Europe to launch Science, Technology, Engineering and Math education "Newton Rooms" across nine European countries.

09:25 EDT Philip Morris CFO says IQOS tracking below initial expectations for 2018 - Says plans to introduce next-generation IQOS devices. Says there has been "confusion" in Korea among adult consumers regarding heated tobacco products, cites government discussions on graphic health warnings for the products and the Korean FDA's "mischaracterization" of the tar generated by the products. Says KFDA has risked "confusing millions of people into thinking that heated tobacco products are as harmful as cigarettes." Says has comprehensive plans in place to "ensure that the confusion dissipates." Comments taken from the Q2 earnings conference call. Shares of Phillip Morris are down 4% in pre-market trading.

09:21 EDT BioPharmX granted CARC waiver by FDA for acne candidate BPX-01 - BioPharmX announced that the FDA has waived its requirement for a dermal carcinogenicity study for BPX-01, eliminating several years of non-clinical research normally required for FDA review. BPX-01, a novel topical gel formulation of minocycline for the treatment of inflammatory acne, received the waiver based on the results of a 39-week dermal minipig toxicity study conducted by BioPharmX and the extensive safety history of minocycline products including the clinical safety data from the BPX-01 Phase 2 acne studies. The 39-week minipig study with BPX-01 found no pre-neoplastic or hyperplastic changes that might be indicative of carcinogenic potential and the clinical studies were also negative in terms of cutaneous toxicity. The company also released a post hoc analysis of phase 2b data assessing the impact of BPX-01 on the treatment of acne vulgaris in women. It found that female subjects outperformed the overall study population in the Investigator Global Assessment outcomes. A higher proportion of subjects in the female subgroup demonstrated a clinically relevant improvement in acne severity.

09:15 EDT Dominion Midstream jumps after FERC modifies gas pipeline tax law-related rule - Shares of Dominion Energy (D) and Dominion Energy Midstream Partners (DM) are rising in pre-market trading after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission announced last night that it took final action to facilitate the pass through of the tax reductions provided by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act signed into law on December 22, 2017, and ensure natural gas pipeline rates remain just and reasonable. "Today's final rule modifies the proposal from March, which sought to require interstate pipelines to file a one-time report, called FERC Form No. 501-G, to provide a rough estimate of a pipeline's return on equity before and after the new tax law and changes to the Commission's income tax allowance policies. Although the final rule maintains the requirement to file the FERC 501-G, the final rule makes adjustments to the proposed form, including automatically eliminating the accumulated deferred income tax from a pipeline's cost of service when the form enters a federal and state income tax of zero for pipelines that are non-tax paying entities. This adjustment is consistent with the Order on Rehearing of the Revised Policy Statement in Docket PL17-1-001 issued concurrently with the final rule. The final rule also encourages pipelines to file an addendum to the FERC 501-G to reflect their individual financial situation. In addition to filing the one-time report, the final rule provides interstate natural gas pipelines four options to address changes to the pipeline's revenue requirements as a result of the tax reductions," FERC stated. The final rule also adopts, with clarifying modifications, the procedures proposed for Natural Gas Policy Act section 311 and Hinshaw pipelines to reflect in their jurisdictional rates any rate reductions from the new tax law and changes to the Commission's income tax allowance policies. The final rule takes effect 45 days after publication in the Federal Register. The final rule modifies the proposed implementation schedule to combine the third and fourth groups of pipelines into a single group. The deadline for the first group of pipelines to file their FERC Form No. 501-Gs will be 28 days after the effective date of the final rule, and the deadlines for the second and third groups will each be 28 days after the previous group's deadline. In pre-market trading, Dominion shares are up 1.4% while Dominion Energy Midstream Partners shares have jumped 28%. Reference Link

09:13 EDT T-Mobile launches NB-IoT nationwide - T-Mobile launched its Narrowband Internet of Things, or NB-IoT, service nationwide. T-Mobile is the first to launch NB-IoT in the U.S. and first in the world to launch NB-IoT in the guard bands for "optimal" efficiency. T-Mobile also announced its new partner program, T-Mobile CONNECT, to help IoT solution providers collaborate and bring their products and services to market on T-Mobile's network. Built on the 3GPP standard, NB-IoT is a low power, wide area network LTE-Advanced technology that provides a pathway to 5G IoT and offers many "comparable benefits" like low power usage, long battery life and low device cost. T-Mobile was also first to trial NB-IoT in the U.S. last year.

09:09 EDT QTS Realty Trust solution selected by Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority - QTS Realty Trust entered an agreement to deploy a new disaster recovery solution for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority. The Airports Authority operates Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport, as well as the Dulles Airport Access Highway and the Dulles Toll Road and is constructing the Silver Line Metrorail project in northern Virginia. The Airports Authority selected QTS and its Richmond mega data center to deliver the low latency, geographically dispersed solution to centralize and consolidate the Airports Authority's previous disaster recovery infrastructure and data centers.

