Stockwinners Market Radar for April 18, 2019 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

20:08 EDT Comfort Systems USA discloses ransomware attack virus - The company states: "Beginning on April 14, 2019, the Comfort Systems USA information technology infrastructure was impacted by a ransomware attack virus. As a result, a substantial majority of our operating locations are experiencing loss of access to certain data and outages affecting systems including accounting, payroll, billing, job report and management and other software environments. These disruptions are creating challenges in key back office functions requiring workarounds and alternative procedures. Our first quarter financial results were not affected by this incident and we currently expect to announce those results on our customary schedule."

18:57 EDT Fly Intel: After Hours Movers - UP AFTER EARNINGS: Exponent (EXPO) up 4.5%. ALSO HIGHER: Akorn (AKRX) up 12.6% after getting FDA approval for Loteprednol Etabonate Ophthalmic.... Zosano Pharma (ZSAN) up 7.4% after disclosed stock purchase by CEO... Fastenal (FAST) up 3.1% after board approved stock split... Aphria (APHA) up 1.6% after receiving cannabis cultivation license in Germany. DOWN AFTER EARNINGS: Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) down 7.3%... People's United Financial (PBCT) down 1.9%. ALSO LOWER: Intersal (I) down 2.3% after disclosing "total loss of Intelsat 29e spacecraft due to anomaly... Eli Lilly (LLY) down 2.0%, Pfizer (PFE) down 1.0% after disclosing Phase 3 study of tanezumab met 2 of 3 co-primary endpoints. Movers as of 18:30ET.

18:39 EDT Liberty Oilfield Services CFO sells 90,000 Class A common shares - In a regulatory filing, Liberty Oilfield Services CFO Michael Stock disclosed the sale of 90,000 Class A common shares of the company at a price of $17.01 per share.

18:11 EDT Conagra Brands director Gregor buys 10K shares of common stock - In a regulatory filing, Conagra Brands disclosed that its director Joie Gregor purchased 10K shares of common stock on April 16th at an average price of $29.99 per share.

17:44 EDT SPDR Gold Shares holdings fall to 751.68MT from 752.86MT - This is the lowest level of holdings since October 26, 2018.

17:32 EDT Sears delays filing 10-K form - As previously reported on October 15, 2018, Sears Holdings filed voluntary petitions US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York seeking relief under chapter 11. As reported in the January 24th 8-K filing dated January 24, 2019, the company sold substantially all of its assets to Transform Holdco. The board has determined that, following the asset sale closing, the company will be "unable to continue filing the periodic reports without unreasonable effort and expense."

17:17 EDT Altai Capital says Amber Road meeting delay attempt to 'avoid accountability' - Altai Capital Management, L.P., one of the largest shareholders of Amber Road, issued the following statement regarding the company's sudden announcement that it will postpone the 2019 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, which was originally scheduled for May 7, 2019, by more than a month to June 18, 2019. "The unexplained decision of Amber Road's Board to postpone the Annual Meeting appears to us to be a clear attempt to further entrench the Board and avoid accountability. We believe investors deserve the opportunity to voice, without delay, their frustration at the strategic missteps of the Company's leadership. By delaying the shareholders' right to elect directors at the appropriate meeting time, we believe the Company is perpetuating the pattern of self-serving actions and value destruction that have characterized Amber Road to date. We see no valid purpose for postponing the Annual Meeting and question the Board's decision to do so only days before the scheduled date and after proxies have already been delivered to shareholders. In the absence of any explanation, we can only conclude that the Board is trying to buy more time to gather support they do not believe they have. As we have stated all along, Amber Road's Board is in critical need of improvement-fresh, independent minds are essential to hold management accountable, to properly explore strategic alternatives and to provide shareholders with the transparency they deserve. This Board's delay tactics only reinforce our concerns, serving as an acute reminder that the Company's current Board, in our view, prioritizes its desire to stay in office over respecting the rights of its shareholders. To the extent that the current Board is deliberating on material decisions, we strongly believe that such deliberations should be conducted by a new, duly elected Board best-positioned to represent the best interests of all shareholders. We hope our fellow shareholders will see the Board's tactics for what they are and will support our efforts to inject much needed accountability at Amber Road by voting to elect Marshall Heinberg and Jim Watson to the Board. It is time to choose a new path forward of experience, competence and value creation, rather than the current path of stagnation, management self-enrichment and shareholder value destruction."

17:06 EDT Fastenal approves two-for-one stock split - Fastenal Company announced that its board approved a two-for-one stock split of the company's outstanding common stock. The stock split will take effect at the close of business on May 22.

17:01 EDT AptarGroup raises dividend 6%, announces new $350M share repurchase plan - The Board of Directors of AptarGroup authorized the repurchase of up to $350M of the company's common stock. This new authorization replaces all previous authorizations. The Board also increased the quarterly cash dividend by 6% to 36c per share. The payment date is May 22 to stockholders of record as of May 1.

16:59 EDT Intuitive Surgical tightens FY19 procedure growth view to 15%-17% from 13%-17% - Sees FY19 operating expense 24%-28%. Sees FY19 tax rate 19%-20%. Guidance taken from Q1 earnings conference call.

16:46 EDT comScore names Kathy Bachmann as COO, effective April 17 - On April 12, the Board of Directors of comScore appointed Kathy Bachmann as COO, effective April 17. Prior to her appointment as COO, Bachman served as Chief Commercial Operations Officer since joining the company in February. Prior to joining the company, Bachmann served as COO, and previously as Executive Vice President, Product Management, at Throtle, an ad tech data solutions company, from January 2018 to February 2019.

16:45 EDT Boeing, Spirit Aero reach pact to cover production costs for B737 program - According to a regulatory filing, on April 12, 2019, Boeing (BA) and Spirit AeroSystems (SPR) executed a Memorandum of Agreement relating to Spirit's production of aircraft with respect to the B737 program. As previously announced by the company on April 5, 2019, Spirit will maintain its delivery rate of 52 shipsets per month with respect to the B737 program following Boeing's announced temporary adjustment in the production rate from 52 to 42 aircraft per month. The MOA establishes that all B737 shipsets produced in excess of Boeing's production rate will be deemed to be delivered to Boeing "FOB" at Spirit's facilities, which will trigger Boeing's payment obligations for the excess shipsets. Pursuant to the MOA, if requested by Boeing and Spirit has available storage space, Spirit will maintain the excess shipsets at Spirit's facilities; however, title to and risk of any loss of or damage to the excess shipsets will be transferred to Boeing except to the extent loss or damage results from Spirit's fault or negligence. Pursuant to the MOA, Spirit has agreed to be responsible for any incremental costs associated with storage of the excess shipsets. The parties also agreed to certain advance payments for material purchases. The MOA is effective as of April 12, 2019 and continues until May 1, 2020.

16:32 EDT Aphria subsidiary secures cannabis cultivation license in Germany - Aphria Inc. announced that its German subsidiary Aphria Deutschland GmbH has secured the previously announced license for the domestic cultivation of medical cannabis from the German Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices, following the conclusion of a mandatory 10-day standstill period for public contracts. Aphria was granted a cultivation license for four of the nine total lots awarded by BfArM and is awaiting the completion of the tender process for the four remaining lots under review, one of which was provisionally awarded to Aphria Germany. "Aphria thanks the BfArM for their diligent examination and validation of our approach for domestic cultivation with this license," said Hendrik Knopp, Managing Director of Aphria Germany. "Construction on our 8,000 square meter indoor cultivation facility is already underway and we anticipate it will be fully operational by Summer 2020. We are pleased to additionally support German patients in the upcoming months with high-quality imported cannabis flower and oils from Denmark and Canada."

