Stockwinners Market Radar for September 11, 2019 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

20:03 EDT General Electric completes reduction of ownership in Baker Hughes, netting $2.7B - GE (GE) announced the reduction of its ownership in Baker Hughes (BHGE) through a public offering of 115 million shares of Class A common stock of BHGE and a concurrent private sale to BHGE of ownership interests in BHGE. The offering upsized and priced today at a price to the public of $21.50 per share. The underwriters have a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 17.25 million shares of Class A common stock from GE or one or more of its affiliates. The offering is expected to close on September 16, 2019, subject to customary closing conditions. In addition, GE is selling to BHGE, in a privately negotiated transaction, $250 million of shares of BHGE Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, together with an equal number of associated membership interests of Baker Hughes, a GE company, LLC, at a price equal to the price per share at which the underwriters will purchase shares of Class A common stock from GE in the offering. The repurchase is expected to be completed immediately following the offering on September 16, 2019. Although the repurchase is conditioned upon the closing of the offering, the closing of the offering is not conditioned upon the closing of the repurchase. Combined net proceeds of the offering and the repurchase will be approximately $2.7 billion, or approximately $3.0 billion assuming full exercise of the underwriters' option to purchase additional shares in the offering.

19:27 EDT Amgen granted orphan status for Acute Myeloid Leukemia treatment - The FDA granted Amgen orphan status for its treatment of Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Reference Link

19:03 EDT Fly Intel: After Hours Movers - UP AFTER EARNINGS: Evolution Petroleum (EPM) up 4.0%. ALSO HIGHER: Eyepoint Pharma (EYPT) up 2.5% after being initiated with Buy at Guggenheim... Yelp (YELP) up 2.5% after WSJ speculation about potential acquisition interest from Groupon (GRPN), which is down 4.0%. DOWN AFTER EARNINGS: Tailored Brands (TLRD) down 25.3%... Aurora Cannabis (ACB) down 10.5%... Oxford Industries (OXM) down 9.2%... Oracle (ORCL) down 1.9%. ALSO LOWER: Celsius Holdings (CELH) down 17.3% after equity offering... Catalyst Pharma (CPRX) down 9.8% after equity offering... DXC Technology (DXC) down 6.8% after announcing resignation of CEO... Landstar (LSTR) down 5.2% after negative Q3 pre-announcement, saying it will not meet low end of Q3 earnings guidance... Apellis Pharma (APLS) down 4.3% after convertible debt offering... Fate Therapeutics (FATE) down 3.7% after equity offering... Amneal Pharma (AMRX) down 1.7% after being initiated with Sell at Guggenheim. Movers as of 18:30ET.

18:42 EDT Ansys to acquire Livermore Software Technology for $775M - Ansys announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Livermore Software Technology Corporation. The purchase price for the transaction is $775M, of which 60% of the consideration will be paid in cash and 40% will be paid through the issuance of ANSYS common stock to the current owners of LSTC. In conjunction with the transaction, ANSYS anticipates obtaining new debt financing to fund all or a significant portion of the cash component of the purchase price.

18:17 EDT Microsoft EVP Hogan sells 40K shares of common stock - In a regulatory filing, Microsoft disclosed that its EVP of Human Resources Kathleen Hogan sold 40K shares of common stock on September 10th. The total transaction size was $5.41M.

18:07 EDT Talos Energy receives extension and approval for offshore Mexico exploration - Talos Energy (TALO) has received a two-year contract term extension as well as regulatory approvals for additional exploration activities on Block 7, located in the offshore portion of Mexico's Sureste Basin. Talos is the operator of Block 7 in a consortium with its partners Sierra Oil & Gas, a Wintershall DEA company, and Premier Oil (PMOIY). The extended contract term in combination with the expanded plan allows the Consortium to evaluate additional exploration prospects on the block in the future following the appraisal of the Zama discovery completed earlier this year. The Consortium has identified multiple potential exploration targets on Block 7, with typical gross unrisked resources ranges between 75-150 MMBoe each. The Block 7 production sharing contract requires the Consortium to relinquish approximately half the acreage on Block 7 upon obtaining the two-year term extension, but the Block 7 modified exploration plan, approved by CNH, retains the acreage covering all of the Consortium's identified potential exploration targets. The Consortium is continuing its Zama unitization discussions with Petroleos Mexicanos while simultaneously moving forward with its Front-End Engineering and Design work in anticipation of a 2020 FID milestone.

18:04 EDT Oracle CEO Catz says outside North America, licenses grew - Says there are no macro issues in the quarter. Comments taken from Q1 earnings conference call Q/A.

18:01 EDT Oracle's Ellison: 13% of autonomous users had not bought Oracle database before

17:54 EDT Novelion Therapeutics announces U.S. court confirmation of Aegerion case - Novelion Therapeutics announced that, further to its press release dated August 30, 2019, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York entered an order on September 10, 2019 confirming Aegerion's First Amended Joint Chapter 11 Plan, as modified to reflect certain resolutions agreed to among various parties. On May 20, 2019, as previously disclosed, Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Aegerion Pharmaceuticals Holdings, Inc., each a subsidiary of the company, filed voluntary petitions under chapter 11 of Title 11 of the United States Code in the Bankruptcy Court. As a result of confirmation of the Plan, the Bankruptcy Court has authorized Aegerion to consummate the transactions contemplated by the Plan, including the acquisition by Amryt Pharma Plc of 100 percent of the outstanding equity interests of the reorganized Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. A meeting of the Plan Investor's shareholders to consider approval of the acquisition is currently scheduled for September 19, 2019. If the Plan Investor's shareholders approve the acquisition, the Plan Investor expects the closing of the acquisition to take place on or about September 24, 2019.