09:07 EDT Union Bankshares raises quarterly dividend to 23c per share - Union Bankshares has declared a quarterly dividend of 23c per share. The dividend amount is a 2c, or 10%, increase from the prior quarter's dividend and is a 3c, or 15%, per share increase from the prior year's quarterly dividend level. Based on the stock's closing price of $41.60 on July 18, 2018, the dividend yield is approximately 2.2%. The dividend is payable on August 17, 2018 to shareholders of record as of August 3, 2018.

09:05 EDT Panhandle Oil & Gas acquires mineral, oil and gas properties for $9M - Panhandle Oil & Gas has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire certain mineral acreage and producing oil and gas properties from a private seller for total consideration of $9M cash. The transaction is expected to close within 45 days and will have an effective date of June 1. The acquisition will be funded utilizing the company's bank credit facility, reaffirmed on July 2 at $80M with approximately $40M in current availability. The acquisition consists of 3,126 net mineral acres in the core of the Bakken/Three Forks Play in Williams, McKenzie, Dunn and Divide Counties, N.D.; royalty interest in 94 Bakken and Three Forks producing wells with current net production of 53 Boe per day; royalty interest in 20 Bakken and Three Forks drilled uncompleted (DUC) wells; royalty interest in 194 Bakken and Three Forks undeveloped locations at current spacing. Primary operators include Continental Resources, Crescent Point, Hess, Oasis, Statoil and Whiting. Production and reserves are approximately 66% oil, 17% NGL and 17% gas.

09:04 EDT Avis Budget Group introduces benefits for Amazon customers - Avis Budget Group (CAR) introduced plans to reward Amazon (AMZN) customers with special perks when they rent a car through Avis. Beginning today, Amazon customers who book an Avis vehicle can save money on their rental and receive an Amazon.com Gift Card valued at 10% of their rental price. Later this month, those who book an Avis vehicle using the Avis skill for Amazon Alexa will receive an Amazon.com Gift Card valued at 20%. Gift card value is based on a rental's time and mileage. Applicable to Avis rentals in the United States, with the expectation to launch in other key markets.

09:02 EDT Arthur J. Gallagher acquires Winnipeg-based Belton Boisselle - Arthur J. Gallagher acquired Winnipeg, Manitoba-based Belton Boisselle. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Belton Boisselle is an employee benefits, group retirement, and individual insurance broker and consultant offering group benefit and retirement plans, individual life and living benefits, as well as investment strategies, to clients across Western Canada, primarily in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Roger Belton, Kasey Boisselle and their associates will remain in their current Winnipeg location under the direction of Leslie Lemenager, head of Gallagher's international employee benefits consulting and brokerage operations.

08:57 EDT Fly Intel: Pre-market Movers - HIGHER: Comcast (CMCSA), up 2% after announcing that it does not intend to pursue further the acquisition of the assets Twenty-First Century Fox (FOXA) has agreed to sell to Disney (DIS) and, instead, will focus on its recommended offer for Sky (SKYAY). Disney shares are also up 1% after the news, while Fox Class A shares are down 1%... Danaher (DHR), up 6.5% after the company reported earnings, raised its FY18 earnings view and announced its intention to spin off its Dental segment into an independent, publicly-traded company. UP AFTER EARNINGS: IBM (IBM), up 2.5%... Sonoco (SON), up 2%. DOWN AFTER EARNINGS: Philip Morris (PM), down 5%... American Express (AXP), down 3%... eBay (EBAY), down 8.6%... Domino's Pizza (DPZ), down 4%.

08:44 EDT Recon Technology completes first stage of oily sludge project in Yumen - Recon Technology completed the first stage of its construction of a comprehensive disposal treatment project in Yumen city, Gansu province through its 51% subsidiary, Gansu BHD Environmental Technology, which focuses on oilfield sewage treatment and oily sludge disposal projects. Gansu BHD purchased a 50 year land use right for a 26,235 square meter property to build the Project to serve the oilfield sewage treatment needs of Yumen Oilfield, China's first petroleum production base and a PetroChina subsidiary. The company estimates total investment in the Project to decrease from RMB 100M to RMB 40M. The company expects the Project to be operational by the end of the calendar year 2018 and to generate annual revenues for Gansu BHD of more than RMB 50M, assuming full capacity.