16:28 EDT Zosano Pharma CEO buys 100K shares of common stock - In a regulatory filing, Zosano Pharma disclosed that its CEO John Walker purchased 100K shares of common stock on April 11th at $3.50 per share.

16:17 EDT Oneok increases quarterly dividend 9% to 86.5c per share - Oneok increased its quarterly dividend 0.5c per share to 86.5c per share, a 9% increase compared with its dividend announced in April 2018. This increase results in an annualized dividend of $3.46 per share. The dividend is payable May 15 to shareholders of record at the close of business April 29.

16:15 EDT Hess Corp. announces 13th discovery offshore Guyana - Hess Corporation announced a new discovery offshore Guyana at the Yellowtail-1 well, marking the 13th discovery on the Stabroek Block. The discovery adds to the previously announced estimated gross discovered recoverable resource of more than 5.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent on the Stabroek Block. Yellowtail-1 encountered approximately 292 feet of high-quality oil-bearing sandstone reservoir and was drilled to a depth of 18,445 feet in 6,046 feet of water. The well is located approximately 6 miles northwest of the Tilapia discovery. The Noble Tom Madden began drilling the Yellowtail well on March 27. It will next drill the Hammerhead-2 well. Exploration and development activities continue at other locations on the Stabroek Block. The Stena Carron is currently completing a well test at the Longtail-1 discovery and upon completion will next drill the Hammerhead-3 well. Later in 2019, the Stena Carron will drill a second well at the Ranger discovery. The Noble Bob Douglas drillship is currently completing development drilling operations for the Liza Phase 1 development. The operator is also evaluating plans to add another exploration drillship, bringing the number of drillships offshore Guyana to four.

16:12 EDT Prothena will explore potential business development opportunities for NEOD001 - Prothena reports results from post hoc analyses revealed a potential survival benefit with NEOD001 in the category of patients at the highest risk for early mortality. The company will be exploring potential business development opportunities to advance NEOD001. "We are grateful to patients, their families, investigators and study site staff who made this study, and what we have learned, possible," said Gene Kinney, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Prothena. "Following discontinuation of the VITAL study, we analyzed the results in order to contribute to the body of knowledge about AL amyloidosis with data from this first randomized, placebo-controlled Phase 3 study of an amyloid targeting agent on top of standard of care chemotherapy. These post hoc analyses suggest that in the category of patients at highest risk for early mortality, NEOD001 has the potential to provide a survival benefit on top of standard of care. We are therefore exploring potential business development opportunities that could result in further clinical investigation of NEOD001."

16:09 EDT Terreno Realty executes 192K sqm lease in Florida - Terreno Realty announced that it has executed a full-building lease renewal for 192,454 sqf in Miami Lakes, Florida with a Miami-based logistics company. The lease now expires February 28, 2025.

16:06 EDT Correction: Innovus announces FDA approval for Akorn's ANDA for FlutiCare

16:05 EDT Adaptimmune announces presentation of allogeneic SPEAR T-cell program at ASGCT - Adaptimmune announced an oral presentation summarizing data from Adaptimmune's off-the-shelf SPEAR T-cell program at the American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy, or ASGCT, annual meeting. The company said the presentation will include overview of "substantial progress" of Adaptimmune's off-the-shelf SPEAR T-cell platform. Data will show that hiPSC-derived allogeneic SPEAR T-cells have a T-cell phenotype and demonstrate tumor antigen-specific activation in vitro.

16:05 EDT People's United raises annual dividend to 71c per share - The company's Board of Directors voted to increase the common stock dividend to an annual rate of 71c per share. The quarterly dividend of 17.75c per share is payable May 15 to shareholders of record on May 1.

16:04 EDT People's United reports Q1 net interest margin 3.2% - Reports Q1 efficiency ratio of 57.3%, an improvement of 210 basis points from a year ago, reflecting higher revenues and well-controlled expenses.

16:03 EDT Mercury Systems acquires Athena Group, Syntonic Microwave - Mercury Systems announced the acquisitions of The Athena Group and Syntonic Microwave. The all cash purchase price for both transactions was $46M in total. Both transactions are subject to net working capital and net debt adjustments. The acquisitions were funded through Mercury's existing revolving credit facility, and are not expected to have a material impact on Mercury's financial results for Q4 or for FY19.

16:01 EDT Exxon Mobil discloses oil discovery offshore Guyana - ExxonMobil said it made a new oil discovery offshore Guyana at the Yellowtail-1 well, marking the 13th discovery on the Stabroek Block. The discovery adds to the previously announced estimated recoverable resource of approximately 5.5B oil-equivalent barrels on the Stabroek Block. Yellowtail-1 is the fifth discovery in the Turbot area, which ExxonMobil expects to become a major development hub. Exploration and development activities continue at other locations on the Stabroek Block. The Stena Carron is currently completing a well test at the Longtail-1 discovery and upon completion will next drill the Hammerhead-3 well. Later in 2019, the Stena Carron will drill a second well at the Ranger discovery. The Noble Bob Douglas drillship is currently completing development drilling operations for the Liza Phase 1 development. ExxonMobil is also evaluating plans to add another exploration drillship, bringing the number of drillships offshore Guyana to four.

15:34 EDT Dollar General CPO Ravener sells almost 9,000 common shares - In a regulatory filing, Dollar General EVP and chief people officer Robert D. Ravener disclosed the sale of 8,973 common shares of the company at a price of $123.8197.

15:09 EDT Amazon announces launch of free, ad-supported music service - Amazon announced in a post to its Day One blog that beginning today, customers in the U.S. who do not yet have a Prime membership or a subscription to Amazon Music Unlimited will now be able to listen to an ad-supported selection of top playlists and stations for free with Amazon Music on compatible Alexa-enabled devices. Reference Link

14:50 EDT Akorn subsidiary gets FDA approval for ANDA for loteprednol etabonate - The approval for ANDA 207609 for a generic version of loteprednol etabonate, which is sold in branded form under the name Lotemax, was granted on April 17 to Hi-Tech Pharmacal, an Akorn company, according to a post to the FDA website. Reference Link

14:23 EDT PSEG 'pleased' with New Jersey BPU vote to award ZECs to three plants - The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, or BPU, voted to award Zero Emission Certificates, or ZECs, to PSEG's three New Jersey nuclear power plants, Hope Creek and Salem 1 and 2, the company announced earlier. Regarding the BPU decision, PSEG stated: "We are pleased with the decision to award ZECs to PSEG to help support New Jersey's primary supply of zero-carbon electricity. The BPU just saved the people of the State hundreds of millions of dollars in what would have been higher energy costs, thousands of jobs lost and tons of environmentally damaging air emissions. Our next step is to review the BPU's order to better understand today's decision in greater detail. We appreciate the BPU's detailed review and consideration of PSEG Nuclear's ZEC applications."

14:16 EDT PPG says prepared to implement more cost reduction actions if necessary - Says continues to closely monitor macroeconomic environment. Says prepared to implement more cost reduction actions if necesesary.

14:06 EDT CN invests $45M to expand, strengthen Mississippi's rail infrastructure in 2019 - CN said it plans to invest approximately $45M in Mississippi in 2019 to strengthen the company's rail network across the state. "Following a record capital program in 2018, CN has been able to take on more traffic from different commodity sectors based on contracts with our customers," said Derek Taylor, Vice-President of CN's Southern Region. "This year, we are continuing to invest to boost capacity and network resiliency and to meet growing traffic on our corridors across Mississippi."

