Stockwinners Market Radar for March 16, 2020 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

20:45 EDT WWE cancels WrestleMania events in Tampa Bay, to broadcast from closed set - The company states: "In coordination with local partners and government officials, WrestleMania and all related events in Tampa Bay will not take place. However, WrestleMania will still stream live on Sunday, April 5 at 7 pm ET on WWE Network and be available on pay-per-view. Only essential personnel will be on the closed set at WWE's training facility in Orlando, Florida to produce WrestleMania."

20:17 EDT SPDR Gold Shares holdings fall to 929.84MT from 931.59MT - This is the 5th consecutive decline and lowest level of holdings since February 18th.

20:13 EDT Becton Dickinson submit COVID-19 diagnostic authorization request with FDA - BD and BioGX Inc announced that the companies have submitted Emergency Use Authorization requests to the FDA for new diagnostic tests that, if authorized, would increase the potential capacity to screen for COVID-19 by thousands of tests per day. The tests would help fill an urgent need across the U.S. for laboratories to access an easy-to-use, rapid diagnostic test to screen patients for COVID-19. The tests will be run on the BD MAX Molecular Diagnostic Platform, which is already in use in nearly every state across the U.S. at hundreds of laboratories, with each unit capable of analyzing hundreds of samples per day. The system is fully automated, reducing the opportunity for human error and increasing the speed to result. Samples are capable of being analyzed start to finish in two to three hours. Each BD MAX System can process 24 samples simultaneously.

20:03 EDT Citi cuts base lending rate to 3.25% from 4.25% - Citibank, N.A. said today it has reduced its base lending rate to 3.25% from 4.25%, effective today, Monday, March 16, 2020.

19:56 EDT Hologic COVID-19 test gets FDA emergency use authorization - Hologic announced today that the FDA has granted Emergency Use Authorization for the Company's new Panther Fusion SARS-CoV-2 assay, a molecular diagnostic test that detects SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 disease. Hospital, public health and reference laboratories can perform the test on Hologic's Panther Fusion system, a fully automated, high-throughput molecular diagnostic platform that is widely used across the United States. Each Panther Fusion system can provide results in less than three hours and process up to 1,150 coronavirus tests in a 24-hour period. Using the Panther Fusion system, healthcare providers can test for SARS-CoV-2 from the same patient sample and collection vial that they currently use to diagnose other common respiratory viruses whose symptoms overlap with COVID-19, boosting efficiency and increasing clinical insight. With a small physical footprint and a broad menu that includes 16 FDA-cleared tests for various infectious diseases, the Panther Fusion system is already widely used in low-, medium- and high-throughput laboratories.

19:39 EDT Guess to close all retail stores through March 27th - Guess announced that, after careful consideration for its customers, store associates and communities, it will temporarily close all of its retail stores in the United States and Canada from March 17 through March 27 as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. All retail associates at these locations will continue to receive full pay and benefits for their scheduled shifts during this temporary closure. The closures follow similar temporary closures of Guess-operated stores that are currently in place in a number of countries in Europe. In Asia, where store closures related to COVID-19 began, most of the Guess-operated stores have reopened. During this time, customers can continue to shop online through the Guess, Marciano, Guess Factory and gbyguess websites.

19:12 EDT Eldorado Resorts to temporarily suspend operations at three Louisiana casinos - Eldorado Resorts announced that it will comply with the Louisiana Gaming Control Board order and will temporarily suspend operations at the Isle of Capri Lake Charles, Belle of Baton Rouge and Eldorado Shreveport by midnight on Monday, March 16, 2020. The company is continuing to monitor developments related to COVID-19 and reinforcing its policies as necessary.

19:04 EDT Natural Grocers announces temporary hire activity for stocking and cleaning - Natural Grocers has announced company-wide hiring activity for temporary stocking and cleaning positions at all 157 stores across 20 states. These new positions will work alongside the Natural Grocers good4u Crew in keeping shelves stocked with household essentials, supplements and healthy foods, and regularly cleaning the most frequently touched surfaces in the stores, including check-out lanes, payment terminals, conveyor belts and cleaning shelves when restocking. The temporary positions are available at 157 Natural Grocers stores located in Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

19:01 EDT Benchmark Electronics will not achieve Q1 guidance - The company states: "Benchmark Electronics announced that the company will not achieve the first quarter 2020 financial guidance it previously provided on February 6, 2020 due to the impact from the novel coronavirus. This updated outlook results primarily from the impact of the temporary shutdown of its plant in China due to COVID-19, supply chain and logistics interruptions from Asian suppliers impacted by the virus, and the emerging restrictions related to government regulations on its operations. Benchmark's factory in Suzhou China was proactive in working with the government to come back online five weeks ago and is now fully operational. The situation with COVID-19 continues to evolve rapidly, and the company is closely monitoring impacts to its business. Benchmark expects to provide more information during its next earnings call in April."

18:53 EDT Penn National to suspend operations at Mississippi casinos - Penn National Gaming announced today that 1st Jackpot Casino , Ameristar Casino Vicksburg, Boomtown Casino Biloxi, Hollywood Casino Gulf Coast, and Hollywood Casino Tunica have received notification from the Mississippi Gaming Commission to temporarily suspend operations beginning at midnight on March 16, 2020, as a precautionary measure against the ongoing spread of COVID-19. The MGC will be continuing to work with the state's licensed casinos, as well as local, state and federal health authorities to determine safe protocols for when operations may resume.

18:49 EDT Dow Inc. CEO: Our demand is good right now - In an interview on CNBC's Mad Money, Dow Inc. CEO Jim Fitterling said, "We've seen our demand in China bounce back in the past few weeks." He noted that the dividend is artificially high due to the market action, and the price of oil is "not sustainable." Fitterling said the company has very clear priorities for cash, with the dividend being the number one. He finished by saying, "The market feels like 1987, it's overdone."

18:42 EDT Chanticleer sets March 26 as record date for spin-off of restaurant operations - Chanticleer Holdings, Inc. announced the record date for the spin-off of its restaurant business, in connection with the proposed merger with Sonnet BioTherapeutics, Inc. The record date has now been established as March 26, 2020. The share distribution date is expected to be on March 30, 2020. All shareholders of record at the close of business on March 26, 2020 shall be eligible to receive shares of the spin-off on a pro-rata basis. The spin-off ratio is yet to be determined.

18:34 EDT CVS Health CEO: We're in a unique position to address COVID-19 - In an interview on CNBC's Mad Money, CVS Health CEO Larry Merlo said, "There is a risk to this pandemic getting worse before it gets better." Merlo said the company has had regular contact with the White House on how to make testing more broadly available. "This is no longer about politics," he noted. Merlo added that the company has seen a large increase in demand in its retail business and has not experienced any supply chain disruptions.

18:31 EDT Regal Cinemas closes all theatre locations effective March 17 - Regal Cinemas announced via Twitter closure of all theatre locations starting Tuesday, March 17, 2020, as a precaution amid the current circumstances. All theatres will remain closed until further notice. "We look forward to serving you again as soon as possible," the company said. Regal is a subsidiary of Cineworld. Reference Link

18:25 EDT Gol Linhas to reduce flight capacity by 60%-70% until mid-June - GOL Linhas announced steps to address the impact of Covid-19 both on the company and in the context of its potential broader impact on Brazil. "We are also mindful of the role that GOL has with our 16,000 employees and in the supply chain meeting the travel needs of the people of Brazil," the company said. GOL is actively monitoring ticket searches and sales trends, as well as the dynamics of the broader airline industry. In February, the company saw minimal to no effect on demand from the COVID-19 virus and it was not necessary to adjust the Company's level of service for its customers. However, in recent days, there has been a market-wide decline in demand for air travel in Brazil. As the company remains committed to democratizing air transport in Brazil, even during challenging times, GOL has not suspended service to any domestic destination. Nevertheless, considering the current situation, after careful evaluation the company determined the necessity to undertake a detailed redesign of its flight network, without interrupting service to any domestic destinations. It is important to note that these changes reflect the best estimates made with the information available at this time and future revisions are not ruled out. Initially, to match supply with demand, and as a result of travel restrictions imposed by the authorities, GOL will reduce its total flight capacity by approximately 60 to 70% until mid-June, with a 50 to 60% reduction in the domestic market and 90 to 95% reduction in the international market, the company said. GOL maintains its medium and long-term business plans. "We have studied several scenarios and defined specific triggers for taking further action," GOL said. "GOL is ready to adjust its flight offerings in an agile and rational way, as soon as the levels of passenger demand return to normal. The Company has the capability to implement promptly more severe adjustments, if required, without the need to review fleet plans or Company structure."

18:21 EDT Thermo Fisher CEO says worked with FDA to get COVID-19 tests done - Says the company to ship tests to 200 laboratories around the country. Says test can be processed and generate an answer in about 4 hours to get the result on COVID-19. Says the test is "high-quality" and "reliable". Ramping up to about 2M tests in production per week and then can achieve 5M tests per week. Comments made on CNBC's interview with Mad Money's Jim Cramer.

18:04 EDT YY reports Q4 global average MAUs 485.2M - Reports Q4: Average mobile MAUs of Likee increased by 208.3% to 115.3 million from 37.4 million in the corresponding period of 2018. Average mobile MAUs of global live streaming services increased by 21.5% to 158.9 million from 130.8 million in the corresponding period of 2018, among that (i) 102.8 million were from China, including 41.2 million from YY, which increased by 3.8% year over year, and 61.6 million from Huya, which increased by 21.5% year over year; and (ii) 56.1 million were from outside of China, including 23.1 million from BIGO LIVE, which increased by 18.6% year over year, and 33.0 million from HAGO, which increased by 57.9% year over year. Average mobile MAUs of imo was 211.0 million. Total number of paying users of YY increased by 9.8% to 4.5 million from 4.1 million in the corresponding period of 2018. Total number of paying users of Huya increased by 5.9% to 5.1 million from 4.8 million in the corresponding period of 2018.

17:58 EDT McDonald's to close seating areas at U.S. company-owned restaurants - McDonald's said that, effective at the close of business, McDonald's USA company-owned restaurants will close seating areas, including the use of self-service beverage bars and kiosks, and shift focus to serving customers through Drive-Thru, walk-in take-out and McDelivery. This decision allows for customers without access to a Drive-Thru and those unable to use McDelivery to continue to have access to McDonald's. Additionally, the company has made the decision to close all PlayPlaces at U.S. locations, also effective today. "Ensuring the health and safety of our people and our communities is our highest priority as the United States quickly mobilizes to slow the spread of COVID-19," the burger chain said. "Our decisions are guided by expert local and national health authority guidance. Additionally, we are complying with all local and state restaurant restrictions, where applicable."

17:42 EDT Toronto-Dominion lowers prime lending rate to 2.95% - The Toronto-Dominion Bank announced that it has decreased its prime lending rate by 50 basis points to 2.95%, effective March 17.

17:37 EDT Core Laboratories cuts quarterly dividend to 1c from 25c per share - In response to market circumstances, Core's board has approved a plan to reduce the company's future quarterly dividends to $0.01 per share beginning with the second quarter of 2020, and to focus excess free cash flow on debt reduction. The company is actively enacting cost control plans which include: 1) corporate and operating cost reductions, 2) annual capital expenditures reduced to below the 2016 level of $11.4 million, and 3) eliminating all non-essential costs. Combined, these actions will provide additional cash flow to accelerate debt reduction.

17:33 EDT Unitil CFO Christine Vaughan resigns, Laurence Brock appointed interim CFO - Unitil announced the resignation of Christine Vaughan, senior VP, CFO and treasurer, effective immediately. Vaughan resigned in order to pursue other professional opportunities. To ensure continuity, the company has appointed Laurence Brock as the interim CFO and treasurer until a new CFO and treasurer has been named. Brock is a finance and accounting professional with over 25 years of utility industry experience. Brock has been Unitil's controller and chief accounting officer since June 2005, and was VP and controller from 1995 until 2005. The company also announced that it will begin an executive search for a new CFO and treasurer.

17:31 EDT Comerica to reduce prime rate, suspends share repurchase - Comerica Bank announced it will reduce its prime rate to 3.25 percent from 4.25 percent effective tomorrow, March 17, 2020. "The well-being of our customers, employees and communities is our priority during this uncertain time," said Curt Farmer, Comerica Chairman, President and CEO. "Comerica has extensive plans in place to handle situations such as this to ensure our customers' funds remain protected and accessible and that you are safe coming into our facilities. Comerica has a strong liquidity profile, and we are well-capitalized which positions us to continue to meet our customers' needs." Comerica also announced it is joining other U.S. financial institutions in suspending its share repurchase program through the end of the second quarter of 2020. This action will help ensure Comerica can use its strong levels of capital and liquidity to support our customers.

17:27 EDT PNC Financial lowers prime lending rate to 3.25%, effective March 17

17:26 EDT DBV Technologies down 61% after FDA cancels APAC meeting for Viaskin Peanut BLA - DBV Technologies was halted after the close of the market, news pending. Then the company announced that the FDA informed it that during its ongoing review of the Biologics License Application, or BLA, for investigational Viaskin Peanut, it identified questions regarding efficacy, and canceled the May 15 Allergenic Products Advisory Committee, or APAC, meeting to discuss the BLA. DBV Technologies' stock resumed trading in the after hours, and is down 61% to $2.05 per share.

17:24 EDT Sanderson Farms says poultry processing complexes 'operating normally' - Sanderson Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ: SAFM) reported on measures it is taking in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. "With so much uncertainty surrounding the novel coronavirus, and the changes we face in our daily lives, Sanderson Farms wants to reassure our customers, consumers and communities that we will continue to process and ship high-quality, safe and affordable poultry products," said Joe Sanderson, chairman and CEO of Sanderson Farms. "Currently, all 12 of the company's poultry processing complexes and our prepared chicken plant, as well as our corporate headquarters, are operating normally. The company has not experienced any supply chain disruptions, and our logistics team continues to meet delivery needs and schedules." The company has had no reports that any of its personnel or contract growers have tested positive for the virus. Management is monitoring operations closely, however, and has consulted with infectious disease experts to adopt precautions throughout the company. If any company or grower personnel test positive, or if any area of the company's operations becomes exposed to the virus, the company will cooperate fully with local, state and federal authorities to implement and enforce appropriate quarantines. While there are no known indications that COVID-19 is transferable through food, our safety team is following guidance from public health organizations, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization, to limit the spread of the disease," said Sanderson. "We have also implemented a response plan to ensure that we can adjust our product mix and production volumes as needed to continue to fulfill customer orders for fresh chicken. Last Saturday, March 14, 2020, the company operated one shift at each of its five plants that process chicken for retail grocery store customers, and it expects to operate two shifts at each of those plants next Saturday, March 21, 2020. Among other modifications, the company can convert its Hammond and Hazlehurst plants to process more birds for retail customers, should the need arise."

17:21 EDT DBV Technologies says FDA has questions about Viaskin Peanut efficacy - DBV Technologies announced that the FDA has informed the company that during its ongoing review of the Biologics License Application, or BLA, for investigational Viaskin Peanut, it has identified questions regarding efficacy, including the impact of patch-site adhesion. Therefore, the Allergenic Products Advisory Committee, or APAC, meeting to discuss the BLA will no longer take place as previously scheduled on May 15. The company is in communication with the FDA regarding the potential submission of additional information on patch-site adhesion from its clinical program as well as long-term efficacy results from the three-year open-label extension study, PEOPLE, to answer FDA's questions, as part of the ongoing BLA review. At this time, DBV Technologies has received no additional information regarding the timeline of the BLA review, and to the company's knowledge, the target action date of August 5 remains unchanged. However, the submission of additional information to the FDA may constitute a major amendment to the BLA and could extend the target action date.

17:14 EDT CIBC lowers prime lending rate to 2.95% - CIBC announced that it is lowering its Canadian prime lending rate by 50 basis points from 3.45% to 2.95%, effective Tuesday, March 17.

17:08 EDT Southwest withdrawing FY20 guidance, instituting hiring freeze - On March 12, 2020, Southwest Airlines Co. entered into a new $1.0B 364-day term loan credit facility agreement with a syndicate of lenders identified in the 364-Day Credit Agreement that was drawn in full on the closing date. The 364-Day Credit Agreement matures in full on March 11, 2021, and is subject to mandatory prepayment requirements with the net proceeds of certain capital market transactions that may occur prior to its maturity. The Company is withdrawing its previous 2020 financial guidance due to the rapidly changing environment as the COVID-19 pandemic evolves, and is providing the following updates. The Company has experienced more dramatic declines in passenger bookings in March and second quarter 2020, as well as an unprecedented increase in close-in trip cancellations. The Company has recently experienced several days of net negative bookings, primarily in March and April 2020, where trip cancellations outpaced new passenger bookings. The Company's month-to-date load factor through March 15, 2020, was approximately 67 percent, with recent days trending toward 50 percent. As the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic grows, and based on current booking and cancellation trends, we expect revenue trends for the remainder of March and second quarter 2020 to deteriorate further. Given the continued uncertainty of revenue trends attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Company has taken several actions to help manage the near-term financial impacts. The Company will soon reduce its published flight schedules, which will reduce available seat miles (ASMs, or capacity) by at least 20 percent for the time period April 14, 2020 through June 5, 2020. These flight schedule reductions are in addition to the Company's existing capacity impact due to the Boeing 737 MAX groundings. The Company continues to evaluate further flight schedule reductions. The Company is also instituting a hiring freeze; offering voluntary leave options for Employees; and aggressively evaluating all capital spending, discretionary spending, and all non-essential costs for near-term cost reductions or deferrals.

17:05 EDT Webster Financial lowers prime lending rate to 3.25% - Webster Financial Corporation announced that it has lowered its prime lending rate to 3.25% from 4.25% effective March 16.

