Stockwinners Market Radar for January 22, 2020 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

19:36 EST PG&E reaches agreement with ad hoc noteholder committee - PG&E Corporation and Pacific Gas and Electric Company have reached an agreement with all claim holders who executed commitment letters in support of the alternative Chapter 11 Plan of Reorganization filed by the Ad Hoc Committee of Senior Unsecured Noteholders in PG&E's Chapter 11 cases. The Ad Hoc Noteholder Committee will withdraw its Alternative Plan of Reorganization and support the PG&E Plan upon entry of an order approving the Restructuring Support Agreement by the Bankruptcy Court. The agreement resolves all issues related to the treatment of pre-petition funded debt of the utility, including post-petition interest amounts and make-whole premiums, under PG&E's Chapter 11 Plan of Reorganization.

19:00 EST Fly Intel: After Hours Movers - UP AFTER EARNINGS: Sallie Mae (SLM) up 21.0%... Teradyne (TER) up 9.4%... PTC Inc (PTC) up 8.0%... Steel Dynamics (STLD) up 5.6%... Citrix (CTXS) up 4.7%. ALSO HIGHER: Paycom (PAYC) up 4.2% after entering S&P500 index. DOWN AFTER EARNINGS: HB Fuller (FUL) down 1.6%... Texas Instruments (TXN) down 1.3%. ALSO LOWER: Immunogen (IMGN) down 3.4% after equity offering... Xenon Pharma (XENE) down 2.9% after equity offering... Aviat Networks (AVNW) down 2.1% after cutting Q2, FY20 guidance due to cyberattack. Movers as of 18:40ET.

17:59 EST Square introduces Lightning Development Kit tools for Bitcoin wallet developers - The Square Crypto team said the following, in part, in a Medium post: "For bitcoin to become a widely used global currency - one that can't be stopped, tampered with, or rigged in anyone's favor - improvements to bitcoin's UX, security, privacy, and scaling are required. In open-source development, developers usually choose their own projects. Yet, because we are a consolidated team of open-source developers, we are in a strong position to coordinate on major projects that individuals may not have the time or resources to tackle...We spoke with dozens of wallet developers. What we heard was a desire for flexibility when integrating Lightning...So rather than create a standalone Lightning node, we're building a Lightning Development Kit, LDK, that gives wallet and application developers a convenient way to create custom experiences...Today's Lightning infrastructure is incomplete without features like these. Even though that makes LDK a big project, that's also what makes it right for Square Crypto. And with the support of developers like Acinq, Blockstream, Lightning Labs, and open-source developers everywhere, it's only a matter of time until instant, low-fee bitcoin payments are as common as cash used to be." Reference Link

17:50 EST QCR Holdings higher by 1.9% after reporting Q4 earnings

17:36 EST Provident Bancorp subsidiary acquires ResX Warehouse Lending - Provident Bank has entered the warehouse lending business by acquiring United Bank's legacy ResX warehouse lending portfolio from People's United Bank. ResX Warehouse Lending, a division of The Provident Bank, will conduct business from its pperations facility in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. The division targets creditworthy, small to mid-cap, independent mortgage banking companies for warehouse lines from $3M to $25M.

17:31 EST Granite Construction awarded $14M interesection improvement project in SC - Granite has been awarded a $14M contract by the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority for the Archibald Avenue Improvement Project at State Route 60 in Ontario, California. When complete, this project will improve access to the Ontario International Airport, located approximately 40 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. Granite will be responsible for the reconstruction and widening of Archibald Avenue between East Oak Hill Drive and Monticello Place at the SR-60 Interchange. Scope of work includes the construction of right-turn pockets and left-turn pockets onto ramps, widening of the ramps to accommodate additional lanes, and enhancements to sidewalk, crosswalk, and curb ramp. Construction is currently underway and estimated to be complete by the end of 2020.

17:18 EST Paycom to replace WellCare in S&P 500 at open on 1/28 - Centene (CNC) is acquiring Wellcare Health Plans (WCG) in a transaction expected to be completed soon.

17:17 EST Washington Federal increases quarterly cash dividend 5% to 22c per share - The board of Washington Federal announced a regular quarterly cash dividend of 22c per share, a 1c increase from the prior quarter. The dividend will be paid on February 21 to common stockholders of record as of February 7. This will be Washington Federal's 148th consecutive quarterly cash dividend. After this increase the cash dividend yield is now 2.4%, based on the current stock price.

17:10 EST Teradyne up 8% after Q4 earnings beat and above-consensus Q1 outlook - Shares of Teradyne are up 8.0% or $5.91 at $79.50 after its Q4 earnings beat and better than expected guidance for Q1.

17:06 EST Teradyne raises quarterly dividend to 10c from 9c per share - The dividend is payable on March 20, 2020 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on February 21, 2020.

17:02 EST Oceaneering names Earl Childress to succeed Barrett asd SVP business development - Oceaneering International announced the appointment of Earl Childress to succeed Steve Barrett as Senior Vice President, Business Development, effective upon Mr. Childress' commencement of employment with Oceaneering, which is expected on or about March 2. Oceaneering intends that Mr. Childress will have worldwide business development responsibility for Oceaneering's energy-related segments. Childress has been an employee of Teledyne Technologies Incorporated since 2002, serving in roles of increasing responsibility. His most recent positions were Group Vice President/General Manager of Teledyne Seismic and Teledyne RD Instruments, a role held since July 2016, and Group Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Marine Instrumentation, a role held since May 2015. Prior to his employment with Teledyne, Mr. Childress' work experience included sales and management positions with two different oceanographic instrumentation manufacturers.

17:01 EST UnionPay, PayPal enter global partnership agreement - UnionPay International and PayPal announced a global partnership where both companies will work together to accelerate the growth of their networks. As part of the agreement, PayPal has committed to supporting UPI acceptance globally where PayPal is accepted - giving UnionPay cardholders more choice when shopping. In the future, UPI will explore opportunities to support PayPal's merchant and consumer ambitions in China. UnionPay cards can now be added to PayPal wallets in Australia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand. During 2020, PayPal and UPI plan to add more than 30 markets, which means that once a UnionPay card is added to the PayPal wallet these cardholders will have the ability to shop at any of the 24 million merchants globally where PayPal is accepted via the PayPal wallet. As part of the agreement, PayPal and UPI have also committed to collaborating to better serve joint customers and merchants to grow digital payments in China and globally. This will include the opportunity for PayPal customers from around the world to use PayPal at the merchants where UnionPay is accepted.

16:50 EST Lennar CFO Diane Bessette sells almost $370K in company shares - Lennar CFO Diane Besette disclosed in a filing that she had sold 5,693 shares of company stock at an average price of $64.51 per share on January 21. The total transaction value of the sale was $367,255.

16:37 EST Ford sees Q4 pre-tax remeasurement loss of approximately $2.2B - In a regulatory filing, the company said, "Ford Motor Company uses the mark-to-market method of accounting for pension and other postretirement employee benefits. Under this method, we recognize pension and OPEB remeasurement gains and losses in income when incurred rather than amortizing them over time as a component of net periodic benefit cost. The remeasurement gains and losses are reported as special items since we believe they are not reflective of our ongoing operating results. For the quarter ended December 31, 2019, we expect to record a pre-tax remeasurement loss of approximately $2.2 billion related to our pension and OPEB plans. This includes a $2.0 billion loss associated with pension plans outside the United States and a $600 million loss associated with OPEB plans globally, offset by a $400 million gain associated with pension plans in the United States. Overall, the remeasurement loss is driven by lower discount rates compared with year-end 2018, offset partially by asset returns in excess of our assumptions. On an after-tax basis, the remeasurement loss is expected to reduce our net income by about $1.7 billion. Because the remeasurement loss is a special item, it will not impact our total company adjusted EBIT or adjusted earnings per share. The remeasurement loss did not have an impact on our cash in 2019, and does not change our expectations for pension contributions in 2020. Including the impact of remeasurement gains and losses during 2019, we expect the underfunded status for our pension and OPEB plans to be about $6.8 billion and $6.1 billion, respectively, at year-end 2019, compared with $6.3 billion and $5.6 billion, respectively, at year-end 2018. The change to the underfunded status of our pension and OPEB plans primarily reflects the impact of lower discount rates on our unfunded plans."

