Stockwinners Market Radar for December 08, 2017 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

17:30 EDT Capital Research Global reports 11.1% passive stake in Integra LifeSciences

17:15 EDT Tonghao reports 9.9% stake in UTStarcom, wants to become biggest holder - Tonghao Group said in a regulatory filing that it purchased the shares of UTStarcom with a view towards acquiring additional ordinary shares and becoming the largest shareholder of th company.

16:59 EDT Cincinnati Bell-Hawaiian Telcom merger receives Hawai'i DCCA approval - The Hawai'i Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs' Cable Television Division announced the conditional approval of the transfer of control of Hawaiian Telcom's cable franchise to Cincinnati Bell Inc. (CBB). This development is an important step in the process of satisfying the closing conditions of Cincinnati Bell's combination with Hawaiian Telcom Holdco (HCOM). Leigh Fox, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cincinnati Bell, said, "We are pleased that our merger approval process is moving forward expeditiously and thank the DCCA for their leadership. The DCCA's approval is a significant step forward in the combination of Cincinnati Bell and Hawaiian Telcom, a merger that will accelerate our overarching strategy to create a diversified and balanced revenue mix by expanding our high-speed, high-bandwidth fiber optic network while building a complementary IT solutions and cloud services business in Cincinnati and Hawai'i."

16:41 EDT Morgan Stanley reports 11.4% passive stake in Overstock.com

16:36 EDT Cumulus Media signs long-term extension for radio measurement with Nielsen - Nielsen announced that Cumulus Media has signed a multi-year extension for radio ratings services for all Portable People Meter and radio diary measured markets. Westwood One, the largest radio network in the U.S. and the national-facing arm of Cumulus Media, is also included in this agreement. This multi-year agreement provides Nielsen's radio and network radio ratings services for Cumulus and Westwood One's 446 radio stations across 90 local markets. In addition to extending Nielsen's core audio ratings services, Cumulus and Westwood One will continue to have access to local qualitative behavioral data from Nielsen Scarborough, enhanced talent analytics from Nielsen N-Score and national networks ratings from Nielsen RADAR. As part of the agreement, Westwood One will extend its use of Nielsen Marketing Cloud and Pointlogic for enhanced purchase-based marketing and media planning functions.

16:35 EDT Akari Therapeutics trading resumes

16:31 EDT Macy's executive chairman Terry Lundgren to retire - Macy's announced that executive chairman Terry Lundgren will retire from the board of directors effective Jan. 31, 2018. The board has appointed Jeff Gennette, who has been CEO since March 2017, to the additional role of chairman effective Jan. 31, 2018. This will complete the planned transition that was announced in June 2016. Marna Whittington remains Lead Independent Director. Following Lundgren's retirement, the board will have 10 directors. "I am proud of our company's growth, accomplishments and the talent we developed during the 14 years I have led Macy's, Inc.," Lundgren said. "I have worked closely with Jeff and his team over the past two years, focusing on the changes and vision required for future success. I am confident that the company has the strategies, resources, talent and leadership to capitalize on the fundamental shifts in consumer shopping patterns we have all experienced. I continue to be impressed with Jeff's leadership, his decisiveness and his engagement with all levels of our outstanding organization. I would also like to thank the 140,000 employees of Macy's, Bloomingdale's and Bluemercury who make up the most talented retail workforce in America! It has been an honor to work with you."

16:30 EDT Bebe Stores trading resumes

16:22 EDT Global Brokerage to delist shares from NASDAQ Capital Market - Global Brokerage announced that it has notified The NASDAQ Stock Market of its intention to voluntarily withdraw its Class A common stock, par value 1c , from listing on The NASDAQ Capital Market. Global Brokerage intends to file a Form 25, notification of removal from listing under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, with the SEC on or about December 19, notifying the SEC of its delisting from the exchange. The last day of trading on the exchange will be December 28. Global Brokerage has not arranged for listing or registration of its common stock on another national securities exchange. Global Brokerage's board intends to withdraw its common stock from listing on the exchange as a result of several factors, including the intention to deregister its common stock under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and terminate its duty to file periodic reports with the SEC in order to reduce its costs of compliance with the rules of the SEC and of the exchange.

