Stockwinners Market Radar for June 03, 2019 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

20:05 EDT ASGN announces $250M stock buyback - ASGN announced that its board approved a stock repurchase program under which the Company may repurchase up to $250M of its common stock over the next two years.

19:40 EDT American Airlines confirms DOT tentative approval of Qantas partnership - American Airlines (AAL) and Qantas (QUBSF) welcome the U.S. Department of Transportation's tentative approval of the carriers' joint business to better serve customers flying between the United States and Australia and New Zealand. American and Qantas will review the Order, with a final decision from the DOT expected in the next few weeks. As part of the case put to the DOT, Qantas and American flagged an intention to launch several new routes within the first two years of the proposed joint business. Qantas expects to announce details of two new routes - Brisbane, Australia to Chicago and to San Francisco - once final approval is received.

18:45 EDT Brink's CEO: We are well positioned to serve the cannabis industry - In an interview on CNBC's Mad Money, Brink's CEO Doug Pertz said: We are going to rename Dunbar trucks as Brinks... We think there is a whole range of customers who are not using our services... Our combined industry serves less than 10% of retail locations... There is still a large retail industry that continues to grow... We provide services on a local basis... On a global basis, cannabis is going to create a huge opportunity.

18:03 EDT Celanese to raise China acetyl intermediate product prices by RMB600/MT - Celanese will increase list and off-list selling prices for Acetic Acid and Acetic Anhydride products by RMB600 per MT. The price increases are for orders shipped and will be effective immediately, or as contracts otherwise allow, and are incremental to any previously announced increases.

17:44 EDT Hilltop Holdings' Feinberg sells 40,000 common shares - In a regulatory filing, Hilltop Holdings's Hill A. Feinberg, chairman of Hilltop Securities, disclosed the sale of 40,000 common shares of the company at a price of $20.2564 per share.

17:33 EDT Galectin Therapeutics director Uihlein bought 4.7M share of common stock - In a regulatory filing, Galectin Therapeutics disclosed that its director Richard Uihlein bought 4.7M shares of common stock on May 31st. The total transaction size was $20.0M.

17:27 EDT Stoneridge appoints Susan Benedict as Chief Human Resources Officer - Stoneridge announced Susan Benedict as its new Chief Human Resources Officer and assistant general counsel - labor and employment. Benedict joined Stoneridge in November 2017 as director of legal, with primary responsibility for global labor and employment and legal compliance matters.

17:24 EDT Box says cloud content management is a $40B+ market opportunity - Says add-on product revenue grew by 57% in Q1. Says businesses need to operate faster than ever. Says saw 90% of deals including at least one add-on product. Says risk of cyber threats and regulations are growing. Says experienced strong customer retention. Says saw continued strength in Japan. Comments taken from Q1 earnings conference call.

17:21 EDT Cornerstone Building Brands director Daniel Janki purchases 50K shares of stock - Cornerstone Building Brands director Daniel Janki disclosed in a regulatory filing that he had purchased 50,000 shares of company stock at an average price of $4.60 per share.The total transaction value of the purchase was $230,000.

17:18 EDT Bemis to replace Mattel in S&P 500 at open on 6/7 - Amcor Limited (AMCRY) is merging with Bemis (BMS) in a transaction expected to be completed soon pending final conditions. The combined company will be considered US domiciled for index purposes, and Bemis will be treated as the surviving entity. Post merger, the company will be named Amcor plc and will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under ticker symbol "AMCR".

17:12 EDT House panel chairman announces probe into competition in digital markets - House Antitrust Subcommittee Chairman David N. Cicilline announced a bipartisan investigation into competition in digital markets. The investigation will include a series of hearings held by the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law on the rise of market power online, as well as requests for information that are relevant to the investigation. "The growth of monopoly power across our economy is one of the most pressing economic and political challenges we face today. Market power in digital markets presents a whole new set of dangers," said Antitrust Subcommittee Chairman David N. Cicilline. "After four decades of weak antitrust enforcement and judicial hostility to antitrust cases, it is critical that Congress step in to determine whether existing laws are adequate to tackle abusive conduct by platform gatekeepers or whether we need new legislation to respond to this challenge." The Committee's investigation will focus on three main areas: Documenting competition problems in digital markets; Examining whether dominant firms are engaging in anti-competitive conduct; and assessing whether existing antitrust laws, competition policies, and current enforcement levels are adequate to address these issues. "Big Tech plays a huge role in our economy and our world," said Ranking Member Collins. "As tech has expanded its market share, more and more questions have arisen about whether the market remains competitive. Our bipartisan look at competition in the digital markets gives us the chance to answer these questions and, if necessary, to take action. I appreciate the partnership of Chairman Nadler, Subcommittee Chairman Cicilline and Subcommittee Ranking Member Sensenbrenner on these important issues." Companies that are reportedly to be investigated over antitrust concerns include Apple (AAPL), Facebook (FB), Google (GOOG), and Amazon (AMZN). Reference Link

16:56 EDT Merck confirms FDA approval of Zerbaxa indication - Merck announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Merck's supplemental New Drug Application for the use of ZERBAXA for the treatment of patients 18 years and older with hospital-acquired bacterial pneumonia and ventilator-associated bacterial pneumonia caused by the following susceptible Gram-negative microorganisms: Enterobacter cloacae, Escherichia coli, Haemophilus influenzae, Klebsiella oxytoca, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus mirabilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Serratia marcescens. The sNDA for ZERBAXA had previously been designated Priority Review status by the FDA. To reduce the development of drug-resistant bacteria and maintain the effectiveness of ZERBAXA and other antibacterial drugs, ZERBAXA should be used only to treat or prevent infections that are proven or strongly suspected to be caused by susceptible bacteria. This expanded use is based on results of the pivotal Phase 3 ASPECT-NP trial that compared ZERBAXA 3g intravenously every 8 hours to meropenem for 8 to 14 days for the treatment of adult patients with HABP/VABP. "We are grateful to all of the patients who participated in the studies which led to the approval of ZERBAXA for the treatment of HABP/VABP," said Dr. Roy Baynes, senior vice president and head of global clinical development, chief medical officer, Merck Research Laboratories. "This approval reflects Merck's longstanding commitment to helping alleviate the burden of infectious diseases, including serious infections caused by Gram-negative pathogens."

16:49 EDT LabCorp and Envigo complete previously announced transactions - LabCorp and Envigo announced that they have completed previously announced transactions that will strengthen and enhance the way their respective businesses support research in the biopharmaceutical and life sciences industries. LabCorp's Covance Drug Development segment has completed the acquisition of Envigo's nonclinical contract research services business, expanding Covance's global nonclinical drug development capabilities with additional locations and resources. Envigo's Research Models and Services business has completed the acquisition of the Covance Research Products business, resulting in an organization dedicated to offering a full range of research models, diets and bedding. The two companies will continue to collaborate through a multi-year, renewable supply agreement. "This unique transaction furthers a key element of our strategy to provide the biopharma industry with comprehensive drug development services that help bring innovative medicines to patients," said David P. King, chairman and CEO of LabCorp. "We are delighted to welcome our new colleagues from Envigo to Covance and look forward to driving growth and innovation with enhanced nonclinical research solutions that ultimately improve health and improve lives."

16:33 EDT Aecom selected as general contractor by MSG Sphere at the Venetian - The Madison Square Garden Company (MSG) announced that it has engaged AECOM (ACM) to serve as general contractor for MSG Sphere at The Venetian, MSG's state-of-the-art entertainment venue currently under construction in Las Vegas.

16:31 EDT Broadridge names Samir Pandiri as President of Broadridge International - Broadridge Financial Solution announced the appointment of Samir Pandiri as President of Broadridge International. Most recently, Pandiri was Global CEO of BNY's Asset Servicing Division and a member of BNY Mellon's senior leadership team.

16:29 EDT Accenture acquires BRIDGE Energy Group, terms not disclosed - Accenture has acquired BRIDGE Energy Group, a Boston-based consulting and systems integration firm that provides grid modernization, analytics and security services to utilities in North America. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. BRIDGE's employees have joined the utilities practice of Accenture's Resources operating group.

16:22 EDT Caleres down over 3% at $18.80 per share after cutting FY19 EPS outlook

16:19 EDT W.P. Carey, Extra Space Storage announce self-storage net lease transaction - W. P. Carey (WPC) and Extra Space Storage (EXR) jointly announced that they have entered into net lease agreements for 36 self-storage properties owned by W. P. Carey. The properties will be triple-net leased by Extra Space Storage for a period of 25 years. The leases include termination rights for both companies on the 10- and 20-year anniversaries, based on certain performance metrics. Commencing on the three-year anniversary, W. P. Carey also has the right to terminate the leases in the event of a sale, with Extra Space Storage retaining the right of first offer to acquire the properties. Rent generally commences by August 2019 and increases annually by a fixed percentage plus a percentage of revenue growth. The transaction includes a large majority of the self-storage properties that W. P. Carey acquired in its merger with CPA:17, representing approximately 90% of its total operating self-storage net operating income.

16:19 EDT Continental Resources announces initial $1B share repurchase program - Continental Resources announced that its Board of Directors approved the initiation of a quarterly dividend of 5c per share 20c per share annualized on the company's common stock and an initial $1B share-repurchase program. Continental maintains its 2019 guidance as announced on February 13, reaffirming the company's commitment to its corporate objectives and a strong alignment with shareholders. "Today marks another milestone in Continental's history as we initiate a total shareholder return strategy," said Harold Hamm, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "Our disciplined approach to balancing capital-efficient growth and reducing debt has enabled us to approve both an initial $0.20 per share annualized dividend and an initial $1B share-repurchase program. This demonstrates the confidence we have in the quality and sustainability of our assets and our commitment to maximizing shareholder value. We see the current value of our equity as being unreasonably low, making the acquisition of our stock the best use of excess cash at this time."

16:17 EDT GMS acquires acoustical, drywall operations of J.P. Hart Lumber Company - GMS Inc. announced that it has acquired the acoustical and drywall operations of J.P. Hart Lumber Company in San Antonio, TX. Hart Acoustical & Drywall Supply distributes drywall, metal studs, insulation and ceiling tiles through two locations in San Antonio, TX and one location in La Feria, TX. HADS will become part of GMS subsidiary, Lone Star Materials, Inc. The acquisition of HADS will enhance Lone Star's existing South Texas distribution network, which includes legacy locations in San Antonio, TX, Austin, TX and Laredo, TX. Post-closing, the HADS operations will transition to the Lone Star brand.

16:15 EDT Ferroglobe in pact to sell unit FerroAtlantica to TPG Sixth Street Partners - Ferroglobe announced that it has reached definitive agreement for the sale of its 100% interest in subsidiary FerroAtlantica to investment vehicles affiliated with TPG Sixth Street Partners ,the global finance and investment firm, for a total transaction value of 170M euros. The final price is subject to customary adjustments in this type of transaction, including net debt and working capital adjustments.The assets owned by FerroAtlantica to be transferred in this transaction are ten hydroelectric power plants with a combined generating capacity of approximately 167 MW, and the Cee-Dumbria ferroalloys factory, all located in the province of A Coruna ,Spain.

16:13 EDT Achieve Life Sciences receives $4.2M from exercise of warrants - Achieve Life Sciences announced that it entered into an agreement with a single investor to exercise outstanding warrants that will provide an aggregate of $4.2M in total proceeds. The proceeds from the warrant exercise would bring Achieve's pro-forma cash balance to approximately $13.9M as of March 31, based on its most recently reported financial results. Pursuant to the agreement, the investor agreed to exercise outstanding warrants to purchase 270,313 shares of the company's common stock, with an exercise price of $3.1445 per share and outstanding warrants to purchase 837,500 shares of Common Stock with an exercise price of $4.00 per share. In exchange for the warrant exercise, Achieve has agreed to issue the investor a new warrant, exercisable for six years, to purchase up to 1,200,000 shares of Common Stock at an exercise price of $4.50 per share. The company also agreed to file a registration statement covering the resale of the shares issuable upon exercise of the new warrant.