17:00 EDT DBV Technologies trading resumes

16:54 EDT Roche begins shipping first 400,000 COVID-19 tests to labs across U.S. - Roche announced reference laboratories across the U.S. to enable automated, high-volume patient testing. Shipping of the initial 400,000 test kits began Friday, March 13, and will be completed this week. Roche plans to ship an additional 400,000 tests per week to the laboratory testing sites across the nation that are set up to run the test immediately under the guidelines of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Emergency Use Authorization. "We are grateful to the FDA for accelerating the process to grant Emergency Use Authorization for this test," said Matt Sause, president and CEO of Roche Diagnostics North America. "We began shipping test kits immediately so labs could start to offer high-volume testing as soon as possible and give more patients access to reliable diagnostics. Together, we can help combat this serious disease." Under the EUA, the cobas SARS-CoV-2 Test is intended for the qualitative detection of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 disease, in patients who meet COVID-19 clinical and/or epidemiological criteria for testing. The test uses nasopharyngeal or oropharyngeal swab samples taken from the back of the nose or throat. The test kits are being sent to a network of more than 30 hospital and reference laboratories in the U.S. that already have the required instrumentation in place and have the ability to implement high-volume testing immediately. Roche consulted with government agencies to ensure that the test distribution prioritizes labs with the broadest geographic reach and highest patient impact. Healthcare providers across the entire U.S. can send patient samples to these laboratories for processing.

16:51 EDT Churchill Downs announces suspension of operations at certain properties - Churchill Downs announced the temporary suspension of operations at certain of its properties as a precautionary measure to COVID-19 and in cooperation with state and local authorities. CDI previously announced that Turfway Park in Florence, Kentucky and Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, Louisiana will run all remaining races in their respective race meets spectator-free. There have been no known cases of COVID-19 at any of these properties and all CDI properties have been and will continue to work closely and cooperatively with the state and local authorities in each state where we operate. CDI will continue to closely monitor the developments related to COVID-19.

16:47 EDT Consumer Portfolio postpones Q4 earnings call amid COVID-19 concerns - Consumer Portfolio Services announced that due to the uncertainty and concerns associated with the Covid-19 outbreak it has postponed the call previously scheduled for Tuesday, March 17, 2020 at 1:00 p.m. ET to discuss its fourth quarter 2019 operating results.

16:43 EDT Northern Trust temporarily suspends purchase share repurchases - Northern Trust Corporation announced that it has temporarily suspended purchases of its common stock under its share repurchase program. The decision is consistent with broader efforts, including actions of other large U.S.-based banks, to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on individuals, businesses and the economy by maintaining strong capital levels and liquidity in the U.S. financial system. Northern Trust retains the ability to resume purchases of its common stock under its share repurchase program as soon as circumstances warrant. Northern Trust remains strong and well-capitalized. Northern Trust has consistently passed the Federal Reserve's annual stress tests with strong performance and has ample capital and liquidity to serve our clients even during a severe economic downturn.

16:40 EDT UPS to assist with Coronavirus test kit deliveries - UPS continues to deliver for customers even as the Coronavirus uncertainty is requiring greater flexibility and creativity to adapt to new social distancing and other health maintenance protocols. Recently, the White House through the U.S. task force in response to the Coronavirus asked UPS to assist with logistics planning and operations to support the drive-up patient test facilities in several cities. UPS will assist with test kit deliveries and test sample transportation to labs participating in the new program. In this dynamic environment, the company is informing employees, suppliers and customers of several measures it is using to avoid the spread of the disease, in line with CDC and WHO recommendations. Governments around the world have recognized that UPS's global network, and those of other essential logistics companies, must continue to operate. They have allowed UPS to continue operating at high levels of speed and efficiency even in unusual circumstances and in locations where the public is being advised to stay home and avoid contact with others. Today UPS is adapting to new business realities by modifying the procedures its drivers use for residential and business deliveries. In order to minimize contact with recipients, UPS drivers may 'release' shipments without the need for a signature. When an adult signature is required due to the contents of the package, UPS drivers may now affix a form on the customer's door for them to sign, allowing for the signature to be collected while maintaining acceptable social distances.

16:36 EDT Marathon Oil CEO buys 47.5K shares of common stock - In a regulatory filing, Marathon Oil disclosed that its CEO Lee Tillman bought 47.5K shares of common stock on March 12-13th. The total transaction size was over $190K.

16:30 EDT TCF Financial lowers prime rate to 3.25% from 4.25%, effective March 16

16:28 EDT Visteon CEO buys 5K shares of common stock - In a regulatory filing, Visteon disclosed that its CEO Sachim Lawande bought 5K shares of common stock on March 12th. The total transaction size was over $250K.

16:27 EDT DBV Technologies trading halted, news pending

16:22 EDT Associated Banc-Corp lowers prime rate to 3.25% from 4.25%, effective March 17

16:21 EDT Pioneer Natural cuts 2020 capital spending view by roughly 45% - Pioneer Natural announced that it is taking decisive action in response to lower oil prices and global macroeconomic uncertainty. Pioneer is reducing its 2020 drilling, completion and facilities capital budget by approximately 45% and expects it to range between $1.6 billion to $1.8 billion. Additionally, Pioneer is reducing its budgeted water infrastructure spending to approximately $100 million, resulting in a total 2020 capital budget1 range of $1.7 billion to $1.9 billion. The Company expects its revised capital program to be fully funded from forecasted cash flow of approximately $2.3 billion and generate free cash flow3 of approximately $500 million (at the midpoint of capital guidance), assuming WTI oil prices average $35 per barrel for the remainder of 2020. The free cash flow is forecasted to be used to fund the Company's quarterly dividend and maintain its strong balance sheet. In this challenging environment, Pioneer believes its plan to preserve low leverage and generate free cash flow positions the Company to be stronger when the global economy rebounds. As a result, Pioneer plans to take immediate action in response to current commodity prices and will reduce its operated rig count from 22 currently to 11 operated rigs within the next two months. In addition, the Company plans to reduce its contracted completion crews from six currently to two to three completion crews during the same time period. Pioneer expects full-year 2020 oil production to be similar to the Company's 2019 Permian oil production average of approximately 211 thousand barrels of oil per day (MBOPD). Pioneer will release additional details during its first quarter 2020 earnings conference call. In addition to the Company's strong balance sheet, Pioneer recently enhanced its derivative position to provide additional downside protection. For the remainder of 2020, Pioneer has derivative coverage for approximately 90% of its revised 2020 oil production estimate. In addition, the Company has increased its derivative coverage for 2021 to include approximately 94 MBOPD.

16:18 EDT World Fuel Services announces $200M stock buyback - World Fuel Services announced that its board has approved a new share repurchase program, authorizing the purchase of $200M in common stock. This repurchase program will begin upon completion of the previously announced May 2019 share repurchase authorization.

16:18 EDT Hilton Grand Vacations announces new $200M share buyback - Hilton Grand Vacations' Board of Directors approved a new $200 million share repurchase authorization for the Company's common stock, replacing the previous authorization dated May 2019, which had approximately $45 million in purchases remaining. "We are pleased with the new share repurchase authorization, which gives us flexibility in current market conditions," said CEO Mark Wang. "Our strong balance sheet and liquidity position, along with a strict focus on operations and the execution of our core strategy, is the best path to maximizing value for our shareholders over the long-term. We believe we can continue to opportunistically return excess capital to shareholders while maintaining financial discipline and remaining within our target leverage ratio of 1.5-2.0 times."

16:17 EDT Unit Corp. says mid-stream segment has 2020 CapEx plan of $28M - For 2020, Unit's oil and natural gas segment does not currently have any plans to drill wells at this time. The contract drilling segment has no approved capital plan for 2020. Any capital expenditures incurred would be within segment anticipated cash flows. The mid-stream segment has a capital expenditures plan of approximately $28 million, a decrease of 57% from 2019.

16:15 EDT CommScope CEO buys 30K shares of common stock - In a regulatory filing, CommScope disclosed that its CEO Marvin Edwards bought 30K shares of common stock on March 13th. The total transaction size was $212K.

16:11 EDT Provention Bio says no interruption in supply chain or manufacturing efforts - Provention remains on track to complete its rolling BLA submission for teplizumab in T1D patients at-risk of developing clinical stage disease in the fourth quarter of 2020. As Provention has stated previously, the critical path to completion of the rolling BLA submission will be the filing of the chemistry, manufacturing and controls module. The company continues to expect to proceed with three commercial scale process performance qualification batches this summer, supporting the CMC module and enabling the completion of the rolling BLA submission as planned. The company has not experienced any interruption in its supply chain or manufacturing efforts at this time. As of this date, none of the company's other clinical and pre-clinical operations have been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 Public Health Crisis.

16:10 EDT Provention Bio: Phase 3 PROTECT study randomization to be paused temporarily - Provention Bio announced a temporary pause in the randomization of patients with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes into its global Phase 3 PROTECT study of PRV-031 (teplizumab). This pause is being taken out of an abundance of caution to protect patients, caregivers, clinical site staff, company employees and contractors at this critical juncture in the collective global efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Patients currently undergoing study therapy will be allowed to complete their course, as recommended by the PROTECT study's Data Safety Monitoring Board, which was recently expanded to include infectious diseases expertise. The company remains on track to complete its rolling submission of a Biologics License Application to the U.S. FDA for teplizumab for the prevention or delay of T1D in at-risk individuals in the fourth quarter.

16:09 EDT ShotSpotter announces COVID-19 response - ShotSpotter shared details of the program it has put in place to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak. The company is taking steps to protect the health and safety of its employees and customers while maintaining its existing level of gunshot detection services. Effective March 16, ShotSpotter will follow social distancing recommendations to do its part to help reduce transmission of the COVID-19 virus. The company has temporarily closed its headquarters and required all employees to work from home. The company has acquired and implemented infrastructure, equipment and processes to enable its gunshot detection services to continue uninterrupted. ShotSpotter's Incident Review Center, which provides an additional step of human review of incidents, has successfully transitioned to a distributed model and will remain at full staffing. There is no anticipated impact on the response time or quality of its alerting services. Management believes it will be able to maintain its 90% SLA commitment to its customers around the globe. In addition to closing headquarters through March 31, the company has also put in place a mandatory and complete travel ban for the same period. The travel ban effectively suspends all project management and installation activities, which will impact the number of new go-live miles deployed in March and early Q2. In addition to these travel restrictions, scheduled deployments are also being delayed at the request of customers, who are dealing with their own response to COVID-19. Similar circumstances are also resulting in a slowdown in engagements with prospective customers.

16:07 EDT Apyx Medical to restate previously issued financial statements - Apyx Medical announced it will be restating its previously issued consolidated financial statements for the twelve months ended December, 31 2018 and the quarterly statements for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018 and three months ended March 31, 2019. This decision was approved by the Company's Board of Directors upon the recommendation of the Company's Audit Committee, and after consultation with Management and the Company's predecessor independent registered public accounting firm. Investors should no longer rely upon the Company's previously released financial statements for the time periods cited above. Similarly, related press releases, earnings releases, and investor communications describing the Company's financial statements for these periods should no longer be relied upon. The decision to restate these financial statements is based on the conclusion that the financial statements for the aforementioned financial periods cannot be relied upon as a result of the aggregation of errors identified by management and the Company's new accounting personnel during the preparation of its fiscal year 2019 Form 10-K and third quarter 2019 Form 10-Q.

16:04 EDT Vera Bradley announces annual outlet sale rescheduled due to COVID-19 concerns - Vera Bradley announced its annual outlet sale, scheduled for April 15-19, has been rescheduled due to concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.Rob Wallstrom, Vera Bradley's CEO, commented, "Our Annual Outlet Sale attracts tens of thousands of loyal Vera Bradley fans from across the country and around the world to our hometown each year. We have been diligently monitoring the COVID-19 situation and following guidance from federal, state and local agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention and World Health Organization. With the outbreak now declared a pandemic, we believe putting the health and well-being of our customers, event staff and volunteers, associates and community-at-large first is absolutely the right decision." Tickets purchased for the 2020 annual outlet sale will automatically be good for the same day and session of the rescheduled event, which will take place April 7-11, 2021. Customers who are unable to attend next year's sale have the option to submit a refund request via Ticketmaster by April 6, 2021. Additional tickets for the 2021 Vera Bradley annual outlet sale will go on sale February 3, 2021.

16:04 EDT Kindred Biosciences to sell Mirataz to Dechra Pharmaceuticals for $43M upfront - Kindred Biosciences announced that it has entered into a transaction for the sale of Mirataz to Dechra Pharmaceuticals for an upfront payment of $43M and royalties on worldwide sales. In addition, the company announced that it will substantially reduce its commercial footprint. This, along with partnership deals, is expected to significantly reduce the amount of additional dilutive capital the company will require. In addition, the company will further prioritize biologics programs for dogs and cats, and discontinue development of canine and feline small molecule programs.

16:03 EDT Shenandoah increasing speeds for customers at no charge due to COVID-19 - Shenandoah Telecommunications Company made several key announcements regarding its proactive plans to limit the exposure of COVID-19 for all of Shentel's key stakeholders and to temporarily increase broadband internet data speeds and data allowances. Shentel announced that it is temporarily increasing the speed of every eligible small business and residential broadband data customer to a minimum speed tier of 50Mbps with a 750 GB data allowance at no additional charge regardless of their current plan. In addition, Shentel will waive all installation fees for new broadband data subscribers and increase data allowances by 250 GB for all customers whose current rate plan includes a monthly data allowance. These changes will take effect immediately and remain in effect through April 30, in response to the anticipated increase in data usage as a result of newly enacted work and study from home policies.

16:02 EDT Insmed submits NDA to Japan's MHLW for ARIKAYCE - Insmed announced that it has submitted a new drug application to Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare for ARIKAYCE for the treatment of patients with non-tuberculous mycobacterial lung disease caused by Mycobacterium avium complex who did not sufficiently respond to prior treatment. Insmed subsequently plans to submit a separate Medical Device Notification to the MHLW for approval of the Lamira Nebulizer System, the designated device for administration of ARIKAYCE.

15:59 EDT Phathom Pharmaceuticals trading halted, volatility trading pause

15:58 EDT Radius Health trading halted, volatility trading pause

15:58 EDT Everi Holdings trading halted, volatility trading pause

15:57 EDT Intersect ENT trading halted, volatility trading pause

15:57 EDT Heritage Crystal Clean trading halted, volatility trading pause

15:55 EDT MGM Resorts to temporarily suspend operations at two Mississippi properties - MGM Resorts announced its decision to temporarily suspend operations at its two Mississippi properties, Beau Rivage Resort & Casino and Gold Strike Casino Resort, until further notice, effective as of Tuesday, March 17th. Casino operations will close at 6 a.m. CST, followed by hotel operations. "Our highest priority remains the health and wellbeing of our guests and employees. We will work to mitigate the impact this will have on our employees, partners and communities," said MGM COO and President Bill Hornbuckle. "We will continue monitoring the situation and announce plans for reopening when appropriate."

15:49 EDT WhiteHorse Finance trading halted, volatility trading pause

15:44 EDT Trump says will be 'backstopping' airlines, helping industry 'very much' - Publicly traded airline companies include Alaska Air (ALK), American Airlines (AAL), Delta Air Lines (DAL), JetBlue (JBLU), Southwest (LUV), Spirit Airlines (SAVE) and United Airlines (UAL).

15:38 EDT Penn National to temporarily suspend operations at Louisiana casinos - Penn National announced that Boomtown Casino Bossier City, Boomtown Casino New Orleans, L'Auberge Baton Rouge, L'Auberge Lake Charles, and Margaritaville Resort Casino have received notification from the Louisiana Gaming Control Board to temporarily suspend operations for a period of two weeks beginning at midnight tonight as a precautionary measure against the ongoing spread of COVID-19. The LGCB will be continuing to work with the state's licensed casinos, as well as local, state and federal health authorities to determine safe protocols for when operations may resume.

15:35 EDT Volvo says there is 'considerable risk' of financial impact due to COVID-19 - "The consequences of the Covid-19 outbreak is affecting the Volvo Group, and there is a considerable risk of a material financial impact on the Group as from mid-March," the car maker said in a statement. "The Volvo Group and its suppliers are continuously working to minimize any consequences for customers and mitigating the impact on the Group. The impact is related to the general situation and decisions made by local authorities resulting in among other things workforce shortage in the production and supply chain disruptions. There is also a potential impact on demand going forward. Given the uncertain situation, it is not currently possible to predict the full potential impact on the Volvo Group."

15:35 EDT SI BONE trading halted, volatility trading pause

15:30 EDT PDC Energy trading halted, volatility trading pause

15:13 EDT Tiptree Financial trading resumes

15:08 EDT Tiptree Financial trading halted, volatility trading pause

15:00 EDT Regions Financial to reduce prime lending rate to 3.25% from 4.25% - Effective Tuesday, March 17.

14:32 EDT Cinemark trading resumes

14:30 EDT Citi reports February credit loss 2.64% vs. 2.49% last month - Reports February 30-plus day delinquencies 1.54% vs. 1.58% last month.

14:26 EDT Cinemark trading halted, volatility trading pause

14:15 EDT MLB pushes back start of regular season in keeping with CDC guidance - Major League Baseball announced that the opening of the 2020 regular season will be pushed back in accordance with CDC guidance restricting large group events. "MLB will keep fans updated on decisions regarding plans for the 2020 schedule in the days and weeks ahead. The Clubs remain committed to playing as many games as possible when the season begins," the league stated. Publicly traded companies that broadcast MLB games include Disney (DIS), Fox (FOXA), CBS (VIAC), Sinclair Broadcast (SBGI), NBC (CMCSA), and AT&T (T). Reference Link

14:08 EDT Moderna trading halted, volatility trading pause

14:07 EDT GSK's NUCALA approved in Canada for adolescents, children at least 6 years - NUCALA has now been approved in Canada as an add-on maintenance treatment for use in adults, adolescents and children aged 6 years and older with severe eosinophilic asthma. NUCALA is the first anti-Interleukin-5 biologic to be approved for the condition in a pediatric population in Canada. IL-5 plays an important role in regulating the function of eosinophils, an inflammatory cell known to be active in asthma. Dr. Alex Romanovschi, Country Medical Director, GSK Canada, said: "Severe asthma is a chronic disease that can make daily activities a challenge for adolescents, children and their caregivers. GSK has a long and established history in respiratory health innovation, with treatments for asthma, COPD and other respiratory diseases. We are pleased to announce the extension of NUCALA's indication to adolescents and children aged 6 years and older, thereby bringing our specialty biologic medicines to patients and their families who have limited treatment options".

