Stockwinners Market Radar for September 17, 2018 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

19:08 EDT Sanderson Farms says no known serious injuries, loss of life from hurricane - Sanderson Farms reported that the company continues its assessment of damage to its North Carolina assets caused by Hurricane Florence. The company said that it has still received no report of serious injuries or loss of life among its employees and growers. As earlier reported, the company experienced no significant damage to either of its North Carolina processing facilities, feed mill or two hatcheries. The company's facilities located in the affected area maintained generator power until permanent electrical service was restored. The company resumed operations at its feed mill located in Kinston, North Carolina, this morning. However, many roadways in North Carolina remain impassable, serious flooding continues, and local streams and rivers are expected to crest later this week. The company will resume operations at its Kinston, North Carolina, processing plant on Tuesday, and at its St. Pauls processing plant by the end of this week, once it is safe for employees to navigate roads and highways. The company continues its assessment of damage to independent farms and losses to its live inventories. Out of 880 broiler houses in North Carolina, 60 have flooded. Another six houses experienced damage and will be unable to house broilers until repairs are made. In addition to the affected broiler houses, four breeder houses out of a total of 92 in North Carolina flooded. At this point, none of the company's 33 pullet houses have reported serious damage. As a result of these losses, the company estimates that approximately 1.7 million head of broiler chickens out of an average live inventory of approximately 20 million head, ranging in age from six days to sixty-two days, were destroyed as a result of flooding. In addition, approximately thirty farms, housing approximately 211,000 chickens per farm, in the Lumberton, North Carolina, area are isolated by flood waters and the company is unable to reach those farms with feed trucks. Losses of live inventory could escalate if the company does not regain access to those farms. The company does not believe the loss of housing capacity will affect its ongoing operations, as it can shorten layouts and take other temporary measures to compensate for these losses.

19:01 EDT BioMarin exec David sells 12,000 common shares - In a regulatory filing, BioMarin Pharmaceutical's executive VP and General Counsel George Eric Davis disclosed the sale of 12,000 common shares of the company at a price of $99.57 per share.

18:34 EDT BHP chairman: 'cautious' on short term outlook, but 'long term view positive' - Comments from BHP's Annual Report. Reference Link

18:18 EDT Pershing Square establishes 10b5-1 plan for portion of Howard Hughes stake - Pershing Square has established a non-discretionary trading plan to sell a portion of its common stock in The Howard Hughes Corporation over a period of time that will end no later than November 30, 2018, in accordance with guidelines specified under Rule 10b5-1 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. None of the other Pershing Square funds are participating in the program as their HHC position is appropriately sized. PSLP is selling shares in HHC for portfolio management purposes only. These sales do not represent a change in Pershing Square's view that HHC remains an attractive long-term investment. Pershing Square continues to believe that HHC is substantially undervalued at its current share price. The 10b5-1 program provides that PSLP will sell up to 875,000 shares at prices at or above $125 per share, and will be limited to a maximum of 9.8% of each trading day's volume. Assuming the 10b5-1 program is completed on or before its end date of November 30, 2018, it is expected that in total, the Pershing Square funds will beneficially own 3.1% of HHC. In addition, Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd., Pershing Square International, Ltd. and Pershing Square II L.P. will continue to own total return swaps on 4,229,933M shares, or 9.8% of HHC. Assuming the 10b5-1 program is completed, the Pershing Square funds will then have total economic exposure, including common stock and total return swaps, of 12.9% of HHC. In accordance with Section 16 of the 1934 Act, within two days of each day's execution under the 10b5-1 program, Pershing Square will disclose that day's trading in a Form 4 filing with the SEC. The initial Form 4 filing, in addition to potential sales under this program, will disclose the sale of a portion of a total return swap held by Pershing Square International Ltd., which was not part of the 10b5-1 program.

17:47 EDT Instagram announces new updates to its app - Earlier today, Instagram, a unit of Facebook, said in a blog post: "Since expanding shopping on Instagram to more countries in March, businesses all over the world have been able to connect with customers in a fresh, immersive way on Instagram-giving them more opportunities to showcase their products while allowing consumers to explore the brands they love. In June, we announced that we were bringing shopping to Instagram Stories through a test with a small number of businesses. Today, we are giving all businesses approved for shopping on Instagram access to Shopping in Stories and launching the test of a Shopping Channel in Explore...To give people a faster way to shop on Instagram Stories, we are enabling businesses to add product stickers in stories, so they can easily integrate products into their stories content. Instagram Stories has seen rapid growth in adoption among consumers, with more than 400 million accounts using the feature daily. People love stories for its immersive, full-screen format, and one-third of the most-viewed stories are from businesses. Now, businesses that are approved to use the shopping feature can meet more shoppers where they are in a meaningful way." Reference Link

17:34 EDT Mountain Province Diamonds says more kimberlite found in exploration program - Mountain Province Diamonds provides an update on the exploration program currently under way in the immediate vicinity of the Gahcho Kue mine. The most recent drilling has now identified additional kimberlite in the corridor between 5034 and Tuzo, with true intercepts up to 72 meters in thickness. The Curie target has also been confirmed to have kimberlite intercepts up to 52 meters with the full extent of all the additional kimberlite still to be determined. The detailed exploration program has focused on three objectives; drill test for extensions to the Hearne kimberlite between the north and south lobes, drill test the corridor between 5034 and Tuzo, particularly around the North Pipe kimberlite, and drill test the Curie ground gravity target located between the Tesla and Tuzo kimberlites. Additional kimberlite breccia between the north and south lobes at Hearne was previously confirmed, extending vertically from 40 metres depth from the surface and to at least as deep as 220 metres depth. Drill testing of the corridor between 5034 and Tuzo has focused on the zone between the 5034 pipe and the North pipe and an area immediately northeast of the North pipe. Drilling has confirmed kimberlitic material between the north lobe of 5034 and the North Pipe, as well as in the corridor extending northeast of the North Pipe towards Tuzo. This new kimberlitic material extends vertically from 248 meters to 350 meters depth. At the Curie target, kimberlite was intersected at a vertical depth of only 18 meters, with the deepest intercept at 119 meters depth. The Curie kimberlite lies within the proposed open pit mine plan for the Tuzo kimberlite, and midway between Tuzo and the Tesla kimberlite.

17:21 EDT Oracle says SaaS, PaaS pipeline at 'record level'

17:15 EDT Huntington Ingalls awarded $104.3M U.S. Navy contract modification - Huntington Ingalls is awarded a $104,260,102 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously awarded contract to exercise options for engineering, technical, design, configuration management, integrated logistics support, database management, research and development, modernization and industrial support for nuclear submarines. Work will be performed in Newport News, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by September 2019.

17:13 EDT FedEx CFO says higher FY19 EPS guidance due to strong economy - Also attributes raised guidance to revenue management improvements.

17:09 EDT Union Pacific says 'not currently meeting customer expectations' - Union Pacific announced its Unified Plan 2020, a new operating plan that implements Precision Scheduled Railroading principles. Unified Plan 2020 will launch Oct. 1 and will be rolled out in phases across the entire Union Pacific rail network. "We are not currently meeting customer expectations," said Lance Fritz, Union Pacific's chairman, president and CEO. "Unified Plan 2020 is our path forward to secure our place as the industry leader in safety, service and financial performance." Precision Scheduled Railroading is operational at other large North American railroads, driving improved service reliability for customers, increased operating efficiency and reduced network complexity. Key principles being incorporated into Union Pacific's Unified Plan 2020 include: Shifting the focus of operations from moving trains to moving cars. Minimizing car dwell, car classification events and locomotive power requirements. Utilizing general-purpose trains by blending existing train services. Balancing train movements to improve the utilization of crews and rail assets. Unified Plan 2020 is being developed in conjunction with employees closest to the work, including in the field, incorporating their experience and expertise. Union Pacific will communicate thoroughly with customers in advance of making changes to existing rail service. The plan will first be implemented on Union Pacific's eastern North/South corridor, creating more streamlined operations between Wisconsin and Texas. Further rollout will occur in phases, with initial implementation across the entire rail network expected by 2020.

17:07 EDT Union Pacific says "not currently meeting customer expectations" - Union Pacific announced its Unified Plan 2020, a new operating plan that implements Precision Scheduled Railroading principles. Unified Plan 2020 will launch Oct. 1 and will be rolled out in phases across the entire Union Pacific rail network. "We are not currently meeting customer expectations," said Lance Fritz, Union Pacific's chairman, president and CEO. "Unified Plan 2020 is our path forward to secure our place as the industry leader in safety, service and financial performance." Precision Scheduled Railroading is operational at other large North American railroads, driving improved service reliability for customers, increased operating efficiency and reduced network complexity. Key principles being incorporated into Union Pacific's Unified Plan 2020 include:Shifting the focus of operations from moving trains to moving cars. Minimizing car dwell, car classification events and locomotive power requirements.Utilizing general-purpose trains by blending existing train services. Balancing train movements to improve the utilization of crews and rail assets. Unified Plan 2020 is being developed in conjunction with employees closest to the work, including in the field, incorporating their experience and expertise. Union Pacific will communicate thoroughly with customers in advance of making changes to existing rail service.The plan will first be implemented on Union Pacific's eastern North/South corridor, creating more streamlined operations between Wisconsin and Texas. Further rollout will occur in phases, with initial implementation across the entire rail network expected by 2020.

