Stockwinners Market Radar for February 07, 2018 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

18:55 EDT Trump supports bipartisan budget agreement - U.S. president Donald Trump tweeted that he supports the bipartisan Senate budget agreement, which he claims is "so important for our great Military." "Republicans and Democrats must support our troops and support this Bill!" the president tweeted. Reference Link

18:48 EDT Tesla CEO Musk: President of Global Sales and Service Jonathan McNeill to leave - Says McNeill to take COO job at Lyft.

18:06 EDT Tesla CEO Musk says understanding of manufacturing has 'improved dramatically' - Says optimistic on long term gross margin on Model 3, Model Y.

17:48 EDT Tesla CEO Musk says no active/passive search for new CEO - Says expects to be CEO for the immediate future.

17:31 EDT AAR Corp announcesJV with Indamer in India - AAR announced a joint venture with Indamer Aviation, a leading aviation company in India, for the development of a new airframe maintenance, repair and overhaul facility in Nagpur, India. The new MRO facility, which is already under construction, will initially be comprised of six narrow-body bays, including one bay for paint. Additional phases are planned for a total of 16 bays, as well as component repair shops. The MRO will serve India's fast-growing commercial aviation market and is scheduled to open in the fall with FAA, EASA and DGCA certifications. Fully aligned with the 'Make In India' initiative, the facility will employ Indian nationals, including some of the existing Indamer workforce. A training school under Indamer's CAR 147 certification and the Government of India's Skill Development Program will allow hundreds of students to gain skill sets and employment in Nagpur. The initial group of students will receive practical training at one of AAR's MRO facilities in the United States.

17:30 EDT CME Group increases quarterly dividend 6% to 70c per share - CME Group declared a Q1 dividend of 70c per share, a 6% increase from the prior rate of 66c per share. The dividend is payable March 26 to shareholders of record as of March 9.

17:27 EDT On The Fly: After Hours Movers - UP AFTER EARNINGS: Infinera (INFN), up 18.6%... Digital Turbine (APPS), up 11.4%... Synaptics (SYNA), up 6.5%... CSRA (CSRA), up 2.9%... Fiserv (FISV), up 2.5%... Prudential Financial (PRU), up 1.6%. ALSO HIGHER: Gain Capital (GCAP), up 7.5% after it reported that January retail active accounts rose 6.3% year-over-year... athenahealth (ATHN), up 0.9% after it named former GE (GE) CEO Jeff Immelt as chairman of its board of directors. DOWN AFTER EARNINGS: iRobot (IRBT), down 20.5%... Lannett (LCI), down 12.3%... Inphi (IPHI), down 10.8%... TTM Technologies (TTMI), down 9.2%... Yelp (YELP), down 4.9%... Take-Two (TTWO), down 3.5%... O'Reilly Automotive (ORLY), down 1.2%. ALSO LOWER: Everspin Technologies (MRAM), down 12.4% after it filed to sell common stock and after it provided preliminary Q4 revenue... MediciNova (MNOV), down 4.8% after it announced a common stock offering... Eversource Energy (ES), down 3.3% after it raised its quarterly dividend 6.3%.

17:23 EDT CF Industries acquires all outstanding 4.6M shares of Terra Nitrogen for $390M - CF Industries Holding (CF) announced that its wholly owned subsidiary Terra Nitrogen GP has elected to exercise its right to purchase all of the 4,612,562 publicly traded common units of Terra Nitrogen Company (TNH) on April 2, 2018, for a cash purchase price of $84.033 per unit in accordance with the terms of TNCLP's partnership agreement. As of the April 2, 2018, purchase date, all rights of the holders of the units will terminate, with the exception of the right to receive payment of the purchase price. The purchase price of $84.033 per unit was determined under the terms of TNCLP's partnership agreement as the average of the daily closing prices per common unit for the 20 consecutive trading days beginning with January 5, 2018 and ending with February 2, 2018. The estimated purchase price of all of the 4,612,562 publicly traded common units of TNCLP is approximately $390 million. CF intends to fund the purchase with cash on hand.

17:13 EDT JD.com com launches Australia & New Zealand regional office - E-commerce giant JD.com announced the opening of a local office in Australia as it accelerates growth in the region.The Australia and New Zealand regional headquarters will be based in the heart of Melbourne's business district in Collins Street and already has staff on the ground. JD.com will offer Australian and New Zealand brands and retailers access to its 266.3 million active users and reach to more than 900 million consumers through JD's exclusive partnership with Tencent, owner of the hugely successful social networking platform WeChat.

17:12 EDT Oshkosh awarded $476.2M U.S. Army contract - Oshkosh Defense has been awarded a $476,200,000 hybrid contract to procure the Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles A2. Bids were solicited via the Internet with two received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Feb. 7, 2022.

17:01 EDT Manulife Financial raises quarterly dividend by 7% to 22c - The dividend is payable on and after March 19, 2018 to shareholders of record at the close of business on February 21, 2018.

17:00 EDT Crestline reduces stake in Juno Therapeutics to 4.7%

16:58 EDT Goldman Sachs reports 5.2% passive stake in Key Energy

16:54 EDT Yelp does not expect material benefits from tax changes in 2018 - Comments from Q4 earnings call.

16:52 EDT State Bank Financial increases quarterly dividend 43% - The board of State Bank Financial Corporation declared a quarterly dividend of 20c per common share payable on March 13 to the common stock shareholders of record as of March 5. The dividend represents an increase of 6c per common share, or 43%, over the dividend paid in the previous quarter.

16:50 EDT Yelp can achieve 'strong growth' in advertising accounts in 2018 - Says giving advertisers more control over their ads. Says contract terms are offering more flexibility and Yelp is seeing uptick in activity. Comments from Q4 earnings call.

16:49 EDT Flowers Foods targets additional gross savings of $38M-$48M in 2018 - The company continues to execute on its strategic priorities established under Project Centennial. During the fourth quarter, Flowers began transitioning to the new organizational model that includes enhanced focus on brand growth and operating efficiency. The company expects the organizational model to be fully implemented in fiscal 2019. The company also finalized its fiscal 2018 brand investment plans, which includes new internal capabilities intended to deliver innovative products that offer consumers a meaningful point of difference. As part of Project Centennial, the company achieved gross cost savings of $32 million in fiscal 2017, primarily from reductions in spending on purchased goods and services. The company is targeting additional gross savings in fiscal 2018 of $38 million to $48 million. This target reflects further savings through PG&S, as well as from a more efficient and productive organizational structure, continuous improvement, supply chain optimization, and improved ordering and stale reduction initiatives.

16:47 EDT GAIN Capital reports January retail active accounts up 6.3% y-o-y to 132,783 - Reports January OTC trading volume up 18.6% y-o-y to $210.0M, up 52.2% sequentially. Reports January retail OTC Average Daily Volume up 0.4% sequentially, up 6.3% y-o-y to $11.3M.