14:01 EDT O2 announces it is the exclusive UK mobile network distributor for Disney+ - "Today O2 announces a brand new agreement with Disney's Direct-to-Consumer & International segment to become the exclusive UK mobile network distributor of Disney+, the highly anticipated streaming service from The Walt Disney Company. The agreement sees the UK's No 1 network for coverage, reliability and customer service and the world's leading entertainment company join forces to offer customers an incredible range of entertainment. With over 500 films, more than 350 series and a slate of 26 exclusive Disney+ Originals at launch, Disney+ offers fans of all ages a new way to experience the unparalleled content from Disney's iconic entertainment brands, including Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic. This includes the highly anticipated series "The Mandalorian," from executive producer and writer Jon Favreau, "High School Musical: The Musical: The Series," and over 600 episodes of "The Simpsons," available on demand in one place for the first time. Mark Evans, CEO of O2, said: "We're delighted to be working with Disney to bring these incredible shows and movies to our customers, demonstrating that there are more reasons than ever to join the UK's No.1 network." Reference Link

13:49 EDT Summit Financial Group trading resumes

13:41 EDT Penn National to temporarily suspend operations at Pennsylvania casinos - Penn National Gaming announced that Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course and The Meadows Casino Racetrack Hotel have received notification from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board to temporarily suspend operations beginning at 6:00 a.m. on Tuesday, March 17, 2020 as a precautionary measure against the ongoing spread of COVID-19. The PGCB will be continuing to work with the state's licensed casinos, as well as local, state and federal health authorities to determine safe protocols for when operations may resume. "The health and well-being of our guests and team members will always be our paramount concern," said Jay Snowden, President and CEO of Penn National Gaming. "Since the coronavirus threat began, we have implemented stringent CDC-recommended protocols throughout our enterprise, including increased daily cleaning regimens, maximizing air circulation, cancelling or postponing all live events, and we're in the process of reducing the number of chairs at our dining facilities, table games and poker rooms, as well as the number of slot machines in play at any one time, to increase social distancing, among other initiatives. As for our nearly 2,100 team members in Pennsylvania who will be impacted by this temporary closure, we plan to continue to pay their wages and benefits through the end of March. In addition, we'll be donating perishable food items to the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, Washington County Food Bank, and other local organizations."

13:35 EDT Seneca Foods trading resumes

13:30 EDT Seneca Foods trading halted, volatility trading pause

13:28 EDT United Continental trading resumes

13:25 EDT S&P lowers Exxon Mobil issuer credit rating to 'AA' from 'AA+' - S&P lowered its issuer credit rating and unsecured debt ratings on ExxonMobil to "AA" from "AA+". The downgrade reflects higher cash flow/leverage metrics, a large discretionary cash flow deficit, and a weaker 2020 outlook, the ratings agency said in a statement. S&P now expects Exxon's cash flow leverage to remain weaker than expectations for the "AA+" rating over the next two to three years. Further, its negative outlook reflects the view that Exxon Mobil's current financial leverage is weak for the rating.

13:24 EDT American Airlines trading halted, volatility trading pause

13:21 EDT Fortress Transportation trading resumes

13:18 EDT Penn National to temporarily suspend operations at Hollywood Casino Hotel - Penn National Gaming announced that Hollywood Casino Hotel & Raceway in Bangor, Maine, has received notification from the Maine Department of Public Safety and the Maine Gambling Control Board to temporarily suspend operations for a period of two weeks beginning at 6:00 p.m. tonight as a precautionary measure against the ongoing spread of COVID-19. The DPS and the MGCB will be continuing to work with the state's licensed casinos, as well as local, state and federal health authorities to determine safe protocols for when operations may resume. "The health and well-being of our guests and team members will always be our paramount concern," said Jay Snowden, President and CEO of Penn National Gaming. "Since the coronavirus threat began, we have implemented stringent CDC-recommended protocols throughout our enterprise, including increased daily cleaning regimens, maximizing air circulation, cancelling or postponing all live events, and we're in the process of reducing the number of chairs at our dining facilities, table games and poker rooms, as well as the number of slot machines in play at any one time, to increase social distancing, among other initiatives. As for our nearly 325 team members at Hollywood Casino Hotel & Raceway Bangor who will be impacted by this temporary closure, we plan to continue to pay their wages and benefits for the two-week period. In addition, we'll be donating perishable food items to the local Good Shepherd Food Bank of Maine."

13:05 EDT Deutsche Telekom to postpone annual shareholders' meeting amid COVID-19 concerns - Deutsche Telekom announced it will postpone its annual shareholders' meeting that was originally planned for March 26, 2020. This was just decided by the Board of Management. This decision was taken in light of the rapid spread of coronavirus infections. Over the past few days, Deutsche Telekom has explored all possibilities in intensive discussions with the health authorities. In such a situation, the health of the shareholders, the Deutsche Telekom employees and its service providers involved with the organization of the shareholders' meeting is of utmost importance. In postponing this event, Deutsche Telekom is complying with its social responsibility and contributing towards the objective of slowing down the spread of the coronavirus by avoiding events with many attendees. The fact that the shareholders' meeting will no longer be held on its original date will have several consequences including the postponement of the resolutions regarding the appropriation of net income 2019 and the payout of the dividend.

12:51 EDT Boeing says directing employees to telecommute until further notice - Boeing said in a statement that it has issued updated guidance directing all employees who are able to perform their work from home effectively to telecommute until further notice. Some Boeing sites were already partially or fully operating under these guidelines in accordance with local or national government mandates. "Production continues at this time, and the company has enhanced cleaning procedures in work spaces, common areas and on high-touch surfaces. We're assessing the safety of all of our sites and their alignment with local, state and national government guidance as we continuously monitor this evolving situation. Leadership at each of our sites is working closely with their employees to implement the guidance, and will make all decisions necessary to follow evolving government direction and to ensure the health and well-being of their teams and communities."

12:37 EDT Truist Financial cuts prime lending rate to 3.25% from 4.25% - Truist Financial Corporation announced it is decreasing its prime lending rate to 3.25% from 4.25%, effective immediately.

12:22 EDT Alaska Air sees other cost reduction measures in next several weeks - Alaska Air Group anticipates "needing to exercise further discretionary changes and other cost reduction measures and expect to make decisions over the course of the next several weeks." As of March 16, Air Group had unrestricted cash and short-term investments of approximately $1.9B. It added, "Given the volatility and quickly-changing dynamics of passenger demand and its impact on our operation, we consider it useful to provide investors with transparency to demand trends for air travel on Air Group's network, as measured by booked load factor. We intend to provide periodic load factor updates for the duration of the crisis. This disclosure is in direct response to the unusual circumstances resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, and we will discontinue any updates to these load factor disclosures when the situation stabilizes."

12:22 EDT HSBC lowers prime and reference rates in U.S. - HSBC Bank USA, N.A., and its affiliates announced that they have lowered their prime and reference rates to 3.25% from 4.25%, effective today, March 16.

12:17 EDT Alaska Air says load factors declined throughout the month - Alaska Air said, "In a period of normal operations, we typically see advanced booked load factor increase steadily in the month leading up to the travel departure date, as close-in bookings occur. Recently, we have seen load factors decline throughout the month as materially fewer new bookings occur, and these bookings have been offset by significant cancellations. As of the date of this update and, for comparison, the two previous weeks, our booked load factor for the next three months is as follows:" March 16 is 56% vs. 81% last year. April is 43% vs. 56% last year. March 9 was 69% vs. 77% last year.

12:14 EDT Alaska Air freezes hiring except for essential front line, management

12:13 EDT Alaska Air to immediately reduce capacity for April by at least 10%, May by 15%

12:12 EDT PVH closes all retail stores in North America, Europe through March 29 - PVH Corp. announced that in response to the escalating global coronavirus outbreak, it will close temporarily all company-operated retail stores across North America and Europe, effective March 17 through March 29. All retail associates at these locations will continue to receive full pay and benefits for their scheduled shifts during the temporary closure period, the company added. The company's offices remain open; however, all associates are working remotely in North America and Europe with the exception of a minimal number of business critical functions. Many of the company-operated stores across the Asia Pacific region have re-opened, although stores in some regions are operating on reduced hours, PVH noted. "While retail store traffic has shown some improvement over the past month, it remains down significantly compared with the prior year. The company's offices in Greater China have re-opened, and offices in South Korea and Japan remain open but most associates are working remotely," the company added.

12:09 EDT PVH says retail store traffic 'down significantly' versus last year - PVH Corp. said in a statement, "Many of the company-operated stores across the Asia Pacific region have re-opened, although stores in some regions are operating on reduced hours. While retail store traffic has shown some improvement over the past month, it remains down significantly compared with the prior year. The company's offices in Greater China have re-opened, and offices in South Korea and Japan remain open but most associates are working remotely."

12:08 EDT American Express reports February net write-off rate 2.6% vs. 2.3% last month - Reports February 30 days past due loans 1.3% vs. 1.3% last month.

12:00 EDT ProShares Trust Ultra VIX Short Term Futures ETF rises 37.0% - ProShares Trust Ultra VIX Short Term Futures ETF is up 37.0%, or $21.20 to $78.44.

11:57 EDT MGM Resorts to suspend operations at Borgata Hotel Casino in NJ - MGM Resorts International announced that it will comply with Governor Murphy's order and will temporarily suspend operations at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City, New Jersey by 8:00 pm EST on Monday, March 16. "This is an unprecedented public health crisis and we must all do our part for the public good and for the good of our employees and communities. We will work hard to mitigate the impacts and will reopen as soon as it is appropriate and safe to do so," said MGM COO and President Bill Hornbuckle.

11:51 EDT Fortress Transportation trading resumes

11:43 EDT Northern Trust lowers prime rate to 3.25% from 4.25%, effective March 16

11:35 EDT Fair Isaac trading halted, volatility trading pause

11:15 EDT Continental Resources trading halted, volatility trading pause

11:07 EDT Moderna trading halted, volatility trading pause

11:01 EDT Canterbury Park suspends quarterly cash dividend - Canterbury Park announced that in conjunction with its determination to voluntarily temporarily suspend operations at Canterbury Park due to concerns about COVID-19, that the company's board has suspended its quarterly cash dividend. In 2019, the company paid dividends of $0.28 per share. The board intends to review the company's quarterly cash dividend policy when Canterbury Park returns to normal operations. The company expects to announce its operating results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2019, during the week of March 23, 2020 and will be filing its Form 10-K, including 2019 audited financial statements with the SEC on or before March 30. At that time, the Company will provide additional information about the anticipated effect of the COVID-19 coronavirus and the shutdown on the Company and its financial condition.

10:56 EDT Norwegian Cruise Line trading resumes

10:51 EDT Norwegian Cruise Line trading halted, volatility trading pause

10:47 EDT PBF Energy trading resumes

10:45 EDT Macerich trading resumes

10:42 EDT HollyFrontier trading resumes

10:42 EDT PBF Energy trading halted, volatility trading pause

10:41 EDT Targa Resources trading resumes

10:40 EDT Macerich trading halted, volatility trading pause

10:39 EDT Penn National exploring ways to offset 'temporary impact' of COVID - Penn National Gaming said this morning that it maintains "strong and longstanding relationships" with its regulators, team members, REIT landlords, lenders, suppliers, customers, insurance carriers, and other key stakeholders, "all of which places the Company in a strong position to successfully manage disruptions to its business." In addition, Penn National added that it is "continually exploring additional ways in which it can offset the temporary impact of COVID-19 to its business, including revisiting maintenance and project capex commitments in order to preserve 2020 liquidity." Jay Snowden, CEO of Penn National, said, "First and foremost, our thoughts are with all those who have been affected by COVID-19. We are grateful to our local and state governments and healthcare workers around the country for their tireless efforts to combat this outbreak. We are proud to join the fight to help protect the health and welfare of our guests and team members, which is always our paramount concern. Since the coronavirus threat began, we have implemented stringent CDC-recommended protocols throughout our enterprise, including increased daily cleaning regimens at our facilities, maximizing air circulation, cancelling or postponing all concerts and live events, and we're in the process of temporarily closing down buffets, among other initiatives. We are confident that we are well-positioned to continue to drive growth and value-creation for our shareholders. As the nation's largest regional gaming operator with 41 properties in 19 states, Penn National benefits from the broadest and most diversified geographic footprint in the industry, and longstanding partnerships with our REIT landlords. We also have made significant progress executing on our strategy to become the best-in-class omni-channel provider of retail and online gaming and sports betting entertainment."

10:37 EDT Penn National fully draws down $700M revolving credit facility - Penn National Gaming disclosed earlier that as of December 31, 2019, $140M was outstanding under its revolving credit facility. On March 13, the company provided notice to the lenders to borrow the remaining available amount of $430M under the credit facility so that a total of $700M is currently outstanding. The current interest rate for borrowings under the facility is the one month Libor rate plus an adjusted spread based on leverage. Penn National "elected to draw down the remaining available funds from the Revolving Credit Facility to ensure it maintains ample financial flexibility in light of the spread of novel coronavirus (COVID-19). The Company notes that it had sufficient liquidity prior to taking this action, it has no meaningful maturities due until 2023, and there are currently no plans to deploy the drawn-down funds."

10:36 EDT Targa Resources trading halted, volatility trading pause

10:32 EDT Covetrus trading halted, volatility trading pause

10:30 EDT Steel Partners trading resumes

10:26 EDT GCI Liberty trading resumes

10:22 EDT Phathom Pharmaceuticals trading resumes

10:20 EDT EQT Corporation trading resumes

10:19 EDT Magenta Therapeutics trading resumes

10:18 EDT Peapack Gladstone Financial trading resumes

10:17 EDT Phathom Pharmaceuticals trading halted, volatility trading pause

10:15 EDT SecureWorks trading resumes

10:13 EDT Alnylam trading halted, volatility trading pause

10:12 EDT Peugeot parent PSA plans to close all European factories amid COVID-19 outbreak - Due to the acceleration observed in recent days of serious COVID-19 cases close to certain production sites, supply disruptions from major suppliers, as well as the sudden decline in the automobile markets, the Chairman of the Executive Board with the members of the crisis unit, decided the principle of the closure of the vehicle production sites until March 27. The closure of the mechanical sites will be adjusted accordingly. The site management teams will implement the site closure procedures locally, which will be done in coordination with the social partners. Groupe PSA remind that until then, compliance with the barrier measures, going beyond the recommendations of the health authorities on the sites, are the best protection to prevent the spread of the virus.

10:10 EDT Kimball Electronics trading halted, volatility trading pause

10:10 EDT EQT Corporation trading halted, volatility trading pause

10:10 EDT NextGen Healthcare trading resumes

10:09 EDT Lazard trading resumes

10:08 EDT Pebblebrook Hotel trading resumes

10:08 EDT Seneca Foods trading resumes

10:07 EDT Roper Technologies trading halted, volatility trading pause

10:07 EDT F.N.B. trading resumes

10:07 EDT Astec trading resumes

10:07 EDT FARO Technologies trading resumes

10:06 EDT Pretium Resources trading resumes

10:06 EDT Flushing financial trading resumes

10:05 EDT Andersons trading resumes

10:05 EDT Watsco trading resumes

10:05 EDT NextGen Healthcare trading halted, volatility trading pause

10:04 EDT Zumiez trading resumes

10:04 EDT Anterix trading resumes

10:03 EDT State Street suspends share repurchase program through June - State Street announced today that it has temporarily suspended its common stock repurchase program through June 2020. The company said, "This action is consistent with the announcement by the Financial Services Forum yesterday that its eight members, including State Street, decided to temporarily suspend share buybacks, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. There is no change to State Street's dividend policy. State Street's actions are taken in support of the broader financial system and economy at this time. For more than 227 years we have stood by our clients and broader constituencies, and this time will be no different. State Street may reinstate its common stock repurchase program at any time based on several factors, including developments associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, market conditions and its capital position and financial performance."

10:02 EDT Pebblebrook Hotel trading halted, volatility trading pause

10:02 EDT Lindblad Expeditions trading resumes

10:02 EDT Astec trading halted, volatility trading pause

10:02 EDT EverQuote trading resumes

10:01 EDT Vici Properties trading halted, volatility trading pause

10:01 EDT Phillips 66 trading resumes

10:01 EDT Quotient Technology trading halted, volatility trading pause

10:00 EDT Companhia Parana trading halted, volatility trading pause

10:00 EDT Direxion Financial Bear 3x rises 37.4% - Direxion Financial Bear 3x is up 37.4%, or $14.97 to $55.00.

09:59 EDT Itau CorpBanca trading halted, volatility trading pause

09:59 EDT Schlumberger trading resumes

09:59 EDT Fidus Investment trading resumes

09:59 EDT Carnival trading resumes

09:58 EDT HD Supply trading resumes

09:58 EDT Lazard trading halted, volatility trading pause

09:57 EDT Ciena trading resumes

09:57 EDT US Bancorp trading halted, volatility trading pause

09:57 EDT EverQuote trading halted, volatility trading pause

09:56 EDT Golar Power signs protocol of intentions with Pernambuco government - Golar Power Limited has signed a Protocol of Intentions with the State Government of Pernambuco to develop an LNG import terminal in the Port of Suape, located in the northeast of Brazil. With operations scheduled to start in the second half of 2020, the project includes infrastructure for the supply of natural gas and LNG to generate electricity, in addition to meeting the demands of industries, commerce, LNG stations and households. To this end, Golar Power will work in partnership with the local gas distribution company, Companhia Pernambucana de Gas Natural to bring natural gas to regions of the State that are not yet served by traditional pipeline networks. The project is expected to use the existing port infrastructure owned by the State Government.The Golar Power terminal intends to use an existing LNG carrier, permanently docked at the Suape Port. Capex requirements for the project are expected to be funded from Golar Power's internal resources and operating cash flow. Final development of the project remains dependent upon regulatory approvals and conclusion of commercial agreements.

09:55 EDT Bank OZK trading halted, volatility trading pause

09:55 EDT Phillips 66 trading halted, volatility trading pause

09:54 EDT Verrica Parmaceuticals Inc trading halted, volatility trading pause

09:54 EDT Fidus Investment trading halted, volatility trading pause

09:54 EDT Carnival trading halted, volatility trading pause

09:53 EDT GrubHub trading resumes

09:53 EDT VeriSign trading halted, volatility trading pause

09:52 EDT Grifols trading halted, volatility trading pause

09:51 EDT KeyCorp lowers prime lending rate to 3.25% from 4.25%, effective March 16

09:49 EDT Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals Ltd (Class A Stock) trading halted, volatility trading pause

09:48 EDT CURO Group trading halted, volatility trading pause

09:47 EDT Uproar Inc falls -30.8% - Uproar Inc is down -30.8%, or -$11.14 to $25.03.

09:47 EDT ProShares Trust Ultra VIX Short Term Futures ETF rises 39.6% - ProShares Trust Ultra VIX Short Term Futures ETF is up 39.6%, or $22.64 to $79.88.

