Stockwinners Market Radar for November 27, 2018 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

18:58 EDT Fly Intel: After Hours Movers - UP AFTER EARNINGS: Nutanix (NTNX) up 9.6%... Salesforce (CRM) up 7.7%. ALSO HIGHER: Gaming Partners (GPIC) up 66.0% after being acquired by Anger Holdings. LOWER: Global Net Lease (GNL) down 4.4% after equity offering... Skyline Champion (SKY) down 3.5% after equity offering... YY Inc (YY) down 1.0% after being downgraded to Neutral at JP Morgan.

18:29 EDT Chemours announces price increase for methylamines products in NA - Chemours announced up to a 10% price increase for all Methylamines, Dimethylformamide, Dimethylacetamide and Dimethyl Sulfate products sold in North America. The price increase is effective January 1, 2019.

18:15 EDT BlackRock's Kushel sells 2,100 common shares - In a regulatory filing, BlackRock senior managing director J. Richard Kushel disclosed the sale of 2,100 common shares of the company at a price of $419.109 per share.

17:52 EDT Monolithic Power's Moyer sells 10,000 common shares - In a regulatory filing, Monolithic Power Systems director James C. Moyer disclosed the sale of 10,000 common shares of the company at a price of $126.1846 per share.

17:44 EDT Altice USA does deal to join Suddenlink and Optimum under single credit silo - Altice USA has announced the completion of the combination of its Suddenlink and Optimum businesses under a single credit silo, which is intended to further simplify its structure and operations. The combination marks a significant milestone in the integration of the Suddenlink and Optimum businesses and aligns Altice USA's debt capital structure with the way Altice USA is managed: as a unified company with a common strategy. The Combination will result in a more diversified credit silo which is expected to simplify Altice USA's financing strategy and financial reporting requirements.

17:39 EDT Salesforce says renewed nine-figure relationship with financial firm in Q3 - Says seeing "great returns" from recent acquisitions. Says "thrilled" with strong Q3 results and momentum heading into Q4. Says has never been stronger, better positioned. Says continues to take share, outpace the market. Says continues to execute at scale. Comments from Q3 earnings conference call.

17:26 EDT AmTrust go-private transaction receives regulatory approval - AmTrust Financial Services announced that it has obtained all regulatory approvals required to complete the merger transaction in which Evergreen Parent, L.P., an entity formed by private equity funds managed by Stone Point Capital LLC, together with Barry Zyskind, Chairman and CEO of AmTrust, George Karfunkel and Leah Karfunkel, will acquire the approximately 45% of the company's issued and outstanding common shares that the Karfunkel-Zyskind Family and certain of its affiliates and related parties do not presently own or control. The merger transaction is expected to close on November 29, 2018. The transaction was approved by AmTrust common stockholders at a special meeting of stockholders held on June 21, 2018. At closing, under the terms of the amended merger agreement, AmTrust common stockholders will receive $14.75 in cash for each share of AmTrust common stock they own. Following the close of the transaction, AmTrust common stock under the symbol "AFSI" will cease trading and will be delisted from the NASDAQ Stock Market.

17:11 EDT Customers Bancorp October net interest margin exceeded 2.6%

17:05 EDT Oshkosh awarded $1.7B Army contract modification for vehicles, kits - Oshkosh was awarded a $1.7B modification to contract W56HZV-15-C-0095 to exercise available options for 6,107 vehicles and 22,166 kits. Work will be performed in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, with an estimated completion date of September 30, 2019. FY17, FY18 and FY19 other procurement, Army funds and 2018 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $1.7B were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command is the contracting activity.

17:01 EDT Principal Financial announces $500M share repurchase authorization - Principal Financial announced that its board of directors has approved a new authorization for the repurchase of up to $500M of the company's outstanding common stock. As of September 30, 2018, approximately $135Mremained under the company's May 7, 2018, $300M authorization. The repurchases will be made in the open market or through privately-negotiated transactions, from time to time, depending on market conditions. The stock repurchase program may be modified, extended or terminated at any time by the board of directors. Principal Financial Group, Inc. had approximately 283M shares of common stock outstanding as of October 24, 2018, per the company's quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2018. "This authorization supports our continued balanced and disciplined approach to capital deployment to create long-term value for our shareholders - through common stock dividends, share repurchases, and strategic acquisitions," said Dan Houston, chairman, president and CEO of Principal. "As we previously announced, we expect full year deployments will be at the high end of our $900M to $1.3B range in 2018. This action reflects our continued confidence in the underlying strength of our diversified and integrated business model."

17:00 EDT Salesforce up nearly 7% after Q3 results beat estimates, FY19 guidance raised - In after-hours trading, shares are up 6.73% to $136.12.

16:56 EDT Rusnano cuts stake in NeoPhotonics to 5.7% - Rusnano beneficially owned 2,617,105 shares of common stock, representing approximately 5.7% of the outstanding shares of common stock. The percentage in this paragraph is calculated based on 46,049,277 shares of common stock outstanding as of October 30.

16:50 EDT Keysight Technologies exec Williams sells 17,752 common shares - In a regulatory filing, Keysight Technologies senior VP and secretary Stephen D. Williams disclosed the sale of 17,752 common shares of the company at a price of $57.1555 per share.

16:47 EDT Liquidia Technologies CFO Kevin Gordon to retire - Liquidia Technologies announced that Kevin Gordon, president and CFO, plans to retire from his current role at Liquidia to focus on board and other advisory work. Liquidia has initiated a search process for a new CFO and Gordon has agreed to continue his employment with the company until March 1, 2019 to support a smooth transition.

16:38 EDT McCormick raises quarterly dividend to 57c from 52c per share - Payable January 14, 2019 to shareholders of record December 31, 2018. This marks the 33rd consecutive year that the company has increased its quarterly dividend. At 57c, the quarterly dividend is double the amount paid in 2011.

16:32 EDT Pangaea Logistics extends contract to move bauxite from Jamaica to Louisiana - Pangaea Logistics Solutions announced that its contract to move bauxite from Jamaica to Gramercy, Louisiana for Noranda Bauxite and Alumina has been extended through yearend 2031. Along with extending the term of the contract, the parties agreed to a pricing structure designed to create, net of fuel and port cost variances, stable pricing with minor inflationary adjustments through the life of the contract.

16:25 EDT Gaming Partners trading halted, news pending

16:22 EDT EyePoint names Ron Honig SVP, General Counsel and company secretary - EyePoint Pharmaceuticals announced the appointment of Ron Honig, as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Company Secretary, effective immediately. In this new role, Mr. Honig will the oversee the Company's legal activities, including the legal aspects of licensing, compliance, strategic transactions, and business development. Honig brings to EyePoint more than 25 years of legal experience in the medical device, biotechnology, contract manufacturing and legal services industries. As lead in-house counsel to publicly-traded companies and private equity portfolio companies in the global healthcare industry, Mr. Honig has managed legal and compliance functions and has had responsibility for a wide variety of business transactions.

16:17 EDT Mohawk CFO Frank Boykin plans retirement in 2019 - Mohawk Industries announced that Frank Boykin, CFO, is planning to retire in 2019. Boykin joined Mohawk in 1993, moving up through various finance roles prior to his appointment as CFO in January 2005. Mohawk has launched a comprehensive search for Boykin's successor. After his successor is selected, Boykin will facilitate the transition in a senior consultant role.

16:13 EDT Catalyst Pharmaceuticals says Firdapse NDA still under review - Catalyst Pharmaceuticals reported that no decision has yet been received from the FDA with respect to the company's New Drug Application, or NDA, for Firdapse. The company reported that a contractor working on a web page unintentionally allowed a live screen to be seen that reflected that the possible approval of the company's NDA had already been received. The company issued a release in order to clarify to the marketplace the status of its NDA.

