Stockwinners Market Radar for October 18, 2018 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

19:57 EDT DowDuPont clarifies the charge is the result of previously reported conditions - In response to market activity following the disclosure of a goodwill impairment related to DuPont's agriculture business, DowDuPont stated that the impairment is non-cash, reflects the effect of previously reported market conditions, and has no impact on its previously announced financial guidance for the Agriculture Division of DowDuPont for FY18. The company previously announced that it expects FY18 results for its Agriculture Division to reflect flat net sales and a mid-single digits percent increase in operating EBITDA.

18:43 EDT Red Lion Hotels CFO Douglas Ludwig resigns due to personal health reasons - RLH Corporation announced that its CFO, Douglas Ludwig, has tendered his resignation effective immediately due to personal health reasons. The company's Chief Accounting Officer, Nate Troup, will serve as Principal Financial Officer while the company conducts its search for a replacement.

18:05 EDT S&P announces changes to S&P SmallCap 600 index - S&P Dow Jones Indices will make the following changes to the S&P SmallCap 600 effective at the open of trading on Tuesday, October 23: Flagstar Bancorp (FBC) will replace SUPERVALU (SVU) in the S&P SmallCap 600. S&P MidCap 400 constituent United Natural Foods (UNFI) is acquiring SUPERVALU in a deal expected to close on October 22 pending final conditions. TechTarget (TTGT) will replace Perry Ellis International (PERY) in the S&P SmallCap 600. Perry Ellis International is being taken private in a deal expected to close soon pending final conditions.

18:02 EDT DowDuPont says Sept. quarter results won't be impacted by $4.5B goodwill charge - On October 18, 2018, E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, a subsidiary of DowDuPont, announced that it would recognize non-cash impairment charges associated with DuPont's agriculture reporting unit in the quarter ended September 30, 2018, of about $4.5B for goodwill and $0.1B for other assets. DowDuPont's results of operations and financial statements for the quarter ended September 30, 2018, will not be impacted by DuPont's expected $4.5B goodwill impairment charge, as the fair value of DowDuPont's agriculture reporting unit, (comprised of the respective consolidated agriculture reporting units of DowDuPont's principal subsidiaries, DuPont and The Dow Chemical Company), continues to exceed its carrying value at September 30, 2018.

17:47 EDT FDA advisory committee recommends Shire's Prucalopride for CIC - Shire announced that the FDA Gastrointestinal Drugs Advisory Committee voted unanimously 10 to 0 that the risk-benefit profile of prucalopride supports the approval of this New Drug Application. The FDA will take the advisory committee's recommendation into consideration when the agency makes a final determination. The Prescription Drug User Fee Act PDUFA action date for prucalopride is December 21, 2018. The advisory committee also voted unanimously 10 to 0 that the potential risk of cardiovascular adverse events with the use of prucalopride in adults with CIC has been adequately addressed by Shire. Prucalopride, a serotonin type 4 receptor agonist, is a gastrointestinal prokinetic agent that stimulates colonic peristalsis, increasing bowel motility. Drugs similar to prucalopride have been associated with adverse cardiovascular events in the past. Prucalopride has been studied in more than 90 clinical trials worldwide over the last 20 years, including six key studies by which the advisory committee made its recommendation today. The advisory committee reviewed data included in the prucalopride NDA, specifically five main Phase 3 and one Phase 4 double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials. An integrated analysis of these six main randomized, controlled clinical trials evaluated the global efficacy and safety of prucalopride 2 mg daily in men and women with chronic constipation; study designs across the trials were similar. Overall, there were 2,484 adult patients included in the integrated efficacy analysis and 2,552 adult patients included in the integrated safety analysis; all patients included received prucalopride less than or equal to 2 mg daily or placebo. There are an estimated 35M adults in the U.S. with chronic idiopathic constipation.

17:28 EDT American Express says revenue growth 'directly' linked to company decisions - Says revenue growth has been at least 8% for the last eight quarters. Says can directly link investments and company decisions to this growth in revenue.

17:18 EDT TechTarget to replace Perry Ellis in S&P 600 at open on 10/23 - Perry Ellis International is being taken private in a deal expected to close soon pending final conditions.

17:17 EDT Flagstar Bancorp to replace Supervalu in S&P 600 at open on 10/23 - S&P MidCap 400 constituent United Natural Foods (UNFI) is acquiring SUPERVALU (SVU) in a deal expected to close on October 22 pending final conditions.

17:09 EDT American Express 'excited' about expanded relationship with PayPal - Says focused on sustaining high levels of revenue growth. Says feels good about advantages that come from integrated business model. Comments taken from Q3 earnings conference call.

17:07 EDT DowDuPont sees September quarter non-cash impairment charges of about $4.6B - On October 12, 2018, E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company concluded that non-cash impairment charges are required under generally accepted accounting principles of the United States, in the quarter ended September 30, 2018 of about $4.6B for goodwill and other assets associated with its agriculture reporting unit. No portion of the impairment charges relates to future cash expenditures. The company tests goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets for impairment annually during the fourth quarter or more frequently when events or changes in circumstances indicate that the fair value may be below its carrying value. Under the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of December 11, 2015, as amended, The Dow Chemical Company and the company each merged with wholly owned subsidiaries of DowDuPont on August 31, 2017, and, as a result became subsidiaries of DowDuPont. For purposes of DowDuPont Inc.'s financial statement presentation, Dow was determined to be the accounting acquirer in the Merger, and the company's assets and liabilities were measured at fair value as of the date of the Merger. In connection with the merger and the related accounting determination, DuPont elected to apply push-down accounting and reflect in its financial statements the fair value of its assets and liabilities. Therefore, the company's reporting units became more susceptible to impairment for any decline in fair value since the Merger. During the third quarter of 2018, and in connection with strategic business reviews, the company assembled updated cash flow projections. The revised cash flow projections of the agriculture reporting unit reflect the anticipated impacts of events and circumstances that have developed during 2018, resulting in a reduction in the long-term forecasts of sales and profitability as compared to prior forecasts. The reduction in cash flow projections was principally driven by lower growth in sales and margins in North America and Latin America and unfavorable currency impacts related to the Brazilian real. The lower growth expectation is driven by reduced planted area, an expected unfavorable shift to soybeans from corn in Latin America, and delays in expected product registrations. In addition, decreases in commodity prices and higher than anticipated industry grain inventories are expected to impact farmers' income and buying choices resulting in shifts to lower technologies and pricing pressure. The company considered the combination of these events and circumstances in 2018, and the resulting reduction in its cash flow projections for the agriculture reporting unit, to be a triggering event that required the company to perform an impairment analysis of the agriculture reporting unit's goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets as of September 30, 2018. In reviewing the indefinite-lived intangible assets, the company also determined that the fair value of certain in-process research and development assets had declined as a result of delays in timing of commercialization and increases to expected research and development costs. As a result of the analysis performed, as of September 30, 2018, the company expects to record after-tax, non-cash impairment charges of about $4.5B for goodwill and $0.1B for certain indefinite-lived assets associated with its agriculture reporting unit. During the quarter ended September 30, 2018, the company expects to record a tax provision charge of approximately $75M for a valuation allowance against the net deferred tax asset position of a Brazilian legal entity and an after-tax charge of about $40M for an "other-than-temporary" impairment of certain non-consolidated affiliates in China, respectively. These charges are primarily due to the impact of the 2018 events and circumstances discussed above.

17:04 EDT PayPal up over 8% following Q3 results, raised FY18 guidance and FY19 outlook

17:03 EDT Dril-Quip enters into FEED contact for Sea Lion Project subsea production system - Dril-Quip's wholly-owned subsidiary based in Aberdeen, Scotland, has entered into a Front End Engineering and Design Contract and Frame Agreement with Premier Oil Exploration and Production Limited to provide the subsea production systems for the Sea Lion Phase 1 Development located offshore the Falkland Islands. The Frame Agreement replaces the previously announced letter of intent. The current estimated value of the equipment portion of the scope of work is $207M which includes plans for up to 30 subsea production systems. Formal contract award will be subject to agreement of a definitive contract and Premier taking a final investment decision.

17:00 EDT Intuitive Surgical raises FY18 procedure growth view to 17%-18% from 14.5%-16.5% - Sees FY18 gross profit margin 70,5%. Sees operational expenses 15.5%-17%. Says procedure growth was driven by general surgery in the U.S. and urology worldwide. Says 68% of systems placed were da Vinci X. Says procedure growth accelerated in Japan and UK again in Q3. Guidance and comments taken from Q3 earnings conference call.

16:48 EDT Gulfport Energy reports Q3 net production 1,427.5 MMcfe per day, up 7% - Gulfport Energy provided an update for the quarter and nine-months ended September 30, 2018. Net production during the third quarter of 2018 averaged 1,427.5 MMcfe per day, a 7% increase over the second quarter of 2018 and 19% increase versus the third quarter of 2017. Realized natural gas price for the third quarter of 2018, before the impact of derivatives and including transportation costs, averaged $2.32 per Mcf, a $0.58 per Mcf differential to the average trade month NYMEX settled price. Realized oil price for the third quarter of 2018, before the impact of derivatives and including transportation costs, averaged $68.73 per barrel, a $0.77 per barrel differential to the average WTI oil price. Realized natural gas liquids price for the third quarter of 2018, before the impact of derivatives and including transportation costs, averaged $0.74 per gallon, equivalent to $31.18 per barrel, or approximately 45% of the average WTI oil price. Realized natural gas price for the nine-months ended September 30, 2018, before the impact of derivatives and including transportation costs, averaged $2.30 per Mcf, a $0.59 per Mcf differential to the average trade month NYMEX settled price. Realized oil price for the nine-months ended September 30, 2018, before the impact of derivatives and including transportation costs, averaged $64.96 per barrel, a $1.83 per barrel differential to the average WTI oil price. Realized natural gas liquids price for the nine-months ended September 30, 2018, before the impact of derivatives and including transportation costs, averaged $0.72 per gallon, equivalent to $30.30 per barrel, or approximately 45% of the average WTI oil price. Gulfport turned-to-sales 11 gross and net operated wells in the Utica Shale and 7 gross (5.4 net) operated wells in the SCOOP during the third quarter of 2018.