16:34 EST Fluor awarded roughly $170M task order from U.S. Air Force - Fluor Corporation announced that the Air Force Installation Contracting Agency awarded the company, through its Fluor AMEC II, LLC entity, the task order contract to repair the Ascension Island Auxiliary Airfield runway. The task order is awarded under the Air Force Contract Augmentation Program IV, a position Fluor has held since 2015. The cost-plus, fixed-fee task order is for up to 28 months and is valued at approximately $170M. "We are honored to be selected to support the Air Force and to be a part of its global mission," said Tom D'Agostino, president of Fluor's Government Group. "Ascension Auxiliary Airfield is in a strategic location and the runway is the lifeline to the island. Fluor excels at projects like this where it delivers timely and cost-effective solutions in some of the most remote and difficult locations in the world."

16:33 EST Community Bankers Trust announces 1M share repurchase plan - Community Bankers Trust announced that its Board of Directors has authorized the repurchase of up to 1M shares of its common stock through January 2021.

16:22 EST SL Green Realty reports Q4 same-store NOI up 2.0% - Same-store cash NOI increased by 2.0% for the fourth quarter and 2.6% for the year ended December 31, 2019, excluding lease termination income and free rent given to Viacom at 1515 Broadway. Q4 Manhattan same-store occupancy was 96.2% as of December 31, 2019, inclusive of leases signed but not yet commenced, as compared to 95.3% at the end of the previous quarter.

16:21 EST National Health Investors sells eight communities to Brookdale Senior Living - National Health Investors (NHI) announced that Brookdale Senior Living (BKD) has exercised its option to purchase eight assisted living facilities in three states for $39.26M effective January 22. These communities contributed 2019 GAAP revenue of $4.31M and 2019 cash revenue of $4.48M to NHI. The communities were previously classified as "Assets Held For Sale".

16:18 EST MetLife names Toby Srihiran Brown chief auditor - MetLife announced that Toby Srihiran Brown will become executive vice president and Chief Auditor, effective March 1. Brown will have a direct and independent reporting relationship with the Audit Committee of the MetLife, Inc. Board of Directors and report to MetLife President and Chief Executive Officer Michel Khalaf on an administrative basis. As Chief Auditor, Brown will lead the team responsible for providing assurance over MetLife's risk management, control and governance processes across MetLife's global business operations.

16:17 EST ProAssurance reports preliminary Q4 loss of $37M in Specialty Property, Casualty - ProAssurance Corporation reported a preliminary estimate of $37M of adverse development in its prior accident year loss reserves in the fourth quarter of 2019 in our Specialty Property & Casualty segment. This adverse development is in response to deteriorating loss experience, driven by a large national healthcare account written since 2016. In addition, the company expects to book, in the quarter, a current accident year net loss ratio for the Specialty Property & Casualty segment between 134% and 148%. This also reflects deteriorating loss experience related to the previously noted national healthcare account and, to a lesser extent, in the healthcare professional liability excess and surplus lines of business. This business includes custom physicians, healthcare facilities, correctional healthcare, and long-term care policies. Loss estimates for the company's core physicians, podiatric, chiropractic, legal professional liability and medical technology liability businesses will be in line with expectations. The adverse development in prior accident years and the higher current accident year net loss ratio in the fourth quarter will result in a full-year 2019 net loss ratio between 105% and 109% for the Specialty Property & Casualty segment.

16:15 EST Pure says combined HighPeak sssets achieved projection of 12,000Boe/d - Pure Acquisition its wholly owned subsidiary, HighPeak Energy, previously announced a business combination whereby, among other things, Pure will merge with HighPeak, with HighPeak surviving as a publicly traded company, and HighPeak will concurrently acquire the oil and gas assets and cash from certain affiliates in exchange for HighPeak common stock, and the oil and gas assets of Grenadier Energy Partners will be contributed in exchange for HighPeak common stock and cash. Upon completion of the business combination and the acquisition of such assets from the HighPeak Affiliates and Grenadier, HighPeak will conduct its business as an independent oil and gas company engaged in the acquisition, development and production of oil, natural gas and NGL reserves with assets primarily located in Howard County, Texas in the Midland Basin. Today, Pure announced that the 2019 year-end exit rate net production for the Combined HighPeak Assets successfully achieved management's forecasted projection of approximately 12,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

16:13 EST Citrix reports Q4 ARR up 41% from last year to $743M - Q4 subscription ARR was $743 million, up 41% year-over-year, and SaaS ARR was $520M, up 49% year-over-year. Subscription bookings as a percentage of total product bookings was 69%, up from 51% in the fourth quarter of 2018.

16:09 EST H.B. Fuller revises cost savings target to $25M-$35M by 2021 - The company said, "Effective Dec. 1, 2019, H.B. Fuller completed the realignment of its business from five to three operating segments. Aligning our resources around the three new global business units- Engineering Adhesives, Hygiene, Health and Consumable Adhesives, and Construction Adhesives - better positions us to quickly identify trends and utilize our vast adhesives portfolio to deliver new solutions targeted to evolving trends. In addition, the new organizational structure enabled a simplification of our business processes and elimination of more than 150 redundant positions, globally, leading to reduced costs. The company updated the range of its previously disclosed cost savings target from this realignment to $25M-$35M by 2021, with approximately two thirds of the savings to be realized in 2020. In its Nov. 13, 2019 filing on Form 8-K with the SEC, the company announced approximately $9M-$11M of restructuring costs associated with this initiative to be recognized across the next several fiscal quarters. The company incurred $9M of restructuring costs in the quarter ended Nov. 30, 2019."

16:09 EST Xcel Energy selects Willdan's software for grid modernization - Willdan Group (WLDN) announced that Xcel Energy (XEL) has selected LoadSEER, Willdan's flagship software application, to provide foundational load forecasting, planning, and network scenario analysis as part of its Advanced Grid Intelligence and Security strategy. LoadSEER will enable Xcel Energy teams to model and plan for changes in electric load and the adoption and impact of distributed energy resources. "We are pleased to provide this system-wide comprehensive deployment of LoadSEER to Xcel Energy," said Tom Brisbin, Willdan's CEO and Chairman. "LoadSEER is the intelligence layer behind grid modernization and renewable energy integration for major utilities across the country. Xcel Energy will use LoadSEER to standardize load forecasting, and to provide the granular analysis required to make critical distribution system investment decisions and deploy the cleanest sources of energy as the grid evolves."

16:09 EST Citrix board raises share repurchase authorization by $600M

16:06 EST Optex Systems awarded $1.1M order for optical assemblies - Optex Systems Holdings announced it has been awarded a $1.1M order as part of a multi-year strategic supplier agreement with a domestic manufacturer of premium optical devices. The products will be manufactured at the Applied Optics Center Division of Optex Systems.