14:04 EDT CN invests $16M to expand, strengthen Kentucky's rail infrastructure in 2019 - CN plans to invest more than $16M in Kentucky in 2019 to "strengthen the company's rail network across the state. Following a record capital program in 2018, CN has been able to take on more traffic from different commodity sectors based on contracts with our customers," said Derek Taylor, Vice-President of CN's Southern Region. "This year, we are continuing to invest to boost capacity and network resiliency and to meet growing traffic on our corridors across Kentucky." The Kentucky investments are part of CN's 2019 record US$2.9B capital investment focused on enabling growth from all commodity segments, including consumer goods, grain, agricultural, forest, and energy products from all of our customers, safely and efficiently. Over two years, CN will have made a $5.7B capital investment.

13:36 EDT Camping World drops 7% to $13.93 after Lemonis accused of insider trading

13:19 EDT 22nd Century says short seller article 'grossly misleading' - 22nd Century Group (XXII) commented on a "grossly misleading" article published yesterday by an anonymous self-professed short seller of the company's stock. Publishing under the pen name "Fuzzy Panda," 22nd Century said "the author - who will not even identify who he is - continued his baseless smear campaign against the company in an effort to depress the share price of 22nd Century stock and to make a personal profit by duping shareholders into selling their shares. Although 22nd Century does not normally respond to 'short and distort' articles or to 'hit pieces,' the company believes the grossly misleading mischaracterizations and wrongful innuendo contained in the subject article warranted a company response. Accordingly, 22nd Century states the following facts: The short seller incorrectly suggests that all 22nd Century patents protecting the gene known as QPT have expired. The true facts as stated in the Company's most recent Annual Report on SEC Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018, are that only a portion of the Company's QPT patents have expired. The short seller falsely states that Big Tobacco companies can supposedly create a VLNC tobacco plant with alleged 'low nicotine patents' and that Big Tobacco companies can supposedly meet the upcoming low nicotine rule being created by the U.S. FDA. However, Big Tobacco companies have publicly admitted that (i) it will take them between 12 to 20 years to potentially develop a VLNC tobacco plant, (ii) 22nd Century controls the intellectual property necessary to develop VLNC tobacco plants, and (iii) the Big Tobacco companies are opposing the FDA's planned nicotine reduction rule because the Big Tobacco companies claim it is not feasible for them to comply. The 'short and distort' article also incorrectly states that British American Tobacco (BTI) supposedly terminated its prior research agreement with 22nd Century because of the expiration of a portion of the QPT gene patents that are supposedly essential for the Company's Vector 21-41 VLNC tobacco. The true facts are that the QPT gene and the Company's Vector 21-41 VLNC tobacco were never part of the BAT research agreement.... In summary, the true facts are that (i) 22nd Century remains the ONLY source in the world for VLNC tobacco plants that meet the FDA's planned nicotine reduction rule; (ii) a vibrant and growing IP portfolio protects 22nd Century's technology and proprietary VLNC tobacco; (iii) 22nd Century has developed non-GMO flue cured and burley VLNC tobacco plants when Big Tobacco companies have failed to do so."

13:04 EDT Arrow's immixGroup reports exclusive relationship with ORock Technologies - immixGroup, an Arrow Electronics company, announced an agreement with ORock Technologies to distribute the ORock Technologies Federal Application Authorization Services solution to independent software vendors and channel partners. The company said, "ORock Technologies provides secure infrastructure and cloud services to government agencies and enterprises in highly regulated industries. immixGroup is now the exclusive distributor of the FAAS solution, which offers software vendors a faster and more cost-effective path to achieving authorization from the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program, or FedRAMP. FAAS enables software vendors to comply with FedRAMP requirements and deliver their applications to government agencies as Software as a Service offerings with authorization at the Moderate Impact Level and individual listings on the FedRAMP Marketplace."

13:02 EDT Unilever to acquire OLLY Nutrition, terms not disclosed - Unilever announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire OLLY Nutrition, a U.S.-based wellbeing business in the vitamins, minerals, and supplements category. Based in San Francisco, California, OLLY Nutrition was co-founded in 2014 by Eric Ryan, who also previously co-founded home and personal care products company method. OLLY is known for its gummy vitamins and supplements, and also sells protein powders and snack bars. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.

12:38 EDT PPG names Target CFO to board of directors - PPG (PPG) announced at its annual meeting of shareholders that Cathy R. Smith, executive vice president and chief financial officer, Target Corporation (TGT), and Steven A. Davis, former chairman and chief executive officer, Bob Evans Farms, Inc., have been elected to join its board of directors, effective immediately. Smith will serve on the PPG board's Audit Committee, and Technology and Environment Committee. Davis will serve on the Nominating and Governance Committee, and the Technology and Environment Committee.

12:24 EDT Altria Group 'strongly supports' raising legal age to purchase tobacco products - In response to the announcement by Senate Majority Leader McConnell for plans to introduce legislation to raise the age of purchase for all tobacco products to 21, Altria Group Chairman and CEO Howard Willard said: "Altria strongly supports raising the legal age of purchase for all tobacco products, including e-vapor, to 21. This is the most effective action to reverse rising underage e-vapor usage rates. Now is the time to move to 21 and we welcome Senator McConnell's leadership on this important issue."

12:14 EDT FERC approves two new LNG export projects - The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the Driftwood LNG and Pipeline projects, and the Port Arthur LNG and Pipeline projects. The Driftwood LNG Project is proposed by Driftwood LNG LLC. Today's order for the Driftwood LNG Project authorizes the siting, construction and operation of liquefaction facilities that would export an estimated 27.6M metric tons of liquefied natural gas per year. The LNG facilities would be located in Calcasieu Parish, La. The Driftwood Pipeline Project, proposed by Driftwood Pipeline LLC, consists of 96 miles of mainline pipeline, 3.4 miles of lateral pipeline, 15 new meter stations and three new compressor stations to transport up to 3.9B cubic feet of natural gas per day to feed the LNG facilities. The Commission also approved the siting, construction and operation of the Port Arthur Liquefaction Project proposed by Port Arthur LNG, LLC, PALNG Common Facilities Company, LLC, and Port Arthur Pipeline, LLC. The Port Arthur Liquefaction Project would have a total production capacity of an estimated 13.5M metric tons per year and would be located at the site of a previously approved but unbuilt import terminal proposed by Port Arthur LNG in the vicinity of Port Arthur, Texas. Publicly traded companies in the space include BP (BP), Chevron (CVX), ConocoPhillips (COP), Exxon Mobil (XOM), Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A), Cheniere Energy (LNG), and Total (TOT). Reference Link

12:00 EDT Skechers falls -11.5% - Skechers is down -11.5%, or -$4.06 to $31.22.

12:00 EDT Jumia Technologies falls -17.6% - Jumia Technologies is down -17.6%, or -$7.07 to $33.00.

12:00 EDT Eagle Materials rises 8.2% - Eagle Materials is up 8.2%, or $6.92 to $91.25.

11:58 EDT North Valley Bank enters agreement to buy Ohio Valley Bank branches - Ohio Valley Banc and North Valley Bancshares announced that The Ohio Valley Bank Company has entered into a purchase and assumption agreement to sell branches in Mount Sterling and New Holland, Ohio, to North Valley Bank. The purchase and assumption agreement provides for the transfer by Ohio Valley Bank to North Valley Bank of approximately $26.4M in deposits, the land and buildings associated with both Ohio Valley Bank branches and other assets in exchange for the net book value of such other assets and a deposit premium equal to 5.00% of the average daily deposits for the 30 days preceding closing. The purchase of the branches by North Valley Bank is subject to regulatory approval and satisfaction of certain conditions. North Valley Bank expects to close on its acquisition of the two Ohio Valley Bank branches in the second half of 2019, at which point they will be converted to operate under the North Valley Bank name.