09:46 EDT S&P Global trading halted, volatility trading pause

09:45 EDT Exelon trading halted, volatility trading pause

09:42 EDT ReTo Eco-Solutions resumes full production, business operations - ReTo Eco-Solutions announced it has resumed full production and business operations now that the spread of the Coronavirus has been contained in areas where its manufacturing facilities are located, including in the Jiangsu and Hainan Provinces. Reflecting the Company's commitment to social responsibility, it has now donated much needed medical supplies, including 10,000 medical masks to the Dali City of Yunnan Province to help the local government's ongoing COVID-19 mitigation efforts.

09:38 EDT Johnson & Johnson says Darunavir unlikely to have activity against COVID-19 - Johnson & Johnson announced that its Janssen unit has no clinical nor pharmacological evidence to support the inclusion of Darunavir in treatment guidelines for COVID-19, nor are there published data on the safety and efficacy profile of Darunavir in treatment of COVID-19. There are no published clinical studies that have evaluated the efficacy and safety of Darunavir for the treatment of novel coronavirus, Johnson & Johnson said in a statement. In addition, there are no published in-vitro studies with Darunavir and coronavirus, it added. Based on preliminary, unpublished results from a previously reported in-vitro experiment, it is not likely Darunavir will have significant activity against SARS-CoV-2 when administered at the approved safe and efficacious dose for the treatment of HIV-1 infection, according to J&J. Additionally, structural analyses show "very few interactions" of Darunavir with the active site of the SARS-CoV-2 protease. J&J added. "We remain open to collaborating with governments, healthcare professionals and others to ensure rigorous collection and transparent of data that will allow evidence generation to guide the use of effective medicines and support the best outcomes for patients affected by COVID-19." Darunavir is a protease inhibitor only approved for use with a "boosting" agent, and in combination use with other antiretrovirals, for the treatment of HIV-1.

09:36 EDT Denny's secures additional funding through revolving credit facility - Denny's Corporation announced that the Company has secured additional funding through its revolving credit facility to provide enhanced financial flexibility in light of uncertain market conditions arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Company has terminated its limited pre-arranged stock trading plan, effective today. No shares had yet been purchased under this plan at the time of termination. The plan had been established for the purpose of repurchasing a limited number of shares of the Company's common stock between March 16, 2020 and April 30, 2020, through an independent broker in accordance with the guidelines specified under Rule 10b5-1 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the Company's policies regarding stock transactions. Given the dynamic and evolving economic conditions throughout the United States and the world, the Company expects consolidated results to be materially affected for the second quarter and full year of fiscal 2020. The Company will update its guidance when it can reasonably estimate the impact of the coronavirus and the changing conditions.

09:35 EDT Churchill Downs announces extension, reduction in funding costs for facility - Churchill Downs announced the closing of an amendment to its Credit Agreement to extend the maturity and to lower the upper limit of the applied spreads for loans under its $700 million Senior Secured Revolving Credit Facility. The amendment extends the maturity for the Revolving Credit Facility from December 27, 2022 to September 27, 2024. The amendment also lowers the upper limit of the applied spreads for loans under the Revolving Credit Facility from 2.25% to 1.75% and for commitment fees from 0.35% to 0.30%. The amendment also offers a reduced pricing schedule for outstanding borrowings and commitment fees under the Revolving Credit Facility across all other leverage pricing levels. The interest rates applicable to borrowings under the Facilities are LIBOR-based plus a spread, determined by the Company's consolidated total net leverage ratio. The amendment does not alter the Company's borrowing capacity.

09:32 EDT Galaxy Gaming suspends billing during casino closures - Galaxy Gaming announced that it will suspend billing its customers whose casinos are closed as a result of the Coronavirus crisis. Such suspension will last for the duration of the closures.

09:29 EDT Aptevo Therapeutics provides update on ongoing APVO436 Phase 1 clinical trial - Aptevo Therapeutics provided an update on its ongoing Phase 1/1b clinical trial of APVO436, a novel anti-CD123 x anti-CD3 targeted investigational bispecific antibody therapy being evaluated for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia, or AML, and myelodysplastic syndrome, or MDS. At present, dosing in cohorts 1 through 5 has been completed with dosing in cohort 6 scheduled to begin shortly. A total of 19 patients have been enrolled and treated with APVO436 to date. No evidence of dose-limiting toxicities was observed in the latest dose cohort. A dose-limiting toxicity was observed in 1 of 6 patients in cohort 4. Also, importantly, no evidence of drug-induced anti-drug antibodies, or ADA, has been observed in the 17 patient blood samples analyzed to date. One patient in the study with a diagnosis of MDS is currently finishing an 8th cycle of dosing. Preliminary analysis showed that this patient has achieved a disease assessment of "marrow complete response," which is defined as a bone marrow with less than or equal to 5% myeloblasts and a decrease greater than or equal to 50% over pretreatment. Changes in peripheral blood measurements are reported separately and this particular patient continues to require platelet and red blood cell transfusions. Aptevo cautions that these data are preliminary.

09:26 EDT Predictive Oncology announces $3.5M private placement - Predictive Oncology announced that it has entered into a securities purchase agreement with certain accredited investors to raise $3.5 million through the issuance of up to 1,650,165 shares of common stock and accompanying warrants to purchase an aggregate of up to 3,300,330 shares of common stock at $2.121 per share of common stock and accompanying warrants. The warrants will be exercisable immediately at an exercise price of $1.88 per share, with one-half of the warrants to expire two years after the date of issuance, and one-half to expire five and one-half years after the date of issuance. The closing of the private placement is subject to the satisfaction of certain customary closing conditions set forth in the securities purchase agreement. The Company intends to use the net proceeds for general corporate purposes. H.C. Wainwright & Co., LLC acted as the sole placement agent for the offering.

09:25 EDT Turning Point Therapeutics expects cash to fund operations beyond 2021 - Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities at Dec. 31, 2019 totaled $409.2 million, a decrease of $14.4 million from Sept. 30, 2019. The company continues to project its cash position funds current operations beyond 2021.

09:23 EDT Navigator Holdings announces formation of the Luna Pool - Navigator Holdings, in collaboration with Pacific Gas Pte. Ltd. and Greater Bay Gas Co, are pleased to announce the formation of the Luna Pool. The Luna Pool will be focused on the ocean transportation of liquefied petrochemical gas cargoes, with a specific focus on ethylene and ethane to meet the growing demands of our customers. With a combined fleet of fourteen Handysize vessels, ranging in capacities between 17,000cbm and 22,000cbm, the Luna Pool will bring enhanced flexibility and unparalleled service to the market. The Pool will commence operations in April with commercial and operational management from the Navigator Gas London office supported by the existing offices of Pacific Gas and Greater Bay Gas offices in Singapore, Shenzhen and Shanghai. The Pool will be managed by a highly professional and experienced team formed by the partners and will have dedicated Commercial and Operational teams to ensure every cargo is efficiently and safely delivered to its destination. Technical management will not change from the current arrangements.

09:22 EDT Shawcor to suspend regular quarterly dividend until further notice - The Company will suspend the regular quarterly dividend until further notice, commencing in the second quarter. The dividend declared on February 27, 2020 will be paid as planned on March 31, 2020. On an annual basis, the regular dividend was in excess of $40 million. The company said, "We expect that these actions, Shawcor's strong backlog, geographic diversity and the returns from our non-oil and gas related businesses will provide the support needed for Shawcor to continue to be an industry leader in these uncertain times and we believe they should generate sufficient cash and EBITDA to allow the Company to remain within the amended banking covenants announced on February 27, 2020. An update on these actions will be provided prior to our May 13th annual meeting of shareholders."

09:19 EDT Spero Therapeutics expects cash to fund operations into 1Q21 - As of December 31, 2019, Spero had cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $82.0 million. Subsequent to year-end 2019, on March 5, 2020 Spero announced the closing of its rights offering for $30 million in gross proceeds. Spero believes that its existing cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities as well as proceeds from the completed rights offering, together with committed funding from our BARDA contract and other non-dilutive funding commitments, will enable funding of its operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements into the first quarter of 2021, including through the filing of an NDA for tebipenem HBr.

09:19 EDT Spero Therapeutics expects Phase 1 trial of SPR206 in 2H20 - SPR206 is an IV-administered product candidate being developed as an innovative option to treat MDR Gram-negative bacterial infections. In January 2020, Spero reported positive preliminary Phase 1 clinical trial data for SPR206 in healthy volunteers demonstrating that SPR206 was well-tolerated at doses likely to be within a therapeutic range for MDR Gram-negative bacterial infections. The Phase 1 clinical trial was designed as a double-blind, placebo-controlled, single and multiple ascending dose, multi-cohort study in healthy volunteers. Spero expects to present final data from the Phase 1 clinical trial in the first half of 2020. In conjunction with Everest Medicines, and through its grant from the U.S. Department of Defense awarded in July 2019, Spero plans to conduct a Phase 1 bronchoalveolar lavage clinical trial assessing the penetration of SPR206 into the pulmonary compartment in the second half of 2020 and initiate a renal impairment study of SPR206.

09:17 EDT Spero Therapeutics expects to report topline data from ADAPT-PO trial in 3Q20 - Spero's lead product candidate, tebipenem HBr, has the potential to be the first oral carbapenem antibiotic approved for use in adults to treat MDR Gram-negative infections. Spero's pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial of tebipenem HBr for the treatment of cUTI, ADAPT-PO, is currently enrolling patients. The ADAPT-PO trial compares an all oral regimen of tebipenem HBr with an existing standard of care intravenous antibiotic, ertapenem, in approximately 1,200 patients with cUTI or acute pyelonephritis, randomized 1:1 in each arm. In October 2019, an independent review committee analyzed interim pharmacokinetic data from the first 33 patients dosed with tebipenem HBr and recommended the continuation of the trial using the protocol-defined dose without modification. Spero continues to expect to report top-line data from the ADAPT-PO trial in the third quarter of 2020. To support continued clinical development of tebipenem HBr, in February 2020 the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority exercised a $15.9 million option under its existing contract with Spero, bringing the total committed funding under the award to $44.0 million in non-dilutive funding, inclusive of $10.0 million in funding from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.

09:15 EDT Rite Aid sees adjusted EBITDA growth, improved free cash flow by FY23 - Rite Aid is providing the following financial targets by fiscal year 2023: Pharmacy benefits and services revenue with high-single to low-double digit growth; Same-store scripts with mid-single digit growth; Front End revenue with low-single digit growth; Adjusted EBITDA growth; Improved Free Cash Flow; and leverage ratio of approximately 4.0 times.

09:13 EDT UFP Industries acquires Quest Design & Fabrication, Quest Architectural Millwork - Universal Forest Products announced that one of its affiliates acquired the operating assets of Quest Design & Fabrication and Quest Architectural Millwork, collectively known as Quest. Based near Houston, Texas, Quest specializes in designing, fabricating and installing premium millwork and case goods for a variety of commercial uses, including builder's sales centers, design studios, hospitality, corporate offices, and healthcare. The company had approximately $22M in sales in 2019. Jon Deutser, president and CEO of Quest, will continue to run the company.

09:10 EDT LendingTree announces free identity monitoring - LendingTree announced the launch of a free identity monitoring feature for My LendingTree users through a new partnership with ID Experts in efforts to help consumers further safeguard themselves from threats to their financial health and online privacy. Members of My LendingTree will be automatically provided with this complimentary service and will receive real-time breach notifications should their registered email address be found on the dark web.

09:09 EDT SB One Bancorp promotes Ali Mattera to SVP, technology and digital bank officer - SB One Bank announced the promotions of Ali Mattera to Senior Vice President, Technology and Digital Bank Officer and Elizabeth Watts to First Vice President, Human Resources. Mattera joined SB One Bank in 2017, and in her new role is responsible for maintaining information technology, digital strategy and digital channels for the Bank and its subsidiaries. She will primarily focus on accelerating innovation throughout the organization, identifying disruptive threats to the Bank's business models and leading change management and strategic thought leadership. Additionally, Mattera will develop and implement a forward-thinking, business-enabling technology strategy that integrates and aligns with the Bank's overall mission to provide an even better banking experience. Watts, who has been with SB One Bank since 2015, is responsible for building and implementing strategies, programs and infrastructure to develop, engage and retain the best talent for the SB One Bank organization. She will handle all aspects of human resources including compensation and benefits, talent management, training and development, succession planning, employee relations and performance management. Additionally, Watts is responsible for creating innovative ways to engage employees, reinforcing the culture and establishing systems and training that will develop leaders.

09:07 EDT Ultragenyx, GeneTx announce first patient dosed in Phase 1/2 trial of GTX-102 - GeneTx Biotherapeutics LLC and Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical announced that it has dosed the first patient in its KIK-AS study of GTX-102, an experimental antisense oligonucleotide being evaluated for the treatment of Angelman syndrome. The Phase 1/2 open-label, multiple-dose, dose-escalating study will enroll 20 patients to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and potential efficacy of GTX-102 in pediatric patients with Angelman syndrome. This is the first investigational study testing an antisense oligonucleotide as a potential therapy to treat AS. Further details can be referenced at: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04259281. Chicago's Rush University Medical Center is the first clinical site to begin enrolling patients in the KIK-AS study, with additional sites being planned in Boston, Cincinnati, Denver, Los Angeles, New York and Ottawa, Canada. Pending additional site activation, GeneTx Biotherapeutics expects to report preliminary data from the first cohorts in the study in early 2021.

09:05 EDT Endologix receives FDA approval for Alto Abdominal Stent Graft System - Endologix announced that it has received approval from the FDA for the Alto Abdominal Stent Graft System. The company received approval based on its regulatory submission that includes the ELEVATE Investigational Device Exemption, or IDE, clinical study. Pursuant to the terms of approval, the first 100 patients after commercial launch will be included in a post approval imaging study to determine consistency in device selection between Endologix's internal imaging services and those of the implanting physicians.

09:04 EDT Westport announces temporary suspension of production in Brescia, Italy - Westport Fuel Systems announced the decision to temporarily suspend production in its Brescia, Italy facility effective immediately. The Company's Italian operations in Cherasco and Albinea continue to operate under the highest and most stringent standards for health and safety in line with the Italian Government's guidance, decrees and directives on COVID-19. The Company intends to reassess the production suspension at its Brescia facility in two weeks. Given the capabilities of the organization and the opportunities provided by smart working, all non-manufacturing activity will continue on a regular basis.

09:04 EDT Ayr Strategies teams with UFCW to expand paid leave amid COVID-19 - Ayr Strategies joined with the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union in announcing measures to safeguard the health of its employees and customers amid the Coronavirus outbreak. Under the measures, Ayr employees will benefit from an expanded sick leave policy that allows for additional paid time off and sick leave for those dealing with the impacts of the COVID-19 virus. Ayr continues to closely monitor all developments related to COVID-19 and is taking all necessary steps to mitigate risks for employees, including putting in place an ongoing communication program to provide updates within the office and facilities with protective measures, and health and hygiene protocols as they are being released by the CDC and state health authorities.

09:03 EDT Wayside Technology nominates Carol DiBattiste for election to board - Wayside Technology Group (WSTG) has nominated Carol DiBattiste for election to its Board of Directors at the Company's 2020 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. DiBattiste has more than two decades of executive experience in IT and advanced data analytics. She is currently the chief legal and compliance officer and corporate secretary at comScore, Inc. (SCOR). The Company also announced that Michael Faith, who had served on the Board since 2011, has informed the Company of his intent to not stand for reelection at the 2020 Annual Meeting.

08:59 EDT Energy Focus awarded $1.7M LED lighting contract for U.S. Navy - Energy Focus awarded a contract valued at approximately $1.7M to supply a U.S.-based shipbuilder with LED lighting tube and fixture products. The products, which are U.S. Navy-approved, will be installed in four new navy ships through the Foreign Military Sales program that allows U.S. allied countries to purchase defense articles and services. The Company expects to deliver on the contract beginning in the second quarter of 2020 with completion expected by the end of 2021.

08:58 EDT Exagen partners with Sonora Quest Laboratories to offer AVISE testing - Exagen announced that it has entered into a strategic partnership with Sonora Quest, the nation's largest integrated laboratory system. The agreement provides preferred access through Sonora Quest in Arizona to Exagen's AVISE testing. The testing can facilitate improved care through the differential diagnosis, prognosis, monitoring and therapeutic optimization of complex and incurable autoimmune rheumatic diseases. The details of the agreement are confidential.

08:54 EDT Searchlight Minerals closes debt financing - Search Minerals announced that the Company closed a debt financing transaction, pursuant to which the Company was advanced an unsecured loan of $100,000 from an arm's length party. The Loan has a one year maturity date from the date of issuance, repayable at any time without penalty and bears interest at a rate of 10% per annum, payable quarterly. Pursuant to the Loan, the Company issued 2,000,000 warrants to the lender, with each Bonus Warrant entitling the holder to purchase one common share of the Company for one year at a price of $0.05 per common share. All securities issued pursuant to the Loan will be subject to a four month hold period from the date of issuance. Proceeds from the loan will be used for short-term working capital purposes. No finders' fees or commissions were paid in connection with the Loan. The Loan and the Bonus Warrants are subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval.

08:49 EDT NetSol Technologies says auto captive to launch Otoz pilot program in China - NETSOL Technologies announced a pilot car sharing program with an existing tier-one European auto captive finance customer in China. As part of the program, thousands of the auto captive's employees will be eligible to use flexible car sharing products, all of which will be deployed on the Otoz platform. Among the many use cases and trials being conducted, Otoz will enable options for flexible car rentals as well as peer-to-peer car sharing and other subscription-based programs. The underlying technology driving these innovations will be based in machine learning and blockchain and will also be focused on other broader applications within the smart mobility and Internet of Things ecosystem. In practice, Otoz will capture data from cars being used in the program and will use that information to construct a "digital twin" by harnessing its blockchain-based asset register. Further, vehicles and trips will be digitally "logged" on the blockchain, where transactions are automatically settled between owners, operators and third-party service providers through a single-source, usage-based payment system. In addition to offering customizable payment options, Otoz will also provide dynamic pricing and leverage real-time, intelligent analysis to propose plans to renters that incentivize maximizing the lifetime value of their respective assets.