16:11 EDT Comstock Mining says land sales progressing toward debt elimination goal - Comstock Mining announced progress on its non-mining asset sales. The sale of the Gold Hill Hotel, to a local, experienced hotelier remains on schedule for closing in December. The buyer completed the final walk through inspection of the property last week with no material issues noted. In addition, the Company has entered into discussion and negotiation with local investors for the sale of its non-mining assets located in Silver Springs, Nevada.Corrado De Gasperis, Executive Chairman and CEO commented, "The sale process for the Gold Hill Hotel has progressed without incident and we have and continue to be impressed by the professionalism, care and community involvement of the new owners and we warmly welcome them to the Comstock. We are also thrilled by the interest of Nevada-based investors who are focused on opportunity zone investments in Storey and Lyon counties. On November 23, the Company was notified by the agent of the buyer of the Daney Ranch, that the proposed buyer was opting to terminate its offer of $3.25 million, previously announced to close later this month. The company will relist the property for $4 million this week. Mr. De Gasperis concluded, "Our non-mining land sales are progressing toward the goal of eliminating our debt, and we expect this to be completed in the first half of next year, and possibly sooner. We anticipate the principal amount of the company's secured debenture at year end will be approximately $7.8 million, with $14 million of remaining non-mining asset sales to be completed in 2019."

16:10 EDT Bunge appoints Robert Coviello as Chief Growth and Strategy Officer - Bunge announced that Robert Coviello has been named Executive Vice President & Chief Growth and Strategy Officer, effective January 1, 2019, reporting to CEO Soren Schroder. Coviello will drive the development of Bunge's strategic plans, working alongside the executive committee to evaluate strategic alternatives and ensure Bunge's strategy aligns with new trends and disruptive forces in the global agribusiness and food industry. Coviello currently serves as Managing Director, Southeast Asia and China. He joined the company in 2003, and has held a variety of commercial leadership positions in Asia, Europe and the U.S. Prior to Bunge, he served in trading roles at Cargill in the U.S. He holds a B.A. from Dartmouth College and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

16:09 EDT Mercury General reports estimated catastrophe losses resulting from wildfires - Mercury General reported its estimated catastrophe losses resulting from the wildfires in California in November. Two major catastrophe events, known as the Camp Fire and the Woolsey Fire, occurred in California in November causing significant losses to the Company. The Company estimates that its pre-tax total gross losses, before reinsurance benefits, from the Camp Fire in Northern California and the Woolsey Fire in Southern California will be approximately $207M and $46M, respectively. The Company estimates that its pre-tax total loss, net of reinsurance benefits, from these two events will be approximately $37M, representing $20M for the Company's initial reinsurance retention for the two catastrophe events, $10M for each event, approximately $10.5M Company retention from the first layer of reinstated reinsurance limit previously used up, and approximately $6.5M Company retention for the Camp Fire. These loss amounts, which will be recorded in the Q4, represent the Company's best estimates based on the information available at this time, and could change as new information, including any late reporting of claims, becomes available. The Company is party to a Catastrophe Reinsurance Treaty covering a wide range of perils that is effective through June 30, 2019.

16:06 EDT Meridian Bancorp increases quarterly dividend 40% - Meridian Bancorp, the holding company for East Boston Savings Bank, declared a quarterly cash dividend of 7c per common share, an increase of 2c per common share or 40%, payable on January 2, 2019 to stockholders of record at the close of business on December 18, 2018.

16:06 EDT Western Digital CFO Mark Long to step down - Western Digital announced that Mark Long, chief financial officer, chief strategy officer and president, Western Digital Capital, has decided he will step down from his current role to pursue opportunities as a private equity investor. Western Digital has begun a comprehensive search for a successor. To ensure a smooth leadership transition, Long will remain an active member of the company's leadership team through June 1, 2019. Long will remain chief financial officer until his departure or until a permanent successor is appointed. Long has served as Western Digital's chief financial officer since 2016.

16:04 EDT Galapagos NV receives FDA Fast Track designation for osteoarthritis drug - Galapagos NV announced that the FDA has granted GLPG1972/S201086 Fast Track designation for the treatment of patients with osteoarthritis. The FDA's Fast Track program is designed to facilitate the development and expedite the review of drugs that treat serious or life-threatening diseases or conditions and that demonstrate the potential to address unmet medical needs. Drugs that receive this designation are eligible for more frequent interactions with the FDA and are potentially eligible for priority review and rolling review of a New Drug Application, or NDA. The purpose of this FDA program is to get important new drugs to patients earlier. Galapagos is developing investigational molecule GLPG1972/S201086 with the potential to become a first-in-class disease-modifying osteoarthritis drug as part of a collaboration with Servier signed in 2010. Galapagos has full US commercial rights to GLPG1972/S201086, with Servier retaining the ex-US rights.

16:02 EDT Protagonist Therapeutics to begin clinical development of PN-10943 - Protagonist Therapeutics announced that the Company plans to begin clinical development of PN-10943, an oral, gut-restricted alpha-4-beta-7 integrin antagonist peptide for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease, or IBD. In preclinical studies, PN-10943 has demonstrated superior properties to PTG-100 as measured by in vitro potency, target engagement based on in vivo pharmacodynamic, or PD, readouts of blood receptor occupancy and effects on T cell trafficking, and efficacy in disease models of colitis. The Company is replacing PTG-100 with PN-10943 as a development candidate for the treatment of IBD based on an assessment of preclinical data from PN-10943 and recent feedback from global regulatory authorities on further development of PTG-100.

16:01 EDT Apollo Endosurgery announces first commercial shipment of OverStitch system - Apollo Endosurgery announced the first commercial shipments of the OverStitch Sx Endoscopic Suturing System. These initial customer shipments launch the first phase of the global product launch for Overstitch Sx. This first phase will be a limited launch with select gastroenterologists and bariatric surgeons in both the United States and European Union through the end of 2018. The full commercial launch is planned in the 1st quarter of 2019. Flexible endoscopic suturing using Apollo's OverStitch(TM) Endoscopic Suturing System is now established as an important tool for both surgeons and gastroenterologists that enables a wide array of new endolumenally performed patient treatment options. The OverStitch Sx is designed for compatibility with single-channel endoscopes with diameters ranging from 8.8mm to 9.8mm, and therefore provides more physicians with access to the benefits of full-thickness flexible endoscopic suturing regardless of their hospital's selection of endoscopic capital equipment or endoscope manufacturer.

15:57 EDT Tenaris trading resumes

15:34 EDT MGM Resorts, MLB form wide-ranging partnership in U.S., Japan - Major League Baseball and MGM Resorts announced the formation of an all-inclusive partnership agreement that combines the MLB brand with MGM Resorts and playMGM brands across league and team sponsorships, data usage in gaming, promotion across MLB-owned media platforms, and domestic and international activations at MLB events. The new multi-year agreement designates MGM Resorts as the first-ever "Official Gaming Partner of MLB" and "Official Entertainment Partner of MLB." As an official sponsor of Major League Baseball, MGM Resorts will domestically promote its brand and gaming options across MLB's digital and broadcast platforms, including MLB Network, MLB.com, the MLB At Bat app and additional fan engagement offerings to be jointly developed. MGM Resorts will be identified as an MLB-Authorized Gaming Operator and utilize MLB's official statistics feed, on a non-exclusive basis, throughout its digital and live domestic sports gaming options. MLB will also make enhanced statistics available to MGM on an exclusive basis. In addition, MGM Resorts and MLB will work together on comprehensive responsible gaming measures and work to protect the integrity of the game both on and off the field. MLB intellectual property will appear in MGM advertising and promotional campaigns. MGM also will broaden its commitment to baseball by securing multiple MLB Club partnerships. MGM will have a presence at MLB Jewel Events, including the All-Star Game and World Series. In Japan, MGM Resorts will be an official partner at grassroots baseball events like the MLB Road Show. An interactive fan experience that celebrates Major League Baseball, MLB Road Show tours throughout Japan giving fans an opportunity to participate in baseball activities including batting and pitching cages, baserunning stations, virtual reality, and a baseball museum.

15:32 EDT Tenaris trading halted, news pending

15:16 EDT Catalyst Pharmaceuticals trading halted, news pending

15:03 EDT Pfizer annouces FDA grant of six months pediatric exclusivity for Lyrica - Pfizer announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted pediatric exclusivity for Lyrica. This grant extends the period of U.S. market exclusivity for Lyrica by an additional six months, to June 30, 2019. Lyrica is currently approved in the U.S. for fibromyalgia, diabetic nerve pain, spinal cord injury nerve pain and pain after shingles in adults. Lyrica is also approved as adjunctive therapy for the treatment of partial onset seizures in patients four years of age and older.

