Stockwinners Market Radar for November 03, 2017 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

18:44 EDT Retrophin reports new 'positive' data from Phase 2 DUET study of sparsentan - Retrophin announced new positive data from the ongoing open-label extension of the Phase 2 DUET study of sparsentan for the treatment of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, a rare kidney disorder that often leads to end-stage renal disease, and for which no U.S.FDA-approved pharmacologic treatment exists. These data were presented during an oral session at the American Society of Nephrology Kidney Week 2017 in New Orleans, LA. As previously reported, the sparsentan treatment group achieved statistical significance in the Phase 2 DUET study's primary efficacy endpoint, demonstrating a greater than two-fold reduction in proteinuria compared to irbesartan, after an eight-week, double-blind treatment period. New findings from the open-label extension of the Phase 2 DUET study presented today at ASN Kidney Week 2017 include: Patients with FSGS who remained on sparsentan for 40 weeks during the open-label period (n=38) achieved progressive reduction in proteinuria. In patients who received sparsentan as part of the original eight-week, double-blind treatment period (n=26), median urine protein-to-creatinine ratio was reduced from 2.7 g/g at baseline (week 0), to 0.7 g/g at week 48. Patients who crossed over to sparsentan from the original irbesartan treatment group (n=12) experienced additional and sustained reduction in proteinuria during the treatment period, with median UP/C decreasing from 2.3 g/g at crossover (week 8), to 1.7 g/g at week 48. The observed beneficial effects of sparsentan on proteinuria were associated with stable estimated glomerular filtration rate. Transition to the sparsentan treatment group from the irbesartan group led to further reduction in proteinuria and long-term stability in eGFR. The observed beneficial effects of treatment with sparsentan were similar after the exclusion of data from patients who received new immunosuppression therapy during the open-label extension. Sparsentan continued to be generally safe and well-tolerated during the 40-week open-label extension period, including in patients who transferred from the original irbesartan group. Seventy-four patients continue to receive treatment with sparsentan in the ongoing open-label extension of DUET.

18:02 EDT LGI Homes reports Oct. home closings up 51.3% to 531 homes - LGI Homes announced 531 homes closed in October 2017, up from 351 home closings in October 2016, representing year-over-year growth of 51.3%. The company ended the first ten months of 2017 with 4,532 home closings, a 34.3% increase over 3,375 home closings during the first ten months of 2016. As of the end of October 2017, the company had 79 active selling communities.

17:46 EDT Hallador Energy subsidiary Sunrise Coal promotes Lawrence Martin to president - Hallador Energy's wholly owned subsidiary Sunrise Coal promoted Lawrence Martin promoted to president of Sunrise Coal. Martin joined Sunrise in 2007 as CFO. In 2016, he was named CFO of Hallador Energy. . Martin assumes the role from Mr. Brent K. Bilsland who served as Sunrise's president since July 2006. Martin will continue to remain Hallador's CFO. Heather L. Tryon has been promoted to CFO of Sunrise Coal. Previously, she served as Sunrise's Controller, a position she has held since joining Sunrise in August 2014. Bilsland will remain Hallador Energy's president and CEO.

17:31 EDT AEP backs FY18 ops EPS view $3.75-$3.95, consensus $3.89 - American Electric Power is increasing capital investment in its regulated operations and new, renewable generation over the next three years to provide more advanced, cleaner energy solutions for its customers. The company reaffirmed its 2018 operating earnings guidance range of $3.75 to $3.95 per share and its projected operating earnings growth rate of 5%-7%. The company also reaffirmed its narrowed 2017 operating earnings guidance of $3.55 to $3.68 per share. AEP management will discuss the company's financial outlook and earnings growth strategy at the annual Edison Electric Institute Financial Conference that begins Sunday in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

17:15 EDT Pengrowth Energy agrees to sell Quirk Creek assets for $6.5M - Pengrowth Energy announced that it has entered into an agreement for the sale of its Quirk Creek assets in Southern Alberta for total cash consideration of $6.5M, subject to customary adjustments. The sale includes the Quirk Creek sour gas plant and associated gathering systems related to the production of sour gas and liquids. Quirk Creek generated average daily production of approximately 1,900 barrels of oil equivalent per day during the third quarter of 2017 and had 12.3M boe of Proved plus Probable reserves attributed to the assets as at December 31, 2016, according to the independent reserve evaluators GLJ Petroleum Consultants Ltd. The effective date of the sale is November 1, 2017 and closing is expected to occur during the fourth quarter of 2017, subject to the receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals and the satisfaction of other customary closing conditions.

17:11 EDT Cimpress approves Vistaprint restructuring, sees Vistaprint job cuts - According to a regulatory filing, on November 3, 2017, the CEO of Cimpress approved the recommendation of the Vistaprint leadership team to reorganize the Vistaprint business and committed Cimpress to the restructuring. This restructuring will reduce Vistaprint headcount and other operating costs, and is expected to simplify operations and more closely align functions to increase the speed of execution. "We believe these changes will both increase the steady-state free cash flow of Vistaprint and free up capital to reinvest in other areas of Vistaprint that provide the greatest benefit to our customers and our long-term shareholders," the company said. Cimpress expects the Vistaprint headcount and cost reductions to be largely implemented over the coming two months and believes they will reduce fiscal year 2018 operating expenses by between $20M-$22M. Certain of the actions that are being considered are subject to mandatory consultations with employees, works councils and/or governmental authorities. Based on a preliminary assessment of the planned actions, Cimpress expects to take restructuring charges of approximately $15M-$17M during the quarter ending December 31, 2017, which primarily consists of one-time termination benefits. Cimpress expects that almost all of the estimated restructuring charges will be cash expenditures.