16:34 EDT Argo Group sees Q3 pre-tax catastrophe losses of roughly $25M - Argo Group announced a preliminary pre-tax catastrophe loss estimate for the three-month period ended September 30, 2018 of approximately $25M. Catastrophe losses are related primarily to Hurricane Florence, Typhoon Jebi and other catastrophe and weather-related events in the third quarter of 2018. Catastrophe loss estimates include claims costs net of ceded reinsurance recoverables and reinstatement premiums, and include losses related to certain aggregate excess of loss contracts.

16:31 EDT Micron intends to acquire remaining interest in IM Flash JV for about $1.5B - Micron (MU) announced that the company intends to exercise its right to call Intel's (INTC) interest in the parties' joint venture, IM Flash Technologies, LLC. Micron can exercise the call option starting Jan. 1, 2019. The timeline to close the transaction is between six and twelve months after the date Micron exercises the call. The IM Flash joint venture is already consolidated in Micron's reported financial statements. Micron anticipates no meaningful impact to overall financial results or changes to its Fiscal 2019 capital expenditures and long-term capital expenditure target. At the time of close, Micron expects to pay approximately $1.5B in cash for the transaction, dissolving Intel's non-controlling interest in IM Flash as well as IM Flash member debt, which was approximately $1B as of Aug. 30, 2018.

16:30 EDT Extraction Oil & Gas sees Q3 average net sales volume of 75.7K BOE/d - Sees FY18 production of 74.0-75.0MBoe/d, including 39.0 - 40.0 MBbl/d of crude oil, which represents 44% total equivalent production growth and 50% crude oil production growth year-over-year. Maintains its previously disclosed FY18 capital expenditure guidance range of $890M-$990M, including $770M-$840M of drilling and completion capital.

16:27 EDT Natera, Neon Therapeutics announce clinical trial collaboration for NEO-PV-01 - Natera (NTRA) and Neon Therapeutics (NTGN) announced a research collaboration using Natera's Signatera circulating tumor DNA, or ctDNA, assay as a biomarker to assess treatment response to NEO-PV-01 in Neon Therapeutics' NT-002 clinical trial. Neon Therapeutics' NT-002 clinical trial is being conducted in collaboration with Merck (MRK) and is designed to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and preliminary efficacy of NEO-PV-01 in combination with Keytruda and a chemotherapy regimen of pemetrexed and carboplatin in untreated patients with advanced or metastatic non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer, or NSCLC. Natera will utilize its Signatera ctDNA assay on patients in this study to correlate treatment response with data from these assays. NEO-PV-01, a personal cancer vaccine, is Neon Therapeutics' most advanced product candidate and is designed specifically for each patient based on tumor-specific DNA mutations. Natera's Signatera assay is a unique approach to deliver a custom ctDNA assay that matches the patient's tumor profile and is intended to offer high specificity and sensitivity in measuring immunological and clinical treatment response.

16:27 EDT Stitch Fix promotes Mike Smith to COO and President - On October 16, the Board of Directors of Stitch Fix (SFIX) promoted Mike Smith to COO and President. Smith has served as the company's COO since September 2017, and previously served as the company's General Manager, Stitch Fix Men from March 2016 to September 2017 and as the company's COO from June 2012 to March 2016. From February 2003 to June 2012, Smith served in a variety of capacities at Walmart.com (WMT) including Vice President from August 2008 to May 2010 and COO from May 2010 to June 2012.

16:25 EDT Natera and Neon Therapeutics collaborate on cancer vaccine trial - Natera (NTRA) and Neon Therapeutics (NTGN) announced a research collaboration using Natera's Signatera circulating tumor DNA assay as a biomarker to assess treatment response to NEO-PV-01 in Neon Therapeutics' NT-002 clinical trial. Neon Therapeutics' NT-002 clinical trial is being conducted in collaboration with Merck (MRK), and is designed to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and preliminary efficacy of NEO-PV-01 in combination with Keytruda and a chemotherapy regimen of pemetrexed and carboplatin in untreated patients with advanced or metastatic non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer. Natera will utilize its Signatera ctDNA assay on patients in this study to correlate treatment response with data from these assays. NEO-PV-01, a personal cancer vaccine, is Neon Therapeutics' most advanced product candidate and is designed specifically for each patient based on tumor-specific DNA mutations.

16:23 EDT PayPal reports Venmo processed about $17B of TPV in Q3 - PayPal said: "Strong mobile engagement on PayPal's platform contributed to approximately $57 billion in mobile payment volume, growing approximately 45%. In the third quarter, mobile payment volume represented 40% of overall TPV. Venmo, the company's social payments platform, processed approximately $17B of TPV in the third quarter, growing 78%. On a trailing twelve month basis, Venmo processed approximately $54B of TPV."

16:20 EDT BlackRock's Ford acquires 2,000 common shares - In a regulatory filing, BlackRock director William E. Ford disclosed the acquisition of 2,000 common shares of the company at a price of $409.5881 per share.

16:19 EDT PayPal CEO says Q3 'another excellent quarter' - "PayPal had another excellent quarter. New partnerships with American Express and Walmart will increase the value that we can offer to our customers. Our strong balance sheet and cash flow enable us to aggressively invest in innovation and growth, creating sustainable and long-term value for our shareholders," said Dan Schulman, President and CEO of PayPal.

16:19 EDT AIG sees Q3 pre-tax catastrophe losses roughly $1.5B-$1.7B - American International Group, Inc. announced it expects to report third quarter 2018 pre-tax catastrophe losses, net of reinsurance, of approximately $1.5 to $1.7 billion. These losses are largely associated with multiple events in Japan, including Typhoons Jebi and Trami, as well as Hurricane Florence and revisions to our loss estimates on the California mudslides. As a result, AIG expects pre-tax catastrophe losses, net of reinsurance, resulting from multiple events in Japan and Asia to be approximately $900 million to $1 billion and pre-tax catastrophe losses, net of reinsurance, resulting from events in North America to be approximately $600 to $700 million, respectively. In addition, initial pre-tax loss estimates for Hurricane Michael, net of reinsurance, are approximately $300 to $500 million, which will be included in fourth quarter 2018 operating results. Catastrophe loss estimates include expected losses for Validus Holdings, Ltd. and its affiliates. AIG estimates that it has exhausted approximately $700 million of the $750 million retention under its North America aggregate catastrophe reinsurance program following the California mudslides, Hurricane Florence and assuming the high end of the loss estimate range for Hurricane Michael.

16:18 EDT LSP Advisory reports 6.1% passive stake in Cocrystal Pharma

16:16 EDT Mercury Systems receives $3.7M in orders for BuiltSECURE memory devices - Mercury Systems announced that it received follow-on orders of $3.7M from a leading defense prime contractor for BuiltSECURE high density secure memory devices integrated into the command, control, and intelligence system of an advanced airborne platform. The orders were booked in the Company's fiscal 2019 first quarter and are expected to be shipped over the next several quarters.

16:16 EDT Horace Mann estimates Q3 catastrophe losses of $31M-$34M - Horace Mann estimates weather-related catastrophe losses during the three months ended September 30, 2018, will total $31M to $34M on a pre-tax basis. Significant events included Hurricane Florence in the Carolinas, a major hailstorm in Colorado, and the Carr Wildfire in California. The catastrophe loss estimate would represent approximately 18 to 20 percentage points on the company's third quarter 2018 combined ratio, or approximately 59c-64c per diluted share after tax.

16:14 EDT E-Trade reports Q3 DARTs 266.3K vs. 258.8K last year - Reports Q3 Average interest-earning assets of $60B and net interest margin of 310 basis points. Customer margin balances of $11.2B, a company record. Net new brokerage accounts of 67K. Net new brokerage assets of $3.2B. Managed products of $6.2B.

16:12 EDT ServiceSource names Richard G. Walker CFO - ServiceSource announced that Richard G. Walker, currently a member of the company's board of directors and an experienced financial executive, has been appointed Chief Financial Officer, effective November 12, 2018. His appointment follows Robert N. Pinkerton's decision to accept an opportunity outside of ServiceSource. Walker will remain a member of the company's board. Pinkerton's departure is not related to any disagreements regarding financial disclosures, accounting or legal matters, the company said.

16:11 EDT Regulus regains compliance with NASDAQ listing requirements - Regulus received notice from Nasdaq indicating that the company has regained compliance with the minimum bid price requirement for continued listing and the matter is closed.

16:08 EDT CatchMark Timber reports 'negligible damage' from recent Hurricanes - CatchMark Timber Trust provided an assessment of impacts on operations following Hurricane Michael, which affected regions across Georgia and South Carolina in the U.S. South Timber Basket. Of the company's more than 340,000 acres located in the two states, only 500 acres suffered blowdown damage from heavy winds. Todd Reitz, CatchMark's Senior Vice President for Forest Resources, said: "We were extremely fortunate in experiencing negligible damage from recent storms in the region. The timber in our affected acreage will be salvaged immediately, and those operations have begun and will be completed during the fourth quarter. Our thoughts and concerns are extended to everyone who has suffered at the hands of Hurricanes Michael and Florence as well as to all first responders and volunteers who are assisting in the ongoing recovery throughout the area." The Georgia Department of Agriculture has reported that timber damage, related to Hurricane Michael, in the state totaled an estimated $1B from the destruction of about one million acres.