17:04 EDT FedEx CEO says 'very optimistic about prospects for growth' - Comments from the FedEx Q1 earnings call.

17:03 EDT Macy's highlights technology to enhance omnichannel, partners with Facebook - Macy's (M) announced that the company is highlighting advanced technology to enhance the omnichannel customer experience. Across the enterprise, new features are being introduced to make the Macy's customer journey more convenient, efficient and fun. The features include both virtual reality and augmented reality furniture and beauty experiences that enable customers to discover product and make more informed buying decisions. The company has also made technological enhancements to several non-customer facing features, including the Beauty Playground training program and RFID that will enable colleagues to offer customers a better in-store shopping experience. The company also announced that it will be partnering with Facebook (FB), which will bring in nearly 150 e-commerce brands to The Market @ Macy's across nine stores this holiday season. "Macy's is focused on providing customers with fresh experiences, and we are always looking for new ways to engage our customers in store, online and via our mobile app," said Hal Lawton, president of Macy's. "Our technology enhancements are practical applications that will engage our customers while also driving sales. The investments we are making behind the scenes will enable our colleagues to give our customers the best shopping experience possible. We're also thrilled to be partnering with Facebook to bring new brands into our retail as a service concept, The Market @ Macy's."

17:01 EDT IDT subsidiary net2phone acquires Versature - net2phone, a global provider of unified communications services and subsidiary of IDT Corporation, announced that it has acquired Versature, a rapidly growing SaaS-based business communications solutions and hosted VoIP provider serving the Canadian market. Post-acquisition, Versature plans to accelerate its expansion in Canada through investment in the partner and direct channels, recruitment of additional top talent and continued development of innovative call, voice-centric, and unified communications technology solutions. net2phone's UCaaS and Versature revenues combined in the three months ended July 31, 2018 aggregated to over $5M. Adding Versature's revenues to net2phone's strong organic growth would have boosted net2phone's fourth quarter fiscal 2018 UCaaS generated revenue by approximately 65% over the year-ago quarter.

16:49 EDT FedEx falls over 2% afterhours following Q1 earnings miss

16:47 EDT RTW Investments reports 5.05% passive stake in ProQR Therapeutics

16:43 EDT AmeriGas CEO Jerry Sheridan to leave company, Hugh Gallagher to succeed - AmeriGas Propane, the general partner of AmeriGas Partners, L.P., announced that Jerry Sheridan has elected to leave the position of President and CEO and Hugh Gallagher, currently AmeriGas Vice President, Finance and CFO, has been appointed to the President and CEO position, effective September 18. Sheridan has also resigned as a director of the General Partner but will remain an employee of AmeriGas until January 2019 to assist with the transition.

16:34 EDT Vivo Opportunity reports 5.3% passive stake in Acer Therapeutics

16:32 EDT Nestle to sell Gerber Life to Western & Southern for $1.55B in cash - Nestle announced that it agreed to sell the Gerber Life Insurance Company, to Western & Southern Financial Group for $1.55B in cash. The deal allows Western & Southern Financial Group to market insurance products under the Gerber Life brand. The transaction does not include Nestle's Gerber Products business, a household brand in baby food and baby care, which Nestle will continue to develop. The agreement follows Nestle's announcement in February 2018 that it was exploring strategic options for the Gerber Life business. The transaction is expected to close in late 2018 or early 2019, following the completion of customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions.

16:31 EDT Markel to acquire majority interest in Brahmin, terms not disclosed - Markel Corporation and Brahmin announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement for Markel to acquire a majority interest in Brahmin. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2018. Additional terms were not disclosed. Brahmin is a creator of fashion leather handbags with significant wholesale distribution and a rapidly growing direct-to-consumer business.

16:18 EDT Americold Realty Trust names Jay Harron CIO - Americold Realty Trust announced two new additions to its leadership team. Jay Harron has joined Americold as its Chief Investment Officer. Harron is responsible for the identification, assessment, negotiation, closing, and integration of all acquisitions, mergers and strategic partnerships. Scott Henderson has joined Americold as SVP, Capital Markets, Treasury and Investor Relations. Henderson serves as the Treasurer and is responsible for debt originations and the overall liquidity of the company.

16:17 EDT Mercury Systems receives $20.5M integrated subsystem order from US Navy - Mercury Systems announced that it received a $20.5M follow-on order against a previously announced $152M 5-year sole source basic ordering agreement to deliver integrated subsystems to the U.S. Navy in support of both Navy and Air Force training environments. The order was received in the company's fiscal 2018 fourth quarter and is expected to be shipped over the next several quarters. In total, Mercury received orders of $28.9M in the company's fiscal 2018 fourth quarter against this BOA, with follow-on orders anticipated to continue through the life of the agreement. "We are honored to support this critical military program with our SWaP-optimized subsystems that reliably operate in harsh and hostile environments," said Brian Perry, President, Mercury Defense Systems. "The U.S. Navy and Air Force can confidently select Mercury Systems to ensure the warfighter gains confidence in their ability to be prepared for their role in the battlespace against sophisticated threats."

16:16 EDT Enviva reports 'minimal' damage from Hurricane Florence - Enviva Partners reported that its facilities have incurred only minor damage from Hurricane Florence. The Partnership undertook substantial preparation in advance of Hurricane Florence's landfall to keep employees safe and minimize disruption, including proactively idling operations at its production facility in Sampson County, North Carolina and its deep-water marine terminal in the North Carolina State Ports Authority's Port of Wilmington. Based on initial assessments, the Sampson Plant and Wilmington Terminal have not incurred significant wind or water damage. The Sampson Plant has restarted operations and the Partnership believes its Wilmington Terminal will be able to begin receiving pellets later this week, subject to approval from the NCSPA and other relevant authorities to reopen the Port of Wilmington. With challenges in the NCSPA's Port of Wilmington and the surrounding region due to flooding and residual effects of the storm, the Partnership expects modest impacts to its shipments from its Wilmington Terminal. The Partnership will continue to assess any temporary impact on its operations and expects to provide an update as more information becomes available.

16:14 EDT Huami announces launch of new Amazfit Verge smart watch - Huami announced the launch of the Amazfit Verge - the Amazfit smart watch, that brings new, customizable features to the smart wearables industry. The Verge is the first watch of the new Amazfit smart watch product line in addition to the existing smart sports watch product line. The Verge offers many new and improved features to enrich the user experience including a 1.2G dual core processor, running Huami Watch OS based on the Android infrastructure with remarkable extensibility that allows downloads and operation of third-party Apps. The Verge also comes with a 1.3-inch full color AMOLED round screen as well as optimized power consumption that provides an industry-leading five days of battery life on a single charge. More importantly, the Verge is capable of making and receiving phone calls directly via blue-tooth connected mobile phones and displaying real time messages, including WeChat and incoming phone call alerts, all of which allow users to more conveniently stay connected with their friends, family and business associates.

16:12 EDT Symantec, Starboard announced board refreshment plan - Symantec announced that its board of directors has enacted a refreshment plan, including the appointment of new independent directors to the company's board. Symantec and Starboard Value LP, an investment firm whose affiliated funds own approximately 5.8% percent of the company's common stock, collaborated on the director appointments. The appointments to Symantec's board include: Peter A. Feld, Managing Member of Starboard Value, who will join the board effective immediately; Dale L. Fuller, who will join the board effective immediately; and Richard S. "Rick" Hill, who will join the board following the 2018 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. In accordance with the existing director retirement policy under Symantec's Corporate Governance Guidelines, Robert S. "Steve" Miller is not standing for re-election at the 2018 Annual Meeting. In addition, Geraldine B. "Gerry" Laybourne has determined not to stand for re-election to the board. As part of its ongoing refreshment process, the board will also identify an additional independent Board member, mutually agreeable to Symantec and Starboard, to be added following the 2018 Annual Meeting. With the addition of these independent directors, and the planned retirement of Miller and Laybourne, the Symantec board will have 13 members. The agreement includes other customary provisions and in connection with today's announcement, Starboard will withdraw its slate of director nominees and vote all of its shares in favor of each of the company's board nominees at the 2018 Annual Meeting, and will abide by customary standstill provisions and voting commitments. Additional information about today's announcement will be filed on a Form 8-K with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

16:11 EDT Installed Building Products acquires Water-Tite Solution - Installed Building Products announced the acquisition of Water-Tite Solution. Founded in 2001, Water-Tite provides commercial waterproofing installation services in the Tampa, Florida market and has annual revenue of over $6.0M.