08:43 EDT Hellman & Friedman completes Financial Engines acquisition, stock ceases trading - Financial Engines and Hellman & Friedman announced the successful completion of the acquisition of Financial Engines by funds affiliated with Hellman & Friedman. As part of the transaction, Financial Engines has been combined with Edelman Financial Services. Hellman & Friedman owns a majority interest in Edelman. The acquisition was previously announced on April 30 and closed and became effective. Under the terms of the transaction, Financial Engines stockholders are entitled to receive $45 per share in cash. As a result of the completion of the acquisition, Financial Engines' common stock ceased trading on the NASDAQ Stock Market.

08:38 EDT Genuine Parts CEO says 'optimistic for improved margin trends' - Paul Donahue, President and CEO, commented, "We are pleased to report another quarter of record sales, driven by the favorable impact of strategic acquisitions and improved organic sales trends across our business segments. The positive shift in the underlying sales environment in the automotive business is especially encouraging and, combined with the execution of our plans to drive operating improvement, including plans to address our automotive margin, we are optimistic for improved margin trends as we move ahead." Donahue concluded, "We enter the second half of 2018 excited for the opportunities ahead at GPC. As we move forward with the planned spin-off of our Business Products Group, we remain committed to our core growth and higher-margin global automotive and industrial businesses. To this end, we are focused on the further strengthening of our core sales growth, maximizing the benefits of our acquisitions and effectively reducing our cost structure to improve our operating results and enhance our long-term sales and profit outlook."

08:36 EDT Aevi Genomics Medicine receives 'positive' FDA feedback on AEVI-001 - Aevi Genomic Medicine announced that it received positive feedback from the United States FDA on an improved version of the company's lead development molecule, AEVI-001, identified as AEVI-004. Following 2016 U.S. FDA regulatory guidance on co-crystalization of active drugs, the company created a co-crystal of fasoracetam (AEVI-001) with enhanced physical and chemical properties. The new molecule, AEVI-004, has comparatively greater stability and a higher melting point than AEVI-001. The molecule was engineered to maintain solubility, dissolution and pharmacokinetics substantially similar to AEVI-001. The company has received feedback from the FDA provisionally indicating that AEVI-004 is a co-crystal of AEVI-001 and a novel drug substance. The FDA also provisionally indicated that existing toxicology and pathology studies can support clinical development with AEVI-004. Assuming positive results from the ongoing Phase 2 ASCEND clinical trial, and following minimal bridging preclinical and clinical pharmacological studies requested by FDA, the company anticipates progressing the molecule directly into Phase 3 studies with minimal impact on the program timeline. AEVI-004 is expected to have composition of matter patents extending to 2039 and should be listed as a novel drug substance in the FDA Orange Book.

08:36 EDT Mustang Bio completes pre-IND meeting with FDA for MB-102 - Mustang Bio (MBIO), a Fortress Biotech (FBIO) company focused on the development of novel immunotherapies based on proprietary chimeric antigen receptor engineered T cell, or CAR T, technology, announced today that it has completed a pre-Investigational New Drug, or pre-IND, meeting with the FDA for MB-102. MB-102 is a CAR T therapy in development for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia, or AML, blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm, or BPDCN, and high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome, or MDS. Mustang will continue its efforts on its IND filing to the FDA for MB-102.

08:36 EDT Comcast says does not intend to further pursue 21st Century Fox acquisition

08:34 EDT Kite, Gadeta enter strategic collaboration to develop gamma delta TCR therapies - Kite, a Gilead company, and Gadeta B.V., a privately-held company focused on the discovery and development of novel cancer immunotherapies based on gamma delta T cell receptors, or TCRs, have entered into a strategic collaboration to develop novel gamma delta TCR therapies in various cancers. Under the financial terms, Kite will provide research and development funding for the collaboration and Gadeta will be eligible to receive future payments upon achievement of certain regulatory milestones. In addition, Kite will make an upfront purchase of equity in Gadeta from Gadeta's shareholders and may acquire additional equity in Gadeta upon achievement of certain R&D milestones. Kite will have the exclusive option to acquire Gadeta. Gadeta has developed a proprietary technology to engineer alpha beta T cells with gamma delta TCRs, called TEGs, for the potential treatment of various hematological cancers and solid tumors. This platform has the potential to combine the advantages of conventional T cells, which express alpha and beta TCR chains, with TCRs derived from gamma delta T cells that recognize novel targets in cancer cells, according to preclinical models evaluating the lead TEG candidates. Unlike alpha beta T cells, gamma delta TCRs do not require expression of cell surface proteins for target recognition, and their ability to recognize novel targets under stress or metabolic conditions offer an attractive approach to develop potentially effective cell therapies in solid tumors.