16:43 EDT O'Reilly Automotive Q4 comparable store sales increase 1.3% - Comparable store sales increased 1.3% for Q4, on top of 4.8% for the same period one year ago. Comparable store sales increased 1.4% for FY17, on top of 4.8% for the same period one year ago.

16:41 EDT Broadridge raises employee pay, expands benefits - Broadridge Financial announced several enhancements to employee pay and benefits. These changes include an increase in minimum wage, an increase to non-management associate FY18 bonuses, greater work-life balance initiatives and higher charitable giving match. Strong company growth coupled with recent tax law changes inspired senior leadership to implement these enhancements. Specifically, Broadridge is implementing the following enhancements:The minimum hourly wage will increase this year to $15 per hour. This year's World Class Service Bonus will be $1,750 at target for hourly non-management associates, who make up more than half our workforce. A package of enhanced benefits, including expanding Parental Leave benefits; raising the company charitable giving annual match to $3,000; and increasing vacation days for associates who have worked at Broadridge for fewer than five years. Broadridge compensates every associate based on client satisfaction irrespective of financial results, and these changes will increase that bonus this year by 40% for non-management associates.

16:39 EDT Yelp reports Q4 cumulative reviews up 23% from last year - Cumulative reviews grew 23% year over year to approximately 148 million. App unique devices grew 20% year over year to approximately 29 million on a monthly average basis. Paying advertising accounts grew 21% year over year to approximately 163,000.

16:33 EDT Yum China reports Q4 Yum China restaurant margin improved to 11.3% - For the quarter, Yum China restaurant margin improved 0.3 percentage points to 11.3%, primarily attributable to the same-store sales leverage and margin expansion at KFC, partially offset by investment in product upgrades at Pizza Hut. For the year, Yum China restaurant margin improved 1.5 percentage points to 16.8%, primarily driven by same-store sales leverage and aided by the impact of retail tax structure reform, partially offset by wage inflation of 7% and promotion costs.

16:33 EDT ILG subsidiary signs affiliation pact with D'Monaco - Interval International, a prominent worldwide provider of vacation services and an operating business of ILG, announced the affiliation of D'Monaco Private Residence Club just minutes from Branson, Missouri. The Mediterranean-style, gated property offers a prime location overlooking Table Rock Lake, one of the area's leading attractions.

16:31 EDT Yum China opened 339 new restaurants during Q4

16:31 EDT Yum China reports Q4 SSS up 5% - Same-store sales grew 5%, with an increase of 7% at KFC and 1% at Pizza Hut. Total system sales grew 9%, including growth of 11% at KFC and 6% at Pizza Hut, excluding foreign currency translation.

16:27 EDT Tallgrass Equity acquires 25.01% membership in REX pipeline - Tallgrass Energy GP (TEGP) and Tallgrass Energy Partners (TEP) announced that Tallgrass Equity, LLC, a subsidiary of TEGP, has acquired a 25.01% membership interest in Rockies Express Pipeline LLC and 5,619,218 TEP common units from Tallgrass Development, LP. The companies also announced that TEP has acquired a 2 percent membership interest in Tallgrass Pony Express Pipeline, LLC and other administrative assets from TD. In addition, Tallgrass announced it is beginning an evaluation of potential reorganization alternatives involving TEGP and TEP. On Feb. 7, 2018, TD merged into a wholly owned subsidiary of Tallgrass Equity. As a result, Tallgrass Equity acquired a 25.01 percent membership interest in REX and 5,619,218 TEP common units. In consideration, TEGP and Tallgrass Equity issued 27,554,785 unregistered TEGP Class B shares and Tallgrass Equity units valued at approximately $644.8 million based on the TEGP closing price on Feb. 6, 2018. The equity issued by TEGP and Tallgrass Equity was based on a discounted 30-day volume-weighted average price of TEGP Class A shares. The 25.01 percent REX membership interest was valued at approximately $400 million and the 5,619,218 TEP common units were valued at approximately $256.2 million based on a 30-day volume-weighted average price. Management intends to recommend to the board of directors of TEGP's general partner that TEGP increase its quarterly distributions for the first and second quarters of 2018 by an aggregate of approximately $0.12 ($0.48 annualized) per class A share, which would be an increase of approximately 33 percent as compared to the quarterly distribution declared for the fourth quarter of 2017. Effective Feb. 1, 2018, TEP acquired a 2 percent membership interest in Pony Express and administrative assets -- primarily information technology assets -- from TD for cash consideration of approximately $60 million. TEP funded the transaction with borrowings under its revolving credit facility. Tallgrass is evaluating potential reorganization transactions that could, among other things, streamline and simplify TEP and TEGP's organizational structure, improve its equity cost of capital, improve its debt cost of capital and facilitate financing of its current and future growth opportunities. Management expects that the evaluation process and any resulting transaction or transactions could potentially be completed by the end of 2018, although the process is ongoing and no decision to pursue a particular alternative has been reached. Tallgrass does not intend to disclose further developments with respect to the evaluation process except to the extent that a specific course of action is approved, the process is concluded, or it is required by law or otherwise deemed appropriate.

16:25 EDT FormFactor announces retirement of CFO Michael Ludwig - FormFactor announced that its Chief Financial Officer, Michael Ludwig, has notified the company of his plans to retire. Ludwig will continue to serve as FormFactor's CFO through March 2, directing the company's financial operations. A search for a replacement CFO is underway. To support an orderly transition to a new CFO, Ludwig will be assisting the company after his retirement date, the company said.

16:24 EDT Donaldson estimates impact from tax reform - Donaldson expects its second quarter 2018 results will include a provisional charge of approximately $110 million, or $0.83 per share, related to the deemed repatriation of undistributed foreign earnings, to be paid over eight years and a provisional charge of approximately $2 million, or $0.02 per share, related to the re-measurement of Donaldson's net deferred tax assets. Additionally, the company estimates the net impact from the TCJA will lower the full-year 2018 effective tax rate by approximately 1 percentage point, reflecting a partial-year benefit from the U.S. corporate tax rate reduction that is largely offset by a negative impact from foreign withholding tax and other matters related to the TCJA. Longer term, Donaldson expects an annual effective tax rate between 24% and 28%.

16:22 EDT Allstate reports Q4 catastrophe losses $599M

16:21 EDT Black Knight appoints Anthony Jabbour as CEO, effective April 1 - Black Knight announced that Anthony Jabbour will assume the role as the company's CEO on April 1. Current CEO Tom Sanzone will become the company's vice chairman of the board and will assist with the transition.

16:18 EDT Eversource raises quarterly dividend by 6.3% to 50.5c per share - The Board of Trustees of Eversource Energy approved a quarterly dividend of $0.505 per share, payable on March 30, 2018, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on March 6, 2018.

16:17 EDT FormFactor CFO Michael Ludwig to retire - FormFactor announced that its DFO, Michael Ludwig, has notified the company of his plans to retire. Ludwig will continue to serve as FormFactor's CFO through March 2, directing the company's financial operations. A search for a replacement CFO is underway. To support an orderly transition to our new CFO, Ludwig will be assisting the company after his retirement date.