16:12 EDT Caleres reports Q1 Famous Footwear SSS down 1.0%

16:10 EDT Scholar Rock announces final top-line results from Phase 1 SRK-015 trial - Scholar Rock announced final top-line results from the Phase 1 clinical trial of its product candidate, SRK-015, a highly specific inhibitor of myostatin activation, in healthy adult volunteers. Consistent with previously announced interim findings, the final results showed target engagement and no apparent safety signals were observed across all tested doses. Detailed results from the Phase 1 trial will be presented at the Cure SMA annual conference. In the single-ascending dose, or SAD, portion of the trial, adverse events, or AEs, were observed in 30% of SRK-015-treated subjects and 50 % of placebo-treated subjects. In the multiple-ascending dose, or MAD, portion of the trial, AEs were observed in 35% of SRK-015-treated subjects and 67% of placebo-treated subjects. There were no discontinuations due to a treatment-related AE, no hypersensitivity reactions and no deaths. A single serious AE of gallstone-induced pancreatitis was observed in an SRK-015-treated subject and was assessed by the trial investigator as unrelated to treatment. Immunogenicity as evaluated by anti-drug antibody testing was negative for all SRK-015 treated subjects in the trial. Target engagement was shown in the Phase 1 trial through increases from baseline in levels of latent myostatin. The levels of target engagement attained a plateau after a single dose of SRK-015 at 3 mg/kg or greater, suggesting target saturation. This plateau was sustained up to Day 84 after a single dose at 20 mg/kg. This durability of effect was further shown in the MAD portion of the trial, during which the plateau was sustained up to at least day 140 after three doses given once every two weeks at 20 mg/kg or 30 mg/kg. In contrast, no meaningful change was observed in the latent myostatin biomarker concentrations in subjects who received placebo. PD was evaluated through a proprietary, exploratory biomarker assay developed by Scholar Rock that measures serum concentrations of latent myostatin. This assay was used previously to measure target engagement in preclinical studies in healthy animals and a mouse model of SMA. Pharmacokinetic, or PK, data. Drug exposure to SRK-015 was dose-proportional and SRK-015's serum half-life was 23-33 days across dose cohorts. In these respects, SRK-015 displayed a PK profile consistent with what is commonly observed for monoclonal antibodies.

16:07 EDT Barrett Business announces upcoming retirement of Gregory Vaughn COO - Barrett Business Services announced the upcoming retirement of Gregory Vaughn,COO of corporate operations, effective June 30. "On behalf of the board of directors of BBSI, I would like to express our gratitude to Greg for his service to the Company over the past 22 years," said Anthony Meeker, chairman of BBSI. "He has contributed tirelessly, and earned the trust and respect of the entire organization. We wish him well in his retirement."

16:06 EDT Leaf Group appoints Brian Gephart Chief Accounting Officer - Leaf Group announced that it has named Brian Gephart as its Chief Accounting Officer. Formerly of JH Capital Group and PricewaterhouseCoopers, Gephart brings extensive expertise in technical accounting and financial reporting. He will oversee Leaf Group's accounting team and be responsible for the financial and accounting process.

16:01 EDT IntercontinentalExchange names John Tuttle vice chairman of NYSE Group - Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. announced that John Tuttle has been appointed Vice Chairman and Chief Commercial Officer of NYSE Group. In this expanded new role, Tuttle will lead commercial outreach and business development of NYSE Group, spearhead its efforts to win the largest IPOs, grow the exchange's community of 2,300 listed companies, and oversee creation of new offerings for industries such as biotechnology and other growing sectors of the economy. Michael Blaugrund, currently Head of Transactions at the NYSE, has been promoted to Chief Operating Officer, overseeing strategy and operations of NYSE Group's five equities exchanges and two options exchanges. Blaugrund, who joined the NYSE from Tower Research Capital in 2016, served as the NYSE's Head of Equities before ascending to his current role. His career in financial services includes prior roles with Nasdaq, Thomson Reuters and Tradeweb.

15:35 EDT AMD's Radeon Pro Vega II GPUs to be included in new Mac Pro - AMD (AMD) announced that its new AMD Radeon Pro Vega II GPUs will be included in the all-new Mac Pro (AAPL). Built on 7nm process technology, AMD Radeon Pro Vega II GPUs provide "groundbreaking levels of graphics performance for computation-intensive tasks, including rendering, 8K video, video effects, and other high-end content creation workloads," AMD said in a press release. "Today's high-end professional content creation applications are driving an insatiable need for ever increasing levels of processing power and memory," said Scott Herkelman, corporate vice president and general manager, Radeon Technologies Group at AMD. "Equipped with Radeon Pro Vega II GPUs, the new Mac Pro delivers the computational horsepower and memory bandwidth to power ultra-high screen resolutions and help dramatically accelerate compute and content creation workloads, enabling creative professionals to focus on unleashing their creativity and delivering amazing results."

15:20 EDT Apple previews app development technologies - Apple unveiled several technologies that the company said will "make it dramatically easier and faster for developers to create powerful new apps." These include SwiftUI, which Apple called "a revolutionary development framework that makes building powerful user interfaces easier than ever before," and ARKit 3, RealityKit and Reality Composer, which the company said are "advanced tools designed to make it even easier for developers to create compelling AR experiences for consumer and business apps."

15:06 EDT Texas Roadhouse says Board approves $250M stock repurchase program - In a regulatory filing, Texas Roadhouse reported that its board of directors approved a stock repurchase program under which it authorized the company to repurchase up to $250M of its common stock. Any repurchases will be made through open market transactions. This stock repurchase program has no expiration date and replaces the previous stock repurchase program which was approved on May 22, 2014, the company noted.

14:52 EDT NantKwest launches Phase 1 trial of CD19 t-haNK cell therapy in lymphoma - NantKwest announced that the company's t-haNK investigational new drug application has cleared FDA review and the program has now transitioned to a first-in-human clinical trial targeting CD19 t-haNK in advanced B-cell lymphoma. "Based on extensive and encouraging preclinical results, we have enhanced our ability to modularly combine this proprietary off-the-shelf t-haNK-based therapy with a wide range of monoclonal antibodies using this multi-targeted approach. We are now ready to transition this innovation in NK cell based therapeutics to a Phase I human clinical trials designed to assess the safety, tolerability and efficacy of CD19 t-haNK cell therapy in advanced b-cell lymphoma. Upon completion of the safety phase, NantKwest intends to combine this CD19 t-haNK cell therapy with other synergistic, immunomodulatory agents as part of an integrative, combination therapy approach that we describe as the NANT Cancer Vaccine to further enhance the synergistic effectiveness of this novel therapeutic intervention," said CEO Patrick Soon-Shiong.

14:48 EDT Apple introduces new Mac Pro, Pro Display XDR - Apple introduced the new Mac Pro, which the company called "a completely redesigned, breakthrough workstation for pros who push the limits of what a Mac can do." Apple also unveiled Pro Display XDR, which it called "the world's best pro display." Apple said: "Designed for maximum performance, expansion and configurability, the all-new Mac Pro features workstation-class Xeon processors up to 28 cores, a high-performance memory system with a massive 1.5TB capacity, eight PCIe expansion slots and a graphics architecture featuring the world's most powerful graphics card. It also introduces Apple Afterburner, a game-changing accelerator card that enables playback of three streams of 8K ProRes RAW video simultaneously." The new Mac Pro starts at $5,999 and will be available to order in the fall. Pro Display XDR starts at $4,999, the Pro Stand is $999 and the VESA Mount Adapter is $199. All will be available to order in the fall.

14:43 EDT Apple says Pro Display XDR starts at $4,999, available in the Fall - .

14:41 EDT Apple says new Mac monitor called Pro Display XDR

14:27 EDT Apple previews iOS 13 with Dark Mode, new camera features, improved maps - Apple previewed iOS 13, which the company said introduces "a dramatic new look for iPhone with Dark Mode and new ways to browse and edit photos, sign in to apps and websites, and navigate the world with an all-new map." Apple stated: "iOS 13 is faster and more responsive with optimizations across the system that improve app launch, reduce app download sizes and make Face ID even faster." Apple added: "Apple is introducing a new, more private way to simply and quickly sign into apps and websites. Instead of using a social account or filling out forms, verifying email addresses or choosing passwords, customers can simply use their Apple ID to authenticate and Apple will protect users' privacy by providing developers with a unique random ID...Apple Maps helps millions of people navigate and explore the world, all while protecting user privacy. After driving 4 million miles to rebuild the basemap from the ground up, Apple is delivering a new Maps experience with broader road coverage, better pedestrian data, more precise addresses and more detailed landcover. The new map is available now in select cities and states, and will roll out across the US by the end of 2019 and to more countries in 2020." The developer preview of iOS 13 is available to Apple Developer Program members starting today, and a public beta program will be available to iOS users later this month. New software features will be available this fall as a free software update for iPhone 6s and later, and will be available with iPadOS for iPad Air 2 and later, all iPad Pro models, iPad 5th generation and later, and iPad mini 4 and later.

14:24 EDT Bristol-Myers updates results from studies evaluating Opdivo - Bristol-Myers Squibb announced updated results from studies evaluating Opdivo alone or in combination, in patients with advanced or metastatic melanoma. These analyses will be featured on Monday, June 3 from 1:15-4:15 PM CDT at the American Society of Clinical Oncology 2019 Annual Meeting in Chicago. A five-year analysis of the Phase 1 CA209-004 study, the longest follow-up for the Opdivo plus Yervoy combination in patients with previously treated or untreated advanced melanoma to date, showed that with a median follow-up of 43.1 months in all patients, at four years or longer, overall survival rates were stable at 57%.The three-year OS rate following discontinuation of therapy was 56%. The study also showed long-term survival outcomes with Opdivo plus Yervoy, regardless of BRAF or lactate dehydrogenase status, with four-year OS rates of 62% versus 49% for patients with normal and elevated LDH, respectively, and four-year OS rates of 54% and 61% for patients with wild-type and mutant BRAF tumors, respectively. The overall safety of the combination was consistent with previously reported studies of these medicines in patients with advanced melanoma.

14:23 EDT Apple announces watchOS 6 operating system for Apple Watch - Apple previewed watchOS 6, which "empowers Apple Watch users to better manage their health and fitness, and gives access to dynamic new watch faces and the App Store directly on Apple Watch." Apple watchOS 6 brings the App Store directly to Apple Watch. Users can install third-party apps, search for apps using Siri, dictation or Scribble and view app product pages designed for the watch screen right from the wrist. Developers can build Apple Watch-only apps, created to work independently on Apple Watch without an iOS app. The developer preview of watchOS 6 is available to Apple Developer Program members starting today. New software features will be available this fall as a free software update for Apple Watch Series 1 or later paired with iPhone 6s or later running iOS 13 or later.

14:20 EDT Twitter acquires London-based deep learning firm Fabula AI, terms undisclosed - Twitter has acquired London-based AI firm Fabula AI. Twitter said in a blog posting: "We are excited to announce that, to help us get there, we have acquired Fabula AI, a London-based start-up, with a world-class team of machine learning researchers who employ graph deep learning to detect network manipulation. Graph deep learning is a novel method for applying powerful ML techniques to network-structured data. The result is the ability to analyze very large and complex datasets describing relations and interactions, and to extract signals in ways that traditional ML techniques are not capable of doing.This strategic investment in graph deep learning research, technology and talent will be a key driver as we work to help people feel safe on Twitter and help them see relevant information. Specifically, by studying and understanding the Twitter graph, comprised of the millions of Tweets, Retweets and Likes shared on Twitter every day, we will be able to improve the health of the conversation, as well as products including the timeline, recommendations, the explore tab and the onboarding experience." Reference Link

14:18 EDT Apple CEO Tim Cook says Apple Mac #1 in customer satisfaction

14:06 EDT Apple announces iPad OS operating system

13:49 EDT Mirati Therapeutics jumps after Amgen announces AMG 510 data - Shares of biotech firm Mirati Therapeutics (MRTX) are spiking higher on Monday after large-cap peer Amgen (AMGN) announced the first clinical results from a Phase 1 study evaluating investigational AMG 510, the first KRASG12C inhibitor to reach the clinical stage. In the trial, there were no dose-limiting toxicities at tested dose levels. AMG 510 showed anti-tumor activity when administered as a monotherapy in patients with locally-advanced or metastatic KRASG12C mutant solid tumors, Amgen said in a statement. MIRATI'S CANDIDATE: Mirati Therapeutics is developing a KRAS G12C Inhibitor like Amgen's AMG 510. According to the company, MRTX849 has demonstrated broad-spectrum antitumor activity across a panel of KRAS G12C-positive patient- and cell-derived in vivo tumor models, including complete tumor regression in a subset of these models. MRTX849 is now in the clinic and has the potential to provide a long-awaited targeted therapy option for patients exhibiting a KRAS driver mutation, Mirati said on its website. PRICE ACTION: Shares of Mirati Therapeutics are up 31% to $88.39 in afternoon trading, while Amgen is up almost 5% to $174.41.

13:45 EDT Boeing has not had single order for Max since grounding, CEO says - Dennis Muilenburg is speaking on CNBC.

13:44 EDT Boeing plans to step up Max production to 52 per month, CEO says - Dennis Muilenburg is speaking on CNBC.

13:43 EDT Boeing CEO says long-term MAX production plans have not changed - Dennis Muilenburg is speaking on CNBC.

13:40 EDT Boeing CEO says third party being brought in with customer collaboration - Dennis Muilenburg is speaking on CNBC.