11:51 EDT Snap-On would have missed without lawsuit gain, Chanos Twitter handle says - The twitter handle of @WallStCynic, known to be famed short-seller Jim Chanos, tweeted, "$SNA buried an $11.6 million lawsuit settlement gain in operating earnings this quarter. Without it, they would've missed on both revenues and EPS." Snap-On shares are up 6%, or $9.78, to $167.62 in midday trading following this morning's Q1 results.

11:27 EDT CEO says eBay to continue to invest 'aggressively' in advertising, payments - In his annual letter to shareholders, eBay's President and CEO Devin Wenig said that, "2018 was not always smooth. After several years of steadily accelerating growth and progress on transformation, our growth slowed in the second half of the year, and we saw some challenges with the pace of adoption of some of our transformational changes. This doesn't change the fact that what we are doing is critical and we will only win if we are persistent but nimble in adapting to what we have learned and what our customers need. "we will continue to invest aggressively in our key growth initiatives - advertising and payments - which are already showing great promise and represent a huge opportunity for the company. We will ensure we achieve the right balance between user experience and monetization as we build towards $1B advertising revenue opportunity. And we continue to expect to begin a full rollout of Payments in 2020, building toward a $2B revenue opportunity at scale. We are in the process of conducting a review of operations and a review of our portfolio, including StubHub and eBay Classifieds, following a constructive dialogue with some of our major shareholders. We will consider all options that will be in the best interest of our company, customers, shareholders and employees."Reference Link

11:16 EDT Federal Reserve announces termination of enforcement action with BB&T - The Federal Reserve Board has announced the termination of the enforcement action wit BB&T. According to the Cease and Desist Order, "BB&T, the Board of Governors and the Commissioner have mutually agreed to enter into this consent Cease and Desist Order; and WHEREAS, on January 24, 2017, the boards of directors of BB&T adopted a resolution authorizing Kelly King, to enter into this Order on behalf of BB&T and consent to compliance with each and every provision of this Order by BB&T and to waive any and all rights that BB&T may have pursuant to section 8 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act, as amended Within 30 days after the end of each calendar quarter following the date of this Order, BB&T's board of directors, or an authorized committee thereof, shall submit to the Reserve Bank and Commissioner written progress reports detailing the form and manner of all 6 actions taken to secure compliance with this Order, a timetable and schedule to implement specific remedial actions to be taken, and the results thereof."Reference Link

11:02 EDT Adtran management 'feels good' about Australia over long-term - Management says they "feel the same about South America." Comments provided during Q1 earnings conference call.

10:00 EDT Eagle Materials rises 8.1% - Eagle Materials is up 8.1%, or $6.81 to $91.14.

10:00 EDT United Rentals rises 9.7% - United Rentals is up 9.7%, or $12.21 to $137.97.

09:47 EDT Jumia Technologies falls -6.4% - Jumia Technologies is down -6.4%, or -$2.56 to $37.51.

09:47 EDT Skechers falls -14.9% - Skechers is down -14.9%, or -$5.25 to $30.03.

09:47 EDT Blackstone rises 8.2% - Blackstone is up 8.2%, or $2.94 to $38.87.

09:40 EDT Honeywell says short-cycle businesses a 'big unknown' for second half - Says: Will be disciplined with M&A because current environment very challenging with respect to valuations... Overall, seeing strength across the globe... Macro risks have not disappeared, just "pushed to the right"... Feels very good about margin expansion potential... Expects 737 MAX deliveries to resume in second half... Confident Boeing (BA) will get 737 MAX issue resolved.

09:26 EDT Lumber Liquidators jumps after Whitney Tilson goes from short to long - Shares of Lumber Liquidators are moving higher after known short-seller Whitney Tilson flipped his recommendation to a buy on the shares. "I'm psyched about the stock I'm recommending in the first issue. It's going to blow a lot of people's minds because it's only the fifth time in my career that I'm going long a stock I was once short. The first four resulted in a double in a year... a triple in a year... a 15-bagger in two years... and a 50-bagger in six years," Tilson wrote on his website while launching a newsletter called the Empire Investment Report. Tilson is referring to shares of Lumber Liquidators, sources tell The Fly. He recommends buying the stock up to $14, sources say. Shares of Lumber Liquidators are up 76c, or 7%, to $12.24 in premarket trading. Reference Link

09:21 EDT Chemours signs strategic partnership and investment in UniEnergy Technology - Chemours announced a strategic partnership with UniEnergy Technology, a redox flow battery manufacturer headquartered in Mukilteo, Washington. UET's redox flow battery is based on a patented electrolyte developed at Pacific Northwest National Labs under the support of the US DOE OE Energy Storage Program. This strategic partnership will consist of an investment in UET as well as a long-term and exclusive supply agreement for Nafion ion exchange membranes. The strategic partnership with UET aims to enable Chemours to further develop and optimize the Nafion product offering as the industry standard for applications in energy storage.

09:20 EDT Schlumberger sees lack of visibility on frack work in 2H - Sees frack pricing stabilizing in Q2.

09:20 EDT Canopy Growth trading resumes

09:17 EDT Penn National enters partnership agreement with Interblock - Interblock announced their partnership with Penn National. The corporate partnership agreement with Penn National will include installations at over 20 properties of the company's portfolio across the United States and guarantees Penn National exclusivity on newly released products. Interblock's product portfolio will allow Penn National to offer blackjack, baccarat, roulette and craps in an array of formats.

09:13 EDT Overstock.com releases statement on tZERO equity transactions with GSR, Makara - Overstock.com has released the following statement from company CEO and founder and tZERO executive chairman Patrick Byrne on the progress of the previously-announced equity investment from GSR Capital and Makara Capital: "I write to update you on tZERO's negotiations with Makara and GSR Capital on the previously-announced equity investment in tZERO. Makara's due diligence has progressed, and in the course of its due diligence Makara has proven to be a professional and serious fund. Still, the parties will not have a definitive deal in place by the mid-April target. tZERO plans to continue facilitating Makara's diligence, but is not under any exclusivity with Makara or GSR and has retained advisors to pursue parallel alternatives. We will update shareholders after tZERO signs definitive documents. I remind shareholders of the $30 million binding tZERO security token purchase agreement between Overstock and GSR, explained in detail in our Q2 2018 10-Q filing. Under that agreement, GSR has a binding $30 million funding obligation for May 6. Overstock's annual shareholder meeting will occur on May 9: I look forward to reporting to shareholders about the completion of GSR's token purchase on that date. Our retail firm is recovering more dramatically than I anticipated and discussed during our Q4 2018 earnings call. In addition, tZERO is on track to introduce the products described in that phone call. Our intense focus on execution is paying off."

09:13 EDT Scientific Games launches OpenSports betting technology portfolio - Scientific Games launched OpenSports, its suite of sports betting technology. The completely redesigned sportsbook solution offers customers a modular portfolio of products that can be mixed and matched to meet specific needs.

09:10 EDT Mondelez announces minority investment in Hu Master Holdings - Mondelez announced it has made a minority investment in Hu Master Holdings, the parent company of both Hu Products and Hu Kitchen, a U.S.-based snacking company offering minimally processed snacks. This is the second venture investment Mondelez International is making as part of SnackFutures, its innovation and venture hub. Hu began as Hu Kitchen in New York City.