08:33 EDT Interpace Diagnostics expands application of pancreatic cancer test - Interpace Diagnostics Group announced that the company has expanded the application of PancraGEN beyond pancreatic cysts to include both biliary strictures and solid pancreatic lesions while gaining further Guideline support in the marketplace. PancraGEN is the first and only commercially available integrated molecular pathology test for pancreaticobiliary cancers. Since 2015, when the Company first published data from the National Pancreatic Cyst Registry demonstrating PancraGEN's effectiveness compared to standard international guidelines, the Company has been the leader in evaluating pancreatic cysts to determine their likelihood of developing in to cancer. Now the use of PancraGEN is expanded beyond just pancreatic cysts to include solid pancreaticobiliary lesions based on guideline supported use of molecular testing and newly published clinical studies related to use of PancraGEN to diagnose both pancreatic and bile duct cancer. Specifically, the most recent National Comprehensive Cancer Network Guidelines for Hepatobiliary Cancers recommend molecular testing in symptomatic patients with biliary obstruction or abnormality on imaging in order to diagnose the presence of cholangiocarcinoma and to help select a treatment pathway. Furthermore, the most recent American College of Gastroenterology Guidelines for the management of primary sclerosing cholangitis recommend molecular testing in order to exclude the diagnosis of cholangiocarcinoma.

08:31 EDT Mersana Therapeutics trading resumes

08:21 EDT RSP Permian trading halted, news dissemination

08:11 EDT Airbus says Farnborough orders reach 431 aircraft - Airbus announced "strong" commercial aircraft business during the Farnborough Airshow 2018, with successes across its broad product portfolio -- including the new A220 and A330neo families. Airbus came into the show already with 177 Single Aisle and 84 Widebody orders in 2018, complemented by a pre-show order for 60 A220-300s, the latter bringing the pre-show intake. During the show the company won further new business for 431 aircraft -- 93 firm orders and 338 MoUs. These 431 commitments comprise 60 A220-300s, 304 A320 Family aircraft, 42 A330neos and 25 A350 XWBs. Notably, the 42 commitments for the new A330neo includes both the -800 and -900 models. Following these announcements at Farnborough, Airbus increased its grand total for the year to 752 aircraft -- 354 firm orders and 398 MoUs. The 752 commitments in 2018 comprise: 120 A220s; 481 A320 Family; 56 A330 Family, 75 A350 Family and 20 A380s. Eric Schulz, Airbus Chief Commercial Officer said: "Our year to date and our end of show commitments confirm the strong market appetite for all our leading aircraft product families, from our newest member, the 100-150 seater A220, complemented by our A320 Family up to 240 seats, seamlessly connected to our widebody family with the all-new A330neo and A350 XWB which span from 250-370 seats. At the top end, our A380 is now opening new opportunities for the second-hand market".

08:11 EDT Ocular Therapeutix announces FDA receives NDA resubmission for Dextenza - Ocular Therapeutix announced that it has received acknowledgement from the FDA that the new drug application, or NDA, for Dextenza has been received. Dextenza is Ocular Therapeutix's lead product candidate for the treatment of ocular pain following ophthalmic surgery. The FDA considers the NDA resubmission as a class 2 response to its July 2017 complete response Letter with a Prescription Drug User Fee Act target date of December 28 for the completion of the FDA's review of the Dextenza.

08:08 EDT Union Pacific CEO sees 'strong business environment' in 2H18 - "Overall, I am pleased with the effort put forth by the entire Union Pacific team; however, I recognize the results could have been better," said Lance Fritz, Union Pacific chairman, president and CEO. "Network performance improved significantly coming out of the First Quarter, but a tunnel outage and train-crew shortages created a headwind in June. I am confident we have the right plans in place to drive improvement in our operations and a better service experience for our customers. Looking to the remainder of the year, we expect the strong business environment to continue as we regain our productivity momentum and improve the value proposition for all of our stakeholders."

08:08 EDT Everbridge appoints iRobot CFO Alison Dean to board - Everbridge (EVBG) announced the appointment of Alison Dean to the Everbridge board. Dean currently serves as executive VP, CFO, treasurer and principal accounting officer at iRobot (IRBT). Dean, who has 30 years of experience in corporate finance, joined iRobot in 2005 to help the company prepare for its public offering and has since played a leading role overseeing a wide variety of areas including global acquisitions, financial planning, corporate finance, and investor relations. During her tenure at iRobot, revenue has grown from $142M in 2005 to $884M in 2017.

08:06 EDT Two River Bancorp lifts quarterly dividend to 5.5c per share from 4.5c per share - Two River Bancorp, the parent company of Two River Community Bank, announced that the board approved a 22.2% increase in its cash dividend, raising the quarterly amount to 5.5c per share of the company's common stock for an annualized amount of 22c per share. This increase compares to the second quarter dividend of 4.5c per share, or an annualized amount of 1.8c per share. Q3 dividend will be paid on August 29, to common shareholders of record at the close of business on August 10.