15:01 EDT Air Industries receives $22M award for landing gear components - Air Industries is pleased to announce that it has received a major award for landing gear components for the F-35 and F-15 aircraft. The value of the award is estimated at $22M (at the mid-point of projected aircraft production). Deliveries are to begin in the first quarter of 2019 and continue for 3-years. Air Industries has already received fully funded purchase orders against this award totaling $15.5M.

14:31 EDT Papa John's sinks 11.5%, or $ 6.65, to $51.02 following WSJ report

14:17 EDT AK Steel CEO Roger Newport buys 10,000 shares of company stock - AK Steel CEO Roger Newport disclosed in a filing that he had purchased 10,000 shares of AK Steel at an average price of $3.03 per share on November 27. The total transaction value was $30,300.

14:09 EDT President Trump says 'looking at cutting all GM subsidies' - President Donald Trump tweeted: "Very disappointed with General Motors and their CEO, Mary Barra, for closing plants in Ohio, Michigan and Maryland. Nothing being closed in Mexico & China. The U.S. saved General Motors, and this is the THANKS we get! We are now looking at cutting all @GM subsidies, including...for electric cars. General Motors made a big China bet years ago when they built plants there (and in Mexico) - don't think that bet is going to pay off. I am here to protect America's Workers!" Reference Link

13:44 EDT Kudlow says GM layoffs a 'great disappointment' - Kudlow says the White House is "looking into" certain subsidies for electric cars, adding that it "seems" GM would prefer to build its electric cars in China and not in the U.S. Larry Kudlow continues speaking in a press briefing from the White House.

13:10 EDT LaSalle Hotel shareholders approve merger with Pebblebrook Hotel - LaSalle Hotel Properties (LHO) announced that its shareholders voted to approve its previously announced merger with Pebblebrook Hotel Trust (PEB). At the special meeting of LaSalle common shareholders, approximately 99% of the shares voted were cast in favor of the merger, representing more than 86% of LaSalle's total outstanding common shares. Pebblebrook also announced that its shareholders voted to approve the issuance of Pebblebrook common shares to the holders of LaSalle common shares pursuant to the definitive merger agreement under which Pebblebrook will acquire 100% of LaSalle's outstanding common shares.

13:07 EDT Amazon launches Graviton processor chip at 'significantly lower cost' - Amazon Web Services (AMZN) said last night in a blog post, "Today we are launching EC2 instances powered by Arm-based AWS Graviton Processors. Built around Arm cores and making extensive use of custom-built silicon, the A1 instances are optimized for performance and cost. They are a great fit for scale-out workloads where you can share the load across a group of smaller instances. This includes containerized microservices, web servers, development environments, and caching fleets. The A1 instances are available in five sizes, all EBS-Optimized by default, at a significantly lower cost." Amazon, with the launch of Graviton, has taken a "big step" toward reducing its reliance on Intel (INTC) for a "critical component of its cloud-computing service," according to Bloomberg's Ian King. Reference Link

13:01 EDT Disney, Google expand strategic relationship - Google (GOOGL), in a post to its Ad Manager blog, announced a new global strategic relationship with The Walt Disney Company (DIS). "With this new relationship, Disney will bring its entire global digital video and display business onto the Google Ad Manager, which will serve as its core ad technology platform. That means that Google will now power advertising for Disney's unmatched collection of brands and properties-including Disney, ABC, ESPN, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars-across multiple channels, including live streaming and direct-to-consumer content offerings. Disney will be able to serve video ads effortlessly on the web, in mobile apps, streaming through connected TVs and for live events. Together, we plan to build an advanced video experience for Disney that will transcend devices, platforms, and living rooms to bring the magic of premium video content into people's hearts, minds, and screens-everywhere," Google stated. Reference Link

12:14 EDT YouTube launches student plans for Music and YouTube Premium - In an earlier blog posting, Google's YouTube said: "Today, we're introducing new student plans for YouTube Music and YouTube Premium, giving eligible university and college students discounted access to a world of music, original series and movies - all ad-free and at a wallet-friendly price...Student plans are available for YouTube Music Premium for $4.99 and YouTube Premium for $6.99. Students who sign up by 1/31/19 can lock in YouTube Premium at a special rate of just $5.99." Reference Link

12:00 EDT Cubic falls -9.6% - Cubic is down -9.6%, or -$6.37 to $59.82.

12:00 EDT DHT Holdings rises 13.0% - DHT Holdings is up 13.0%, or 56c to $4.81.

12:00 EDT Bluegreen Vacations rises 19.3% - Bluegreen Vacations is up 19.3%, or $2.32 to $14.35.

11:52 EDT Novus Therapeutics announces dosing of first subjects in Phase 1 study of OP0201 - Novus Therapeutics announced that it has dosed the first adult subjects in the low dose cohort of a phase 1 clinical trial of OP0201, the company's lead product candidate being developed for otitis media. The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, dose-escalation trial will include a 30 mg per day and 60 mg per day dose of OP0201 and is designed to evaluate safety and tolerability of daily intranasal administration of OP0201 over 14 consecutive days in 30 healthy adults.

11:24 EDT HIIQ slides as short-seller accuses company of 'deceptive sales tactics' - Shares of Health Insurance Innovations (HIIQ) are under pressure after Aurelius Value said it is short the stock as it believes the company's business model relies on a "classic boiler room scam." The short-seller argued that previously sealed documents gathered by the Federal Trade Commission "prove that a large boiler room operation recently shuttered by the government for a massive alleged fraud" was responsible for roughly half of the company's sales. 'CLASSIC BOILER ROOM SCAM': In a report, Aurelius Value said it is short Health Insurance Innovations as it believes the company's business model relies on a "classic boiler room scam." "Previously sealed documents gathered by the FTC directly undermine management's claims and prove that a large boiler room operation recently shuttered by the government for a massive alleged fraud was responsible for roughly half of HIIQ's sales. Evidence also suggests that HIIQ policies have been contaminated by insurance fraud and reveal that other HIIQ brokers prey on consumers with falsehoods. Now that multiple state and federal agencies have begun moving against HIIQ's broker network, we believe it is now a question of when, not if, HIIQ's business will implode," the report reads. The short-seller pointed out that earlier this month the FTC "shut down boiler rooms selling HIIQ policies run by Steve Dorfman," alleging they were "permeated by fraud" and selling "worthless plans that left tens of thousands of people uninsured." Soon afterwards, Aurelius Value said, Health Insurance Innovations put out "a misleading press release" suggesting that Dorfman was responsible for less than 10% of the company's business. However, the short-seller believes previously unpublished bank records reveal that Health Insurance Innovations has paid "at least $145M in cash to Dorfman's companies, representing about half of the third-party commissions paid out by HIIQ over this approximate period." "We therefore conclude that Dorfman's alleged fraud has been responsible for as much as half of HIIQ's revenues," the report added. Overall, Aurelius Value sees "enormous downside potential" in the shares. PRICE ACTION: In late morning trading, shares of Health Insurance Innovations have slipped over 5% to $31.33.

10:20 EDT Bluegreen Vacations board approves 3M share repurchase program - BBX Capital Corporation (BBX) announced that the board of Bluegreen Vacations Corporation (BXG), which is 90% owned by BBX Capital, has approved a share repurchase program, which authorizes the repurchase of a total of up to 3M shares of the company's common stock at an aggregate cost of no more than $35M. The program authorizes the company, in management's discretion, to repurchase shares from time to time subject to market conditions and other factors.

10:00 EDT Cubic falls -6.8% - Cubic is down -6.8%, or -$4.50 to $61.69.

10:00 EDT Puxin Limited falls -8.6% - Puxin Limited is down -8.6%, or -53c to $5.62.

10:00 EDT Zymeworks rises 17.5% - Zymeworks is up 17.5%, or $2.01 to $13.49.