16:03 EDT Canadian Pacific CEO says set up well for remainder of year and beyond - "This quarter really showed what our operating model and our 13,000-strong family of CP railroaders can do," said Keith Creel, CP President and CEO. "It was a record by almost every measure and sets us up well for the remainder of the year and beyond. Our continued success comes from a commitment at every level of the organization to deliver on the principles of precision scheduled railroading for our customers, our shareholders and the broader North American economy."

16:00 EDT Trump says he is in 'total support' of people with pre-existing conditions - President Donald Trump tweeted: "All Republicans support people with pre-existing conditions, and if they don't, they will after I speak to them. I am in total support. Also, Democrats will destroy your Medicare, and I will keep it healthy and well!" Publicly traded companies in hospital space, which have been pointed to as beneficiaries of policies in the ACA, include Community Health (CYH), HCA Healthcare (HCA), LifePoint (LPNT), Tenet (THC) and Universal Health (UHS). Publicly traded health insurers include Aetna (AET), Anthem (ANTM), Centene (CNC), Cigna (CI), Health Net (HNT), Humana (HUM), Molina Healthcare (MOH), UnitedHealth (UNH) and WellCare (WCG).

15:58 EDT Brookdale Senior Living cancels from Credit Suisse conference, Bloomberg says - Brookdale Senior Living has canceled from the 27th Annual Credit Suisse Healthcare Conference being held November 12-15 in Scottsdale, Arizona, according to Bloomberg, citing a company representative. CEO Cindy Baier has a scheduling conflict as she is being recognized at a luncheon the day after she was supposed to present at the conference. Brookdale still intends to be at Stephens conference a week before Credit Suisse, the publication added.

15:40 EDT Xoma drops 15% after reporting Novartis disclosure of CRL for canakinumab

15:36 EDT Hawthorn Bancshares to sell Branson, MO branch - Hawthorn Bank, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Hawthorn Bancshares, announced that it has entered into an agreement to sell its branch located in Branson, Missouri with total deposits of approximately $15M to Branson Bank, Branson, Missouri. The transaction excludes loans assigned to the branch. After the sale, Hawthorn Bank will continue to operate 22 branch locations, primarily in central and west central Missouri. The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval and certain closing conditions, is expected to close during Q1 of 2019.

15:21 EDT James E. Flynn reports 5.37% passive stake in Portola Pharmaceuticals

14:49 EDT Brookdale Senior Living moves off lows, said to cancel out of conference - An afternoon move off the lows for Brookdale Senior Living is being attributed to speculation that the company cancelled out of a planned conference presentation, according to contacts. The Fly has reached out to Brookdale for comment.

14:35 EDT Adage Capital reports 6.18% passive stake in Spring Bank Pharmaceuticals

14:02 EDT American Express, PayPal announce expanded strategic partnership - American Express (AXP) and PayPal (PYPL) announced an expanded strategic partnership that they say will improve the digital payments experience for U.S. American Express Card Members paying with PayPal and Venmo. "The companies will work closely on a host of solutions for joint customers to include the use of Membership Rewards points for PayPal purchases and an integrated peer-to-peer payment experience. As part of the agreement, both companies will also explore additional innovative digital products and experiences," they stated in a press release. PayPal will be integrating into the American Express Token Service, as well as continuing its global card acceptance relationship. PayPal and American Express will work together to implement all of these features over the course of 2019, the companies said.

13:43 EDT ArQule rises 9% in afternoon trading amid conference appearance - ArQule, which is scheduled to present at the American Society of Human Genetics conference, is up 42c, or 9.25%, to $4.97 in afternoon trading.

13:15 EDT Blizzard says 'multiple teams' working on different 'Diablo' projects - In a blog post ahead of BlizzCon 2018, Activision Blizzard unit Blizzard said that it currently has "multiple teams" working on different "Diablo" projects. "We know what many of you are hoping for and we can only say that "good things come to those who wait," but evil things often take longer," the company said. "We appreciate your patience as our teams work tirelessly to create nightmarish experiences worthy of the Lord of Terror."

13:06 EDT Coca-Cola names group presidents for Asia Pacific and Europe - The Coca-Cola Company announced new roles for four operational leaders, including the naming of two new group presidents. The company also announced the creation of a Global Ventures position. The promotions are a follow-up to an earlier announcement about the company's election of a new president and chief operating officer and the transition to a new chief financial officer. Manuel "Manolo" Arroyo will become group president for the Asia Pacific region. He will replace John Murphy, who has been elected to become executive vice president and chief financial officer on March 16, 2019, after a transition period with the current CFO, Kathy Waller. Arroyo will be succeeded in Mexico by Galya Molinas, who currently serves as senior vice president of Global Strategy & Insights for Coca-Cola. Nikos Koumettis has been named as a group president, overseeing Europe, Middle East and Africa. He replaces Brian Smith, who has been elected to become president and chief operating officer. Koumettis will be succeeded as head of CEE by Lana Popovic, who currently serves as North-East Europe franchise general manager. Jennifer Mann, the company's Chief People Officer, will take on additional duties as president, Global Ventures. Mann and all Coca-Cola group presidents will report to Smith. All changes take effect Jan. 1, 2019.

13:04 EDT Twilio, T-Mobile partner to create new developer platform Twilio Narrowband - Building on their two-year partnership, Twilio (TWLO), the leading cloud communications platform and T-Mobile (TMUS) announced that Twilio has created a new developer platform for the T-Mobile Narrowband IoT, NB-IoT,network today at SIGNAL, Twilio's customer and developer conference. Twilio Narrowband is the first developer platform for NB-IoT in the U.S., a cellular low-power wide-area network technology, which will substantially reduce prices and increase battery life for intermittent low-bandwidth connections. Twilio also announced the Twilio Breakout Software Development Kit to help developers start taking advantage of the optimizations offered by NB-IoT networks. NB-IoT was designed for the majority of IoT devices that don't need a lot of bandwidth. With NB-IoT, devices can consume a fraction of the battery power they do with previous cellular M2M devices, enabling connectivity at a fraction of the cost. NB-IoT is built for smaller data packets, such as timestamps, GPS coordinates and status updates for a variety of industries, from smart metering to health device monitoring. With the power and cost efficiencies generated by NB-IoT, the market is ripe to open for new categories of lower cost, battery efficient internet-connected devices that don't exist today. T-Mobile is the first to deploy a NB-IoT network in the U.S., which launched nationwide in July. "Together with Twilio, the Un-carrier is unleashing developers and building an entirely new ecosystem for IoT solutions. I can't wait to see what awesomeness they create!" said John Legere, chief executive officer of T-Mobile. "Once again, T-Mobile is at the forefront of innovation, enabling a world where anything and everything can be connected. The possibilities are endless!"

12:51 EDT National Beverage says LaCroix's Essences confirmed as 'natural' - National Beverage Corp. has announced the results of testing performed by a certified independent laboratory. A lab, accredited under the strict standards set by the International Standards Organization, tested vendor supplied ingredients to confirm they were derived from natural sources, such as fruit, instead of being artificially created in a lab. The rigorous standards of the American Society for Testing and Materials conclusively proved that no trace of artificial or synthetic additives was found. The FDA has stated that the description 'natural' on a food label is truthful and non-misleading when 'nothing artificial or synthetic has been included in, or has been added.' "While we and our loyal consumers never doubted the outcome of these tests, the results affirm our authenticity to our devoted consumers, retail partners, employees and shareholders," stated Nick A. Caporella, Chairman and CEO.

12:35 EDT PolarityTE says Citron Research making 'false and misleading assertions' - PolarityTE issued a statement in response to Citron Research, stating in part: "The false and misleading assertions made by Citron, a publication well-known to be used as tool by notorious short sellers, are designed to negatively impact PolarityTE's share price for the benefit of short sellers and other colluding agents, and are contrary not only to PolarityTE's view, but also to that of our physician partners, KOLs, and SkinTE patients. As PolarityTE noted in a press release issued on October 9, 2018, unusual and suspected illegal trading activity in the Company's securities has been observed and has been reported to appropriate regulatory authorities. This conduct from Citron-whose founder has been barred from trading on certain exchanges in the past due to manipulative activity-is consistent with a pattern and practice of deliberate distortion to negatively impact PolarityTE. Those engaging in illegal manipulative trading activity such as "short and distort" schemes, "naked short" selling, and pre-arranged trading are accountable under federal laws enforced by the regulators. The Company will not be distracted from its patient-focused mission."

12:16 EDT Apple announces October 30 Special Event from Brooklyn - Reference Link

12:03 EDT Square announces Square Terminal hardware to replace legacy credit card machines - Square announced Square Terminal, an integrated and innovative all-in-one card processing device designed to be fast, fair, and secure. Square Terminal allows sellers to ring up sales, accept all forms of payments quickly, and print receipts, all from one affordable and elegant device. It is the best solution for businesses that use their own point-of-sale solution or manually key in a payment amount, and want to process payments with Square. Square Terminal also offers sellers a fair and flat rate for every transaction regardless of card type. "We love how the hardware, payments, and printer are all part of one device," said Fabrice Borg, manager of Prive by Laurent D Salon in New York, NY. "Square Terminal makes for a more seamless and professional experience when we bring the terminal to our customers and they can pay for their services right from the salon chair." Built in-house, Square Terminal has a unique and simple design, giving any business a more professional look. With a battery that lasts all day and both Wi-Fi or Ethernet internet connections, sellers will never have to worry about missing a sale, whether they're taking payments at the countertop or bringing the terminal right to their customers' hands. "Payment terminals are everywhere, from liquor stores to dry cleaners to dentists, and with Square Terminal we can now serve these sellers better with new, elegant hardware on top of Square's fair and secure payments service," said Jesse Dorogusker, Head of Hardware at Square. "Square Terminal is designed from the ground up to ensure a feeling of familiarity, so sellers and their customers can use it right away. With Square Terminal, we now offer a sophisticated and modern hardware-plus-software solution for every type of business."