08:06 EDT IBM Watson Health, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs extend partnership - The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and IBM Watson Health announced the extension of a public-private partnership to apply artificial intelligence to help interpret cancer data in the treatment of Veteran patients. VA's precision oncology program primarily supports stage 4 cancer patients who have exhausted other treatment options. The partnership extension with IBM will enable VA oncologists to continue using Watson for Genomics through at least June 2019.

08:04 EDT SenesTech announces sale of ContraPest to Pestmaster Services - SenesTech announced the sale of ContraPest to Pestmaster Services for the first deployment in California. Pestmaster plans to immediately deploy ContraPest to new and existing customers who have been pre-selected for ContraPest. The order also includes stocking quantities for additional customers yet to be identified.

08:03 EDT Allergan and Molecular Partners report 'positive' Phase 3 results for Abicipar - Allergan and Molecular Partners, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing a new class of drugs known as DARPin therapies, announced the release of two positive clinical trials, SEQUOIA and CEDAR for abicipar, demonstrating that both the 8-week and 12-week treatment regimens met the pre-specified primary endpoint of non-inferiority to ranibizumab. SEQUOIA and CEDAR are identical global phase 3 studies designed to assess the efficacy and safety of abicipar compared with ranibizumab in treatment-naive patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration, or AMD. The primary endpoint measured the proportion of treated patients with stable vision at week 52. In both studies abicipar demonstrated similar efficacy after 6 or 8 injections, compared to 13 ranibizumab injections in the first year of this study. The overall adverse events were similar among the three treatment arms. SEQUOIA and CEDAR clinical trials continue on a masked basis for a second year. The filing for abicipar is planned for 1H19. Allergan will be requesting a meeting with the FDA to discuss the BLA submission.

08:03 EDT GE Transportation secures first locomotive deal in Chile - GE Transportation will supply Chilean private transport provider FCAB - Ferrocarril de Antofagasta with five diesel-electric locomotives in 2019. This is the first deal between the two partners and includes a parts, service and warranty agreement. The locomotives will be assembled at GE Transportation's facility located in Contagem, Brazil.

08:01 EDT Union Pacific reports Q2 operating ratio 63%, up 1.1 points

07:49 EDT Webster Financial sees Q3 NIM up 1-3bps vs. Q2 - Sees Q3 non-interest income up $1M-$3M vs. Q2, sees Q3 net interest income up $4M-$6M vs. Q2. Sees average loans in Q3 up 1%-2% vs. Q2 and average earning assets flat to up 1% vs. Q2. For Q3, Webster sees an efficiency ratio of less than60% and a tax rate of about 20%. Comments from slides that will be presented on the Q2 earnings conference call.

07:39 EDT Novocure announces 13 Tumor Treating Fields presentations at ASTRO - Novocure announced 13 presentations on Tumor Treating Fields at the American Society for Radiation Oncology, or ASTRO. Tumor Treating Fields is a cancer therapy that uses electric fields tuned to specific frequencies to disrupt cell division, inhibiting tumor growth and causing affected cancer cells to die. The volume of Tumor Treating Fields presentations marks a record number of abstracts for Novocure at this conference. Highlights include an analysis of the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group Recursive Partitioning Analysis scores in Novocure's EF-14 phase 3 pivotal trial in newly diagnosed glioblastoma and the first presentation of an analysis of the correlation of dose density and survival outcomes in EF-14. An RPA score is a prognostic tool used to estimate a patient's prognosis.

07:33 EDT Domino's Pizza reports Q2 domestic SSS up 6.9% - Reports Q2 international SSS up 4.0%. The company ended the quarter with 396 domestic company-owned stores and 5,296 domestic franchise stores, down 1 and up 44 stores respectively from Q1 end.

07:11 EDT Target, Shipt launch same-day delivery in Greater New York Metro - Shipt and Target announced they will begin same-day delivery of more than 55,000 groceries, essentials, home, electronics, toys and other products to the Greater New York City metro. Through this partnership, Target plans to offer convenient, same-day delivery of the in-store assortment of groceries, essentials, home, electronics, toys and other products from the majority of its stores by the 2018 holiday season. By the end of the year, the service will be available to 65 percent of U.S. households across 180 markets, reaching a total of 80 million households, and in 2019, same-day delivery will expand to include all major product categories at Target.