16:51 EDT L1 Capital reports 9.01% passive stake in Atossa Genetics

16:42 EDT TransUnion CEO sells 53,833 common shares - In a regulatory filing, TransUnion president and CEO James Peck disclosed the sale of 53,833 common shares of the company in two tranches both priced at $52.25 per share.

16:40 EDT TransUnion's Mehta sells 65,000 common shares - In a regulatory filing, TransUnion director Siddharth N. Mehta disclosed the sale of 65,000 common shares at a price of $52.25 per share.

16:32 EDT Acorn International names company president Jacob Fisch CEO - Acorn International has appointed Jacob A. Fisch, current President, to the position of CEO and President of the company, effective immediately. Fisch has served as President of Acorn since 2015.

16:23 EDT Rawleigh Hazen Ralls, IV reports 5.3% passive stake in Intellicheck

16:20 EDT Coatue Management reports 8.2% passive stake in Shopify

16:18 EDT Berkshire Hathaway reports book value $187,435 per Class A equivalent share - "At September 30, 2017, our book value had increased by 8.9% since yearend 2016 to $187,435 per Class A equivalent share. Insurance float (the net liabilities we assume under insurance contracts) at September 30, 2017 was approximately $113 billion, an increase of approximately $22 billion since yearend 2016."

16:14 EDT Morgan Stanley reports 6.3% passive stake in trivago

15:23 EDT Stifel, Nicolaus reports 5.08% passive stake in ARC Group

14:49 EDT Neovasc says appeals process in CardiAQ case exhausted after denial - Neovasc reported that the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the judgment of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts in the case of CardiAQ Valve Tech., Inc. v. Neovasc Inc. and denied the petition for panel rehearing and en banc rehearing filed by CardiAQ Valve Technologies and denied the petition for en banc rehearing filed by the company. The mandate of the court will issue on November 13. In summary, the appeals process is now exhausted. The full judgment of approximately $112M, of which approximately $70M is already held in an escrow account, will now become due on November 13. Neovasc will continue to evaluate all options available to the company relating to the requirement to pay the damages and fund the remaining $42M not held in escrow, which exceeds the company's current cash resources.

14:06 EDT Nestle USA acquires Chamelon Cold-Brew, terms not disclosed - Nestle USA announced the acquisition of Chameleon Cold-Brew, a provider of premium-crafted coffee sourced consciously and grown sustainably. "Chameleon has been extremely fortunate to grow from our hometown base of cold-brew lovers in Austin to a national brand in just a few short years," said Chris Campbell, co-founder and CEO. "Partnering with a world-class company like Nestle will give us the opportunity to do so on a bigger platform. Our shared values around product integrity and commitment to sustainability made Nestle the best choice to enable Chameleon Cold-Brew to accomplish our goals for the future."

13:41 EDT Qualcomm jumps 9% after report of Broadcom exploring possible takeover

13:33 EDT Acadia presents data from pimavanserin Phase II -019 study - ACADIA Pharmaceuticals announced the presentation of data from the Phase II -019 Study of pimavanserin in Alzheimer's disease psychosis at the 10th Clinical Trials on Alzheimer's Disease meeting. Pimavanserin met the primary endpoint in the Phase II -019 Study, showing a statistically significant reduction in psychosis versus placebo, as previously reported. Data presented at CTAD showed multiple sensitivity and responder analyses supportive of the primary result and demonstrated substantively greater benefit in those patients with more severe psychosis. Building on these data, ACADIA recently initiated the Phase III HARMONY study of pimavanserin in dementia-related psychosis. As previously reported, pimavanserin was well tolerated in this frail and elderly population and the safety profile was consistent with what has been observed in previous studies.