16:09 EDT Univar to acquire Nexeo Solutions for $11.65 per share in cash, stock - Univar (UNVR) and Nexeo Solutions (NXEO) announced they have entered into a definitive agreement for Univar to acquire Nexeo in a cash and stock transaction valued at approximately $2.0B, including the assumption of Nexeo's debt and other obligations, or $11.65 per Nexeo share. The merger agreement provides for each share of Nexeo stock issued and outstanding to be converted into 0.305 shares of Univar common stock and $3.29 in cash, subject to adjustment at closing, representing a purchase price of $11.65 per share of Nexeo common stock, based on Univar's closing price on September 14 of $27.40. The cash consideration is subject to a potential reduction of up to 41c per share, based on Univar's stock trading price prior to the completion of the acquisition. The transaction is expected to deliver $100M, or approximately 43c per share, after tax, in annual run-rate cost savings by the third year following close, and immediately reduce ongoing annual capital expenditures by $15M. It is expected to be accretive to Univar's adjusted EPS beginning in the first full year following closing. Univar expects pro forma leverage ratio to be below 3.0x by the end of the first full year after closing. The transaction has been unanimously approved by the boards of both companies, and is anticipated to close in the first half of 2019, subject to the approval of both Univar and Nexeo shareholders, as well as receipt of regulatory approvals and satisfaction of other customary conditions. Nexeo's key stockholders, TPG and First Pacific, have agreed to provide consent for the proposed transaction.

16:06 EDT Univar to acquire Nexeo Solutions for $11.65 per share in cash, stock

16:03 EDT Allscripts announces partnership between EPSi and Ilerasoft - EPSi, Allscripts budgeting, long-range planning, cost accounting and financial decision support platform, announced a partnership with Ilerasoft to offer clients additional capital budgeting capabilities and to provide analytics to help improve operational efficiency around medical equipment use powered by Ilerasoft's Efficiency Score. The Ilerasoft solution contextualizes medical equipment use with financial, operational and patient population metrics, and then provides recommendations to improve utilization and reduce costs, enabling decision makers in finance, supply chain and clinical engineering to use their own data to make long-term capital budgeting, resource allocation and purchasing decisions.

16:00 EDT Nexeo Solutions trading halted, news pending

15:55 EDT Amazon to open second large-scale facility in Stockton - Amazon announced plans to open its second large-scale facility in Stockton. The new fulfillment center will create more than 1,000 full-time jobs with competitive hourly wages and a comprehensive benefits package including healthcare, 401k and company stock awards starting on day one. Other Amazon fulfillment facilities in Central and Northern California are located in Fresno, Newark, Patterson, Sacramento, Tracy and Vacaville. Amazon has created more than 39,000 jobs in California and since 2011 invested over $19B in the state, including infrastructure and compensation to its employees. "Since we first began operating in California six years ago, we have found a network of support from community leaders, a dedicated workforce and fantastic customers," said Mark Stewart, Vice President of Amazon's North America Operations. "We're excited to expand in Stockton and develop our employees through on-the-job skills training and through our Career Choice program, which hundreds of our California associates have used to go back to school."

15:04 EDT Bausch Health CFO Paul Herendeen buys 10K shares of company stock - Bausch Health CFO Paul Herendeen disclosed in a filing that he had purchased 10,000 shares of company stock at an average price of $22.61 per share on September 14. The total transaction value of the purchase was $226,100.

15:03 EDT Aetna up 1% after DOJ clears Cigna deal with Express Scripts - Cigna (CI) announced that the Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice has cleared its pending merger with Express Scripts (ESRX). Shares of Aetna (AET), which has agreed to merge with CVS Health (CVS), are up 1% following Cigna's announcement.

14:50 EDT Department of Justice grants clearance to Cigna acquisition of Express Scripts

14:21 EDT Sententia, in letter to Schmitt holders, calls shares significantly undervalued - Sententia Capital Management, the beneficial owners of approximately 8.1% of the outstanding shares of common stock of Schmitt Industries, Inc. and one of the company's largest shareholders, announced that it has delivered a letter to fellow Schmitt shareholders. "Sententia believes Schmitt is comprised of good businesses, strong brands, an attractive long-term profile, and the ability to generate strong free cash flow. However, these features are hidden under leadership and a Board that Sententia believes continues to lack accountability, transparency and alignment, evident in their recent communications and proxy. Sententia has a concrete plan to maximize shareholder value and has formally nominated two highly qualified candidates for election to the Board at Schmitt's 2018 annual meeting," the firm stated in its announcement of the letter.

14:05 EDT Citi reports August credit loss 2.56% vs. 2.66% last month - Reports August 30-plus day delinquency rate 1.49% vs. 1.47% last month.

13:26 EDT Duke Energy says power restored to roughly 1.2M in Carolinas, 300K left to fix - Duke Energy said its crews are fully focused on restoring power to the remaining 300,000 customers who lost electricity when Hurricane Florence rolled through the Carolinas. As of 1 p.m. ET Monday, the company has experienced a total of 1.5M outages throughout the storm event. Duke Energy has restored power to roughly 1.2M. Many of the remaining impacted customers are located in tough-to-access coastal areas that experienced historic flooding, multiple road closures and significant structural damage, according to the company.

13:06 EDT MYnd Analytics expands relationship with Claremont Behavioral Services - MYnd Analytics announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Arcadian Telepsychiatry Services LLC, has expanded its relationship with Claremont Behavioral Services Inc, a provider of Employee Assistance Programs. Under the new agreement, Arcadian will provide Claremont's members and employees outside of California with nationwide services through its provider network following a successful pilot program.

13:01 EDT TJX board approves 2-for-1 stock split - TJX Companies announced that its board of directors has approved a 2-for-1 stock split of the company's common stock by means of a stock dividend. Implementation of the stock split is subject to approval by TJX shareholders of an increase in the number of authorized shares of the company's common stock from 1.2B shares to 1.8B shares, and related board approval. The increase will be voted on at a special shareholders meeting that is anticipated to be held on October 22, 2018, at which shareholders of record on September 27, 2018 would be entitled to vote. If approved, one additional share of the company's common stock would be distributed on November 6, 2018 for each share held by shareholders of record on October 30, 2018. The company also announced the declaration of a quarterly dividend on its common stock of 39c per share, on a pre-stock split basis, payable December 6, 2018, to shareholders of record on November 15, 2018. If the stock split is effected before the quarterly dividend payment, the quarterly dividend will be adjusted accordingly to 19.5c per share.

12:47 EDT Unit Corp. officer Robert Parks sells almost 23K shares of company stock - Unit Corp. officer Robert Parks disclosed in a filing that he had sold 22,806 shares of company stock at an average price of $27.25 per share between September 13 and September 14. The total transaction value of the sale was $621,438.

12:10 EDT Coeur Mining reports fatal accident at Palmarejo on September 13 - Coeur Mining regrets to report that a fatal accident occurred at its Palmarejo Mine in Mexico on September 13, 2018. Two underground production drillers fell into a void after the ground below them collapsed. The area was immediately evacuated and all underground operations were suspended pending emergency response and initial investigation. The Company is working closely and cooperatively with the authorities to respond to the situation. The ground collapse occurred in a highly localized area and does not affect other portions of the mine. Operations have resumed except in the specific level of the underground mine where the incident occurred. A formal investigation has begun to determine the root causes of the incident as well as how to prevent them in the future.

12:00 EDT New York & Co. falls -5.8% - New York & Co. is down -5.8%, or -24c to $3.88.

12:00 EDT Cellcom Israel rises 10.1% - Cellcom Israel is up 10.1%, or 61c to $6.67.

12:00 EDT GreenTree Hospitality rises 14.7% - GreenTree Hospitality is up 14.7%, or $1.63 to $12.72.

11:05 EDT Whirlpool announces J Mays as new Chief Design Officer - J Mays is joining Whirlpool (WHR) as Vice President and Chief Design Officer. His role is effective October 15, 2018. Prior to joining Whirlpool, Mays was Group Vice President of Global Design and Chief Creative Officer at Ford (F).

10:58 EDT Street Fight: Analysts diverge on Valvoline over Amazon concerns - On Monday, Seaport Global analyst Michael Harrison upgraded Valvoline (VVV) to Buy, saying last week's selloff was "overblown." The upgrade came after JPMorgan analyst Jeffrey Zekauskas on Friday downgraded Valvoline to Underweight on a report that Amazon (AMZN) had launched a private label motor oil called AmazonBasics Full Synthetic Motor Oil. SELOFF 'OVERBLOWN': On Monday, Seaport Global analyst Michael Harrison upgraded Valvoline to Buy from Neutral and maintained a $25 price target. Harrison said he believes last week's selloff was "overblown" and an excellent buying opportunity to get involved in the growth story driven by Quick Lubes and International. The analyst said reaction to concerns about Amazon's private-label competition were overdone as cheaper alternatives already exist, do-it-yourself customers like branded products and shopping in brick-and-mortar locations and Amazon's entry will likely have no impact on the do-it-for-me business. In addition, Harrison said he expects normalizing trends in the core North American segment in the fourth quarter, noting base oil prices appear to be stabilizing, which should help the company catch up on the price/cost front. He added that he continues to see announcements that Valvoline is adding stores to its quick-lube network and believes there is plenty of runway for additional store count growth. JPMORGAN LESS OPTIMISTIC: On Friday, JPMorgan analyst Jeffrey Zekauskas downgraded Valvoline to Underweight from Neutral and lowered his price target for the shares to $20 from $22. In a research note of his own, Zekauskas noted that Industry trade publication National Oil and Lube News reported that Amazon has launched its first private label motor oil supplied by Warren Distribution. The analyst pointed out that the product line is now being reviewed favorably by Amazon Vine Reviewers. He added while it's too early to gauge the effects of the Amazon entry on the Valvoline brand, the new competition from Amazon will likely reduce Valvoline's trading multiple "because the lubricant industry structure is probably weaker for its entry." PRICE ACTION: Valvoline rose 1.5% to $21.04 in late morning trading.