16:16 EDT Erie Indemnity raises quarterly Class A dividend 7.3% to 84c per share - Erie Indemnity's board has agreed to increase the regular quarterly cash dividend from 78.25c to 84c on each Class A share and from $117.375 to $126.00 on each Class B share. This represents a 7.3% increase in the payout per share over the current dividend rate. The next quarterly dividend is payable Jan. 23, 2018, to shareholders of record as of Jan. 8, 2018, with a dividend ex-date of Jan. 5, 2018. Erie Indemnity Company has paid regular shareholder dividends since 1933.

16:10 EDT Global Brokerage trading halted, news pending

16:07 EDT Akari says Coversin Phase II trial met primary endpoint - Akari Therapeutics announced that the three additional patients that were enrolled into the Phase II COBALT trial of Coversin in paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, considered together with the earlier five patients, met the primary endpoint. The primary endpoint in this clinical trial is reduction in serum LDH to less than or equal to1.8 times the upper limit of normal for the investigator's reference laboratory to day 28. The last three patients enrolled into the Phase II trial utilized a revised dosing regimen which included changing the initial dose of 30 mg every 24 hours to a dose of 45 mg every 24 hours. The 45 mg dosing regimen is the intended dose for the Phase III PNH trials of Coversin discussed with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration at a Type B End of Phase II Meeting in September 2017. "We are encouraged by the results from the Phase II trial, especially the lower mean LDH value observed in the last three patients enrolled into the trial treated with 45 mg daily compared to the patients treated with 30 mg daily," commented Dr. David Solomon, Chief Executive Officer of Akari Therapeutics. "We are on track to progress into Phase III clinical trials in the first quarter of 2018 with the revised dosing regimen of 45 mg, as discussed with the FDA."

16:03 EDT Prospect Capital CEO acquires 110,000 common shares - In a regulatory filing, Prospect Capital CEO John F. Barry disclosed the acquisition of 110,000 common shares of the company at a price of $6.6988 per share.

16:01 EDT Great Point Partners reports 5.14% passive stake in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals

16:00 EDT Akari Therapeutics trading halted, news pending

16:00 EDT Bebe Stores trading halted, news dissemination

15:45 EDT Brown Advisory reports 5.43% passive stake in Altisource Residential

15:13 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. SURGE IN PRICE, MAINSTREAM ATTENTION: Bitcoin's price in U.S. dollars, which had only topped $10,000 for the first time last week, rocketed past $19,000 on one of its major exchanges on Thursday. The wild trading on Wednesday and Thursday of this week brought with it an associated spike in mainstream attention from CNBC and others media outlets. 2. CBOE FUTURES LAUNCH SUNDAY: As previously announced on December 4, CBOE's (CBOE) Futures Exchange plans to offer trading in bitcoin futures beginning at 5:00 p.m. CT on Sunday, December 10, 2017, at the start of Global Trading Hours. Monday, December 11, will be the first full day of trading, and trading will be free through December. CBOE's bitcoin futures will trade on CFE under the ticker symbol 'XBT.' XBTSM futures are cash-settled contracts based on Gemini's auction price for bitcoin, denominated in U.S. dollars. 3. BANKS HESITANT: Bank of America (BAC) and Citigroup (C) won't offer clients access to the first bitcoin futures market when it goes live on Sunday, while Goldman Sachs (GS) will only offer access to certain customers at the start, people familiar with the matters told The Wall Street Journal. Morgan Stanley (MS) is still evaluating its approach to bitcoin futures, the report added. A CBOE spokeswoman said its planned launch of the futures this Sunday will go ahead as planned, but declined to release a list of banks prepared to handle trading in the bitcoin futures, The Journal noted. 4. DISCOUNT BROKERS MAY GET INVOLVED: Morgan Stanley analyst Michael Cyprys told investors in a note published this week that he expects discount brokers including E-Trade (ETFC), TD Ameritrade (AMTD) and Ally Financial (ALLY) to offer bitcoin futures trading within the next few months. Among them, he views TD Ameritrade as most likely to embrace bitcoin and lead the way and Charles Schwab (SCHW) as likely to be a latecomer. Cyprys added that he was surprised, given its status as a "challenger brand," that E-Trade has said it will take "a wait-and-see" approach. 5. TARGET RAISED TO KEEP PACE: On Thursday, Standpoint Research analyst Ronnie Moas raised his 2018 price target for bitcoin to $28,000 from $20,000. Just over a week ago the analyst raised his 2018 target to $20,000 from $14,000. Moas pointed out that his longer term public target remains $50,000. Noting that the supply of bitcoin is capped, Moas contends, "We are a couple of years away from being in a situation where hundreds of millions of people around the world are trying to get their hands on a few million bitcoin." 6. CITRON GOES BACK TO SHORTING BITCOIN TRUST: Citron Research, the short-selling focused firm run by Andrew Left, tweeted on Thursday: "Bitfinex, the largest Bitcoin exch has threatened legal action against critics. Could be the Lehman moment of Bitcoin....Citron has agreed to cover legal fees for bloggers expressing opinions. We have been in contact. Open dialogue in markets is important...That being said the $GBTC premium has evaporated and now we cautiously entered a new short position at $1800 on GBTC." 7. BITCOIN STOCK PLAYS: Cryptocurrency revenues have been pointed to as reasons to be bullish on Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Nvidia (NVDA) in select research. Overstock (OSTK), which has invested in blockchain technology and has a unit planning a launch of its own cryptocurrency, is another stock that has been touted as a way to play the crypto theme. PRICE ACTION: As of time of writing, bitcoin rose about 42% this week to $15,344 in U.S. dollars according to CoinDesk. Meanwhile, AMD shares fell 7% this week to $9.95 and Nvidia dropped 3% on a weekly basis to $191.54. Bitcoin Investment Trust rose about 3% this week to $1,675. 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.

15:00 EDT Neuberger Berman reports 10.454% passive stake in CommerceHub

13:55 EDT Honeywell authorizes $8B common stock repurchase - In a regulatory filing, Honeywell International announced that its board authorized the company to repurchase up to $8B of its common stock, including approximately $1.5B of remaining availability under its previously announced $5B share repurchase authorization. The company presently expects to repurchase outstanding shares from time to time to generally offset the dilutive impact of employee stock based compensation plans.

13:52 EDT Alta Park Capital reports 5.95% passive stake in Bandwidth

13:43 EDT Box Office Battle: 'Coco' again expected to win the weekend - With no new major releases this weekend, Disney's (DIS) Pixar animated film "Coco" is expected to remain in first place, with an estimated domestic gross of about $18M in its third weekend at theaters. Vying for second place and each expected to earn around $9M are Time Warner's (TWX) Warner Bros' super hero film "Justice League" and Lionsgate's (LGF.A, LGF.B) drama "Wonder." Opening this weekend and expected to earn $5M is Broad Green Pictures action-comedy "Just Getting Started," which is opening at 2,146 locations and stars Morgan Freeman, Tommy Lee Jones, and Rene Russo. This will be Broad Green's last film, as Broad Green announced in August that it was closing down production after three years. Next weekend, Disney's "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" is opening and expected to dominate theaters. Other publicly traded companies in filmmaking include 21st Century Fox (FOX, FOXA), Comcast (CMCSA, CMCSK), Sony (SNE), and Viacom (VIA, VIAB).

13:24 EDT Sotheby's says 'A Life of Luxury' sales series concluded with $117.3M - Sotheby's said its "A Life of Luxury" sales series concluded yesterday in New York with 1,640 lots of jewelry, watches, cars, wine and fashion achieving $117.3M across six auctions.