12:00 EDT Orion Group falls -10.2% - Orion Group is down -10.2%, or -69c to $6.10.

12:00 EDT Alcoa rises 7.3% - Alcoa is up 7.3%, or $2.67 to $39.37.

12:00 EDT TC PipeLines rises 9.7% - TC PipeLines is up 9.7%, or $2.85 to $32.27.

11:51 EDT Eloxx Pharmaceuticals says 'positive' new data presented on ELX-02 - Eloxx Pharmaceuticals announced "positive" data demonstrating that ELX-02 showed significant increases in CFTR functional assay and mRNA levels across multiple CFTR nonsense mutations in cystic fibrosis patient-derived organoids. ELX-02 demonstrated significant forskolin-induced swelling in cystic fibrosis patient-derived organoids carrying homozygous and compound heterozygous CFTR nonsense mutations, the company stated. These findings were presented today at the North American Cystic Fibrosis Conference in Denver, Colorado. "We are extremely pleased with the emerging profile of ELX-02, as the first read-through agent to demonstrate increases in CFTR function and mRNA in organoids derived from cystic fibrosis patients with nonsense mutations. There is a high unmet medical need among the estimated 13% of cystic fibrosis patients with a nonsense mutation, as they have a high burden of disease and few, if any, treatment options," said Neal Sharpe, Ph.D., Vice President of Translational Sciences at Eloxx.

11:04 EDT Coca-Cola says CFO Kathy Waller to retire, will be succeeded by John Murphy - CFO Kathy Waller will retire from Coca-Cola "after a remarkable three-decade career," Coca-Cola said. Waller, who assumed the role of CFO in 2014, "has been instrumental in transforming, modernizing and simplifying the Coca-Cola finance function, especially technology solutions and in developing talent and keeping people at the forefront."

11:02 EDT Coca-Cola names Nancy Quan as SVP, Chief Technical Officer, effective January 1

11:01 EDT Coca-Cola names Brian Smith as president and COO, effecitve January 1, 2019 - The Coca-Cola Company announced key changes in top leadership, including the election of a new president and chief operating officer and a succession plan for the chief financial officer. The board of directors has elected Brian Smith to serve as president and COO, effective Jan. 1, 2019. He will report to James Quincey, the company's CEO. Smith is a 21-year Coca-Cola veteran who currently serves as president of the company's Europe, Middle East and Africa group. The appointment of a president and COO will allow Quincey, who has served as CEO since May 2017 and is a member of the board of directors, to focus on the overall long-term strategic direction and success of the company. John Murphy, who currently serves as president of the company's Asia Pacific group, will become senior vice president and deputy CFO on Jan. 1, 2019. He will be elevated to executive vice president and CFO on March 16, 2019, following the retirement of Kathy Waller. The company also announced that Nancy Quan has been elected senior vice president and appointed Chief Technical Officer, effective Jan. 1, 2019, reporting to Quincey. She currently serves as a vice president for the company and Chief Technical Officer for Coca-Cola North America.

10:17 EDT PolarityTE trading resumes

10:12 EDT PolarityTE trading halted, volatility trading pause

10:04 EDT GE, Clarke Energy to supply turnkey CHP plant for municipal electricity utility - GE's Distributed Power business and Clarke Energy announced that they will provide a turnkey combined heat and power plant to municipal electricity utility Sebewaing Light & Water. The CHP plant, funded by a public bond, will augment SL&W's existing power plant assets with GE's high-efficiency, natural gas-fueled Jenbacher gas engines, allowing for lower electricity costs for residential, commercial and industrial customers in Sebewaing. Following completion of the project, Clarke Energy will provide a long-term comprehensive service agreement with associated availability guarantees. The project includes one each of GE's Jenbacher J624 and J620 gas engines, providing 4.4 megawatts of electricity and 3.3 MWe, respectively, with a total output of 7.7 MWe.

10:01 EDT MDC Partners names Ryan Linder as Global Chief Marketing Officer - MDC Partners announced that Ryan Linder has been promoted to Executive Vice President, Global Chief Marketing Officer, effective immediately. Linder, charged with overseeing marketing and business development across the MDC Partners network, takes on the expanded role as part of an intensified global growth strategy for the company in response to growing client demand for MDC's diverse and progressive global agency offering. Linder has spent six years at MDC, most recently as US CMO, and has established himself as a trusted, and successful, partner to marketers as they tackle today's most pressing and significant business challenges.

10:00 EDT Sealed Air falls -8.9% - Sealed Air is down -8.9%, or -$3.13 to $32.15.

10:00 EDT Alcoa rises 6.5% - Alcoa is up 6.5%, or $2.40 to $39.10.

10:00 EDT TC PipeLines rises 8.9% - TC PipeLines is up 8.9%, or $2.63 to $32.05.

09:47 EDT Lindsay falls -6.0% - Lindsay is down -6.0%, or -$5.78 to $89.98.

09:47 EDT Textron falls -11.0% - Textron is down -11.0%, or -$7.09 to $57.69.

09:47 EDT Invesco rises 6.6% - Invesco is up 6.6%, or $1.38 to $22.32.

09:41 EDT ASGN unit named as contractor on DARPA TASS $850M contract - ECS, a segment of ASGN, has been named one of seven prime contractors on an $850M, five-year contract to provide technical, financial, administrative and business support services to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. The DARPA Technical and Analytical Support Services multiple-award, indefinite delivery/indefinite quality contract covers a broad range of high-level advisory and assistance services, from the development of strategic and technical plans to research and risk assessment for new technologies.

09:37 EDT Terreno Realty acquires building in Carlstadt, NJ for $3.5M - Terreno Realty acquired an industrial property located in Carlstadt, New Jersey on October 17, 2018 for a purchase price of approximately $3.5M. The property consists of one industrial distribution building containing approximately 24,000 square feet on 1.2 acres less than two miles north of the Meadowlands Sports Complex and Exit 16W of the New Jersey Turnpike. The property is at 130 Commerce Road, provides four dock-high and one grade-level loading positions, parking for 20 cars and is 100% leased to one tenant. The estimated stabilized cap rate of the property is 5.2%.

09:16 EDT Fly Intel: Pre-market Movers - HIGHER: Endocyte (ECYT), up 50% after announcing that it has entered into an agreement to be acquired by Novartis (NVS) for $24 per share... Acorda Therapeutics (ACOR), up 7% after stating that the FDA's pre-approval inspections at its plants "successfully closed". UP AFTER EARNINGS: Phillip Morris (PM), up 2.5%... Alcoa (AA), up 4%... Ericsson (ERIC), up 3%. DOWN AFTER EARNINGS: SAP (SAP), down 4%... Textron (TXT), down 10%... Sealed Air (SEE), down 11%... United Rentals (URI), down 5%. ALSO LOWER: Aclaris Therapeutics (ACRS), down 8% after a 8.645M share spot secondary offering priced at $10.75... Analog Devices (ADI) and Maxim Integrated (MXIM), down 2% and 3%, respectively after Goldman Sachs analyst Toshiya Hari downgraded both stocks to Sell from Neutral.

09:13 EDT Philip Morris says KFDA comments impacting those new to IQOS - Says KFDA comments "have not really been an issue" regarding IQOS users that have already made the switch from cigarettes, but are impacting those new to IQOS or heated tobacco.

09:10 EDT BlackLine names Susan Otto as chief people officer - BlackLine (BL) announced that human resources veteran Susan Otto has joined the financial automation software provider as the company's first chief people officer. In her new role, Otto will be responsible for building, scaling and elevating BlackLine's global talent practices and programs as the company continues to expand and add employees around the world. Otto most recently was chief human resources officer at digital automotive marketplace TrueCar (TRUE).

09:09 EDT Philip Morris sees Q4 net revenue down about 5%, reflecting difficult comps - Says September YTD net revenue growth is 6.5%, which implies a decline in Q4 of approximately 5%. Q4 revenue consensus is $7.45B. Philip Morris CFO says heated tobacco unit inventories have been right-sized. Comments taken from the Q3 earnings conference call.

09:07 EDT KeyCorp sees Q4 average loans up low single digits - Sees Q4 average deposits relatively stable. Sees Q4 net interest income up low single digits Sees non-interest income up mid-single digits. Sees non-interest expense relatively stable Sees net charge-offs relatively stable. Sees GAAP tax rate 16%-17%. Guidance taken from Q3 earnings presentation slides.

09:03 EDT Nucor CEO: We are on pace for 2018 to be a record year for earnings - "The strong financial performance we have had this year continued into the third quarter, and we are on pace for 2018 to be a record year for earnings," said John Ferriola, Nucor's Chairman, CEO and President. "Our financial results are evidence that Nucor was primed and ready for this long-awaited upturn in the steel market. Our strategic initiatives, including capital projects, acquisitions and enhanced customer engagement, as well as our active participation in industry trade actions, have solidified our industry leading performance. Our extensive investments have grown our peak earnings power and enhanced our many competitive strengths."