17:48 EDT AT&T provides Q3, FY20 outlook - John Stephens, CFO of AT&T, spoke earlier at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Media, Communications & Entertainment conference in Los Angeles. While there, he discussed the company's plans for the remainder of 2019 and into 2020. Stephens said the company is focused on executing its strategy to create more value for WarnerMedia's great content by pairing it with massive direct-to-consumer distribution that is already driving higher penetration for WarnerMedia content like HBO. AT&T is unique in the industry with its capabilities across content, distribution and advertising. The three businesses are working together at an accelerated pace and coordinating on key initiatives like the launch of HBO Max in spring 2020. In the first half of 2019, AT&T did exactly what the company said it would do at its late 2018 analyst event. And the company expects to continue delivering on these commitments throughout the year. Wireless service revenues were up 2.6% through the first half of 2019 with expectations for continued quarter-over-quarter growth in the second half of the year, even with strong quarterly results from 2018. Entertainment Group EBITDA was up nearly 4% in the first half of the year, and AT&T continues to expect full-year stability. AT&T continues to expect WarnerMedia run-rate synergies to reach $700M by the end of the year and is moving forward with plans to launch HBO Max in spring 2020. And AT&T's strong network performance continued. AT&T has been recognized as having the nation's best wireless network for the 2nd straight year and fastest wireless network for the 2nd straight quarter. The company's FirstNet build is ahead of schedule, and AT&T continues to lead in 5G. AT&T plans to have 5G in parts of 29 cities by yearend and nationwide 5G coverage on sub-6 GHz spectrum by the first half of 2020. AT&T expects some trends to affect consolidated revenues in the third quarter of 2019: lower wireless equipment revenues driven by continued low upgrade rates, but with no impact on margins; a tough comparison to a number of second-half 2018 hit movies at Warner Bros., which the company expects to lower WarnerMedia revenues by about $400M, but with no overall impact to the company's 2019 EPS guidance; and continued adverse foreign exchange impacts in Latin America, but with offsetting effects on operating expenses. In its Entertainment Group, the company continued to execute on its deliberate strategy to manage costs and focus on high-value customers to stabilize EG EBITDA. Coming into the year, the company expected some tough content negotiations, specifically for retransmission deals. Stephens said the company has been holding a hard line in negotiations, which is allowing it to achieve its content cost management goals. In the third quarter, Stephens said the company expects an incremental 300,000 to 350,000 premium video losses above the previous quarter's premium video results, driven by: aggressively managing costs with retransmission negotiations, some of which resulted in content provider black outs; and from limiting promotional pricing. In 2020, AT&T expects premium TV subscriber trends to improve due to far fewer customers on promotional pricing and the nationwide launch of AT&T TV, which delivers a premium streaming experience. Other factors that may help improve Entertainment Group EBITDA beyond 2019 include: broadband growth due to increased fiber penetration and availability of higher speeds; a higher-quality video and broadband customer base with lower churn and higher ARPU; continued cost management; advertising growth from Xandr and less pressure from declining legacy products. Also beyond 2019, AT&T sees catalysts for sustained growth in wireless revenues from postpaid smartphone growth; FirstNet expansion; higher unlimited plan penetration; Cricket subscriber growth; less pressure from reseller; and 5G leadership. Stephens said AT&T is on track with its de-leveraging plans and expects to meet its 2.5x net debt-to-adjusted EBITDA leverage target by EOY through free cash flow and asset monetization. Stephens said given the company's confidence in reaching its leverage target, investors should expect share buybacks will be in the mix this year. He said the company continues to expect to raise between $6B-$8B - net of spectrum or other acquisitions - by the end of 2019. Stephens said the company's asset monetization opportunities include optionality with its tower portfolios in the United States and Mexico and that, in addition to $2.2B in real estate already sold, real estate valued at about $500M is up for sale. AT&T also continues to expect free cash flow in the $28B range for full-year 2019.

17:42 EDT Oracle co-CEO Catz says currency movements saw modest impact on Q1 results - Says Q1 typically our smallest quarter and we tend to see more volatility in licenses in the quarter. Says Vertical SaaS growth was up single digits. Says over 90% of application revenue and more than three quarters of infrastructure revenue are now recurring. Comments taken from Q1 earnings conference call.

17:22 EDT NXP Semiconductors VP Keith Shull sells almost $454K in company shares - NXP Semiconductors VP Keith Shull disclosed in a filing that he had sold 4,196 shares of company stock at an average price of $108.14 per share on September 10. The total transaction value of the sale was $$453,749.

17:09 EDT Dr. Reddy's facing hazardous materials situation in Middleburgh, New York - According to a tweet from Albany, New York news anchor Anne McCloy, a hazardous materials situation is unfolding at Dr. Reddy's Laboratories. The tweet stated, "Sheriff says Hazmat situation unfolding right now at Dr. Reddy's Laboratories in Middleburgh (Schoharie County, NY). Residents within a 2-mile radius are being told to shelter in place. Sheriff tells [CBS reporter Emily DeFeciani] situation under control." In after-hours trading, shares of Dr. Reddy's were down 1.78%.

17:01 EDT DXC Technology names Mike Salvino as new CEO - DXC Technology announced that the company's board has elected Mike Salvino as President and CEO effective today. Salvino succeeds Mike Lawrie, who has served as DXC's Chairman, President and CEO since the company's formation in 2017. Lawrie has announced his retirement as President and CEO and will retire as DXC's board chair on Dec. 31, 2019. Salvino most recently served as a managing director at Carrick Capital Partners, a private equity firm focused on the technology sector.

16:54 EDT Guidewire director Andrew Brown sells almost $300K of company shares - Guidewire director Andrew Brown disclosed in a filing that he had sold 2,800 shares of company stock at an average price of $107.08 per share on September 10. The total transaction value of the sale was $299,824.

16:45 EDT Landstar System trading resumes

16:33 EDT BeiGene to present tislelizumab clinical data at CSCO - BeiGene announced that clinical data on its investigational anti-PD-1 antibody tislelizumab, its investigational BTK inhibitor zanubrutinib, and its investigational PARP inhibitor pamiparib, will be presented in seven oral presentations and four poster presentations at the 22nd Annual Meeting of the Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology, taking place September 18-22, 2019 in Xiamen, China.

16:27 EDT Spotify Chief Accounting Officer Luca Baratta to resign - In a regulatory filing, Spotify disclosed that effective September 16, 2019, Luca Baratta will resign from his position as Chief Accounting Officer. The company will appoint Paul Sawyer as its new Chief Accounting Officer to replace Mr. Baratta. Mr. Sawyer is currently the Controller of the company. Mr. Baratta's departure is not the result of any disagreement with the company's accounting principles or practices.

16:24 EDT Gladstone Land CEO buys 210K shares of common stock - In a regulatory filing, Gladstone Land disclosed that its CEO David Gladstone bought 210K shares of common stock on September 9-10. The total transaction size was $2.49M.

16:19 EDT Artisan Partners reports AUM as of August 31 $111.5B - Artisan Partners Asset Management reported that its assets under management as of August 31 totaled $111.5B. Separate accounts accounted for $58.4B of total firm AUM, while Artisan Funds and Artisan Global Funds accounted for $53.1B.

16:17 EDT Oracle reports Q1 Cloud Services and License Support revenues $6.8B - Q1 Cloud License and On-Premise License revenues were $812M.

16:12 EDT Oracle CEO Catz: Our higher margin cloud business continues to get bigger - "Non-GAAP earnings per share grew 14% in USD and 16% in constant currency," said Oracle CEO, Safra Catz. "As our low margin hardware businesses continue to get smaller, while our higher margin cloud business continues to get bigger, we expect Oracle's operating margins, earnings per share and free cash flow all to grow. We're off to a good start in FY20, and we expect this to be our 3rd consecutive year of double-digit non-GAAP earnings per share growth." "Our cloud ERP businesses, including both Fusion ERP and NetSuite ERP, grew 33% in Q1," said Oracle CEO, Mark Hurd. "We now have over 6,500 Fusion ERP customers and over 18,000 NetSuite ERP customers. This continued strong growth has solidified our number one market leader position in cloud ERP worldwide, and our number one position in the overall applications business in North America." "Autonomy is the defining attribute of a Generation 2 Cloud," said Oracle CTO, Larry Ellison. "Next week at our OpenWorld conference, we will announce more Autonomous Cloud Services to complement the Oracle Autonomous Database. The Autonomous Database is the most successful new product in Oracle's history. We added more than 500 new Autonomous Database cloud customers in Q1, and we expect to more than double that in Q2."