12:49 EDT Burcon announces board change, confirms no material undisclosed information - Burcon NutraScience announced that effective today, Matthew Hall has resigned as a director of the corporation. As previously announced on September 8, 2017, Hall received more votes withheld than votes in favor of his election as a director at the corporation's annual and special meeting held on September 7, 2017. In accordance with the corporation's majority voting policy, Hall was required to submit his resignation to the board of directors for its consideration. After due consideration, the Board decided to accept his resignation. At the request of IIROC on behalf of the Toronto Stock Exchange, Burcon also confirms that it is not aware of any material undisclosed information relating to the Corporation that may be contributing to the recent increase in market price and level of trading activity of its shares.

12:20 EDT Digital Power trading resumes

11:27 EDT Linden Capital takes 5.1% passive stake in Sucampo - Linden Capital reports a 5.1% stake in Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, which represents over 2.48M shares. The filing does not allow for activism.

11:16 EDT EdgePoint Investment reports 10.4% passive stake in Flowserve

11:12 EDT Graco announces 3-for-1 stock split, increases quarterly dividend by 10.4% - The Board of Directors of Graco Inc announced the following actions related to its common stock of which there are approximately 56 million shares outstanding: The declaration of a 3-for-1 split of the company's common stock, to be distributed on December 27, 2017, for shareholders of record as of December 18, 2017. This is the twelfth split of the company's common stock since it was first publicly offered in 1969. The declaration of a regular quarterly dividend of 39.75c per common share, or 13.25c per post-split share, an increase of 10.4%, payable on February 7, 2018, to shareholders of record at the close of business on January 22, 2018.

10:52 EDT Teva may cut up to 10,000 jobs globally, Bloomberg reports - Teva Pharmaceutical is considering reducing its global workforce by up to 10,000 as new CEO Kare Schultz seeks to cut costs, Bloomberg reports, citing people with knowledge of the matter. Teva aims to reduce expenses by $1.5B-$2.0B, sources told Bloomberg. The stock in morning trading is up 5% to $15.69. Reference Link

10:34 EDT Akers Biosciences secures further IP protection for Akers Wellness line - Akers Biosciences announces that its Health and Wellness product line is now protected by ten patents in the US, the European Union, Japan, China and Hong Kong, with additional patents pending in the European Union and India; and six trademark registrations in the U.S. The patents address three novel areas of technology developed by Akers Bio for the company's Akers Wellnesss line. The first group of three patents expand the US protection already granted to further countries and cover the unique design of the disposable cartridge which contains the reagent for the detection of wellness markers in exhaled breath. The reagent contained within is analyzed using optical scanning technology after contact with the user's breath sample and produces a quantitative result through the Akers Wellness(TM) app on the user's smartphone or tablet. Included in the patent group are the unique form factor, optical lens and read elements and the unique 'U' shaped airflow pathway. A second group of three patents cover the Company's BreathScan Lync technology. BreathScan Lync is the new bluetooth-enabled reading device from Akers Wellness which enables users to track the results of Akers Wellness breath-based tests via their mobile device. A third group of four patents cover the device and apparatus used to determine levels of ketones in exhaled breath indicative of ketosis, an optimal fat-burning state for weight loss.