09:07 EDT Inovio's dBITE shows tumor-killing activity in peer-reviewed publication - Inovio's novel DNA-encoded Bi-specific T Cell Engagers, or dBiTEs, generated potent anti-tumor activities and cleared established tumors in preclinical studies according to results published in peer-reviewed journal JCI Insight article by Inovio and its collaborators at The Wistar Institute. For this study, Inovio developed a novel dBiTE for the treatment of ovarian and breast cancers. A single dose of Inovio's HER2 dBiTE resulted in high levels of corresponding BiTE in mice for up to four months, exceeding what is typically displayed with the currently approved BiTE's short half-life of only a few hours. The HER2 dBiTE treatment effectively killed HER2-expressing tumor cells resulting in a near-complete tumor clearance. Inovio's CEO Joseph Kim said, "(...) Our dBiTE technology could be utilized to overcome the greatest shortcomings of traditional BiTEs, particularly its incredibly short half-life. Based on these promising preclinical results, we plan to rapidly advance our first dBiTE candidate into clinical testing, as well as develop more cancer tumor-targeting dBiTEs as partnering candidates." Inovio's dBiTE is a new application of Inovio's dMAb platform.

09:05 EDT Amazon, Google to launch YouTube app on Fire TV, Prime Video on Chromecast - Amazon (AMZN) and Google (GOOGL) announced that in the coming months, the two companies will launch the official YouTube app on Amazon Fire TV devices and Fire TV Edition smart TVs, as well as the Prime Video app for streaming to Chromecast and Chromecast built-in devices. In addition, Prime Video will be broadly available across Android TV device partners, and the YouTube TV and YouTube Kids apps will also come to Fire TV later this year.

09:03 EDT TransCanada launches binding open season for MarketLink - TransCanada Corporation launched an open season to solicit binding commitments from interested parties for transportation services of crude oil from Cushing, Oklahoma to markets on the U.S. Gulf Coast for incremental capacity on Marketlink. Interested parties may submit binding bids for transportation capacity during the open season that will close at 12 p.m. MT on May 21.

09:01 EDT Celanese announces new $1.5B share repurchase authorization - Celanese Corporation announced that its board of directors has approved a new $1.5B share repurchase authorization. The new share repurchase authorization represents approximately 11% of the company's shares outstanding. The company deployed $200M to repurchase shares in Q1 under the previous $1.5B share repurchase authorization put in place in 2017. As of March 31, 2019, approximately $500M remained on the existing share repurchase authorization which, combined with this new $1.5B authorization, will support share repurchases over the next few years.

09:00 EDT Fly Intel: Pre-market Movers - HIGHER: Blackstone (BX), up 8% after reporting earnings and announcing plans to convert to a corporation from a partnership... Venator Materials (VNTR), up 5% after RBC Capital analyst Arun Viswanathan upgraded the stock to Outperform from Sector Perform and raised his price target to $9 from $7. The analyst believes that the titanium dioxide "cycle is turning," with destocking activity nearing completion amid improving global demand and pricing. UP AFTER EARNINGS: Honeywell (HON), up 1%... Travelers (TRV), up 1%... Synchrony (SYF), up 2%... Adtran (ADTN), up 4%. DOWN AFTER EARNINGS: Check Point (CHKP), down 7%... Skechers (SKX), down 13%... Atlassian (TEAM), down 8%... American Express (AXP), down 1%. LOWER: Deutsche Bank (DB), down 1% after Bloomberg reports the bank is prepping "Plan B" if talks with Commerzbank (CRZBY) fall through... Eiger BioPharmaceuticals (EIGR), down 11% after its 4.5M share spot secondary priced at $11.00 per share.

08:54 EDT Synchrony says NIM will run around 15.75%-16% for the year - Says reserve related to Walmart (WMT) portfolio being moved to HFS was $522M, or $395M after-tax, an EPS benefit of 56c. Says renewed and expanded key relationships. Says expanding network to create broader acceptance. Says expanding CareCredit product offering through acquisition of Pets Best and entry into pet insurance as managing general agent. Says digital sales penetration for retail card consumers is growing. Says continues to generate organic growth. Says investing in innovative digital technology. Says retail card growth driven by PayPal Credit (PYPL) program acquisition. Says Payment Solutions growth led by home furnishings and luxury. Says CareCredit growth led by dental and veterinary. Says expense growth rate will continue to be impacted by PayPal credit program. Says margin was in line with expectations. Says believes net interest margin will run around 15.75%-16% range for the rest of the year, with some fluctuation around Walmart reserve transaction. Expects net charge-offs to be 20-30bps higher in Q2. Expects FY19 net charge-offs to be in 5.7-5.9% range. Says continues to see good opportunities for continued growth.Says has begun to execute on cost actions ahead of Walmart sale. Says committed to maintaining a strong balance sheet. Expects to continue to drive growth in direct deposit program. Says continues to expect to grow deposits in line with receivables growth. Says 2019 capital plan does include capital deployment through dividends and share repurchases. Comments taken from Q1 earnings conference call.

08:51 EDT Honeywell says seeing 'robust demand' in commercial aerospace, defense - Says: Expects Q2 business environment to be 'slimmer' vs. Q1... Cautious with forecast due to macro uncertainties in second half... Sees no significant impact from tariffs for remainder of 2019... Planning for various Brexit outcomes.

08:49 EDT Precipio names Ori Karev as chief strategy officer - Precipio (PRPO) announced today that Ori Karev has joined the company as its Chief Strategy Officer. Ori was formerly CEO of UnitedHealthcare Global (UNH), the International division of United Healthcare. "Under Ori's leadership, UnitedHealthcare Global expanded its operations to more than 100 countries, employing more than 1,000 FTEs," Precipio said. Ori will be responsible for working with Precipio's senior executive team to develop, as well as execute its expansion strategy both domestically and globally.

08:39 EDT Genuine Parts CEO says 'we performed in-line with our expectations' in Q1 - Paul Donahue, President and CEO, commented, "We were pleased to produce another quarter of positive sales comps across each of our business segments while also benefiting from the favorable impact of ongoing strategic acquisitions. Our sales performance was indicative of the continued improvement in our U.S. automotive business and the steady growth we continue to generate in our Australasian and Canadian operations. Our strength in these areas offset the pressure on our core automotive results in Europe related to mild winter weather and economic considerations. Our industrial business remains strong and we made further progress in stabilizing the Business Products Group. Overall, we performed in-line with our expectations for the first quarter, despite the headwinds of foreign currency translation and one less selling day, and remain confident in the additional growth opportunities we see for GPC." Donahue concluded, "We enter the second quarter of 2019 focused on the further strengthening of our global platform, driving strong and sustainable sales growth and improving our operating results. As always, we plan to support these objectives with a strong balance sheet, continued strong cash flows and effective capital allocation. We believe our focus in these areas will create significant value for our shareholders."

08:34 EDT Eagle Materials announces strategic portfolio review - Eagle Materials announced that its board and management team, with the support of independent financial and legal advisors, has commenced a strategic review of its portfolio of businesses: heavy materials, light materials, and oil and gas proppants. The company regularly evaluates its strategic, operational, financial and capital allocation policies for opportunities to enhance shareholder value. The Eagle board has decided to conduct this further review with its advisors following consultation and input from the company's largest shareholders. As part of the portfolio review, the company will carefully consider the full range of options focused on enhancing the value creation potential of Eagle, including separating the businesses and evaluating potential transactions, among other strategic and financial alternatives. The company may also, as appropriate, engage with third parties that could be participants in certain potential transactions. There can be no assurance that the strategic portfolio review will result in any particular action or that a transaction will be consummated, nor can there be any assurance regarding the timing of any action or transaction. The company does not intend to publicly discuss or disclose developments with respect to this process unless and until the board has approved a definitive action, or the process is otherwise concluded.