08:57 EDT Energy XXI Gulf Coast sees completing merger 'within the next few hours' - Energy XXI Gulf Coast provided an update regarding the closing of the merger with affiliates of Cox Oil LLC. EGC previously announced on October 10, 2018 that EGC and Cox jointly agreed to extend the closing date of the merger to October 17, 2018. EGC and Cox began the closing process at 7:15 a.m. Central Time this morning and expect to complete the merger within the next few hours.

08:50 EDT CommScope, Google partner to develop an ESC network to advance CBRS - CommScope (COMM) and Google (GOOG, GOOGL) are working together to jointly develop, deploy and operate an Environmental Sensing Capability network, advancing Citizens Broadband Radio Service to market. The joint ESC leverages the technical capabilities of each company with a consolidated footprint - resulting in more places to deploy CBRS and higher availability spectrum for operators of CBRS-based networks. The CBRS band is 150 MHz of 3.5 GHz spectrum, which will be shared by the current incumbents, including federal government radar systems, and new commercial users. CBRS will provide new dynamically-allocated shared spectrum for various use cases such as private networks, fixed wireless access, wireless rural broadband, indoor wireless coverage, the Internet of Things, and additional cellular capacity. The FCC has authorized shared use of the band, which enables the support of commercial wireless services while protecting incumbent use. CBRS spectrum is managed by Spectrum Access Systems, which require an ESC network to sense radar operation. The ESC will alert the SASs of naval radar operations, so the connected SAS systems can reconfigure spectrum allocations for nearby CBRS devices to operate without interfering with naval activity. CommScope and Google will each provide independent SAS services and jointly operate the ESC network. The ESC network is engineered for high availability with the built-in redundancy and fault detection necessary to provide this key enabling capability. As part of this collaboration, both companies share responsibility for overall network design. Google has developed the ESC sensor and cloud decision engine and will operate the cloud that communicates with each SAS. CommScope will deploy and manage the operation of the physical network. CommScope and Google are working with the FCC and other governmental agencies to obtain certification of the ESC.

08:42 EDT Genuine Parts: Q3 total sales included 4.3% comparable growth - Total sales for the third quarter included 4.3% comparable growth, approximately 12% from acquisitions, including AAG, and an approximate 1% negative impact from foreign currency translation.

08:40 EDT Genuine Parts CEO says had 'positive sales comps' across all business segments - Paul Donahue, President and CEO, commented, "We are pleased to report the further strengthening of our sales, driven by positive sales comps across all our business segments and the favorable impact of strategic acquisitions. In addition, our teams made progress in driving operating improvement, resulting in an improved operating margin for the automotive and industrial segments and the Company overall. We also did an excellent job of managing our working capital, which contributed to the strong cash flows for the quarter." Donahue concluded, "We enter the fourth quarter of 2018 with positive momentum and plans for continued sales and earnings growth. We remain focused on the further strengthening of our core sales growth, maximizing the benefits of our acquisitions and improving our operating results to further enhance our long-term sales and profit outlook. As always, we will support these initiatives with a strong balance sheet and continued strong cash flows."

08:39 EDT Changan Automobile chooses Corning as GPF supplier - Changan Automobile has chosen Corning as its supplier of gasoline particulate filters, or GPF. Corning DuraTrap GC gasoline particulate filters will be integrated into the emissions control systems of Changan's next generation of vehicles to help reduce fine particulate emissions, enabling the automaker to meet the upcoming China 6 light-duty vehicle emissions standards. This supply relationship is based on a strong long-term partnership between the two companies. Starting in 2015, Corning and Changan began joint research and development activities around GPF technology, establishing a project team and running experiments to fully prepare for the China 6 standards. The technology solutions they developed, including the integration of DuraTrap GC filters into the emissions control system of Changan's powertrain designs, are based on this research and will be available starting on Changan's first China 6 engine platform, H15T. This platform has consistently succeeded in meeting tighter China 6 gaseous and fine particulate emissions limits. Vehicles on this engine platform, equipped with DuraTrap GC filters, will begin production at the end of 2018. Corning and Changan have been collaborating on emissions control solutions for the China market prior to the introduction of GPF technology. As Changan's light-duty substrate supplier for catalytic converters, Corning has been providing a pipeline of emissions control products and automotive engineering services to support Changan's vehicle design and development. Once emissions regulations are fully adopted in China and Europe, Corning expects its gasoline particulate filter business to add an estimated $500M in annual sales. Moving forward, Changan is looking to further advance its market position in China by continuing to develop and deploy new technologies that help advance vehicle design and performance.

08:36 EDT CGI Group partners with Hydro-Quebec to launch MILES power outage solution - CGI has partnered with long-time client Hydro-Quebec, which manages the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity across Quebec, to launch MILES, an advanced data analytics solution for fault detection, localization and diagnosis designed to generate clear and timely insight on distribution system faults that are the source of outages and/or customer complaints. CGI will be responsible for the industrialization and commercialization of the solution worldwide, as well as for its implementation, support and integration within utility business operations. MILES was developed by Hydro-Quebec's industry-leading research institute, IREQ, and has been used by the utility for several years with great success.

08:34 EDT Orgenesis subsidiary announces services agreement with Iovance Biotherapeutics - Orgenesis (ORGS) announced that its subsidiary, Masthercell Global, has entered into a new three-year manufacturing services agreement with Iovance Biotherapeutics (IOVA). Using Iovance's proprietary technology and process, Masthercell plans to manufacture tumor infiltrating lymphocytes for Iovance's European late-stage clinical trials in its commercial-ready cGMP manufacturing suites.

08:33 EDT Ultragenyx announces approval of Mepsevii in Brazil for treatment of MPS VII - Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical announced that Brazil's National Health Surveillance Agency has approved Mepsevii for the treatment of Mucopolysaccharidosis VII for patients of all ages. Mepsevii was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in November 2017 for the treatment of pediatric and adult patients with MPS VII. In August 2018, the European Commission approved the Marketing Authorization Application for Mepsevii under exceptional circumstances for the treatment of non-neurological manifestations of Mucopolysaccharidosis VII. With this decision, Mepsevii is approved in all 28 EU countries, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

08:32 EDT Gap drops after analyst points to sales weakness at namesake brand - Shares of Gap Inc (GPS) dropped in pre-market trading after an analyst at JPMorgan downgraded shares to Underweight, pointing to sales weakness at the apparel seller's flagship Gap stores as well as profit margin pressures. MOUNTING MARGIN PRESSURES: JPMorgan analyst Matthew Boss downgraded Gap, which owns the Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic brands, to Underweight from Neutral and lowered his price target for the shares to $24 from $30. In a research note to investors, Boss lowered his second half earnings per share estimate to $1.33, below the Street at $1.39, which reflects continued sales weakness at the core Gap brand and greater gross margin pressure in the second half of 2018. Boss also lowered his fiscal 2019 EPS estimate to $2.38, below the Street at $2.70. Boss said that the timeframe for sequential same-store sales improvement at the Gap brand and the return to "momentum," which was last seen in the second half of 2017, is now "less certain" as the brand deals with operational issues and assortment imbalance, and told investors that the new brand president is unlikely to have a material impact until the first half of 2019. Boss also pointed out a "trifecta" of factors that are expected to drive continued gross margin pressure in the near-to-medium term, including a more promotional Gap brand in Q4; freight inflation, which management has pointed out as an incremental headwind in FY19 vs. FY18; and tariffs, with Boss noting that direct sourcing exposure to China stands at 22% currently. OLD NAVY STILL A 'BRIGHT SPOT': Despite the Gap brand's woes, Boss acknowledged that Old Navy remains a "bright spot" and remains on "solid" fundamental footing given the combination of quality product, store experience and "effective" marketing. However, the analyst said that while Old Navy is "best of breed," with nominal GDP at 5%, unemployment sub-4% and wage growth benefiting the U.S. consumer, core Gap's inability to demonstrate SSS improvement raises forward concerns if macro tailwinds moderate in 2019. WHAT'S NOTABLE: In June, Gap named Neil Fiske as president and CEO of the Gap brand. Fiske was previously CEO of Billabong International, where he helped the brand return to a position of multiyear share growth. PRICE ACTION: In pre-market trading, shares of Gap are down about 5%.

08:19 EDT Zosano Pharma to host KOL meeting for migraine treatments - Zosano Pharma announced that it will host a key opinion leader, or KOL, meeting focusing on new treatments for migraine and the migraine patients' perspective on October 24. The meeting will feature presentations by KOLs Stewart Tepper and Lawrence Newman who will discuss updates on newly emerging treatments for the prevention of migraine, including CGRP antibodies, neurostimulation devices and new acute drug treatment products. In addition, the migraine patients' perspective will be presented and discussed to provide context. Both KOLs will be available to answer questions at the conclusion of the event. Members of Zosano's management team will provide an overview of the clinical development of ADAM Zolmitriptan. In February 2017, the company announced statistically significant results from the ZOTRIP pivotal study, which demonstrated that the 3.8mg dose of M207 met both co-primary endpoints, achieving pain freedom and most bothersome symptom freedom at two hours. In November 2017, the company announced the initiation of its long-term safety study evaluating M207 and expects to file a new drug application with the FDA for M207 in the fourth quarter of 2019.

08:15 EDT Meltwater announces content partnership with News Corp's Dow Jones - Meltwater announced the launch of a partnership with Dow Jones, a News Corp company, to provide premium licensed content from Dow Jones Factiva into the Meltwater Media intelligence platform. This partnership will give Meltwater's PR and communications clients the ability to monitor and analyze premium licensed content across thousands of Factiva news sources globally, including: The Wall Street Journal, Barron's, MarketWatch and Dow Jones Newswires.