10:15 EDT Street Check: Benchmark predicted Sigma Designs could be bought by Silicon Labs - Shares of Sigma Designs (SIGM) jumped in morning trading after Silicon Laboratories (SLAB) agreed to acquire the company for about $282M. The deal comes after Sigma reported weaker than expected quarterly results, and several months after an analyst speculated about a potential deal. BACKGROUND: In a June 7 note, Benchmark analyst Gary Mobley speculated that Sigma Designs could be a "prime acquisition target" for Silicon Labs or MaxLinear (MXL) if it shed assets to become a pure play IoT chip/cloud infrastructure. Mobley said if Sigma was not acquired, but was able to raise $100M by selling non-core, non-IoT businesses, Sigma could make additional acquisitions to strengthen its IoT focus. ACQUISITION ANNOUNCEMENT: After the market close on Thursday, Silicon Labs announced that it will buy Sigma Designs for $282M, or $7.05 per share in a cash transaction. The deal, which is subject to certain closing conditions, is expected to close in the first calendar quarter of 2018. Key to the deal is Sigma's Z-Wave IoT technology for smart home solutions, and Silicon Labs CEO Tyson Tuttle commented that "By adding Z-Wave technology to Silicon Labs' connectivity portfolio, we will be better positioned to serve this fast-growing market." Silicon Labs intends to work in collaboration with the Z-Wave Alliance to drive adoption and development of Z-Wave technology, it said. In the event the closing conditions are not met, Sigma said it will sell its Z-Wave business to Silicon Labs for $240M. In addition, Sigma said it plans to divest or wind down its Smart TV business, and is in active discussions with prospective buyers to divest its Media Connectivity business. Separately, Sigma Designs reported a third quarter loss per share of (25c) on revenue of $33.9M, missing analysts' consensus estimates of (15c) and $38.55, respectively. WHAT'S NOTABLE: In July, Sigma Designs said it had engaged Deutsche Bank as a financial advisor to explore strategic alternatives, including continuing with its restructuring plans, selling or spinning off certain products or the sale of the company. In October, the company announced major restructuring activities to streamline the Connected Smart TV Platforms business and accelerate a return to profitability. As a result, Sigma said it planned to cut 200-250 jobs. REACTION: Weighing in on the acquisition announcement, Benchmark's Mobley downgraded Sigma Designs this morning to Hold from Buy, telling investors that the 26% takeover premium from Silicon Labs is a good deal for shareholders. Sigma shares were also downgraded to Hold from Buy at Craig-Hallum and Lake Street. Craig-Hallum's Richard Shannon called the deal a "disappointing outcome," as he thought the sum of the parts would be closer to $9 per share. He does not see a better price, as he thinks the deal was "well-shopped." Lake Street's Jaeson Schmidt said he is "not surprised" by the news following Sigma's exploration of strategic alternatives. He sees little risk to getting the deal done. PRICE ACTION: Sigma Designs is up nearly 23% in morning trading to $6.88, while Silicon Laboratories is up about 0.33% to $90.50. OTHERS TO WATCH: MaxLinear, a company that had been rumored to be a potential suitor for Sigma, is up 1.5% to $25.37.

09:51 EDT Helmerich & Payne announces acquisition of Magnetic Variation Services - Helmerich & Payne announced that it has acquired Magnetic Variation Services, a company involved in enhancing the accuracy of directional drilling and wellbore optimization. Founded in 2010, MagVAR will maintain its headquarters in Westminster, Colorado. The financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. However, in connection with the transaction and in part as consideration for MagVAR equity owned by certain of its management members, H&P granted certain management members restricted stock awards covering 213,904 shares of H&P common stock in the aggregate.

09:21 EDT Eros, Metrological partner to bring films to OTT operators - Eros International announced that Eros Now, its cutting-edge digital over-the-top platform, has partnered with Metrological, a cloud-based TV app store and content distribution platform providing seamless integrated app and OTT experiences to MVPDs.

09:15 EDT Digital Power trading halted, news pending

09:01 EDT First American agrees to buy Bank of America's lien release business operations - First American Financial (FAF) announced the signing of an agreement to acquire Bank of America's (BAC) lien release business, which includes an agreement to provide these services to Bank of America going forward. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2018. Once the sale is complete, Bank of America's lien release business and its employees will become part of First American's Mortgage Solutions division, a leading provider of comprehensive solutions for residential lenders and servicers covering the entire loan spectrum.

08:47 EDT Ultralife awarded $3.9M communications systems contract - Ultralife has been awarded a contract valued at approximately $3.9M to supply its Vehicle Amplifier-Adaptor to Thales Defense & Security, Inc., a global leader in the development, manufacture, and support of combat-proven, software-defined radio equipment, for the U.S. Army's Security Force Assistance Brigades, or SFABs, and other opportunities. SFABs are new brigades formed to advise and assist our partner nations in developing their local security force capability from the tactical to ministerial level. Initial shipments are expected to commence before the end of 2017 and continue during the first half of 2018.