07:09 EDT Paramount Gold Nevada receives approval for fifth baseline data report - Paramount Gold Nevada reported that the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries has approved and accepted a fifth baseline environmental report required for the permitting of Paramount's proposed Grassy Mountain Gold Project in eastern Oregon. The Outstanding Natural Areas Baseline Report was submitted to DOGAMI on May 30, 2018 and final approval for the report was received on June 29, 2018. The report evaluated the project area and areas surrounding the project to determine if there were any Outstanding Natural Areas in or surrounding the proposed Grassy Mountain Gold Project. An Outstanding Natural Area is designated as a protected area in the National Landscape Conservation System managed by the Bureau of Land Management. The report and the approval both confirm that there are no Outstanding Natural Areas in the project study area. The proposed Grassy Mountain Gold Project is located on 100%-owned private land and Bureau of Land Management land in Malheur County, Oregon.

07:06 EDT Travelers sees catastrophe losses highest in Q2 - "Turning to weather more broadly, absent a severe hurricane season, we expect catastrophe losses to be highest in the second quarter. Catastrophe losses were $488 million this quarter, approximately $50 million more than we would have expected, but within the range of normal variability. This follows several recent quarters in which catastrophe losses exceeded our historical experience and expectations. Weather is inherently unpredictable, and accordingly, we take a balanced approach to developing conclusions from what happens in a relatively short period of time. As always, the impact of weather on our business has our full attention, and we will continue to use our leading actuarial expertise and the latest in weather modeling to inform our underwriting and pricing decisions."

07:05 EDT Concordia delisting from NASDAQ - Concordia received notification that Nasdaq determined to delist the company's securities from Nasdaq. This comes as a result of Concordia's decision not to submit a plan to regain compliance with NASDAQ Global Select Market's continued listing requirements. As part of Concordia's proposed transaction to realign its capital structure, lenders supporting the transaction have requested that the company delist its common shares from Nasdaq. Concordia's stock was suspended from trading on Nasdaq on June 8 and has not traded on Nasdaq since that time. The delisting becomes effective 10 days after the Form 25 is filed. The company's common shares continue to be listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

07:02 EDT j2 Global completes two acquisitions in Q2, terms not disclosed - j2 Global announced that it completed two acquisitions in the second quarter of 2018. The acquisitions grow the company's global customer base, provide access to new markets and expand j2's product lineup. Terms of the individual acquisitions were not disclosed, and the financial impact to j2 is not expected to be material with respect to those acquisitions.

06:59 EDT Travelers reports Q2 record net premiums written of $7.131B - Up 7% from the prior year quarter, reflecting growth in all segments.

06:56 EDT Comstock Mining updates progress on Dayton gold and silver project - Comstock Mining announced its progress towards, and additional plans for, advancing its Dayton project, which contains the company's second largest gold and silver mineral resource. The company has retained an independent mining advisory firm to produce a NI 43-101 compliant technical report for the Dayton resource area, followed by a Preliminary Economic Assessment during Q4. The 2013 estimate included 8.33 million tons of Measured and Indicated resources, including an additional 8.59 million tons of Inferred resources. The new report will be the first stand-alone, NI 43-101 compliant report for the Dayton resource area. The company previously reported historic assays that identified a continuous zone of mineralization in the Dayton Adit of more than 205 feet of length with an average grade of 0.054 ounces of gold per ton. The discovery of these precious metal grades - 0.25 opt gold and 3.5 opt silver - and now other minerals in just a portion of the newly exposed zone affirms the company's outlook of Dayton's potential.

06:53 EDT PPG says sees no relief from inflationary cost pressures in Q3 - "In the quarter, raw material and logistics costs continued to increase, including the impacts of higher oil prices and the availability of transportation. We are working diligently to offset these cost pressures by collaborating with our customers on selling price initiatives, with our pricing in the quarter increasing more than 2 percent year-over-year. In addition, we initiated a new restructuring program in response to a previously announced customer assortment change in our U.S. architectural coatings business and to further offset cost inflation. We expect that this new restructuring program will deliver annualized savings of approximately $85 million upon full implementation. These savings are in addition to the benefits we are realizing from the restructuring program announced in December 2016. Based on these actions, along with our continued focus on operational excellence, we expect the pace of our margin recovery to accelerate in the second half of 2018. As we look ahead, we currently do not anticipate any relief from inflationary cost pressures in the third quarter. We expect aggregate global economic growth to remain positive with end-use market activity comparable to the second quarter, adjusted for traditionally lower seasonal demand. However, uncertainties exist regarding global trade policies, which may create uneven demand by region and in certain industries. Specific to PPG, we expect that the previously announced architectural customer assortment change will lower our third quarter year-over-year sales volume growth rate by between 120 and 150 basis points. We remain confident that our leading-edge technologies and products, which are bringing value to our customers, will facilitate our growth going forward."