16:03 EST Texas Instruments CEO says 'most markets showed signs of stabilizing' - Rich Templeton, TI's chairman, president and CEO, made the following comments: "Revenue decreased 10% from the same quarter a year ago as most markets showed signs of stabilizing. In our core businesses, Analog revenue declined 5% and Embedded Processing declined 20% from the same quarter a year ago. Our cash flow from operations of $6.6 billion for the year again underscored the strength of our business model. Free cash flow for the year was $5.8 billion and 40% of revenue. This reflects the quality of our product portfolio, as well as the efficiency of our manufacturing strategy, including the benefit of 300-millimeter Analog production. We returned $6.0 billion to owners in 2019 through stock repurchases and dividends. For the year, our dividends represented 52% of free cash flow, underscoring their sustainability. Together, our stock repurchases and dividends reflect our continued commitment to return all free cash flow to our owners."

15:54 EST Network-1 Technologies receives new patent from U.S. Patent Office - Network-1 Technologies announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued U.S. Patent No. 10,540,391, "Methods For Using Extracted Features To Perform An Action". The claims of the newly issued patent are generally directed towards methods of content extraction and identification, including performance of actions following therefrom. The newly issued patent arises from a patent application contained in the patent portfolio acquired by Network-1 from Professor Ingemar Cox in 2013. The Cox Patent Portfolio includes patents relating to enabling technology for identifying media content, such as music and videos, and taking further actions to be performed based on such identification including, among others, the insertion of advertisements and the facilitation of the purchase of goods and services relating to the media content. Since the acquisition of the Cox Patent Portfolio, Network-1 has filed thirty-four additional patent applications, thirty-one of which have been issued bringing the total Cox Patent Portfolio of granted patents to thirty-six. Three applications relating to the original specification are still pending and Network-1 anticipates further issuances of additional claims for its Cox Patent Portfolio.

14:43 EST Verizon partners with Google Stadia for cloud gaming - "It's no secret; Verizon (VZ) Fios is the perfect platform for gamers, and we've now taken it one step further by teaming up with Google (GOOG) for a significant gaming announcement. Verizon and Google are partnering to deliver the best games to more gamers than ever before. With Fios, there's no added surcharges, no broadcast or regional sports network fees, and no surprises. It just works. Starting January 29, new Fios Gigabit internet customers will get a Stadia Premiere Edition on us. Stadia Premiere Edition includes a controller, a free three-month Stadia Pro subscription for access to games in up to 4k/60fps, and a Google Chromecast Ultra to enjoy your favorite games on your existing TV," said the companies. "Fios has long been known as the leading Internet service for console gaming and streaming entertainment," said Brian Higgins, vice president, consumer device marketing and products, Verizon. "With the recent surge in adoption of cloud gaming, led by Stadia, Fios will continue to serve as the backbone for the best cloud gaming services." "Google working with Verizon to deliver incredible cloud gaming experiences is a great step forward for the industry," said Brennan Mullin, vice president, Devices and Services Partnerships, Google. "Verizon's commitment to delivering fast, reliable Fios internet matches perfectly with Stadia's exciting new cloud gaming, delivering an unmatched gamer experience" Reference Link

14:32 EST City Holding announces pre-tax gain of $17.8M on sale of Visa Class B shares - City Holding Company, parent company of City National Bank of West Virginia, announced that the Bank had entered into an agreement to sell 86,605 shares of Visa Class B common stock at a pre-tax gain of approximately $17.8M on January 17, 2020.

14:14 EST NantKwest trading resumes

13:38 EST Microsoft: Misconfiguration investigation found no malicious use of database - Microsoft said in a blog post that it has concluded an investigation into a misconfiguration of an internal customer support database used for Microsoft support case analytics. The company said: "While the investigation found no malicious use, and although most customers did not have personally identifiable information exposed, we want to be transparent about this incident with all customers and reassure them that we are taking it very seriously and holding ourselves accountable. Our investigation has determined that a change made to the database's network security group on December 5, 2019 contained misconfigured security rules that enabled exposure of the data. Upon notification of the issue, engineers remediated the configuration on December 31, 2019 to restrict the database and prevent unauthorized access. This issue was specific to an internal database used for support case analytics and does not represent an exposure of our commercial cloud services. As part of Microsoft's standard operating procedures, data stored in the support case analytics database is redacted using automated tools to remove personal information. Our investigation confirmed that the vast majority of records were cleared of personal information in accordance with our standard practices. In some scenarios, the data may have remained unredacted if it met specific conditions. We want to sincerely apologize and reassure our customers that we are taking it seriously and working diligently to learn and take action to prevent any future reoccurrence. We also want to thank the researcher, Bob Diachenko, for working closely with us so that we were able to quickly fix this misconfiguration, investigate the situation, and begin notifying customers as appropriate." Reference Link

13:03 EST Michigan AG confirms settlement with Tesla over direct vehicle sales - Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel's office released a statement from Spokeswoman Kelly Rossman-McKinney regarding the lawsuit against Tesla, saying: "Today the state of Michigan defendants Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Attorney General Dana Nessel filed a stipulation to dismiss with Tesla that recognizes that any Michigan resident may lawfully buy a Tesla and have it serviced in Michigan. The stipulation acknowledges that Tesla may: operate under existing Michigan law; sell cars to Michigan customers as long as the sales contract indicates the sale took place in a state other than Michigan; and, indirectly own service and repair facilities in Michigan through a subsidiary, Tesla Michigan." Reference Link

12:33 EST Scopely acquires FoxNext Games, Cold Iron Studios from Disney - Scopely and The Walt Disney Company (DIS) announced that Scopely has agreed to acquire FoxNext Games in Los Angeles and Cold Iron Studios in San Jose from Disney. Disney acquired the FoxNext Games vertical game studios and licensed games titles in its 2019 acquisition of 21st Century Fox.

12:06 EST G. Willi-Food CEO Michael Luboschitz to resign for personal reasons - G. Willi-Food International announced that Michael Luboschitz submitted notice of his resignation as CEO of the company for personal reasons, effective as of March 20. The company is currently searching for a replacement for Luboschitz as CEO.

12:00 EST Cango falls -9.3% - Cango is down -9.3%, or -78c to $7.58.

12:00 EST OneConnect rises 8.5% - OneConnect is up 8.5%, or $1.18 to $15.19.

12:00 EST Express rises 17.5% - Express is up 17.5%, or 72c to $4.88.

11:45 EST Western Union and Bharti Airtel to launch real-time payments in emerging markets - Earlier on Wednesday, Western Union and Bharti Airtel Limited announced an unprecedented milestone in global money movement across the world's significant emerging markets. The two industry leaders have come together to launch real-time payments soon into millions of Airtel Payments Bank accounts in India and Mobile Wallets across 14 countries in Africa. This key milestone follows the conclusion of new flagship collaborations with two leading subsidiaries of India's largest integrated telecom - Bharti Airtel, namely Airtel Payments Bank, India's first payments bank with millions of customers and over 500K banking points across the country and Airtel Africa plc Africa, a leading provider of telecommunications and mobile money services with a presence in 14 countries in Africa.

11:25 EST Molson Coors craft division agrees to acquire Atwater Brewery - Tenth and Blake Beer Company, the U.S. craft division of Molson Coors, announced an agreement to acquire Detroit-based Atwater Brewery, which it said "is highly regarded in the Michigan craft beer community for its traditional German-style lagers and unique ales." The transaction is expected to be completed within the next couple of months. Terms were not disclosed. Mark Rieth, Atwater Brewery's owner, and his management team will continue to lead Atwater's day-to-day operations.

11:01 EST United Airlines says goal remains flat CASM-ex

10:46 EST WeWork completes sales of Teem, minority stake in The Wing - WeWork announced that this month it has completed the sales of Teem and its minority stake in The Wing. The divestitures follow the December sale of Conductor and are part of WeWork's strategy to focus on its core workspace business. The terms of the transactions were not disclosed. Following WeWork's introduction of a new strategy in November 2019, the company has moved to improve its financial position and refocus on its core business, establishing a clear path to profitable growth. One component of this is the divestitures of non-core ventures Conductor and Teem, as well as its stake in The Wing. WeWork has also wound down Spacious and will cease to operate WeGrow at the end of the 2020 school year. Sales of other non-core ventures, such as Meetup and Managed by Q, are in process.