16:15 EDT InfuSystem interim CFO Christopher Downs to leave at end of current quarter - InfuSystem announced that its interim CFO, Christopher Downs, has informed the Company of his decision to resign his position with the Company, effective March 31. Downs resignation does not reflect any dispute or disagreement with the Company, nor does it relate to any issues with respect to the Company's financial performance. Downs has agreed to continue in his position as interim CFO until the end of the current quarter in order to assist the Company with the preparation and reporting of its annual financial statements. Following Downs's departure, Trent Smith, CPA, InfuSystem's executive vice president, corporate controller and chief accounting officer will assume Downs's responsibilities as treasurer and principal financial officer. The Company will immediately begin a search for a new CFO.

16:13 EDT Tesla sees Model S and Model X deliveries of about 100,000 in 2018 - Tesla said: "2018 will be a transformative year for Tesla, with a high level of operational scaling. As we ramp production of both Model 3 and our energy products while keeping tight control of operating expenses, our quarterly operating income should turn sustainably positive at some point in 2018. We expect Model S and Model X deliveries to be approximately 100,000 in total, constrained by the supply of cells with the old 18650 form factor. As our sales network continues to expand to new markets in 2018, we believe orders should continue to grow. With demand outpacing production, we plan to optimize the options mix in order to maximize gross margin. As stated above, we continue to target a weekly Model 3 production rate of 2,500 by the end of Q1 and 5,000 by the end of Q2. Also, we are focused on achieving our target of 25% gross margin for Model 3 after our production stabilizes at 5,000 cars per week. We expect energy storage products to experience significant growth, with our aim to at least triple our sales this year. We expect energy generation and storage gross margin to improve significantly in 2018 as we enter the year with a backlog of higher-margin commercial solar projects and a more profitable energy storage business due to manufacturing efficiencies from scaling."

16:12 EDT pSivida Durasert study maintains positive efficacy, safety profile at 12 months - -- pSivida announced that results from the Company's second Phase 3 trial for Durasert three-year treatment for posterior segment uveitis confirmed a significant reduction in uveitis recurrence rate at 12 months. The study involved 153 patients with posterior segment uveitis and the primary endpoint was prevention of recurrence of posterior uveitis at six months with patients continuing to be followed for 36 months. "The continued positive efficacy and safety data for Durasert, now confirmed in two separate Phase 3 studies at both six and 12 months, is encouraging for patients that are suffering from posterior segment uveitis," commented by Glenn J. Jaffe, M.D., Chief, Division of Retinal Ophthalmology, Duke University, and a primary clinical investigator in the phase 3 program. "While today's standard of care treatment options are mainly directed at controlling flares, Durasert is designed to help prevent flares for up to three years with a single injection administered in an office setting." "As we await the US Food and Drug Administration's decision on acceptance of our New Drug Applicationsubmitted in January, we are solidifying our go-to-market plan," added Nancy Lurker, President and CEO of pSivida. "We continue to receive highly positive feedback from specialists regarding Durasert three year for posterior segment uveitis, which bolsters our team's confidence that there will be strong interest to treat patients dealing with this devastating disease, which is the third leading cause of blindness, pending a favorable regulatory review."

16:11 EDT Forrester raises quarterly dividend 5% to 20c from 19c per share - Payable March 21 to shareholders of record on March 7.

16:11 EDT Tesla still targets weekly Model 3 production rates of 2,500 by end Q1 - Tesla said: "We continue to target weekly Model 3 production rates of 2,500 by the end of Q1 and 5,000 by the end of Q2. It is important to note that while these are the levels we are focused on hitting and we have plans in place to achieve them, our prior experience on the Model 3 ramp has demonstrated the difficulty of accurately forecasting specific production rates at specific points in time. What we can say with confidence is that we are taking many actions to systematically address bottlenecks and add capacity in places like the battery module line where we have experienced constraints, and these actions should result in our production rate significantly increasing during the rest of Q1 and through Q2."

16:09 EDT CSG Systems raises quarterly dividend by 6% o 21c per share - CSG announced that its board approved an approximately 6% increase in the company's cash dividend, effective with the first quarterly payment in 2018 of $0.21 per share of common stock to be paid on March 29, 2018 for shareholders of record as of the close of business on March 14, 2018.

16:07 EDT Forrester raises stock repurchase program by $50M - The company announced that its board of directors authorized a $50M increase in the company's stock repurchase program, bringing the total available repurchase authorization to approximately $70M.

16:05 EDT athenahealth appoints Jeff Immelt as chairman of board - athenahealth (ATHN) announced that its board has unanimously appointed Jeff Immelt, former GE (GE) chairman and CEO, as chairman of athenahealth, effective February 7. Immelt is recognized for advancing digitization across industries, in particular for driving the first wave of digitization across healthcare enterprises and the healthcare industry at large.

16:03 EDT Fiserv to sell majority share of Lending Solutions unit to Warburg Pincus - Fiserv announced a definitive agreement to sell the majority share of its Lending Solutions business to Warburg Pincus LL. The company will retain a 45 percent interest in the newly formed joint venture, which will include all of Fiserv's automotive loan origination and servicing products, as well as our LoanServ platform.

16:02 EDT OraSure reports Q4 EPS 12c, consensus 11c - Reports Q4 revenue $52M, consensus $47.8M.

15:57 EDT Alon USA Partners trading resumes

15:31 EDT Walter Investment to change name to Ditech after emerging from bankruptcy - Walter Investment Management, as previously announced, received approval of its prepackaged financial restructuring plan from the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York on January 17. The company announced that it currently anticipates that all remaining conditions precedent to the Prepackaged Plan will be satisfied and that the company will emerge from Chapter 11 on February 9. Assuming the company emerges on February 9, trading in the company's new common stock will commence on February 12. The company intends to change its name to Ditech Holding Corporation (DHCP) on the effective date and will trade under the symbol "DHCP" thereafter.

15:00 EDT Swiss Re confirms preliminary talks with SoftBank regarding investment - Swiss Re (SSREY) informs that it is engaged in preliminary discussions with SoftBank Group (SFTBF) regarding a potential minority investment in Swiss Re. "Discussions are at a very early stage. There is no certainty that any transaction will be agreed, nor as to the terms, timing, or form of any transaction," Swiss Re stated in its announcement.

14:57 EDT Union Pacific reports on progress with positive train control implementation - Union Pacific said it continues to make strides implementing positive train control. The company anticipates it will make all required deadlines for installing PTC on its network. As allowed by federal law, Union Pacific will continue to test and refine the immature technologies comprising the system in 2019-20. "Union Pacific's PTC footprint is the largest of all North American railroads, encompassing more than 17,000 route miles, roughly 55% more miles than the next largest railroad. Union Pacific is in regular contact with the Federal Railroad Administration officials regarding its PTC progress. Installing and implementing PTC across the U.S. rail network is costly and complex...Union Pacific's fourth quarter accomplishments included: Preparing 33 additional track segments for PTC operations, bringing the total number of track segments to 168 (92 percent complete); Educating more than 2,700 additional employees on PTC operations, bringing the total number of employees trained to about 19,400 (75 percent); Increasing by nearly 2,500 the number of route miles in PTC operation, bringing the total number of route miles in PTC operations to 10,053 (59 percent)," the company said.