10:33 EDT Tandem Diabetes dip attributed to secondary lock-up expiration - Shares of Tandem Diabetes Care are trading lower, which is being attributed to the expiration of a lock-up related to a secondary offering of stock the company announced in August. On August 2, Tandem Diabetes announced a 3.51M share secondary offering of stock that priced at $28.50 per share and raised $100M. Today is the first day some shareholders and company insiders get to sell their shares in the healthcare safety device maker related to that secondary offering, according to Bloomberg data. In morning trading, Tandem dropped $6.54, or 13.7%, to $41.09 per share.

10:25 EDT Box Office Battle: "The Predator" wins weekend despite historically bad opening - As predicted, this past weekend's major new film release, 21st Century Fox's (FOX, FOXA) "The Predator," the fourth installment in the "Predator" action movie series, took the top spot at the box office with a domestic gross of $24M. However, the film, which opened at 4,037 theaters, had the worst opening ever for a live-action film that opened at over 4,000 locations. Internationally, "The Predator" added another $30.7M in 72 markets. AT&T (T) subsidiary Warner Bros' "The Nun" finished in second place for the weekend, declining 66% to earn an additional $18.2M domestically in its second weekend at theaters. Internationally, "The Nun" added $33.1M. Rounding out the top five for the weekend were Lionsgate's (LGF.A, LGF.B) opening of thriller "A Simple Favor," which earned $16M, Studio 8's crime drama "White Boy Rick," which earned $8.8M, and Warner Bros. "Crazy Rich Asians, which added another $8.7M in its fifth weekend of release. Other publicly traded companies in filmmaking include Comcast (CMCSA, CMCSK), Disney (DIS), Sony (SNE), and Viacom (VIA, VIAB).

10:16 EDT UPS to hire about 100,000 for holiday season - UPS announced that it expects to hire about 100,000 seasonal employees to support the anticipated increase in package volume that will begin in November and continue through January 2019. The full- and part-time seasonal positions - primarily package handlers, drivers and driver-helpers - have long been an entry point for permanent employment at UPS. Many senior UPS executives, including CEO David Abney and other members of the company's senior leadership team, started their UPS careers as part-time employees. Over the last three years, 35% of the people UPS hired for seasonal package handler jobs were later hired in a permanent position when the holidays were over.

10:04 EDT BorgWarner to supply P2 on-axis hybrid modules to Chinese automakers - BorgWarner has been selected to supply its state-of-the-art on-axis P2 drive module and electro-hydraulic control unit for hybrid-electric vehicles to two leading Chinese original equipment manufacturers. This new business award is the result of close collaboration between the company's global research and development centers and strong local Chinese engineering capability. With these two recent awards, BorgWarner will now have content on 18 P2 hybrid transmissions by 2023 serving various global OEMs and spanning multiple vehicle platforms.

10:01 EDT Avis Budget extends partnership with Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment - Avis announced that it has renewed its multi-year agreement with Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment to continue its designation as the official vehicle rental partner of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto FC. Under the agreement, the mobility brand will have the opportunity to promote its products and services to millions of sports fans and visitors of Scotiabank Arena and BMO Field. Program elements include arena signage, camera-visible signage during games, events, in-market advertising and promotional opportunities.

10:00 EDT Pyxus rises 7.8% - Pyxus is up 7.8%, or $1.45 to $20.05.

09:56 EDT Cannabis stocks rise amid interest by Coca-Cola, opportunities for Shopify - Shares of cannabis stocks are in focus following a report that Coca-Cola (KO) is in talks with Aurora Cannabis (ACBFF) as it eyes the cannabis industry and an analyst note from Keybanc which said Shopify (SHOP) has cannabis potential. COCA-COLA EYES CANNABIS: Coca-Cola is monitoring the nascent cannabis drinks industry and is in talks with Canadian marijuana producer Aurora Cannabis to develop the drinks, Bloomberg reported Monday. "We are closely watching the growth of non-psychoactive CBD as an ingredient in functional wellness beverages around the world," Coca-Cola spokesman Kent Landers said. "The space is evolving quickly. No decisions have been made at this time" Landers added. The move comes as beverage makers are looking towards cannabis as soda consumption and traditional business slows. Constellation Brands (STZ, STZ.B) previously announced it will spend $3.8B to increase its stake in Canadian marijuana producer Canopy Growth (CGC) and Molson Coors Brewing (TAP) is starting a joint venture with Quebec's Hydropothecary to develop cannabis drinks. In addition, Diageo (DEO) has been holding talks with at least three Canadian cannabis producers regarding a potential deal and Heineken's (HEINY) Lagunitas label has launched a brand focused on non-alcoholic drinks infused with THC. SHOPIFY MAY BENEFIT FROM CANNABIS SALES: KeyBanc analyst Monika Garb told investors in a research note on Monday that she is a buyer of Shopify, as the company has "ample" growth opportunities ahead. She sees potential upside to her above-consensus estimates and expects that recreational sales of cannabis in Canada could be a general merchandise volume and revenue driver further benefiting Shopify's business momentum. The analyst said the company has been selected by several Canadian provinces to run their e-commerce sites and in-store point of sale solutions and has also signed deals with private cannabis producers and distributors, including Canopy Growth and Aurora. Additionally, Garb says Shopify is the best positioned to benefit from growth in emerging brands, citing brands like Rebecca Minkoff and Kyle Cosmetics that already use Shopify. Garb maintained an Overweight rating and $182 price target on shares. CANNABIS STOCKS: Publicly-traded companies in the space include Cronos Group (CRON), Canopy Growth, Tilray (TLRY), Cannabis Science (CBIS), Innovative Industrial Properties (IIPR) and Aurora Cannabis. PRICE ACTION: Aurora Cannabis gained over 16% in morning trading, while Tilray gained 7.3%.

09:47 EDT LG Display falls -4.8% - LG Display is down -4.8%, or -44c to $8.82.

09:47 EDT Forum Energy falls -7.5% - Forum Energy is down -7.5%, or -85c to $10.55.

09:47 EDT Teva rises 6.3% - Teva is up 6.3%, or $1.43 to $24.28.

09:46 EDT Tesla in 'delivery logistics hell' amid plans to in-source collision repairs - Shares of Tesla (TSLA) are in focus in early trading following reports that a fire broke out at the company's Nevada Gigafactory this weekend. Additionally, CEO Elon Musk tweeted this weekend that the company is now in "delivery logistics hell" and claimed that Tesla will now perform most collision repairs in-house. FIRE: A fire broke out at Tesla's Gigafactory in Nevada late on Saturday but was contained by early Sunday and production had resumed, Reuters reported, citing emergency officials and the company. The factory produces Model 3 electric motors and battery packs. No injuries were reported. Saturday's fire was the latest fire at a Tesla factory after a factory in California suffered a minor fire last month. 'DELIVERY LOGISTICS HELL': Separately, CEO Elon Musk tweeted on Sunday in response to a customer complaint on delivery delays: "Sorry, we've gone from production hell to delivery logistics hell, but this problem is far more tractable. We're making rapid progress. Should be solved shortly." In August, Tesla said it expects to produce 50,000-55,000 Model 3 sedans in the third quarter and that it expects to turn a profit in the second half of this year. Tesla has been looking to smooth production snags after struggling to produce Model 3s and failing to meet several production deadlines. Last week, Musk tweeted that customers may face a longer response time because of a significant increase in vehicle delivery volume in North America. Musk also said last week that Tesla is taking two out of seven colors "off the menu" to simplify manufacturing. Obsidian Black and Metallic Silver will still be available as special requests, Musk tweeted, but at higher price point. BRINGING COLLISION REPAIRS IN-HOUSE: As Tesla struggles with the logistics of delivering its cars, Musk also tweeted this weekend that Tesla will bring most collision repairs in-house, "as outside firms take weeks to months for repairs, driving Tesla owners (and us) crazy." He added, "Exciting to see some Tesla collision repair operations already completing within 24 hrs. Aiming for same day soon, then under an hour...Goal is for repaired car to be better than before accident. Should always be true if damaged/used parts are correctly replaced with newer parts." WHAT'S NOTABLE: Musk has been under fire from investors recently for his tweets, including one that said he was considering taking Tesla private and had secured funding for the effort. On August 25, Musk said in a blog post that the company will remain public. Tesla now faces shareholder lawsuits as well as an investigation by the SEC. Additionally, Musk appeared on"The Joe Rogan Experience," a podcast hosted by stand up comic Joe Rogan, during which Rogan shared what he said was a cigarette with marijuana and tobacco with the CEO. Musk also drank whiskey and fired a flamethrower during the interview. The appearance on Rogan's show comes not long after a recent interview with The New York Times, in which Musk said he has no plans to relinquish the chairman and CEO roles, though efforts are under way to find a No. 2 executive to help take some of the pressure off. Also last week, Citron Research's Andrew Left filed a securities class action lawsuit against Tesla and Musk, alleging that the CEO "artificially manipulated the price of Tesla securities with objectively false tweets in order to 'burn' the company's short-sellers." Tesla's largest institutional investor said that the firm has spoken to U.S. securities regulators about Musk's plans to take the company private and that the CEO needs help running the car maker, Reuters reported last week. Last week, Tesla's stock was downgraded at Nomura Instinet to Neutral, with analyst Romit Shah telling investors that he believes Tesla is "no longer investable" due to Musk's recent behavior. PRICE ACTION: Shares of Tesla are lower by about 1% to $292.12 in early trading.