13:16 EDT The Intersection: Crypto and Wall Street This Week - As bitcoin, ethereum and other cryptocurrencies get increasing attention from investors, Wall Street and its traditional banks continue to adjust to the shift. Catch up on this week's top stories highlighting the intersection of these old guard and new school areas of finance with this recap compiled by The Fly: 1. CME PLANS BITCOIN FUTURES: CME Group (CME) announced on Tuesday that it intends to launch bitcoin futures in the fourth quarter of 2017, pending all relevant regulatory review periods. The new contract will be cash-settled, based on the CME CF Bitcoin Reference Rate which serves as a once-a-day reference rate of the U.S. dollar price of bitcoin. The BRR is designed around the IOSCO Principles for Financial Benchmarks. Bitstamp, GDAX, itBit and Kraken are the constituent exchanges that currently contribute the pricing data for calculating the BRR. Bitcoin futures will be listed on and subject to the rules of CME. Terry Duffy, chairman and chief executive officer, said, "Given increasing client interest in the evolving cryptocurrency markets, we have decided to introduce a bitcoin futures contract. As the world's largest regulated FX marketplace, CME Group is the natural home for this new vehicle that will provide investors with transparency, price discovery and risk transfer capabilities." 2. AMAZON REGISTERS CRYPTO DOMAINS: Amazon (AMZN) subsidiary Amazon Technologies has registered three cryptocurrency-related web domains, "amazonethereum.com," "amazoncryptocurrency.com" and "amazoncryptocurrencies.com," Domain Name Wire reported on Wednesday, citing information from Whois Lookup. "I caution that Amazon is overzealous when it comes to defensive domain name registrations. I believe that some of the registrations are done at arms-length by a brand protection agency," added DNW reporter Andrew Allemann. 3. MORGAN STANLEY CUTS AMD: On Monday, Morgan Stanley analyst Joseph Moore downgraded AMD (AMD) to Underweight from Equal Weight. Moore said he has been "somewhat cynical" on the stock due to valuation, but he maintained an Equal Weight rating until now as his earnings estimates were above consensus. However, while the consensus view has climbed to his level the fundamental outlook is less robust as microprocessor momentum has been slow to build and he expects cryptocurrency gains to gradually fade. Moore said he believes AMD's graphics surge has been a result of a sales increase of graphics chips to cryptocurrency miners, which he expects to "meaningfully decelerate next year." The analyst, who also expects consoles to decline and graphics to be "flattish," lowered his price target on AMD shares to $8 from $11. 4. CREDIT SUISSE STAYS CAUTIOUS: On Thursday, Credit Suisse (CS) CEO Tidjane Thiam expressed caution about the cryptocurrency, warning the current interest may eventually diminish, Bloomberg reported. "From what we can identify, the only reason today to buy or sell bitcoin is to make money, which is the very definition of speculation and the very definition of a bubble," he said, adding such speculation has "rarely led to a happy end." Thiam also said, "Most banks in the current state of regulation have little or no appetite to get involved in a currency which has such anti-money laundering challenges." 5. ALLIANZ SAYS BITCOIN A COMMODITY: Allianz (AZSEY) chief economic advisor Mohamed El-Erian said Bitcoin has not secured the kind of stability a currency should have and he views the cryptocurrency as more of a commodity, CNBC reported on Thursday. "A currency serves as a predictable store of value, and serves as a medium of exchange that's pretty stable in value as well - bitcoins aren't there yet, they're still trying to find stability so it's more of a commodity than it's a currency," he said. "My major concern over the long term is: Is the assumption in the pricing about adoption consistent with reality? That's the issue that investors should ask if they're holding bitcoins for a couple of months." 6. OTHER BITCOIN PLAYS: Cryptocurrency revenues have been pointed to as reasons to be bullish on Nvidia (NVDA) in select research. PRICE ACTION: As of time of writing, Bitcoin rose about 27.4% this week, or $1,572, to $7,295 in U.S. dollars according to CoinDesk. Meanwhile, AMD shares were down 7.8% to $10.92 this week and Nvidia rose about 3% on a weekly basis to $207.76. Bitcoin Investment Trust (GBTC) was up 36% this week to $962. WANT BITCOIN NEWS ALERTS?: To receive alerts on stories relating to bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, Fly subscribers can enter "Bitcoin" into the "Add symbols" box of their portfolios.

12:54 EDT General Electric defends accounting in email to Bloomberg - In an email to Bloomberg, General Electric said any suggestion of accounting fraud at the company is "false and misleading." GE said "there is no accounting fraud" after an analyst, according to Bloomberg, speculated there are potential issues at the company. The stock in midday trading is down 2c to $19.92.

12:45 EDT GE tells Bloomberg accounting fraud suggestions 'false and misleading'

12:33 EDT Amazon to double Vancouver workforce to 2,000 with new office - Amazon announced that the company has signed a lease for a new office in downtown Vancouver. The office will allow Amazon to double its workforce in the city from 1,000 to 2,000. The office, with Oxford Properties, is scheduled to open in 2020 and will be Amazon's second in Vancouver. Amazon also announced that its current Canadian workforce has grown to over 5,000 full-time, full-benefit employees across Canada, spanning sites in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec.

12:00 EDT Before the Move: Analyst says TherapeuticsMD could jump if FDA meeting goes well - Cantor Fitzgerald analyst William Tanner reiterated his Overweight rating and $32 price target on TherapeuticsMD (TXMD) ahead of an expected meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, saying he believes shares could rally above $8 depending on the outcome. 'BIG' MEETING TODAY: Tanner expects TherapeuticsMD will meet with the FDA today, Friday, November 3, absent an announcement to the contrary, to discuss the next steps in the FDA's review of the new drug application, or NDA, for TX-004 for vulvar vaginal atrophy. Tanner expects TherapeuticsMD will most likely disclose the outcome of the FDA meeting and plans next week. Until the announcement is made, Tanner believes the stock could be volatile. Tanner believes the outcome of the meeting could yield a stock price above $8. POTENTIAL OUTCOMES: Tanner sees three potential outcomes for the FDA meeting, with gathering long-term safety data post-approval being the highest probability outcome given that the FDA likely has "comfort" with the safety profile of vaginally delivered, low-dose estrogen, and that observing no increase above background levels for the 4mcg and 10mcg doses of TX-004 burnishes the safety profile. Another, less likely but "messy" outcome, is that the FDA could argue that unmet medical need "does not exist" in VVA, but the analyst contended that he doubts the FDA would cite that as a reason to stall approval of TX-004 pending long-term safety data. If the FDA does require data collection prior to granting marketing approval, Tanner believes dispute resolution will be pursued. The least likely outcome of the meeting, Tanner said, is the FDA deciding that long-term data are unnecessary, stating that "for no other reason than to reinforce safety observations, we believe the FDA would be inclined to want the data at some point." WHAT'S NOTABLE: In a note to clients in September, Tanner noted TherapeuticsMD's conference call with an author of the National Institutes of Health paper on vaginal estrogen and safety observations from the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study. The analyst said at the time that results of the analysis should provide the FDA "with additional comfort" regarding low-dose estrogen safety and support approval of TX-004 without the need for 12-month safety testing beforehand. PRICE ACTION: In late morning trading, shares of TherapeuticsMD are up just under 1% to $4.64 per share. The stock is down about 20% year-to-date. "Before the Move" is The Fly's recurring series of exclusive stories that identify potentially market moving events, along with analyst predictions, ahead of the news.