14:48 EDT Nest, Google Hardware to team up over home devices - Google said in a blog post that it is bringing the Nest and Google Hardware teams together to "create a more thoughtful home, one that takes care of the people inside it and the world around it." Since joining Google four years ago, Nest has doubled its hardware portfolio while Google has sold tens of millions of products for the home in just the last year, as more people use the Google Assistant to listen to their favorite music, control their connected devices, and get useful information about their day. Reference Link

14:33 EDT Towle & Co. reports 10.95% passive stake in Pier 1 Imports - In a regulatory filing, Towle & Co. disclosed a 10.95% stake in Pier 1 Imports, representing 8,722,580 shares. The filing does not allow for activism.

14:17 EDT Gilead's Biktarvy HIV combo receives FDA approval - Biktarvy is a three-drug combination of bictegravir, a human immunodeficiency virus type 1 integrase strand transfer inhibitor, and emtricitabine and tenofovir alafenamide, both HIV-1 nucleoside analog reverse transcriptase inhibitors, and was approved by the FDA as a complete regimen for the treatment of HIV-1 infection in adults who have no antiretroviral treatment history or to replace the current antiretroviral regimen in those who are virologically suppressed on a stable antiretroviral regimen for at least 3 months with no history of treatment failure and no known substitutions associated with resistance to the individual components of Biktarvy, according to a post to the agency's website. Reference Link

13:15 EDT Spirit Airlines tweets about partial outage on website - Reference Link

12:36 EDT Cooperman says AMC Networks shares could be worth $80 in takeover - Leon Cooperman of Omega Advisors, while speaking on CNBC, said shares of AMC Networks could be worth $80 in a takeout scenario.

12:21 EDT HealthEquity falls amid concerns on revenue outlook - Shares of health savings trustee HealthEquity (HQY) are falling today after reporting year-end sales metrics last night. The total number of HSAs for which it serves as a non-bank custodian as of January 31 was 3.4M, an increase of 24% from 2.7M as of January 31, 2017. Total custodial assets held by HSA Members as of January 31 was $6.8B, an increase of 35% from $5B a year earlier. BUSINESS OUTLOOK: For the year ended January 31, the company reaffirmed its previously provided outlook of revenue in the range of $225M-$228M against consensus estimates of $227.43M and earnings per share of 64c-66c versus a consensus of 66c. The company also provided fiscal year 2019 revenue guidance in the range of $274M to $280M. Analysts were forecasting FY19 revenue of $279.07M. ANALYST SEES REVENUE OUTLOOK LIGHT: In a note to investors out after the company's release last night, Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Steven Halper said the 2019 revenue outlook was "slightly below expectations." PRICE ACTION: Shares of HealthEquity are off their earlier lows of $47.23 but still struggling at midday, down 5% to $48.88 per share.

12:16 EDT Cooperman calls First Data a 'value' stock pick - Leon Cooperman of Omega Advisors is speaking on CNBC.

12:14 EDT Cooperman mentions United Continental as stock he likes - Leon Cooperman of Omega Advisors is speaking on CNBC.

11:46 EDT Iliad reports reports 7.6% passive stake in Inpixon

11:30 EDT CBOE Global Markets falls amid analyst concerns over VIX Futures - Shares of CBOE Global Markets (CBOE) are falling after a Tuesday sell-off amid swings in market volatility which saw the CBOE volatility index rise over 50. CBOE RESPONDS: CBOE defended its VIX volatility index after investors and analysts blamed exchange-traded products that aim to track the measure for worsening the wild trading in the stock market, the Financial Times reported Tuesday. "The markets were resilient...We were generally pleased with how [the VIX] acted in a very volatile and stressful time," said William Speth, CBOE VP of research and product development. "I think there are a lot of things going on here," he said. "Certainly the VIX ETPs are part of the mix, but the 800-pound gorilla has been these volatility control funds." MARKET "CLEARLY WORRIED": On Tuesday, Wells Fargo analyst Christopher Harris said that spikes in volatility would normally be seen as good for CBOE. However, given that the losses in the overcrowded trade of "short volatility" have been so severe, the market is "clearly worried" about the negative implications for future VIX volumes, which he believes is weighing on CBOE shares. While he cannot say how much of CBOE's volumes are tied to short volatility strategies, Harris said that if VIX related volumes were to go back to 2015 levels that would be 15% dilutive to his 2018 EPS estimate, adding that the recent selloff appears to be factoring in "quite a lot of downside." Harris has an Outperform rating on CBOE shares. On Wednesday, JPMorgan analyst Kenneth Worthington downgraded CBOE to Neutral from Overweight and cut his price target for the shares to $110 from $131. The liquidation and fall of various exchange traded notes represents a risk to VIX Futures volumes, likely bringing a reduction in VIX Futures trading activity looking over the next few months, Worthington wrote. He also sees some risk to volumes in VIX options and potential for a deterioration in CBOE's valuation as VIX has been a key growth driver for the company. Meanwhile, Goldman downgraded CBOE to Neutral from Buy and cut its price target to $115 from $140. Analyst Alexander Blostein said the unwind in the CBOE's VIX ETF products will likely weigh on the company's VIX futures franchise, creating headwinds to the firm's top-line growth and potentially the stock's valuation. The analyst added he continues to see longer-term growth prospects in the CBOE/BATS combination, but believes the shares may lag. CME UPGRADE: Goldman's Blostein also upgraded CME Group (CME) to Buy from Neutral and raised his price target to $180 from $160. Blostein expects CME's revenue growth to accelerate in 2018/19 amid significant growth in open interest and the increasing likelihood of normalization of volatility. The analyst expects the prospects of rising inflation expectations and normalization of volatility to drive product velocity higher over the next two years, adding to already to the healthy build-up in open interest. PRICE ACTION: CBOE Global Markets fell 3.2%, or $3.73, to $113.21, in morning trading. Meanwhile, CME Group is up 2.1% to $160.95.

11:21 EDT Trump claims new FBI texts are 'bombshells' - President Trump just tweeted, "NEW FBI TEXTS ARE BOMBSHELLS!" CNBC's Eamon Javers responded to the President's tweet with, "According to the official WH schedule, the president's intelligence briefing began 14 minutes ago in the Oval Office:"

11:18 EDT Yandex, Uber complete combination of ride-sharing businesses in Russia - Yandex and Uber announced that the merger of Yandex.Taxi and the Uber ride-sharing businesses in Russia and neighboring countries has closed. At closing, Uber invested $225M and Yandex invested $100M in cash in the combined company. The combined business has more than $400M in cash on hand at closing, with a combined company valuation in excess of $3.8B on a post money basis. The combined company is now held approximately 59.3% by Yandex, 36.9% by Uber, and 3.8% by employees of the group on a fully diluted basis. After the closing, consumers will be able to use both Yandex.Taxi and Uber apps, while the driver-side apps will be integrated. Uber will also contribute its UberEATS business in the region to the combined company.