16:11 EDT Oracle reports Q1 short-term deferred revenues $10.1B - Operating cash flow was $13.8B during the trailing twelve months.

16:10 EDT CryoLife signs distribution agreement and purchase option with Endospan - CryoLife has entered into distribution and credit facility agreements with Endospan, as well as an option agreement to purchase Endospan. Endospan is an Israeli-based, privately-held developer of Nexus, the only endovascular stent graft system approved for the repair of both aneurysms and dissections in the aortic arch. The company believes the transaction provides CryoLife with exclusive European distribution rights to Nexus; cross-selling opportunities with CryoLife's existing JOTEC stent graft portfolio; immediate access to the $150M European endovascular aortic arch repair market; access to potential $800M overall global market opportunity for endovascular aortic arch repair pending regulatory approvals; and positions it for accelerating revenue and non-GAAP earnings growth over the next five years even without exercising the option to purchase Endospan. Aortic arch disease patients with aneurysms or dissections who receive treatment have had little choice but to undergo open-chest surgery with its associated invasiveness and risks. CryoLife will acquire the European distribution rights for Nexus and an option to purchase Endospan for a total upfront payment of $10M. Additionally, CryoLife will provide up to $15M in additional debt financing to Endospan subject to Endospan's progress on its U.S. clinical trial in support of an FDA approval for Nexus. CryoLife expects to finance the acquisition of the distribution and option rights and debt financing out of available cash on hand. CryoLife has the right to acquire Endospan at any time until 90 days after receiving notice of FDA approval of the Nexus stent graft system for a total consideration of $250M, plus a guaranteed $100M payment and up to an additional $100M based upon commercial success of NEXUS in the first year post-option exercise. The agreements have been approved by both companies' boards of directors and Endospan's Security Holders. The company does not anticipate the transaction with Endospan to have a material impact on its 2019 financial guidance.

16:09 EDT Great Lakes Dredge announces receipt of $141M in awarded work - Great Lakes Dredge & Dock announced the receipt of several major dredging awards totaling $141M David Simonelli, President of Dredging commented, "We are pleased to announce these significant capital and maintenance dredging awards for our Company. We expect these projects to contribute positively to Great Lakes' performance this year and in 2020 and contribute to the strengthening of the U.S. infrastructure."

16:08 EDT Home Federal Bancorp approves stock repurchase program - Home Federal Bancorp of Louisiana, the holding company for Home Federal Bank, announced that its board at their meeting on September 11, approved the company's ninth stock repurchase program. The new repurchase program provides for the repurchase of up to 90,000 shares, or approximately 5.0% of the company's outstanding common stock from time to time, in open market or privately negotiated transactions. The stock repurchase program does not have an expiration date.

16:07 EDT AGNC Investment reports estimated tangible net book value of $16.25 per share - The company announced its estimated tangible net book value of $16.25 per common share as of August 31. The estimate of tangible net book value includes deductions for the company's August dividend of 16c per common share, which was declared on August 13, with an August 30 record date.

16:01 EDT Landstar System trading halted, news pending

15:46 EDT Tailored Brands to suspend quarterly cash dividend, redeploy capital - Tailored Brands said: "After extensive review, the Board of Directors approved an update to the Company's capital allocation policy. Effective in the fourth quarter, the Company's quarterly cash dividend will be suspended and redeployed for accelerated debt repayment and share repurchases. This does not impact the previously approved quarterly cash dividend of 18C per share payable on September 27, to shareholders of record at the close of business on September 17, 2019. Suspending the quarterly cash dividend of 18C per share is expected to make available approximately $36.5m on an annualized basis. The Company has $48m available for share repurchases under its previously authorized 2013 share repurchase program."

15:04 EDT SWK to continue to deploy capital in life science space, CEO says - SWK Holdings (SWKH) is a specialized finance company with a specific focus on opportunities in the global healthcare sector. In an exclusive interview with The Fly, the company's CEO Winston Black talked about ongoing opportunities: "The time of closing additional deals is always difficult to predict and it's somewhat uncertain, but there are a lot of very interesting opportunities that we're currently working on. That includes, of course, working with our existing portfolio companies and with their growth plans, as well as partnering with new folks as well. Based on everything that we're looking at, we do expect to continue to deploy capital in the life science space." "Meet the Company" is The Fly's recurring series of exclusive short interviews with Executive Officers to offer a deeper look inside the company. The remainder of this interview to follow.

14:50 EDT Curtiss-Wright CFO Tynan sells 10,000 common shares - In a regulatory filing, Curtiss Wright vice president and CFO Glenn E. Tynan disclosed the sale of 10,000 common shares of the company at a price of $128.1373 per share.

14:31 EDT Tailored Brands trading halted, news pending

14:10 EDT AT&T CFO says carriage disputes to have some impact on Q3 subscriber totals - AT&T CFO John Stephens said carriage disputes will have some impact on Q3 subscriber totals, but added that he "feels good" about how the company is tracking to its fiscal year EBITDA target for the Entertainment business. Stephens made the comments while presenting at the Bank of America Communications & Entertainment Conference.

14:06 EDT SWK CEO expects Nasdaq listing to be good for shareholders - SWK Holdings (SWKH) is a specialized finance company with a specific focus on opportunities in the global healthcare sector. In an exclusive interview with The Fly, the company's CEO Winston Black talked about SWK Holdings' formal application to list its common stock on the Nasdaq: "The up listing to the Nasdaq is important because it allows us to do a couple things. First and assuming that we do get up listed, it will be an upgrade of the quality of listing in terms of signifying everything that a Nasdaq listed company would represent relative to an OTC listed company. I think that's important. And then of course, what comes along with that is expanding the potential universe of investors as many don't generally look at OTC listed Securities. The board is anticipating that by upgrading the listing and expanding the potential range of investors evaluating SWK it would be good for the company's shareholders. From the business perspective, when we interact with various counterparties being a Nasdaq listed company will also be a signifier to those parties relative to us being an OTC listed - in terms of being a higher quality company, better run and so forth." "Meet the Company" is The Fly's recurring series of exclusive short interviews with Executive Officers to offer a deeper look inside the company. The remainder of this interview to follow.