10:39 EST United Airlines says 2020 will come with 'unique' set of challenges

10:09 EST Amazon Music announces global customers have topped 55M - Amazon Music announced that it has reached more than 55M customers globally, with subscriptions to Amazon Music Unlimited growing by more than 50% last year alone. Amazon Music saiid it has grown nearly 50% year-over-year across the U.S., U.K., Germany, and Japan and has more than doubled in our newer countries such as France, Italy, Spain, and Mexico. Reference Link

10:00 EST Associated Capital falls -5.0% - Associated Capital is down -5.0%, or -$3.21 to $60.37.

10:00 EST Flex LNG falls -6.1% - Flex LNG is down -6.1%, or -64c to $9.76.

10:00 EST Virgin Galactic rises 12.9% - Virgin Galactic is up 12.9%, or $2.23 to $19.53.

09:59 EST Amarin's Vascepa listed among Cigna's prescription drug list changes for 2020 - Cigna (CI) shared a document with its Cigna Prescription Drug List changes for 2020, which includes notification that Amarin's (AMRN) Vascepa is moving to be a preferred brand on the Standard, also known as "Cigna National," prescription drug list as of January 1, 2020. Reference Link

09:55 EST Stanley Black & Decker lowers threshold requirement to call special meeting - In a regulatory filing last night, Stanley Black & Decker disclosed that effective January 20, 2020, the board of directors of the company approved an amendment to the amended and restated bylaws of the company to lower the threshold ownership requirement to call a special meeting of the shareholders from 35% to 25% of the voting power of all shares entitled to vote on any issue proposed to be considered at the meeting.

09:50 EST Profound Medical Corporation trading resumes

09:23 EST Cboe Global Markets receives final regulatory approval for Cboe Market Close - Cboe Global Markets has received final SEC approval to introduce Cboe Market Close on the company's BZX Exchange. CMC is a new end-of-day match process for non-Cboe listed securities, and is planned for launch in early 2020. Cboe created CMC to meet industry demand for a competitively priced, on-exchange alternative to participating in primary market closing auctions. Under the model, market participants will have the choice to route Market-On-Close orders to CMC on Cboe's BZX Exchange, where they are pre-matched with other MOC orders at 3:35 p.m. ET. The trades are then executed when the primary exchange closing price is published, saving participants from paying closing auction fees on orders that are not price forming.

09:16 EST Rand Capital announces sale of stake in Microcision for $1.5M - Rand Capital announced the sale of its equity interest in one of its portfolio companies, Microcision LLC. The sale, which closed on December 31, 2019, resulted in Rand's proceeds of $1.5M, realizing a pre-tax gain of $1.5M on its cost basis. Additionally, Microcision repaid approximately $453,000 of principal to Rand, reducing the balance of its subordinated note to $1.5M. In January, Rand restated the subordinated note to an 11% interest rate and a five year maturity, and received a warrant for 5% of Microcision's equity.

09:14 EST Horizon Bancorp appoints Julie Scheck Freigang to board of directors - Craig Dwight, Chairman and CEO of Horizon Bancorp (HBNC), announced that the Board of Directors of Horizon Bancorp, Inc., appointed Julie Scheck Freigang to its Board of Directors effective January 21, 2020. Ms. Scheck Freigang is filling the open board seat, previously vacated by a retiring director and whose term shall expire in 2021, at which time she will be up for reelection. Scheck Freigang is the VP and CIO for Franklin Electric (FELE).

09:10 EST CleanSpark receives Nasdaq listing approval - CleanSpark announced that Nasdaq has approved its application to have its common stock listed on Nasdaq Capital Market. CleanSpark expects to commence trading on Nasdaq under the symbol "CLSK" at the opening of trading on Friday, January 24, 2020.

09:09 EST First Community increases quarterly cash dividend to 12c per common share - First Community has approved an increase in the Q4 cash dividend to 12c per common share. This dividend is payable on February 14 to shareholders of record of the company's common stock as of January 31.

09:07 EST Synopsys providing financial app security for Finastra - Synopsys announced a partnership establishing an application security validation program for FusionFabric.cloud, Finastra's open platform for developing, deploying and consuming financial applications. The program, powered by the Synopsys Software Integrity Group, ensures that all applications offered via the FusionFabric.cloud FusionStore have passed thorough security testing assessments. Early adopters of the platform, who have already completed the application validation program, include Allied Payment Network and Monotto.

09:04 EST Prudential extends contract with Alameda County, to oversee $820M in assets - Alameda County, an East Bay government plan client for nearly 29 years, has extended its contract with Prudential Retirement, a business unit of Prudential. Prudential oversees a combined $820M in retirement assets for both 457 and 401 plans. As of January 1, Prudential oversees $808M in assets for Alameda County's 457 plans and $13M for its 401 plans, covering about 7,700 government workers.

09:02 EST Johnson & Johnson says 'cautiously optimistic' on opioid settlement talks

08:50 EST CenturyLink wins Department of Defense learning network EIS award - CenturyLink recently won a task order to provide secure connectivity to the Department of Defense Education Activity's learning network via the General Services Administration's Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions program. This task order marks the first EIS award made by DoD. CenturyLink was selected to provide virtual private networking, internet, voice and video services to more than 85 DoDEA locations around the world. The contract has an initial base period of one year, with 12 additional option periods. EIS is a multiple-award contract vehicle for federal government agencies to purchase information technology and telecommunications infrastructure services.

08:48 EST Staffing 360 Solutions says 2020 'shaping up to be a highly productive year' - Staffing 360 Solutions provided its 2020 outlook and previewed fiscal 2019 revenue results. The company said, "2020 Overview: On a macro level, there is growing optimism in the business media that the world economy will continue on a strong path in 2020. We operate in both the US and the UK and those economies are strong. Staffing Industry Analysts recently said that the worst of the temp slowdown may be behind us. Brexit should commence the end of this month, allowing for more certainty about the UK economic outlook. From a corporate perspective, we are still experiencing very strong demand for candidates in each of our business streams and we are making solid progress adding new clients. Cross-sales within the US and within the UK continue to build on recent successes. All four US & UK brands successfully collaborated on a new US-based project late in Q4. We see these new inter-country cross-sales opportunities growing as well. Our fourth quarter engagement of R.W. Baird is active as they assist us with strategic acquisitions - and the related refinancing of our balance sheet to accommodate any successful transaction. That work progresses simultaneously down two paths. First combined acquisition and refinance and second for standalone debt refinance. UK Professional: Clement May - continuing to build upon January 2019 three-year extension with client British American Tobacco, with placements both inside and outside the US. CBSbutler - permanent placements off to a healthy start, that pipeline is strong. Contract placements up in December. Seeing new demand in pharmaceutical and aviation markets. JM Group - growing contract placements for Information Security. US Professional: firstPRO - strong 2019 finish for contract placements with headcount still increasing; permanent placement also increasing. Actively targeting and producing higher level contract placements to increase margins; anticipate increased performance. Lighthouse - strong permanent outlook. Seeing aggressive growth with pharma; on track to become approved vendor for east coast hospital. Anticipate cross-sales success with Commercial this year. US Commercial: Monroe - large accounts performing well with high customer satisfaction rating; win rates have tripled; program for improved account retention; solid opportunities in pipeline. Net Promotor Score measuring customer loyalty is 75+%.