10:48 EDT Multi-Color climbs on revenue beat, guidance - Shares of label solutions company Multi-Color Corporation (LABL) are rising after the company's quarterly revenue slightly exceeded analysts' expectations and provided better than expected guidance for fiscal 2018. EARNINGS: On Tuesday, the company reported third quarter earnings per share of 71c, missing analysts' estimates of 73c. Revenue of $352.7M narrowly beat the $351M consensus. Acquisitions occurring after the beginning of Q3 accounted for a 57% increase in revenues, net of the sale of the Southeast Asian Durables business. Organic revenues increased 7% and foreign exchange rates, primarily driven by appreciation of the Euro, led to a 3% increase in revenues quarter over quarter. EXECUTIVE COMMENTARY: "Our focus now is twofold. Firstly, maintaining stronger organic growth than in prior years; and secondly the performance of the Constantia Labels acquisition from October 31, 2017, especially given that our legacy operations are now past prior quarters significant inefficiencies," said executive chairman Nigel Vinecombe. GUIDANCE: On the Q3 earnings conference call, Vinecombe guided to FY18 revenue of $1.78B-$1.82B, higher than analysts' consensus of $1.74B. He said he expects challenges like lower synergies from the Constatia Labels acquisition to continue into Q4 but said the company expects to overcome "some poor execution issues" in the quarter and is "well placed" for FY19. "In addition, we believe that FY19 offers the opportunity for continued decent organic growth, in the 3%-5% range, and that we will experience better profit value from this growth than we have in 2018," he said, adding, "We also expect further synergy savings for FY20 from some limited number of small bank consolidation in FY19, and we also expect this will achieve previously announced $100M of free cash flow in FY19, which will give us an opportunity going forward to pay down debt in 2019 and beyond, and beyond 2019, subsequently start looking at acquisitions again." ANALYST COMMENTARY: On Tuesday, Hilliard Lyons analyst Spencer Joyce upgraded Multi-Color to a Long-Term Buy from Neutral with a $105 price target on the stock. Joyce said he is comfortable with the company's balance sheet and expects it to delever through FY19 in lieu of additional mergers and acquisition. The company's long-term accretion guidance for Constantia and its "constructive organic narrative" remains intact, the analyst said, which bolsters his view of longer-term risk/reward. Meanwhile, KeyBanc analyst Adam Josephson upgraded Multi-Color to Sector Weight citing valuation with the stock down 11% year-to-date. The stock has reached the analyst's downside price target of $67. However, on Wednesday, BMO Capital analyst Mark Wilde lowered his price target on Multi-Color to $75 and kept his Market Perform rating after the Q3 earnings miss. The analyst said the company was hit with a number of issues with Constantia -- " lower mix, higher amortization, lower synergies, and operating inefficiencies" -- and believes it will not be able to make its FY18 EPS target of $3.80-$3.90. He added that he remains on the sidelines as the company's execution continues to be "uneven." PRICE ACTION: Shares of Multi-Color Corporation are up 2.4%, or $1.60, to $68.30 in morning trading.

10:40 EDT Supervalu exploring sale-leaseback for over 18M square feet of real estate - Supervalu (SVU) says "The Board and management team continuously and carefully evaluate the company's capital allocation and assets. The company owns over 18 million square feet of real estate that currently provides operational and financial flexibility. The company has publicly stated it is exploring a sale-leaseback for a portion of this real estate with an emphasis on its distribution center properties. Any such transaction must allow for the continued operational and financial flexibility of the company's logistics network. CBRE, Inc. (CBG) has been retained to assist with the evaluation and marketing process, and any proceeds would be used to reduce outstanding debt."

10:37 EDT Corning increases quarterly dividend 16% to 18c per share - Corning's board declared a quarterly dividend of 18c per share, a 16% increase in the company's quarterly common stock dividend. The Q1 dividend is payable on March 29 to shareholders of record on February 28.

10:37 EDT Realty Income mentioned cautiously by Spruce Point Capital

10:35 EDT Supervalu says 'substantial transformation underway'

10:30 EDT Roku, Samsung smart TVs vulnerable to hacking, Consumer Reports says - Consumer Reports has found that millions of smart TVs can be controlled by hackers exploiting easy-to-find security flaws. The problems affect Samsung (SSNLF) televisions, along with models made by TCL and other brands that use the Roku (ROKU) TV smart-TV platform, as well as streaming devices such as the Roku Ultra. According to Consumer Reports, "We found that a relatively unsophisticated hacker could change channels, play offensive content, or crank up the volume, which might be deeply unsettling to someone who didn't understand what was happening. This could be done over the web, from thousands of miles away. (These vulnerabilities would not allow a hacker to spy on the user or steal information.) The findings were part of a broad privacy and security evaluation, led by Consumer Reports, of smart TVs from top brands that also included LG, Sony (SNE), and Vizio. The testing also found that all these TVs raised privacy concerns by collecting very detailed information on their users. Consumers can limit the data collection. But they have to give up a lot of the TVs' functionality-and know the right buttons to click and settings to look for." It continued, "We discovered flaws in sets from TCL and Samsung. The TCL vulnerability applies to devices running the Roku TV platform-including sets from other companies such Hisense, Hitachi, Insignia, Philips, RCA, and Sharp-as well as some of Roku's own streaming media players, such as the Ultra." Reference Link

10:05 EDT Trump says market going down on good news is 'big mistake' - President Trump just tweeted, "In the 'old days,' when good news was reported, the Stock Market would go up. Today, when good news is reported, the Stock Market goes down. Big mistake, and we have so much good (great) news about the economy!"

10:04 EDT Weight Watchers jumps 7.8% to $68.00 as company unveils three-year goals

10:03 EDT Weight Watchers to remove artificial ingredients from products under WW brand

10:03 EDT Weight Watchers to offer free memberships to teenagers in summer 2018

10:01 EDT Dunkin' Brands to eliminate polystyrene foam cups by 2020 - Dunkin' Donuts announced plans to eliminate all polystyrene foam cups in its global supply chain beginning in spring 2018, with a targeted completion date of 2020. In U.S. restaurants, Dunkin' Donuts will replace the foam cup with a new, double-walled paper cup. The majority of Dunkin' Donuts' international markets are currently using paper cups, and the brand will work with its franchisees to eliminate foam cups from the remaining international markets by the 2020 goal.

09:34 EDT Humana says targeting debt-to-capital ratio of 30%-35%

09:31 EDT Pointer Telocation announces fleet management contract with Fibria in Brazil - Pointer Telocation (PNTR) announced winning of an important fleet management contract in Brazil with Fibria (FBR), a publically listed Brazilian company and a producer of hardwood pulp. Its Tres Lagoas unit in Mato Grosso do Sol, deployed Pointer's Salvador telemetry solution, to manage truck drivers transporting wood to the manufacturing plant.