08:12 EDT Abeona Therapeutics appoints Joao Siffert CMO - Abeona Therapeutics announced the appointment of Joao Siffert, as head of research and development and CMO. As a result, former CMO Juan Ruiz will assume the role of head of European medical affairs. The company also announced the appointment of Neena Patil as general counsel and corporate secretary. Both Siffert and Patil report to CEO Carsten Thiel. Siffert has 30 years of combined experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, medicine, and academia. He has successfully led multiple drug development programs from pre-clinical to regulatory approvals in the U.S. and Europe, and has held several scientific leadership positions in biopharmaceuticals, including programs in gene therapy.

08:10 EDT Aon plc forms New Ventures Group and appoints Chief Innovation Officer - Aon plc is establishing a New Ventures Group and assigning a team of senior leaders. As Chief Innovation Officer, Tony Goland will be responsible for mobilizing the activities of the New Ventures Group, which will include senior leaders from across the firm. Initial members of Aon's New Ventures Group Leadership Team: Tony Goland, Chief Human Resources Officer, has been appointed Chief Innovation Officer and will be responsible for organizing Aon's New Ventures Group; Christa Davies, CFO; Bryon Ehrhart, Global Head of Strategic Growth and Development; John Bruno, COO; Goland's new role is effective November 1st. Aon has appointed Siobhan Cifelli, currently the Global Human Resources Leader for the Aon Operating Committee, to the role of interim CHRO while Aon completes a comprehensive internal and external search to fill the CHRO role.

08:08 EDT Lightbridge receives notices of allowance for two patents from USPTO - Lightbridge announced it has received notices of allowance for two key patents from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The first patent covers an all-metal pressurized water reactor, or PWR, fuel assembly design incorporating multi-lobe fuel rods arranged into a mixed grid pattern. This latest design incorporates major enhancements completed over the past several years in response to specific feedback from the Nuclear Utility Fuel Advisory Board, or NUFAB. In particular, a mixed grid pattern configuration within a standard 17x17 PWR fuel assembly envelope makes the entire fuel assembly all-metal by replacing an outer row of conventional uranium dioxide fuel rods that had been included in the company's earlier PWR fuel assembly design with multi-lobe metallic fuel rods. As a result, the company believes the new PWR fuel assembly design improves overall performance and further enhances the appeal to nuclear utilities. The second patent provides protection in the U.S. for a fuel assembly design incorporating multi-lobe fuel rods for use in CANDU heavy water reactors. According to the World Nuclear Association, there are 49 CANDU-type pressurized heavy water reactors currently in use around the world.

08:07 EDT Biocept awarded Japanese patent - Biocept announces that it has been granted Japanese Patent No. 6404118, entitled METHODS FOR DETECTING NUCLEIC ACID SEQUENCE VARIANTS. The patent provides intellectual property protection for the company's Switch-Blocker technology which is core to Biocept's Target Selector assays for analysis using real-time PCR, Sanger sequencing and next-generation sequencing.

08:06 EDT Allegheny Technologies, NLMK sign carbon steel hot-rolling conversion agreement - Allegheny Technologies announced it has signed an agreement to provide carbon steel hot-rolling conversion services for NLMK USA at ATI's world-class Hot-Rolling and Processing Facility, or HRPF, located in Brackenridge, PA. Slab shipments to ATI will begin immediately and increase to anticipated production levels in the first quarter of 2019. This agreement covers conversion services through December 2019.

08:06 EDT LabCorp, Baptist Health enter multi-year, comprehensive laboratory collaboration - LabCorp and Baptist Health have entered into a multi-year, comprehensive laboratory collaboration. LabCorp Diagnostics will provide technical services for Baptist Health's eight hospital-based labs and access to enhanced information technology and data analytics to help improve the delivery of patient care. Baptist Health will retain ownership and control of a lab at each of its hospitals, and plans to work closely with LabCorp to establish a core lab that it will also own and control within Baptist Health Louisville, to streamline system-wide laboratory testing processes.

08:06 EDT NxStage Medical's System One shows improved survival in hemodialysis - NxStage Medical announced new findings demonstrating survival benefit and lower cardiovascular hospitalization with more frequent home hemodialysis using the NxStage System One within the skilled nursing facility setting. The data will be presented at the American Society of Nephrology Kidney Week 2018 Annual Meeting on October 26th. In a large study of 3,619 patients receiving hemodialysis in the SNF setting between 2011-2015, patients receiving more frequent home hemodialysis experienced 34% lower risk of death and 23% lower risk of cardiovascular hospitalization, compared to patients receiving conventional hemodialysis in a SNF setting.

08:04 EDT AbbVie and Morphic Therapeutic enter into R&D collaboration in fibrotic diseases - AbbVie and Morphic Therapeutic, a biotechnology company developing oral integrin therapies, have entered into a research and development collaboration designed to advance a number of Morphic's oral integrin therapeutics for fibrosis-related indications.Fibrosis occurs when chronic inflammation or persistent injury leads to the development of excessive connective tissue. Morphic Therapeutic has developed a platform for designing integrin oral inhibitors to block TGF-beta activation, thought to be a key approach to halt or reverse fibrosis, in a tissue-specific manner. AbbVie will pay Morphic an upfront payment of $100M for exclusive license options on product candidates directed at multiple targets. For each compound, Morphic will conduct R&D activities through the completion of Investigational New Drug (IND)-enabling studies, at which point AbbVie may pay a license fee to exercise its exclusive license option and assume responsibility for global development and commercialization. Morphic is also eligible for additional, undisclosed clinical and commercial milestone payments and tiered royalties on worldwide net sales for each compound. The transaction is subject to clearance under the HSR Antitrust Improvements Act.

07:44 EDT Translate Bio to present MRT5005 data at NACFC - Translate Bio announced the presentation of preclinical data for MRT5005, a mRNA therapeutic designed to treat all patients with cystic fibrosis regardless of mutation. The presentation includes data demonstrating that MRT5005 was efficiently delivered to the lungs of rodents and non-human primates by nebulization, resulting in functional cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator, or CFTR, protein expression. These data will be featured in a poster presentation at the North American Cystic Fibrosis Conference, or NACFC.

07:39 EDT Biogen to present data from AD portfolio at CTAD - Biogen announced it will present data from its Alzheimer's disease, or AD, clinical development portfolio at the upcoming Clinical Trials on Alzheimer's Disease, or CTAD annual meeting. The data being presented are part of Biogen's ongoing research programs targeting possible causes of the disease through multiple modalities. Biogen will share a late-breaking oral presentation and a late-breaking poster on the efficacy of aducanumab and the cumulative safety data from the Phase 1b PRIME long-term extension study of patients with prodromal and mild Alzheimer's disease. Aducanumab is Biogen's late-stage Alzheimer's disease investigational treatment.

07:33 EDT Novocure announces acceptance of LCD reconsideration request for Optune - Novocure announced that the durable medical equipment Medicare administrative contractors have accepted our local coverage determination reconsideration request for the treatment of newly diagnosed glioblastoma and plan to take steps to publish a final LCD for newly diagnosed GBM. Per Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and Medicare policy, the two DME MACs will issue a single joint policy applicable in all DME regions. The DME MACs notified Novocure that they plan to follow a new process, effective on Oct. 3, 2018, during the LCD reconsideration, as outlined in the CMS manual change request 10901. The new process reflects policy changes in response to 21st Century Cures Act requirements and stakeholder comments. Under the new LCD reconsideration process, the DME MACs plan to assemble a Contractor Advisory Committee prior to publishing a proposed LCD for Optune for newly diagnosed GBM. The proposed LCD will be subject to a 45-day public comment period. Following the CAC and comment period, a final LCD for newly diagnosed GBM will be published. The LCD will take effect at least 45 calendar days following publication of the final LCD to allow adequate notice to the provider community. The DME MACs have not provided a specific timeline, but have confirmed that they are working diligently on the process for Optune.

07:24 EDT Celgene ends agreement with OncoMed with respect to rosmantuzumab - OncoMed Pharmaceuticals (OMED) disclosed last night that October 15, Celgene (CELG) notified the company of its decision not to exercise its option to license rosmantuzumab and subsequently terminated the companies' collaboration agreement with respect to rosmantuzumab, effective February 12, 2019. OncoMed will retain worldwide rights to rosmantuzumab upon termination. Celgene continues to retain its option under the collaboration agreement to license etigilimab, the company added. OncoMed previously announced that rosmantuzumab had failed to provide compelling evidence of clinical benefit in a Phase 1a/b clinical trial in patients with solid tumors and that the company was discussing next steps for the program with its partner Celgene.

07:15 EDT Feuerstein: Acorda letter 'will relieve some concerns about Inbrija device risk' - After Acorda Therapeutics said that it received letter from the FDA on pre-approval inspections of Inbrija Inhaler device manufacturing facilities, indicating that the inspections of these facilities are successfully closed, without need for any further action by the FDA, senior STATNews writer Adam Feuerstein tweeted "Will relieve some (all?) concerns about the Inbrija device risk." Reference Link

07:13 EDT EyePoint to present Yutiq data at AAO - EyePoint announced that five oral abstracts on Yutiq, the company's three-year micro-insert for chronic non-infectious uveitis affecting the posterior segment of the eye, have been accepted for presentation at the American Academy of Ophthalmology, or AAO.