06:42 EDT Independence Contract Drilling enters merger agreement with Sidewinder - Independence Contract Drilling and Sidewinder Drilling jointly announced their entry into a definitive merger agreement pursuant to which ICD will acquire all of the outstanding equity interests in Sidewinder. The merger will combine pad-optimal drilling fleets and operations focused in the Permian Basin, Haynesville region and other basins in Texas and its contiguous states. Upon closing of the transaction, ICD will more than double the size of its pad-optimal rig fleet to 34 rigs following modest upgrades to five Sidewinder rigs. ICD expects to achieve synergies in excess of $8M and believes the acquisition will be accretive to earnings per share, EBITDA per share and cash flow per share. The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals, approval by ICD's stockholders of the issuance of the ICD common stock in the merger transaction and other customary closing conditions. The transaction is expected to close early Q4. Under the terms of the transaction, the Sidewinder unitholders will receive an aggregate of 36,752,657 shares of ICD common stock, representing approximately 49% of the total outstanding shares immediately following the closing of the transaction. ICD also will assume an estimated $50M of Sidewinder net debt at closing. Contemporaneously with the signing of the merger agreement, ICD has received binding commitments for a $130M, secured, 5-year-non-amortizing term loan and a $40M revolving credit facility, both to be entered into at the closing of the transaction. Proceeds from the term loan will be used to refinance both ICD's existing debt and the Sidewinder debt assumed in the transaction. The combined company's board of directors will consist of four existing ICD board members, including ICD's chairman of the Board, Thomas Bates, as well as two members appointed by the controlling owners of Sidewinder. The combined company's board of directors will consist of four existing ICD board members, including ICD's Chairman of the Board, Thomas R. Bates, as well as two members appointed by the controlling owners of Sidewinder. The merger agreement and merger have been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies and have received the requisite approval of the unitholders of Sidewinder.

06:37 EDT Fifth Third reports book value per share $21.97 - Up 1% from 1Q18 and up 8% from 2Q17; tangible book value per share of $18.30 up 1% from 1Q18 and up 7% from 2Q17.

06:37 EDT Fifth Third reports Q2 NIM 3.21% - Up 3 bps from 1Q18 and up 20 bps from 2Q17.

06:32 EDT Snap-On sees 'continued progress' in 2018 - Snap-on expects to make continued progress in 2018 along its defined runways for coherent growth, leveraging capabilities already demonstrated in the automotive repair arena and developing and expanding its professional customer base, not only in automotive repair, but in adjacent markets, additional geographies and other areas, including extending in critical industries, where the cost and penalties for failure can be high. In pursuit of these initiatives, Snap-on expects that capital expenditures in 2018 will be in a range of $90M-$100M, of which $38.6M was incurred in the first six months of the year. Snap-on currently anticipates that its full year 2018 effective income tax rate will be in a range of 24%-25%.

06:31 EDT Trump says 'thank you' to Novartis, Pfizer for not increasing drug prices - President Donald Trump tweeted: "Thank you to Novartis (NVS) for not increasing your prices on prescription drugs. Likewise to Pfizer (PFE). We are making a big push to actually reduce the prices, maybe substantially, on prescription drugs." Reference Link

06:11 EDT Chart Industries CEO sees higher sales, earnings in 2H18 - "Our second quarter results reflect the past three quarters' order strength. With the strength in packaged gas, order activity in Asia, and European LNG vehicle tank and trailer demand, combined with our right-sized cost structure, we expect to see the second half of 2018 at higher sales and earnings levels than the first half of the year," said Jill Evanko, Chart's President and CEO. "The $28 million Hudson order received in the second quarter for a large LNG project is exciting for our Energy & Chemicals segment, as it further demonstrates the strategic value of the combination of Hudson and Chart."

06:07 EDT Amdocs, Openet settle patent dispute - Amdocs and Openet announced that they have settled a patent infringement dispute in the United States Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. As part of the confidential settlement, Amdocs agreed to license certain patents to Openet.

06:06 EDT ImmunoCellular announces agreement on terms of settlement of class action suit - ImmunoCellular Therapeutics announced that it has reached an agreement in principle to settle the securities class action suit, filed on May 1, 2017 in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, captioned Arthur Kaye IRA FCC as Custodian DTD 6-8-00 v. ImmunoCellular Therapeutics, Ltd. et al., Case No. 2:17-cv-03250, against the company, certain of its current and former officers and directors, and others. The tentative agreement, which is subject to final documentation and Court approval, provides in part for a settlement payment of $1.15 million in exchange for mutual releases and the dismissal of all claims against the company and its officers and directors in connection with the securities class action suit. The $1.15 million settlement payment will be fully funded by the company's insurance carrier.