09:23 EDT Humana says sees effective FY18 tax rate 32.5%-33.5% - Says "We will continue to target individual Medicare Advantage pretax margins of 4.5%-5.0% over time." Comments from Q4 earnings conference call.

09:15 EDT Biostar Pharmaceuticals' Shaanxi Aoxing Pharmaceutical renews GMP certification - Biostar Pharmaceuticals' variable interest entity in China, Shaanxi Aoxing Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. ("Aoxing"), has renewed its Good Manufacturing Practices certificate and Pharmaceutical Production License. The company expects that the GMP certification renewal will allow it to resume our production in the coming months.

09:13 EDT Associated Banc-Corp announces leadership changes - Associated Banc-Corp announced changes involving its executive committee. Matthew Braeger, currently Associated's executive vice president and deputy chief audit executive, has been promoted to executive vice president and chief audit executive. Braeger joined Associated in 2013 as senior vice president and audit director. He has more than 17 years' of audit experience, primarily in banking technology and financial services. Braeger succeeds Patrick Derpinghaus as he plans to retire on March 1. Nicole Kitowski, executive vice president and deputy chief risk officer, has been promoted to executive vice president and chief risk officer. Kitowski joined Associated in 1992 and has held leadership roles in consumer banking, operations and technology, and corporate risk. Kitowski succeeds Randall Erickson who will continue in his role as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary.

09:10 EDT Galmed granted 'Preferred Technological Enterprise' status - Galmed Pharmaceuticals announced that the Israeli Tax Authority has issued a tax ruling granting Galmed Research and Development Ltd. "Preferred Technological Enterprise" status, subject to the conditions and terms of the tax ruling. The grant of the status means that Galmed R&D will be subject to a reduced Israeli corporate tax rate that will range between 6%-12% on any future taxable "technological income" which includes sales, licenses and royalties from its IP protected products. Dividends distributed to non-Israeli resident corporate shareholders that hold at least 90% of Galmed R&D shares, would be generally subject to a withholding tax at a rate of up to 4%, and at a rate of up to 20% if otherwise. The tax ruling applies for five years until 2022 and may be extended for further periods subject to meeting certain requirements.

09:09 EDT DryShips announces up to $50M share repurchase authorization - DryShips announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program, under which the company may repurchase up to $50M of its outstanding common shares for a period of 12 months.

09:06 EDT Michael Kors: Accesories business expected to stablize, resume growth in future

09:05 EDT Michael Kors sees minimal impact from tax reform in FY18

09:05 EDT Michael Kors narrows store closure view for FY18 to 45-50 stores from 40-50

09:03 EDT Ticketmaster, NBA extend innovative ticketing partnership - Ticketmaster announced an extension of its ticketing partnership with the National Basketball Association. Ticketmaster will deliver leaguewide enhanced digital ticketing capabilities that improve the fan experience and create a more personalized in-venue experience. Such capabilities are already being utilized by several NBA teams. Ticketmaster will also continue to power NBATickets.com, the Official Resale Marketplace for the NBA, WNBA, and NBA G League, which lets fans easily and safely transfer and sell verified tickets. The NBA will continue to leverage expanded marketing services including leaguewide fan analytics designed to strengthen digital marketing efforts and reach fans on both a local and national level.

09:02 EDT Intel announces new Intel Xeon D-2100 processor - Intel introduced the new Intel Xeon D-2100 processor, a system-on-chip processor architected to address the needs of edge applications and other data center or network applications constrained by space and power. The Intel Xeon D-2100 processor extends the record-breaking performance and innovation of the Intel Xeon Scalable platform from the heart of the data center to the network edge and web tier, where network operators and cloud service providers face the need to continuously grow performance and capacity without increasing power consumption. Intel Xeon D-2100 processors will enable greater performance and hardware-enhanced security to the network edge in support of the growing number of workloads that demand more compute, analytics and data protection closer to endpoint devices. The new processors will also enable CoSPs to deliver higher-capacity workload-optimized networking services with enhanced performance at lower power in virtual customer premise equipment such as VPNs and encryption services. The Intel Xeon D-2100 processors include up to 18 "Skylake-server" generation Intel Xeon processor cores and integrated Intel QuickAssist Technology with up to 100 Gbps of built-in cryptography, decryption and encryption acceleration. In addition to those data protection enhancements, this product will be supported by system software updates to protect customers from the security exploits referred to as "Spectre" and "Meltdown."

09:01 EDT MoviePass says has generated $127.8M for select Oscar nominees since November - Helios and Matheson Analytics, a majority owner of MoviePass, announced as part of its continued efforts to drive movie theater attendance ahead of the Oscars, movie theater subscription service MoviePass deployed targeted promotions among its subscribers for a number of Oscar-nominated films. Just weeks before the big awards ceremony, MoviePass announced it has generated $128.7M for select film nominees since November 2017. In addition, last week, MoviePass contributed 5.7% to the total nationwide box office. Among the Oscar nominated films promoted by MoviePass are all of the Best Picture nominees, nominees for Best Animated Film, Best Foreign Film and other films featuring nominees for Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress.

08:55 EDT tronc announces a national digital strategy - With an enhanced balance sheet following the sale of the California News Group, tronc, Inc. is embarking on a national digital growth strategy through its newly reorganized Tribune Interactive division, which will operate the digital functions of the company, as well as pursue strategic growth investments and acquisitions, such as its newly announced majority ownership in high growth consumer reviews and e-commerce company, BestReviews. Tribune Interactive will be the home to tronc's digital assets and functions, including product development and engineering; digital subscriptions and marketing; the studios unit which is responsible for video, audio, and new content formats; national digital sales; and, digital corporate and business development. TI will also include syndication unit TCA and recently acquired, The Daily Meal. TI will launch, partner with, invest in and acquire digital businesses and accelerate growth of new digital and diversified revenue streams. The group will also continue to develop and distribute national digital content to each of the brands within tronc, as well as across affiliated web and mobile properties, partners and social platforms. TI will be led by newly reinstated executive Ross Levinsohn as CEO. Mickie Rosen will serve as President and Lewis D'Vorkin as Chief Content Officer, joined by Ben Gerst, as Chief Technology Officer; Mark Campbell, leading digital subscriptions and marketing; and, Rob Angel, leading corporate and business development. Following an independent investigation and a report to the Board of Directors finding no wrongdoing on the part of Mr. Levinsohn, the Board determined to reinstate Mr. Levinsohn and appoint him Chief Executive Officer of Tribune Interactive, LLC. Tribune Interactive will be based in Chicago, with offices in New York and Los Angeles, and will report to tronc, Inc. CEO Justin Dearborn.

08:53 EDT NRG Energy says capital allocation strategy has not changed - Comments from business update conference call.