13:38 EDT Boeing CEO admits company 'has fallen short in the past' - Dennis Muilenburg is speaking on CNBC.

13:37 EDT Apple falls during WWDC as Reuters reports DOJ given jurisdiction for probe - A part of a broad tech review among antitrust enforcement agencies, the Department of Justice has been given jurisdiction over Apple (AAPL), Reuters reported, citing sources. The Federal Trade Commission intends to open an antitrust probe into Facebook (FB) under an arrangement that gives the Justice Department chief oversight of Alphabet's (GOOG) Google, The Wall Street Journal reported earlier today. Following the Reuters headlines, shares of Apple are down roughly 2% while the tech giant is conducting its Annual Worldwide Developers Conference.

13:35 EDT Boeing CEO says Max 737 followed certification processes - Dennis Muilenburg is speaking on CNBC.

13:33 EDT Boeing CEO 'confident' Max will be one of the safest airplanes when back - Dennis Muilenburg is speaking on CNBC.

13:31 EDT Fed's Bullard says rate cut 'may be warranted soon' - James Bullard, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, said in remarks prepared for a presentation to the Union League Club of Chicago, that the U.S. economy "is expected to grow more slowly in 2019; inflation expectations appear to be too low to be consistent with the inflation target of the Federal Open Market Committee; [and] the Treasury yield curve has moved more decisively toward inversion. These considerations suggest a downward adjustment in the policy rate-the federal funds rate target range-may be warranted soon." Reference Link

13:28 EDT Apple CEO Tim Cook says 85% of iOS customers on latest release

13:17 EDT Apple announces App Store for Apple Watch

13:11 EDT Apple announces multiple user support for Apple TV, Apple Music - This comment was made by Apple CEO Tim Cook at the Apple Special Event.

12:32 EDT Netflix, Russo brothers to create 'Magic: The Gathering' series - Netflix (NFLX) announced that it is joining forces with Joe and Anthony Russo, Wizards of The Coast, and Hasbro's (HAS) Allspark Animation to bring the world of trading card game Magic: The Gathering to the screen for the first time in the franchise's 25-year history with an animated series "Magic: The Gathering." The Russos, who directed Disney's (DIS) "Avengers: Infinity War" and "Avengers: Endgame," will oversee the creation of an all new storyline and expand on the stories of the Planeswalkers, which are Magic's unique magic-wielding heroes and villains as they contend with stakes larger than any one world can hold. Reference Link

12:12 EDT Volkswagen's ID.R achieves new electric lap record on Nurburgring - Volkswagen's (VWAGY) Motorsport account tweeted that the car maker's ID.R electric racecar achieved a new electric lap record on the Nurburgring-Nordschleife track in Germany. "6:05.336 minutes! New electric lap record by the Volkswagen ID.R on the Nurburgring-Nordschleife," the company said. "Another milestone in electro-mobility." The Verge notes that the ID.R beat the record established by NIO's (NIO) EP9 supercar in 2017. Reference Link

11:10 EDT Elixinol says hopes FDA 'takes strikes' in acceptance of hemp-driven CBD - Elixinol issued the following statement regarding the public FDA hearing in Washington, D.C. on Friday, May 31. "We support the FDA's intentions, we want consumers to make educated decisions, and we want the market to universally supply CBD that's free of metals, molds and pesticides and safe for consumers. Additionally, we support the industry's intentions to develop best-in-class standards, like those of the U.S. Hemp Authority, whose seal of approval means the brand has been through a stringent review of processes, procedures and employee training. We're proud to be one of the first brands to be U.S. Hemp Authority certified. Now that the hearing has ended, we will wait for the outcome to unfold, hoping to see the FDA takes strides in their acceptance of hemp-derived CBD. FDA permitting hemp-derived CBD oil as a food additive will open the floodgates of CBD-infused food and drink, as we see industry projections that U.S. CBD sales will climb from a $600M market in 2018, to a $22B market by 2022, as cited by Green Entrepreneur."

10:37 EDT Vuzix receives Blade smart glasses purchase order from new partner - Vuzix Corporation announced that it has moved past a proof of concept with a new prosumer-oriented partner and has received a purchase order for 100 Blade Smart Glasses to be integrated into their smart wearable consumer sports platform for production. The proof of concept phase with this company began in Q1 2019 with their initial purchase of Blade units and has proven "very successful," Vuzix said in a statement. The Blade Smart Glasses deployment program with this new partner is expected to expand to approximately 1,000 deployed systems before the end of 2019, it added.

10:23 EDT Nissan reports May U.S. sales up 0.1% to 131,983 vehicles - Nissan Group announced total U.S. sales for May 2019 of 131,983 units, an increase of 0.1% compared to the prior year. Sales of the Armada SUV set a May record with 4,490 units sold, up 103%. Pathfinder SUV sales, at 7,751 units, were up 27% in May. Frontier truck sales increased 8% to 7,497 units.

10:06 EDT Wynnchurch Capital acquires certain assets of Allegheny Technologies - Wynnchurch Capital announced that it has completed the acquisition of two closed-die forging facilities of Allegheny Technologies Incorporated. The operations are located in Portland, Indiana and Lebanon, Kentucky and were part of ATI's High Performance Materials & Components segment. Wynnchurch Capital is actively investing from its $1.3B Fund IV.

10:00 EDT Cellcom Israel falls -6.9% - Cellcom Israel is down -6.9%, or -26c to $3.51.

10:00 EDT Huami rises 13.8% - Huami is up 13.8%, or $1.01 to $8.35.

10:00 EDT Spirit MTA REIT rises 18.1% - Spirit MTA REIT is up 18.1%, or $1.27 to $8.30.

09:47 EDT PLDT falls -5.1% - PLDT is down -5.1%, or -$1.29 to $24.01.

09:47 EDT Compass Diversified rises 7.7% - Compass Diversified is up 7.7%, or $1.19 to $16.74.

09:47 EDT Spirit MTA REIT rises 16.9% - Spirit MTA REIT is up 16.9%, or $1.19 to $8.22.

09:40 EDT Honda's May U.S. sales fell 4.9%, Bloomberg reports

09:33 EDT Quest Diagnostics notified of breach at billing collections vendor - In a regulatory filing earlier, Quest Diagnostics disclosed that on May 14, American Medical Collection Agency, a billing collections vendor, notified Quest and Optum360, Quest Diagnostics' revenue cycle management provider, of potential unauthorized activity on AMCA's web payment page. "Quest Diagnostics and Optum360 promptly sought information from AMCA about the incident, including what, if any, information was subject to unauthorized access. Although Quest Diagnostics and Optum360 have not yet received detailed or complete information from AMCA about the incident, AMCA has informed Quest Diagnostics and Optum360 that: between August 1, 2018 and March 30, 2019 an unauthorized user had access to AMCA's system that contained information that AMCA had received from various entities, including Quest Diagnostics, and information that AMCA collected itself; the information on AMCA's affected system included financial information, medical information and other personal information; as of May 31, 2019, AMCA believes that the number of Quest Diagnostics patients whose information was contained on AMCA's affected system was approximately 11.9 million people; and AMCA has been in contact with law enforcement regarding the incident. Quest Diagnostics has not been able to verify the accuracy of the information received from AMCA. Quest Diagnostics' laboratory test results were not provided to AMCA and were therefore not impacted by this incident. In response to this incident, Quest Diagnostics has: suspended sending collection requests to AMCA; provided notifications to affected health plans and will ensure that notification is provided to regulators and others as required by federal and state law; and been working and will continue to work diligently, along with Optum360, AMCA and outside security experts, to investigate the AMCA data security incident and its potential impact on Quest Diagnostics and its patients. Quest Diagnostics has insurance coverage in place for certain potential liabilities and costs relating to the incident; this insurance is limited in amount and subject to a deductible. Quest Diagnostics takes this matter very seriously and is committed to the privacy and security of patients' personal, medical and financial information," the filing stated.

09:27 EDT Samsung to pay AMD license fees and royalties under new partnership - AMD (AMD) and Samsung Electronics (SSNFL) announced a multi-year strategic partnership in ultra low power, high performance mobile graphics IP based on AMD Radeon graphics technologies. As part of the partnership, Samsung will license AMD graphics IP and will focus on advanced graphics technologies and solutions that are critical for enhancing innovation across mobile applications, including smartphones, the companies said in a statement. AMD will license custom graphics IP based on the recently announced RDNA graphics architecture to Samsung for use in mobile devices, including smartphones, and other products that complement AMD product offerings. Samsung will pay AMD technology license fees and royalties. "As we prepare for disruptive changes in technology and discover new opportunities, our partnership with AMD will allow us to bring groundbreaking graphics products and solutions to market for tomorrow's mobile applications," said Inyup Kang, president of Samsung Electronics' S.LSI Business. "We look forward to working with AMD to accelerate innovations in mobile graphics technologies that will help take future mobile computing to the next level." Shares of AMD are up 5%, or $1.37, to $28.78 in premarket trading following the announcement.

09:23 EDT AMD jumps 5% to $28.88 after announcing partnership with Samsung

09:18 EDT Toyota Motor North America reports May sales up 3.2% to 222,174 vehicles - Toyota Motor North America reported May 2019 sales of 222,174 vehicles, an increase of 3.2% on a volume and daily selling rate basis versus May 2018. Toyota division posted May sales of 197,637 units, up 4.1% on a volume and DSR basis. Lexus division posted May sales of 24,537 vehicles, down 3.4% on a volume and DSR basis.

09:17 EDT Aptose Biosciences appoints Jotin Marango CBO - Aptose Biosciences announced the appointment of Jotin Marango to the position of senior VP chief business officer, or CBO, effective immediately. In his role as a member of the executive leadership team, Marango is responsible for Aptose's corporate and business development initiatives, including licensing and alliance management, business and product strategy, as well as market and competitive intelligence. Marango brings to Aptose years of industry experience, most recently as a senior research analyst at Roth Capital Partners, where he covered biotechnology and therapeutics.

09:14 EDT One Stop Systems wins joint design-in from transportation network company - One Stop Systems won an exclusive joint design-in from an international transportation network company for the design, engineering, prototyping and production of AI on the Fly system elements for use in 150 next-generation autonomous vehicles. The initial orders, valued at more than $1M, include collaborative engineering design from the OSS and CDI design teams, 150 liquid-cooled compute accelerators from OSS and networking boards from CDI. The engineering and equipment will be designed to support in-vehicle artificial intelligence training and inferencing. CDI's design and manufacturing of custom networking hardware will include a redundant-path IEC 62439-3:2016 compliant ethernet device that supports precision time protocol. The company expects to ship prototypes in Q3, followed by full production units in Q4.

09:12 EDT MEI Pharma presents new clinical data on ME-401 - MEI Pharma announced that updated data presented at ASCO 2019 from a Phase 1b study of investigational ME-401, a selective oral inhibitor of PI3K delta, demonstrate an 80% overall response rate in patients with relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma. Additionally, the data demonstrate: Comparable overall response rates, ranging from 75%-83%, across patient groups receiving ME-401 as a monotherapy or in combination with rituximab, and in patient groups dosed with ME-401 once daily on a continuous schedule or on an intermittent schedule of once daily for the first 7 days of a 28-day cycle after 2 months of continuous dosing. A lower rate of delayed, grade 3 adverse events observed in patients in the IS group. Durable responses in both CS and IS groups with no median yet reached.

09:10 EDT Blueprint Medicines announces new data from ARROW trial of BLU-667 - Blueprint Medicines announced updated data from the ongoing registration-enabling ARROW trial of BLU-667 in patients with RET-altered cancers. The data presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology 2019 Annual Meeting show durable clinical activity in patients with RET-altered non-small cell lung cancer, medullary thyroid cancer and other cancers. Designed by Blueprint Medicines, BLU-667 is a potent and highly selective oral inhibitor of RET fusions and mutations, including predicted resistance mutations. The new results support Blueprint Medicines' plans to submit an initial New Drug Application to the U.S. FDA for BLU-667 for the treatment of patients with RET-fusion NSCLC previously treated with platinum-based chemotherapy in the first quarter of 2020, and an NDA to the FDA for the treatment of patients with RET-mutant MTC previously treated with an approved multi-kinase inhibitor in the first half of 2020.

09:09 EDT Toyota's U.S. sales increased 3.2% in May, Bloomberg reports

09:07 EDT SurveyMonkey names Autodesk executive Debbie Clifford as CFO - SurveyMonkey (SVMK) announced that Debbie Clifford will join its leadership team on July 8 as CFI In her new role, Clifford will oversee all aspects of finance including financial strategy, planning and analysis, accounting, tax, treasury, and investor relations, in addition to strategic planning and corporate development. With the addition of Clifford, the majority of SurveyMonkey's executive team members will be women. Clifford spent the past 13 years in several finance positions at design software company Autodesk (ADSK), most recently serving as vice president of financial planning and analysis.