11:20 EDT CenterPoint Energy expects FY17 effective tax rate of 36% - Says on track to achieve at or near the high-end of guidance range for 2017. Says ahead of schedule on the Brazos Valley Connection project and expects it to be completed in 1Q18, within estimated cost range of $270M-$310M. Expects continued growth in both industrial and residential customer segments. Says continues to believe Enable is "well-positioned for success." Anticipates strong performance for the rest of 2017. Continues to expect capital investment of $1.5B in 2017. Says not forecasting a need for equity issuance. Comments taken from Q3 earnings conference call.

11:07 EDT Horizon Pharma announces poster presentation on KRYSTEXXA at ASN - Horizon Pharma presented a post-hoc analysis of data from two randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials of KRYSTEXXA in adults living with chronic gout refractory to conventional therapies, also known as uncontrolled gout. In the post-hoc analysis, nearly two-thirds of patients who were serum uric acid, or sUA, responders to KRYSTEXXA experienced reductions in mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) throughout the trials. The analysis was presented at the American Society of Nephrology Kidney Week 2017, Oct. 31 - Nov. 5, in New Orleans. This post-hoc analysis included data from two pivotal, six-month clinical trials in which patients were randomized to treatment with KRYSTEXXA 8 mg every two weeks or placebo. A total of 29 patients who received KRYSTEXXA every two weeks were characterized as sUA responders by the prespecified primary endpoint. MAP for this responder group at baseline was 94.9 + 9.6 mm Hg.An assessment of the 29 sUA responders indicated a reduction in MAP throughout the six-month trials and was noted within two weeks of the first KRYSTEXXA dose. Of the 29 sUA responders, 18 had decreases in MAP throughout the trials. Blood pressure reductions seen in sUA responders were independent of changes in renal function. There were no significant differences in baseline age, gender, race, body mass index, history of hypertension, gout duration, MAP, baseline sUA, cholesterol, eGFR or urinary uric acid/creatinine ratio between those who experienced persistent decreases in MAP and those who did not. There were no significant changes in eGFR in sUA responders and no significant correlation between changes from baseline MAP and eGFR in these patients. While the studies utilized for this analysis were not designed to evaluate change in MAP as a clinical endpoint, these data support further investigation of KRYSTEXXA in blood pressure reduction.

11:03 EDT Reata Pharm says Phase 2 portion of Cardinal trial met primary endpoint - Reata Pharmaceuticals announces primary 12-week data from the Phase 2 portion of the CARDINAL trial studying bardoxolone methyl for the treatment of chronic kidney disease caused by Alport syndrome. The primary efficacy endpoint of the Phase 2 portion of CARDINAL was the change from baseline in estimated glomerular filtration rate for 30 patients with Alport syndrome who were administered bardoxolone orally, once-daily, for 12 weeks. All patients completed the treatment period without any discontinuations. The mean baseline eGFR was 54 +/- 24 mL/min/1.73 m2. Bardoxolone increased eGFR by 13.4 mL/min/1.73 m2 after 12 weeks of treatment, which was consistent with an interim release from CARDINAL in July 2017 that reported an increase of 12.7 mL/min/1.73 m2 for the first eight patients that reached Week 12. All patients had an increase from baseline, and 87% had an increase of at least 4 ml/min/1.73 m2, which is the approximate annual rate of decline in kidney function in patients with Alport syndrome. The increases in eGFR translated to an improvement in CKD stage for 22/30 patients. No serious adverse events were reported, and adverse events were generally mild to moderate in intensity.

10:59 EDT Rockwell Automation announces investment in The Hive - Rockwell Automation announced its investment in The Hive, a Silicon Valley innovation fund and co-creation studio, to gain access to an ecosystem of innovators and technology start-ups with a focus on applications of artificial intelligence to industrial automation.

10:52 EDT RH up 3% after Mox Reports publishes bullish report - Shares of RH, the parent of the Restoration Hardware retail store concept, are rising 3% in early trading after Mox Reports published a bullish report on the retailer. Author Richard Pearson contends that RH has given its CEO "a massive nine figure incentive package to achieve a $150 share price by any means" and that the company has been buying back shares aggressively since then. Short interest has been falling, but is still near 50% of float, as "some shorts realize the financial engineering trap," added Pearson.