08:47 EDT MRAG urgess Rockwell Medical shareholders to support director nominees - Medical Resource Acquisition Group announces that it has been receiving support from Rockwell shareholders who are in favor of Rockwell Medical receiving $15M in funding and having three new Directors replace Directors Lisa Colleran, John Cooper and Mark Ravich. The company said, "In light of the tremendous support for MRAG a weblink has been set up on the MRAG website. We encourage all shareholders to place their support and be able to stay further informed by going to www.MRAGWORLD.COM and click ROCKWELL OFFERS. MRAG has proposed funding of $15 million, as well as new directors for Rockwell Medical Inc., in a bid to restructure and reinvigorate the company. Mr. Shroff believes that MRAG and its advisers can bring new opportunities to the company, both in terms of an expansion of its business interests and in terms of finance. Mr. Shroff believes that the funding offered by MRAG will empower Rockwell to make great strides into huge, new markets which lay beyond those currently being considered and serviced...A substantive effect of MRAG's offer of equity funding to RMTI, made on February 25, 2020, will be the introduction of appropriate healthcare innovations to the Middle and Far East market that target current needs and future projections...MRAG has nominated Mr. Khurram Shroff, Mr. Arthur S. Reynolds and Mr. Markus Muller for election as directors at the Rockwell annual shareholder meeting and believes that they have much more to offer Rockwell than the directors currently on the Board."

08:43 EDT Ehang announces first UAM program in Seville, SPain - EHang Holdings announced that the company entered into a cooperation agreement with the city government of Seville, Spain to execute the first Urban Air Mobility pilot program in Spain. The agreement specifies that EHang will work with the Seville government to develop the urban air mobility including passenger transportation, air logistics and command and control platforms in the city. The city will also collaborate on applications for permission to conduct test flights, in accordance with Spanish and European legislation, and will coordinate with EHang in the planning of flight routes.

08:42 EDT Methanex reduces production levels in Trinidad, Chile - Methanex Corporation announced that it has idled its Titan plant in Trinidad and will idle its Chile IV plant effective April 1, 2020. These changes are being made for an indefinite period. Methanex currently has significant liquidity of approximately $700 million, including cash on hand and an undrawn committed revolving credit facility, as well as an $800 million undrawn construction facility for the Geismar 3 project.

08:41 EDT OceanFirst Financial announces initiatives to assist community amid COVID-19 - OceanFirst Bank announced a series of precautionary measures intended to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 virus outbreak on its customers, employees and communities. The measures will be re-evaluated as circumstances require. OceanFirst is offering to defer certain loan payments for up to 90 days for the most seriously impacted categories of business borrowers, as described below. Current OceanFirst business borrowers who wish to request relief are encouraged to call their Commercial Loan relationship officer. Details include the following: Public accommodation businesses, such as restaurants/caterers, and certain retail establishments, that are forced to close will be eligible for full deferral of loan payments for 90 days, and immediate working capital facilities up to $200,000. Public accommodation businesses that are reducing services in response to the pandemic will be eligible to make interest-only payments and defer principal payments for 90 days, and immediate working capital facilities up to $100,000. Additional relief programs may be available to the Bank's business borrowers on an individualized basis, depending on their circumstances. All programs will be subject to bank approval. Existing residential mortgage and consumer loan customers of OceanFirst may also be eligible for the Borrower Relief Program. Consumers who wish to request relief may call 1.888.623.2633 ext. 7714 to speak with a Bank representative. Program details include the following: All OceanFirst customers working as healthcare professionals and emergency responders are eligible to receive deferral of their residential mortgage or consumer loan payments for 90 days. Other OceanFirst borrowers who are otherwise impacted by COVID-19 will be evaluated for participation in the program. Businesses and consumers who wish to receive loan deferrals must contact OceanFirst to determine eligibility; the Borrower Relief Program is not automatic. To support the efforts of public health authorities and to help curtail the spread of the Coronavirus, OceanFirst is expanding its social distancing practice by modifying the operations of its branch network. The Bank is temporarily eliminating lobby services at all branches, will utilize only drive-up service for most branches, and will continue to assist customers remotely through its Digital Banking and Call Center operations. Customers with specialized cash supply needs or who require access to safe deposit boxes may make appointments to visit a branch. Some branches will close on a temporary basis and others may be subject to a change in operating hours. OceanFirst also announced measures to help mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on its employees' lives. Effectively immediately, the Bank has established a one-time paid time off "bank of hours" for use during the pandemic. OceanFirst employees may be eligible for up to 80 hours of PTO to be used in the case of quarantine, isolation or family care needs related to Coronavirus exposure, illness or other related issues, or a temporary lack of work

08:38 EDT Kayne Anderson MLP reports $345M of cash on balance sheet as of March 13 - Kayne Anderson MLP/Midstream Investment Company announced an update on its balance sheet and leverage levels. The Company also announced revised timing for the distribution originally scheduled to be paid on March 31, 2020. Equity prices for midstream energy companies have been extremely volatile during the first two weeks of March - the Alerian MLP Index declined 38% over this time period. In response to the recent record market volatility, the Company has proactively taken steps to increase its cash position and reduce leverage levels. Since February 29, 2020, the Company has reduced outstanding indebtedness by $125 million and, as of March 13, 2020, has no borrowings outstanding on its unsecured revolving credit facility or its term loan. After taking into account these recent repayments, the Company has $531 million of unsecured senior notes and $342 million of mandatory redeemable preferred shares outstanding. As of the same date, the Company has $345 million of cash on its balance sheet, including cash it will receive by Tuesday of this week for securities it has recently sold. It is the Company's intention to comply with all applicable 1940 Act leverage tests as well as the covenants on its debt agreements and the terms of its preferred stock. Over the course of the next month, the Company plans to prudently use its cash balance to further reduce its leverage levels in a way that minimizes prepayment penalties and maximizes shareholder value. As of March 13th, the Company's asset coverage ratio under the 1940 Act with respect to senior securities representing indebtedness was 313% and the Company's asset coverage ratio under the 1940 Act with respect to total leverage was 190%. Assuming the Company uses all of its cash to repay outstanding indebtedness, its coverage ratio for the '40 Act Debt Test would be 619% and its coverage ratio for the '40 Act Leverage Test would be 239%.

08:36 EDT Xebec Adsorption says 'well-positioned' to work through coronavirus disruptions - Xebec Adsorption provided an update on the novel coronavirus impact on Xebec's global operations. The company said, "Xebec currently has operations and manufacturing capacity in three countries, which include: China, Italy, and Canada. Xebec's manufacturing operations in Shanghai, China were previously affected by COVID-19 and were shut down for three additional weeks after the normal two-week Chinese New Year holiday. The facility has since restarted and is now fully operational. Over this period, the rest of the operations were working remotely to continue progress on designs of various customer contracts. As a result, Xebec Shanghai may experience a moderate impact on Q1/20 revenues and earnings but does not expect a material impact on full-year 2020. Our operations in Lombardy, Italy were recently impacted by the mandated lockdown of the country. Although Xebec does not have full manufacturing capabilities in Italy, projects are mostly outsourced into the supply chain. We are now starting to see delays from suppliers based in Northern Italy because of the transportation shutdown. There are two ongoing projects in Italy that are under construction, one located in Sicily and the other in Genova. Work on both projects is now halted and will restart after April 3rd at the earliest. Similar to Xebec Shanghai, Xebec's operations in Italy may experience moderate impacts on Q1 and Q2 2020 revenues and earnings, but we do not expect a significant impact on full year numbers. Lastly, Xebec's Canadian operations in Quebec currently remain unaffected and we are operating close to capacity. Our schedule for North American deliveries remains the same and no impact has so far been experienced due to the coronavirus. We are working on a multitude of shipments for the North American market as evidenced by recent contract announcements. Xebec is well-positioned to work through these disruptions with its strong balance sheet that includes more than $20M of cash on hand and approximately $18M in outstanding warrants, exercisable at $1.05 and $1.85 over the next 4 months. In addition, our quote log continues to increase and now exceeds $937M and our order backlog stands at $95.1M. The company continues to follow the current developments and will provide further communications should the effect on operations change materially."

08:33 EDT Kayne Anderson Midstream/Energy Fund decides to delay payment of distribution - In conjunction with these actions, the Board of Directors of the Fund has made the decision to delay payment of the $0.075 per share distribution originally scheduled to be paid on March 31, 2020. The payment date of this distribution, which was declared on December 18, 2019, has been revised to April 30, 2020. The Fund's Board of Directors elected to make this change in an effort to enhance the Fund's flexibility with respect to the timing and amount that it reduces leverage levels over the next month. While the Fund's management and its Board of Directors realize that distributions are important to our investors, we feel that these actions will maximize shareholder value by providing greater flexibility in managing its balance sheet in a period of record volatility and uncertainty. The revised ex-date, record date and payment date are listed on page two of this press release. Going forward, the Fund plans to revert to making distributions to shareholders on a quarterly basis, with an expectation that the first quarterly distribution will be declared and paid in June 2020. This distribution will be in replacement of the monthly distributions that otherwise would have been made in April, May, and June 2020. Payment of future distributions is subject to the Board of Directors approval, as well as meeting the covenants of the Fund's debt agreements and terms of its preferred stock. In response to lower crude oil prices, which have declined materially in recent weeks, many upstream energy companies are announcing plans to reduce capital expenditures and operating costs. As a result of these actions, domestic production levels will be lower than previously estimated. In addition, it is difficult to estimate how quickly global economic activity will recover from the impact of the COVID-19 virus. The Fund's Board of Directors plans to assess the Fund's distribution level in light of these market conditions and the impact it has on the operations, balance sheets and distribution levels of companies operating in the midstream energy industry. On March 13, 2020, the Fund's stock price was $4.01 and its NAV per share was $5.27.

08:32 EDT Levi Strauss closes retail stores March 16-March 27 in response to COVID-19 - Levi Strauss announced it will temporarily close its owned and operated retail locations in the United States and Canada as of Monday, March 16, in response to the coronavirus and the guidance of public health officials in both countries. The company expects these stores to remain closed through March 27. Store employees will be paid for all scheduled hours during the closure. "We are facing an unprecedented global pandemic, and our first priority is to do the right thing for the health and safety of our employees and our consumers," said Chip Bergh, president and chief executive officer of Levi Strauss & Co. "Effective immediately, we are electing to close our stores in the U.S. and Canada and encourage people to follow public health guidelines and take care of one another and their communities. We have faced many challenges in our 167-year history, and we will continue to navigate difficult times as we always have--by putting our people first and managing this business for the long term." These temporary closures do not affect the company's online operations. The company will provide a more detailed update during its fiscal first quarter 2020 earnings call scheduled for April 7.

08:31 EDT Townsquare Media says not providing FY20 guidance amid COVID-19 outbreak

08:30 EDT Meridian Bioscience announces FDA clearance for Curian Analyzer - Meridian Bioscience announced that it has received FDA-clearance for Meridian's new Curian and Curian HpSA assay. This analyzer and first assay play an important part in their initiative to maintain leadership in the gastrointestinal disease testing market. Curian and Curian HpSA are designed to quickly detect Helicobacter pylori antigens in human stool using immunofluorescent technology. Curian HpSA is intended to aid in the diagnosis of H. pylori infection and to demonstrate loss of H. pylori antigen following treatment. With a simple workflow and clean, comfortable sample handling; Curian HpSA provides healthcare systems a platform looking to standardize H. pylori testing from the industry's leading experts in stool handling and testing.

08:29 EDT NV5 Global assisting clients with COVID-19 facility health, safety consulting - NV5 Global announced its delivery of facility health and safety consulting services designed to mitigate the risk of Coronavirus Disease 2019 exposure for clients' employees and stakeholders, while minimizing interruption to business operations. NV5 environmental, health, and safety experts are already serving a number of public and private sector clients including municipalities, universities, and healthcare facilities. NV5's facility health and safety consulting services include the development and implementation of site-specific health and safety plans, deep cleaning protocols, and emergency response plans delivered by NV5's team of industrial hygienists. All plans and protocols are developed in accordance with guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Environmental Protection Agency, and American Industrial Hygiene Association.

08:26 EDT Galectin expects cash to fund operations through at least Sept. 30, 2021 - As of December 31, 2019, the Company had $47.5 million of cash and cash equivalents. During 2019, the company effected a Rights Offering which, together with other common stock and warrants issued, raised $50.5 million in net proceeds. The Company also has a $10 million unsecured line of credit, under which no borrowings have been made to date. The Company believes it has sufficient cash, including availability under the line of credit, to fund currently planned operations and research and development activities through at least September 30, 2021.

08:25 EDT Twist Bioscience: RUO target enrichment NGS panels available for COVID research - Twist Bioscience announced the availability of Research-Use Only, or RUO, target enrichment next-generation sequencing, or NGS, panels for viral detection and characterization of samples from patients testing positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19. These panels can be used for environmental monitoring and surveillance testing, while also providing insight into full sequence information to track viral evolution and strain origin.

08:21 EDT HP Inc. says UCSF uses HP BioPrinter to optimize combinations of medications

08:20 EDT Ranger Energy receives $6.00 per share non-binding take private offer - Ranger Energy announced that it has received a non-binding offer from CSL Capital and Bayou Well, proposing to acquire all of the outstanding shares of common stock of Ranger not owned by CSL, Bayou and T. Rowe Price Associates in a cash merger transaction for $6.00 per share. The take private offer is subject to obtaining debt and equity financing, the approval of a special committee of independent directors of the board of directors of Ranger, the informed approval by the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of Ranger not owned by CSL, Bayou and the T. Rowe Price Investors, the approval of CSL's investment committee, the approval of Bayou's board of managers and the entry into a definitive merger agreement. The offer letter indicated the take private offer may be withdrawn at any time. The board intends to form a special committee to consider the take private offer. The board expects that the special committee will retain independent advisors, including independent financial and legal advisors, to assist it in this process. CSL, Bayou and certain of their affiliates purport to beneficially own, in the aggregate, 3,189,676 shares of Class A common stock and 6,866,154 shares of Class B common stock, representing approximately 64.9% of the total shares of Class A common stock of Ranger on an as-converted basis. CSL and Bayou further represented in the letter that the T. Rowe Price Investors own an additional 1,363,569 shares of Class A common stock, representing approximately 8.8% of the total shares of Class A common atock of Ranger on an as-converted basis. Ranger cautions its stockholders and others trading in its securities that the take private offer constitutes only a preliminary proposal that does not constitute a binding commitment and that no decision has been made with respect to Ranger's response to the offer. There can be no assurance that a definitive agreement will be executed or that the transaction contemplated in the take private offer or any other transaction will be consummated.

08:18 EDT Tracon announces submission of request for Type B meeting with FDA - TRACON Pharmaceuticals announced that it has submitted a request for a Type B meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to discuss the trial design for a potential pivotal study of envafolimab in sarcoma. TRACON plans to propose a pivotal trial with two cohorts of approximately 80 patients each to assess the objective response rate in sarcoma subtypes known to be responsive to checkpoint inhibition, with one cohort receiving single-agent envafolimab and the second cohort receiving envafolimab and Yervoy. Expected Upcoming Envafolimab Milestones Over the Next 6 Months: Type B meeting with the FDA to discuss the potential pivotal trial design of ENVASARC for envafolimab; File IND for envafolimab to conduct the planned ENVASARC study; Apply for orphan drug designation for envafolimab in soft tissue sarcoma;Submission of regulatory approval for envafolimab in China by our partners, 3D Medicine and Alphamab Oncology; Presentation of envafolimab clinical data at ASCO by our partners 3D Medicine and Alphamab Oncology; Enroll the first patient in ENVASARC, a potential pivotal trial of envafolimab.

08:16 EDT Fairfax Financial announces changes to annual meeting - Fairfax Financial Holdings, ecognizing the widespread cancellation of public events as a protection of individual and public safety in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, with great regret has cancelled the attendance of its directors and the officers of all of its subsidiaries and Fairfax group companies at its April 16 annual meeting and has cancelled all booths and other events originally contemplated for that meeting. Therefore, shareholders will not be able to attend the meeting in person. There will be a webcast of the formal meeting and of a presentation by Prem Watsa, Fairfax's Chair and CEO, following the formal meeting and, potentially, a Q&A carried out through the webcast. Instructions for how to access the webcast will be published in the near future. Shareholders are encouraged to vote by proxy.

08:14 EDT RumbleON reports preliminary Q4 revenue $127M, consensus $137.3M - Reports preliminary Q4 total unit sales of 6,432, ahead of the previously expected range of 6,200-6,250 units, bringing the expected FY19 total unit sales to 43,143. Despite the ongoing damage assessment of its Nashville facilities, RumbleOn continues to operate its other locations and serve its customers nationwide. The company is evaluating the impact of a number of factors and has reached the decision to reschedule its Q4 and FY19 financial results and conference call. These factors include the continuing assessment by the company and its insurance carriers of the costs and damages sustained by the company's Nashville facilities and inventory from the tornadoes on March 3 and continued work developing and implementing a final recovery plan. Also, the evaluation of the potential effects of temporarily closing its Dallas corporate office as a result of precautions taken in consideration of the CDC guidelines and recommendations regarding COVID-19; and the potential impact on its distribution capability resulting from its regional partners' nationwide temporary change in format for conducting their auction business due to COVID-19 concerns.

08:13 EDT Patrick Industries raises stock repurchase authorization to $50M - On March 13, the company's Board of Directors authorized an increase in the amount of the company's common stock that may be acquired over the next 24 months under the current stock repurchase program to $50M, including the $17.4M remaining under the previous authorization. Year-to-date through March 13, the company repurchased 223,375 shares at an average price of $40.59 per share for a total cost of $9.1M.