09:06 EDT Kite announces new Yescarta data from ZUMA-1 - Kite, a Gilead Company, announced findings from two new analyses from the ZUMA-1 trial of Yescarta in adult patients with relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma. These results include a two-year sub-population analysis of efficacy and safety in ZUMA-1 patients by age, as well as preliminary data from a separate safety management study of patients receiving early steroid intervention for cytokine release syndrome and neurologic events. The results were presented at the 2019 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting. Yescarta was the first CAR T cell therapy approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma after two or more lines of systemic therapy, including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma not otherwise specified, primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma, high grade B-cell lymphoma and DLBCL arising from follicular lymphoma. Yescarta is not indicated for the treatment of patients with primary central nervous system lymphoma. Two-Year Analysis of ZUMA-1 by Age Supports Clinical Benefit of Yescarta in Patients 65 and Older: Patients with relapsed large B-cell lymphoma in the two-year follow-up of ZUMA-1 were analyzed in two groups - those 65 years or older and those younger than 65 years. With a median follow-up of 27.1 months, the objective response rate per investigator assessment was 92 percent among greater than or equal to65 patients and 81 percent in the less than65 group, with 75 percent and 53 percent of patients in the respective groups achieving a complete response. At two years, 42 percent of greater than or equal to65 patients and 38 percent of less than65 patients were in an ongoing response. The 24-month overall survival rate was 54 percent and 49 percent in each respective group. Among all patients in the safety analysis, most experienced Grade greater than or equal to3 adverse events. Grade greater than or equal to3 neurologic events occurred in 12 patients greater than or equal to65 and in 23 patients less than65. Grade greater than or equal to3 CRS occurred in 2 patients greater than or equal to65 and in 10 patients less than65. Kite is currently conducting various studies to further evaluate the efficacy and safety profile of Yescarta, including clinical trials evaluating use of bridging chemotherapy and other combination approaches. In a ZUMA-1 safety management study, patients with relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma treated with Yescarta received earlier steroid intervention beginning when patients experienced Grade 1 neurologic events and at Grade 1 CRS when no improvement was observed after three days of supportive care. As of the abstract data cut-off, 21 of 40 planned patients had received Yescarta, with a median follow-up of 7.7 months; 76 percent of patients received corticosteroids and 86 percent received tocilizumab. Grade greater than or equal to3 adverse events occurred in 95 percent of patients; Grade greater than or equal to3 events included decreased neutrophil count and anemia. Grade 1 or 2 neurologic events and CRS occurred in 48 percent and 100 percent of patients, respectively. No patients experienced Grade greater than or equal to3 CRS, and Grade greater than or equal to3 neurologic events occurred in only 10 percent of patients, both numerically lower than in the registrational cohorts of ZUMA-1. There were no deaths due to adverse events in Cohort 4. ORR per investigator assessment was 81 percent in the cohort, and 62 percent of patients achieved a complete response. The median duration of response has not yet been reached.

09:05 EDT Celgene announces updated analysis of data from Phase 2 JAKARTA2 clinical study - Celgene announced an updated analysis of data from the Phase 2 JAKARTA2 clinical study demonstrating clinically meaningful response rates with investigational fedratinib in patients with myelofibrosis previously treated with ruxolitinib. "This updated analysis of fedratinib employed intent-to-treat, or ITT, principles and utilized a narrower definition of ruxolitinib relapsed, refractory, or intolerant patients. Results were shared in a poster presentation today at the 2019 American Society of Clinical Oncology, or ASCO, Annual Meeting in Chicago. In the ITT population, the proportion of patients who exhibited a 35% or greater reduction in spleen volume at end of cycle 6 was 31%. Of these 97 patients, 79 met the narrower criteria for ruxolitinib resistance or intolerance. In this cohort, the proportion of patients who exhibited a 35% or greater reduction in spleen volume at end of cycle 6 was 30%, consistent with the response rate observed in the ITT population. In addition, the proportion of patients who exhibited a 50% or greater symptom response rate was 27% in both the ITT population and the patients in the analysis of the narrower criteria. The most common grade 3-4 hematologic abnormalities were anemia and thrombocytopenia. Most common non-hematologic treatment-emergent adverse events in all treated patients were diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and constipation."

09:03 EDT Amgen: 5 patients experienced partial response in AMG 510 Phase 1 study - Amgen announced the first clinical results from a Phase 1 study evaluating investigational AMG 510, the first KRASG12C inhibitor to reach the clinical stage. In the trial, there were no dose-limiting toxicities at tested dose levels. AMG 510 showed anti-tumor activity when administered as a monotherapy in patients with locally-advanced or metastatic KRASG12C mutant solid tumors. These data are being presented during an oral session at the 55th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago. The Phase 1, first-in-human, open-label multicenter study enrolled 35 patients with various tumor types. Eligible patients were heavily pretreated with at least two or more prior lines of treatment, consistent with their tumor type and stage of disease. The primary endpoint is safety, and key secondary endpoints include pharmacokinetics, objective response rate, duration of response and progression-free survival. Patients were enrolled in four dose cohorts - 180 mg, 360 mg, 720 mg and 960 mg, taken orally once a day. Five out of 10 evaluable patients with NSCLC experienced a partial response, and another four had stable disease, for a disease control rate of 90 percent. All five patients with response to therapy had a treatment duration of 7.3-27.4 weeks at data cutoff and remain active on treatment. One patient with PR improved further to a complete response of the target lesions at week 18, post data cutoff. In addition, 13 of 18 evaluable patients with CRC achieved SD, with the majority of CRC patients treated at the first two dose levels. Twenty-six patients remain on study and nine have discontinued. "KRAS has been a target of active exploration in cancer research since it was identified as one of the first oncogenes more than 30 years ago, but it remained undruggable due to a lack of traditional small molecule binding pockets on the protein. AMG 510 seeks to crack the KRAS code by exploiting a previously hidden groove on the protein surface," said David M. Reese, M.D., executive vice president of Research and Development at Amgen. "By irreversibly binding to cysteine 12 on the mutated KRAS protein, AMG 510 is designed to lock it into an inactive state. With high selectivity for KRASG12C, we believe investigational AMG 510 has high potential as both a monotherapy and in combination with other targeted and immune therapies."

08:49 EDT DelMar Pharmaceuticals provides update on VAL-083 studies - DelMar Pharmaceuticals presented clinical updates from the company's ongoing first- and second-line trials in patients with MGMT-unmethylated glioblastoma multiforme at a key opinion leader forum focused on brain tumors and the role of VAL-083 to address the unmet medical need in GBM during the 2019 American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting in Chicago, IL. At the KOL forum, the company provided an update on the ongoing Phase 1/2 clinical study investigating the front line treatment of VAL-083 with radiation therapy in newly diagnosed MGMT-unmethylated GBM. This trial is being conducted at the Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center in Guangzhou, China in collaboration with Guangxi Wuzhou Pharmaceutical Company. The trial is designed to enroll up to 30 patients to determine if first-line therapy with VAL-083 treatment, in lieu of first-line temozolomide, improves progression free survival. As of May 17, eighteen patients have been enrolled in the trial. Of these patients, fifteen have received their post-cycle 3 MRI and investigator assessment, and ten have received their post-cycle 7 MRI and investigator assessment. Two patients have not been on the study long enough to reach their first assessment, and one patient died before their first assessment. Assessments are based on the trial investigator's clinical and radiologic assessment, according to the Response Assessment in NeuroOncology (RANO) criteria. For the fifteen patients who have received at least one assessment, eight patients were assessed with a best response of "Complete Response" (8/15, 53.3% CR) and seven patients were assessed with a best response of "Stable Disease" (7/15, 46.7% SD). Fourteen of the eighteen patients were still alive at the data cut-off date. The company also provided an update on the ongoing second-line Phase 2 clinical study of VAL-083 in patients with MGMT-unmethylated, Bevacizumab-naive recurrent GBM. This study is being conducted in collaboration with The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. This biomarker-driven trial has been amended to enroll up to 83 patients (35 with a starting dose of 40 mg/m2; 48 with a starting dose of 30 mg/m2) to determine the potential of VAL-083 treatment to improve overall survival compared to historical reference control of 7.2 months with lomustine. As of May 5, 51 patients have been enrolled, 35 patients at a starting dose of 40 mg/m, and 16 patients at a starting dose of 30 mg/m. For the 47 patients who have been on study long enough to be assessed at the post-cycle 2 MRI: 9/35 (25.7%) patients initially receiving 40 mg/m exhibited "Stable Disease" per investigator assessment at the end of cycle 2; 4/12 (33.3%) patients initially receiving 30 mg/m2 exhibited "Stable Disease" per investigator assessment at the end of cycle 2. Consistent with prior studies, myelosuppression is the most common adverse event in both ongoing clinical trials.

08:44 EDT Natera's Signatera test detects immunotherapy treatment response in new study - A new study demonstrates the ability of Natera's Signatera test to assess patient response to immunotherapy in the metastatic setting across multiple cancer types by detecting molecular traces of circulating tumor DNA in the blood. The study was presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting in Chicago on June 1. The study, conducted by Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto, enrolled 70 patients with advanced cancer, including head and neck, triple-negative breast, melanoma, and ovarian cancers. Patients were treated with the single-agent immune checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab as part of the phase II INSPIRE trial. The study used Signatera to assess ctDNA at baseline and again at the start of the third treatment cycle. Results showed a strong correlation between changes in ctDNA and overall survival, progression-free survival, and overall clinical response rate, illustrating that ctDNA may be a valuable predictive biomarker for patients with mixed solid tumors treated with checkpoint inhibitors. Signatera, a personalized, tumor-informed blood test, detected ctDNA in 68 out of 70 patients at baseline (97% sensitivity).

08:39 EDT Ancora Advisors urges J. Alexander's holders to withhold votes at Annual meeting - Ancora Advisors, which beneficially owns approximately 8.76% of the outstanding shares of J. Alexander's Holdings, making it one of the company's largest shareholders, announced that it has filed definitive proxy materials with the SEC. The definitive proxy materials urge J. Alexander's shareholders to use the GOLD proxy card to WITHHOLD their votes from the election of Timothy Janszen and Ronald Maggard to the Board of Directors of J. Alexander's at the 2019 Annual Meeting of Shareholders scheduled to be held on June 20. In connection with the filing of its definitive proxy materials, Ancora issued a letter urging shareholders to send a clear message to the J. Alexander's Board that the status quo is unacceptable and that the Board should immediately engage with Ancora on its proposal to acquire the company for $11.75 per share in cash or otherwise run a strategic process focused on the sale of the company. Ancora also issued a detailed investor presentation outlining the reasons for its withhold campaign. Reference Link

08:37 EDT OSI Systems awarded service contract valued up to $5M - OSI Systems announced that its Security division was awarded a multi-year U.S. state contract, valued at up to approximately $5M, to provide comprehensive service and maintenance support for Rapiscan baggage and parcel checkpoint inspection systems installed at correctional facilities and detection centers.

08:35 EDT Customers Bancorp holders approve 'say on pay' proposal at annual meeting - Shareholders of Customers Bancorp met at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel in Reading, Pennsylvania on Thursday, May 30 and "affirmed their support of corporate leadership with approval and adoption of a non-binding 'say on pay' proposal, the company's 2019 stock incentive plan, and approval of an amendment to the company's Articles of Incorporation to adopt a majority voting standard in uncontested elections of directors." The non-binding "say on pay" proposal outlining the company's executive compensation program and compensation paid to the company's named executive officers was adopted with approximately 95% shareholder approval. "The proposal is not binding on the corporation, notes the proxy statement, but the board and Compensation Committee value the opinions of shareholders and will continue an outreach program and the study of best practices in considering future executive compensation."

08:33 EDT Alexandria Real Estate raises quarterly dividend 3% to $1.00 per share - The dividend is payable on July 15 to shareholders of record on June 28.

08:32 EDT Cheniere Energy revises distributable cash flow per share $8.40-$9.60 - Incorporating the impact of Sabine Pass Train 6 and increased run-rate production guidance, Cheniere has revised its run-rate financial guidance as follows: Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA $5.2 - $5.6B and Distributable Cash Flow per share $8.40 - $9.60.

08:31 EDT Heico acquires Research Electronics International, terms not disclosed - Heico announced that its Electronic Technologies Group acquired 75% of the ownership of Cookeville, TN-based Research Electronics International in an all cash transaction. REI's two owners/managers retained the remaining 25% ownership. No further financial details were disclosed. Heico expects the acquisition to be accretive to its earnings within the first 12 months after closing.