07:10 EDT Tile Shop expects FY18 capital investment of approx. $35M - The Company is updating its previously communicated 2018 annual outlook as follows: Capital investment of approximately $35M including investments for 12 store remodels, and merchandising and fixture investments for all 140 stores. Inventory at year-end of approximately $106M to $110M, reflecting the Company's year-long product assortment initiative. Selling, general and administrative expense increase of approximately $7M to support the Company's service strategy, including increased expenses for the addition of regional sales leader positions, sales and warehouse associate compensation, customer relationship management and content management capabilities, and the addition of approximately 20 professional market managers. The approximate $7M increase in SG&A expense is incremental to the expected SG&A expense increases associated with a full year of operations for the fifteen stores opened in 2017 and the two new stores opened in 2018. Longer term, the Company remains committed to achieving both Adjusted EBITDA margin and pretax return on capital employed of greater than 20%.

07:09 EDT Canadian Solar partners with Biosar for 256 MW solar project in Australia - Canadian Solar and Biosar Australia, a solar EPC provider, will jointly provide Engineering, Procurement and Construction services to a 256 MWp solar power project in Australia for Total Eren, a French Independent Power Producer. Construction is planned to start in October 2018 and it is expected to reach commercial operation by mid-2019.

07:08 EDT Oncor to acquire InfraREIT; Sempra Energy to acquire 50% stake In Sharyland - Sempra Energy (SRE) and Oncor Electric Delivery Company announced that they have entered into agreements whereby Oncor will acquire 100% of the equity interests of InfraREIT (HIFR), including all the limited-partnership units in its subsidiary InfraREIT Partners, LP, for approximately $1.275B, or $21 per share, excluding certain transaction costs, and, concurrently, Sempra Energy will acquire a 50% limited-partnership interest in a holding company that will own Sharyland Utilities, LP for approximately $98M. Sempra Energy owns an approximate 80-percent ownership stake in Oncor. Oncor plans to fund its acquisition of InfraREIT with capital contributions proportionate to their ownership interests from Sempra Energy and TTI. Sempra Energy expects to utilize the proceeds from pending asset sales to fund its capital contribution of approximately $1.025 billion to Oncor, excluding certain transaction costs, and also to purchase the 50-percent interest in Sharyland for approximately $98 million. In addition, the transaction by Oncor includes InfraREIT's outstanding debt, which, as of June 30, 2018, was approximately $945 million. The transaction requires approvals by the Public Utility Commission of Texas and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the expiration or termination of the applicable waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, and the satisfaction of other regulatory requirements, certain lender consents and other customary closing conditions. Additionally, the purchase of InfraREIT requires approval by its shareholders and is subject to a go-shop provision whereby InfraREIT can solicit superior bids. If all such closing conditions are satisfied, Sempra Energy and Oncor expect to close the transaction in mid-2019. As part of the transaction, a subsidiary of InfraREIT will exchange certain assets with Sharyland, with the end result being that, after Oncor's acquisition of InfraREIT, Oncor will own InfraREIT's electric transmission and distribution business in Central, North and West Texas, and Sharyland will own assets in South Texas.

07:07 EDT Exact Sciences acquires sample preservation technology company Biomatrica - Exact Sciences acquired Biomatrica, a developer, manufacturer and provider of sample preservation technology, including blood and saliva sample collection tubes, to the biotech industry. Exact Sciences intends to use Biomatrica's proprietary technology to support ongoing and future development of its own blood-based cancer detection tests. Established in 2005, Biomatrica holds eight issued United States utility patents, one issued U.S. design patent, and 36 issued patents in foreign jurisdictions. Four additional patents are pending in the U.S. Biomatrica will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Exact Sciences and will continue to supply tubes and sample preservation technologies to other companies. Financial terms of the transaction are not being disclosed.

07:05 EDT uniQure develops promoter for liver-directed gene therapies - uniQure presented non-clinical data demonstrating that a next-generation synthetic promoter developed for liver-directed gene therapy is able to drive gene expression at increased levels and with very high specificity, allowing uniQure to tailor expression levels required for a specific therapeutic transgene. These data were featured in an oral session at the 26th Congress of the European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy held in Lausanne, Switzerland. A "promoter" is an essential component of a gene therapy construct that controls expression of a therapeutic protein. In collaboration with Synpromics Ltd, a U.K.-based developer of gene expression solutions, uniQure has developed synthetic promoters designed to enhance gene expression in a highly specific manner. The first in-vivo comparison study showed the optimized promoter was capable of generating up to a 40-fold increase in expression compared to the reference promoter. A second in-vivo comparison study demonstrated that the optimized promoter was able to express a therapeutically relevant protein in NHPs, maintaining 8-fold higher protein levels over the reference promoter at 8 weeks post-injection.

07:04 EDT Spectrum appoints Francois Lebel as CMO - Spectrum Pharmaceuticals (SPPI) announced the appointment of Francois Lebel as chief medical officer, effective November 5, 2018. Lebel will be responsible for leading the Spectrum clinical program which includes directing the clinical research staff, overseeing the company's ongoing clinical trials, and regulatory submissions. He will also direct clinical development strategies, life-cycle management, relationships with regulatory bodies and provide strategic counsel on all business development activities. Most recently, he served as the EVP of Research & Development, CMO at ZIOPHARM Oncology (ZIOP).

07:02 EDT Golden Star Resources announces 5:1 share consolidation - Golden Star Resources announced that its board has approved a 5:1 consolidation of the common shares of the company. At a special meeting of the company's shareholders, the company's shareholders granted authority to the board to effect the consolidation with 96.62% of votes cast in favor. The common shares of the company are expected to begin trading on a consolidation-adjusted basis when the market opens on or about October 30. Common shareholders will receive one post-consolidation common share for every five pre-Consolidation common shares owned. All fractional shares created by the consolidation will be rounded down to the nearest whole share. Golden Star's common share count will be reduced from approximately 544M outstanding common shares to approximately 108.8M outstanding common shares post-consolidation. Golden Star's common shares will continue to trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange, the NYSE American and the Ghana Stock Exchange under the existing ticker symbols but will trade under a new CUSIP. The company believes that a reduction in the number of outstanding common shares will increase Golden Star's flexibility and competitiveness in the marketplace and may make its shares more attractive to potential investors.

07:01 EDT InfraREIT to be acquired by Oncor for $21.00 per share in cash, or $1.275B

06:59 EDT Travelers reports consolidated combined ratio of 96.6% - Reports underlying combined ratio of 93.0%.

06:58 EDT Travelers reports Q3 book value per share of $84.82 - Book value per share of $84.82, down 3% from year-end 2017, due to the impact of higher interest rates on net unrealized investment gains/(losses). Adjusted book value per share of $86.51, up 4% from year-end 2017.

06:53 EDT PPG CEO says 'Our acquisition pipeline remains active' - "Finally, we continued to deploy cash with nearly $1.3 billion of share repurchases during the first nine months of 2018, including approximately $250 million in the third quarter. Our acquisition pipeline remains active. We expect deployment on acquisitions and share repurchases in the fourth quarter to total approximately $1 billion, which will increase our balance sheet leverage while still providing financial flexibility heading into 2019. We remain focused on executing our strategy, which we believe will drive further shareholder value creation," CEO McGarry concluded.

06:52 EDT Apellis pauses dosing in Phase III geographic atrophy program - Apellis Pharmaceuticals disclosed last night that it has voluntarily implemented a temporary pause in dosing in its Phase III geographic atrophy program due to observed cases of non-infectious inflammation in patients treated from a single manufacturing lot of APL-2 intravitreal drug product. A total of eight patients, four in the Phase III GA program and four in the company's ongoing Phase II wet AMD study, were treated with this manufacturing lot and all developed non-infectious inflammation, the company said in a regulatory filing. Inflammation in seven of the eight patients has completely resolved and the other is expected to resolve, it added. Dosing in the Phase II wet AMD is continuing with a different APL-2 intravitreal manufacturing lot. Apellis has reviewed these events with the data safety monitoring board for the Phase III GA program and believes that the cause of inflammation is isolated to this single lot of APL-2 intravitreal drug product based upon the results of an initial preliminary toxicity analysis and the extensive prior safety history from the Phase II Filly study. It adds, "After consultation with the data safety monitoring board, the Company has commenced a series of confirmatory non-human studies and anticipates completion of these non-human studies by late November. If these studies support the conclusion that the single lot is the cause of the inflammation, the Company expects that it will resume dosing in the Phase III GA program by the end of 2018 and that there will be no delay to its projected enrollment timeline of 18 months for the Phase III GA program."

06:49 EDT Tenneco to supply electronic suspension technology on new Volvo SUV - Tenneco announced that the all-new 2018 Volvo XC40 compact crossover SUV features Tenneco's CVSAe adaptive suspension technology from its Monroe Intelligent Suspension portfolio. The XC40 complements Volvo's XC60 mid-size and XC90 full-size SUV models, both of which also feature Tenneco's CVSAe suspension system. Tenneco will supply the CVSAe suspension technology for Volvo from its plant in Ermua, Spain.

06:37 EDT Co-Diagnostics receives CE mark for Zika screening test - Co-Diagnostics' Logix Smart Zika Test technical file has obtained CE mark approval, the principle regulatory clearance allowing the test to be sold as an in vitro diagnostic for the diagnosis of Zika virus in European Union states and other markets that accept a CE-IVD mark as valid regulatory approval. Co-Diagnostics will manufacture its Logix Smart Zika test in the company's facility for development and manufacture of IVD Medical Devices located in Utah, USA. At this time the company is not seeking approval by the FDA for sale in the U.S. due to the low domestic rate of Zika incidents, and the test will be available on an Export Only basis.

06:33 EDT Textron CEO: Q3 revenues reflect declines at Industrial and Textron Systems - "Revenues were lower in the quarter, largely reflecting declines at Industrial and Textron Systems," said Textron Chairman and CEO Scott Donnelly. "Operationally, we achieved margin improvements at Aviation and Bell, reflecting strong execution within those segments."