09:50 EDT FRONTEO Inc (ADS) trading resumes

09:42 EDT SuperCom awarded national electronic monitoring project in Europe - SuperCom was awarded a new project with the national government of a European country to deploy its PureSecurity Electronic Monitoring Suite with an emphasis on house arrest. The nationwide program with the Ministry of Justice is set to cover all cases requiring house arrest within the country, with a simultaneous enrollee count starting at over 200. The award was won through a formal bid process, which included system demonstrations to and tests conducted by the contracting authority. The bidding process also included the incumbent and long-term EM vendor for this country for the past 10 years. The project will be billed at a per-unit daily rate, as well as monthly fees for product components, and is expected to start generating steady-state recurring revenues within a few months from project launch. This award will go through the customary standstill waiting period before contract signing is approved and the project is launched. Further information is expected to be provided in subsequent announcements.

09:35 EDT MYnd Analytics awarded subcontract to support suicide prevention for HHS - MYnd Analytics announced that it has been awarded a subcontract to incorporate its PEER report within a project to develop a suicide prevention toolkit, for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. George Carpenter, CEO of MYnd stated, "We are honored to be a part of this important project, which involves development of a suicide prevention tool kit for HHS. Importantly, we look forward to leveraging our expertise and the extensive data we have compiled through the PEER registry. By combining artificial intelligence, machine learning and data analytics, we can analyze EEG data to recognize patterns, predict outcomes and personalize medicine, thereby improving patient outcomes and reducing healthcare costs. Multiple studies - including two of our own - have shown a relationship between EEG findings, medication response, and suicidality. We look forward to leveraging this powerful data as part of this new HHS sponsored program."

09:33 EDT Nevada reports October statewide gaming win up 7.47% to $1.063B - Nevada's Gaming Control Board reports Las Vegas Strip gaming win was up 12.24% in October to $593.42M. Publicly traded companies in the casino gaming space include Boyd Gaming (BYD), Caesars (CZR), Las Vegas Sands (LVS), MGM Resorts (MGM), Penn National (PENN) and Wynn Resorts (WYNN).

09:26 EDT GeoPark to acquire Colombia, Chile oil and gas assets from LG International - GeoPark announced an agreement to acquire the LG International Corporation interest in GeoPark's Colombian and Chilean operations and subsidiaries. This acquisition will increase GeoPark's equity interest to 100% in its Colombian and Chilean businesses, which consist of multiple hydrocarbon blocks and associated oil and gas production and reserves, including the Llanos 34 block in Colombia. This acquisition will also help streamline financial, tax, organizational, and cost structures. The acquisition price includes a fixed payment of $81M payable at closing, plus two equal installments of $15M each, to be paid in June 2019 and June 2020, respectively. Additionally, three contingent payments of $5M each could be payable over the next three years, subject to certain production thresholds being exceeded. Closing of this transaction is expected by November 28, 2018.

09:17 EDT KEYW announces $35M in contract awards to deliver advanced sensors - KEYW announced new awards and additional work to existing contracts of $35M for delivery in the next 12 months to classified customers. One contract has the potential to expand by an additional $15M. Under these contract orders, the company will develop advanced sensor payloads.

09:13 EDT Fly Intel: Pre-market Movers - HIGHER: Spirit Airlines (SAVE), up 12% after increasing Q4 guidance... Loxo Oncology (LOXO), up 1% after the FDA granted accelerated approval to Vitrakvi, or larotrectinib, a treatment for adult and pediatric patients whose cancers have a specific genetic feature... Diamondback Energy (FANG), up 2.5% after being chosen to enter the S&P 500 index... Maxim (MXIM), up 4.5% after being selected to enter the S&P 500 index. UP AFTER EARNINGS: Cracker Barrel (CBRL), up 1%. DOWN AFTER EARNINGS: Hibbett Sports (HIBB), down 5%... Ferroglobe (GSM), down 39%. ALSO LOWER: United Technologies (UTX), down 2% after announcing its intention to split into 3 companies in 2022... Amarin (AMRN), down 8% after its roughly 11M share spot secondary offering priced at $18 per share.

09:10 EDT Lockheed Martin secures two contracts from Boeing - Lockheed Martin (LMT) secured two contracts from the F-15 prime contractor, Boeing (BA) for the integration and production of Legion Pod. These include a 28-month Engineering and Manufacturing Development, or EMD, contract and a Low-Rate Initial Production, or LRIP, contract to produce 19 systems. Under the EMD contract, Lockheed Martin will integrate, test and qualify Legion Pod for the U.S. Air Force's F-15C fleet. The first EMD units will be available in early 2019.

09:09 EDT Fusion awarded $2.3M contract from goods transporter - Fusion has been awarded a $2.3M, three-year cloud communications agreement with a transporter of industrial, commercial and retail goods for over 90 years. The company selected Fusion to consolidate its 350 location communications network, and cited Fusion for its ability to optimize the company's communications platform while reducing costs.

09:07 EDT Linde and PBF Energy break ground for new hydrogen plant in Delaware - Linde and PBF Energy jointly announced that the companies and their guests broke ground yesterday for a new hydrogen plant that is being built in Delaware City, DE, in partnership with PBF subsidiary Delaware City Refining Company, or DCRC. Delaware Gov. John Carney; U.S. Senators Tom Carper and Chris Coons; Delaware City Mayor Stanley E. Green; and other dignitaries joined executives from Linde, PBF Energy, and DCRC in the groundbreaking ceremony. Also in attendance were Kevin Herbein, President of United Steelworkers Local 4-898, and James Maravelias, President of the Delaware State AFL-CIO and Delaware Building Trades Council. Investments by Linde and DCRC in this project, which include a 25M standard cubic feet per day hydrogen plant and supporting infrastructure, are expected to exceed $100M. As part of this initiative, Linde will design, build, own and operate the hydrogen plant, which is targeted for start-up during the Q2 of 2020. The hydrogen plant project will generate about 80 to 100 construction jobs at peak workload, seven permanent positions, and 25 to 30 local contractor employees during major turnarounds.

09:06 EDT PlayAGS, Relax Gaming announce platform-to-platform agreement - Relax Gaming and AGS announced a monumental reciprocal platform-to-platform agreement. Under the terms of the agreement, Relax Gaming and AGS will become key distribution partners to global operators for each other's game content. Popular products from AGS and its selected partners will be made available to Relax Gaming's growing network of operators, with AGS reciprocating by hosting games from Relax Gaming and its Silver Bullet and Powered By studios. This is a significant development within the platform aggregation industry, in which two highly respected platforms join forces to widen distribution to their operator bases.

09:03 EDT FBI selects Pegasystems to streamline operations across bureau - Pegasystems announced it has been awarded a subscription contract by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Business Process Management Unit. The FBI will deploy a number of Pega-based applications, including human resources, finance, and security applications that improve workflow and automate processes to improve efficiency and meet both immediate and future organizational needs.

09:02 EDT Amgen selects AWS for majority of cloud infrastructure - Amazon Web Services (AMZN) announced that Amgen (AMGN) is moving the vast majority of its cloud infrastructure to AWS to accelerate innovation, drive cost efficiencies, and unlock new insights from data to help deliver new treatments to patients with serious illnesses. As the company moves more of its technology infrastructure to AWS, it will aim to develop new cloud-based business applications that leverage the breadth and depth of AWS's services, as well as its unparalleled reliability, agility, and scalability. Amgen uses AWS's breadth of functionality, including compute, storage, database, analytics, and machine learning services, to support the development of new applications and to automate processes in the cloud. Amgen has been working with AWS since 2012 to successfully develop several core applications and to support new high-performance computing workloads.

08:53 EDT Gulf Island receives award for construction of two 40 vehicle ferries - Gulf Island Fabrication said that it has received a Notification of Award for the construction of two 40 vehicle ferries from the North Carolina Department of Transportation. A formal contract is anticipated to be signed by year end. Revenue backlog and man-hours associated with this project will be reported in connection with the company's filing of its financial results for the fourth quarter 2018.

08:46 EDT Saratoga Investment increases quarterly dividend to 53c per share - Saratoga Investment announced that its board has declared an increased quarterly dividend of 53c per share for the fiscal quarter ended November 30, payable on January 2, 2019, to all stockholders of record at the close of business on December 17. The company paid a quarterly dividend of 52c per share for the quarter ended August 31 and 51c per share for the quarter ended May 31.