08:29 EDT Cheniere announces Sabine Pass Train 6 final invesment decision - Cheniere's (LNG) subsidiary Cheniere Energy Partners (CQP) announced that the Board of Directors of its general partner has made a positive FID with respect to Train 6 of the Sabine Pass Liquefaction Project in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, and Cheniere Partners has issued full notice to proceed with construction to Bechtel Oil, Gas and Chemicals. To fund a portion of the construction of Train 6 and a third LNG berth and required supporting infrastructure at the SPL Project, Cheniere Partners has entered into 5-year, $1.5B senior secured credit facilities with 29 banks and financial institutions in a transaction that closed on May 29, 2019. The facilities include a $750M delayed draw term loan, and a $750M revolving credit facility. SG Americas Securities, LLC acted as Financial Advisor to Cheniere Partners for the transaction, and MUFG Bank, Ltd acted as Sole Coordinating Lead Arranger.

08:24 EDT Cheniere Corpus Christi Stage III, Apache sign long-term gas supply agreement - Cheniere Energy (LNG) announced that its subsidiary, Cheniere Corpus Christi Liquefaction Stage III, has entered into a long-term gas supply agreement with Apache Corporation (APA). Under the GSA, Apache has agreed to sell 140,000 MMBtu per day of natural gas to Corpus Christi Stage III for a term of approximately 15 years. The LNG associated with this gas supply, approximately 0.85 million tonnes per annum, will be marketed by Cheniere. Apache will receive an LNG price, net of a fixed liquefaction fee and certain costs incurred by Cheniere, for the natural gas delivered to Corpus Christi Stage III under this agreement. The LNG price is based on international LNG indices. The Corpus Christi Stage III project is being developed to include up to seven midscale liquefaction trains with a total expected nominal production capacity of approximately 9.5 mtpa. Corpus Christi Stage III received a positive Environmental Assessment from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in March 2019 and is expected to receive all remaining necessary regulatory approvals for the project by the end of 2019.

08:24 EDT Allegheny Technologies announces sale of 2 non-core forging facilities for $37M - Allegheny Technologies announced that it has agreed to sell two non-core forging facilities to Wynnchurch Capital for $37M in cash. Wynnchurch Capital, based in Chicago, IL, is a leading middle-market private equity investment firm that invests in middle market companies in the United States and Canada which possess the potential for substantial growth and operational improvement. The transaction will close during Q2.

08:22 EDT Euroseas announces refinancing of two vessels, acquisition of four vessels - Euroseas announced its entry into three material transactions: the refinancing of two of its vessels with simultaneous interest rate reduction for all other existing loans; the redemption of approximately 60% of its outstanding Series B Preferred Shares with simultaneous reduction of the dividend rate for the preferred shares remaining outstanding; and, the signing of memoranda of agreement to acquire four vessels for a combination of cash and common shares. Euroseas believes that the combined effect of these transactions will be to reduce its interest and preferred dividend expenses by approximately $1.4M per year as well as its overall leverage of combined debt and preferred equity. Euroseas agreed to refinance two of its vessels in a transaction that freed up about $8M of cash which together with approximately $3.7M of its available cash will be used to redeem approximately $11.7M of its series B Preferred Shares as described below. Following this refinancing, all of Euroseas' existing vessels are financed by the same bank, which as part of the arrangement agreed to reduce the loan margin of the overall loan facility by 0.5%. Euroseas also announced that it signed memoranda of agreement to acquire four feeder containerships for a consideration that includes a cash payment of $15M and issuance of approximately 22.5 million shares of common stock to the sellers. Euroseas intends to finance the cash portion of the acquisition price with bank debt which will be used to repay the existing indebtedness of the vessels with the sellers receiving only payment in Euroseas common shares. The common shares to be issued to the sellers will represent approximately 64.3% of Euroseas' outstanding common shares. The vessels are owned by affiliates of the Pittas family, controlled by the Company's CEO. As a result, the transactions have been evaluated and approved by a special committee of independent members of the Euroseas Board of Directors. The newly acquired vessels will be delivered to the Company within the next two months.

08:21 EDT Amira Nature Foods Brian Speck as CFO - Amira Nature Foods announced the hiring of Brian Speck as CFO. Since March 2018, Speck has been the CFO of Surge Holdings.

08:19 EDT American States Water says CPUC approves new water rates - American States Water announced that on May 30, the California Public Utilities Commission, or CPUC, approved the water general rate case for AWR's wholly owned subsidiary, Golden State Water Company, or GSWC. GSWC had filed a general rate case application in July 2017 for all of its water regions and the general office to determine new rates for the years 2019 - 2021. The new rates approved by the CPUC are retroactive to January 1, 2019. Among other things, the final decision approves a settlement agreement in its entirety that had been entered into in August 2018 between GSWC and the CPUC's Public Advocates Office. As a result, the final decision authorizes GSWC to invest approximately $334.5 million over the rate cycle in order to continue to provide safe and reliable water utility service to its customers. The $334.5 million of infrastructure investment includes $20.4 million of capital projects to be filed for revenue recovery through advice letters when those projects are completed. In April 2019, the assigned Administrative Law Judge had issued a proposed decision approving the settlement agreement with the exception of these advice letter projects. However, in the final decision, the CPUC adopted a revised proposed decision which was modified to approve the initial settlement as filed, including all of the advice letter capital projects agreed to by GSWC and the Public Advocates Office. Excluding the advice letter project revenues, the new rates approved will increase the water gross margin for 2019 by approximately $7.1 million, adjusted for updated inflation index values since the August 2018 settlement, as compared to the 2018 adopted water gross margin. The 2019 water revenue requirement has been reduced to reflect a decrease of approximately $7 million in depreciation expense, compared to the adopted 2018 depreciation expense, due to a reduction in the overall composite depreciation rates based on a revised study filed in the general rate case. The decrease in depreciation expense lowers the water gross margin, and is offset by a corresponding decrease in depreciation expense, resulting in no impact to net earnings. In addition, the 2019 water revenue requirement includes a decrease of approximately $2.2 million for excess deferred tax refunds as a result of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which has a corresponding decrease in income tax expense and also results in no impact to net earnings. Had depreciation expense remained the same as the 2018 adopted amount and there were no excess deferred tax refunds that lowered the 2019 revenue requirement, the water gross margin for 2019 would have increased by approximately $16.3 million. Due to the delay in receiving a final decision by the CPUC, billed water revenues to date have been based on 2018 adopted rates. Had new rates been in place as of January 1, pretax income for the water segment would have been higher by approximately $4 million, or 8c per share, for the first quarter of 2019. Because the new rates are retroactive to January 1, this cumulative impact will be recorded during the second quarter of 2019. In addition, the final decision approves the recovery of previously incurred costs that were being tracked in CPUC-authorized memorandum accounts, which will result in a reduction to operating expenses of approximately $1 million, or 2c per share, also to be recorded during the second quarter. Excluding the advice letter project revenues, the final decision allows for potential additional water revenue increases in 2020 and 2021 of approximately $9.6 million and $12 million, respectively, subject to the results of an earnings test and changes to the forecasted inflationary index values.

08:17 EDT Etsy names Ryan Scott Chief Marketing Officer, effective June 24GrubHub - Etsy (ETSY) has named Ryan Scott Chief Marketing Officer, effective June 24. Formerly CMO of Slice, the leading digital marketplace for pizza ordering, Scott has nearly two decades of marketing and e-commerce experience, including leadership roles at Grubhub (GRUB), SoulCycle, and Pond5. In this newly-created position, Scott will have global responsibility for the company's digital marketing, advertising, brand, communications, and market research and international growth initiatives, as Etsy scales its brand and performance marketing operations. He will be based at Etsy's headquarters in Brooklyn, NY and report to CEO Josh Silverman.

08:15 EDT NexPoint urges Medley Capital holders to vote for nominees using blue proxy card - NexPoint reminds Medley Capital stockholders to vote for nominees Stephen Mongillo and Mark Goglia using BLUE proxy cards.

08:14 EDT VBL Therapeutics presents final VB-111 trial results at ASCO - VBL Therapeutics announced the presentation of the final results from a Phase 1/2 clinical trial of VB-111 in the treatment of patients with recurrent platinum resistant ovarian cancer at the American Society of Clinical Oncology, or ASCO, annual meeting. Data demonstrated a median overall survival, or OS, of 498 days in the VB-111 therapeutic-dose arm, versus 172.5 days in the low-dose arm. Overall, 58% of evaluable patients treated with the therapeutic dose of VB-111 had a GCIG CA-125 response. In comparison, in the AURELIA trial, the GCIG CA-125 response rate was 31.8% with bevacizumab and chemotherapy, and only 11.6% with chemotherapy alone. VB-111 activity signals were seen despite unfavorable prognostic characteristics. There was a trend for favorable survival in patients who had CA-125 decrease greater than 50% in the VB-111 therapeutic-dose arm implicating CA-125 as a valuable biomarker for response to VB-111. Post treatment fever was also associated with a signal for improved survival.

08:11 EDT B. Riley FBR names Jimmy Baker head of capital markets - B. Riley FBR announced that James "Jimmy" Baker has been promoted to Head of Capital Markets. Baker will continue to serve as Executive Vice President of Brokerage and take on an expanded role overseeing the firm's extensive capital markets platform.

08:10 EDT Outlook Therapeutics signs manufacturing supply agreement with Fujifilm Diosynth - Outlook Therapeutics (OTLK) announced that it has signed a master services agreement with FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies (FUJIY, MSBHY) for the production of ONS-5010. Under the terms of this agreement, FDB will provide global manufacturing of ONS-5010 to Outlook in support of the commercialization strategy for the drug. Additional terms of the agreement were not disclosed. "Our master services agreement with FDB secures a world class manufacturing facility for the potential commercial launch of ONS-5010. Most importantly, FDB has the ability to rapidly scale manufacturing of ONS-5010 while maintaining the quality controls that meet or exceed regulatory requirements," said Terry Dagnon, COO at Outlook Therapeutics, Inc. "Identifying a highly-regarded manufacturing partner for ONS-5010 is an important part of our commercialization strategy and is a required part of the Biologics License Application, or BLA, submission in wet AMD." Outlook Therapeutics is currently conducting two Phase 3 clinical studies for ONS-5010. If successful, these studies will support the Company's plan to submit for regulatory approval in multiple markets in 2020. ONS-5010, if approved, has potential to mitigate risks associated with off-label use of Avastin or other drugs. Off-label use of Avastin is currently estimated to account for at least 50% of all wet AMD prescriptions in the United States.

08:09 EDT Kyocera enters collaboration with BYD Japan - Kyocera and BYD Japan, the Japanese arm of China's BYD, announced a joint project to develop an integrated renewable supply-demand energy system for EVs. "By combining renewable energy from Kyocera's solar power generating systems and BYD's electric buses, the collaboration will maximize the effectiveness of renewable energy, greatly reduce power losses, and maintain a stable supply-demand energy balance. For this project, Kyocera will develop the energy charge management system to optimally control the supply-demand balance between energy production and consumption by using aggregation technology developed during Virtual Power Plant test projects over the past several years. This system will also incorporate the Kyocera's renewable energy generating system. Meanwhile, BYD will supply two models of electric buses; K9, a large electric bus already available to the global market and J6, a compact electric bus specifically developed for the Japanese market which will be available in spring 2020. Additionally, BYD will use its technological expertise in developing electric buses and insights from energy consumers to consult on the project."

08:08 EDT Xencor doses first patient in Phase 1 study of XmAb22841 - Xencor announced that the first patient has been dosed in a Phase 1 clinical study to evaluate the safety and tolerability of XmAb22841, both as a monotherapy and in combination with pembrolizumab, in patients with advanced solid tumors. XmAb22841 is a bispecific antibody that simultaneously targets the immune checkpoint receptors CTLA-4 and LAG-3. The Phase 1 dose-escalation and expansion study, which explores XmAb22841 as a monotherapy and in combination with pembrolizumab will characterize the safety and tolerability, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, immunogenicity and preliminary anti-tumor activity of intravenous administration in patients with select advanced solid tumors.