06:05 EDT Atkore CFO James Mallak retiring in January, succeeded by David Johnson - Atkore VP, CFO and CAO James Mallak will retire on January 4, 2019, and David Johnson will join the company as CFO, effective August 13, 2018. Until his retirement date, Mallak will continue in his role as the Chief Accounting Officer reporting to the Atkore CEO, overseeing the Fiscal Year 2018 financial reporting and assisting with the full transition of financial responsibilities. David Johnson was most recently Vice President-Finance & Operations for the Electrical Sector business at Eaton Corporation, where he was responsible for sector financial planning, analysis, and reporting; compliance, credit & collections, government accounting as well as global purchasing, manufacturing strategies, logistics and distribution.

06:03 EDT Danaher to spin off dental business into publicly traded company - Danaher announced its intention to spin off its Dental segment into an independent, publicly-traded company. The transaction is intended to be tax-free to Danaher shareholders and expected to be completed in the second half of 2019. Amir Aghdaei will become president and CEO of DentalCo upon completion of the transaction, and will join DentalCo's board. Aghdaei joined Danaher in 2008 and currently serves as Group Executive with responsibility for the Dental segment. Two other Danaher leaders will join Aghdaei on DentalCo's board while retaining their roles at Danaher: Dan Daniel, Executive Vice President, and Daniel Raskas, Senior Vice President, Corporate Development. In addition, Dan Comas, Danaher's Executive Vice President and CFO, will serve as a special advisor to DentalCo post-spin. DentalCo will be a premier global partner for the dental community, with industry-leading positions and brands providing world-class innovation, service and solutions for customers. DentalCo will be comprised of Danaher's current Dental segment operating companies: Nobel Biocare, Ormco, and KaVo Kerr. The segment generated revenue of nearly $3B in 2017, and is expected to have an investment-grade credit rating and a global team of approximately 12,000 associates. Danaher is targeting to complete the spin-off in the second half of 2019, subject to the satisfaction of closing conditions, including obtaining final approval from the Danaher board, satisfactory completion of financing, receipt of tax opinions, receipt of favorable rulings from the Internal Revenue Service and receipt of other regulatory approvals.

05:54 EDT Canadian Natural announces 1B barrel production milestone at AOSP - Canadian Natural Resources, as operator of the Jackpine and Muskeg River mines at the Athabasca Oil Sands Project, or AOSP, is pleased to announce that the AOSP has achieved a mined production milestone of 1 billion barrels since operations began in 2003.

05:50 EDT Arcadia Biosciences, Shriram Bioseed reach milestone in developing ESL tomatoes - Arcadia Biosciences and Shriram Bioseed announced the achievement of a key milestone in developing Extended Shelf Life, or ESL, tomatoes. Bioseed has field tested Arcadia's ESL technology in multiple tomato hybrid backgrounds in multiple locations and seasons. Significant and consistent improvements in field yield and fruit quality, such as firmness, shelf life and color development, were observed. These new hybrids are in the pre-commercial, wide area field testing stage with anticipated launch in 2019. Because of their perishable nature, many harvested fresh fruits and vegetables spoil and become food waste instead of being consumed. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in the U.S. alone, food waste costs households an estimated $166 billion annually, and tomato food waste costs households $2.3 billion annually. These numbers are small compared to the lost value in the supply chain worldwide. An estimated 20 to 35 percent of tomatoes on average are lost to post-harvest damage in Asia. As the fourth largest producer of tomatoes globally, India represents a significant market opportunity for ESL tomato technology. Using a non-GM advanced screening and breeding technique called TILLING, Arcadia identified genetic variations that allow tomatoes to fully ripen on the vine, yet still remain durable enough to survive the packing and shipping process.

05:47 EDT Novartis announces exclusive license agreement with Galapagos, MorphoSys - Novartis (NVS) announced that it has entered into an exclusive license agreement with biotech companies Galapagos NV (GLPG) and MorphoSys AG (MOR) regarding their compound MOR106. Under the agreement, Novartis acquires the exclusive global development and marketing rights to MOR106 for atopic dermatitis and all other potential indications. Novartis will make an upfront payment of EUR 95 million to Galapagos and MorphoSys, and additional payments, royalties and fees pending achievement of agreed milestones. The closing of the license agreement is subject to the expiration or termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act.

05:18 EDT Signature Bank announces inaugural quarterly cash dividend of 56c per share - "Signature Bank's solid earnings and growth this quarter, coupled with both the positive impact of the $50 billion SIFI mark moving higher and tax reform has enabled us to declare an inaugural quarterly cash dividend of 56c per share to our common shareholders, representing an annualized dividend of $2.24 per share. We are proud of our colleagues who work hard for our clients every day, and we believe those efforts show through in our results and in returns for our shareholders," explained Joseph DePaolo, President and CEO. The dividned is payable on or after August 15, to shareholders of record at August 1.