08:32 EDT Global Medical REIT acquires IRF portfolio for $94M - Global Medical REIT announced that it completed the acquisition of four inpatient rehabilitation facilities from affiliates of CNL Healthcare Properties for an aggregate purchase price of $94M, with an initial capitalization rate of approximately 7.3% and an estimated second-year capitalization rate of 7.6%, assuming the scheduled lease increases. The IRF Portfolio is comprised of four inpatient rehabilitation facilities aggregating 207,204 square feet and leased to leading healthcare providers under long-term triple-net leases. Currently, all four leases have a weighted average remaining lease term of approximately 8.3 years and are expected to provide total annual rent of $6.9M. On April 15, 2019, the ompany exercised $75M of the $150M accordion feature of its credit facility. The partial exercise of the accordion feature increases the term loan component of the credit facility from $100M to $175M and the total borrowing capacity under the credit facility to $425M.

08:26 EDT Telaria appoints Paige Bilins as Chief Product Officer - Telaria has named Paige Bilins as Chief Product Officer. Bilins will head the company's global product team to develop market-leading yield and inventory management solutions for premium video across all screens, including CTV and OTT, and transaction types. She will report to CEO Mark Zagorski, and be based out of the company's New York City headquarters. Bilins was most recently SVP, Product Management at FreeWheel where she spent over eight years.

08:23 EDT Allstate reports March catastrophe losses of $381M - The company says: "Catastrophe losses occurring in March comprised seven events at an estimated cost of $371M, pre-tax plus unfavorable reserve re-estimates of prior period catastrophe losses. Three wind/hail events, primarily impacting Texas, accounted for approximately 90% of March event catastrophe losses. Allstate previously announced $299M pre-tax in estimated catastrophe losses for January and February 2019, bringing catastrophe losses for Q1 to $680M."

08:20 EDT Skechers COO says expects international 'to continue to drive growth' - "Achieving a new quarterly sales record, especially given our record first quarter last year, which also had the benefit of Easter and positive currency, is a noteworthy accomplishment," said COO David Weinberg. "Driving our first quarter 2019 growth was our international wholesale and global retail businesses. On a constant currency basis, our international sales growth was 15.0 percent and our total sales growth was 5.2 percent for the quarter. In the quarter, we also shipped a record number of pairs from our distribution centers in Japan and Europe, and we saw strong growth within our international distributors and joint ventures, including China. With a focus on building our global business, we converted our joint venture in India to a wholly owned subsidiary, and we finalized a joint venture agreement with our distribution partner in Mexico earlier this month. We expect these investments to be accretive in 2019, and for international, which now stands at 57.8 percent of our total business, to continue to drive growth."

08:17 EDT Skechers expects FY19 annual tax rate 17%-20%

08:11 EDT Corbus Pharmaceuticals changes primary endpoint in RESOLVE-1 trial to ACR CRISS - Corbus Pharmaceuticals announced that following a Type C meeting with the FDA, Corbus will change the primary efficacy endpoint of the ongoing RESOLVE-1 Phase 3 trial for systemic sclerosis, or SSc, in the U.S. to the American College of Rheumatology Combined Response Index in diffuse cutaneous Systemic Sclerosis, or ACR CRISS, score at Week 52 from the current primary endpoint, change in modified Rodnan Skin core, or mRSS. The ACR CRISS score was the primary efficacy endpoint of the Phase 2 study evaluating lenabasum for the treatment of diffuse cutaneous SSc. The company remains on track to complete the RESOLVE-1 study in the first half of 2020 and no changes to the size or length of the study are required. The ACR CRISS score provides a measure of response to treatment compared to mRSS, which only measures skin thickening. The ACR CRISS score is calculated from weighted changes from baseline in five core outcome measures commonly used to evaluate treatment effect in trials for SSc.

08:10 EDT Apple expands global recycling program - Apple (AAPL) announced a major expansion of its recycling programs, quadrupling the number of locations U.S. customers can send their iPhone to be disassembled by Daisy, its recycling robot. Daisy will disassemble and recycle select used iPhones returned to Best Buy (BBY) stores throughout the U.S. and KPN retailers in the Netherlands. Customers can also turn in their eligible devices to be recycled at any Apple Store or through apple.com as part of the Apple Trade In program. To further its research on recycling, Apple also announced the opening of its Material Recovery Lab dedicated to discovering future recycling processes. The new 9,000-square-foot facility in Austin, Texas, will look for innovative solutions involving robotics and machine learning to improve on traditional methods like targeted disassembly, sorting and shredding. The Lab will work with Apple engineering teams as well as academia to address and propose solutions to industry recycling challenges.

08:06 EDT Rand Capital urges shareholders to vote for transactions tied to East investment - Rand Capital Corporation filed its definitive proxy statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission and recommends to its shareholders to vote "FOR" all five proposals set forth in the proxy statement. Rand also announced that its special meeting of shareholders to seek approval of the five proposals set forth in the proxy statement will be held on May 16, 2019. The Board of Directors published a letter, which read in part, "The Board of Directors of Rand has diligently evaluated the transactions we are proposing to shareholders, including the $25M investment by East Asset Management. We have carefully reviewed your comments and, while we very much appreciate the input of shareholders, we strongly disagree with your conclusions. We believe the transaction is in the best interest of all shareholders and enables a future that we expect will be demonstrably better than if we were to maintain the status quo. Rand's management and our financial advisor had several meetings and calls with you or your representatives over the last eight months. During that period, you or your representatives have been unable or unwilling to suggest alternatives to the East transaction that would create more value for our shareholders. By default, you are suggesting to maintain the status quo. You are incorrect in your understanding regarding the termination fee. It only applies in the event of a superior proposal, not in the event of a failed shareholders' vote. Additionally, a more thorough review of the proxy statement provides understanding on the process regarding the fair value of the contributed assets. The transactions are transformational for Rand, expected to create both near- and long-term value for shareholders, and best position Rand for future growth. We believe shareholders benefit from the following: Market Value Appreciation: The $3.00 per share purchase price by East was a 33% premium to the market price on the day prior to the announcement of the transaction. Initial Cash and Stock Dividend: The planned Special Dividend of $1.50 per share and the ability to receive a portion of the dividend in cash. Total Return Potential: The opportunity to receive an ongoing dividend consistent with the election of regulated investment company filing status with the IRS. More Efficient Financial Platform: Elimination of corporate-level income tax as a RIC; Expected reduction in operating expense ratio by externalizing management; More income producing investments with the contributed assets. Expected Improved Capital Markets Position: The $25M investment provides greater scale. We are committed to the future potential of Rand. As a demonstration of our belief, Rand's board and management, as well as East, intend to take the proposed Special Dividend in stock. We believe this is a strong indication of our confidence in the future of Rand and has the effect of increasing the amount of cash available to all other shareholders. We welcome ongoing conversation with our shareholders and reiterate our support for the transactions."

08:06 EDT CN launches new pilot project using electric trucks - CN announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with The Lion Electric Co. for the conception, design and manufacturing of eight tandem axle, Class 8, zero-emission, electric trucks as part of its larger sustainable strategy to reduce emissions through innovation. The trucks will be deployed in cities across the CN network such as Vancouver, as well as the Greater Toronto, Montreal, and Hamilton areas. They will be tested for different tasks from urban delivery, container shuttle service, to port operations, and cross-town service. The trucks are custom-built and engineered in Quebec to withstand North American weather and road conditions. The trucks will also produce no noise pollution and each truck will remove 100 tons of GHG from the road annually, CN said. Delivery of the trucks is expected in the summer of 2020. The terms of the MOU were not disclosed.