08:10 EDT Mack-Cali Realty reiterates commitment to maximizing shareholder value - Mack-Cali Realty detailed the steps that the Mack-Cali Board and management team are taking to achieve their goal of maximizing stockholder value and set the record straight regarding "false and misleading" statements contained in the Bow Street LLC March 12, 2020 letter to stockholders. Bow Street's letter to stockholders indicates that, as in the course of its 2019 proxy contest, Bow Street again intends to engage in a campaign "based on deception, falsehoods and other dishonest tactics to advance its self-serving agenda." "In its letter, Bow Street falsely claims that Mack-Cali has failed to honor the commitments that the Company made to its stockholders following the 2019 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, including the promise of a robust strategic alternatives process overseen by an independent special committee. These statements are false and misleading. Promptly after the 2019 Annual Meeting, the Mack-Cali Board formed the Shareholder Value Committee, which comprised four independent directors, including two directors nominated by Bow Street. Contrary to Bow Street's baseless assertion, the Shareholder Value Committee was given full authority to conduct an independent review of the Company's strategic direction and all available alternatives for maximizing stockholder value, including a potential sale of the Company or certain of its assets. The Shareholder Value Committee retained independent financial and legal advisors and was provided with all necessary resources to conduct a thorough strategic review... The Mack-Cali Board has repeatedly stated that it is open to all alternatives to maximize stockholder value, including a potential strategic transaction, and will consider all credible offers. In fact, the Board has formed the Special Committee to oversee management in reviewing any acquisition proposals that may be received by the Company. However, the Board would not support a transaction that would shortchange Mack-Cali stockholders and prevent them from realizing the full value potential of their investment in the Company. Moreover, the Board believes that a failed sale process would seriously harm Mack-Cali's business, including by causing significant management distraction and disrupting the Company's relationships with its key employees, vendors and business partners."

08:09 EDT Trevi Therapeutics expects data from Phase 2 trial of nalbuphine ER in 2H20 - Phase 2 trial of nalbuphine ER for chronic cough in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: The ongoing Phase 2 clinical trial is a randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled, two-treatment, two-period, crossover study designed to evaluate the efficacy, safety, tolerability and dosing of nalbuphine ER for chronic cough in up to 56 patients with IPF. Patient enrollment is underway and Trevi expects to report top-line data in the second half of 2020.

08:09 EDT Teva announces Herzuma for Injection is now available in the U.S. - Teva announced that Herzuma for Injection, a biosimilar to Herceptin, is now available in the United States with the same indications as the reference product. In these indications, patients should be selected for therapy based on a FDA-approved companion diagnostic for a trastuzumab product.

08:09 EDT Trevi Therapeutics expects topline data from PRISM trial in 2H20 - Phase 2b/3 PRISM trial of nalbuphine ER for severe pruritus in patients with prurigo nodularis: The ongoing PRISM trial is a randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled, two-arm treatment study that is designed to evaluate the safety and anti-pruritic efficacy of nalbuphine ER in approximately 240 patients with severe pruritus from PN in approximately 60 centers in the U.S. and Europe. To date, the Company has enrolled approximately 45% of the targeted number of patients in the study. The Company expects to report top-line data from the PRISM trial in the second half of 2020. Additionally, the protocol for the PRISM trial provides for a sample size re-estimation analysis once 50% of the patients in the trial are evaluable for the primary endpoint. Trevi expects to reach 50% patient enrollment during the second quarter of 2020 and that the re-estimation analysis will occur in mid-2020.

08:06 EDT Townsquare Media: COVID-19 impact in March 'significant' in live events segment - Says "doing what we can" to ensure safety and well-being of employees. Says has adjusted policies, including work-from-home. Says situation evolving daily. Says the impact of the coronavirus in March has been "significant" in live events segment. Sees canceling "many" Q2 events. Says has so far seen no impact to Townsquare Interactive business. Comments taken from Q4 earnings conference call.

08:05 EDT Allena expects to initiate Phase 1 trial of ALLN-346 in 1H20 - ALLN-346 is a first-in-class, orally administered, novel urate degrading enzyme that has been designed for activity and stability in the gastrointestinal tract for the treatment of hyperuricemia in patients with gout in the setting of advanced CKD. In the first quarter of 2020, Allena's Investigational New Drug application for ALLN-346 received clearance from the FDA to proceed with first-in-human clinical trials. Subject to Allena's ability to secure additional financial resources and the impact of COVID-19 on its business, Allena expects to initiate a Phase 1 clinical trial of ALLN-346 in the first half of 2020 and to report initial data from the trial in the fourth quarter of 2020.

08:05 EDT Kohl's enters partnership with Lands' End to offer its merchandise on Kohls.com - Kohl's (KSS) announced a new partnership with Lands' End (LE) to offer the retailer's entire assortment of women's, men's, kids and home merchandise on Kohls.com, directly fulfilled and shipped by Lands' End, beginning fall 2020. In addition, Kohl's will bring Lands' End merchandise, with a particular focus on seasonal goods for the family, including outerwear in fall/winter and swimwear in spring/summer, to 150 stores beginning fall 2020. Kohl's will offer casual and seasonal apparel and home goods from Lands' End on Kohls.com, including products like outerwear and swim. Additionally, select Kohl's stores will feature a Lands' End shop-in-shop experience, offering customers an assortment of relevant products for the whole family all year round. In-store products will rotate seasonally beginning with outerwear in fall 2020, including jackets, vests and cold weather accessories, followed by swimwear for the family in early 2021.

08:04 EDT Allena expects to submit protocal amendment for URIROX-2 trial in 1Q20 - Reloxaliase is a first-in-class, non-absorbed, orally administered enzyme for the treatment of severe hyperoxaluria. Allena is currently evaluating reloxaliase for patients with EH in URIROX-2, the second pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial in its URIROX program, and also plans to engage with the FDA in the second quarter of 2020 to explore a possible registration path for reloxaliase in patients with EH and advanced CKD. In February 2020, following engagement with the FDA, Allena announced a streamlined design for URIROX-2, based on the higher-than-projected kidney stone vent rate and the UOx results observed in the completed URIROX-1 trial. The streamlined design includes: Reduction in the target enrollment to 200 subjects to support a potential Biologics License Application filing for accelerated approval. The first sample size reassessment based on total accrued KS events once 130 subjects have reached six months of treatment. Inclusion of a new sponsor-blinded estimation of the conditional probability of achieving the study's primary and key secondary UOx endpoints at the time of the first SSR. Allena expects to submit a protocol amendment and associated study documents for the revised trial design in the first quarter of 2020. Subject to Allena's ability to secure additional financial resources and the impact of COVID-19 on its business, the first SSR is expected in the third quarter of 2021.

08:02 EDT Century Casinos announces temporary closure of Polish casinos - Century Casinos announced that its subsidiary Casinos Poland Sp. z o.o., in which the company holds a 66.6% ownership interest, closed its casinos to comply with a quarantine imposed by the Polish government to contain the spread of COVID-19. The quarantine includes the closure of restaurants, bars and casinos. The company closed its Polish casinos at midnight on Friday, March 13. The company cannot predict the duration of the closures. The company estimates that without business interruptions its Poland segment would generate 5%-10% of the company's 2020 net operating revenue and Adjusted EBITDA.

07:51 EDT Rekor Systems receives acquisition offer for subsidiary AOC Key Solutions - Rekor Systems acknowledged it has received an offer of $4M to purchase its subsidiary AOC Key Solutions. The offer has been made by current AOC Key Solutions management. The company is also currently in negotiations to sell another subsidiary, Team Global. Team Global is a Texas-based avionics engineering staffing company. The company cannot assure that these transactions will be closed in a timely fashion or at all. Both subsidiaries are no longer core to the strategic direction adopted by the company's board and announced last year. "During 2019, the company acquired substantially all of the assets of OpenALPR Technologies, Inc. and increased its focus on its Technology Segment, concentrating on the development of products and services using proprietary systems designed using artificial intelligence techniques, such as machine learning and deep learning data analysis, to address complex issues in the areas of public safety, customer experience and smart cities. Rekor's current suite of solutions includes its industry leading vehicle recognition software in use today in more than 70 countries by hundreds of customers - including some of the world's largest companies and governments. In addition to these products and services, the ompany is currently developing further product and service expansions in the public safety, transportation, customer service and residential markets worldwide."

07:50 EDT Beam Therapeutics appoints Christine Swenson as SVP, regulatory affairs - Beam Therapeutics announced key leadership appointments, including the promotion of Manmohan Singh, Ph.D., from VP to SVP of pharmaceutical sciences and delivery technologies, and the appointment of Christine Swenson as SVP of regulatory affairs. Before joining Beam, Swenson was the SVP, global regulatory affairs at Moderna (MRNA), where she led the development and execution of regulatory strategies for its portfolio of mRNA therapeutics and vaccines.

07:49 EDT AcelRx sees FY20 combined R&D and SG&A expense $10M-$13M - The company's year-end goals include obtaining 465 REMS-certified facilities and 465 formulary approvals in 2020. Quarterly combined R&D and SG&A expense in 2020 is expected to range from $10M-$13M, depending on the quarter, and includes approximately $1M of non-cash stock-based compensation per quarter ($9M-$12M excluding stock-based compensation expense). Annual debt service is expected to approximate $6M. Annual capital expenditures are expected to range from $4M-$5M attributed mainly to the installation of a new high-volume, automated packaging line at our contract manufacturer. These amounts do not consider the impact from the previously announced acquisition of Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals but reflect the benefits of the co-promotion agreement.

07:48 EDT AMC Entertainment announces new social distancing, attendance policy - AMC Theatres announced a new "50/50 Policy," effective immediately and continuing until April 30. In so doing, AMC reaffirms its commitment to follow CDC recommendations on social distancing to optimize the health and welfare of its theatre guests and employee teams. Therefore, in addition to capping ticket availability at 50% of normal seating capacity, AMC will further limit attendance for each and every showtime in all its open U.S. theatres to a maximum of 50 people. The CDC has recommended a limitation on gatherings to a maximum of 50 people, but that is not a legal requirement for businesses in most U.S. jurisdictions. AMC also is complying with all governmental mandates to close certain theatres, restaurants or bars as may be applicable.

07:46 EDT Nord Gold announces non-binding proposal to acquire Cardinal Resources - Nord Gold announced that it has acquired a relevant interest in 98,443,593 shares in Cardinal Resources Limited ("Cardinal"), giving it voting power of approximately 19.9 percent of the total share capital outstanding. This acquisition includes an agreement to purchase 81,038,233 shares in Cardinal held by Corporate International Holdings BV, a subsidiary of Gold Fields. The Gold Fields Purchase will be conducted at a price of A$0.45775 per share in cash and will complete on or about Wednesday 18 March 2020. Nordgold also announced that it has submitted a non-binding indicative and conditional proposal to acquire all the issued share capital of Cardinal not already owned by Nordgold at A$0.45775 per Cardinal share. At this stage, there is no formal proposal to acquire all the shares not already owned by Nordgold, nor is it certain that a formal proposal will be made. The Preliminary Proposal values the equity of Cardinal at approximately A$227M on a 100 percent basis, and represents a cash premium of 83 percent to the closing price of A$0.25000 per Cardinal share on the Australian Securities Exchange on 13 March 2020, and a 43 percent premium to the volume weighted average price of Cardinal shares over the last week on the ASX. The Preliminary Proposal will be financed through Nordgold's existing cash reserves and facilities. Process Nordgold is seeking that the Cardinal Board provides confirmatory due diligence access to Nordgold on certain key aspects of Cardinal's Namdini Project. Nordgold has indicated it will work constructively with Cardinal to expedite its confirmatory due diligence with the aim of completing it within a four week period. Following the successful completion of confirmatory due diligence to Nordgold's satisfaction, Nordgold would seek to formulate a binding Preliminary Proposal. Any final proposal will be conditional on successful completion of confirmatory due diligence to Nordgold's satisfaction and approval from the Nordgold Board of Directors. Neither the Preliminary Proposal constitutes a public proposal to make a takeover bid for the purposes of section 631 of the Corporations Act 2001.

07:45 EDT Lockheed Martin names James Taiclet as CEO, succeeding Marillyn Hewson

07:43 EDT Marinus expects to report data from Phase 3 trial of oral ganaxolone in 2H21

07:41 EDT Varian Medical says Halcyon 2.0 treatment system approved by China NMPA - Varian announced its Halcyon 2.0 treatment system has been approved by the China National Medical Products Administration, which allows the company to market this cancer treatment system in China. This system incorporates new imaging technologies, such as kV Cone-beam CT and Iterative CBCT, to expand its capabilities and ability to deliver high quality cancer care globally. This approval further expands the global availability of Halcyon and access to high-quality, cost-effective cancer treatments.

07:40 EDT Marinus expects to initiate Phase 3 trial in patients with SE in mid-2020

07:38 EDT Aleafia Health secures Niagara facility cultivation license - Aleafia Health's wholly owned subsidiary, Aleafia Farms, has secured a Health Canada Cultivation Licence for the Company's Niagara Production Facility, located in Grimsby, Ont. The Facility features a highly advanced, automated, moving container bench system, which allows for a perpetual, year-round harvest. Capital investments made in automated cultivation and quality assurance systems will assist in reducing both costs and execution risk. It will be used as a staging ground for the Company's planned 2020 outdoor cultivation at its Port Perry Facility. Starter plants will be grown on-site and transported to Port Perry at the beginning of the outdoor cultivation season, significantly reducing planting-to-harvest lead times. The Niagara Facility's perpetual harvest offsets seasonal fluctuations in inventory inherent in outdoor cultivation and will ensure, consistent, standardized input material for medical and adult-use sales channels. The Licence, granted on March 13, 2020 after markets closed, expires on March 13, 2023 and authorizes cannabis cultivation, propagation, harvesting and sales in Building 1. Building 1 includes 50,000 sq. ft. of greenhouse area and 20,000 sq. ft. for post-cultivation operations, including drying, storage and shipping and will also be used to support outdoor cultivation. The Company expects to submit a Licence amendment application to Health Canada in the next 30 days to authorize production in the remaining 90,000 sq. ft. of greenhouse area.

07:35 EDT Neuronetics announces over 2.5M treatments, 1,000 installations of NeuroStar - Neuronetics announced it has delivered over 2.5M treatments with its NeuroStar Advanced Therapy transcranial magnetic stimulation system, in addition to recently exceeding 1,000 device installations in the United States. These important milestones further demonstrate NeuroStar as a much-needed, non-drug treatment option for adults with Major Depressive Disorder that is helping to tackle the country's critical depression issue. Unlike electroconvulsive therapy, NeuroStar TMS is a non-drug, non-invasive treatment that uses magnetic pulses to stimulate areas of the brain that are underactive in depression.4,5 Since receiving FDA clearance in 2008 as a safe and effective treatment for adult patients with MDD, NeuroStar has become a trailblazer in the treatment of depression and is the number one TMS choice of doctors. Now with over 2.5 million NeuroStar treatments delivered and over 1,000 devices installed across the U.S., NeuroStar is available in nearly every state.

07:33 EDT AcelRx to acquire Tetraphase for approximately $14.4M plus CVR - AcelRx Pharmaceuticals (ACRX) announced the execution of a definitive merger agreement to acquire Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals (TTPH) in a stock for stock deal at an exchange ratio of 0.6303 shares of AcelRx for each share of Tetraphase, or approximately $14.4M as of the close of trading on March 13, plus a contingent value right. The CVR represents additional consideration upon XERAVA (eravacycline for injection) achieving certain net sales starting in 2021. The acquisition is consistent with AcelRx's strategic plan to expand and diversify the company's product portfolio and create a growth platform towards becoming a leader in providing innovative treatments to healthcare institutions. The transaction was unanimously approved by both the AcelRx and Tetraphase Boards of Directors and is expected to close in the second quarter, subject to customary closing conditions. Tetraphase's four largest shareholders, including Armistice Capital, have signed voting agreements in favor of the transaction. AcelRx and Tetraphase have also entered into a co-promotion agreement to commercialize XERAVA for the treatment of complicated intra-abdominal infections and DSUVIA for the management of acute pain in medically supervised settings. The co-promotion agreement will take effect immediately and enable the AcelRx and Tetraphase teams to benefit from the promotion of multiple products, leverage each company's customer relationships, and create efficiencies amongst commercial teams prior to the closing of the merger. The combined sales team covering 35 territories will reach in excess of 70% of each company's originally targeted hospitals, illustrating the revenue and expense synergy potential of the transaction.

07:30 EDT Alliance Data reports February net charge offs 6.8% vs. 7.2% last month - Reports February delinquency ratio 5.9% vs. 6.0% last month.

07:26 EDT Golden Star Resources says no 'material impact' yet from COVID-19 - Golden Star Resources reports on the procedures and controls that are being implemented to protect its employees and ensure business continuity with respect to the potential risks posed by the COVID-19 outbreak. The outbreak of the Coronavirus has now resulted in cases being reported in the company's three operating countries. There have been a number of reported cases of infection in the United Kingdom and Canada where the company operates corporate offices, and the first cases have now been reported in Ghana where Golden Star operates two gold mines, Wassa and Prestea. The company said, "None of our employees have been diagnosed with Coronavirus. Further to the statement in our 2019 results press release dated February 22, the business has not suffered a material impact on the mining operations, logistics, supply chain, sales or its financial position. In order to mitigate the potential risks to our operations and people, the company activated our response protocols earlier this year, as a result the business has been proactively implementing procedures that include: Development of a specific disease management plan; Situation monitoring with our health consultants and other recognised resources; Circulation of education and awareness materials; Screening of all individuals that have travelled to countries that have experienced the Coronavirus outbreak; Business continuity planning; and Establishment of Emergency and Crisis Management teams to coordinate the implementation of management plans. In recognition of the risks to our people and operations, the Company has commenced the implementation of the following controls: Restriction on international travel to limit risk of exposure; Implementation of hygiene and sanitation controls; Implementation of virtual office protocols in the corporate offices; Implementation of site access temperature screening at the mining operations; Self-isolation for individuals that display symptoms; and Controls to require citizens that have returned to Ghana following international travel to undergo a 14-day home isolation prior to being approved for site access. Golden Star's priority is to minimise the potential risks to its employees and mitigate the possibility of disruption at the mining operations. In this respect, the stability of the supply chain poses a risk to business continuity and we have been managing our exposure closely. Supplies critical to the operations have been identified and suppliers have been asked to provide an update on their ability to continue to supply Golden Star's requirements. Critical supplies were risk assessed based on responses received and the origin of the products. Mitigating controls for items with a higher risk profile include temporarily increasing safety stock levels and identifying alternative sources of supply. We continue to monitor the situation as the pandemic evolves and remain in regular contact with our key suppliers."

07:22 EDT James E Wagner to launch Kief products in PEI - James E. Wagner Cultivation announced that it is positioned to be the first Licensed Producer to sell Kief in the province of Prince Edward Island. JWC received its first purchase order from the PEI Cannabis Management Corporation, operating under the branded name PEI Cannabis, for two of the Corporation's Kief products. This agreement marks the launch of JWC's products for sale in the PEI adult-use cannabis market via the PEI Cannabis online store, the province's cannabis retail platform. JWC is prepared to fulfill this initial purchase order early next week. PEI Cannabis is prepared to have the product available via their online store and to the four provincial locations within the following two weeks.