08:07 EDT Seattle Genetics announces additional analyses of ECHELON-1, ECHELON-2 trials - Seattle Genetics announced additional analyses of results from ECHELON-1 and ECHELON-2, the frontline phase 3 trials of ADCETRIS, at the 2019 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting. The ECHELON-1 analysis highlights a three-year update of this phase 3 clinical trial evaluating ADCETRIS in combination with AVD compared to ABVD in stage III or IV frontline classical Hodgkin lymphoma patients, including analyses by cycle 2 PET status and in patients less than 60 years old. In addition, two poster presentations evaluate CD30 expression and response to ADCETRIS treatment in the ECHELON-2 phase 3 clinical trial in peripheral T-cell lymphomas and an analysis of five additional trials in T-cell and B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas. ADCETRIS is an antibody-drug conjugate directed to CD30, a defining marker of classical HL and expressed on the surface of several types of PTCL. Brentuximab Vedotin with Chemotherapy for Stage 3/4 Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma: 3-year Update of the ECHELON-1 Study: This poster presentation examines progression-free survival outcomes per investigator assessment in the intent-to-treat population of 1,334 patients at three-years by PET status and in patients less than 60 years old. As previously reported, the ECHELON-1 trial achieved its primary endpoint with the combination of ADCETRIS plus AVD resulting in a statistically significant improvement in modified PFS versus the control arm of ABVD as assessed by independent review facility. Modified PFS was defined as time to progression, death, or evidence of non-complete response after completion of frontline therapy per IRF followed by subsequent anticancer therapy. Key findings from these analyses include: The three-year PFS for all patients in the ADCETRIS plus AVD arm was 83.1 percent compared to 76 percent in the ABVD arm, a difference of 7.1 percent. PFS benefit at three-years for ADCETRIS plus AVD was observed for all patients independent of PET2 status, including in patients who are less than 60 years old. PET2-negative result was 85.8 percent in the ADCETRIS plus AVD arm compared to 79.5 percent in the ABVD arm, a difference of 6.3 percent. PET2-positive result was 67.7 percent in the ADCETRIS plus AVD arm compared to 51.5 percent in the ABVD arm, a difference of 16.2 percent. Consistent improvement in PFS was observed among patients treated with ADCETRIS plus AVD compared with ABVD across the majority of pre-specified subgroups, including disease stage, age and prognostic score. As previously reported at the primary analysis, on the ADCETRIS plus AVD arm, peripheral neuropathy events were observed in 67 percent of patients compared to 43 percent in the ABVD arm. The three-year analysis shows that among patients with peripheral neuropathy, 78 percent of in the ADCETRIS plus AVD arm and 83 percent in the ABVD arm reported complete resolution or improvement at last follow-up. Response to A+CHP by CD30 Expression in the ECHELON-2 Trial: As previously reported, the ECHELON-2 trial met its primary endpoint with the combination of ADCETRIS plus CHP resulting in a statistically significant improvement in PFS versus the control arm of CHOP per Blinded Independent Central Review. In addition, overall survival in the ADCETRIS plus CHP arm was statistically significant compared to CHOP. Complete remission rate and objective response rate for the ADCETRIS plus CHP arm were also significantly increased. CD30 expression is a hallmark of systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma, but it is variably expressed among non-sALCL PTCL subtypes. As a lack of correlation between CD30 expression and response to ADCETRIS has been previously reported, an analysis was conducted to examine response to ADCETRIS plus CHP by CD30 expression in 57 patients with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma and PTCL-not otherwise specified in the ECHELON-2 study, the two histologies with variable expression. Key findings of this exploratory analysis include: Among AITL and PTCL-NOS patients, the ORR in patients treated with ADCETRIS plus CHP was independent of the level of CD30 expression. CRs and PRs were observed in patients with all levels of CD30 expression, including those with the lowest level of 10 percent. The duration of complete response was not associated with CD30 expression level for patients with AITL or PTCL-NOS. Response to Brentuximab Vedotin by CD30 Expression: Results from Five Trials in PTCL, CTCL, and B-cell Lymphomas: Exploratory analyses were conducted to examine the correlation between pretreatment CD30 expression level and ORR for patients with CD30 expression greater than or equal to 10 percent, less than 10 percent, or undetectable by immunohistochemistry. This analysis examined CD30 expression levels of 275 patients across five clinical studies in relapsed or refractory PTCL, cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, and B-cell NHL. All patients in this analysis were treated with ADCETRIS monotherapy. The key findings include: Responses were observed with ADCETRIS treatment in patients with all levels of CD30 expression, including in patients with no detectable CD30 expression by IHC. Response to ADCETRIS was not associated with CD30 expression level. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved ADCETRIS in combination with AVD for the treatment of adult patients with previously untreated stage III or IV classical HL in March 2018, based on the results of the ECHELON-1 phase 3 clinical trial. The FDA approved ADCETRIS in combination with CHP for the treatment of adult patients with previously untreated sALCL or other CD30-expressing PTCL, including AITL and PTCL-NOS based on the results of the ECHELON-2 phase 3 trial, in November 2018.

08:07 EDT A.O. Smith raises 2019 share repurchase program by 50% to $300M - On June 2, the Board of Directors of A. O. Smith approved adding 3M shares of common stock to an existing discretionary share repurchase authority. Including the additional shares, the company has 7,550,753 shares remaining on the board share repurchase authority. The company increased the amount of its 2019 planned Rule 10b5-1 automatic trading plan and opportunistic share repurchase program from its previously stated $200M to $300M, depending on factors such as stock price, working capital requirements and alternative investment opportunities.

08:05 EDT PTC Therapeutics names Emily Hill as CFO - PTC Therapeutics announced the promotion of Emily Hill to CFO. Hill joined PTC Therapeutics in November 2013 and was most recently Senior Vice President and Head of Investor Relations. Prior to joining PTC Therapeutics, Emily was Director of Investor Relations of Warner Chilcott.

07:59 EDT Endava announces 2 corporate transactions - Endava: "As previously disclosed, Worldpay has an option to purchase Endava Technology SRL, also referred to as 'the Captive,' from us. The Captive is located in Bucharest, Romania and its 138 current employees work exclusively for Worldpay. Worldpay requested, and Endava agreed to allow, an early exercise of the option, which was not exercisable until September 2019. The aggregate purchase price for the Captive is within the previously agreed range as disclosed in Endava's filings with the SEC. The transaction is expected to close during the first quarter of Endava's 2020 fiscal year, subject to Romanian regulatory approval. Upon closing, the employees of the Captive will become employees of Worldpay. In connection with the transaction, Endava has agreed to provide Worldpay certain transition services under the existing Master Services Agreement, or MSA, between Endava and Worldpay, which will remain in place following the closing of the sale of the Captive. This strong relationship is being further strengthened through an extension of volume commitment timelines under the MSA and a potential opportunity to expand our collaboration into the U.S., which remains subject to entry into a binding agreement. Currently 291 Endavans are deployed on Worldpay projects contracted for under the MSA, which is in addition to and separate from the work done by the Captive and its employees for Worldpay. This transaction does not impact Endava's FY19 guidance and we plan to provide FY20 guidance on our next earnings call. Further, in recognition of growing demand for cloud-based CRM expertise as a facilitator for digital transformation, including requirements identified in many of Endava's clients, we are delighted to announce that a 32 person strong team of highly experienced cloud software implementation specialists based in Romania joined Endava on June 1, bringing with them a profitable revenue stream. Endava intends to build on this core to rapidly grow its cloud software implementation capability."

07:52 EDT Macau reports May casino revenue up 1.8% to 25.95B patacas - Macau's gaming bureau reported May gross revenue from games of fortune in the region increased 1.8% year-over-year to 25.95B patacas. Publicly traded companies in the Macau gaming space include Las Vegas Sands (LVS), MGM Resorts (MGM), Wynn Resorts (WYNN) and Melco Resorts (MLCO).

07:43 EDT Seattle Genetics, Astellas announce data from cohort of EV-201 trial - Seattle Genetics (SGEN) and Astellas Pharma (ALPMY) announced that data from the first cohort of a pivotal phase 2 clinical trial known as EV-201 demonstrated that the investigational agent enfortumab vedotin rapidly shrank tumors in most patients, resulting in an objective response rate of 44 percent. Complete responses were observed in 12 percent of patients. The median duration of tumor response was 7.6 months. This cohort was open to patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer who had received previous treatment with a platinum-containing chemotherapy and a PD-1/L1 checkpoint inhibitor. Responses were similar in the subgroups of patients analyzed, including those who had the worst prognosis, such as patients who had three or more previous lines of therapy, patients with liver metastases, and those who had not responded to a PD-1/L1 inhibitor. Treatment-related adverse events that occurred in 40 percent or more of patients were fatigue, alopecia, rash, decreased appetite, taste distortion, and peripheral neuropathy. Enfortumab vedotin is an investigational antibody-drug conjugate that targets Nectin-4, a protein that is highly expressed in urothelial cancers. Based on the results of the EV-201 trial, the companies plan to submit a Biologics License Application for enfortumab vedotin to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration this year. Based on preliminary results from the phase 1 EV-101 trial, the FDA granted enfortumab vedotin Breakthrough Therapy designation for people with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer whose disease has progressed during or following checkpoint inhibitor therapy. A global, randomized phase 3 confirmatory clinical trial is ongoing and is intended to support global registrations. Another trial is underway to evaluate enfortumab vedotin in earlier lines of treatment for patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer, including in combination with pembrolizumab and/or platinum chemotherapy in newly diagnosed patients as well as patients who progressed from earlier-stage disease. In the first cohort of the EV-201 study, 125 patients were treated with enfortumab vedotin. The primary endpoint of confirmed objective response rate was 44 percent per blinded independent central review. The overall duration of response, a key secondary endpoint, was 7.6 months. Most responses occurred within the first cycle of treatment, and were observed across all pre-specified patient subgroups irrespective of lines of therapy, response to prior PD-1/L1 inhibitor, or presence of liver metastases: Three or more prior therapies: 41 percent ORR; Non-responders to PD-1/L1 inhibitors: 41 percent ORR; Liver metastases: 38 percent ORR; Median overall survival was 11.7 months, and the median progression-free survival was 5.8 months. The most common treatment-related adverse events occurring in more than 40 percent of patients were fatigue; alopecia; rash; decreased appetite; taste distortion; and peripheral neuropathy. Most peripheral neuropathy and rash were less than or equal to Grade 2 in severity. Hyperglycemia occurred in 11 percent of patients. The most common severe AEs were: neutropenia - experienced by 8 percent of patients; anemia in 7 percent of patients; and fatigue in 6 percent of patients. One death due to interstitial lung disease occurred outside the safety-reporting period and was confounded by prolonged high-dose steroid use and suspected pneumonia.

07:39 EDT Alpine Immune Sciences appoints Wayne Gombotz as Chief Technology Officer - Alpine Immune Sciences (ALPN) announced the appointment of Wayne Gombotz, PhD as Chief Technology Officer. Dr. Gombotz has more than 30 years' experience in the biotech and pharma industries and most recently served as the Chief Development Officer at Immune Design.

07:37 EDT EPE to be acquired by Infrastructure Investments Fund for $68.25/share - El Paso Electric, or EPE, (EE) and the Infrastructure Investments Fund, an investment vehicle advised by J.P. Morgan Investment Management, or IIF, (JPM) announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which IIF will purchase EPE for $68.25 in cash per share representing an enterprise value of approximately $4.3B. IIF will purchase EPE for $68.25 per share in cash representing an enterprise value of approximately $4.3 billion, including EPE's net debt. The per share purchase price represents a 17% premium to EPE's closing price on May 31, 2019, the last trading day prior to the announcement of the agreement. The agreement has been unanimously approved by EPE's Board of Directors and is expected to close in the first half of 2020, subject to the approval of EPE's shareholders, the receipt of regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. Dividends payable to EPE shareholders will continue in the ordinary course through the closing.

07:34 EDT Intrexon to advance GreenVenus Romaine lettuce to commercial trials - Intrexon announced it is advancing GreenVenus Romaine lettuce to commercial trials. Initial data under commercial indoor production conditions indicate that GreenVenus has improved shelf-life up to 2 weeks and a potential for higher marketable yield with no tip burn. In addition, GreenVenus non-browning lettuce has been assessed by the United States Department of Agriculture and determined not to be subject to regulation under 7CFR Part 340 for plants altered or produced through genetic engineering.

07:33 EDT Zai Lab appoints Valeria Fantin as CSO - Zai Lab announced the appointment of Valeria Fantin as CSO. Fantin will lead the company's internal drug discovery effort on a global basis and will be based in the company's U.S. headquarters in San Francisco, reporting to Samantha Du. Fantin joins Zai Lab from ORIC Pharmaceuticals, where she served as CSO.

07:33 EDT Seattle Genetics, Astellas Pharma: Enfortumab vedotin rapidly shrank tumors - Astellas Pharma (ALPMY) and Seattle Genetics (SGEN) announced that data from the first cohort of a pivotal phase 2 clinical trial known as EV-201 demonstrated that the investigational agent enfortumab vedotin rapidly shrank tumors in most patients, resulting in an objective response rate of 44% (55/125). Complete responses were observed in 12% of patients (15/125). The median duration of tumor response was 7.6 months (range 0.95-11.3+). This cohort was open to patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer who had received previous treatment with a platinum-containing chemotherapy and a PD-1/L1 checkpoint inhibitor. Responses were similar in the subgroups of patients analyzed, including those who had the worst prognosis, such as patients who had three or more previous lines of therapy, patients with liver metastases, and those who had not responded to a PD-1/L1 inhibitor. Treatment-related adverse events that occurred in 40% or more of patients were fatigue, alopecia, rash, decreased appetite, taste distortion, and peripheral neuropathy.