08:03 EDT Union Pacific reports Q1 business volumes down 2% - First quarter business volumes, as measured by total revenue carloads, decreased 2% compared to 2018. Volume increases in industrial and premium were more than offset by declines in energy and agricultural products. In addition, quarterly freight revenue declined 2% compared to the first quarter 2018, as increased fuel surcharge revenue and core pricing gains were offset by lower volumes and negative mix.

07:40 EDT Honeywell up 1.9% after reporting Q1 results, raising FY19 guidance

07:35 EDT Moleculin Biotech receives FDA pproval of Fast Track designation for Annamycin - Moleculin Biotech's request for Fast Track Designation for its drug, Annamycin, has been approved by the FDA for the treatment of relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia.

07:32 EDT Seadrill Partners receives early termination notice for West Capricorn contract - Seadrill Partners has received early termination notice for the West Capricorn contract approximately three months ahead of schedule. The contract was originally expected to run through late July and the company now expects it to conclude in late April after the current well is completed and the unit is demobilized. Seadrill Partners will receive early termination payments over the original contract term and backlog is expected to decrease by $18M.

07:25 EDT Honeywell backs FY19 segment margin 20.7%-21%

07:16 EDT USA Technologies: Nasdaq Hearing Panel grants extension to regain compliance - USA Technologies announced that it had received a letter from the Office of General Counsel of The Nasdaq Stock Market informing the company that the Nasdaq Hearings Panel has granted the company's request for continued listing of the company's stock on Nasdaq. The Panel granted the company until September 9 in order to file with the SEC its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2018, its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2018, its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended December 31, 2018, as well as any other periodic report that would be required to be filed with the SEC prior to such date. In addition, the company is required to provide the Panel on May 30, 2019, June 28, 2019, July 31, 2019 and on August 15, 2019, with a written update regarding the status of the remediation and audit process. These updates would include a statement from the company's auditor regarding the current estimate of the time needed to complete the process and detailing any changes in scope of review or new areas of inquiry identified since the hearing or the last update, as the case may be, and a statement from the board regarding the status of training and remedial measures designed to address the corporate culture that enabled the accounting problems. The Panel may reconsider the terms of the extension following its review of these updates or based on any other relevant event, condition or circumstance that exists or may develop. If the company does not file the Unfiled Reports by September 9, 2019, the Panel has indicated that it will issue a final delist determination and the company will be suspended from trading on Nasdaq. As previously reported, the Audit Committee of the board has completed its internal investigation which focused principally on certain customer transactions entered into by the company during fiscal years 2017 and 2018. As also previously reported, the Board determined to restate the audited financial statements for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2017, and the quarterly and year-to-date unaudited financial statements for September 30, 2017, December 31, 2017, and March 31, 2018, based upon the adjustments to the previously reported revenues proposed by the Audit Committee and its advisers. The company is working diligently to complete and file these restated financial statements with the SEC as soon as practicable and anticipates doing so no later than September 9, 2019.

07:12 EDT KeyCorp sees FY19 net interest income $4B-$4.1B, noninterest income $2.5B-$2.6B - In slides being presented on its Q1 earnings conference call, KeyCorp forecast FY19 loans with average balances in the $90B-$91B range and deposits with average balances in the $108B-$109B range. Net interest income is expected to be $4B-$4.1B, and KeyCorp said this outlook assumes interest rates remain unchanged. Noninterest income is expected to be $2.5B-$2.6B and non interest expense is seen at $3.85B-$3.95B, including the realization of $200M in run-rate cost savings in 2H19. Net charge-offs are expected to average loans below the targeted range of 40-60bps, with provisions expected to slightly exceed net charge-offs. KeyCorp sees a GAAP tax rate in the 18%-19% range.

07:09 EDT Philip Morris reports Q1 cigarette, heated tobacco unit shipment volume up 1.1% - Reports cigarette and heated tobacco unit shipment volume of 175.8 billion units, up by 1.1%.

07:08 EDT Schlumberger CEO expects oil market sentiments to 'steadily improve' in 2019 - Schlumberger CEO Paal Kibsgaard said, "From a macro perspective, we expect the oil market sentiments to steadily improve over the course of 2019, supported by a solid demand outlook combined with the OPEC and Russia production cuts taking full effect, slowing shale oil production growth in North America, and a further weakening of the international production base as the impact of four years of underinvestment becomes increasingly evident. We also continue to see clear signs that E&P investments are starting to normalize as the industry heads toward a more sustainable financial stewardship of the global resource base. Directionally, this means that higher investments in the international markets are required simply to keep production flat, while North America land is set for lower investments with a likely downward adjustment to the current production growth outlook. Our view of the international markets is consistent with recent third-party spending surveys, suggesting that E&P investments will increase by 7 to 8% in 2019, supported by a higher rig count and a rise in the number of customer project FIDs. In line with this, offshore development activity plans continue to strengthen, with subsea tree awards reaching their highest level since 2013 last year. We are also seeing the start of a return to exploration activity on renewed interest in reserves replacement. Notably, new discoveries in 2018 were at the lowest level since 2000. Conversely in North America land, the higher cost of capital, lower borrowing capacity, and investors looking for increased returns suggest that future E&P investment levels will likely be dictated by free cash flow. We therefore see E&P investments in North America land down 10% in 2019. In addition, rising technical challenges-from parent-child well interference, step-outs from core acreage, and limited growth in lateral length and proppant per stage-all point to more moderate growth in US shale oil production in the coming years. The normalization of global E&P spending, with increased international market investments and a reduction in North America land capex, represents a positive market shift for Schlumberger and the welcome return of a very familiar opportunity set, given our unmatched global strength. We have further extended our global leadership position with the efforts and investments we have made in recent years of modernizing our execution platform, expanding our technology offering, driving digital and technology-system innovation, evolving our business models, and strengthening our global footprint. In addition, after enduring four years of major pricing concessions in support of our international customers, we see the recovery of international service and product pricing and improving our own financial returns as a major business priority-firmly supported by increasing activity levels, little to no spare equipment capacity, and prudent deployment of new capital. Furthermore, the foundation for our 2019 business plan is a clear commitment to generate sufficient cash flow to cover our business needs without increasing net debt."

07:06 EDT Aurora Cannabis provides update on German cannabis production tender - Aurora Cannabis confirmed that, further to its press release dated April 5, the public appeal process related to the German cannabis production tender has been completed, and Aurora's contract with the German Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices has now been finalized. The approval will allow Aurora to begin construction of a new, state-of-the art, indoor cannabis production facility in Leuna, Germany in May and the company anticipates completion within 12 months of ground breaking. Initial shipments of locally grown cannabis are expected to become available to German medical patients starting in October 2020, with the new facility producing a minimum of 4,000 kg over a four-year period, to be expanded over time as regulations permit.

07:05 EDT Philip Morris still sees FY19-FY21 adj. EPS growth of at least 8%

07:04 EDT Blackstone announces conversion to corporation - Blackstone Chairman and CEO Stephen Schwarzman said, "I am pleased to announce the compelling next step in Blackstone's evolution as a public company: the firm's conversion to a corporation. Blackstone has established itself as one of the leading public companies in the world, with robust long-term revenue and earnings growth and one of the most powerful brands in financial services. We believe the decision to convert will make it significantly easier for both domestic and international investors to own our stock and should drive greater value for all of our shareholders over time."