08:45 EDT Guided Therapeutics signs preliminary license agreement with Turkish partner - Guided Therapeutics announced that has signed a preliminary license agreement with its Turkish distribution partner ITEM for the manufacture of patented single-patient-use Cervical Guides in Turkey. In return for the license and manufacturing rights for Cervical Guides in Turkey, GTHP will receive fees totaling $3M in 2018. In addition, ITEM will pay GTHP a royalty for each Cervical Guide made and sold exclusively in Turkey and ITEM will be obligated to purchase 600 LuViva Advanced Cervical Scans and produce 3 million Cervical Guides for the Turkish market over the next five years.

08:31 EDT Arconic divests Latin American Extrusions business - Arconic announced the divestiture of its Latin America Extrusions business, which operates primarily in Brazil. The business is part of the Company's Transportation and Construction Solutions segment. Following customary regulatory and anti-trust reviews, the ownership of LAE will be transferred to a subsidiary of Hydro Extruded Solutions AS. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2018. The divestiture is part of Arconic's continued drive to streamline its business portfolio, reduce complexity and further focus on its higher-margin products and continuous profitable growth. Under the terms of the agreement, Arconic will receive approximately $10M in cash for the LAE business, subject to working capital and other adjustments. As a result of the transaction, Arconic will recognize a restructuring-related charge representing the loss on sale of approximately $40M after-tax, or 8c per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of 2017, as referenced in the company's third quarter Form 10-Q filing. The charge primarily relates to the non-cash impairment of the net book value of the business. The charge is a special item and will not impact adjusted earnings per share.

08:06 EDT Amazon Music Unlimited expands to 28 more countries around the world - Amazon Music Unlimited, Amazon's full-catalog streaming service, announces its expansion into 28 additional countries, offering a catalog of more than 40 million songs and thousands of playlists and personalized stations, hand-curated by Amazon Music experts, to millions more listeners around the globe. New customers in these countries can now begin unlimited, ad-free streaming of new releases from chart-topping artists including J Balvin, Katy Perry, Luis Fonsi, Post Malone and many more on Amazon Music Unlimited within the Amazon Music app for iOS, Android, Mac, PC, Fire TV and on any Web browser. Also, Amazon Echo will begin to ship to these new countries, enabling customers who purchase devices the ability to experience Amazon Music Unlimited with the power and simplicity of natural voice controls in English, powered by Alexa, Amazon's cloud-based voice service.

08:04 EDT GigaMedia CEO acquires 55,070 shares of company stock - GigaMedia announced that its CEO, Cheng-Ming Huang a.k.a. James Huang, has purchased a total of 55,070 shares of GigaMedia stock by Pacific Star Universal Group Ltd. at an average price of $2.9375 on December 6. The purchases were made during an open window period and in full compliance with all company and legal guidelines. Cheng-Ming Huang now holds a total of 292,678 shares.

08:02 EDT TransAlta comments on provincial carbon credit regime - TransAlta responded favourably to details of the Government of Alberta's determination to permit carbon credits to be earned by existing wind and hydro generation in the Alberta fleet. On December 6, 2017, the Government of Alberta announced its intention to adopt a carbon credit regime that will fully recognize the value of carbon reductions from the generation of electricity from existing renewable assets. Under Alberta's output based allocation system for carbon emissions, TransAlta's existing wind and hydro facilities will receive credits for emissions below the performance standard of 0.37 tonnes of CO2 per MWh. Effective January 1, 2018, these credits can be used to offset up to 40%, escalating to 60% by 2022, of the carbon price obligations incurred by generation that exceeds the performance standard, which will be charged a price of $30 per tonne of CO2. The carbon credit regime will allow the Company to allocate the emissions benefits from its existing renewables generation in Alberta to offset the direct carbon costs of its thermal generation, including generation from its coal-to-gas converted units. "The recent announcement by the provincial government will more competitively position our existing renewable generation," said Dawn Farrell, President and CEO. "By treating existing renewable generation equally, we expect to eventually receive $30 million to $50 million annually in credits attributable to our existing renewable assets."