07:32 EDT Takeda announces new data from ad-hoc analysis of Phase 3 HELP Study - Takeda Pharmaceutical announced new data from an ad-hoc analysis of the Phase 3 HELP Study, designed to evaluate the onset of action for TAKHZYRO during days 0-69 of treatment. The analysis suggests that TAKHZYRO starts to prevent hereditary angioedema, or HAE, attacks during this early treatment phase, with patients experiencing an 80.1% decrease in mean monthly attack rate compared to placebo. The results were presented during the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, or EAACI, Congress in Lisbon, Portugal. HAE is a rare, genetic and potentially life-threatening disorder that can result in recurrent attacks of oedema in various parts of the body. The ad-hoc analysis evaluated the efficacy of TAKHZYRO compared with placebo during days 0-69 of treatment using the same approach that was used to evaluate the primary and secondary endpoints during the complete study period. Results from the analysis showed that in patients receiving the recommended starting dose of TAKHZYRO 300 mg every two weeks, there was a significant reduction in mean monthly attack rate compared to placebo. During this initial treatment phase, patients treated with TAKHZYRO 300 mg every two weeks also experienced fewer severe attacks compared to placebo and were more likely to be HAE attack-free compared to those on placebo.

07:30 EDT Nissan CEO says would review Renault relationship after FCA merger - Nissan (NSANY) CEO Hiroto Saikawa said in a statement: "I am aware that FCA's (FCAU) merger proposal will be discussed by Renault's (RNSDF) board this week. I believe that the potential addition of FCA as a new member of the Alliance could expand the playing field for collaboration and create new opportunities for further synergies. That said, the proposal currently being discussed is a full merger which-if realized-would significantly alter the structure of our partner Renault. This would require a fundamental review of the existing relationship between Nissan and Renault. From the standpoint of protecting Nissan's interests, Nissan will analyze and consider its existing contractual relationships and how we should operate business in the future."

07:23 EDT AT&T little changed after Trump suggests people stop using service - Shares of AT&T are down 10c to $30.48 in pre-market trading after President Trump tweeted, "I believe that if people stoped using or subscribing to @ATT, they would be forced to make big changes at @CNN, which is dying in the ratings anyway. It is so unfair with such bad, Fake News! Why wouldn't they act. When the World watches @CNN, it gets a false picture of USA. Sad!"

07:21 EDT Trump announces departure of White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett - President Donald Trump said via Twitter: "Kevin Hassett, who has done such a great job for me and the Administration, will be leaving shortly. His very talented replacement will be named as soon as I get back to the U.S. I want to thank Kevin for all he has done - he is a true friend!" Reference Link

07:20 EDT Misonix receives 510 clearance for Nexus from FDA - Misonix announced that it received 510 clearance by the FDA for Nexus, its ultrasonic surgical platform. Misonix will commence the commercialization of the Nexus platform in the United States in July. Nexus is an integrated ultrasonic surgical platform that combines all the features of Misonix's existing solutions, including BoneScalpel, SonicOne and Sonastar, into a single fully integrated platform that will also serve to power future solutions. The Nexus platform is driven by a new proprietary digital algorithm.

07:15 EDT Avenue Therapeutics Phase 3 tramadol study achieves primary, secondary endpoints - Avenue Therapeutics announced that its second pivotal Phase 3 trial of IV tramadol achieved the primary endpoint of a statistically significant improvement in sum of pain intensity difference over 24 hours, or SPID24, compared to placebo in patients with postoperative pain following abdominoplasty surgery. In addition, the trial met all of its key secondary endpoints. The study also includes a standard-of-care IV opioid as an active comparator: IV morphine 4 mg. In this study, IV tramadol also demonstrated similar efficacy and safety to that of IV morphine. The Phase 3 multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial evaluated the efficacy and safety of IV tramadol in 370 patients following abdominoplasty surgery. Patients were randomized in a 3:3:2 ratio to a postoperative regimen of 50 mg of IV tramadol, placebo, or 4 mg of IV morphine at hours 0, 2, 4 and once every 4 hours thereafter, respectively, for up to 13 doses over the course of 48 hours. Morphine, a standard-of-care analgesic, was included to obtain comparative safety data versus IV Tramadol. The primary efficacy endpoint of the study assessed the analgesic efficacy of IV tramadol compared to placebo as measured by SPID24. The key secondary efficacy endpoints included Patient Global Assessment at 24 hours, SPID48, and total consumption of rescue medicine through 24 hours. A key safety objective of the study was to compare the safety and tolerability of IV tramadol to IV morphine. IV tramadol 50 mg achieved the primary endpoint of statistically superior improvement in pain relief as measured by the SPID24 compared to placebo, as well as met all three key secondary endpoints. IV tramadol and IV morphine demonstrated similar efficacy benefits in the study. IV tramadol was well-tolerated with no drug-related serious adverse events in the trial. Most adverse events were mild or moderate with only 2 patients experiencing a Grade 3 event.

07:09 EDT Rexford Industrial acquires two industrial properties for $34.5M - Rexford Industrial Realty announced the acquisition of two industrial properties for a total of $34.5M. The acquisitions were funded using cash on hand. The company acquired 218 S. Turnbull Canyon Road, located in the City of Industry within the LA - San Gabriel Valley submarket, for $27.1M, or $142 per square foot. The company also acquired 9750 San Fernando Road, located in Sun Valley within the LA - Greater San Fernando Valley submarket, for $7.4M, or $63 per land square foot.

07:08 EDT Murphy Oil announce close of Gulf acquisition, provides updated production view - Murphy Oil announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Murphy Exploration & Production Company - USA, has closed the previously announced strategic deep water Gulf of Mexico acquisition from LLOG Exploration Offshore, L.L.C. and LLOG Bluewater Holdings, or LLOG. The transaction was previously announced on April 23, with an effective date of January 1. After taking into account customary closing adjustments, Murphy's total cash consideration paid was $1.23 billion, which was funded primarily through the company's $1.6 billion revolver and other sources of liquidity. The acquired assets will be fully owned by Murphy Exploration & Production Company - USA and not part of MP Gulf of Mexico, or MP GOM, the entity which currently owns all of Murphy's legacy producing Gulf of Mexico assets. During the month of June, after accounting for a planned curtailment from a third-party downstream pipeline outage, the average net production for the acquired assets is expected to be approximately 22,000 to 24,000 Boepd. Following the temporary downstream pipeline outage, Murphy anticipates production for the acquired assets for the second half of the year to be 31,000 to 33,000 Boepd, which is in line with previously disclosed annualized production of 32,000 to 35,000 Boepd.

07:07 EDT TuanChe to acquire Longye for U.S. equivalent of RMB200M - TuanChe announced that it entered into a share purchase agreement with, among other parties, Longye, a company incorporated in the Cayman Islands. Pursuant to the agreement, the company has agreed to acquire the entire equity interest in Longye for a U.S.-dollar equivalent of RMB200M in the form of cash and the company's securities in aggregate. According to the agreement and subject to customary closing conditions, the company agreed to extend a bridge loan of a U.S.-dollar equivalent of RMB100M upon the execution of the agreement and other related documents, credit this bridge loan to the cash portion of the purchase price and issue 8,366,444 Class A ordinary shares of the company to the selling shareholders of Longye. The consideration shares are calculated by dividing a US-dollar equivalent of RMB100M by the average closing price of the company's shares during the thirty-day period ended on May 10. The consideration shares will be subject to contractual restrictions on transfer. Additionally, 20%, 30%, and 50% of consideration shares will have contractual restrictions lifted on January 1, 2020; January 1, 2021 and January 1, 2022, respectively. The acquisition of Longye is subject to the relevant corporate approvals, customary closing conditions, and pre-acquisition corporate restructuring. There is no assurance that any such procedures or transactions will be completed in a timely manner, or at all. Longye has been a system developer that develops and implements social customer relationship management cloud systems for China's automotive industry since June 2013.

07:05 EDT Micronet Ltd. announces new orders of $1M - MICT announced that on June 2, Micronet Ltd. announced that on May 31, it received two purchase orders totaling $1M for the supply and delivery of its TREQ VMX platform. Micronet Ltd., an entity in which MICT has a voting stake of approximately 39.53%, received the purchase orders from a leading U.S. telematics service provider and a current Micronet customer. The TREQ VMX platform is a rugged portable mobile date terminal, installed in the driver's cabin, which enables the monitoring and management of a vehicle fleet.

07:04 EDT Bow Street says Glass Lewis recommends vote for its Mack-Cali nominees - Bow Street, an investment firm that beneficially owns approximately 4.5% of the outstanding shares of common stock of Mack-Cali Realty, announced that Glass, Lewis & Co., has recommended that Mack-Cali shareholders vote the GOLD proxy card "FOR" the election of Bow Street's director nominees MaryAnne Gilmartin and Frederic Cumenal in connection with Mack-Cali's Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be held June 12, 2019. Glass Lewis' recommendation follows Institutional Shareholder Services' recommendation that Mack-Cali shareholders vote the GOLD proxy card "FOR" Bow Street's nominees MaryAnne Gilmartin, Nori Gerardo Lietz and Alan Batkin. In making its recommendation "FOR" Bow Street's nominees Glass Lewis noted: "In short, we believe Mack-Cali's long-term TSR underperformance, multiple shifts in strategies and management through the years, disparate asset portfolio at times, lack of sustainable asset or share value creation, potentially insurmountable financial leverage, persistent trading discount and seemingly limited strategic and financial alternatives, coupled with what appears to remain a somewhat weak corporate governance structure with certain hallmarks of an entrenched board (i.e., founding family shareholder and chairman, lengthy director tenures, long-standing relationships between certain directors, potentially misaligned incentives and interests)...we see ample grounds for shareholders to support incremental board change at this time."

07:03 EDT Armata Pharmaceuticals announces new patent allowances in Europe, Canada - Armata Pharmaceuticals announced that the company continues to strengthen its intellectual property portfolio with the allowance of two patents by the European Patent Office and one allowance by the Canadian Intellectual Property Office. These newly allowed patents cover various aspects of Armata's bacteriophage program, and its lead product candidate, AP-SA01, which is in development against various diseases or indications caused by Staphylococcus aureus.

07:00 EDT Avenue Therapeutics trading halted, news pending

06:53 EDT Tronox announces up to $100M share repurchase program - Tronox announced its board has authorized the repurchase of up to $100M of the company's stock. "This authorization to repurchase shares is consistent with our long-term capital allocation priorities of deleveraging, investing in high-return organic projects to lower our costs and opportunistically returning capital to shareholders," said Jeffry Quinn, chairman and CEO of Tronox. "We believe our shares are drastically undervalued and repurchasing shares at the current price is a high-return use of a portion of our discretionary capital that will not impact our ability to achieve our deleveraging commitments or our timeline to deliver the substantial synergies resulting from the Cristal acquisition."

06:46 EDT Denison Mines begins environmental impact assessment for Wheeler River project - Denison Mines announced that the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, or CNSC, and the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment, or SK MOE, have accepted the provincial technical proposal and federal project description submitted by Denison for the In-Situ Recovery, or ISR, uranium mine and processing plant proposed for the company's 90% owned Wheeler River Project. Denison also announced that it has executed a series of memoranda of understanding, or MOUs, with indigenous communities in support of the advancement of the project. Acceptance of the project description is the first formal step to officially commence the EIA process in accordance with the requirements of both the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012 and The Environmental Assessment Act. The project description outlines the major components of the project and the potential interactions with the environment. The CNSC and the SK MOE are expected to carry out a coordinated Federal-Provincial EIA that will follow the spirit of the Canada-Saskatchewan Agreement on Environmental Assessment Cooperation, to the extent possible. The cooperation agreement allows for the production of a single environmental impact statement for the Project, which is intended to present the findings of the EIA in accordance with the requirements of both levels of government. The company said a successful EIA process is critical to securing the approvals necessary to develop and operate a mine in Canada. Accordingly, Denison plans to initiate various studies and assessments as part of the EIA process, which is intended to culminate in the preparation of the Project EIS. The EIA is a planning and decision-making tool, which involves predicting potential environmental effects throughout the project lifecycle at the site, and within the local and regional assessment areas. The EIA objectives are to minimize or avoid adverse environmental effects before they occur and incorporate environmental factors into decision making processes. In addition to predictions made, effective monitoring programs will be developed based on results of the assessments and implemented. The EIA work builds upon the environmental baseline dataset Denison has prepared for the project, and feedback collected from engagement activities completed to date. After careful consideration of the economic results produced by the pre-feasibility study, prepared in accordance with NI 43-101 for the project in late 2018, Denison and the Wheeler River joint venture approved plans to initiate the EIA process as well as the engineering studies and related programs required to advance the development of an ISR mining operation, highlighted by the high-grade Phoenix deposit, with an on-site processing plant.