07:00 EDT Summit Hotel Properties sells 6 hotels for $135M - Summit Hotel Properties reported that it has completed the disposition of six hotels totaling 815 guestrooms for an aggregate gross sales price of $135M which resulted in an estimated net gain of $36.6M. The aggregate gross sales price of $135M, plus estimated future capital improvements, represented a 12.8x EBITDA multiple and 6.9 percent capitalization rate for the trailing twelve months ended March 31, 2019. The company estimates that the hotels would have contributed approximately $9.5M of EBITDAre through the remainder of 2019. Net proceeds from the sale were used to reduce the outstanding balance of the company's unsecured revolving credit facility, which now has $395M available to borrow.

06:58 EDT Travelers reports book value per share $92.94, up 7% from year-end 2018 - Reports adjusted book value per share of $89.09, up 2% from year-end 2018.

06:54 EDT PPG CEO says Q1 operating margins 'were higher than the prior year' - "First quarter operating margins were higher than the prior year, despite a challenging global macro-economic environment and industry demand declines in certain markets. We achieved improved margins through continued selling-price initiatives. This marks the eighth consecutive quarter with improved sequential pricing," said Michael McGarry, PPG chairman and CEO. "We continued to experience cost inflation in raw materials, logistics and wages, and have additional initiatives under way to offset the cumulative impacts from this inflationary cycle. During the first quarter, we achieved strong double-digit percentage sales volume growth in our aerospace and protective and marine coatings businesses. However, our aggregate sales volumes were lower due to weaker industry demand in automotive OEM and in certain segments of general industrial coatings. In addition, our focus on margin recovery resulted in us passing on certain, modest levels of business during the quarter. We are happy to welcome SEM, Whitford and Hemmelrath to the PPG family, having now closed all three recently announced acquisitions. Our pipeline for acquisitions remains active and we continue to focus our cash deployment on maximizing long-term shareholder value," said McGarry.

06:52 EDT Mallinckrodt announces results from gNO with EVLP study - Mallinckrodt announced top-line results from its company-sponsored, proof-of-concept study of nitric oxide gas, or gNO, with ex-vivo lung perfusion compared to lung perfusion alone in human lung transplants. The study's primary objectives were to assess the effect of nitric oxide in perfused ex-vivo lungs using an experimental, proprietary grading system to evaluate improvements in lung function including oxygenation and transplantability, as well as the total ex-vivo perfusion time of the lungs through periodic assessments during ex-vivo lung perfusion, or EVLP, as compared to standard of care alone. Top-line results from the randomized and blinded portion of this proof of concept study showed improvement in lung function and oxygenation of lungs perfused with gNO, and a higher percentage of lungs were able to be preserved for a longer period in EVLP. The EVLP time period prior to lung transplantation in this study is longer than the current standard of four to six hours.

06:40 EDT KeyCorp announces share repurchase program up to $1B, dividend increase in Q3 - KeyCorp announced planned capital actions. Plans include a common share repurchase program of up to $1B, as well as a 9% increase in the common share dividend, from 17c to 18.5c per common share, in Q3, subject to board approval.

06:34 EDT Air Lease delivers of one new Airbus A330-900neo aircraft to Air Mauritius - Air Lease (AL) announced the delivery of one new Airbus (EADSY) A330-900neo aircraft on long-term lease to Air Mauritius. Featuring Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines, this Airbus aircraft is the first of two A330-900neos to deliver to the airline from ALC's order book with Airbus.

06:32 EDT Snap-On sees FY19 CapEx $90M-$100M - Snap-on expects to make continued progress in 2019 along its defined runways for coherent growth, leveraging capabilities already demonstrated in the automotive repair arena and developing and expanding its professional customer base, not only in automotive repair, but in adjacent markets, additional geographies and other areas, including extending in critical industries, where the cost and penalties for failure can be high. In pursuit of these initiatives, Snap-on expects that capital expenditures in 2019 will be in a range of $90M-$100M, of which $20.2M was incurred in the first quarter. Snap-on currently anticipates that its full year 2019 effective income tax rate will be comparable to its full year 2018 effective tax rate of 24.0%.

06:24 EDT Acreage Holdings to acquire Deep Roots Medical for $120M in common units, cash - Acreage Holdings announced that on April 17, its subsidiary, High Street Capital Partners, entered into an agreement to acquire 100% of Deep Roots Medical, a vertically integrated cannabis operator in Nevada, for a total deal value of $120M to be paid in common units and cash. The total deal is valued at $120M, including $100M in common units of High Street Capital Partners, and $20M in cash. High Street Capital Partners will issue up to 4,761,905 common units at a deemed value of $21.00 per unit. Certain Deep Roots employees will have a portion of their issued common units be subject to a lock-up schedule. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter.

06:17 EDT Salesforce agrees to acquire MapAnything; financial terms not disclosed - Salesforce announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire MapAnything, a "pioneer in location-based intelligence software built natively on the Salesforce Platform." MapAnything integrates map-based visualization, asset tracking and route optimization to drive efficiency for field sales and service teams and deliver a better customer experience, Salesforce said. "With MapAnything, Salesforce will be uniquely positioned to extend the power of Sales Cloud and Service Cloud post-closing to deliver market-leading location-based intelligence solutions that improve field sales and service employee productivity and deliver customer success," it added.

06:06 EDT Boeing making 'steady progress' on path to 737 MAX software certification - Boeing is making "steady progress" on the path to certifying a software update to the grounded 737 MAX and has made the final test flight before a certification flight, CEO Dennis Muilenburg said in a video on his Twitter account. Muilenburg said the company had completed on Tuesday the official engineering flight test with the updated software with technical and engineering leaders on board the airplane. "That was the final test flight prior to the certification flight," he said. Muilenburg said his team is committed to making the 737 MAX "one of the safest airplanes ever to fly." Reference Link

06:02 EDT Regions Financial CEO says 'We began 2019 with positive momentum' - "We began 2019 with positive momentum, delivering year-over-year growth in loans and total revenue as customer sentiment remains positive," said John Turner, President and CEO. "We also reduced expenses and maintained stable but normalizing credit quality, while continuing to make smart investments in talent and technology to become more efficient and effective as we make banking easier for our customers. We are committed to generating consistent and sustainable long-term performance by focusing on our customers and actively managing our business through all economic cycles."

05:11 EDT United Therapeutics issues statement in response to lawsuit filed by Sandoz - United Therapeutics (UTHR) was named as a defendant, along with Smiths Medical ASD, Inc., in a lawsuit filed in federal court by Sandoz (NVS) and RareGen on April 16. The lawsuit alleges that United Therapeutics engaged in anticompetitive conduct in connection with plaintiffs' efforts to launch their generic version of Remodulin Injection. United Therapeutics issued the following statement in response to the lawsuit: "We are disappointed by these meritless claims against us and expect to ultimately prevail. United Therapeutics was founded with the goal of serving patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension, or PAH, and that remains our focus today. In 2015, Smiths Medical publicly announced that it was discontinuing the CADD-MS3 system, which is used by many patients to deliver Remodulin, a continuously infused form of treprostinil manufactured by United Therapeutics. In response, we made a significant investment under an agreement with Smiths Medical that ensured the CADD-MS3 system would continue to be available to deliver Remodulin for a period of time. Absent United Therapeutics taking this action, thousands of very sick PAH patients may not have been able to access necessary therapy. Meanwhile, we doubled-down on our efforts to innovate and develop new and improved systems to deliver this therapy. This lawsuit stems from Sandoz's and RareGen's failure to take similar steps to ensure availability of a system to deliver their product, despite having eight years from filing Sandoz's Abbreviated New Drug Application to do so. Sandoz and RareGen now seek to make us responsible for their failure to properly plan to serve their prospective patients. We expect the litigation to vindicate our efforts to protect our PAH patients."