08:41 EDT United Tech says exploring potential divestiture of Chubb Fire & Security unit

08:39 EDT United Tech says antitrust to be 'biggest risk' to Carrier acquisitions in HVAC

08:36 EDT Cemtrex provides additional information regarding rights offering - Cemtrex provided more information regarding its upcoming rights offering. "We currently have a backlog of approximately 800 SmartDesks and this offering will provide funds to help fulfill these orders by getting 1500 SmartDesks delivered in our warehouse from our supply chain in the coming weeks," said Saagar Govil, CEO of Cemtrex. "With 1500 SmartDesks on hand, we will also be able to accommodate the requirements of new clients who want be part of our Enterprise sales program and furthermore, we will be able to immediately deliver any new orders, eliminating the wait that customers might face. Once these 1500 SmartDesks are shipped, we will generate revenue of approximately $7.5 million, and with 35% gross margins, a hefty gross profit of $2.6 million. These funds will be reinvested into the production of the next batch of SmartDesks."

08:33 EDT Evelo Biosciences, Merck enter collaboration for EDP1503 with Keytruda - Evelo Biosciences (EVLO) announced that it has entered into a clinical trial collaboration agreement with Merck (MRK). The collaboration will evaluate EDP1503 in combination with Keytruda, Merck's anti-PD-1 therapy, in multiple cancer indications. EDP1503 is an orally delivered monoclonal microbial product candidate being developed for the treatment of cancer. The planned Phase 1/2 trial will evaluate the safety, tolerability, immune response markers and overall response rates achieved with EDP1503 in combination with Keytruda in three groups of patients: microsatellite stable colorectal cancer; triple-negative breast cancer; and patients across multiple tumor types who have relapsed on prior PD-1/L1 inhibitor treatment. Evelo expects to commence this clinical trial in the first half of 2019 and plans to enroll up to 120 patients in this non-comparative, single-arm, multicenter clinical study.

08:29 EDT Paratek Pharmaceuticals announces first patient dosed in omadacycline study - Paratek Pharmaceuticals announced dosing of the first patient in a Phase 2 study evaluating the potential efficacy and safety of oral and intravenous, or IV, omadacycline for the treatment of acute pyelonephritis, a common subset of complicated urinary tract infections.

08:20 EDT Cracker Barrel up 5% to $183.75 after Q1 results beat estimates

08:19 EDT Spirit Airlines sees Q4 capacity up 15% - In a regulatory filing last night, Spirit provided an update to its fourth quarter 2018 guidance, stating that capacity as measured by Available Seat Miles, or ASMs, is expected to be up 15.0% year-over-year.

08:18 EDT Spirit Airlines raises Q4 TRASM growth view to 11% from 6% - In a regulatory filing last night, Spirit provided an update to its fourth quarter 2018 guidance, stating that total revenue per available seat mile, or TRASM, is estimated to be up approximately 11% year-over-year compared to its initial estimate of up about 6% year over year. "The improvement is primarily driven by higher non-ticket revenue and higher load factor expectations. Company initiatives to dynamically price non-ticket items such as seats, bags, and bundled service offerings have ramped faster than expected driving non-ticket revenue. The company's recent network re-alignment, as well as its move to optimize peak and off-peak scheduling, has resulted in higher-than-expected load factors. Finally, the company believes a stronger industry environment, particularly around peak travel periods, is also contributing some portion of the improved revenue outlook. The company has modestly improved its range for fourth quarter cost per available seat mile excluding fuel and now estimates CASM ex-fuel for the fourth quarter 2018 will be up 5.0% to 5.5% year-over-year," Spirit said.

08:16 EDT Ametek completes acquisition of Spectro Scientific - Ametek announced that it has completed the acquisition of Spectro Scientific, a leading provider of machine condition monitoring solutions for critical assets in high-value industrial applications.

08:15 EDT United Technologies CFO sees separation costs of $2.5B-$3B - Says smaller M&A to fill in gaps "not out of the question."

08:13 EDT Energous reports availability of new DA2223 reciver IC for small devices - Energous Corporation (WATT) announced the availability of its DA2223 receiver chip, which is the latest addition to its family of integrated circuits. Energous says, "At just 1.7mm x 1.4mm and less than 0.5mm thin, the DA2223 4-port RF-to-DC wireless power chip is the smallest RF rectifier IC in the Energous technology portfolio." "At just 1.7mm x 1.4mm in size, the DA2223 was designed for very small form factor applications like True-Wireless Stereo earbuds, hearing aids and wearables, which we expect to be a large part of our revenue ramp from 2019," said Stephen R. Rizzone, president and CEO of Energous Corporation. "Partnered with Dialog Semiconductor (DLGNF), we continue to innovate turnkey solutions that increase our competitive separation from older, first generation coil-based solutions. Energous and Dialog are leading the advancement of next generation wireless power technology and paving the way for the global build out of the wireless charging 2.0 ecosystem."

08:12 EDT Vertex says two CF Phase 3 studies met primary endpoints - Vertex Pharmaceuticals announced that treatment with the triple combination of the next-generation corrector VX-659, tezacaftor and ivacaftor resulted in statistically significant improvements in lung function in two Phase 3 studies in people with cystic fibrosis, or CF. Data from a pre-specified interim analysis of the Phase 3 study in people with one F508del mutation and one minimal function mutation showed a mean absolute improvement in ppFEV1 of 14.0 percentage points from baseline at week 4 of treatment compared to placebo. In the Phase 3 study in people with two F508del mutations, the addition of VX-659 in patients already receiving tezacaftor and ivacaftor resulted in a mean absolute improvement in ppFEV1 of 10.0 percentage points from baseline at week 4 of treatment compared to the control group in whom placebo was added to tezacaftor and ivacaftor. The VX-659 triple combination regimen was generally well tolerated, and the safety and efficacy profile from the results released today supports the potential submission of a New Drug Application for the VX-659 triple combination regimen. Vertex also announced that enrollment is complete for the two Phase 3 studies of the triple combination of the next-generation corrector VX-445, tezacaftor and ivacaftor in people with CF with one F508del mutation and one minimal function mutation and in people with two F508del mutations. Vertex remains on track to report topline data from both Phase 3 studies of the VX-445 triple combination regimen in the first quarter of 2019. The data expected in the first quarter of 2019 for VX-445 and the data reported today for VX-659 will enable Vertex to choose the best regimen to submit for potential regulatory approvals globally and will provide the basis for potential submission of an NDA for a triple combination regimen to the FDA no later than mid-2019.

08:11 EDT United Tech CEO Hayes says all business units strong, 'no weak sister here' - CEO Greg Hayes says decided on separation after more than a year-long comprehensive evaluation, says considered a wide range of options. Says each business already strong, "no weak sister here that we're worried about going forward." Says Kelly Ortberg to lead Collins Aerospace division. Says Carrier on a "strong" earnings growth trajectory. Comments taken from the company's conference call discussing its plans to split into three independent companies.

08:10 EDT Dare Bioscience reports enrollment in study with Sildenafil cream, 3.6% - Dare Bioscience announced that it is currently enrolling patients in an investigational study designed to evaluate the feasibility of using thermography technology to assess the pharmacodynamics of Sildenafil Cream, 3.6% in normal healthy women. Sildenafil, the active ingredient in Sildenafil Cream, 3.6%, is marketed in an oral dosage form under the brand name Viagra for the treatment of erectile dysfunction in men. Dare Bioscience, in partnership with Strategic Science & Technologies, LLC, is developing Sildenafil Cream, 3.6% as a potential treatment for female sexual arousal disorder. During the thermography study, genital temperature, a surrogate for genital blood flow, will be captured and recorded utilizing an infrared camera capable of detecting heat patterns from blood flow in body tissues. The study consists of the screening visit, the double-blind dosing of placebo or active cream and a safety follow-up. Dare adds, "During the third quarter of 2018, we had a Type C meeting with the FDA regarding the Phase 2b program for Sildenafil Cream, 3.6%. The objective of this meeting was to align with the agency on key aspects of the Phase 2b and the overall clinical program to support the planned New Drug Application, or NDA, including the screening assessments used to accurately diagnose FSAD, the PRO instruments to be used as primary efficacy endpoints for pivotal clinical studies, study duration, and the target patient population to be studied. Based on the outcome of this meeting, in the fourth quarter of 2018, we will commence Phase 2b related activities for Sildenafil Cream, 3.6% with the initiation of a content validity PRO study to demonstrate that the FSAD symptoms we plan to assess in our Phase 2b and our pivotal studies are the most important and relevant to our target patient population and are also acceptable efficacy endpoints for the FDA. After the content validity PRO study is completed and before the Phase 2b at-home trial is initiated, we plan to request another Type C meeting to obtain the FDA's guidance on whether it agrees that the PRO instruments are content valid for the target population."