10:37 EDT AIG drops after posting 'messy' quarter, adding $836M to reserves - Shares of American International Group (AIG) dropped in morning trading after the insurer reported a wider than expected loss for its most recent quarter. The insurer's results included $3B in aggregate pre-tax catastrophe losses, primarily due to the hurricanes that occurred in the quarter. EARNINGS WORSE THAN EXPECTED: After the market close on Thursday, AIG reported a net loss for the third quarter of ($1.91), compared to EPS of 42c in the year-ago quarter. After-tax operating loss for the quarter was ($1.22), compared to after-tax EPS of $1.01 in the year-ago quarter and consensus estimates calling for a loss per share of (69c). The quarter included aggregate pre-tax catastrophe losses of $3B, primarily from Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, in line with its previously disclosed preliminary loss estimates of up to $3.1B. AIG's Q3 results reflect the first full quarter under the leadership of CEO Brian Duperreault, who was named chief executive officer in May. Duperreault remarked that during Q3 the insurance industry witnessed unprecedented catastrophic events. "AIG's resilience in the wake of these events reflects the strength of our balance sheet and capital position," he said. The company also noted that prior accident year loss reserves was strengthened by $836M pre-tax, primarily relating to policies sold in 2016. Duperreault said the strengthening was "based on additional information that became available in the third quarter through our quarterly reserve review." Duperreault also said AIG is "laser focused on commercial underwriting and taking actions to enhance underwriting tools." CONFERENCE CALL COMMENTARY: On its earnings conference call this morning, Duperreault said AIG feels a "great sense of urgency" to make changes, adding that he created a new business unit called AIG Risk Management. The executive said AIG has successfully begun to raise rates in the wake of the catastrophes and will continue to do so. He also noted that AIG has had over 11,000 claims from Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria and that AIG's early estimate of California wildfire losses is about $500M pre-tax, largely in its personal insurance unit. The company said it is seeking M&A deals to diversity. WHAT'S NOTABLE: Duperreault has been making changes at AIG since taking the helm, including announcing the elimination of its Commercial and Consumer segments. Going forward, AIG will have General Insurance led by Peter Zaffino, as CEO; Life & Retirement, led by Kevin Hogan, CEO; and a standalone technology-enabled platform, led by Seraina Macia, CEO. In late September, the Financial Stability Oversight Council announced that it has rescinded its SIFI designation for AIG. ANALYST COMMENTARY: BofA Merrill Lynch analyst Jay Cohen downgraded AIG to Neutral and cut its price target to $65 from $69, saying he has limited confidence in AIG's ability to price its commercial insurance business accurately. Cohen also said Duperreault's road to a turnaround will be more difficult than anticipated. Janney analyst Larry Greenberg said AIG's quarter was "messy, with much still to digest." PRICE ACTION: AIG is down 4.5% to $62.05 in morning trading. Year-to-date, shares are down about 5%.

10:01 EDT Dragon Victory CEO Yu Han resigns for personal reasons - Dragon Victory announced earlier that Jianjun Sun was appointed and approved by the board as the company's CEO and Chairman dated October 23, to replace with the resignation from the departing CEO, Yu Han. Han has resigned for personal reasons but will remain as the company's principal shareholder. Sun was a director responsible for administrative affairs, human resources, accounting and asset management, for Hangzhou Qinghefang Asset Management, a state-owned enterprise from June 2015 to September 2017. Han commented, "This is the perfect time for Mr. Jianjun Sun to become LYL's new Chief Executive Officer. We've selected a very strong leader at a time when LYL is in a very special stage of development. Today's pace of change is exponential and LYL's role in the Fintech transformation has never been more important. Our new CEO needs to thrive in a highly dynamic environment, to be capable of accelerating what is working very well for LYL, and disrupting what needs to change. Mr. Jianjun Sun is unique in his ability to translate vision and strategy into first-class execution, bringing together connections and related resources to drive results. Mr. Jianjun Sun's vision, strategy and execution track record is exactly what LYL needs as we enter our next chapter, which I am confident will be even more impactful and exciting than our last."

09:53 EDT GenMark trading halted, volatility trading pause

09:43 EDT Starbucks CEO 'optimistic' guidance can be exceeded - Kevin Johnson is speaking on CNBC.

09:21 EDT On The Fly: Pre-market Movers - UP AFTER EARNINGS: Apple (AAPL), up 4.1%... Floor & Decor (FND), up 10.3%... Mercadolibre (MELI), up 8.3%... Activision Blizzard (ATVI), up 2.3%. DOWN AFTER EARNINGS: Ameren (AEE), down 1.5%... Realogy (RLGY), down 7%... Ruth's Hospitality (RUTH), down 7.1%... Bloomin' Brands (BLMN), down 3%... ImmunoGen (IMGN), down 8.7%... U.S. Concrete (USCR), down 9.1%... Pandora (P), down 26.3%... Tableau Software (DATA), down 12.3%... El Pollo LoCo (LOCO), down 11.1%... Stamps.com (STMP), down 8.2%.

09:14 EDT Kroger launching Our Brands apparel brand in fall 2018 - Kroger is introducing a lifestyle apparel brand launching with children, young men, juniors, men and women. The apparel brand will debut first at Fred Meyer and Kroger Marketplace stores across the country starting in fall 2018.