07:49 EDT Stanley Furniture announces CEO transition - Stanley Furniture announced that Glenn Prillaman, president and CEO, has resigned pursuant to a separation agreement entered into between the company and Prillaman in connection with the previously announced proposed sale of substantially all the company's assets. Matthew Smith has been elected Interim CEO. Smith is a managing director with The Finley Group, Inc., an advisory firm providing various services to corporations including interim management support. The Company's Board of Directors engaged the Finley Group in October 2017 to assist with a potential sale transaction and with working capital management. The company also announced that three sales representatives have been elected as Vice Presidents of the company. Josh Carter has been promoted to Vice President of Sales - Brick & Mortar, John Pigg has been promoted to Vice President of Sales - Interior Design, and Landon Smith has been promoted to Vice President of Sales - E-Commerce. The company also announced that Michael Haley and Justyn Putnam have informed the company that they plan to resign as directors. Putnam's resignation as a director is pursuant to the terms of a share purchase agreement under which the Talanta Fund, L.P. will sell its 740,896 shares of Stanley common stock to the Hale Partnership Fund, L.P. Mr. Putnam serves as investment manager of the general partner of the Talanta Fund, L.P. Steven Hale II is the sole manager of the investment manager for the Hale Partnership Fund, L.P. Putnam's resignation will be effective upon the closing of the share purchase. Haley's resignation will be effective concurrently with Mr. Putnam's resignation.

07:33 EDT Hexcel to acquire A&D business of Oxford Performance Materials - Hexcel announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the Aerospace & Defense, or A&D, business of Oxford Performance Materials, or OPM. OPM A&D produces qualified, high-performance thermoplastic, carbon fiber reinforced 3D printed parts for Commercial Aerospace and Space and Defense applications. The acquisition is subject to customary conditions and is expected to close later this month. The asset acquisition will include equipment, intellectual property and manufacturing process technology related to the A&D business operations in South Windsor, Connecticut. Other businesses of OPM are not included in the acquisition.

07:03 EDT ITG reports November U.S. trading volume 2.9B shares - ITG announced that November U.S. trading volume was 2.9B shares and average daily volume was 137M shares, compared to 2.8B shares and ADV of 126M shares in October 2017 and 3.3B shares and ADV of 159M shares in November 2016. There were 21 trading days in both November 2017 and November 2016 and 22 trading days in October 2017.

06:59 EDT Coca-Cola: Irial Finan to retire as EVP, President, Bottling Investments Group - The Coca-Cola Company announced that Irial Finan, a 36-year veteran of the Coca-Cola system, plans to retire from his post as Executive Vice President and President of Bottling Investments Group, or BIG. Calin Dragan, who currently serves as Regional Director for BIG's ASEAN and Middle East bottlers, will be promoted to lead BIG. Finan, who reports to President and CEO James Quincey, will retire March 31, 2018. He will step down from his current role on Dec. 31 and will remain with the company as executive advisor until his retirement. Dragan, who begins his new role as President of BIG on Jan. 1, 2018, is based in Singapore and will report to John Murphy, President of Coca-Cola's Asia Pacific Group. Dragan will oversee BIG operations globally. BIG, which will continue to play a significant role in contributing to Coca-Cola's overall growth, is now largely concentrated in the Asia Pacific region. The company continues to work toward refranchising Coca-Cola Beverages Africa, which is part of BIG. Dragan has 24 years of experience in the Coca-Cola system, including a succession of bottling leadership roles in Asia Pacific and Europe. Prior to his current role, he served as Representative Director and acting Chairman, President and CEO for Coca-Cola East Japan.

06:32 EDT ChromaDex: Published research shows nicotinamide riboside improves memory - ChromaDex announced that in research published in the journal Nature, Dr. Johan Auwerx showed that Alzheimer's disease mice treated with nicotinamide riboside had lower levels of amyloid deposits, improved mitochondrial energy production and improved memory.