06:38 EDT SM Energy promotes Herbert Vogel to COO - SM Energy announces that the company's board has appointed Herbert Vogel to the position of COO. Vogel joined the company in 2012 and has served in the role of Executive Vice President - Operations since August 2014.

06:35 EDT Epizyme reports new data from Phase 2 Trial of Tazemetostat at ASCO - Epizyme reported updated data on tazemetostat from the epithelioid sarcoma cohort of its ongoing Phase 2 study in patients with molecularly defined solid tumors. Favorable safety and tolerability have been observed with tazemetostat in this Phase 2 study cohort. The majority of treatment-emergent adverse events were grade 1 or 2, with only 13% of patients experiencing grade 3 or higher treatment-related TEAEs. Reported TEAEs regardless of attribution with an incidence of 10% or greater were fatigue (39%), nausea (35%), cancer pain (32%), decreased appetite (26%), constipation (21%), vomiting (24%), cough and headache (18% each), diarrhea, weight decrease and anemia (16% each), dyspnea (13%) and plural effusion (11.% ). Two percent of patients were dose-reduced due to an adverse event and one patient discontinued treatment due to an adverse event in the Phase 2 cohort. The safety data from the 62 epithelioid sarcoma patients in the study cohort are consistent with the overall safety observed to date in over 800 people in the tazemetostat clinical program. Dr. Shefali Agarwal, chief medical officer of Epizyme said, "We are pleased that the data presented today are consistent with what we have seen throughout our development of tazemetostat for epithelioid sarcoma, demonstrating meaningful clinical activity and good tolerability. Importantly, the totality of these data formed the foundation for our first NDA submission, which we just announced last week. If we are successful, tazemetostat would be the first FDA-approved EZH2 inhibitor."

06:28 EDT DuPont announces $2B share buyback program - DuPont announced that its board of directors approved a $2B share buyback program which expires on June 1, 2021. Under the stock buyback program, shares of the company's common stock may be repurchased periodically in open market or private transactions. The actual timing, number and value of shares repurchased under the program will be determined by management at its discretion and will depend on a number of factors, including the market price of DuPont's common stock, general market and economic conditions, applicable legal requirements and other business considerations.

06:25 EDT Humana confirms it will not propose merger with Centene

06:16 EDT Futu obtains clearing license in U.S. - Futu Holdings recently announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary in the U.S., Futu Clearing Inc., has been officially granted a clearing license by the United States SEC and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. With the clearing license and Futu's proprietary clearing system, the company will be able to provide clearing, settlement and asset custody services to customers and other introducing brokers in the U.S, which will enable Futu to capture the full cycle of client trades and maintain custody of its clients' assets.

06:14 EDT Maxar Technologies awarded multiple contracts worth more than $95M - Maxar Technologies announced that it was awarded multiple contracts in the first quarter to provide innovative Earth intelligence solutions to U.S. government agencies, with a total value of more than $95M.

06:08 EDT Greenbrier appoints Adrian Downes CFO - Greenbrier announced that its senior VP and acting CFO, Adrian Downes, has been appointed CFO. In addition to continuing his duties managing Greenbrier's accounting, tax, internal audit and IT functions, Downes will also serve as the company's principal financial and accounting Oofficer. He continues to report to Lorie Tekorius, executive VP and COO. Downes has more than 30 years of accounting and finance experience in a variety of industries, both with publicly held and privately held companies. Before joining Greenbrier in 2013 as its CAO, he was executive VP and CFO for Knowledge Universe, a private-equity owned early childhood education provider.

06:07 EDT Ultra Petroleum backs FY19 production guidance 240-250 Bcfe - Production guidance for full-year 2019 remains unchanged at 240-250 Bcfe while capital investment guidance for full-year 2019 is reduced by $15M to a new range of $305M-$335M. In May, the company drilled 3 wells with spud to total depth times of less than 6 days, compared to its first quarter average of 8.05 days. Improved drilling cycle-time performance and higher working interest in wells planned for the remainder of the year provides for 2019 production guidance to remain unchanged while 2019 capital investment is reduced by approximately 5%. "Our team continues to improve drilling cycle-time performance. As a result, we are drilling wells faster and can accomplish our 2019 plan with the adjustment down to two operated rigs for the remainder of the year. With increased drilling efficiency, along with higher working interest in wells planned for the remainder of the year, we are maintaining full year production guidance, reducing capital investment and moving the Company closer to its projection of free cash flow in the fourth quarter of 2019," said Ultra Petroleum's President and CEO Brad Johnson.

06:05 EDT Credit Suisse names Zhenyi Tang as CEO of China - Credit Suisse announced the appointment of Zhenyi Tang as CEO China. Based in Beijing, Tang will drive the execution of Credit Suisse's strategy in China across its business and regulatory activities. He will have oversight of the bank's onshore entities, and report to Helman Sitohang, CEO Asia Pacific of Credit Suisse. Tang will join Credit Suisse this month and will be a member of the bank's Asia Pacific Operating Committee. His appointment follows Credit Suisse's announcement in April of its plan to increase its stake in its onshore securities joint venture to 51%, subject to regulatory approvals, and the recent appointment of Shan Li to the Board of Directors of Credit Suisse Group AG. Li is the second Asia-based member of the Board of Directors, alongside Kai S. Nargolwala. In the past eight years, Tang held various executive roles at CITIC Group in Beijing and Hong Kong, most recently as Chairman and Executive Committee member of CLSA Limited in Hong Kong, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CITIC Securities.

06:04 EDT Continental Materials acquires American Wheatley and Global Flow Products - Continental Materials announces the acquisition of American Wheatley HVAC and Global Flow Products based in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. With this acquisition, CMC expands its commercial HVAC reach and capabilities, and adds manufacturing expertise in a number of new markets. GFP is a family-owned business with over 40 years' experience in providing American Wheatley HVAC branded products, including a broad line of ASME pressure vessels, custom fabricated products, valves, strainers and other hydronic accessories, for discerning commercial HVAC customers. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

06:01 EDT Hospitality Properties to buy net lease portfolio from Spirit MTA REIT for $2.4B

05:57 EDT Infineon to acquire Cypress Semiconductor for $23.85 per share

05:42 EDT Novartis to present new data, trial updates in NSCLC at ASCO - Novartis (NVS) announced new data and clinical trial updates in non-small cell lung cancer, or NSCLC, at the ASCO 2019 Annual Meeting. This includes primary efficacy results from the GEOMETRY mono-1 Phase II clinical trial demonstrating that investigational MET inhibitor capmatinib shows promise as a potential treatment option for patients with locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC that harbor MET exon-14 skipping mutation. There are currently no approved targeted therapies to treat this particularly aggressive form of NSCLC. Results of the Phase II study will be presented at an oral session at ASCO. Primary analysis of investigational capmatinib in the GEOMETRY mono-1 study demonstrates promising efficacy in patients with locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC harboring MET exon-14 skipping mutation. Overall response rate among patients receiving capmatinib was 68% for treatment-naive and 41% for previously treated patients; median duration of response was also clinically meaningful irrespective of prior line of therapy. Capmatinib is an investigational, oral and selective MET inhibitor licensed to Novartis by Incyte (INCY) in 2009. Under the Agreement, Incyte granted Novartis worldwide exclusive development and commercialization rights to capmatinib and certain back-up compounds in all indications.

05:32 EDT Genentech: POLYP 1, POLYP 2 Phase III trials met co-primary, secondary endpoints - Genentech, a member of the Roche Group (RHHBY), announced positive topline data from two Phase III multicenter studies evaluating Xolair for the treatment of adults with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps, or CRSwNP, who have not adequately responded to intranasal corticosteroids. The POLYP 1 and POLYP 2 Phase III trials met both co-primary endpoints and key secondary endpoints. Xolair, an injectable biologic medicine designed to target and block immunoglobulin E, or IgE, was shown to be well tolerated and the safety profile was consistent with that observed in previous studies in people with moderate to severe allergic asthma and chronic idiopathic urticaria. The co-primary endpoints of POLYP 1 and POLYP 2 were change from baseline in Nasal Polyp Score and change from baseline in average daily Nasal Congestion Score over 24 weeks. Xolair demonstrated statistically significant and clinically relevant improvements in both of these co-primary outcomes. Patients enrolled in the study included those with and without a history of surgery. Key secondary endpoints were met, including improvement in smell, post-nasal drip, runny nose and the Sino-Nasal Outcome Test-22, or SNOT-22, health-related quality of life assessment. In the U.S., Genentech and Novartis Pharmaceuticals (NVS) work together to develop and co-promote Xolair.

05:22 EDT Boeing says one batch of slat tracks found to have a potential nonconformance - Boeing (BA) said yesterday in a statement that it is working with the Federal Aviation Administration and has contacted 737 operators advising them to inspect the slat track assemblies on certain airplanes. "One batch of slat tracks with specific lot numbers produced by a supplier was found to have a potential nonconformance. If operators find the parts in question, they are to replace them with new ones before returning the airplane to service," Boeing announced. Slat tracks are used to guide the slats located on the leading edge of an airplane's wings. Boeing has not been informed of any in-service issues related to this batch of slat tracks. Boeing is now "staging replacement parts at customer bases to help minimize aircraft downtime while the work is completed. Once the new parts are in hand, the replacement work should take one to two days. Boeing will also issue a safety service bulletin outlining the steps to take during the inspections." Boeing has identified 21 737 NGs most likely to have the parts in question. A separate service bulletin will go to 737 MAX operators to do inspections before the MAX fleet returns to service, added the company. Boeing identified 20 737 MAX airplanes that are most likely to have the parts in question. Operators will be asked to check an additional 159 MAXs to ensure a thorough assessment. Boeing has identified Spirit AeroSystems (SPR) as the supplier of the faulty slat tracks, according to Bloomberg. Reference Link

05:18 EDT FTD Companies files voluntary Chapter 11 petitions - FTD Companies announced that the company and substantially all of its domestic subsidiaries have filed voluntary petitions commencing cases under Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware to facilitate the completion of strategic initiatives resulting from the company's previously announced strategic review. The company intends to use the court-supervised restructuring process to support and protect its ongoing business operations, including its relationships with member florists and business partners, to provide an efficient and binding mechanism for the potential sales of its businesses and to address a near-term debt maturity. The company is operating in the ordinary course and remains focused on supporting its extensive network of member florists and business partners connected by its iconic FTD brand in North America and Latin America. The company's other businesses, including ProFlowers, Shari's Berries and Personal Creations, are also continuing to provide floral, specialty foods, gifts and related products to consumers. The company has received commitments for up to approximately $94.5M in debtor-in-possession, or DIP, financing from a syndicate comprised of its existing lenders. Upon approval by the Bankruptcy Court, this financing, combined with cash generated from the company's ongoing operations, will be used to, among other things, support the business during the court-supervised restructuring process. The company has filed pleadings, referred to as "first day motions," with the Bankruptcy Court. The relief sought in the first day motions is expected to enable the company to continue to support its business operations during the restructuring process, including by continuing payments and services to member florists and business partners without interruption, managing its continuing relationships with vendors and customers and paying wages and benefits for continuing employees. The company has entered into a definitive asset purchase agreement with an affiliate of Nexus Capital, a California-based private equity sponsor, to acquire the company's North America and Latin America florist and consumer business, including ProFlowers. The purchase price is $95M in cash, subject to customary adjustments. The company also announced that it is restructuring its ProFlowers business to better support the FTD florist network and to reduce costs. Under the new operating model, floral order fulfilment and distribution for ProFlowers are being transitioned to the FTD florist network and third-party fulfilment partners. The ProFlowers website will continue to serve customers and process orders. Under the asset purchase agreement with Nexus Capital, Nexus Capital would acquire the as-restructured ProFlowers business. The company has sold its Interflora business in the U.K. to a subsidiary of The Wonderful Company for $59.5M in cash. The Interflora business operated independently from FTD's North America and Latin America businesses and it is not part of the Chapter 11 filing.

05:12 EDT Blackstone to buy U.S. logistics assets from GLP for $18.7B - GLP and Blackstone announced that they have entered into an agreement for Blackstone to acquire assets from three of GLP's U.S. funds for a purchase price of $18.7B. This overall transaction totals 179M square feet of urban, infill logistics assets, nearly doubling the size of Blackstone's existing U.S. industrial footprint. Blackstone Real Estate's global opportunistic BREP strategy will acquire 115M square feet for $13.4B and its income-oriented non-listed REIT, Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, will acquire 64M square feet for $5.3B.