08:45 EST Johnson & Johnson says sees no major acquisitions in 2020

08:43 EST Johnson & Johnson says sees FY20 free cash flow down due to opioid charge

08:42 EST United Airlines sees ~90% of widebody aircraft having Polaris seats by YE20 - Expects to grow business class capacity across Atlantic by ~20% in first half of 2020. Expects ~90% of widebody aircraft will have Polaris seats by year-end 2020.

08:41 EST United Airlines sees Q1 y/y consolidated PRASM flat to up 2%

08:40 EST Atossa says advancing oral Endoxifen through phase 2 study primary goal in 2020 - Atossa Therapeutics issued the following letter from Dr. Steven Quay, President and CEO, to Atossa shareholders. The letter read in part, "I begin this letter with a sense of great pride about our accomplishments at Atossa. During 2019, we focused on developing our proprietary drug Endoxifen to reduce mammographic breast density and to treat breast cancer after a woman is diagnosed but before her surgery. We advanced our goal of developing our intraductal microcatheter technology to deliver drugs and immunotherapies to treat breast cancer...Moving forward in 2020, we will continue to pursue our mission with vigor and dedication: Oral Endoxifen to Reduce MBD. Our primary goal in 2020 is advancing oral Endoxifen through a Phase 2 study to reduce MBD. The primary objective of this randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study is to determine if there was a change in breast density compared to placebo and among different doses, with secondary endpoints to assess and characterize safety and tolerability. South General Hospital in Stockholm will be conducting this study at multiple sites, after having recently completed our Phase 2 study of our topical form of Endoxifen. The study is being led by principal investigator Dr. Per Hall, M.D., Ph.D., Head of the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Karolinska Institutet. We expected to enroll approximately 1,000 pre-menopausal participants in four groups who will be dosed for six months. In 2019, we completed additional Phase 1 work using our capsule Endoxifen and a new modified-release form of our oral Endoxifen. Study results showed that the capsule and tablet were safe and well-tolerated. Because the pharmacokinetics of the tablet did not appear to be significantly improved over our capsule and because the capsule is more cost-effective to manufacture, we plan to use our capsule formulation of Endoxifen in our upcoming Phase 2 study to reduce MBD. Upcoming 2020 milestones with this program include receiving approval to open the study from the Institutional Review Board and Medical Products Authority in the first quarter 2020. We will then begin enrolling participants in the first or second quarter of 2020 and we expect to report periodically the progress with enrollment. Oral Endoxifen in the "Window of Opportunity" Between Diagnosis of Breast Cancer and Surgery. We plan to continue enrolling participants in this Phase 2 study being conducted in Australia. Intraductal Technology. We plan to continue our Phase 2 study using our intraductal technology to administer Fulvestrant and we will be conducting additional pre-clinical work to identify potential immunotherapy candidates. Gynecomastia. Completing our Phase 2 study of MBD will help inform next steps with our program to treat and/or prevent gynecomastia with our proprietary Endoxifen. Accordingly, we don't anticipate advancing our gynecomastia program in 2020."

08:35 EST Stifel Financial announces 2020 partnership with Financial Women's Association - Stifel Financial announced an agreement to serve as a 2020 President's Circle sponsor of the Financial Women's Association of New York. The FWA is an organization committed to developing future women leaders, enhancing the role of women in finance, and investing in the community. Under this partnership, Stifel employees will have access to all FWA offerings, which include networking events, professional development programs, and service projects.

08:34 EST Capstone Turbine secures order for C400S - Capstone Turbine announced that it has secured an order for a Capstone C400 Signature Series (C400S) microturbine for a leading gelatins and collagen peptides manufacturer in Germany. The order was secured by E-Quad Power Systems GmbH, Capstone's distributor in Germany, and is the 20th microturbine system sold in the last nine months as the German combined heat and power, or CHP, market continues to rebound. The latest C400S microturbine CHP project will be installed at a large manufacturing plant in Germany and be fueled by high-pressure natural gas. The microturbines will be used to reduce on-site energy costs and help lower overall plant CO2 emissions.

08:26 EST FIS to solidify Cincinnati presence as technology, innovation campus - FIS and the State of Ohio announced that the company plans to solidify its presence in Cincinnati as a strategic technology and innovation campus. The campus in Governor's Hill, in Symmes Township, Ohio, previously served as the corporate headquarters of Worldpay, which was acquired by FIS on July 31, 2019. FIS also said it will continue to invest in its location at the University of Cincinnati's 1819 Innovation Hub, where the company has plans to employ students to work on FinTech applications. The company also plans to continue to work with the University of Cincinnati and Miami University through its initiative to increase the number of students-especially women and underrepresented minorities-who are pursuing degrees related to the fast-growing technology sector.

08:21 EST Proofpoint achieves certification for Email and Information Protection Service - Proofpoint announced it has achieved Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program certification for its flagship email security products: Proofpoint Email and Information Protection Service, which includes Email Data Loss Prevention and Proofpoint Targeted Attack Protection. This certification helps U.S. federal agencies meet increasingly complex regulatory guidance and defend against phishing, malware, and social engineering attacks in email.

08:18 EST Vaxart announces publication of influenza challenge study results - Vaxart, Inc. (VXRT), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing oral recombinant vaccines administered by tablet rather than by injection, announced today that the results from its H1 influenza oral tablet vaccine challenge study were published in the Lancet Infectious Diseases. The study demonstrated a single dose with the Vaxart oral tablet H1 influenza vaccine was well tolerated and provided statistically significant protection against H1 influenza infection in the human challenge model. Efficacy results trended favorably when compared to Fluzone, an injectable quadrivalent influenza vaccine and the active comparator in the study. Dr. Stanley A. Plotkin is Emeritus Professor of the University of Pennsylvania and Adjunct Professor of the Johns Hopkins University. Data from the Phase 2 influenza A challenge study demonstrated that Vaxart's oral tablet influenza vaccine generated a 39 percent reduction in clinical disease relative to placebo, compared to a 27 percent reduction by Fluzone. It also reduced infection rates by 47 percent, compared to 43 percent by Fluzone. The tablet vaccine showed a favorable safety profile, similar to placebo. The Phase 2 influenza A challenge trial was a randomized, double-blind study consisting of three groups. Subjects received either a single dose of the Vaxart oral tablet vaccine and a placebo intramuscular injection, a QIV injection and a placebo tablet, or a double placebo. Subjects were challenged intranasally with homologous A strain influenza virus 90-132 days after vaccination. The main objective of the study was to evaluate the percentage of subjects protected by the Vaxart oral tablet vaccine against influenza illness, measured as a reduction in clinical symptoms and laboratory-confirmed homologous influenza A infections, compared to QIV and placebo. The Phase 2 study was completed with support from the Office of Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority. Vaxart received a total of $15.7M under a contract from BARDA to support the advanced development of more effective influenza vaccines to ultimately improve seasonal and pandemic influenza preparedness.

08:15 EST CHF Solutions says Baylor Scott & White Health offers aquapheresis therapy - CHF Solutions announced that Texas-based health system, Baylor Scott & White Health has initiated offering aquapheresis therapy using the company's Aquadex FlexFlow system at its Baylor Scott & White Medical Center in Temple, Texas.

08:11 EST Blue Hat Interactive changes auditor to JLKZ - Blue Hat Interactive has dismissed Friedman as the company's independent registered public accounting firm and the appointment of JLKZ. The appointment of JLKZ has been approved by the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors of the company and the Board of Directors. The decision to change auditors was not the result of any disagreement between the company and Friedman on any matter of accounting principles or practices, financial statement disclosure, or auditing scope or procedure.

