Stockwinners Market Radar for September 15, 2018 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

11:30 EDT Week in review: How Trump's policies moved stocks - Catch up on the top industries and stocks that were impacted, or were predicted to be impacted, by the comments, actions and policies of President Trump and his administration with this weekly recap compiled by The Fly: 1. JPMORGAN'S DIMON: Following JPMorgan (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon's remarks Wednesday that he could beat Donald Trump in an election because he's "smarter," comments that he quickly walked back, the president issued his response via Twitter on Thursday. Trump tweeted that, "The problem with banker Jamie Dimon running for President is that he doesn't have the aptitude or "smarts" & is a poor public speaker & nervous mess - otherwise he is wonderful. I've made a lot of bankers, and others, look much smarter than they are with my great economic policy!" 2. CHINA TRADE: U.S. officials, including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, recently invited Chinese counterparts to another meeting to talk about bilateral trade, according to a report on Wednesday by The Wall Street Journal. The U.S. aims to give China another opportunity to address concerns over trade issues before implementing additional tariffs on Chinese imports, the report added, citing people briefed on the matter. In a separate report, the publication also said that Chinese leaders were ramping up a charm offensive with U.S. multinationals and retreating from previous threats of retaliations as Beijing changes strategy to keep the trade war with Washington from scaring off foreign investors. Exxon Mobil's (XOM) plans for a $10B project in southern China earned CEO Darren Woods an audience with Premier Li Keqiang and VP Wang Qishan is expected to meet with a group of senior Wall Street executives from JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup (C), and Blackstone (BX) this coming weekend to reaffirm that business is as usual. Meanwhile, President Trump tweeted: "The Wall Street Journal has it wrong, we are under no pressure to make a deal with China, they are under pressure to make a deal with us. Our markets are surging, theirs are collapsing. We will soon be taking in Billions in Tariffs & making products at home. If we meet, we meet?" 3. NAFTA NEGOTIATIONS: Canadian foreign minister Chrystia Freeland returned to Washington this week for negotiations aimed at saving the North America Free Trade Agreement as time runs short ahead of an October 1 deadline, Reuters reported. Freeland said that talks between the U.S. and Canada over the weekend were "constructive and productive," so she went back to Washington for what may be just one day of discussions with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, the report noted. Publicly traded companies in the auto space, which could be particularly impacted by a new NAFTA deal, include Daimler AG (DDAIF), Fiat Chrysler (FCAU), Ford (F), General Motors (GM), Honda (HMC), Nissan (NSANY), Toyota (TM) and Volkswagen (VLKAY). 4. U.S.-KOREAS TALKS: U.S. President Donald Trump and the leaders of North and South Korea are looking to October for a second summit, according to the Nikkei Asian Review, citing a source affiliated with South Korean diplomacy. Trump would like to use the event as a boost for Republicans ahead of November's midterm elections, while North Korea's Kim Jong Un would seek a guarantee for his regime via a declaration of the end of the Korean War, the Nikkei added. 5. U.S. ELECTIONS: On Wednesday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order mandating certain sanctions on foreign entities accused of meddling in U.S. elections. "Although there has been no evidence of a foreign power altering the outcome or vote tabulation in any United States election, foreign powers have historically sought to exploit America's free and open political system. In recent years, the proliferation of digital devices and internet-based communications has created significant vulnerabilities and magnified the scope and intensity of the threat of foreign interference, as illustrated in the 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment. I hereby declare a national emergency to deal with this threat," the order reads. 6. METHANE REQUIREMENTS: The Trump administration is making it significantly easier for energy companies to release methane in the atmosphere in its third major step this year to roll back federal efforts to fight climate change, the New York Times reported on Tuesday. The Environmental Protection Agency expects to make public a proposal to ease an Obama-era rule that companies monitor and repair methane leaks and in a related move, the Interior Department is expected to release a final version of a draft rule that essentially repeals a restriction on the intentional venting and "flaring", or burning", of methane from drilling operations. Public companies in the space include Nabors Industries (NBR), Helmerich & Payne (HP), Patterson-UTI (PTEN), Precision Drilling (PDS) and Pioneer Energy (PES). "Week in Review" is The Fly's weekly recap of its recurring series of "Trump Effect" exclusive stories.