08:51 EDT tronc sells Los Angeles Times, other CNG assets to Nant Capital for $500M - tronc announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell the Los Angeles Times, The San Diego Union-Tribune and various titles in the California News Group to Nant Capital, LLC, a private investment vehicle of California-based entrepreneur Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, for $500M in cash plus the assumption of $90M in pension liabilities. The portfolio being divested represented approximately $470M in net revenues for the twelve-month period ending Sept. 30, 2017, and approximately $73M of EBITDA, including the corporate cost allocation associated with the portfolio.

08:50 EDT Abeona Therapeutics reports initial safety, biopotency signals in MPS IIIB trial - Abeona Therapeutics reported preliminary 30-Day safety and biopotency signals from the first patient dosed in the company's ongoing Phase 1/2 trial for ABO-101, a gene therapy treatment for patients with MPS IIIB, enrolling at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. The ABO-101 therapy involves a single intravenous injection of AAV gene therapy for subjects with MPS IIIB, a rare autosomal recessive disease causing neurocognitive decline, speech and mobility loss, and premature death. Abeona plans to enroll a total of three patients in Cohort 1 before dose-escalating to the Cohort 2 dose.

08:49 EDT Alon USA Partners trading halted, news dissemination

08:39 EDT KAR Auction acquires STRATIM - KAR Auction Services announced the acquisition of mobility and fleet management software company STRATIM. The addition of STRATIM supplements KAR's broad portfolio of wholesale used vehicle physical, online and digital auction marketplaces and ancillary service providers. The acquisition also expands the company's presence into the rapidly growing market of on-demand car and ride sharing services, urban commute providers and autonomous vehicles. STRATIM will maintain its current headquarters in San Francisco, and will be part of KAR's digital services group. Sean Behr assumes the role of STRATIM's president.

08:35 EDT Therapix Biosciences given FDA approval to continue THX-110 development - Therapix Biosciences has held a pre-Investigational New Drug pre-IND communication with the FDA to discuss the regulatory pathway for the development of THX-110 for the treatment of Tourette Syndrome. The IND for THX-110 will not require any additional nonclinical data to support a phase IIb study in the the U.S. The company intends to submit the a NDA via the 505(b) pathway and expects to evaluate THX-110 in a phase IIb clinical study in Q2.

08:34 EDT Berry Global boosts FY18 cash flow from ops view to $1.007B - Berry Global said: "Given the completion of our Clopay acquisition and recent tax reform, we have increased our fiscal year 2018 cash flow from operations and adjusted free cash flow to $1.007B and $630M, respectively. Additionally, our fiscal 2018 capital spending and cash interest costs are forecasted to be $340Mand $250M, respectively. Within our adjusted free cash flow guidance, we are also assuming a working capital use of $40M and cash taxes to be $160M, including the $37M payment made in the first fiscal quarter under the company's tax receivable agreement, along with other cash uses of $50M related to items such as acquisition integration expenses and costs to achieve synergies."

08:32 EDT Alliance MMA names Robert Mazzeo as acting CEO, effective immediately - Alliance MMA announced that Robert L. Mazzeo has been appointed as the company's acting CEO effective immediately. Paul K. Danner III, the company's former CEO, provided formal notice of his intent to pursue other career opportunities at the expiration of his employment agreement with the company on May 1, 2018. Until that time, the company's expects that he will serve as a senior advisor to management and other members of the Board of Directors with the goal of effecting a smooth and orderly transition prior to his departure.

08:31 EDT AT&T to explore IPO of minority interest in DIRECTV Latin America - AT&T announced that it is exploring an initial public offering of a minority interest in its Latin America entertainment services business, DIRECTV Latin America, in the first half of 2018. The company has confidentially filed a registration statement with U.S. regulators. No assurance can be given that an IPO will be completed.

08:27 EDT Remark Holdings 'firmly rejects, denies' false allegations made by J Capital - Remark Holdings both firmly rejects and denies the numerous false allegations made by J Capital Research analyst Anne Stevenson-Yang in a report published yesterday. "The claims made in the J Capital Report are completely false and unsubstantiated," stated Kai-Shing Tao, Chairman and CEO of Remark Holdings. "It's unfortunate that we have to even respond to such baseless accusations, but we believe it is necessary to prevent this cowardly attack from creating further damage to Remark's strong, hard-won reputation as a global technology leader. With this now behind us, we will continue focusing on the more important matters of our business. We greatly appreciate the confidence and support shown by our shareholders and remain dedicated to creating long-term value in the months and years ahead. We look forward to discussing the progress of our AI platform and our continued revenue growth on our next earnings release."

08:22 EDT Didi Chuxing launches electric car sharing platform - Didi Chuxing launched its car-sharing platform, partnering with automakers, new energy transportation infrastructure operators and after-sales service providers, to build an open new energy car-sharing system for the future. The network of strategic partners now includes 12 top automakers including BAIC BJEV, BYD, Chang'an Automobile Group, Chery Automobile Group, Dongfeng Passenger Vehicle, First Auto Works, Geely Auto, Hawtai Motor, JAC Motors, KIA Motors, Renault (RSNDF)-Nissan (NSANY)-Mitsubishi, and Zotye Auto. DiDi hopes to leverage on its AI strengths and national network to empower the entire automotive industry chain. The company's world-leading data analytics capabilities enable smarter network management based on dynamic understanding of user distribution and attributes. Under the partnership, DiDi will open its platform to automakers' own sharing services. The platform will introduce to individuals and corporate partners not only diversified models from automakers, but also auto-related finance and insurance services. In addition to automakers, DiDi will also work closely with other car-sharing services, rental companies, infrastructure operators and after-sales service providers. DiDi believes the new program will reduce cost and enhance efficiency for the entire industry chain by integrating resources from cars, capital, parking spaces, charging points and refueling stations, to auto-maintenance and repair services in a new, open ecosystem of collaboration. Reference Link

08:16 EDT Omnicom names Wendy Clark Global President and CEO of DDB Worldwide - Omnicom Group President and CEO John Wren announced the appointment of Wendy Clark as President and CEO of DDB Worldwide. Clark succeeds Chuck Brymer who will assume the title of Chairman. Both roles are effective immediately.

08:07 EDT Peabody Energy CEO: More progress targeted for 2018 - "A highly successful fourth quarter capped a year of substantial achievement for Peabody, as the company delivered results and generated value," said Peabody President and CEO Glenn Kellow. "Fourth quarter results reflect strong operational performance, significant cash generation and debt repayment, meaningful release of restricted cash and continued share repurchases, and we have much more progress targeted for 2018. Much of our substantial 2017 cash flows were properly committed to debt reduction and reducing other obligations. We enter 2018 with a strong balance sheet, lower interest expense, minimal taxes, ability to liberate restricted cash, a newly initiated dividend, a simplified capital structure and strong cash flows that we intend to use to further unlock value for our shareholders."

08:03 EDT NV5 Global acquires CSA - NV5 Global announced that it has acquired CSA M&E Ltd., a leading provider of Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing, or MEP, engineering and sustainability consulting services. With annual revenues approaching $5 million and offices in Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia and the UAE, CSA serves private and public sector clients throughout Asia and the Middle East. The acquisition was made with a combination of cash and stock and will be immediately accretive to NV5's earnings.