09:32 EDT Cytori Therapeutics receives FDA orphan drug designation for ATI-1123 - Cytori Therapeutics announced that it received FDA orphan drug designation for its ATI-1123 chemotherapy drug product candidate, an albumin-stabilized pegylated liposomal docetaxel, for the treatment of small cell lung cancer. Small cell lung cancer, or SCLC, which accounts for approximately 15% of bronchogenic carcinomas with 33,375 new cases and 23,380 deaths estimated for 2017, has been identified by Cytori as a compelling target for ATI-1123. While SCLC is responsive to chemotherapy and radiation therapy, cure occurs only in 20% of patients, generally restricted to those with limited stage disease. The remaining 80% of patients, including all patients with extensive disease, relapse within months of completing their initial therapy. Availability of 2nd line therapy options are limited, toxic, and provide little benefit in terms of extending survival. Topotecan is the only FDA-approved agent for 2nd line treatment of SCLC and is associated with an overall response rate of 24%, median response duration or time to progression of 14 weeks, and median overall survival of 25 weeks. Treatment usually involves a consecutive 5 day regimen of either IV or oral administration of drug, both which have black box warnings for severe myelosuppression as their use is associated with substantial morbidity including bone marrow suppression leading to neutropenia, thrombocytopenia and anemia requiring interventions of transfusion and growth factor support. Cytori's ATI-1123 has been designed to fill this need. ATI-1123's combination of improved liposome stability, reduced toxicity, and superior delivery are expected to provide a therapeutic for SCLC that offers comparable or better efficacy to currently-available standards while having a less intensive administration routine and improved side effect profile. Cytori is also exploring the development of ATI-1123 to address the shortcomings of docetaxel, a workhorse chemotherapy drug which generated $2.7B in worldwide sales at its peak. Compared to docetaxel, ATI-1123 may have potential to improve safety by removing the need for unwanted solvents, reduce morbidity by eliminating the requirement for standard pretreatment medications, provide better patient convenience and comfort via less time spent in the treatment center, decrease the cost of therapy, and enhance systemic docetaxel exposure.

09:25 EDT Emcore awarded $18M contract to supply FOG modules to Raytheon - Emcore (EMKR) announced that it has been awarded a long-term contract valued at over $18M over a 4-year period to supply high-performance fiber optic gyroscope, or FOG, modules to Raytheon (RTN) for use in airborne optical targeting systems. Emcore has previously delivered over 1,000 units of its custom designed, closed-loop, single-axis FOGs to Raytheon and will ship additional units this year and over the remaining term of the agreement. The FOG modules to be delivered are Emcore's tethered gyros with separate electronics and sensor modules to accommodate the widest variety of installation parameters. The performance specifications of these FOGs are ideal for platform stabilization in camera systems used for optical targeting in aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles and gun systems.

09:18 EDT Fly Intel: Pre-market Movers - HIGHER: Select Income REIT (SIR), up 16% after agreeing to merge with Government Properties Income Trust (GOV)... Teva (TEVA), up 6% after FDA approval of Ajovy injection for the treatment of migraine... Neptune Technologies (NEPT), up 20% after announcing that it has received a Confirmation of Readiness letter from Health Canada in regard to its application to become a Licensed Producer under the ACMPR... Senomyx (SNMX), up 41% after announcing that it has entered into a definitive merger agreement under which Firmenich will acquire all of the outstanding common stock of Senomyx for $1.50 per share in cash... NXP Semiconductors (NXPI), up 1% after BofA Merrill Lynch analyst Vivek Arya upgraded the stock to Buy based on a potential sales growth recovery driven by new auto/IoT products, a stronger balance sheet, free-cash-flow growth and buybacks. LOWER: Government Properties, down 16% after agreeing to merge with Select Income REIT... JD.com (JD), down 3% after a report that Richard Liu, the CEO of JD, will no longer attend a high-profile state-run tech forum in Shanghai this week after he was arrested last month in the U.S. on suspicion of rape.

09:13 EDT Aramark to sell Healthcare Technologies for $300M to TRIMEDX - Aramark announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to sell its Healthcare Technologies, or HCT, business for $300M to TRIMEDX. Aramark's Healthcare Technologies business, based in Charlotte, NC, is a leading provider of healthcare technology services in North America, providing innovative management programs for clinical equipment at more than 500 hospital and healthcare facilities. The business, acquired by Aramark in 2001, has been in operation for over 45 years and employs more than 1,500 technicians, engineers and program staff. Services include maintenance and refurbishment of high end imaging equipment. "This transaction represents the latest step in our commitment to deliver sustainable shareholder value, while also increasing our financial flexibility," CEO Eric Foss added. "We will use the majority of proceeds to strengthen our balance sheet through debt reduction and will also repurchase $50 million of shares after closing of the sale."

09:10 EDT Bank of America reports August card write-offs 2.75% vs. 2.57% last month - Reports August 30-plus day delinquencies 1.56% vs. 1.55% last month.

09:05 EDT Easterly Government Properties acquires eight properties for $244M - Easterly Government Properties announced that it has completed the acquisition of eight of the 14 properties in the company's previously announced portfolio acquisition. The eight properties represent an aggregate of 1,024,036 square feet and were acquired for a combined purchase price of $244M. The eight properties include: Various GSA - Buffalo, a 267,766-square foot multi-tenanted Class A office building completed in 2004, is primarily occupied by two federal agencies: the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Internal Revenue Service. Various GSA - Chicago, a multi-tenanted office building fully renovated in 1999, is strategically located next to Chicago O'Hare International Airport and serves as the Federal Aviation Administration's Great Lakes Regional Office, which oversees operations in eight states. TREAS - Parkersburg, a 182,500-square foot build-to-suit property, was built in multiple phases in 2004 and 2006 and is 100% leased to the General Services Administration for the beneficial use of the Bureau of Fiscal Service. SSA - Charleston, a 110,000-square foot single tenant facility fully renovated in 2000, is occupied by the Office of Hearings Operations, a part of the Social Security Administration. FBI - Pittsburgh serves as one of 56 FBI field offices located throughout the country. The 100,054-square foot facility was built-to-suit for the FBI in 2001 and is 100% leased. GSA - Clarksburg serves as a multi-tenanted federal center for various federal tenants within the market area, including the FBI, DEA, SSA, Offices of the U.S. Attorneys, and Small Business Association. This 100% leased 63,760-square foot build-to-suit facility was constructed in 1999 and serves the five tenant agencies through a single GSA lease. ICE - Pittsburgh, a state-of-the-art, build-to-suit facility constructed in 2004, is occupied by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which works to promote homeland security and public safety with respect to border control, customs, trade and immigration for the surrounding Pittsburgh region. SSA - Dallas is a 27,200-square foot build-to-suit facility 100% leased to the GSA for the beneficial use of the SSA. The company expects to complete the acquisition of the remaining six properties in the portfolio acquisition prior to the end of 2018.

09:04 EDT Secureworks enters strategic partnership with CrowdStrike - CrowdStrike and Secureworks announced at CrowdStrike's second annual user conference, Fal.Con, that they will bring a new level of advanced endpoint threat detection to the marketplace by teaming up to apply Secureworks' Red Cloak behavioral analytics and intelligence to CrowdStrike's Falcon platform data. The joint offering delivers in one package a market-leading endpoint detection and response solution with applied analytics and intelligence to accelerate investigations and provides guided remediation steps for more confident response to real threats.

09:01 EDT Agenus receives $5M milestone payment from Incyte - Agenus (AGEN) announced receipt of a cash milestone from Incyte (INCY) for the initiation of a Phase 1 clinical trial of INCAGN2385, an anti-LAG-3 antibody discovered by Agenus. Based on this milestone and under the terms of the agreement, Agenus received a $5M payment and is eligible to receive up to an additional $505M in potential development, regulatory and commercial milestones from Incyte.