09:04 EDT Kiniksa presents Phase 1a/1b data for KPL-716 in atopic dermatitis - Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals presented Phase 1a/1b clinical data for KPL-716, an investigational fully-human monoclonal antibody that targets oncostatin M receptor beta, at the 27th European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology Congress. In this First-in-Human clinical trial, single intravenous and subcutaneous doses of KPL-716 were well-tolerated in both adult healthy volunteers and adult subjects with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis experiencing moderate-to-severe pruritus, the company said. KPL-716 also demonstrated a reduction in pruritus, it added. "The results support Kiniksa's plans for expanding clinical development into multiple chronic pruritic diseases, including prurigo nodularis," said the company. In total, 50 healthy volunteers and 32 subjects with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis experiencing moderate-to-severe pruritus received a single dose of KPL-716 or placebo in the Phase 1a/1b clinical trial, with the top dose of 20 mg/kg IV in healthy volunteers and 7.5 mg/kg IV in subjects with atopic dermatitis. The mean percentage change in weekly-average Worst-Itch Numeric Rating Scale decreased by 40.4% in KPL-716 recipients compared to a 17.6% decrease in placebo recipients at Day 28 in the absence of concomitant TCS. The mean percentage change in Pruritus Visual Analog Scale decreased by 55.4% in KPL-716 recipients compared to a 10.4% decrease in placebo recipients at Day 28 in the absence of concomitant TCS. "The KPL-716 Phase 1a/1b results met a high hurdle for success, as the placebo-controlled, single-dose safety and pharmacokinetics study also demonstrated reduction in pruritus," said John F. Paolini, MD, PhD, Chief Medical Officer of Kiniksa. "We are now considering advancement of KPL-716 into multiple chronic pruritic diseases, including prurigo nodularis. Additionally, the observed reduction in EASI scores after only a single dose of KPL-716 is encouraging. Our ongoing repeat-single-dose trial in atopic dermatitis subjects will provide longer-term exposures and data on these inflammatory disease response markers."

08:58 EDT Pfizer Phase 2a study in alopecia areata met primary, secondary endpoints - Pfizer announced results from its Phase 2a study of PF-06651600, an oral Janus kinase 3 inhibitor, and PF-06700841, a tyrosine kinase 2/JAK1 inhibitor, compared to placebo, in patients with moderate to severe alopecia areata, an autoimmune disease characterized by hair loss and often associated with profound psychological consequences. Both JAK inhibitors met the primary efficacy endpoint in improving hair regrowth on the scalp relative to baseline at week 24 as measured by the Severity of Alopecia Tool score. The study found that the placebo-adjusted mean in SALT change from baseline scores at Week 24 were 33.6 points for PF-06651600 and 49.5 points for PF-06700841, with statistically significant separation from placebo occurring as early as Week 6 and Week 4, respectively. In addition to meeting the primary efficacy endpoint, the investigational candidates also met all secondary endpoints in this study. "We are pleased with these results and excited by the potential of kinase inhibition as a new therapeutic target for patients living with alopecia areata. This is the first well-controlled study of oral JAK inhibitors in alopecia areata, helping enhance our understanding of this disease with significant unmet need and advance the science of kinase inhibition," said Michael Vincent, M.D, Ph.D., Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer, Pfizer Inflammation and Immunology. Pfizer said that based on the "totality of the data and the emerging clinical profiles," the investigational JAK3 inhibitor, which was recently granted Breakthrough Therapy designation from FDA for alopecia areata, is advancing to the next phase of development for moderate to severe alopecia areata and will continue to be evaluated for rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. PF-06700841 will continue to be evaluated for psoriasis, CD and UC.

08:47 EDT Link Motion announces resignations of CEO, CFO and General Counsel - Link Motion last night announced new agreements with Zhongzhi Hi-Tech Overseas Investment and certain changes to its management team. The company has entered into a non-binding memorandum of understanding to further engage in business cooperation with Zhongzhi, and in connection, the company has entered into agreements to pledge its senior note issued by Tong Fang and shares of NQ International to Zhongzhi as additional securities for the convertible note held by Zhongzhi. Link Motion added that it is engaging in further discussion with Zhongzhi regarding the extension of the maturity date of the convertible note. The company further announces the change to its management team. Zemin Xu, Chief Executive Officer of the company, has resigned and Jia Lian has been appointed as an acting CEO of the company. Lian will restructure the management team and lead the company's operations. Justin Chen, President and General Counsel and Roland Wu, Chief Financial Officer of the company, have resigned from their management positions. Xu and Chen have also resigned as board members. Joanne Zhu, a director designated by Zhongzhi has also been replaced by Vincent Wu, who is newly nominated by Zhongzhi to replace Zhu as Zhongzhi's representative on the company's board.