06:31 EDT Snap-On sees 2018 CapEx $90M-$100M - Sees 2018 effective tax rate 24%-25%.

06:24 EDT Publicis to proceed with divestment of Publicis Health Solutions - Publicis Groupe said in a statement that it "has a very distinctive positioning in the healthcare communications sector with Publicis Health Solutions which services CSOs, a business that does not exist in other healthcare communications networks as most of our competitors are specialized in outsourcing. By its very nature, this business is highly volatile and developments in the healthcare sector have led clients to make last-minute adjustments, including the postponement or even the cancellation of campaigns. Publicis Health saw its net revenue decline over the first nine months of 2018, mainly in its outsourcing business. Publicis Groupe is determined to provide its clients with the best possible offering for their digital transformation and will continue to invest in healthcare-related consulting, data and technology. After a strategic review of this activity, the Groupe has decided to proceed with the divestment of PHS and intends to protect the interests of all stakeholders."

06:15 EDT Selecta Biosciences reports patient death in Phase 1 SEL-403 trial - Selecta Biosciences said last night that as previously reported, it has provided SVP-Rapamycin to the Center for Cancer Research at the National Cancer Institute to use in an NCI-sponsored Phase 1 clinical trial of the combination product candidate consisting of SVP-Rapamycin and LMB-100, an investigational immunotoxin targeting mesothelin, which is expressed on mesothelioma, pancreatic and other solid tumors. In this combination product candidate, referred to as SEL-403, SVP-Rapamycin may reduce the immunogenicity of LMB-100 potentially enhancing its efficacy and enabling repeat dosing through the mitigation of anti-drug antibody formation, Selecta noted. The company licensed LMB-100 from the NCI and the Phase 1 clinical trial of SEL-403 is being conducted under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement between the NCI and the company. To date four patients have been dosed in this trial. The NCI informed Selecta of a Grade 5 serious adverse event, or patient death, in this clinical trial related to pneumonitis, which was deemed by the trial investigator to be probably related to SVP-Rapamycin and possibly related to the patient's pleural mesothelioma condition. This patient had received previous therapies, including two courses of radiation therapy and three different immune checkpoint inhibitors, which can be associated with pneumonitis; however, the possible relationship to SVP-Rapamycin cannot be excluded, according to Selecta. Pneumonitis has been reported in patients receiving mTOR therapies, including daily oral rapamycin. In addition, a serious adverse event, pericardial effusion, was seen in one of the other three patients dosed in the SEL-403 clinical trial. Pericardial effusion can be a side effect of immunotoxin therapies targeting mesothelin, the company added. There are currently no patients active in the SEL-403 clinical trial nor are new patients being enrolled at this time. Selecta says it is working with the NCI investigators to fully understand the data from the trial in order to define the future development of SEL-403 in mesothelioma, pancreatic cancer and other oncology indications. SVP-Rapamycin is also being investigated as a component of SEL-212 in an ongoing Phase 2 clinical trial in patients with symptomatic gout. In the Phase 2 trial to date, over 150 patients have received multiple doses of SEL-212 and no cases of pneumonitis have been reported, it added. The company continues to dose patients in the SEL-212 Phase 2 trial and plans to report data from the trial at the 2018 American College of Rheumatology/Association for Rheumatology Health Professionals annual meeting on October 23.

06:12 EDT Maxar Technologies awarded $92M SBIR contract from NGA - Radiant Solutions, a Maxar Technologies company, announced a $92M contract award on a small business innovation research, or SBIR, Phase III contract with the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, or NGA, to rapidly develop, prototype, and deploy machine learning and crowdsourcing capabilities to augment a wide variety of NGA missions. NGA exercised the 2019 contract option year and expanded the value over a three year period of performance. The SBIR Phase III program incents commercial firms to apply innovative solutions to pressing national security problems. As outlined in NGA's recently updated commercial GEOINT strategy, the agency is employing a variety of contracting methods to leverage commercial automation capabilities to augment conventional analysis, giving analysts more time to focus on more challenging, mission-critical problems. Through SBIR Phase III awards, the U.S. government can fund logical extensions of SBIR Data and receive a royalty-free license to that technology while protecting commercial industry's ability to make these offerings available to the global marketplace. Radiant Solutions participates in the SBIR Phase III program through its ongoing investment in Signature Analyst.

06:08 EDT ENGlobal receives four project awards for $5M - ENGlobal received four projects totaling approximately $5M. ENGlobal has been awarded an engineering, procurement and on-site services contract to assist an idled oil refinery and terminal operator with refurbishing their regulatory and process analytical systems. A midstream operator has commissioned the company to engineer and design a new booster compressor station. ENGlobal Government Services has been awarded a contract to replace obsolete automated tank gauging and independent alarm systems at Department of Defense fuels facilities. An industrial gas company has commissioned ENGlobal to fabricate, integrate and test two electrical power distribution buildings.

06:08 EDT Luminex to acquire MilliporeSigma's flow cytometry portfolio for $75M - Luminex announced that the company has signed a definitive agreement to acquire MilliporeSigma's flow cytometry portfolio for $75M, consisting of approximately $69.9M to be paid under a stock and asset purchase agreement and approximately $5.1M in committed inventory purchases. The deal is expected to close by the end of 2018, and to contribute $40M-$50M in revenue to the company in 2019. The acquisition expands Luminex's existing offering of flow-based detection systems, which is centered around its xMAP multiplexing technology, with more than 15,000 xMAP systems sold worldwide. xMAP Technology combines advanced fluidics, optics, and digital signal processing with proprietary microsphere technology to deliver industry-leading, multiplexed assay capabilities. MilliporeSigma's flow cytometry portfolio includes Amnis, s well as their Guava portfolio of products.

06:06 EDT Facebook to reduce distribution of low-quality ads - The company said, "Low-quality ads on Facebook, such as ones that include clickbait or direct people to unexpected content, create bad experiences for people and don't align with our goal of creating meaningful connections between people and businesses. We are now going further in our efforts to limit low-quality ads on our platforms by disapproving more of them and reducing distribution for more ads in our auction...Our Advertising Policies include restrictions on ads with low-quality or disruptive content. These ads typically have some of the below characteristics: Engagement bait: Ads with spammy content asking people to engage with it in specific ways, such as requesting likes, comments and shares. Withholding information: Ads that purposefully withhold information to entice people to click in order to understand the full context. Sensationalized language: Ads that use exaggerated headlines or command a reaction from people but don't deliver on the landing page...With our expanded enforcement on the above characteristics, advertisers should expect the following:Individual ads with low-quality attributes will see reduced distribution in our ad auction, or will be disapproved. This applies to all advertisers, but since we tend to see more of these characteristics in ads related to media, entertainment, politics or issues of national importance, they may be impacted more. Multiple ads flagged with low-quality attributes may impact the performance of all ads from that advertiser." Reference Link

06:03 EDT KBR awarded contract by Linggu Chemical for Yixing City ammonia plant - KBR announced that it has been awarded a contract by Linggu Chemical for an ammonia plant in Yixing City, Jiangsu Province in China. Under the terms of the contract, KBR will provide the technology licensing and basic engineering design, or LBED, package for building a new 1,500 metric tons per day ammonia synthesis unit as a replacement for one of their existing units in Yixing, China. The plant will utilize KBR's proprietary ammonia synloop technology. KBR's ammonia synloop provides a cost-effective ammonia synthesis solution with low energy consumption, and low CAPEX and OPEX. This is the second grassroots ammonia synthesis unit for Linggu using KBR technology. KBR licensed the first synloop unit to Linggu in 2015.

05:55 EDT Orion Group CFO to step down, Robert Tabb named interim CFO - Orion Group announced that Christopher DeAlmeida will step down as Executive Vice President and CFO effective November 2, 2018 to pursue a new opportunity with a private company that is not a competitor. As a result, the company has named Robert Tabb, Orion's Vice President of Finance, as Interim CFO. The company will consider both internal and external candidates for the CFO role.

05:48 EDT Prudential Financial closes $3.2B in new longevity reinsurance agreements - Prudential Retirement, a unit of Prudential Financial, has concluded $3.2B in previously undisclosed longevity reinsurance contracts, a further sign that pension de-risking activity in the U.K. is continuing at a brisk pace. As part of these transactions, The Prudential Insurance Company of America, or PICA, assumes the longevity risk for approximately 13,200 retirees. These agreements follow at least 10 others during the last 12 months that are $1B or more in size. Collectively, these U.K. longevity reinsurance and longevity swap agreements are building toward one of the best years on record in this market, driven by pension schemes eager to capitalize on their improved funded status and take risk off the table.

05:40 EDT Novartis acquires Endocyte for $24 per share or $2.1B in cash - Endocyte (ECYT) announced that it has entered into an agreement and plan of merger with Novartis AG (NVS) pursuant to which Novartis will acquire Endocyte for $24 per share, or a total equity value of approximately $2.1B in cash. The offer represents a premium of 54% percent to Endocyte's closing price of $15.56 on October 17. The transaction was unanimously approved by the board of directors of Endocyte. Completion of the transaction is expected in the first half of 2019, subject to approval by Endocyte stockholders, antitrust and regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. Until that time, Endocyte will continue to operate as a separate and independent company. In premarket trading, shares of Endocyte are up 50%, or $7.74, to $23.30. "We are thrilled that Novartis recognizes the potential for 177Lu-PSMA-617 to change the treatment landscape for men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, as well as the broader role that RLTs may potentially play in the treatment of cancer," said Mike Sherman, president and CEO of Endocyte.

05:29 EDT Novartis announces planned acquisition of Endocyte for $24 per share