08:06 EST Gold Resource reports preliminary FY19 gold production of 40,318 ounces - Gold Resource Corporation announced preliminary 2019 consolidated year-end and fourth quarter production results. The Company produced a record 40,318 gold ounces and produced 1,732,604 silver ounces for the 2019 year, which met annual gold and silver production target ranges. With the Isabella Pearl mine reaching commercial production, the Company increased its annual gold production 50% over the prior year. The Company's 2019 annual production targets for its Oaxaca Mining Unit were 27,000 gold ounces and 1,700,000 silver ounces, plus or minus a 10% range. Production results for 2019 of 29,435 gold ounces and 1,722,852 silver ounces achieved the targeted range. Fourth quarter gold and silver production totaled 7,554 ounces and 417,877 ounces, respectively. Annual base metal production included 1,859 tonnes of copper, 9,202 tonnes of lead and 23,683 tonnes of zinc. The Company's Nevada Mining Unit produced 5,502 gold ounces during the fourth quarter, which met the 6,000 ounce target for the quarter, plus or minus a 10% range. 2019 total annual gold production for the Nevada Mining Unit totaled 10,883 ounces. "2019 was not only a record gold production year for Gold Resource Corporation, but the Company is well positioned to substantially increase our gold production profile further in 2020," Gold Resource Corporation CEO and President, Mr. Jason Reid, stated. "Our Nevada Mining Unit's Isabella Pearl mine reached commercial production in October 2019 meeting its first production target by producing 5,502 gold ounces during the fourth quarter. Also during the quarter we successfully commissioned the hot side of the ADR process plant and began pouring dore bars on site. We continue to ramp up Nevada Mining Unit production and plan to update shareholders regarding our 2020 consolidated production targets in the near future. Our Oaxaca Mining Unit's operations team again delivered another year of solid production for 2019. In addition to achieving annual precious metal targets, the team delivered significant base metal production as well."

08:04 EST Curaleaf Holdings shareholders agree to further extend lock-up - Curaleaf Holdings announced that all shareholders holding individually more than 1% of Curaleaf's shares outstanding and all Cura Partners shareholders have agreed to an amended lock-up agreement in connection with the anticipated closing of Curaleaf's acquisition of Select. After closing, approximately 62% or 326.7M of the company's outstanding shares will be subject to the extended lock-up agreements. As previously announced, the company's largest shareholders and the Select shareholders agreed to a lock-up release schedule that provided for a quarterly release of 15% of each participant's shares. The revised lock-up agreement provides that after the close of the acquisition only 5% of each participant's holding will be released on the last day of each calendar quarter starting with March 31.

08:02 EST Hudbay Minerals appoints Peter Kukielski as president, CEO - Hudbay Minerals announced the appointment of Peter Kukielski as the company's President and CEO. Kukielski had been serving as Interim President and CEO since July 2019. Most recently, he was President and CEO of Nevsun Resources Ltd. until its acquisition in December 2018.

07:49 EST CenterPoint Energy announces key terms of Houston Electric rate case pact - In a regulatory filing last night, CenterPoint Energy and CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric noted that as previously disclosed, on April 5, 2019, Houston Electric filed its base rate application with the Public Utility Commission of Texas, or "PUCT," and the cities in its service area to change its rates. On December 20, 2019, Houston Electric informed the PUCT that Houston Electric had reached an agreement in principle with certain parties to Houston Electric's pending rate case. On January 21, 2020, the company and Houston Electric announced the key terms of the agreement and that all parties to the case either support the agreement or are unopposed to it. Houston Electric will file the final settlement documentation with the PUCT once finalized and executed by the parties, and the settlement will be subject to PUCT approval. A summary of the key terms of the agreement include: Overall revenue requirement increase of approximately $13M; Return on equity of 9.4%; Capital structure of 57.5% debt / 42.5% equity; A refund of certain excess deferred income taxes of $105M plus carrying costs over approximately 30-36 months; and recovery of all transmission-related costs through Houston Electric's transmission cost recovery factor. Further, no write offs of rate base are expected to be required. The agreement does require certain rate case expenses estimated at approximately $12M to be written off in 2019. Also, Houston Electric would not be required to make a one-time refund of capital recovery from its transmission cost of service and distribution cost recovery factor mechanisms. Future TCOS filings would take into account both accumulated deferred federal income taxes and EDIT until the final order from Houston Electric's next base rate proceeding. Under the terms of the agreement, Houston Electric would agree to adopt certain ring-fencing measures including provisions related to its credit agreement, maintaining a standalone credit rating, prohibitions on transferring material assets or facilities to affiliates, commingling assets or lending or borrowing money, subject to certain exceptions, among other provisions. However, with respect to any dividend restrictions, the PUCT would determine the application of any such restrictions.

07:37 EST Conagra Brands announces goal of 100% sustainable packaging by 2025 - Conagra Brands will strive toward making 100% of its current plastic packaging renewable, recyclable or compostable by 2025. The company aims to reduce waste derived from packaging through thoughtful design and by using renewable and more readily recyclable or compostable materials.

07:35 EST Abbott CEO says 'we're entering 2020 with very good momentum' - "Our focus on organic growth is driving top-tier performance," said Miles White, chairman and CEO, Abbott. "We're entering 2020 with very good momentum and targeting continued strong growth."

07:32 EST Seelos to meet with EMA on clinical study of SLS-005 in Sanfillipo syndrome - Seelos Therapeutics announced an update regarding its development programs for SLS-005 in Europe and the U.S. Seelos has scheduled a meeting in March 2020 to meet with the European Medicines Agency to seek scientific advice and protocol assistance for a European clinical study of SLS-005 in patients with Sanfillipo syndrome type A and B. The EMA provides support, including regulatory guidance and incentives, for the research and development of medicines for rare diseases in the European Union. Additionally, Seelos has submitted to the FDA a protocol for its planned expanded access study for Sanfilippo syndrome type C and D patients as well as type A and B patients who do not meet the Phase IIb/III trial entry criteria. Seelos continues to pursue its plans to develop SLS-005 in oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy and is evaluating other potential indications where scientific rationale for studying trehalose exists.

07:14 EST Fulton Financial sees 2020 NIM 3.2%-3.25%, assuming 25bp rate cut in Q2 - Sees FY20 net interest income up in the low single digits. Sees NIM of 3.2%-3.25% for FY20, assuming a stable yield curve and one 25 bp rate cut in Q2. Sees mid single-digit growth rate for noninterest income. Sees low single-digit growth rate for noninterest expense excluding charter consolidation costs in 2019. Sees $25M-$40M provision for credit losses for full year 2020. Says CECL impact to be a 20%-30% increase in allowance for credit losses. Sees FY20 effective tax rate 14%-16%. Comments taken from slides being presented on its Q4 earnings conference call.

07:13 EST Johnson & Johnson down 1.5% after reporting Q4 results

07:10 EST Akcea Therapeutics and Ionis report Phase 2 results of Akcea-ApocIII-LRx - Akcea Therapeutics (AKCA), a majority-owned affiliate of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS), announced positive topline results from the Phase 2 study of AKCEA-APOCIII-LRx in the treatment of patients with hypertriglyceridemia who are at risk for or have established cardiovascular disease. The study met the primary endpoint of significant triglyceride lowering and multiple secondary endpoints with a favorable safety and tolerability profile. Statistically significant dose-dependent reductions in fasting triglycerides compared to placebo at all dose levels; at the highest once monthly dose of 50 mg, more than 90% of patients achieved serum triglycerides of less than or equal to 150 mg/dL, compared to less than 5% of patients in the placebo group; mean triglyceride levels of patients at baseline was 285 mg/dL. Significant reductions in multiple additional risk factors, including apoC-III, very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL-C) and remnant cholesterol, compared to placebo. Treatment-emergent adverse events were comparable between active and placebo groups. The most common adverse event was injection site reactions. AKCEA-APOCIII-LRx was discovered by Ionis and has been co-developed by Akcea and Ionis.