08:08 EDT People's United announces agreement to acquire BSB Bancorp for $327M - People's United Financial (PBCT), the holding company for People's United Bank, announced an agreement to acquire BSB Bancorp (BLMT), the holding company for Belmont Savings Bank, in a 100% stock transaction valued at approximately $327M Completion of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including receipt of regulatory approvals and the approval of BSB Bancorp stockholders. The transaction is valued at $32.42 per BSB Bancorp share, based on the closing price of People's United's common stock on November 26, 2018. The transaction is expected to close by the Q2 of FY19.

08:08 EDT Cracker Barrel CEO says 'made progress on improving traffic' - Commenting on the first quarter results, Cracker Barrel President and CEO Sandra Cochran said, "Our teams made progress on improving traffic through a heightened focus on the guest experience, our menu, our everyday value, and the continued expansion of our off-premise business. We delivered positive comparable store sales in both restaurant and retail, and we improved upon our fourth quarter sales trend. I am encouraged by our start to the fiscal year, and we must continue to work hard to drive further traffic improvement."

08:07 EDT Cracker Barrel reports 3% increase in average check in Q1 - Cracker Barrel comparable store restaurant sales increased 1.4%, as a 3.0% increase in average check offset a 1.6% decrease in comparable store restaurant traffic. The average menu price increase for the quarter was approximately 2.0%. Comparable store retail sales increased 4.3% from the prior year quarter.

08:07 EDT El Pollo Loco appoints Hector Munoz CMO - El Pollo Loco announced the appointment of Hector Munoz as CMO, effective December 3. Munoz brings over 25 years of QSR experience and marketing leadership. Munoz's appointment comes on the heels of the addition of Jennifer Jaffe, El Pollo Loco's first CPO. Munoz was most recently executive VP and global CMO at Church's Chicken, where as a member of the executive team, he led all global marketing efforts for both the Church's Chicken and Texas Chicken brands, with leadership responsibilities for brand strategy and sales development. Under his leadership, Church's Chicken recorded five consecutive quarters of positive global same store sales, the best performance of its kind in more than 10 years. In his role as CMO, Munoz will be responsible for overseeing all marketing and brand strategy functions, including menu and new product development, advertising and PR, digital and social media and consumer engagement for El Pollo Loco's more than 480 company-owned and franchised restaurants.

08:06 EDT Immutep reports 50% ORR in part B TACTI-mel Phase 1 trial - Immutep announces new data from its ongoing TACTI-mel Phase I clinical trial is being presented at the 4th Annual ICI Europe Summit in Berlin, Germany by Dr. Frederic Triebel, Immutep's Chief Scientific Officer and Chief Medical Officer. The study is evaluating the combination of eftilagimod alpha, Immutep's lead product candidate, in combination with anti-PD-1 therapy KEYTRUDA in 24 patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma. The multi-center, open-label clinical trial includes four cohorts of six patients each testing different dosages of efti, including 1 milligram, 6 mg and 30 mg, in combination with pembrolizumab. This latest data includes more mature data from the first three cohorts where the combination treatment begins at cycle 5 of pembrolizumab treatment and the first efficacy data from the fourth cohort where the combination treatment is administered to patients from the beginning of cycle 1, day 1 of pembrolizumab treatment. Key findings from part B were as follows: High risk patient population with 100% M1c status, 83 % elevated LDH and 50% ECOG 1; 5 out of 6 patients had at least one CT scan post study start; 1 patient died before first staging; After 3 months, 3 out of 6 patients experienced a partial response, a 50% overall response rate according to immune related response criteria; The current disease control rate for this group is 66%. Key findings from part A were as follows: Long lasting and durable responses continue to be observed in a subset of patients; 13 patients were progression free at 6 months, if calculated from cycle 1, day 1 of pembrolizumab treatment; ORR of 33% was reported according to the protocol when measured from start of combination treatment in patients with suboptimal response to pembrolizumab monotherapy.

08:06 EDT Cracker Barrel declares quarterly dividend of $1.25 per share - The company's Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend of $1.25 per share on the company's common stock, payable on February 5, 2019 to shareholders of record on January 18, 2019.

08:02 EDT Accenture, Amazon Web Services expand services, resources led by AABG - Accenture (ACN) and Amazon Web Services (AMZN) announced newly expanded services and resources led by the Accenture AWS Business Group to help clients accelerate their pace of innovation. Launched in 2015, the AABG combines the resources, technical capability and industry knowledge of Accenture and AWS to help enterprises unlock innovation, drive business value and support growth through cloud adoption and transformation. The continued investment and expansion of services comes at a time of market disruption for clients demanding deeper capability, established models and methodologies to help scale innovation, and measurable business value. With hundreds of enterprise transformation projects completed, the AABG is now spearheading countless innovation projects powered by new technologies, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, analytics and cloud native strategies. This disruption calls for more capability to help enterprises combine digital innovation with legacy transformation while adopting established industry platforms. The new innovation accelerator services and dedicated resources consist of: A new Applied Intelligence Studio for AWS in Seattle, where clients can access AI specialists from AWS and Accenture to apply AWS ML services, such as Amazon SageMaker, and integrate leading practices more rapidly for burgeoning innovation projects. The development of LaunchPad, an agile network of Accenture and AWS specialists skilled in strategic AWS services, core to quickly enabling digital transformation beyond traditional cost reductions. Additional tools, templates and leading industry solutions, backed by the collective knowledge of the AABG, to help clients be nimbler and scale services more easily.The creation of Blockchain Express, which is aimed to be a faster, more cost-effective way for AWS clients who are interested in blockchain services to explore the benefits of distributed ledger technologies.

08:01 EDT Cracker Barrel reports Q1 comparable store restaurant sales up 1.4% - Compared to the prior year, comparable restaurant sales increased 1.4% and comparable retail sales increased 4.3%.

07:42 EDT Cytokinetics completes enrollment in FORTITUDE-ALS trial - Cytokinetics (CYTK) announced the completion of patient enrollment in FORTITUDE-ALS, the Phase 2 clinical trial designed to assess the change from baseline in the percent predicted slow vital capacity, or SVC, and other measures of skeletal muscle function after 12 weeks of treatment with reldesemtiv. In collaboration with Astellas Pharma (ALPMY), Cytokinetics is developing reldesemtiv, a next-generation fast skeletal muscle troponin activator, as a potential treatment for people living with debilitating diseases and conditions associated with skeletal muscle weakness and/or fatigue.

07:38 EDT Ecopetrol announces GEE plans to invest $3.5B-$4B in FY19 - Ecopetrol reports that in 2019 the Ecopetrol Business Group, or GEE expects to invest between $3.5B-$4B, up 16% to 33% over the projected 2018 figure. Brent price is expected to range between $55-$65 per barrel. The net profit breakeven price for 2019 is expected to remain at approximately $36 per barrel, demonstrating the Company's resilience in the face of fluctuations in the price of oil. The plan pursues a return on average capital employed, or ROACE, of over 10%, which will rank Ecopetrol as one of the companies with higher value generation among its peers. In line with the strategic priorities of the GEE, the plan is centered on disciplined growth in the Upstream segment, which accounts for 81% of total expected investment, enabling projected production for 2019 to be between 720,000 and 730,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day and the addition of proven reserves equivalent to 100% of oil and gas production.