06:06 EDT Univar acquires Kemetyl Industrial Chemicals - Univar announced that its wholly owned subsidiaries Univar AB in Sweden and Univar AS in Norway have reached an agreement to acquire Kemetyl Industrial Chemicals, a division of the Kemetyl Group. The company generates approximately $30M in annual sales. The acquisition is expected to close in early 2018.

06:02 EDT Synlogic, Ginkgo Bioworks announce collaboration - Ginkgo Bioworks and Synlogic announced a collaboration to discover new living medicines to treat neurological and liver disorders. Synthetic Biotic medicines are living medicines in which engineered probiotics are designed to perform critical metabolic conversions in the gut that can replace physiological activity missing or damaged in patients. Together, Synlogic and Ginkgo aim to transform the discovery and design of living medicines. Ginkgo's automated foundry and expertise in high-throughput organism screening and design, combined with Synlogic's insights and expertise in discovery, translational and clinical development of Synthetic Biotic medicines will enhance Synlogic's powerful drug discovery engine, enabling iteration through thousands of drug leads with great speed and precision. Synlogic's core expertise in building Synthetic Biotic medicines for clinically-relevant potency, quantitative pharmacology, dose response, and reproducible manufacturing will further accelerate the development of novel gut-based therapeutics. This collaboration is the first step toward an anticipated broad effort to generate a portfolio of transformational living medicine drug leads. The focus of this collaboration will be combining optimization capabilities, establishing the working model behind the joint discovery engine, and generating drug leads. The parties expect to further collaborate to explore how their technologies can be used to treat a broad range of neurological and liver conditions. The companies will jointly seek strategic partners for portfolio expansion, clinical development, and commercialization in these disease areas. Financial terms of the collaboration are not disclosed.

06:01 EDT TE Connectivity announces additional $1.5B share repurchase - TE Connectivity announced that its board has authorized an increase in its share repurchase program by an additional $1.5B.

05:57 EDT Qualcomm, Baidu form AI partnership to optimize DuerOS for Snapdragon - Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm (QCOM), and Baidu (BIDU) yesterday announced that the companies will work together to optimize Baidu's DuerOS conversational artificial intelligence system for smartphones on the Qualcomm Snapdragon Mobile Platform, including the upcoming Snapdragon 845 Mobile Platform. This strategic collaboration will utilize both parties' experience and expertise in AI to optimize DuerOS with the Qualcomm Aqstic hardware and software, to support a complete AI voice and smart assistant solution for global smartphone and Internet of Things devices. This collaboration aims to support the availability of optimized DuerOS reference application for upcoming software releases on Snapdragon mobile platforms giving OEMs the ability to deliver AI voice solutions on their devices with improved user experience and faster time-to-market.

05:34 EDT Himax 'strongly' denies Citron Research allegations of fraud - Himax Technologies responded to a tweet published by Citron Research, an online stock commentary blog, dated December 6. The company reaffirms its commitment to transparent and reliable shareholder communication, and its adherence to the highest standards of corporate governance. Himax cautions investors that Citron Research has never made any contacts with the company and that the tweet did not contain any input from the company. Himax categorically denies any and all allegations of fraud. "Himax welcomes an open dialogue with any and all shareholders," said Jordan Wu, President and CEO of Himax. "The accusations made by Citron Research are baseless and both the management team and board of directors strongly disagree with their comments."

05:28 EDT Exponent announces 2018 succession plan, names Dr. Catherine Ford Corrigan CEO - Exponen announced that its board intends to appoint Exponent's President, Dr. Catherine Ford Corrigan as its CEO and President at its board meeting following the annual shareholder meeting on May 31, 2018. Exponent's current CEO, Dr. Paul Johnston is expected to become Chairman of the board at that time. In addition, to assist in the transition, he will continue in an executive role on a half-time basis for twelve months. Exponent's current Chairman of the board, Michael Gaulke, is planning to retire and will not stand for re-election in 2018. Additionally, Exponent's board intends to appoint Dr. John Shoven as Lead Independent Director in May. Dr. Corrigan joined Exponent 21 years ago and has assumed increasingly responsible positions over time.