09:02 EDT Adobe, Microsoft advance strategic partnership around CRM, content management - Adobe (ADBE) unveiled with Microsoft (MSFT) the next milestone in their strategic partnership announced in September 2016. Adobe Experience Manager, Adobe's content management solution in Adobe Marketing Cloud, part of Adobe Experience Cloud, is now integrated with Microsoft Dynamics 365, which provides universal web standards and extensibility. Available to joint customers today, the integration helps brands optimize enterprise selling and lead management. Adobe Experience Manager integration with CRM data from Microsoft Dynamics 365 enables enterprise marketers to deliver one-to-one personalization of web content at massive scale and connect any lead generation data input on the web to their CRM system. Consulting firms and system integrators like EY can leverage Adobe Experience Manager's open platform APIs to drive innovation like connecting digital assets with CRM data to accelerate the sourcing, management and delivery of personalized brand assets across customer touch points. Brands can also intelligently collect lead generation data online and pre-populate online forms with CRM data to more effectively drive conversions.

08:47 EDT Equifax releases findings of committee regarding stock sale by executives - The Board of Directors of Equifax released a report by the Special Committee regarding the trading of Company securities by certain executives following the detection by Equifax cybersecurity personnel of suspicious activity in the Company's network and prior to public disclosure of the incident. The Board formed the Special Committee in September to conduct an independent review of various aspects of the cybersecurity incident and the Company's response to it. The report released today relates exclusively to the securities trading matter. The Special Committee's report, which is attached, concludes that "none of the four executives had knowledge of the incident when their trades were made, that preclearance for the four trades was appropriately obtained, that each of the four trades at issue comported with Company policy, and that none of the four executives engaged in insider trading." As part of the review process, the Special Committee conducted dozens of interviews, and reviewed more than 55,000 documents including emails, text messages, phone logs and other records. "I'm grateful for the timely and thorough review by the Special Committee of this important matter. The Board takes very seriously any allegation of insider trading. It is critically important for the public, our shareholders, our customers and our employees to know that we will not tolerate any violation of Company policy or the law regarding the trading of securities. The conclusion that the Company executives in question traded appropriately is an extremely important finding and very reassuring," said Non-Executive Chairman Mark L. Feidler.

08:42 EDT Toll Brothers, Ares Management announce sale of Terrapin Row student housing - Toll Brothers Campus Living (TOL) and Ares Management (ARES) announced the sale of Terrapin Row, a 418-residence, 1,493-bed student housing community adjacent to the University of Maryland. According to TSB Realty, LLC, which represented Toll Brothers and Ares in the transaction, the sale marked the largest single asset transaction in student housing in 2017. The transaction was completed on November 1, 2017.

08:40 EDT Rent-A-Center shareholder Vintage Capital proposes $13 all-cash acquisition - In a regulatory filing, it was disclosed that Vintage Capital Management, which currently own approximately 6% of the common stock of Rent-A-Center, said in a letter to the company that it is "in a unique position to deliver certain and immediate value to shareholders through an all-cash acquisition at $13.00 per share." In the letter to the CEO of Rent-A-Center, Vintage Capital Managing Member Brian Kahn added, "However, the value that we are willing to pay, and our interest in pursuing this transaction, is significantly impacted by whether or not our future competitors have access to proprietary information concerning RAC's assets, including but not limited to store-level financial information and contract terms with Acceptance Now retail partners. Due to the significant amount of work that we and our lenders have completed, as well our familiarity with the Rent-to-Own industry, we are confident that we can complete due diligence, obtain financing commitments, and execute a definitive transaction agreement within 30 days of gaining access to due diligence information. We have engaged legal counsel and we are prepared to immediately engage additional due diligence resources to assist us with an expedited process to complete this acquisition. In recognition of the significant costs that we will incur, and the prospect of certain and compelling value that would be immediately realized by all RAC shareholders, we ask for a 30-day exclusivity period." Following the filing, Rent-A-Center shares have jumped 11% to $11 per share in pre-market trading.

08:36 EDT Vintage Capital proposes $13 all-cash acquisition of Rent-A-Center

08:28 EDT Network-1 Technologies announces settlement with Juniper - Network-1 Technologies (NTIP) announced that it agreed to settle its patent litigation against Juniper Networks (JNPR) pending in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division, for infringement of Network-1's Remote Power Patent. Juniper was one of sixteen original defendants named in the litigation. Under the terms of the settlement, Juniper will pay $13,250,000 and receive a fully-paid license to the Remote Power Patent for its full term which expires in March 2020, which will apply to its sales of Power over Ethernet products, including those PoE products which comply with the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers 802.3af and 802.3at Standards. In September 2011, Network-1 initiated patent litigation against sixteen data networking equipment manufacturers in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division, for infringement of its Remote Power Patent. Network-1 has now reached settlement and license agreements with fifteen of the sixteen original defendants. The sole remaining defendant in the lawsuit is Hewlett-Packard Company. Network-1 seeks monetary damages based upon reasonable royalties. The trial against Hewlett-Packard is scheduled to commence on November 6, 2017. The Remote Power Patent relates to, among other things, delivering power over Ethernet cables to remotely power network connected devices including, among others, wireless switches, wireless access points, VoIP telephones and network cameras. In June 2003, the IEEE approved the 802.3af PoE Standard, which led to the rapid adoption of PoE. The IEEE also approved the 802.3at Power over Ethernet Plus Standard, which increased the maximum power delivered to network devices to 40-60 watts from the current 15 watts under the 802.3af Standard.