13:53 EDT AT&T CFO says seeing some slowness recently in wireless upgrade rates

13:46 EDT AT&T CFO says 'only have 40 year head start' with HBO - AT&T CFO John Stephens, asked about streaming and the company's plans for HBO Max, said he feels "really, really good" about the company's plans, noting that AT&T "only has a 40 year head start" with its "premium of the premium" HBO assets.

13:42 EDT SWK CEO sees core as commercialized life science products - SWK Holdings (SWKH) is a specialized finance company with a specific focus on opportunities in the global healthcare sector. In an exclusive interview with The Fly, the company's CEO Winston Black talked about SWK Holdings and its focus: "In essence we are a specialized life science focused, finance company. We focus on commercial opportunities and we can invest in those opportunities in a handful of ways by either owning an asset outright - for example one of our earliest transactions when you started the business in 2012 was purchasing a beta blocker from GSK with an operating partner -, owning the royalty streams that are produced by the sales of those products, which is 20% of our business today, or by doing what we call structured credit. Earlier commercial stage life science companies have products and are looking to grow and reach the next value inflection milestone. That's really our core kind of business and focus: commercialized life science products." "Meet the Company" is The Fly's recurring series of exclusive short interviews with Executive Officers to offer a deeper look inside the company. The remainder of this interview to follow.

13:42 EDT 3M sees $225M-$250M of benefits from restructuring actions - Sees $100M of benefits in 2H19. 3M previously announced it would cut 2,000 positions worldwide.

13:20 EDT ARCA Biopharma jumps after announcing data from Genetic-AF trial presentation - Earlier on Wednesday, ARCA biopharma announced that Gencaro atrial fibrillation clinical data from the GENETIC-AF Phase 2B trial have been selected for presentation at the Heart Failure Society of America, HFSA, 2019 Annual Scientific Meeting being held September 13-16 in Philadelphia. William T. Abraham, MD, FACP, FACC, College of Medicine Distinguished Professor, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, will present the data. "Bucindolol response appears to be greater in heart failure patients with less severe left ventricular dysfunction, a patient population with few therapeutic options for AF prevention or heart failure," commented Dr. Abraham, "These data provide additional support for pharmacogenetic guided therapy with bucindolol for the prevention of atrial fibrillation in patients with heart failure We look forward to confirming these important findings in the upcoming Phase 3 PRECISION-AF trial." Shares of ARCA Biopharma spiked as high as 30% earlier to $7.51 per share after the announcement, but have since moderated gains and are currently up 14% to $6.48 per share in afternoon trading on Wednesday.

13:01 EDT Shamrock Foods to acquire Boise operations of Food Services of America - Shamrock Foods Company announced it is acquiring the Boise, Idaho operations of Food Services of America. The acquisition opportunity was created as a result of the FTC's review of the acquisition by US Foods (USFD) of the SGA Food Group, Shamrock said in a statement. As a condition to granting approval for that transaction, the FTC is requiring US Foods to divest certain portions of the FSA business, including business serviced out of the FSA Boise, Idaho facility. The acquisition of the Boise operations is expected to close in the coming weeks. Shamrock Foods said it will "begin the transition planning processes immediately and is working closely with FSA to ensure a smooth transition, continuing the focus on delivering excellent service to customers throughout the region."

13:01 EDT SWK working on 'very interesting' opportunities, CEO says

13:00 EDT Listing on Nasdaq should be 'good' for shareholders, SWK CEO Black says

12:52 EDT Twilio says sees some 'wonkiness' in January when SendGrid deal is anniversaried - Says sees some "wonkiness" in January as it laps the SendGrid acquisition. Sees mid-to-high teens growth rates on a blended basis. Comments taken from the Deutsche Bank Technology Conference.

12:34 EDT Aegion awarded two Tite Liner system contracts totaling approximately $11M - Aegion announced that United Special Technical Services, USTS, a joint venture between United Pipeline System, a subsidiary of Aegion , and Special Technical Services of Oman, was awarded two contracts with a combined value of approximately $11M from local contractors working for a large oil and gas pipeline operator in Saudi Arabia. United owns a 51% interest in the joint venture.

12:19 EDT Vocera CEO 'really bullish,' expects mid-teens sales growth - Vocera Communications CEO Brent Lang, speaking at the Morgan Stanley Annual Global Healthcare Conference, said the company's growth opportunity is still in the "very early innings" and that he remains "really bullish." Vocera continues to expect a mid-teens sales growth rate and has "multiple drives to growth," Lang added. When speaking of the company's slightly lower than expected growth rate in the first half of 2019, Lang said Vocera's shift to larger deals has created a "more lumpier" trajectory to billings. Shares of Vocera are up 4c to $24.12 in midday trading.

12:00 EDT Banc of California falls -8.1% - Banc of California is down -8.1%, or -$1.22 to $13.92.

12:00 EDT GameStop falls -12.7% - GameStop is down -12.7%, or -65c to $4.45.

12:00 EDT Bloom Energy rises 12.7% - Bloom Energy is up 12.7%, or 58c to $5.14.

11:56 EDT Bouygues to sell 29.15M Alstom shares via accelerated book building - Bouygues S.A. (BOUYF), whose stake in Alstom S.A. (ALSMY) amounts to 62,086,226 shares representing 27.7% of its share capital, announced that it intends to sell 29,150,000 shares, representing 13.0% of its share capital, through a placement by way of an accelerated book building reserved for institutional investors. Following completion of the Offering, Bouygues will retain 14.7% of Alstom's share capital. Bouygues undertakes with the banks in charge of the placement to a 180-day lock up for its remaining Alstom shares, subject to customary exceptions. Book building of the Offering will commence immediately and will be managed by BofA Merrill Lynch, BNP PARIBAS, J.P. Morgan and Societe Generale, acting as Joint Global Coordinators. Bouygues will announce the results of the Offering at the end of the book building process. Reference Link

11:41 EDT Boeing: Defense business 'in the strongest position it's been in a decade'

11:27 EDT Boeing CEO says finalizing new computer-based training for 737 MAX

11:25 EDT Boeing CEO says still sees MAX return to service in early Q4

11:23 EDT Boeing CEO sees 'phased' ungrounding of 737 MAX

11:23 EDT Boeing CEO says 737 MAX return 'about safety, not politics' - Says focused on safety, quality, integrity after MAX crashes. Comments taken from the Morgan Stanley Laguna Conference.

11:18 EDT US Foods expects SGA Food Group deal to be 'modestly accretive' to FY19 EPS - The transaction is expected to be modestly accretive to fiscal 2019 Adjusted Diluted EPS and mid-single digit accretive to fiscal 2020 Adjusted Diluted EPS.