07:21 EDT Capital Senior Living announces agreements with Ventas, Welltower - Capital Senior Living Corporation (CSU) announced that it has reached agreements with Ventas (VTR) and Welltower (WELL) for immediate rent reductions and the early terminations of its Master Leases. This follows the previously announced early termination of its Healthpeak (PEAK) master lease. Together, the early terminations and rent reductions are expected to improve the Company's cash flow by approximately $22M and reduce lease liabilities by approximately $253M. The agreement with Ventas provides for the early termination of its Master Lease covering seven communities. Commencing February 1, 2020 and for each month through December 31, 2020, the Company agrees to pay to Ventas rent of approximately $1M per month as compared to $1.3M that would otherwise be due and payable under the Master Lease. The Company agrees to release security deposits currently held by Ventas in order to fulfill the original contractual rent under its leases through December 31, 2020. The Company and Ventas agree that facilitating an orderly transition of the portfolio or converting the portfolio to management agreements is in both companies' best interests. The Company and Ventas are targeting a completion date of December 31, 2020. If there are remaining facilities that have not been transitioned or converted by December 31, 2020, the remaining communities will convert to management agreements. Following the transition or conversion to management agreements of all facilities, the Master Lease will be terminated. The agreement with Welltower provides for the early termination of three Master Leases covering twenty-four communities across 7 states with current occupancy of 78% and an average age of 15 years. Commencing February 1, 2020 and for each month through December 31, 2020, the Company agrees to pay to Welltower rent of approximately $2.2M per month as compared to $2.8M that would otherwise be due and payable under the three Welltower Leases. The Company agrees to release security deposits currently held by Welltower in order to fulfill the original contractual rent under its leases through December 31, 2020. The Company and Welltower agree that facilitating an orderly transition of the portfolio or converting the portfolio to management agreements is in both companies' best interests. The Company and Welltower are targeting a completion date of December 31, 2020. If there are remaining facilities that have not been transitioned or converted by December 31, 2020, the remaining communities will convert to management agreements. Following the transition or conversion to management agreements of all facilities, the Master Lease will be terminated. Effective February 1, 2020, the Company's master lease agreement related to the 2026 Communities has been terminated and converted to an interim management agreement under a RIDEA structure. Healthpeak has commenced the marketing of the 2026 Communities. The management agreements will terminate as each community is sold. Capital Senior Living agrees to release approximately $1.9M of security deposits held by Healthpeak.

07:18 EDT Aurora Cannabis announces share sale by Founder Terry Booth - Aurora Cannabis announced that Terry Booth has filed a report on the System for Electronic Disclosure by Insiders regarding his sale of approximately 12,161,900 shares into the open market. This transaction is in connection with the previously announced transition of Booth's role within the company.

07:17 EDT Nuvista Energy reduces 2020 capital spending to no more than C$240M - NuVista Energy announces that it has reduced the capital spending program for 2020 effective immediately in order to remain approximately in line with forecast adjusted funds flow, consistent with prior guidance. Maintaining the strength of the balance sheet continues as the top priority after the sudden decline in oil prices associated with recent global events. Credit facility drawings will be managed to approximately C$340M by year end 2020 as a result of adjusted funds flow in excess of capital expenditures at WTI oil prices above $US 30/Bbl from the end of the first quarter onwards; Full year capital spending has been reduced from the prior guidance range of C$300M - C$330M to no more than C$240M. This represents a reduction of approximately 25% of full year 2020 capital, and a reduction of almost 40% in go-forward 2020 capital spending; First quarter capital spending has been reduced from C$150M to C$135M on the strength of reduced drilling and completions costs which were achieved for planned activities; Second quarter capital has been reduced from C$50M to C$30M; and Production for 2020 is expected to be in the range of 54,000 - 57,000 Boe/d as compared to the lower end of prior guidance at 57,000 Boe/d. The company said, "We have ample time to further assess 2020 spending levels through the spring breakup period where little activity occurs. We will continue to monitor commodity prices and will finalize our post-spring breakup capital program late in the second quarter. We have the flexibility to reduce 2020 spending further, to below C$200M if commodity prices exhibit further signs of weakness. Matching capital spending approximately to adjusted funds flow will maintain year end 2020 net debt near year end 2019 levels as planned. NuVista forecasts to be approximately C$400M drawn on our C$550M credit facility at the end of March, after the first quarter winter drilling season peak spending period. As a result, we have 15 new wells coming onstream through March and April, providing positive continued support to our credit facility. The amount of bank debt drawn is expected to be reduced to approximately C$340M by year end 2020 as we begin to generate adjusted funds flow in excess of capital expenditures at prices above $US 30/Bbl WTI from the end of the first quarter onwards. NuVista is fortunate that we are very well hedged for 2020. In aggregate, 60% of projected 2020 liquids production is protected at a WTI floor price of C$77.24/Bbl and 50% of projected 2020 gas production at a price of C$1.90/GJ. We note that revenue impact of the recent drop in oil pricing is also partially offset by very favorable condensate differentials, an improvement in natural gas pricing fundamentals, and the U.S. dollar exchange rate. NuVista has a simple and effective Coronavirus business continuity plan in place and operating now. All essential staff have work-from-home technology capability, and a backup plan is in place to ensure minimum crews for safe operations in the event of sickness escalation."

07:15 EDT Synchrony reports February net charge off rate 4.22% vs. 4.26% last month - Reports Ferbuary 30-plus day delinquencies 2.80% vs. 2.77% last month.

07:12 EDT Federal Signal announces additional $75M stock repurchase program - Federal Signal announced that its Board of Directors has authorized an additional stock repurchase program of up to $75M of the company's common stock. The repurchase program supplements the Board's prior authorization from November 2014, which had approximately $29M of availability remaining as of December 31, 2019.

07:11 EDT EOG Resources cuts FY20 capital plan 31% to $4.3B-$4.7B - EOG Resources updated its full-year 2020 capital plan as a result of the significant decline and increased volatility of commodity prices. Exploration and development expenditures for 2020 are now expected to range from $4.3B-$4.7B, including facilities and gathering, processing and other expenditures, and excluding acquisitions and non-cash exchanges. Net cash from operating activities is expected to fund both capital expenditures and dividend payments assuming mid-$30 oil prices for the remainder of 2020. The revised capital plan supports full-year 2020 crude oil production of 446,000-466,000 barrels of oil per day, approximately flat compared to full-year 2019 levels. Given the current commodity price environment, EOG has elected to reduce activity across its operating areas. The company plans to focus its drilling operations in the Delaware Basin and South Texas Eagle Ford and continue funding projects that support the long-term value of the company, including targeted infrastructure, exploration and environmental projects. "Our first priority is to generate high returns with every dollar we spend even at low oil prices," said William "Bill" Thomas, Chairman and CEO. "EOG's premium drilling strategy is the most strict reinvestment hurdle rate in the industry. With oil around $30 our 2020 premium drilling program is expected to generate more than 30% direct after-tax rate of return. Our commitment to reinvesting at high returns never wavers."

07:09 EDT Conmed CEO Curt Hartman to succeed Mark Tryniski as chair of the board - Conmed announced that Mark Tryniski, chair of the board, has notified the company that he will not stand for reappointment to the chair position in May, although he will stand for reelection as a director. The board has appointed Curt Hartman to succeed Tryniski and serve as chair, in addition to his role as CEO, effective immediately following the 2020 annual shareholder meeting. Additionally, the board of directors has appointed Martha Goldberg Aronson as lead independent director, effective immediately following the 2020 annual shareholder meeting. Goldberg Aronson currently serves as chair of the compensation committee and also serves as a member of the corporate governance and nominating committee.

07:08 EDT Arvinas expects to provide information about additional programs in 2H20 - In the second half of 2020, Arvinas expects to provide information about the advancement of additional programs in its robust preclinical pipeline.

07:07 EDT Arvinas expects data from Phase 1 dose escalation of ARV-110 in 2Q20 - For the ARV-110 program, Arvinas expects to share Phase 1 dose escalation clinical data in the second quarter of 2020.

07:05 EDT Capital One reports February charge-offs 4.68% vs. 4.31% prior month - Reports February 30-plus day performing delinquencies 3.88% vs. 4.10% prior month.

07:04 EDT FuelCell monitoring potential impact of coronavirus on operations - "We have made significant progress over the last 9 months in improving the operational effectiveness and financial health of the company. During the same time, we have also been laying the foundation for marketplace success through improvements to our sales and marketing capabilities and to our energy platform offerings. As a result, we believe that FuelCell Energy is increasingly viewed as an industry leader delivering innovation and is well positioned for the global transition to more sustainable energy solutions, as supported by a robust sales pipeline, to deliver growth for the company," said CEOJason Few. "We are confident that we are on the right path to deliver value for all our stakeholders, which is a testament to the efforts of the FuelCell Energy team who work tirelessly to deliver these results while staying true to our purpose of enabling a world empowered by clean energy. We believe that our clean, always on energy platforms enable our customers to continue to enjoy the benefits of clean energy without sacrificing the reliability and stability of the grid or changing the way they live. Lastly, I would be remiss if I didn't discuss the Coronavirus as it relates to our team members, suppliers and business overall. We remain vigilant and are taking precautions to help our team members remain safe and are monitoring supply lines and the potential impact of the coronavirus on our operations. In addition, we are complying and will continue to comply with all state, federal and international government rules and regulations that dictate how we must respond to the virus."

07:02 EDT VF Corp. closes all offices and retail store locations in mainland Europe - VF's actions in North America are consistent with similar operational decisions made in its EMEA and Asia Pacific regions. In mainland Europe, VF has closed all offices and retail store locations until further notice, and its locations in the United Kingdom are currently operating on reduced hours. In the Asia Pacific region, which was first impacted by the virus, VF initially closed the majority of its offices and retail locations. Currently, the company's offices in Greater China are open and approximately 90% of its retail store locations are now open for business. While retail store traffic has steadily improved over the past month, it remains down significantly compared with the prior year. VF's offices and retail locations in South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan remain open, but office employees are working remotely, and retail store locations are operating on reduced hours in some cases. Consistent with VF's long-term strategy, the company's digital platform remains a high priority through which its brands stay connected with consumer communities while providing experiential content and service. In accordance with local government guidelines and in consultation with the guidance of global health professionals, VF has implemented measures to ensure the health, safety and well-being of associates employed in its distribution and fulfillment centers around the world. These facilities remain operational in order to support digital consumer engagement with its brands and to service retail partners as needed.

07:02 EDT Annaly Capital appoints David Finkelstein as CEO - Annaly Capital Management announced the board has elected David Finkelstein as its CEO and a member of the board, effective March 13. Finkelstein will also retain his current role as Chief Investment Officer. Mr. Finkelstein succeeds Glenn Votek, who has acted as Interim CEO and President since November 2019. Mr. Votek has been named as Senior Advisor to the company for an interim period to ensure a smooth and orderly transition and will support the company thereafter as a continuing member of the board.

06:56 EDT VF Corp. announces temporary closure of all owned retail stores in North America - In response to the global COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, VF Corporation announced the temporary closure of all owned retail stores across North America, effective March 16 through April 5. All retail employees at these locations will continue to receive full pay and benefits during the temporary closure period. In addition to its retail fleet, VF has closed its corporate and brand offices in North America until April 5 and is enabling all office employees to work remotely. The temporary closure of both offices and retail locations may be extended depending on the overall state of the COVID-19 situation. "During this time of uncertainty and concern, our steadfast commitment is to do what's right for our people, consumers and our global communities," said Steve Rendle, VF's Chairman, President and CEO. "The decision to close our retail stores, as well as our corporate and brand offices in North America, is the responsible thing to do to help mitigate the spread of the virus through social distancing. We will continue to monitor this situation closely and follow the guidance of global health professionals to ensure we're doing our part to flatten the curve of newly confirmed cases."

06:46 EDT Hannon Armstrong makes $115M investment in utility public-private partnership - Hannon Armstrong announced a $115M preferred equity investment in a utility public-private partnership between the University of Iowa, ENGIE, Meridiam, and Hannon Armstrong, to operate, maintain and upgrade the University's energy and water utilities.

06:24 EDT Sundance Energy reschedules Q4 earnings call, delays filing annual report - Sundance Energy announced that it has rescheduled its fourth quarter and full year 2019 earnings call in order to allow for additional time to ensure the accuracy of its 2019 financial information due to the current economic environment, including circumstances related to the novel coronavirus global outbreak. The company has also filed with the U.S. SEC a Form 12b-25 to automatically extend the date for filing its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 by 15 calendar days from the March 16 deadline.

06:23 EDT NanoViricides announces coronavirus drug development update - NanoViricides is providing an update on its efforts towards drug development for the current novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19. The company has completed the synthesis of a number of nanoviricide drug candidates for testing in just a few weeks after identification of virus-binding ligands. This was possible because the company is boot-strapping its efforts on the basis of its inventory of novel custom chemicals in hand. Additionally, the polymer backbone was previously manufactured in multi-kilogram quantities. However, there can be no assurance that any of these candidates would show sufficient effectiveness and safety for human clinical development at this time. The company has acquired and expanded two different, low-threat circulating coronaviruses in its own BSL2 lab, and has already expanded them to enable testing of drug candidates. One of these coronaviruses, namely NL63, uses the same ACE2 receptor on human cells as SARS-CoV-2, although it does not cause a similar severe disease in humans. If the company's test candidates are effective against these cell culture studies against coronaviruses, then that would provide a strong rationale that they may be expected to be effective against the current SARS-CoV-2. Presently, the company does not have any collaboration established for further testing of its drug candidates against SARS-CoV-2. The company is working to establish such collaborations, however, there can be no assurance that we will be successful in establishing the necessary collaborations or that our drug candidates will succeed in further testing. In the past, the Company has established and worked on collaborations with the U.S. Center for Diseases Control and Prevention, or CDC, as well as the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID). The company has already successfully developed antiviral drug testing assays based on cell culture infection of certain low-threat coronaviruses viruses in our own BSL2 certified virology lab. Development of an assay to test the effectiveness of a drug candidate is an important milestone in the drug development process. We have been able to complete this milestone in just a few weeks because of the extensive experience and expertise in medium throughput drug testing antiviral assays development of our Senior Virologist. Testing of our drug candidates against these BSL2 coronavirus strains is expected to begin shortly in our BSL2 virology lab. As of March 11th, SARS-CoV-2 has caused at least 800 confirmed cases in more than 30 states, and the virus has led to more than 26 deaths in the U.S., with area lockdowns, quarantines, and state of emergency being declared in several states. The entire country of Italy is under quarantine. Japan is also experiencing a severe outbreak. This COVID-19 outbreak has caused cases in at least 99 countries, with confirmed cases totaling over 110,000, of which 62,000 have already recovered, with deaths of over 3,800 patients, according to CBS news. The health risks associated with the virus rise significantly with age and many younger, otherwise healthy people who contract it might show only mild symptoms, if any. It appears that the outbreaks in China and in South Korea are now showing signs of being controlled, with new cases having decreased significantly. The U.S. Government has approved $8.3 Billion for COVID-19 response that includes development of drugs as well as vaccines, patient care, containment, and education, in a holistic approach. Although vaccine development has started very quickly against the SARS-CoV-2, an effective vaccine may take at least 12-18 months before it can be used to treat patients. Viruses are known to escape antibody drugs and vaccines via mutations. In contrast, the NanoViricides platform technology enables development of a drug that a virus is unlikely to escape by mutation. This is because we develop biomimetics that are designed to interfere with the virus binding to its cognate cellular receptor, and are further capable of disabling the virus from binding to cells. Coronaviruses mutate less rapidly than other RNA viruses such as influenza and HIV. One of the coronaviruses we are using for testing of our drug candidates uses the same ACE2 receptor as the current SARS-CoV-2 virus (aka nCoV-2019). However, this coronavirus does not cause similar, severe disease in humans. Another coronavirus we are testing against uses a different but somewhat related receptor (in terms of biophysics). Investigating against both of these strains would allow us to examine which of the test candidates have more broad-spectrum effectiveness. However, there can be no assurance that successful results against these forms of coronavirus will lead to similar results against nCoV-2019 aka SARS-CoV-2. Moreover, the path to typical or standard drug development of any pharmaceutical product is extremely lenghty and requires substantial capital. However, regulatory agencies in China created expedited processes to enable rapid clinical testing of exploratory drug candidates. Accelerated pathways were also developed for enabling anti-Ebola clinical drug candidates in the 2017-18 epidemic in DRC. Nevertheless, there can be no assurance that even successful results against SARS-CoV-2 will lead to successful clinical trials or a successful pharmaceutical product, which is true of every drug development effort against SARS-CoV-2 at present. Previously, on January 30th, the company confirmed that it is working on a drug to treat the SARS-Cov-2 virus infections. The company said that it had successfully completed the important milestone of finding potential virus-binding ligands that mimic the ACE2 interaction with SARS-CoV (2002) using molecular modeling. The current coronavirus strain, namely SARS-CoV-2 is closely related to the 2002 SARS-CoV, and uses the same human cellular receptor. We have now completed the next two milestones, namely synthesis of test candidates, and development of anti-CoV assays for testing them.

06:22 EDT Aurinia Pharmaceuticals submits rolling NDA to FDA for voclosporin - Aurinia Pharmaceuticals announced that the company has initiated a Rolling Submission of its NDA to the U.S. FDA for voclosporin, a next-generation calcineurin inhibitor for the treatment of lupus nephritis . The rolling NDA allows completed portions of an NDA to be submitted and reviewed by the Agency on an ongoing basis. Aurinia has submitted the Nonclinical Module and expects to complete the submission of all Modules by the end of the second quarter.

06:19 EDT Armada Hoffler to sell seven retail assets for $106.5M - Armada Hoffler Properties announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with an institutional buyer to sell a portfolio of seven retail assets comprising over 630,000 square feet for $106.5M. Management intends to use approximately $45M of the proceeds from the sale to pay down debt and the remaining proceeds to consummate previously identified asset acquisitions.