08:56 EDT Gladstone Land acquires two orchards in California for $6.9M - Gladstone Land announced that it has acquired two permanent crop farms totaling 194 gross acres in Kings County, California, for approximately $6.9M. In connection with the acquisition, the company and the seller entered into a 15-year, triple-net lease.

08:55 EDT Charles Schwab reports August core net new assets $20.8B - The Charles Schwab Corporation released its Monthly Activity Report. Company highlights for the month of August 2018 include: Core net new assets brought to the company by new and existing clients in August 2018 totaled $20.8B. Net new assets excluding mutual fund clearing totaled $18.6B. Total client assets were a record $3.56T as of month-end August, up 14% from August 2017 and up 2% compared to July 2018. New brokerage accounts totaled 132,000 in August, up 7% from August 2017 and up 12% compared to July 2018.

08:47 EDT Ultragenyx appoints Wladimir Hogenhuis COO - Ultragenyx (RARE) announced that it has expanded its leadership team with the appointment of Wladimir Hogenhuis as COO, effective September 28. In this newly created role, Hogenhuis will oversee global commercial operations, business development and technical operations functions. He will report to Ultragenyx's CEO and will serve on the executive leadership team. Hogenhuis joins Ultragenyx from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), where he most recently served as senior VP and GM, specialty franchise. Hogenhuis is a 24-year veteran of the pharmaceutical industry. He spent the last six years at GSK, where he was initially responsible for the company's cardiovascular, metabolic and neurosciences franchise.

08:43 EDT Menlo Therapeutics initiates enrollment in second Phase 3 trial of serlopitant - Menlo Therapeutics announced it has initiated enrollment in the second of two Phase 3 trials of serlopitant for the treatment of pruritus with prurigo nodularis, or PN. This second PN Phase 3 trial is being conducted in Europe. In May, Menlo began enrollment in the first of the two PN Phase 3 trials which is being conducted in the U.S. The U.S. PN Phase 3 trial is more than 20% enrolled. Both PN Phase 3 trials are multi-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials intended to evaluate if treatment with 5 mg serlopitant daily for ten weeks can reduce pruritus associated with PN compared with placebo. Menlo expects to enroll 200 patients at approximately 50 sites in each trial. The trials are enrolling patients with a worst-itch NRS score, or WI-NRS, of at least seven at screening. The primary efficacy analysis for both of these trials is a four-point responder rate in the WI-NRS at ten weeks. Results from both trials are expected in the first half of 2020.

08:38 EDT SG Blocks announces new purchase order from U.S. Navy - SG Blocks expands its partnership with the U.S. Navy and receives a new purchase order to design and construct container-based modular offices representing an estimated revenue opportunity of $500,000 in 2018. The modules will be prefabricated offsite and delivered to the Georgia location by the end of 2018.

08:36 EDT Pareteum secures $50M in new contracts during August - Pareteum announced the signing of contracts totaling an additional $50M during the last two weeks of August 2018. These new contracts do not include any previously announced awarded contracts. The 36-Month Contractual Revenue Backlog totaled $375M at August 31, 2018.

08:35 EDT American Express reports August net write-off rate 2.2% vs. 2.2% last month - Reports August 30 days past due loans 1.3% vs. 1.3% last month.

08:34 EDT XPO Logistics says to add 8,000 seasonal jobs in North America - XPO Logistics announced that it expects to hire 8,000 North American logistics workers for the peak holiday season. The company's retail logistics volume through August is running approximately 20% higher than 2017, primarily driven by consumer demand for e-commerce and omnichannel retail fulfillment.

08:33 EDT CyrusOne names Mark Skomal SVP, chief accounting officer - CyrusOne announced the appointment of Mark Skomal as SVP and chief accounting officer, effective September 24, 2018. Skomal will report to Diane Morefield, EVP and CFO. Previously, Skomal was the SVP, chief accounting officer and controller for DCT Industrial Trust since 2007.

08:24 EDT Playa Hotels & Resorts, Hilton announce alliance - Playa Hotels & Resorts (PLYA) and Hilton (HLT) announced plans to leverage Playa Hotels & Resorts' all-inclusive expertise with Hilton's global portfolio of brands, and over 78M participating members in Hilton Honors, Hilton's award-winning loyalty program, to accelerate the growth of Hilton's all-inclusive resorts. As part of the alliance, by the end of 2018, two Playa resorts, The Royal Playa del Carmen, and the Dreams La Romana, will be converted to Hilton all-inclusive resorts, with the potential for the conversion and management of eight additional resorts by 2025. The converted properties will allow guests to earn and redeem points through Hilton Honors. Although we anticipate some initial disruption, strategic alliances with world class partners such as Hilton can be transformative for Playa in the long-run. As a result of rebranding and renovations, as well as competitive discounting among our peers in Playa del Carmen and Cancun, at the midpoint, we currently expect our 2018 and 2019 EBITDA outlooks to decrease by $4.5 M and $26M, respectively.

08:18 EDT Canon U.S.A. joins Netflix's new Post Technology Alliance - Canon U.S.A. (CAJ) is proud to announce the company will be joining Netflix's (NFLX) brand-new Post Technology Alliance, which brings together industry leaders committed to working closely with Netflix to innovate production workflows and support creatives globally. As a part of the Post Technology Alliance program, products receive the Post Technology Alliance designation logo - a mark of quality, service, and support. The logo signals that a product meets Netflix technical and delivery specifications and will continue to do so in the future.

08:15 EDT Internap subsidiary renews agreement with Canadian pension investment manager - Internap and one of Canada's largest pension investment managers, announced a multi-year colocation deal in INAP's Tier 3 design Montreal data center. This financial services customer handles some of the largest Canadian public entities and renewed their relationship with iWeb based on a successful 5-year track record of meeting all requirements. Under terms of the deal, iWeb will provide robust connectivity, guaranteed 100% power uptime and network access, all within a high-density green environment.

08:10 EDT Crispr Therapeutics, ViaCyte announce collaboration on diabetes treatment - Crispr Therapeutics and ViaCyte announced a collaboration focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of gene-edited allogeneic stem cell therapies for the treatment of diabetes. Decades of clinical data with islet transplants indicate that beta-cell replacement approaches may offer curative benefit to patients with insulin-requiring diabetes. ViaCyte has pioneered the approach of generating pancreatic-lineage cells from stem cells and delivering them safely and efficiently to patients. PEC-Direct, ViaCyte's lead product candidate currently being evaluated in the clinic, uses a non-immunoprotective delivery device that permits direct vascularization of the cell therapy. This approach has the potential to deliver durable benefit; however, because the patient's immune system will identify these cells as foreign, PEC-Direct will require long-term immunosuppression to avoid rejection. As a result, PEC-Direct is being developed as a therapy for the subset of patients with type 1 diabetes at high risk for acute complications. Crispr gene editing offers the potential to protect the transplanted cells from the patient's immune system by ex vivo editing immune-modulatory genes within the stem cell line used to produce the pancreatic-lineage cells. Crispr Therapeutics is pursuing a similar approach for its allogeneic CAR-T programs and has established significant expertise in immune-evasive gene editing. The combination of ViaCyte's stem cell capabilities and Crispr's gene editing capabilities has the potential to enable a beta-cell replacement product that may deliver durable benefit to patients without triggering an immune reaction. Under the terms of the agreement, Crispr and ViaCyte will jointly seek to develop an immune-evasive stem cell line as a first step on the path to an allogeneic stem-cell derived product. Upon successful completion of these studies and identification of a product candidate, the parties will jointly assume responsibility for further development and commercialization worldwide. Upon execution of the agreement ViaCyte will receive $15M from Crispr, which at Crispr's election may be paid in either cash or Crispr stock. ViaCyte also has the option, under certain circumstances, to receive an additional $10M from Crispr in the form of a convertible promissory note.

08:09 EDT E-Trade reports August DARTs up 30% y/y - E*TRADE Financial Corporation released its Monthly Activity Report for August 2018. Daily Average Revenue Trades for August were 267,619, a 7% increase from July and a 30% increase from the year-ago period. Derivatives represented 32% of DARTs during the month. The company added 58,119 gross new brokerage accounts in August and ended the month with approximately 3.9M brokerage accounts-an increase of 32,973 from July. Net new brokerage assets were $1.7B in the month. During the month, customer security holdings increased by $17.8B, and brokerage-related cash increased by $1.2B to $53.5B. Customer margin balances decreased $0.3B, ending the month at $10.7B. Customers were net sellers of approximately $0.3B in securities during the month.

08:06 EDT Sysco names CEO Tom Bene as chairman, announces retirement of Jackie Ward - Sysco Corporation announced that, in alignment with Sysco's board of directors' tenure policy, Jackie M. Ward will retire from the company's board after more than 17 years of service, including the last five years as non-executive chairman. Ward's retirement is part of Sysco's board succession plan and will be effective on November 16, immediately following Sysco's 2018 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. Tom Bene, Sysco's president and CEO, has been elected chairman of the board, effective upon Ward's retirement. "After careful deliberation, and taking into account his record of success to date in driving Sysco to achieve its strategic objectives, the board determined that naming Tom to succeed Jackie as chairman was in the best interest of the company and its shareholders," said Larry Glasscock, Sysco director and chair of the corporate governance and nominating committee. "We are confident that Sysco is well-positioned under Tom's leadership for continued success and value creation." Sysco's board intends to appoint an independent lead director prior to the 2018 annual meeting.