08:07 EDT Toll Brothers JV to develop luxury condominium project in Tribeca - Toll Brothers has announced the formation on October 31, of a joint venture between its Toll Brothers City Living division and SMI USA, a subsidiary of the Shanghai Municipal Investment Group Corporation, to develop 91 Leonard Street, a 19-story, 111-residence luxury condominium project in the Tribeca neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The joint venture has secured a construction loan from a syndicate of banks including MUFG Union Bank, N.A. as Agent, CIT Bank, N.A. and Santander Bank, N.A. 91 Leonard is located in Manhattan's fashionable Tribeca neighborhood, just a short walk to SoHo, City Hall, the Financial District, the Hudson River waterfront and Hudson River Park. Designed by Skidmore Owings & Merrill and Hill West, it offers residences ranging from studios to four bedrooms with nearly floor-to-ceilings windows, and tall ceiling heights. Amenities include an indoor pool, steam and sauna rooms, a fitness center, a children's playroom, a rooftop terrace with outdoor fireplace, and a screening room. Residents will enjoy a ground floor lounge looking out on the building's private garden and reflecting pool.

08:06 EDT Myomo says application for Canadian medical device license approved - Myomo announced that its Application for a Canadian Medical Device License has been approved by Health Canada. With the license, Myomo and its distribution partner, Ottobock, are now entering the Canadian market for commercial sale of the MyoPro myolelectric arm orthosis. Myomo launched its next-generation MyoPro orthosis in June 2017, extending the capabilities of the previous device with significant enhancements, including interchangeable, extended-life rechargeable batteries for continuous daily use. In July, the company obtained the CE mark, enabling it to enter the European market.

08:04 EDT Pulse Biosciences names Bob Duggas as chairman - Pulse Biosciences announced changes to the composition of its Board of Directors. Bob Duggan has been appointed Chairman of the Board; Ken Clark, Dr. Thomas Fogarty and Manmeet S. Soni have been appointed as independent directors, effective November 2, 2017. Concurrently, four existing members of the board retired, including former Chairman Robert Levande, and independent directors Mitchell Levinson, Robert Greenberg, M.D., Ph.D., and Thierry Thaure. Existing members Darrin Uecker and Maky Zanganeh will remain on the board.

08:04 EDT W.R. Grace CEO Fred Festa intends to retire in Q4 of 2018 - W. R. Grace announced that Fred Festa intends to step down as CEO during Q4 of 2018, but remain as non-executive Chairman. Grace also announced that, as part of its succession plan, the board has elected Hudson La Force, President and COO, as a director of the company. Festa joined Grace as President and COO in 2003 and became CEO in 2005. La Force joined Grace as CFO in 2008 and became President and COO in 2016.

08:04 EDT Varian Medical selected to equip two Danish oncology departments - Varian has been selected to equip the greater Copenhagen region's two radiation oncology departments with modern treatment systems over the next several years. Linear accelerators at the city's Rigshospitalet and Herlev Hospital oncology departments will be replaced with 15 advanced Varian TrueBeam and Halcyon treatment machines and two ViewRay MRIdian MR-Guided Linac systems. Varian is booking an order for the first four of the TrueBeam systems in the current fiscal quarter. The project totals $50M over the next several years.

07:41 EDT E.W. Scripps sees Q4 television revenue down high teens - Sees Q4 radio revenue down high single digits. Sees Q4 digital revenue about $60M, including Katz networks.

07:37 EDT Vistra Energy narrows FY17 adj EBITDA view to $1.375B-$1.475B from $1.35B-$1.5B - Narrows FY17 adjusted free cash flow view to $770M-$900M from $745M-$925M.

07:33 EDT Valeritas announces findings of study with V-Go Wearable Delivery Device - Valeritas announced today positive findings from a analysis conducted combining its V-Go Wearable Basal plus Bolus Insulin Delivery Device with a weekly physician-driven, simplified prandial-focused insulin titration algorithm. Achievement of glycemic targets occurred in 2/3 of patients and patient reported hypoglycemia was decreased by study end utilizing this therapeutic approach to insulin management. Results from this study will be presented at the 17th Annual Diabetes Technology Meeting in Bethesda, Maryland during a poster session. "This proof-of-concept study demonstrates that a simplified prandial or bolus focused weekly insulin titration algorithm in patients with Type 2 diabetes prescribed V-Go can be used effectively and safely, leading to significantly improved glycemic control while also lowering the mean total daily insulin dose of insulin," said John Timberlake, President and CEO of Valeritas. "The results are very promising and support the importance of addressing post prandial glucose to achieve glycemic targets."

07:07 EDT Ruth's Hospitality to acquire six franchisee restaurants for $35M - On November 2, 2017, the company entered into an asset purchase agreement to acquire the six franchised Ruth's Chris Steak House restaurants in Hawaii for approximately $35M in cash. The purchase price for the six restaurants is subject to adjustments for certain deposits, credits, inventory and prepaid amounts. The Company expects the transaction to close by no later than the first quarter of 2018.

07:04 EDT Ruth's Hospitality updates FY17 outlook, sees FY CapEx $20M-$23M - Based on current information, Ruth's Hospitality Group is updating its full year 2017 outlook based on a 53 week year ending December 31, 2017, as follows: Food and beverage costs of 29.0% to 31.0% of restaurant sales, Restaurant operating expenses of 47.0% to 49.0% of restaurant sales, Marketing and advertising costs of 2.9% to 3.1% of total revenue, General and administrative expenses of $32M to $34M, Effective tax rate of 31% to 34%, Capital expenditures of $20M to $23M, Fully diluted shares outstanding of 31M to 31.2M.