11:15 EDT US Foods receives conditional approval to acquire SGA's Food Group - US Foods Holding announced that it has received conditional approval from the Federal Trade Commission to acquire SGA's Food Group of Companies for $1.8B in cash. The five operating companies being acquired are Food Services of America, Systems Services of America, Amerifresh, Ameristar Meats and GAMPAC Express/ US Foods expects to close the acquisition in the next few days. As a condition to receiving regulatory clearance from the FTC, US Foods will divest three FSA distribution facilities located in Kent, Wash.; Meridian, Idaho; and Fargo, N.D. US Foods plans to retain a portion of the business currently serviced from the Kent facility. Divestiture proceeds of approximately $90M will be used to reduce US Foods' debt. The combined annual Adjusted EBITDA of the facilities to be divested was approximately $21M for fiscal 2018. Definitive agreements for each of the divestitures have been entered into with each of the respective buyers, and we expect to close these transactions within 30 days following the completion of the SGA Food Group acquisition.

11:09 EDT Veracyte announces publication of clinical data for Afirma Xpression Atlas - Veracyte announced the publication of new data demonstrating the clinical and analytical validity of its Afirma Xpression Atlas genomic test, which is used to help guide surgery and treatment decisions for patients with likely or confirmed thyroid cancer.The Afirma XA uses RNA whole-transcriptome sequencing to detect expressed DNA variants and RNA fusion partners in over 500 genes that are associated with thyroid cancer. The test is performed on fine needle aspiration samples of thyroid nodules deemed suspicious for cancer by Veracyte's Afirma Genomic Sequencing Classifier, as well as those that are suspicious for or have been diagnosed as cancer based on cytopathology. Importantly, the Afirma XA is performed on the same FNA sample as the Afirma GSC, obviating the need for patients to undergo an additional FNA procedure to obtain this genomic information about their thyroid. To evaluate the Afirma XA's clinical validity, researchers compared the test's ability to identify genomic variants in an FNA sample's transcriptome to currently accepted methods of targeted DNA and RNA sequencing. Using 943 blinded FNA samples, they found the Afirma XA had high positive predictive agreement with targeted DNA sequencing and targeted RNA sequencing. Similarly, using 695 blinded FNA samples to look for RNA fusions, the Afirma XA had an 82 percent PPA with targeted RNA sequencing. Conversely, 95 percent or more of variants and fusions identified by Veracyte's RNA whole-transcriptome sequencing test were also identified by the reference method. The researchers also investigated the reproducibility of the Afirma XA across laboratories and reagent lots. Using 69 variant-positive FNA samples, they found that the Afirma XA showed high accuracy between two different labs with different personnel for detecting variants and fusions.

11:04 EDT US Foods agrees to divestitures to settle FTC charges related to merger - US Foods has agreed to divest assets to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that the company's proposed $1.8B acquisition of Services Group of America would violate federal antitrust law, the FTC announced. The FTC alleges that the proposed acquisition would likely harm competition for broadline foodservice distribution for customers in four local markets and for national and multi-regional customers throughout the country. The complaint alleges that, in Eastern Idaho, Western North Dakota, Eastern North Dakota, and the Seattle Area, the transaction would eliminate a key broadline distributor and limit customers' ability to switch between distributors to obtain better pricing and service. Under the proposed consent agreement, within 30 days of the acquisition closing, US Foods must divest three FSA distribution centers: one in Boise, Idaho; another in Fargo, North Dakota; and a third in the greater Seattle area. All three divestiture buyers are DMA members, and the divested facilities will maintain DMA's national footprint. Reference Link

10:00 EDT Meredith rises 8.1% - Meredith is up 8.1%, or $2.86 to $38.10.

10:00 EDT China Online Education rises 12.4% - China Online Education is up 12.4%, or 73c to $6.61.

09:51 EDT China Online Education trading halted, volatility trading pause

09:47 EDT Banc of California falls -8.8% - Banc of California is down -8.8%, or -$1.33 to $13.81.

09:47 EDT Tata Motors rises 5.6% - Tata Motors is up 5.6%, or 50c to $9.43.

09:47 EDT Global Cord Blood rises 12.8% - Global Cord Blood is up 12.8%, or 59c to $5.21.

09:32 EDT Broadway Financial announces adoption of stockholder rights plan - Broadway Financial announced that its board of directors approved a stockholder rights plan on September 10, 2019. The board's purpose in adopting the Rights Plan is to protect the company's stockholders against the possibility of attempts to acquire control of or influence over the company through open market or privately negotiated purchases of the company's common stock without payment of a fair price to all of the company's stockholders or through other tactics that do not provide fair treatment to all stockholders. The Rights Plan, which was approved by the board of directors after consultation with the company's legal and financial advisors, is similar to rights plans that have been adopted by many public companies. The Rights Plan will not interfere with any merger, acquisition or business combination, or capital financing opportunity, that the company's board of directors believes to be in the best interest of the company's stockholders. In connection with the Rights Plan, the Board has declared a dividend distribution of one preferred stock purchase right for each outstanding share of the company's common stock and nonvoting common stock held by stockholders of record on September 23, 2019. Each Right will initially entitle a holder, upon the occurrence of certain events, to purchase, for an exercise price of $3.60 per Right, one one-thousandth of a share of Series B Junior Participating Preferred Stock of the company, which would have voting and economic rights equivalent to one share of common stock of the company. The Rights Plan excludes from its 10% ownership trigger level any investor who, alone or together with the investor's affiliates and associates, currently owns 10% or more of the company's Common Shares, but such investors would lose their exempted status if they acquire additional Common Shares, or if their ownership of Common Shares falls below the 10% trigger level, after the date the Rights Plan was adopted.

09:27 EDT Omeros announces FDA confirms schedule for rolling review of narsoplimab BLA - Omeros announced that the FDA agreed with the company's proposed schedule for the rolling review of the Biologics License Application, or BLA, for narsoplimab in the treatment of hematopoietic stem cell transplant-associated thrombotic microangiopathy, or HSCT-TMA. Consistent with the agreed schedule, the company is on track to submit the BLA's first sections, which will include the nonclinical and clinical pharmacology data, in the first half of next quarter. Under its rolling review process, FDA can review components of a marketing application as they are submitted rather than requiring all components to be received prior to initiating review, allowing faster review of the application. The BLA for narsoplimab, because of the drug's breakthrough therapy designation from FDA for the treatment of HSCT-TMA, is also eligible for priority review, which shortens the standard FDA review cycle by four months.

09:25 EDT PNC Financial sees 'intense' deposit competition from small banks

09:22 EDT Lineage Cell says not planning to conduct additional sales of OncoCyte in NT

09:09 EDT Invictus MD Strategies says AB Laboratories receives amended license - INVICTUS MD STRATEGIES announced that AB Laboratories, a company which is a 50% owned subsidiary of Invictus, has received their amended license from Health Canada to include the new 40,000 sq. ft. custom built cultivation facility located near Hamilton, Ontario. As previously announced on June 26, 2019, AB Labs' facility contains ten identical cultivation rooms capable of producing over 65 crops annually on a tightly controlled weekly production schedule. Five rooms have been propagated since receiving the amended license on August 30, 2019. The initial harvest is scheduled for November 1, 2019. The remaining rooms are expected to be propagated at a rate of one room per week over the next five weeks to ensure a reliable continuous production of cannabis for the recreational and medical markets.