07:33 EDT Aurora Cannabis completes first shipment to Czech Republic - Aurora Cannabis announced that the company has received an export request, has secured the required export permit and has now completed its first shipment of medical cannabis products to the Czech Republic, making this the 21st country in which the company operates. The initial purchase order was placed by, and products will be shipped to Czech Medical Herbs, a Czech pharmaceutical wholesaler, who will subsequently supply pharmacies throughout the country. Czech Medical Herbs is a distributor of medicinal products with a specialization in Cannabis for medical use and medicinal products based on cannabinoids.

07:31 EDT Alliance Data to explore strategic alternatives for Epsilon business - Alliance Data Systems announced that it is exploring strategic alternatives for its Epsilon business, including its digital media arm Conversant, a global marketing innovator with $2.2B of revenue for the trailing 12 months ending September 30, 2018. These strategic alternatives include a potential sale of the business. "Under Alliance Data, Epsilon has become a global leader in one-to-one marketing, utilizing the rare combination of scaled SKU-level transactional data, proprietary identity technologies, and proven people-based capabilities across enterprise-grade marketing and digital advertising technologies, all coupled with decades of orchestration expertise," said Ed Heffernan, Alliance Data's president and chief executive officer. "Today's announcement reflects the outcome of a lengthy study into Alliance Data's portfolio of businesses with the objective of unlocking increased value for Alliance Data stockholders. Optimizing Epsilon's unique collection of assets requires growth and capital allocation strategies that differ from those of our Card Services business, and we believe the time is right to explore alternatives for Epsilon under which Epsilon can reach its full potential. Following any potential transaction, we plan to use our improved capital structure to accelerate growth and realign for Alliance Data 2.0."

07:30 EDT Arsanis Inc trading resumes

07:20 EDT Scholar Rock publishes data on inhibiting myostatin activation in models of SMA - Scholar Rock announced the publication, "Specific Inhibition of Myostatin Activation is Beneficial in Mouse Models of SMA Therapy" in the peer-reviewed journal Human Molecular Genetics. The publication details preclinical studies demonstrating that a highly specific inhibitor of myostatin activation effectively increased muscle mass and function in mouse models of Spinal Muscular Atrophy, or SMA. In addition, despite baseline serum levels of inactive latent myostatin being lower in the SMA mice than in mice without disease, successful target engagement was observed as evidenced by increased levels of latent myostatin in serum following treatment. Together, the results support the potential for myostatin blockade as a therapeutic strategy to address motor functional deficits in SMA.

07:14 EDT Hibbett Sports down 9.4% after Q3 results miss estimates, FY19 guidance cut - In pre-market trading, shares are down 9.4% to $16.27.

07:10 EDT Arsanis CEO Rene Russo resigns, Michael Gray named successor - Arsanis announced that Michael Gray has been appointed to the position of president and CEO, effectively immediately. Gray will also join the Arsanis board and will continue to serve in his existing role as CFO. Gray succeeds Rene Russo, who has resigned as president and CEO to pursue other opportunities. Russo will remain on the Arsanis board.

07:09 EDT Opus Bank announces resignation of president, CEO Stephen Gordon - Opus Bank announced that Paul Greig, who has served as chairman of the Opus Bank Board of Directors since January 2018, has been appointed interim president and CEO, effective November 26, 2018. Greig succeeds Stephen Gordon, who resigned as president and CEO of Opus Bank and as a member of Opus Bank's Board of Directors, effective the same date. Greig will continue as chairman of the Board. The Opus Bank Board of Directors has retained Korn Ferry, a leading executive search firm, to begin immediately the process of identifying a permanent CEO. Greig joined Opus Bank's Board of Directors in April 2017 and was appointed Lead Independent Director in May 2017 before becoming chairman. He has decades of leadership experience with significant operational and financial expertise, most recently serving as chairman, president and CEO of FirstMerit Corporation.

07:06 EDT Rocket Pharmaceuticals receives FDA RMAT, Fast Track designations for RP-L102 - Rocket Pharmaceuticals announces that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy and Fast Track designations to RP-L102, the company's lentiviral vector-based gene therapy for the treatment of Fanconi Anemia. RMAT designation was granted based on the positive efficacy and safety results from the ongoing Phase 1/2 clinical trial of RP-L102 being conducted in Europe. Rocket plans to initiate a clinical trial of RP-L102 for FA in early 2019 utilizing no conditioning and "Process B" which incorporates higher cell doses, transduction enhancers, and commercial-grade vector manufacturing and cell processing. The global trial is expected to enroll approximately 12 FA patients at the Center for Definitive and Curative Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine, Hospital Nino Jesus/CIEMAT, and other leading centers in the U.S. and in the EU.

07:05 EDT Roche announces global launch of VENTANA pan-TRK Assay - Roche announced the global launch of the VENTANA pan-TRK Assay, the first automated in vitro diagnostic immunohistochemistry assay to detect tropomyosin receptor kinase proteins in cancer.

07:05 EDT Evogene's insect control genes show effectiveness against insects in testing - Evogene announced that an external laboratory and in-house testing had confirmed that leading Evogene insect control genes demonstrated efficacy against insects with resistance to current commercial insect control products, including fall armyworm and diamondback moth. These results indicate that Evogene has identified new Modes-of-Action for insect control. The genes were identified and predicted by Evogene's in silico CPB platform to provide high insecticidal activity through new MoAs. These genes have previously met efficacy criteria presenting high insecticidal activity, achieving the first milestone and leading to phase advancement. Today's announcement focuses on achieving the second milestone, a new MoA. Currently these genes are going through transformation to corn and soybean with greenhouse results expected in 2019 against relevant major pests.

07:03 EDT Hemisphere Media completes acquisition of 75% equity interest in Snap Global - Hemisphere Media Group has finalized the acquisition of a 75% equity interest in Snap Global, a leading independent distributor of content in Latin America to broadcast, pay TV and OTT platforms. Ariel Tobi, founder of Snap TV, joined Hemisphere as the Senior Vice President of Content Distribution and Production. In his role, Tobi will oversee content licensing and the expansion of Hemisphere's content distribution business. While Tobi has relocated to Miami, FL, a small operation will remain in Buenos Aires.

07:02 EDT Battelle, Canopy Growth announce strategic collaboration for cannabis research - Battelle and Canopy Growth Corporation announced the completion of multiple fully legal cannabis imports from Canada to the United States. Battelle and Canopy Growth will work together to advance knowledge surrounding cannabis in support of medical research and novel product development. Canopy Growth and Battelle completed the rigorous federal approval process required to import cannabis products into the United States and since October 9th, the organizations have completed four product transfers to Battelle's secure research facilities pursuant to United States Drug Enforcement Agency approvals. For decades, Battelle scientists have been developing methods for testing a variety of controlled substances as well as employing analytical chemistry services for government and private industry. Notably, product transfers have consisted of a variety of cannabis form factors, including dried cannabis and Canopy Growth's precisely dosed Softgel capsules. With a DEA Schedule I Researcher License and product obtained from the National Institute on Drug Abuse drug supply program, that is fully legal at the local, state and federal level, Battelle is already conducting research and development studies involving human subjects and smoking behavior at an East Coast research center. Additional areas of research will now begin in earnest to build a robust knowledge base surrounding Canopy Growth's suite of cannabis products.

07:02 EDT McDermott announces conctract from Shell Exploration at Great White Frio - McDermott International announced a sizeable contract from Shell Exploration and Production Company, a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, for new subsea umbilical and flowline installation at the Great White Frio development in Alaminos Canyon Block 857 in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. McDermott's scope of work includes project management and engineering; installation of a flexible flowline from the well to a pipeline end termination; installation of one 2,000-foot-long steel flying lead; and installation of two electrical flying leads (EFLs) in a water depth of 8,000 feet. Project management and engineering are scheduled to be performed in Houston, Texas, with offshore installation by McDermott targeted for completion in mid-2019. The contract award will be reflected in McDermott's Q4 backlog. McDermott defines a sizeable contract between $1M and $50M.