07:02 EDT Xilinx to invest $40M to expand R&D at EMEA headquarters in Ireland - Xilinx announced its intention to invest $40M in an initiative to expand its research, development, and engineering operations at the company's EMEA headquarters in Dublin and Cork. The company will recruit 75 senior silicon and electronics engineering staff for its regional headquarters in Dublin and for its engineering centre in Cork. Additionally 25 new employees will be hired across a broad range of business disciplines supporting the continued growth of Xilinx in Ireland.

06:38 EDT Alexion's Kanuma for LAL-D shows increased survival results in ongoing study - Alexion announced new interim data showing that 80% of 10 infants with rapidly progressive lysosomal acid lipase deficiency treated with Kanuma survived beyond 1 year of age. Patients also benefited from improvements in a number of key parameters including weight gain and lipid biomarker levels. There were no discontinuations due to adverse events. These data from an ongoing, open-label study were presented at the NASPGHAN Annual Meeting in Las Vegas and confirm previously published survival data from the VITAL study. LAL-D is a genetic, chronic and progressive ultra-rare metabolic disease in which patients can suffer from multi-organ damage and experience premature death. For LAL-D patients with symptoms presenting in infancy, the median age of death is 3.7 months and mortality by 1 year is nearly 100%. As of August, all 8 of the surviving patients are older than 12 months. The oldest patient has been receiving treatment with Kanuma(R) for nearly three years. All patients experienced one or more treatment emergent adverse events. Six patients experienced serious adverse events that were considered related to sebelipase alfa; all resolved, and there were no discontinuations due to adverse events.

06:35 EDT Bon-Ton Stores to commence trading on OTCQX Best Market on November 9 - The Bon-Ton Stores announced that the shares of its common stock will begin to trade on the OTCQX Best Market starting Thursday, November 9. Bon-Ton will continue to trade under the symbol "BONT."

06:21 EDT Open source database startup MariaDB confirms $27M investment led by Alibaba - Open source database startup MariaDB announced that it raised $27M in an investment led by Alibaba Group (BABA), with participation from existing investors Intel Capital (INTC), California Technology Ventures, Tesi, SmartFin Capital and Open Ocean. Combined with a recent $27M investment from the European Investment Bank, this latest capital brings MariaDB's total funding this year to $54M. MariaDB will continue its collaboration with Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing arm of Alibaba Group, to deliver new solutions for the cloud and emerging use cases. MariaDB reaches more than 60 million developers worldwide through its inclusion in every major Linux distribution, as well as a growing presence in the world's major cloud providers.

06:06 EDT Yingli Green Energy supplies solar panels for 38.4 MW PV project in China - Yingli Green Energy announced that it is supplying 38.4 MW of solar panels to a rural distributed PV poverty alleviation project in China. Located in Zhangbei County, Hebei Province, this project includes 128 rural distributed PV poverty alleviation plants for Zhangbei County's remaining 128 low-income villages and each plant has the capacity of 300 Kilowatts. The 128 rural distributed PV poverty alleviation plants will be constructed in one site with the total installation capacity of 38.4 MW. Once completed, it will benefit more than 10,000 low-income villagers in Zhangbei County over the next 20 years with revenues from electricity sales. This project will utilize over 140,000 Yingli Solar panels, around 10,000 panels of which adopt advanced techniques, including Yingli's patented Panda Bifacial panels, multi-crystalline 12 bus-bars panels and multi-crystalline black silicon panels. In addition, the project will adopt the axis tracking system to capture more sunlight by following the sun, thus increasing the power generation. The project is expected to be connected to the grid in the fourth quarter of 2017.

06:02 EDT Patterson-UTI reports October average 158 drilling rigs operating - Patterson-UTI reported that for the month of October 2017, the company had an average of 158 drilling rigs operating.

05:45 EDT Johnson & Johnson received subpoenas over opioid marketing practices - Johnson & Johnson disclosed last night that it received subpoenas or requests for information related to opioids marketing practices from four state Attorneys General: New Hampshire, New Jersey, Tennessee and Washington. In September, Johnson & Johnson was contacted by the Texas and Colorado Attorney General's Offices on behalf of approximately 38 states regarding a multi-state Attorney General investigation, the company disclosed. The multi-state coalition served Johnson & Johnson with subpoenas as part of the investigation. Johnson & Johnson has also received requests for information from the ranking minority member of the United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs regarding the sales, marketing, and educational strategies related to the promotion of opioids use.

05:36 EDT Buenaventura announces 3-day work stoppage at Uchucchacua mine - Buenaventura announced that members of the local Oyon community have adopted a more aggressive negotiating position related to Buenaventura's use of lands by its Uchucchacua mine. This act does not acknowledge an agreement previously established between the Oyon community and Buenaventura, which was signed in the 1970s. Threats by community leaders resulted in a work stoppage in Uchucchacua's production which began on Tuesday, October 31, 2017, the date on which the plant's scheduled Planned Preventive Maintenance had concluded. The Ministry of Energy and Mines Social Affairs Office confirmed its agreement to establish a task force, with the participation of other public offices, including representatives from the Prime Minister's office, in an effort to end the conflict to resume negotiations.