07:06 EST FuelCell launches new "Powerhouse" business strategy - FuelCell Energy announced the details of its new "Powerhouse" business strategy, which is focused on the fundamental pillars of Transform, Strengthen, and Grow. "We have launched a series of strategic initiatives to strengthen our financial and operational position, which we believe will enable the Company to deliver current projects on time and budget and set the stage for future growth. As we enter 2020, our recent performance indicates that we are on the right track. We are implementing a comprehensive strategy to strengthen and grow FuelCell Energy by executing on our core business, building on customer relationships, delivering and expanding our project backlog, and developing and commercializing new technologies, products and markets. Our "Powerhouse" business strategy consists of three fundamental pillars: Transform, Strengthen, and Grow," said Jason Few. Transform: Much of our transformation strategy has already been accomplished, including the following: Restructured management, secured funding, restructured organization, delivered cost savings, refinanced debt. With our transformation already well underway, we are now fully committed to delivering on the remaining two pillars of the Powerhouse strategy: Strengthen: Capital deployment: Continue to focus on disciplined capital deployment and obtaining lower-cost, long-term financing and tax equity for completed generation projects. Commercial excellence: Build on customer relationships and extend our customer-centric reputation. Operational excellence: Implement a rigorous approach to project backlog execution and on-time, on-budget delivery. Cost reductions: Continued focus on lean resource management and cost reduction opportunities. Grow: Sales growth: Increase global product sales to key strategic customers, grow service revenue through pricing strategy and enhanced energy solutions, and reduce the cost of ownership for our customers. Innovation: Increase product life and reliability, and expand commercialization of new technologies such as carbon capture, hydrogen, biofuels, long-term energy storage, and solid oxide systems. Segment leadership: Capitalize on our expertise and competitive advantages in key addressable markets-biofuels, microgrid development, and the expanding hydrogen economy for industry, transportation and electric power generation. Education: Ensure federal, state and local legislators, regulators and environmental organizations understand the environmental benefits, grid reliability advantages and multi-featured capabilities of the FuelCell SureSource platforms. Geographic and market expansion: Continue to develop new clean and renewable energy partnerships to advance carbon capture, hydrogen and multi-fuel/biofuel technology, and pursue growth around the world.

07:04 EST Sierra Oncology authorizes 1-for-40 reverse stock split - Sierra Oncology has approved a reverse stock split of its shares of common stock at a ratio of 1-for-40. The reverse stock split will be effective at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time. At the market open on January 23, the company's common stock will continue to trade under the symbol "SRRA," but will be assigned a new CUSIP number - 82640U404 - and will trade on a split-adjusted basis. Shortly following the reverse stock split: the Series A convertible voting preferred stock issued in the recently completed $103.0M financing will be converted into shares of common stock, subject to the applicable beneficial ownership limitation. Gilead Sciences (GILD) will be issued approximately 725,000 shares of common stock and a warrant to purchase an equivalent amount of common stock, in consideration for amending the royalty rates and milestones in an Asset Purchase Agreement with Gilead for momelotinib. Following the reverse stock split and the issuance of common stock to Gilead, there are expected to be approximately 10,394,600 total shares of common stock outstanding and warrants to purchase approximately 11,104,000 total shares of common stock outstanding on a post-split basis.

07:02 EST McDonald's launches new career exploration mobile app 'Archways to Careers' - McDonald's announced the launch of a new career exploration mobile application called Archways to Careers that will help restaurant employees nationwide maximize education benefits and take the next step in their professional journey- whether at McDonald's or elsewhere. Built with long-standing partner, the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning, and with support from InsideTrack, a national success coaching organization, McDonald's will now be able to offer all restaurant employees a real-time career advising tool that connects them to InsideTrack's professional and credentialed advisors to support, coach and help them chart a path to achieve the future job or career they desire.

06:58 EST Radian Group sells Clayton Services to Covius Holdings - Covius Holdings announced it has acquired Clayton Services, LLC from Radian Group. The transaction does not include Five Bridges Advisors, Green River Capital, Red Bell Real Estate, Radian Title Insurance or Radian Settlement Services. These businesses will be remaining with Radian.

06:54 EST Acorn International retains independent financial advisor, legal counsel - Acorn International announced that the special committee of independent directors of the company's board, consisting of Urs Zimmerman, Jenny Hseau-Jean Wang and Eric Haibing Wu, has retained Duff & Phelps, LLC and Duff & Phelps Securities, LLC as its independent financial advisor and Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP as its legal counsel. The Special Committee was formed to consider the preliminary non-binding "going private" proposal set out in a November 4, 2019 letter from Robert Roche, Executive Chairman of the company.

06:51 EST Express expects to save $80M in annualized cost reductions over next 3 years - Express has identified $80M in annualized cost reduction opportunities expected to be realized over the next three years. Of this, $25M will be driven by process improvements, inventory optimization and systems implementations associated with its go-to-market transformation. The other $55M of expense reductions will be driven mainly by the previously announced workforce restructuring. These savings are incremental to the $50M dollars in savings announced in 2016. The company expects to close approximately 100 stores by 2022. This includes nine stores that have already closed in 2019, 31 by the end of January 2020, and an additional 35 by the end of January 2021. The company expects the net impact to sales to be a reduction of $90M by 2022. This reduction is offset by the elimination of the fixed operating costs of the closed stores and leveraging the remaining stores' and online infrastructure for additional sales, which it expects to result in a $15M annualized increase in EBITDA by 2022. The company has a long-term goal to increase free cash flow from approximately $50M in 2019 to $90M-$110M by 2022. It expects to achieve this goal by increasing operating cash flow by $60M to $80M, driven by growth in net income and improved working capital. Over the next three years, the company expects to spend $50M/$60M in capital expenditures each year to fund technology investments, ongoing maintenance of technology platforms, enhance customer facing e-commerce capabilities, and refresh stores to ensure consistent representation of the brand across the entire fleet.

06:49 EST J&J Medical Devices worldwide operational sales ex-items grew 3.9% in FY19 - FY19 Medical Devices worldwide operational sales, excluding the net impact of acquisitions and divestitures, grew 3.9% driven by electrophysiology products in the Interventional Solutions business, international energy and endocutter products in the Advanced Surgery business, and ACUVUE contact lenses in the Vision business.

06:48 EST Golden Star Resources sees FY20 production 195-210 koz - Sees FY20 all-in Sustaining cost guidance of $1,080-$1,180/oz, in line with the revised guidance for 2019. Underlying this guidance is a range of operational initiatives aimed at improving the deliverability and consistency of our longer-term plans. Sees FY20 capital expenditures $55M-$60M. This spend is expected to be weighted to H1-2020, with approximately 60% anticipated to be spent in the first half of the year. In 2020, capex continues to be focussed on Wassa, driven by the paste fill plant project. The plant is expected to be completed in Q3 with the additional investment of $13.5M, bringing the total investment to $23M. A budget of $3.5M has been set for capitalised exploration at the mine sites in 2020.

06:47 EST Fifth Third says expects to achieve positive operating leverage in FY20 - Fifth Third says it intends to achieve full year 2020 positive operating leverage on an adjusted basis, even under less favorable economic conditions. The company expects FY20 noninterest expense up 2%-3% from adjusted FY19, with Q1 non interest expense up ~5% from adjusted Q4. The company sees FY20 total loans and leases up ~4%, with Q1 total loans and leases relatively stable from 4Q19. FY20 NII is expected to be up ~2% from FY19, with NIM of ~3.25%, assuming no Fed rate movements. Q1 NII is expected to be down ~2% from adjusted 4Q19, with NIM up 1-2bps from adjusted Q4. FY20 noninterest expense is expected to be up ~8% from adjusted FY19, with Q1 noninterest expense down ~3% from adjusted Q4. Fifth Third sees FY20 effective tax rate ~22%. Comments from slides being presented on the Q4 earnings conference call.