06:56 EDT Alcon sees dividend in 2020, bolt-on acquisitions after Novartis spinoff - Alcon, the eye car division of Novartis (NVS), expects to pay a dividend to shareholders starting in 2020, following its planned spinoff from the Swiss drug company next year, the company said ahead of its first Capital Markets Day. Additionally, the eye car unit plans to focus on "bolt-on" acquisitions to help increase core operating margins to the mid-20% range by 2023. If the transaction proceeds, shares in Alcon Inc. will be listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol "ALC". Post-spinoff, Alcon is targeting an investment grade credit rating and will have a financial framework focused on sales growth, operational excellence and free cash flow generation. Completion of the planned spinoff is subject to general market conditions, receipt of necessary authorizations, tax rulings and opinions, final endorsement by the Board of Directors of Novartis and shareholder approval at the Novartis annual shareholder meeting on February 28, 2019. If approvals are secured and conditions are met, the spinoff is expected to be completed in the first half of 2019.

06:51 EDT Eagle announces results of POC study with Total-Body Radiation Animal Model - Eagle Pharmaceuticals announced positive results of a proof-of-concept, or POC, study in a Total-Body Radiation Animal Model. The objective of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of intravenous administration of RYANODEX to prevent or mitigate Acute Radiation Syndrome, or ARS, in a total body irradiated C57BL/6 male mouse hematopoietic model. Animals in each treatment group received a well-characterized, high-dose of radiation to their whole body and also received randomly-assigned RYANODEX in different treatment modalities. In this study, the RYANODEX treatment group had overall less mortality post-treatment than non-treated animals with ARS. Additional details will be provided when available.

06:33 EDT Zymeworks, BeiGene announce license and collaboration agreement - Zymeworks (ZYME) and BeiGene (BGNE) announced that the two companies have entered into a strategic collaboration for the clinical development and commercialization of Zymeworks' investigational ZW25 and ZW49 HER2-targeted bispecific antibodies. In addition, Zymeworks granted BeiGene a license to Zymeworks' proprietary Azymetric and EFECT platforms to develop and commercialize globally up to three other bispecific antibodies using the platforms. Under the terms of the license and collaboration agreements for ZW25 and ZW49, Zymeworks has granted BeiGene exclusive rights to develop and commercialize Zymeworks' clinical-stage bispecific antibody candidate ZW25 and its preclinical-stage bispecific antibody drug conjugate ZW49 in Asia (excluding Japan), Australia, and New Zealand. BeiGene will be responsible for all clinical development and regulatory submissions in the licensed territories. The companies also plan to collaborate on global development of ZW25 and ZW49 in HER2-expressing solid tumors, including gastric and breast cancer, with BeiGene enrolling patients and contributing clinical trial data from the licensed territories. Zymeworks retains full rights to both ZW25 and ZW49 outside of the specified countries and will continue to lead global development of these drug candidates. In addition to the license and collaboration agreements for ZW25 and ZW49, Zymeworks and BeiGene entered into a separate research and license agreement for Zymeworks' proprietary Azymetric and EFECT platforms, under which BeiGene will have global rights to research, develop and commercialize up to three bispecific antibody therapeutics directed to targets selected by BeiGene. BeiGene will be responsible for all research, development, and commercial activities under this agreement. Under the terms of the license and collaboration agreements for ZW49 and ZW25, Zymeworks will receive total upfront payments of $40M and is eligible to receive up to $390M in development and commercial milestone payments for both product candidates. In addition, Zymeworks will be eligible to receive tiered royalties on future sales of ZW25 and ZW49 in the licensed territory. Under the terms of the research and license agreement for the Azymetric and EFECT platforms, Zymeworks will receive an upfront payment of $20M and is eligible to receive up to an aggregate of $702M in development and commercial milestone payments for up to three bispecific product candidates developed under the agreement. In addition, Zymeworks will be eligible to receive tiered royalties on future global sales of bispecific products developed by BeiGene under the agreement.

06:19 EDT Scotiabank's Caribbean subsidiaries to enter into distribution agreement - Scotiabank announced agreements with respect to certain of its Caribbean operations, as part of its strategy to focus the Bank's efforts on its core markets with significant scale. As part of this strategy, Scotiabank's subsidiaries in Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago announced that they will enter into a 20-year distribution agreement with Sagicor Financial through which an enhanced suite of market-leading insurance products and solutions, underwritten by Sagicor, will be offered to Scotiabank customers in Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago. As part of this partnership, Scotiabank Jamaica and Scotiabank Trinidad & Tobago have entered into agreements to sell their respective insurance subsidiaries: Scotia Jamaica Life Insurance Company and ScotiaLife Trinidad and Tobago Limited to Sagicor.

05:48 EDT WhatsApp's Chief Business Officer Neeraj Arora to leave company - Neeraj Arora, WhatsApp's Chief Business Officer and one of the company's first employees, announced in a Facebook post that he is leaving the company. Arora said: "It is time to move on, but I cannot be more proud of how WhatsApp continues to touch people in so many different ways every day. I am confident that WhatsApp will continue to be the simple, secure & trusted communication product for years to come. I'm going to be taking some time off to recharge and spend time with family. I am deeply indebted to Jan and Brian, who entrusted me to be their business companion for so many years and I am thankful to each one of you who has supported me along the way and made this exciting journey possible." Reference Link

05:38 EDT Amazon says Cyber Monday was single biggest shopping day in company history - Amazon announced that Cyber Monday was once again the single biggest shopping day in the company's history with more products ordered worldwide than any other day. Additionally, the Turkey 5, those five popular shopping days starting with Thanksgiving and continuing through Cyber Monday, broke records as customers in the U.S. purchased millions more products over the five day period vs. the same period last year. In fact, Amazon customers worldwide ordered more than 18 million toys and more than 13 million fashion items on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, combined. Sales by small and medium-sized businesses worldwide grew more than 20 percent on Black Friday year-over-year. Throughout the Turkey 5, Amazon.com customers ordered more than 180 million items. Prime members got into the Christmas spirit over the holiday weekend-Christmas lights were a bestseller on Prime Now. The best-selling products at Amazon 4-star and Amazon Books over the Turkey 5 weekend included the all-new Echo Dot, Becoming by Michelle Obama, the Amazon Smart Plug, and the L.O.L. Surprise Series toys. The best-selling products at Amazon Pop-Up device kiosks over the Turkey 5 weekend included the all-new Echo Dot and the Amazon Smart Plug. Customers ordered more than four million toys and electronics on the mobile app on Black Friday. The best-selling products across Amazon.com on Cyber Monday included the all-new Echo Dot, AncestryDNA: Genetic Testing Ethnicity, Bose QuietComfort 25 Acoustic Noise Cancelling Headphones for Apple devices, Becoming by Michelle Obama, Jenga, and Instant Pot DUO60 - 6 Quart.

05:11 EDT Cyber Monday broke online sales record with $7.9B - Adobe released its 2018 online shopping data for Cyber Monday and the holiday week overall. Cyber Monday is projected to hit $7.9 billion by the end of the day, making it the largest online shopping day of all time in the U.S. This represents a 19.7 percent increase year-over-year as of 7:00 p.m. ET. In comparison, Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday brought in $3.7 billion and $6.2 billion in revenue, respectively. Saturday and Sunday, November 24 and 25, set a new record as the biggest online shopping weekend in the U.S. growing faster than Black Friday and Cyber Monday with more than 25 percent on each day. The full season thus far drove $58.5 billion in online sales, a 19.9 percent increase, with every day generating over $1 billion. Buy Online, Pickup In-Store, or BOPIS, over the weekend saw a record 50 percent increase year-over-year. As the online and offline retail experience continues to blend, retailers with physical stores drove 28 percent higher conversions online. Top sellers on Cyber Monday included the Nintendo Switch, Little Live Pets, Red Dead Redemption 2, LG TVs, drones, Dell laptops, FurReal Pets and Amazon Echo devices. Revenue from smartphones will hit $2.1 billion on Cyber Monday, making it the highest ever at 48.1 percent growth YoY, while smartphone traffic share grew 16 percent. Mobile overall represented 51.4 percent of site visits and 34 percent of revenue, making it the first Cyber Monday where more than half of visits came from mobile. Publicly traded companies in the space include Amazon.com (AMZN), Overstock.com (OSTK) eBay (EBAY), Best Buy (BBY), Walmart (WMT) and Target (TGT).