09:06 EDT Conagra Brands to sell DSD snacks business to Utz Quality Foods - Conagra Brands announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its Direct Store Delivery snacks business to Utz Quality Foods. The sale includes the Tim's Cascade Snacks, Hawaiian Snacks, Erin's, Snyder of Berlin and Husman's brands. Conagra Brands acquired the DSD snacks business in October 2018 as part of its acquisition of Pinnacle Foods. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to be completed before the end of the calendar year. Financial terms were not disclosed.

09:03 EDT U.S. Gold acquires Orevada Metals - U.S. Gold has closed the acquisition of Orevada Metals in an all share transaction. Orevada Metals is a Nevada corporation, wholly owned by a privately held Canadian company, which has become a new wholly-owned subsidiary of U.S. Gold Corp. Orevada has an option to acquire a 70% interest in the Maggie Creek Project. The acquisition of Orevada and the option to acquire the Maggie Creek Project, gives U.S. Gold Corp. its second promising exploration project in Nevada, on the Carlin Trend, with potential to discover Carlin style gold deposits in one of the world's most sought-after gold districts. Established in 2018, Orevada is a North American focused exploration company that has an option to acquire a 70% interest in the Maggie Creek Project. U.S. Gold Corp. issued 2 million shares to shareholders of Orevada.

09:02 EDT Aimmune jumps 9% to $23.95 after FDA posts briefing docs for panel meeting

08:51 EDT Morgan Stanley sees 2018-2019 wealth management pre-tax margin 26%-28% - Sees 2018-2019 firm expense efficiency ratio of less than or equal to 73%. Sees 2018-2019 ROE 10%-13%, ROTCE 11.5%-14.5%.

08:46 EDT Morgan Stanley CFO says will look for good acquisition opportunities - Says would prefer a "good" acquisition over share repurchases.

08:40 EDT Morgan Stanley CFO says rates, FX continue to be more troubling environment

08:39 EDT Morgan Stanley CFO says client activity still running below 2018 - Says client activity "good." Comments taken from the Barclays Global Financial Services Conference.

08:37 EDT Lexington Realty acquires three property industrial portfolio for $180M - Lexington Realty Trust announced that it has acquired a 2.4M square foot e-commerce industrial portfolio from Atlanta-based developer and manager IDI Logistics for approximately $180M. The portfolio consists of three recently constructed, Class A warehouse/distribution facilities located within Park North at Monroe, an established logistics park developed by IDI Logistics along Interstate 75 in a strong industrial submarket of Cincinnati, Ohio. Each property is 100% net-leased to nationally recognized tenants/guarantors, consisting of Amazon, Hayneedle/Wal-Mart, and Blue Buffalo. The portfolio has a weighted-average lease term of approximately 9.3 years and average annualized rental escalations of approximately 2%. This portfolio transaction is consistent with Lexington's investment strategy of purchasing well-located, high-quality industrial assets as it transitions to a 100% industrial-focused net-lease REIT. To date, 2019 investment activity totals approximately $440M at estimated GAAP and cash capitalization rates of approximately 5.6% and 5.4%, respectively. At acquisition, these investments had a weighted-average remaining lease term of 6.0 years. Additionally, Lexington has approximately $170M of warehouse/distribution properties under an accepted offer or contract.

08:32 EDT ANI Pharmaceuticals launches Vancomycin HCl for Oral Solution - ANI Pharmaceuticals announced the launch of Vancomycin HCl for Oral Solution, 250mg per 5mL. To facilitate ease of administration the drug now includes a mixed berry taste, can be administered via nasogastric tube and does not contain any ingredients made with gluten-containing grain. The dye-free product is delivered in a single bottle format requiring simple reconstitution and offers dosing flexibility achieved through the availability of three different size bottles: 80mL, 150mL and 300mL. ANI estimates that the current annual U.S. vancomycin market is approximately $450M.

08:28 EDT FDA posts briefing docs for Aimmune panel, brings up allergic reactions - The FDA posted breifing documents ahead of Friday's panel meeting for Aimmune Therapeutics' (AIMT) peanut allergy treatment Palforzia. The FDA states, "Palforzia treated subjects in the pediatric safety population reported an increased number of allergic reactions, including systemic allergic reactions, compared to placebo-treated subjects. A total of 9.4% subjects taking Palforzia had a systemic allergic reaction during initial dose escalation and updosing compared to 3.8% of placebo subjects. This imbalance was seen during maintenance as well with 8.7% of Palforzia treated patients having a systemic allergic reaction compared to 1.7% of placebo-treated subjects. During the maintenance period, 7.7% of Palforzia treated subjects used epinephrine compared to 3.4% in the placebo group. Twelve subjects treated with Palforzia were diagnosed with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) in the entire clinical development program while no subjects in the placebo group of the controlled safety population received a diagnosis of EoE. Similar safety data are seen in the adult population with respect to systemic allergic reactions." DBV Technologies (DBVT) is also developing a treatment for peanut allergy. Shares of Aimmune, after rallying 12% yesterday, are down 3% to $21.43 in premarket trading. Reference Link

08:15 EDT Vocera signs agreement with Provincial Health Services Authority - Vocera Communications announced that it has entered into a three-year agreement with Provincial Health Services Authority. This agreement is a contracting vehicle that outlines terms and conditions for delivering, installing and supporting Vocera solutions in clinics, hospitals, and specialty health centers across British Columbia.

08:14 EDT Genprex announces study that shows TUSC2 prevented tumor growth in TNBC - Genprex announced that independent researchers reported in a recent study that TUSC2, a tumor suppressor gene and the active agent in Genprex's Oncoprex immunogene therapy, prevented tumor growth in triple-negative breast cancer, or TNBC, which is currently considered an incurable cancer with limited therapeutic options. Genprex has no affiliation with these researchers. The study, published in Nature, first found MicroRNA-138 as a diagnostic biomarker for TNBC, which currently lacks targeted therapies due to its inability to express the estrogen and progesterone hormone receptors and the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, or HER2, thus the name for triple-negative breast cancer. Depletion of miR-138 was found to lead to apoptotic cell death in vitro and prevented tumorigenesis in vivo. TUSC2 was found to be a direct target of miR-138, and TUSC2 mimics the effects of miR-138 knockdown, preventing tumor growth. The researchers deduced that TUSC2 is a downstream tumor suppressor that is directly repressed by miR-138. The study reports that triple-negative breast cancer is an extremely aggressive subtype of breast cancer which is associated with poor prognosis and high mortality rates. The lack of targeted treatment for triple-negative breast cancer makes it an increasingly feared diagnosis. Genprex is conducting clinical and pre-clinical research to evaluate the effectiveness of TUSC2 when combined with targeted therapies and immunotherapies for non-small cell lung cancer. Existing pre-clinical data also suggest that TUSC2 may be effective against glioblastoma, head and neck cancer, kidney cancer and soft tissue sarcomas. Now, this new independent study raises the possibility that TUSC2 expression, through miR-138 targeting, may also be used to treat the most aggressive subset of breast cancer.