06:44 EST Johnson & Johnson reports Q4 worldwide consumer sales $3.57B - Reports Q4 worldwide orthopaedics sales $2.27B. Reports Q4 worldwide medical devices sales $6.63B.

06:43 EST Ares Management appoints Naseem Sagati Aghili as General Counsel - Ares Management announced that Naseem Sagati Aghili has been appointed to the role of General Counsel and Secretary of Ares, effective January 1. Ms. Sagati Aghili had served as Co-General Counsel of Ares since 2019 alongside Michael Weiner, who has been appointed as Head of Public Policy & Legislative Affairs. Weiner will remain available through Ms. Sagati Aghili's transition to General Counsel. Sagati Aghili joined Ares in 2009 and is a Partner and member of its Management Committee. During her more than 10 years at the Firm, Naseem has served in various roles in Ares' Legal Group. Prior to joining Ares, Ms. Sagati Aghili was with Proskauer Rose LLP, where she focused on mergers and acquisitions, securities offerings and general corporate matters. Weiner has been with Ares since 2006, having served as General Counsel until 2019 and Co-General Counsel over the last year. He will continue as a Partner and member of the Firm's Management Committee.

06:39 EST Genmab: 2019 worldwide net trade sales of DARZALEX $2.998B - Genmab (GMAB) announced that worldwide net trade sales of DARZALEX as reported by Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) were $2.998B in 2019. Net trade sales were $1.567B in the U.S. and net trade sales in the rest of the world were $1.430B. Genmab receives royalties on the worldwide net sales of DARZALEX as calculated on the basis of the license agreement terms under the exclusive worldwide license to Janssen Biotech to develop, manufacture and commercialize DARZALEX. Worldwide net trade sales of DARZALEX in 2018 were $2.025B, resulting in royalty income of DKK 1.708B to Genmab. Genmab has also achieved a $150M sales volume milestone payment triggered by sales of DARZALEX reaching $3B in the calendar year of 2019 as calculated on the basis of the license agreement terms. "We are extremely pleased that DARZALEX continued its solid sales growth in 2019, as it is indicative of the strong benefit DARZALEX provides across its many indications in multiple myeloma," said Jan van de Winkel, Ph.D., CEO of Genmab. "We are grateful to our partner for DARZALEX, Janssen, and their continued efforts to ensure that this treatment is made available to all the many patients who might benefit from it."

06:35 EST Teleflex receives FDA clearance for Wattson temporary pacing guidewire - Teleflex received 510(k) clearance from the FDA for the Wattson Temporary Pacing Guidewire - the first commercially available bipolar temporary pacing guidewire designed specifically for use during transcatheter aortic valve replacement and balloon aortic valvuloplasty. This device offers clinicians a 0.035" pigtailed guidewire that supports valve delivery and allows simultaneous intraventricular bipolar pacing during TAVR or BAV procedures. Teleflex currently plans to commence a limited market release of the device in the U.S. during 1Q20.

06:33 EST Radian Group sells Clayton Services to Covius Holding - Radian Group announced the sale of Clayton Services to Covius Holdings, a provider of technology-enabled solutions to the financial services industry. Clayton Services, acquired by Radian as part of Clayton Holdings, provides loan acquisition, RMBS securitization and distressed asset reviews and servicer and loan surveillance services. The sale is consistent with Radian's strategic focus on its core mortgage and real estate businesses and reflects the repositioning of its Services segment initiated in 2017. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The company does not expect the sale of Clayton Services to have a material net impact on Radian's future financial results but does anticipate that for 4Q19 it will record a pre-tax, non-cash impairment of goodwill and other acquired intangible assets of approximately $18.5M related to this transaction without reference to other factors affecting its Q4 results. Approximately 550 employees supporting Clayton Services will join the Covius team.

06:31 EST General Motors' Cruise unveils electric driverless vehicle Origin - GM's (GM) Cruise unveiled Tuesday evening a "production ready" driverless vehicle called Origin, the product of a multi-year collaboration with parent company GM and investor Honda (HMC) that is designed for a ride-sharing service. Cruise CEO Dan Ammann said in a Medium post that "It's self-driven. It's all-electric. It's shared. And it's our answer to the question about what transportation system you'd build, if you could start from scratch... The Cruise Origin looks big. But in fact, it's no bigger than your average car. It's just more efficient, making full use of the space it takes up on the road." Reference Link

06:15 EST Daimler AG reports preliminary FY19 group EBIT of EUR5.6B vs. EUR11.1B last year - In the financial year 2019, Daimler AG said it has achieved a preliminary Group EBIT of EUR 5.6 billion vs. EUR 11.1 billion last year. Not included therein are anticipated additional expenses for ongoing governmental and court proceedings and measures relating to Mercedes-Benz diesel vehicles in various regions and markets. Upon preliminary assessment, these amount to EUR 1.1 to 1.5 billion and will essentially have a negative impact at Mercedes-Benz Cars and Mercedes-Benz Vans. As a result, the Return on Sales of the division Mercedes-Benz Vans will be below the current forecast of minus 15 to minus 17%. Daimler AG will publish further key figures of the financial year 2019 as well as the fourth quarter 2019 on February 11, 2020.

06:04 EST On Deck Capital appoints Scott Totman as chief product, technology officer - On Deck Capital announced the appointment of Scott Totman as the company's chief product and technology officer. In the role, Totman oversees the company's engineering, product, and design organizations with a focus on building the next generation of digital products for small businesses. Totman, who reports to CEO Noah Breslow, joins OnDeck from cloud security company DivvyCloud, where he served as the head of engineering and product development.

06:02 EST Qutoutiao CFO Jingbo Wang resigns due to personal reasons - Qutoutiao announced a transition in the role of the company's CFO and a change in the Board. Jingbo Wang has resigned as a Director and CFO of the company due to personal reasons. The resignation is effective on January 22. Following Wang's resignation, the Board of the company is now comprised of seven members. Wang's duties of financial management will be assumed by Xiaolu Zhu, the current Co-CFO responsible for investor relations and capital markets related affairs of the company.

05:18 EST Jazz Pharmaceuticals, PharmaMar sign U.S. license agreement for lurbinectedin - PharmaMar and Jazz Pharmaceuticals announce that the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended "HSR", with respect to the exclusive license agreement for lurbinectedin in the United States expired as of January 21. As previously announced, on 19 December 2019, PharmaMar and Jazz Pharmaceuticals signed an exclusive license agreement for U.S. rights to lurbinectedin, the effectiveness of which was subject to the expiration or early termination of the applicable HSR waiting period. With the expiration of the HSR waiting period, the agreement became effective, and PharmaMar will receive the initial upfront payment of $200 million in the forthcoming days. Under the terms of the agreement, PharmaMar is also eligible to receive, in the following months, potential regulatory milestone payments of up to $250 million upon the achievement of accelerated and/or full regulatory approval of lurbinectedin by FDA within certain timelines. PharmaMar is also eligible to receive up to $550 million in potential commercial milestone payments, as well as incremental tiered royalties on future net sales of lurbinectedin ranging from the high teens up to 30%. PharmaMar retains production rights for lurbinectedin and will supply the product to Jazz. In December 2019, PharmaMar submitted an NDA to FDA for accelerated approval of lurbinectedin for relapsed SCLC, based on data from its Phase 2 basket trial, following positive interactions with FDA.