08:05 EDT Conformis settles patent disputes with Smith & Nephew, will receive $10.5M - Conformis announced that it has entered into a settlement and license agreement with Smith & Nephew that resolves all patent disputes between Conformis and Smith & Nephew. Pursuant to the agreement, Smith & Nephew is required to pay $10.5M to Conformis, and the parties have entered into a limited patent cross-license.

08:05 EDT AmpliPhi announces 'positive' clinical results for expanded access program - AmpliPhi Biosciences Corporation announced updated topline clinical results for its ongoing single-patient expanded access program. 84% of patients achieved treatment success at the end of therapy, defined as complete resolution or significant improvement of baseline signs and symptoms. AmpliPhi has now provided its investigational bacteriophage therapeutics for a total of 21 patients, at 7 hospitals, with serious or life-threatening infections not responding to antibiotic therapy. These patients were treated with AB-SA01 or AB-PA01 under single-patient expanded access programs in the U.S. or Australia. The following analysis updates the data previously announced by the company on January 3, 2018: 15 patients with serious S. aureus infections were treated with AB-SA01 and 6 patients with serious P. aeruginosa infections were treated with AB-PA01. Infections in the treated patients included bacteremia, native and prosthetic valve endocarditis, recurrent pneumonia, ventilator-associated pneumonia, prosthetic joint infection, ventricular assist device infection, and others. Over 1,000 bacteriophage doses were administered as part of the expanded access program including: 400+ doses of AB-SA01, including 300+ doses administered intravenously. Treatment was well-tolerated in all patients with no treatment related serious adverse events. 600+ doses of AB-PA01, including 400+ doses administered intravenously. Treatment was well-tolerated in five patients. One patient discontinued treatment due to Grade 1 and 2 adverse events, which resolved within 18 hours. There were no treatment-related SAEs. 84% of patients in the modified intent-to-treat population achieved treatment success at the end of therapy. Treatment success, as determined by the treating physician, was defined as a complete resolution or significant improvement of baseline signs and symptoms. mITT population was defined as all patients who met the criteria for clinical diagnosis, whose bacterial isolate was susceptible to phage and who received at least one dose of phage.

08:02 EDT Tenet hospitals in South Carolina fully operational after Hurricane Florence - Tenet Healthcare announced that its four hospitals in South Carolina are fully operational following Hurricane Florence and meeting the healthcare needs of the communities they serve. Coastal Carolina Hospital, East Cooper Medical Center and Hilton Head Hospital, which are all located in areas impacted by the storm, had no material damage. These hospitals resumed normal operations over the weekend, and it is noteworthy that they remained open during the storm. East Cooper Medical Center in Mt. Pleasant, S.C., received an exception to the mandatory evacuation order issued by the Governor of South Carolina and remained open with reduced census and an operational emergency room. Piedmont Medical Center was not directly impacted by the storm and remained fully operational. USPI has eight surgery centers in areas impacted by the storm. Those facilities are in the process of rescheduling cancelled cases, with plans in place to be operational as of today.

08:02 EDT Cerberus to acquire Subsea Communications business from TE Connectivity - Cerberus Capital Management announced that one of its affiliates has entered into an agreement with TE Connectivity Ltd. under which Cerberus will acquire TE's Subsea Communications business. Headquartered in Eatontown, New Jersey, SubCom is a leading global supplier of subsea communications systems with approximately $700M in revenue, based on fiscal year 2018 expectations. The business designs, manufactures, deploys, and maintains the subsea fiber optic cable systems that are vital for global communications. To date, SubCom has completed more than 100 cable systems and deployed over 610,000 kilometers of cable through its eight high-performance cable ships, which are among the most efficient and capable in the industry. SubCom, supported by approximately 1,400 employees, has a strong customer base of leading internet content providers, telecommunications companies, and entrepreneurs around the world.The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2018.

07:42 EDT Seeco Holding announces partnership with Feelunique - Secoo is pleased to announce a partnership with Feelunique, Europe's leading online beauty retailer, to launch a dedicated Feelunique-branded cosmetics store within Secoo's platform in next months. Through this unique partnership, Feelunique will provide Secoo's sophisticated Chinese customer base of more than 20 million high net-worth members with access to highly sought-after premium and niche international beauty brands. The store will launch in Q4 2018, building out Secoo's cosmetics category and providing an additional potent channel for Feelunique to serve China's fast-growing online beauty market. Orders placed through the Feelunique store on Secoo will be fulfilled by Feelunique's strategically located distribution hub in Hong Kong, due to be operational next month. Secoo and Feelunique will jointly create high-quality editorial content to inform and inspire consumers, in-line with Feelunique's highly successful content - and community - led strategy. All pricing, promotions, merchandising and inventory will be managed by Feelunique.

07:41 EDT Macau casino revenue estimate cut as typhoon shutters operations - Over the weekend, Macau's government decided to suspend all casino operations starting on Saturday, September 15, due to safety concerns ahead of Typhoon Mangkhut, which has already left devastation in the Philippines and is now making its way across southern China. JPMorgan analyst DS Kim said he believes this to be the first time in Macau's recent history that the government has ordered the blanket suspension of all casino operations. He thinks business will be negatively impacted at least until early next week and "guestimates" the negative impact from Mangkhut could amount to roughly 8%-10% of September gross gaming revenue. Kim now forecasts September gross gaming revenue to grow low-single-digits, which is down from his prior estimate of over 13% and compares to the pre-typhoon consensus estimates of low-to-mid-teens percentage year-over-year growth. Publicly traded companies in the Macau gaming space include Las Vegas Sands (LVS), MGM Resorts (MGM), Wynn Resorts (WYNN) and Melco Resorts (MLCO).

07:32 EDT Mersana Therapeutics trading resumes

07:30 EDT Realm Therapeutics PLC (ADS) trading resumes

07:15 EDT Teva up 6.9% to $24.43 after FDA approves AJOVYTM injection - Also this morning, Mizuho analyst Irina Koffler raised her price target for Teva Pharmaceutical to $29 from $28. In pre-market trading, shares of Teva are up 6.9% to $24.43.

07:12 EDT Mersana Therapeutics announces FDA lifts partial clinical hold on XMT-1522 - Mersana Therapeutics announced that the FDA has lifted the partial clinical hold on the Phase 1 study of XMT-1522. Mersana and the FDA reached alignment on changes to the protocol, including increased monitoring as well as the exclusion of patients with advanced hepatic impairment. Although XMT-1536, Mersana's Dolaflexin ADC targeting NaPi2b, was not subject to a clinical hold, Mersana has decided to implement similar modifications to the XMT-1536 protocol. In addition, alternative dosing regimens will be evaluated for both clinical trials.The XMT-1522 trial will begin with a once-every-four-week dose regimen. This dosing regimen has already been implemented in the XMT-1536 trial at previously explored dose levels in order to enable a comparison of relevant doses and their impact on the safety, efficacy and PK profile of the drug candidate. The company may evaluate additional regimens as well. Data on XMT-1536 is expected in the first half of 2019.

07:06 EDT Sinovac Biotech says DOJ closes investigation, no charges filed - Sinovac Biotech announced that the U.S. Department of Justice has closed its investigation, with no charges, into possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act related to allegations that certain Sinovac employees made improper payments to Chinese government officials. The closing of the DOJ investigation follows the SEC's termination of its related investigation, which the company announced on August 20, 2018. With the closure of the DOJ's investigation, the company is not aware of any pending U.S. government investigations of the company related to these matters. Sinovac is committed to conducting business in compliance with all applicable laws and cooperated fully with the DOJ. Sinovac will continue in its mission of researching, developing, manufacturing and commercializing vaccines that protect against human infectious diseases.

07:04 EDT Neptune Technologies gets Confirmation of Readiness letter from Health Canada - Neptune Technologies announced that it has received a Confirmation of Readiness letter from Health Canada in regard to its application to become a Licensed Producer under the ACMPR. Health Canada's positive response marks another important regulatory step forward to obtaining Neptune's licence to produce cannabis oil supporting our timeline to commence commercialization this fiscal year. Neptune will notify Health Canada in the coming days and provide all additional required evidence to the agency to demonstrate the Corporation's readiness to commence production. Upon satisfactory review by Health Canada of any additional information submitted by Neptune, the Corporation would receive its licence for cannabis extraction.