06:16 EDT Park Hotels & Resorts takes actions to mitigate COVID-19 impact - Park Hotels & Resorts announced it is has taken various actions, independently and in coordination with its hotel management companies, to mitigate the effect on its business from the national emergency that has arisen as a result of the COVID-19 virus. At the hotel level, Park's actions include the following: Park, in coordination with its hotel management companies, has developed detailed cost-cutting contingency plans to eliminate unnecessary costs at each hotel. The plans set forth both major and minor cost elimination and efficiency measures and are being implemented by Park's hotel management companies at their respective hotels. Park and its hotel management companies will be temporarily suspending operations at certain hotels. In some cases, this will involve suspending operations within a portion of a larger asset in order to "shrink the hotel" and operate as a more efficient, smaller facility that can serve a reduced inflow of guests. Park and its hotel management companies will also be temporarily suspending operations at selected restaurants and other businesses and outlets at Park's hotels where there is insufficient demand to sustain operations on a commercial basis. With respect to capital expenditures, Park has reviewed its capital program for 2020 and is implementing cancellations and deferrals with respect to approximately $130 million of Park's previously planned $200 million capital program for 2020. The cancelled and deferred programs constitute selected maintenance expenditures, elective renovations and ROI projects that will not impact the ability of the hotels to quickly resume operations once normal travel patterns return. At the corporate level, Park's actions include the following additional measures: Park has initiated a $350 million draw from its $1 billion credit facility as a precaution to ensure funds are available to meet its ongoing commercial and debt service obligations for a sustained period of time. If additional funds are required, Park intends to borrow further from the remaining $650 million of available liquidity on its credit facility. Taking into account Park's existing cash balance of approximately $320 million, its expected $350 million credit facility draw and the remaining $650 million available under its credit facility, Park currently maintains approximately $1.3 billion of liquidity. Park's previously declared first quarter dividend will be paid on April 15, 2020 to stockholders of record on March 31, 2020. Park expects to suspend its dividend through the balance of the year until an appropriate year-end dividend can be determined by its Board of Directors. In recognition of difficult challenges that will be faced by employees of Park's hotel management companies as a result of temporary suspensions of operations at certain of Park's hotels, Park intends to establish a $2.5 million corporate-level fund that will be made available by Park to its hotel management companies to address hardships faced by their employees. A voluntary salary waiver by Park's Chief Executive Officer is expected to fund $500,000 of this corporate-level fund.

06:10 EDT TherapeuticsMD says does not expect shortage of products due to COVID-19 - TherapeuticsMD provided an update on its business operations as the COVID-19 situation evolves. At this time, TherapeuticsMD continues to provide an uninterrupted supply of its portfolio of products for patients. The company has activated virtual options to ensure business continuity. In addition, the company has taken action to support the health of its employees. While TherapeuticsMD cannot predict the extent to which COVID-19 pandemic will continue to spread and how it will impact society and business, the company will continue to do all that it can to meet the needs of its patients and providers. TherapeuticsMD does not anticipate a shortage of its products due to COVID-19 at this time. The company already has sufficient inventory of finished product in its warehouses to meet anticipated demand through at least early third quarter of this year. Additionally, the company currently does not foresee any interruption in its ability to continue to manufacture additional product to be used beyond this period and has sufficient warehoused active pharmaceutical ingredients for the continued manufacture of its products. At this time, the company continues to have uninterrupted wholesale and retail distribution of its products.

06:06 EDT Goodrich Petroleum expects FY20 production growth of 5%-7% - Goodrich Petroleum announced it has lowered its 2020 preliminary capital expenditure budget by $15M to $40M-$50M, which is expected to generate free cash flow of an estimated $15M-$25M at $2.00-$2.50 natural gas prices. At the midpoint of this revised guidance, the company estimates it will generate a free cash flow yield of approximately 13% and 40% on the company's current enterprise value and market capitalization, respectively, and remain below the company's net debt to EBITDA target of 1.5 times. The company now expects to grow production by 5%-7% versus 2019 to a range of approximately 50-52 Bcfe, or an average of 137,000-142,000 Mcfe per day for the year. Natural gas is expected to comprise approximately 99% of total production. The preliminary capital expenditure budget is subject to quarterly review and approval by the company's board of directors, with the flexibility to accelerate in the second half of the year depending on commodity prices. The company has allocated the majority of the budget to drilling and completing core Haynesville Shale wells in the Bethany-Longstreet area of Caddo and DeSoto Parishes, Louisiana. The company has hedged approximately 50% of its expected natural gas volumes for the year at a blended average price of approximately $2.60. In addition, to further support and protect the capital plans and balance sheet, the company has recently added hedges from April, 2021 through March, 2022 as shown on the current management presentation posted on the company's website.

06:03 EDT Huntsman acquires CVC Thermoset Specialties for $300M - Huntsman announces its agreement to acquire CVC Thermoset Specialties, a North American specialty chemical manufacturer serving the industrial composites, adhesives and coatings markets. CVC Thermoset Specialties is part of Emerald Performance Materials LLC which is majority owned by affiliates of American Securities LLC. CVC Thermoset Specialties has annual revenues of approximately $115 million with two manufacturing facilities located in Akron, Ohio, and Maple Shade, New Jersey. Under terms of the agreement, Huntsman will pay $300 million, subject to customary closing adjustments, in an all-cash transaction funded from available liquidity. Based on full year 2019, the purchase price represents an adjusted EBITDA multiple of approximately 10 times, or between approximately 7 to 8 times pro forma for synergies, the lower multiple end being dependent upon normal growth market conditions. The transaction is expected to close around midyear of 2020.

05:45 EDT Cnooc announces 'large-sized' discovery Kenli 6-1 in Bohai Bay - CNOOC announced that the company made a large-sized discovery Kenli 6-1 in Bohai Bay, which is expected to be the first large-sized oil field in Laibei lower uplift. The Kenli 6-1 structure is located in Laibei lower uplift in southern Bohai basin with an average water depth of about 19.2 meters. The discovery well KL6-1-3 was drilled and completed at a depth of 1,596 meters, and encountered oil pay zones with a total thickness of approximately 20 meters. The well was tested to produce around 1,178 barrels of oil per day. "The successful exploration of Kenli 6-1 demonstrated the company's remarkable breakthrough in the exploration area of Laibei lower uplift, and further proved the huge exploration potential of the Neogene lithologic reservoir in the Laizhou Bay."

05:41 EDT Fiat Chrysler says FCA Italy, Maserati will temporarily suspend production in EU - Fiat Chrysler Automobiles announced that its subsidiaries FCA Italy and Maserati will temporarily suspend production across the majority of their European manufacturing plants. The temporary suspension, which will be in effect through March 27, 2020, continues the implementation of a comprehensive set of actions in response to the COVID-19 emergency and enables the Group to effectively respond to the interruption in market demand by ensuring the optimization of supply. In particular, the suspension of production is being facilitated to enable the Group to be ready to commence production promptly once market conditions allow. The updated production plan will temporarily close the following facilities with effect for the month of March: Italy: Melfi, G. Vico (Pomigliano), Cassino, Mirafiori Carrozzerie, Grugliasco, and Modena; Serbia: Kragujevac; Poland: Tychy. As previously communicated, FCA has been proactively modifying production protocols at several plants including enhancing social distancing between employees at work-stations. Across all facilities, FCA has increased cleaning and sanitization and other improvements for employee safety. Strict controls and security measures have been applied to canteens and to external access to all Group sites. At FCA offices, the company has accelerated the deployment of working remotely with this option now widely available to employees across the world. The Group will make use of these stoppages to implement revisions to production and quality control protocols to benefit our customers and enhance overall productivity. The Group is working with its supply base and business partners to be ready to enable our manufacturing operations to deliver previously planned total levels of production despite the suspension when market demand returns.

05:38 EDT BioNTech, Fosun Pharma form COVID-19 vaccine strategic alliance in China - BioNTech and Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical announced a strategic development and commercialization collaboration to advance BioNTech's mRNA vaccine candidate BNT162 in China for the prevention of COVID-19 infections. Under the terms of the agreement, the two companies will work jointly on the development of BNT162 in China. The companies will collaborate to conduct clinical trials in China leveraging Fosun Pharma's extensive clinical development, regulatory, and commercial capabilities in the country. If approved, Fosun Pharma will commercialize the vaccine in China. BioNTech will supply the mRNA vaccine for clinical trials from GMP manufacturing facilities in Europe along with its partner Polymun. BioNTech will retain full rights to develop and commercialize the vaccine in the rest of the world. Under the terms of the agreement, Fosun Pharma has agreed to make an equity investment of $50 million for 1.58M ordinary shares in BioNTech, subject to execution of share subscription documentation and approval from regulatory authorities in China.

05:35 EDT Gap announces temporary reduction in store hours across brands - Gap announced that, as a result of the evolving COVID-19 pandemic, it has temporarily reduced store hours for all of its stores across the US and Canada. Beginning Monday, March 16, the company will operate the following times, with further reductions in some locations: Old Navy: 11am-8pm Monday - Saturday; 11am-6pm Sunday; Athleta: 10am-6pm Monday - Saturday; 11am-6pm Sunday; Banana Republic, Banana Republic Factory, Gap, Gap Outlet and Janie and Jack: 11am-7pm Monday - Saturday; 11am-6pm Sunday; The company also shared that it will close select stores based on guidance from government officials and health authorities, as well as other location-based factors, such as dependence on public transportation. Additionally, the company has implemented enhanced continued pay policies to further support both its full and part time employees in light of this situation.

05:33 EDT Shaw Communications temporarily closes retail stores for 2 weeks - Shaw Communications announced it is temporarily closing its 116 corporate Freedom Mobile and Shaw's 43 retail stores through March 27, as a response to the threat of the COVID-19 virus. The announcement affects corporate Freedom Mobile and Shaw retail stores across Canada. All Freedom Mobile and Shaw employees affected by this announcement will be paid for the time they would have been scheduled to work during this period. "The health and well-being of our employees and customers is our top priority," said Brad Shaw, CEO, Shaw Communications. "Clearly these are extraordinary circumstances and this step will help our communities and health care professionals across the country better tackle this growing pandemic by helping to flatten the curve and reduce the number of individuals who can be exposed to COVID-19. We remain committed to supporting our customers with the products and services they need through digital and self-serve options throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure they remain connected," Mr. Shaw said. Canadians can continue to order Freedom Mobile services from select dealer locations and national retail partners found at locations.freedommobile.ca. Customers are encouraged to call ahead to ensure a location is open before visiting. Payments can be processed through online banking, through auto pay arrangements made through the Freedom Mobile call centre, myaccount.freedommobile.ca, or the Freedom Mobile My Account app. New or existing customers who want to order new or additional Shaw internet, home phone and video services can do so easily through shaw.ca/bundles/plans and benefit from our multiple self-install options and in-home delivery of the required equipment. Customers can also make payments on their accounts via their My Shaw app or through my.shaw.ca. Shaw customers looking to return equipment are asked to hold their equipment until after March 27, with no impact to their account.

05:31 EDT Penn National temporarily suspends operations at Greektown Casino-Hotel in MI - Penn National Gaming announced that pursuant to an order from the Michigan Gaming Control Board, or MGCB, it will temporarily suspend operations at Greektown Casino-Hotel for a period of two weeks beginning at 5:00 p.m. on Monday, March 16, as a precautionary measure against the ongoing spread of COVID-19. The MGCB will remain in consultation with the state's licensed casinos, public health authorities and government officials to determine safe protocols for when operations may resume. "The health and well-being of our guests and team members will always be our paramount concern," said Jay Snowden, President and CEO of Penn National Gaming. "Since the coronavirus threat began we have implemented stringent CDC-recommended protocols throughout our enterprise, including increased daily cleaning regimens at our facilities, maximizing air circulation, cancelling or postponing all concerts and live events, and we're in the process of temporarily closing down buffets, among other initiatives. "As for our nearly 1,650 team members at Greektown Casino-Hotel who will be impacted by this temporary closure, we plan to continue to pay their wages and benefits for the two-week period. This is a challenging time for all of us, and we are very appreciative of the overwhelming support and understanding from our guests and team members. We look forward to reopening our doors just as soon as possible. In the meantime, we will be taking the opportunity to continue our deep cleaning efforts and preparing our casino to welcome our loyal customers back," concluded Mr. Snowden.

05:29 EDT United Airlines says March revenue will be $1.5B lower than last March - Oscar Munoz, CEO, and J. Scott Kirby, President, today issued the following message to nearly 100,000 United Airlines employees: To our United family: In the message we sent to you last Thursday, we promised to stay in close touch about the impact of the coronavirus on our business and the steps that we're taking to aggressively manage it. In just the last few days, the impact of the coronavirus has really hit home and disrupted the daily routines of hundreds of millions of people in the United States and around the world. State and local governments continue to close schools, encourage people to avoid bars and restaurants and cancel more large gatherings. This weekend, President Trump announced new travel restrictions for the United Kingdom and Ireland. Watching this unfold, you won't be surprised to hear that the impact of the coronavirus on our business has also gotten quite a bit worse. As the leaders of the 100,000 people of United, we feel a deep obligation to each of you to run our company in a way that protects you -- and your ability to provide for your family at home. We also owe it to you, especially in a crisis, to be open with you about important decisions we face. We want to share some numbers to help you understand just how bad the impact of the coronavirus has been on our business. As you know, March is typically our busiest month of the year. But this year, in just the first two weeks of March, we have welcomed more than one million fewer customers on board our aircraft than the same period last year. We're also currently projecting that revenue in March will be $1.5 billion lower than last March. The bad news is that it's getting worse. We expect both the number of customers and revenue to decline sharply in the days and weeks ahead. Since late January, we have taken steps to aggressively manage this crisis and to keep you informed every step of the way - sharply reducing schedules, imposing a hiring freeze, introducing a voluntary leave program, dramatically reducing discretionary spending, cutting CEO base salary 100% and deferring a salary increase. Our competitors have started to follow suit: on Friday, Delta announced a 40% schedule reduction and a 100% salary cut for their CEO and over the weekend, American said it will reduce its international capacity by 75%.We took early, aggressive action because we have been determined to do everything possible to avoid painful steps that affect your paycheck. But, based on the severity of the situation, that no longer appears realistic. This weekend, we began conversations with our union leadership about how to reduce our payroll expense in a way that minimizes what we know will be painful for all of us. Earlier this evening, we convened a call with Corporate Officers to update them on the severity of the situation and let them know we will be cutting their salary by 50%. Let us be clear: these are not the only next steps. Tomorrow, we will announce an approximately 50% cut in capacity for April and May. We also now expect these deep cuts to extend into the summer travel period. Even with those cuts, we're expecting load factors to drop into the 20-30% range -- and that's if things don't get worse. Together, we're facing an unprecedented challenge. When medical experts say that our health and safety depends on people staying home and practicing social distancing, it's nearly impossible to run a business whose shared purpose is "Connecting people. Uniting the world." We both hate to have to write a note like this, but we have made a commitment to be honest and transparent with you. While it's now clear that this is going to painful for our people, we promise that you are at the very top of our priority list. We are working night and day on support and ideas to keep as much pay as we possibly can flowing to you -- even if gets worse from here and demand temporarily plummets to zero. This crisis is moving really quickly. It's having an impact on nearly every aspect of our lives, and it may feel to you like everything is changing. But, the most important thing about our business hasn't changed: you've shown us that even in these difficult times, we're still United and focused on caring for our customers and each other together. That's always been the essential ingredient to our success. It's what will get us through this crisis in the near term, and it's also what will allow us to fulfill United's incredible potential in the long-term. We'll continue to communicate frequently and transparently in the days ahead."

05:23 EDT Columbia Sportswear announces store closures March 16 through March 27 - Columbia Sportswear announced that to protect the health and safety of its employees, consumers and the communities where it operates, it will close its North America brick and mortar retail stores on Monday, March 16. Columbia expects these stores to remain closed through Friday, March 27. "The health and safety of our employees, consumers and the communities where we live and work is paramount to us," said Tim Boyle, Chair, President and CEO of Columbia Sportswear. "During this temporary closure we are also offering catastrophic paid leave to our employees most affected by this virus in an effort to live our values of Doing the Right Thing for our employees, consumers and communities." In addition to the North America store closures, Columbia has taken many steps to carry out the health and safety advice from health authorities around the world. These steps have included store closures in select markets outside of North America, enhanced cleaning protocols in all locations, implementation of work from home plans to reduce health risks, facilitation of sick leave to encourage and enable employees to stay home and avoid the risk of spreading illness to others, and travel restrictions to limit potential transmission of COVID-19. Columbia's administrative facilities remain open to provide customer support with the least amount of disruption possible. As Columbia continues to monitor this complex and rapidly evolving situation, Columbia's plans may change.

05:20 EDT U.S. Bancorp temporarily halts share buyback program - U.S. Bancorp announced that it will temporarily suspend its share buyback program for the remaining period of the first quarter and second quarter of 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented challenge for customers, employees and the global economy. This action is being taken to support the efforts that the Federal Reserve is taking to moderate the impact of COVID-19 on the economy and global markets by maintaining strong capital levels and liquidity to support customers, employees and shareholders. U.S. Bancorp has the ability to reinstate the buyback program as circumstances warrant. It has consistently passed the Federal Reserve's annual stress tests, demonstrating an ability - along with the banking industry - to continue lending and supporting the economy even during a severe economic downturn.

05:18 EDT Penn National to temporarily suspend operations at Zia Park Casino in NM - Penn National Gaming announced that pursuant to an order from Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, Zia Park Casino Hotel & Racetrack will be temporarily suspending gaming operations from Monday, March 16 until April 10 as a precautionary measure against the ongoing spread of COVID-19. The hotel will remain open and Zia Park will continue to consult with the Governor's office and public health authorities to determine safe protocols for when gaming operations can resume. "The health and well-being of our guests and team members will always be our paramount concern," said Jay Snowden, President and CEO of Penn National Gaming. "Since the coronavirus threat began there have been no confirmed cases of COVID-19 at any Penn National casino, and we have implemented stringent CDC-recommended protocols throughout our enterprise, including increased daily cleaning regimens at our facilities, maximizing air circulation, cancelling or postponing all concerts and live events, and we're in the process of temporarily closing down buffets, just to name a few. As for our 200 team members at Zia Park, who will be impacted by this temporary closure, we plan to continue to pay them their full wages and benefits for two weeks, at which time we will reevaluate the situation. This is a challenging time for all of us, and we are very appreciative of the overwhelming support and understanding from our guests and team members. We look forward to reopening our doors just as soon as possible. In the meantime, we will be taking the opportunity to continue our deep cleaning efforts and preparing our casinos to welcome our loyal customers back," concluded Mr. Snowden.