08:11 EDT WPP, InMobi enter into multi-year strategic partnership - WPP and InMobi Group have entered into a long-term strategic partnership to build unique benefits for marketers. Leveraging the best of expertise from InMobi Group and WPP agencies, including GroupM and Kantar, the partnership aims to simplify complexity for Indian marketers. The collaboration between WPP and InMobi Group will enable brands to create personalized consumer experiences at scale. Through this partnership, brands will be able to translate up-to-the-moment insights into timely marketing action.

08:10 EDT Tech Data, OPAQ sign U.S. distribution agreement - Tech Data announced an agreement with OPAQ to offer the company's cloud platform, delivering network security-as-a-service and hyperscale performance to U.S. service providers. OPAQ's Security-as-a-Service from the cloud is a rapidly emerging area of security, and OPAQ's platform protects an organization's entire IT footprint, including on- and off-premises endpoints, mobile devices, IoT, dynamic multi-cloud architectures, branch offices and legacy platforms. The OPAQ cloud platform enables service providers to deliver robust network security services in a simple, cost-effective and flexible way to their customers from a single cloud console. With OPAQ, service providers can monitor, secure and manage client networks and deliver comprehensive enterprise-grade security. This offering from Tech Data allows customers to avoid having to buy the often-expensive security products necessary today, as well as procure the hard-to-find resources to manage them.

08:08 EDT Dare Bioscience announces publication of pharmacokinetics study of DARE-VVA1 - Dare Bioscience announced the article entitled "Vaginal tamoxifen for treatment of vulvar and vaginal atrophy: Pharmacokinetics and local tolerance in a rabbit model over 28 days" was published online in the International Journal of Pharmaceutics. The article highlights the positive findings from the animal study which include availability and local tolerability of vaginally delivered tamoxifen. DARE-VVA1 is a novel vaginal application of tamoxifen, the well-known and well-characterized selective estrogen receptor modulator, and is being developed by Dare as an alternative to estrogen-based therapies for the treatment of vulvar and vaginal atrophy in women with or at risk for hormone-receptor positive (HR+) breast cancer. In breast tissue, tamoxifen acts as an estrogen antagonist, while in other tissue, including vaginal tissue, tamoxifen has been reported to exert an estrogen-like response on vaginal cytology. The goal of the study was to evaluate tamoxifen at two dose levels administered intra-vaginally to female rabbits once-daily over a 28-day period to assess its pharmacokinetics, systemic exposure and local vaginal tolerance. The findings revealed that there was little to no vaginal or systemic accumulation of tamoxifen following once-daily dosing for 28 days and that vaginal irritation was minimal to none at both doses.VVA is an inflammation of the vaginal epithelium due to the reduction in levels of circulating estrogen. Commonly used therapies for VVA are estrogen-based and often contraindicated in HR+ breast cancer patients, or patients with a genetic predisposition or history of familial disease, because of the concern that estrogen use will promote recurrence of disease. Many breast cancer survivors experience menopausal symptoms as a direct consequence of cancer treatment. Breast cancer patients treated with aromatase inhibitors refer to VVA as one of the most unpleasant side effects of treatment. A prior study of DARE-VVA1 published in Clinical and Experimental Obstetrics and Gynecology, demonstrated that weekly vaginal administration of tamoxifen for three months in post-menopausal women with VVA showed improvements in vaginal pH and vaginal dryness without significant systemic absorption of tamoxifen.

08:07 EDT Appliance Recycling now doing business as 'JanOne' - Appliance Recycling Centers of America announced that, on September 10, the company has been renamed JanOne and, effective this morning, now trades under the ticker symbol JAN, with a new CUSIP number (47089W 104). The company previously announced on September 5 that it was changing its name and broadening its business perspectives to include innovative solutions to the opioid epidemic, with a focus on developing non-addictive painkillers. The company will continue to operate its legacy businesses in the ordinary course. The company's former symbol, ARCI, has been discontinued.

08:06 EDT CACI awarded $443M task order from U.S. Army - CACI announced that it has been awarded a five-year task order, with a ceiling value of more than $443M, to support the U.S. Army in rapidly responding to commercial based technology threats. Under this task order, CACI will assist the Army Combat Capabilities Development Command's Command, Control, Computers, Communications, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Center in prototyping, replicating, and exploiting emerging commercial based threats encountered around the world. Awarded under U.S. General Services Administration's OASIS contract vehicle, the task order represents new work for CACI.

08:05 EDT Burlington Capital completes sale of AFCA 2 interests to Greystone - Burlington Capital and Greystone & Co. jointly announced they have successfully completed the previously announced sale by Burlington Capital and one of its subsidiaries interests in America First Capital Associates Limited Partnership Two to Greystone. AFCA 2 is the general partner of America First Multifamily Investors, L.P.

08:03 EDT Immucell announces agreement covering formulation for Re-Tain - ImmuCell Corporation announced that it has entered into a new agreement with Norbrook Laboratories, Limited of Newry, Northern Ireland covering the formulation and aseptic filling of its Nisin Drug Substance into syringes for Re-Tain, the Company's novel treatment in development for subclinical mastitis in dairy cows. The new agreement expires as of December 31, 2021 and allows for product ordered before the expiration date to be delivered into the early part of 2022. This new agreement covers the final development work required to achieve FDA approval and also provides product for market launch. The Company's Re-Tain production facility has been equipped to manufacture Drug Substance with a commercial sales value of approximately $10M per year. This new agreement with Norbrook covers the formulation and aseptic filling of Drug Product with a commercial sales value of approximately $7M. The Company is building its own Drug Product formulation and aseptic filling capability to support sales in excess of the first $7M Completion of the FDA's review of the first phased Drug Substance submission of the Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls Technical Section was announced on August 29, 2019. One of the key components of the second phased Drug Product CMC submission is demonstrating stability of the product over time in its final packaged form. Given a current assessment of the work that needs to be performed and allowing for statutory review periods by the FDA, the Company anticipates achieving FDA approval of Re-Tain during 2021.

07:33 EDT DarioHealth partners with Dance Biopharm for digital therapeutics platform - DarioHealth has formed a strategic alliance with Dance Biopharm Holdings, a clinical-stage company targetting the treatment of chronic diseases with inhaled therapies, to expand access to a personalized digital health management platform for patients with chronic diseases. Under the terms of the agreement, Dance Biopharm will integrate its gentle mist smart inhaler into DarioHealth's digital therapeutics platform to provide patients automated, real-time treatment data through a mobile application. Dario will immediately start the design of the integrated solution for Dance to accommodate clinical trials and, upon regulatory approval, any marketed solutions.