07:01 EDT Steven Madden announces 3-for-2 stock split - Steve Madden announced that its Board of Directors has declared a three-for-two stock split, in the form of a stock dividend, of the company's outstanding shares of common stock. The stock split will entitle all stockholders of record at the close of business on October 1, 2018, to receive one additional share of Steve Madden common stock for every two shares of common stock held on that date. The additional shares are expected to be distributed to stockholders on or about October 11, 2018, by the company's transfer agent. As a result of the stock split, the number of outstanding shares of the company's common stock will increase to approximately 87.6M shares from approximately 58.4M shares outstanding prior to the split.

06:55 EDT Realm Therapeutics PLC (ADS) trading halted, news pending

06:55 EDT JPMorgan reports August net credit losses 2.36% vs. 2.30% last month - Reports August 30-plus day delinquencies 1.10% vs. 1.10% last month.

06:46 EDT Centrus Energy Doosan sign Memorandum of Understanding - Centrus Energy and Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction Co. announced a Memorandum of Understanding to explore opportunities to cooperate in providing manufacturing, engineering and technical services and goods to the nuclear industry - including advanced technologies that will be utilized in the next generation of commercial nuclear reactors under development around the world. The MOU establishes a framework for Centrus and Doosan to explore a range of commercial initiatives that would take advantage of the unique technical capabilities, expertise, and customer relationships of both companies. In particular, Centrus and Doosan plan to pursue opportunities for cooperation in serving the companies developing the next generation of nuclear reactors, which will require advanced engineering and manufacturing capabilities and innovative fuel designs.

06:31 EDT ChromaDex announces partnership with Jiangxi Government in China - ChromaDex announced a strategic partnership for healthy aging research with the Jiangxi Provincial Government, People's Republic of China. The initiative will allow Jiangxi to become a foothold for advanced scientific research and business development to solve the problem of aging. The parties continue to discuss the details of the relationship, including their respective contributions to the venture, with the anticipation of finalizing definitive agreements later this year. In addition to the anti-aging initiative, the ceremony also celebrated the launch of the Food Technology Science Park, in collaboration with Qifeng Food Technology Co. of Beijing, to build a world-class, tech-centric science research complex in Jiangxi.

06:16 EDT Tasly obtains all necessary approvals for transaction with Mesoblast - Mesoblast announced that Tasly Pharmaceutical Group has successfully obtained all necessary approvals, including the Safe Administration of Foreign Exchange, required for closing the investment agreement and the development and collaboration agreement with Mesoblast to commercialize cell therapies for cardiovascular diseases in China.

06:14 EDT Capital One reports August net charge-offs 4.54% vs. 4.39% last month - Reports August 30-plus day performing delinquencies 3.58% vs. 3.46% last month.

06:10 EDT Shell aims to maintain methane emissions intensity below 0.2% by 2025 - Royal Dutch Shell announced a target to maintain methane emissions intensity below 0.2% by 2025. This target covers all oil and gas assets for which Shell is the operator. "This methane target complements Shell's ambition to cut the Net Carbon Footprint of our energy products by around half by 2050, which we announced in November 2017," said Maarten Wetselaar, Shell's Integrated Gas & New Energies Director. "It is a further demonstration of our continued focus on tackling greenhouse gas emissions. Such efforts are a critical part of Shell's strategy to thrive during the global energy transition by providing more and cleaner energy." To maintain this methane target, Shell is implementing programs, including using infrared cameras to scan for methane emissions, deploying advanced technology to repair leaks, and replacing high-bleed pneumatically-operated controllers with low emission alternatives. Shell recognizes that there remains uncertainty with measuring methane emissions. "This is an industry wide issue and we need to fix this fast," said Wetselaar. "We must get a much more accurate understanding of how much we are emitting."

06:08 EDT G1 Therapeutics says expediting analyses of myelopreservation data - G1 Therapeutics announced that it is expediting analyses of myelopreservation data from its randomized Phase 2 trial of trilaciclib in combination with chemotherapy and Tecentriq in first-line small cell lung cancer. Myelopreservation results from the trial will be reported in the fourth quarter of 2018.

06:06 EDT Progenics says AZEDRA added to NCCN guidelines - Progenics announced that AZEDRA has been added to the National Comprehensive Cancer Network Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology for Neuroendocrine and Adrenal Tumors v 3.2018. NCCN Guidelines are widely recognized and used as the standard for clinical policy in oncology by clinicians and payors.

06:05 EDT DowDuPont announces senior leadership for DowDuPont, Corteva Agriscience - DowDuPont announced the senior leaders of the independent companies that will be created following the separation of its Agriculture and Specialty Products Divisions, which is expected to occur by June 1, 2019. In addition, the company announced that Ed Breen, CEO of DowDuPont, will become executive chairman of DuPont following the separation. The senior leaders of Corteva Agriscience include: James C. Collins, Jr., currently chief operating officer of the Agriculture Division, will be chief executive officer; Greg Friedman, currently head of finance for the Agriculture Division and vice president, DuPont Investor Relations, will be executive vice president, chief financial officer; and Cornel Fuerer, currently head of legal for the Agriculture Division, will be senior vice president, general counsel. The senior leaders of DuPont include: Marc Doyle, currently chief operating officer of the Specialty Products Division, will be chief executive officer; Jeanmarie Desmond, currently head of finance for the Specialty Products Division and co-controller of DowDuPont, will be executive vice president, chief financial officer; and Erik Hoover, currently head of legal for the Specialty Products Division, chief compliance officer for DuPont, and assistant secretary for DowDuPont, will be senior vice president, general counsel. In his full-time role as executive chairman of DuPont, Mr. Breen will work closely with the senior leadership team and focus on the company's portfolio management strategy, capital allocation decisions, and, in conjunction with Marc Doyle, shareholder engagement. As CEO, Mr. Doyle will lead the organization and remain focused on business execution, growth initiatives, and further establishing a culture of innovation and operational discipline in order to maximize shareholder value. He will report to Mr. Breen.

06:01 EDT Government Properties, Select Income REIT agree to merge

05:59 EDT KBRwyle awarded contract by NASA - KBR announced that its global government services business, KBRwyle, has been awarded a contract to study the future of commercial enterprise in low-Earth orbit, or LEO, including long-range opportunities for the International Space Station, or ISS. NASA selected KBRwyle as one of thirteen contract awardees. KBRwyle will assess the potential growth of a LEO market and how to offer affordable access to LEO. It will also analyze how to foster demand for commercial and government use of LEO platforms and capabilities. KBRwyle will study specific industry concepts like the viability of habitable platforms including the space station and separate free-flying structures. According to NASA, the findings from these studies will help it, the administration and Congress develop a strategic approach to growing opportunities for American industry. The application of these results will expand access to LEO and stimulate a vibrant and competitive industrial base for continued U.S. leadership in space.

05:29 EDT Amazon announces new 'Amazon Storefronts' - Amazon opens "Amazon Storefronts," a new store for customers to shop exclusively from U.S. small and medium-sized businesses selling on Amazon. With Storefronts, customers can shop a curated collection of over one million products, and deals from nearly 20,000 U.S. small and medium-sized businesses, and learn more about profiled businesses through featured videos and stories. Amazon launched the new store to offer customers an easy way to buy from small and medium-sized businesses in all 50 states through the convenient and trusted Amazon experience. Amazon Storefronts features a variety of product categories including Back to School, Halloween, Home, Kitchen, Pet Supplies and Books. To support the launch of the new store, Amazon is unveiling its first-ever national TV commercial featuring real businesses that sell on Amazon. With more than a million small and medium-sized businesses in the U.S. selling on Amazon, the ad gives customers a glimpse into a real business on Amazon and how Amazon is actually a 'Big collection of Small.' The commercial shows how Amazon helps businesses get their products to customers all over the world. To help illustrate the growing number of businesses on Amazon, a series of business logos come together at the end of the ad to form the Amazon smile logo.

05:19 EDT Qiagen, NeuMoDx Molecular announce strategic partnership - Qiagen and NeuMoDx Molecular announced a strategic partnership to commercialize two new fully integrated systems for automation of polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, testing. These next-generation systems are specifically designed to help clinical molecular diagnostic laboratories process increasing test volumes and deliver more rapid insights on a broad range of diseases. Under the agreement, Qiagen will initially distribute the NeuMoDx 288 and NeuMoDx 96 in Europe and other major markets worldwide outside of the United States. NeuMoDx will cover the United States directly. Additionally, the companies are collaborating to implement certain Qiagen chemistries on the NeuMoDx systems. The two companies have also entered into a merger agreement under which Qiagen can acquire all NeuMoDx shares not currently owned by Qiagen at a predetermined price of approximately $234M, Qiagen currently owns about 19.9% of NeuMoDx, subject to the achievement of certain regulatory and operational milestones. Qiagen intends to begin commercialization of the NeuMoDx systems at the European Society of Clinical Virology congress with an initial assay menu based on the first two CE-IVD marked assays for Group B Streptococcus and Chlamydia trachomatis/Neisseria gonorrhoeae infections. The NeuMoDx systems offer a growing menu of relevant in vitro diagnostic, or IVD, tests and the ability to process both commercial and laboratory-developed tests in the most flexible and efficient manner. LDTs, which account for an important number of test requests and volumes, are IVD tests designed by clinical labs for their own use.