07:17 EDT Seneca partners with VSBLTY for visual media analytics, security solutions - VSBLTY Groupe Technologies announced that it has been selected as a preferred vendor for Seneca Lab's visual media product solutions. Seneca is a division of Arrow Electronics.

07:11 EDT Provectus appoints Harold Schmitz to Scientific Advisory Board - Provectus announced the addition of Harold Schmitz to the company's new Scientific Advisory Board. Schmitz is a General Partner of The March Fund, an investment fund dedicated to generating 'wealth with a purpose' and also serves as a Senior Scholar in the Graduate School of Management at the University of California, Davis.

07:08 EDT KKR acquires majority stake in Burning Glass Technologies, terms not disclosed - KKR and Burning Glass Technologies announced that KKR has completed the acquisition of a majority stake in Burning Glass from Providence Strategic Growth. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. The investment is part of KKR's global impact strategy, which is focused on identifying and investing behind companies whose core business models provide commercial solutions that contribute toward one or more of the United Nations sustainable development goals, or SDGs. Burning Glass' data engine tracks and analyzes job market supply and demand in real-time using proprietary analytics and taxonomies. The company will continue to be led by its current executive team, including CEO Matt Sigelman and COO Josh Ticktin. Burning Glass is the fourth investment out of KKR's global impact strategy, following investments in Barghest Building Performance, Ramky Enviro Engineers Limited, and KnowBe4.

07:02 EDT Athenex announces initiation of Phase 1 clinical study of KX2-361 in China - Athenex announced that its partner, Guangzhou Xiangxue Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., initiated a Phase I study in China of KX2-361 oral treating advanced malignant solid tumors. KX2-361, which is being developed for the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme, is the second compound derived from Athenex's Src kinase inhibition platform. It is a closely related structural analog of Athenex's tirbanibulin with a distinct ability to cross the blood brain barrier, making it a potential therapeutic candidate for treating brain cancers, including GBM, as well as brain metastases. Studies of KX2-361 oral in preclinical mouse GBM tumor models resulted in complete tumor eradication as well as extended survival compared to the current standard of care, temozolomide. The Phase I clinical study in China is a single-center, open-label dose escalation trial that will enroll 36-72 patients with advanced malignant solid tumors who have no standard treatment or standard treatment failed.

07:01 EDT Daqo New Energy signs two-year polysilicon supply agreement with JinkoSolar - Daqo New Energy (DQ) announced that it has signed a two-year polysilicon supply agreement with JinkoSolar (JKS). Under the terms of the supply agreement, Daqo New Energy will supply JinkoSolar with 12,000 to 14,400 MT and 15,600 to 21,600 MT of polysilicon during calendar year 2020 and 2021, respectively. Prices will be determined on a monthly basis according to market pricing.

06:54 EDT Golden Minerals announces termination of sales agreement with Autlan - Golden Minerals announced that the previously announced purchase and sale agreement with Compania Minera Autlan S.A.B. de C.V. regarding the sale of certain of its Mexican properties has been terminated. The agreement was previously announced in a company news release dated June 27. Warren Rehn, Golden Minerals' President and CEO, commented, "While it is unfortunate we could not come to terms with Autlan, we are now in a position to consider future options for the properties that were included in the Autlan agreement. Due to the recent increases in gold and silver prices, we believe the value of these assets has increased substantially." The company will continue to hold the Velardena properties and lease its oxide mill to a subsidiary of Hecla Mining Company, which is expected to result in net operating margin to the company of approximately $5M per year. This lease has been ongoing since 2015, and Hecla is permitted to continue processing its San Sebastian material at the oxide mill through 2020. Similarly, the company will continue to hold the Santa Maria, Rodeo and Mogotes precious metals exploration properties in its portfolio of assets. Upon execution of the Autlan agreement, Autlan paid a deposit of $1.5M to the company which would have been applied to the purchase price upon closing. In accordance with the terms of the agreement, the company has the option to repay the deposit within 90 days following termination or elect to convey the Rodeo concessions to Autlan in full settlement of the deposit.

06:31 EDT Buckeye Partners partially restarts operations in Bahamas Hub - Buckeye Partners has partially resumed operations at its Buckeye Bahamas Hub facility following Hurricane Dorian. BBH is now able to accommodate customer vessels at its inland berths for both loading and unloading of petroleum products. Work continues on completing final assessments, and restoring full operations at the facility in the near future. Preliminary assessments of the facility found only minor damage from wind and rain, with no indications of any product release or environmental threats.

06:16 EDT Baker Hughes to repurchase $250M of stock from General Electric - In a regulatory filing, Baker Hughes (BHGE) said that on September 9, it entered into an agreement with General Electric (GE) and GE Oil & Gas US Holdings I, Inc. related to the repurchase of the company's Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and the corresponding BHGE LLC common units. Under the terms of the Agreement, the company will repurchase from the GE Parties, in a privately negotiated transaction, $250M of shares of the company's Class B common stock, together with an equal number of associated BHGE LLC common units, at a price equal to the price per share at which certain underwriters will purchase shares of the Class A common stock from certain GE Parties in the Offering. The Offering is not conditioned upon the completion of the share repurchase, but the share repurchase is conditioned upon the completion of the Offering and will be completed immediately following the Offering.

06:02 EDT United Therapeutics announces FDA acceptance of Trevyent NDA for review - United Therapeutics announced that the FDA has accepted for review the New Drug Application, or NDA, for Trevyent for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension, or PAH. The FDA assigned the NDA a Prescription Drug User Fee Act target action date of April 27, 2020. Trevyent is a post-phase III development-stage drug-device combination product that combines two-day, single use, disposable PatchPump technology with treprostinil, for the subcutaneous treatment of PAH.

05:41 EDT Merck KGaA announces FDA Breakthrough Therapy Designation for tepotinib - Merck KGaA announced that the FDA has granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation for the investigational targeted therapy tepotinib in patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer harboring MET exon 14 skipping alterations who progressed following platinum-based cancer therapy.

05:16 EDT Hong Kong Exchanges proposes to combine with London Stock Exchange - Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited announces that it has made a proposal to the board of London Stock Exchange Group (LNSTY) to combine the two companies. The board of Hong Kong Exchanges believes a proposed combination with London Stock Exchange "represents a highly compelling strategic opportunity to create a global market infrastructure leader." Under the terms of the proposed transaction, London Stock Exchange shareholders would receive 2,045 pence in cash and 2.495 newly issued Hong Kong Exchanges shares. The Proposed Transaction implies a value for each London Stock Exchange share of 8,361 pence, a premium of 22.9% to the closing share price of 6,804 pence on September 10.