08:03 EDT Peabody Energy sees FY18 CapEx increasing $105M - Peabody is targeting 2018 seaborne metallurgical and thermal export volumes in line with the prior year even as the company is ramping down Millennium production, advancing its North Goonyella longwall move and expecting a greater mix of Wilpinjong volumes delivered under a domestic contract. In the U.S., Peabody is targeting modestly lower PRB volumes based on demand. Capital spending is expected to increase approximately $105M (at the mid-point) driven by approximately $85M of project spending for Australian life extension projects and the purchase of a new longwall at North Goonyella, and approximately $40M in lease termination payments.

08:02 EDT Talend names Eric Johnson CIO - Talend announced it has named Eric Johnson as its chief information officer. With more than two decades of global information technology leadership experience, Johnson brings deep expertise scaling IT infrastructures, leading digital transformations and supporting strategic sales. Johnson will be responsible for setting the strategic vision and growth of Talend's global IT organization, including the use of all systems and platforms as it increases its emphasis on the cloud. Johnson is the former CIO of DocuSign, where he built the company's IT vision and infrastructure design, and led its global organization.

07:59 EDT Peabody Energy declares quarterly dividend of 11.5c per share - Payable on March 5 to shareholders of record on Feb. 19.

07:40 EDT Nasdaq to move global headquarters to 4 Times Square - Nasdaq announced it is relocating its global headquarters from downtown Manhattan to its current Nasdaq MarketSite location at The Durst Organization's 4 Times Square. Highlights of the new agreement include the following: The deal with The Durst Organization more than quintuples Nasdaq's existing footprint at the property. The 10th floor will be home to a state-of-the-art event space as an extension of the Nasdaq MarketSite and feature a 2,100 square foot outdoor terrace overlooking Times Square, above the world-famous Nasdaq Tower, for Nasdaq clients and prospects with the capacity to host more than 400 people for corporate events. The 15-year lease for 145,000 square feet, includes an extension of the current 24,000 square foot MarketSite lease.

07:37 EDT Biogen's ACTION 2 study does not meet primary, secondary efficacy endpoints - Biogen announced that in the Phase 2b dose-ranging ACTION 2 study in individuals with acute ischemic stroke, natalizumab did not demonstrate improvement in clinical outcomes compared to placebo. Both doses of natalizumab were generally well-tolerated and no new or important safety signals were observed. The results of the Phase 2b ACTION 2 study do not impact the benefit-risk profile of natalizumab in approved indications, including multiple sclerosis. In the middle of 2018, Biogen plans to initiate a global Phase 3 study of BIIB093 in individuals with large hemispheric infarction, where brain swelling often leads to high morbidity and mortality. Detailed Phase 2b ACTION 2 study findings will be made available in a future scientific forum. ACTION 2 was a Phase 2b multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, dose-ranging study with a 90 day follow up to evaluate the safety and efficacy of natalizumab primarily in patients with moderate severity acute ischemic stroke. The study investigated natalizumab vs placebo in approximately 270 individuals who had a clinical diagnosis of AIS with last known normal less than or equal to 24 hours prior to treatment initiation. The study evaluated a 300 mg dose and a 600 mg dose versus placebo, both either within 9 hours of LKN or between 9-24 hours after LKN. The primary objective of ACTION 2 was to assess the effects of natalizumab compared to placebo on clinical measures of independence and activities of daily living. The primary endpoint was a composite global measure of functional disability based on a score of 0 to 1 on a modified Rankin scale and a score of greater than or equal to 95 on the Barthel Index at Day 90. The mRS measures independence with specific tasks pre- and post-stroke. BI is a scale that consists of 10 items that measure activities of daily living and mobility. Natalizumab was previously evaluated in AIS in the Phase 2a ACTION study. In this study, although natalizumab did not significantly decrease the primary endpoint of infarct volume at Day 5, secondary and exploratory endpoints suggested natalizumab treatment improved clinical outcomes compared with placebo which warranted further evaluation.

07:36 EDT Sangamo,Case Western Reserve University announce $11M NIH grant - Case Western Reserve University and Sangamo Therapeutics announced the award of an $11M grant from the National Institutes of Health for a planned study of gene-edited T cells designed to eradicate persistent HIV infection in patients receiving anti-retroviral therapy, a combination of medicines that slows the rate at which HIV replicates. The grant will fund a clinical trial to test the hypothesis that treating patients with their own gene-edited T cells may lead to a sustained increase in T cell counts and eradication of latent HIV reservoirs. T cells (so-called because they develop in the thymus gland) are responsible for a variety of immune responses. Currently available treatments do not completely cure infected individuals due to the persistence of a latent HIV virus population. As a result, if treatment is stopped, the dormant virus rapidly emerges and reestablishes the infection.

07:33 EDT IntercontinentalExchange sees Q1 interest expense $52M - Sees FY18 expense synergies $30M. Sees FY18 CapEx $300m-$330M. Sees FY18 effective tax rate 22%-25%. Sees Q1 adjusted operating expense $495M-$505M, FY18 adjusted operating expense $2B-$2.05B.

07:31 EDT Jones Lang LaSalle CEO says 'we anticipate continued growth in 2018' - "Outstanding fourth-quarter 2017 performance contributed to record revenue and strong adjusted EBITDA and cash flows for the year," said Christian Ulbrich, JLL CEO. "We achieved these results while making significant progress in 2017 on our ambitious data and technology agenda. With favorable economic conditions and healthy real estate fundamentals in most markets, we anticipate continued growth in 2018."

07:21 EDT Myriad finds over 12% of men with prostate cancer had hereditary mutation gene - Myriad Genetics announced that results from a large 1,162 patient study of the Myriad myRisk Hereditary Cancer test will be featured during the poster presentation at the 2018 Genitourinary Cancer Symposium in San Francisco, Calif. The key finding is that more than 12% of men with prostate cancer had an inherited mutation in a cancer-causing gene.

07:14 EDT Sanofi: Signing of agreements on divestiture of European Generics seen in 3Q18

07:09 EDT Garmin, Navico resolve patent disputes - Garmin International and Navico, parent company to the Lowrance, Simrad and B&G brands, announced that they have ended a three-year-long dispute relating to sonar and auto guidance patents. The agreement includes a broad cross licensing of patents and other intellectual property, which will allow both companies to bring new innovations to the market faster and benefit all marine customers.

07:08 EDT Verastem submits NDA for Develisib to FDA - Verastem announced it has submitted a New Drug Application to the U.S. FDA seeking full approval for its lead product candidate duvelisib, a first-in-class oral dual inhibitor of phosphoinositide-3-kinase-delta and PI3K-gamma, for the treatment of relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma and accelerated approval for the treatment of relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma. Duvelisib has received Fast Track Designation from the FDA for patients with CLL or peripheral T-cell lymphoma who have received at least one prior therapy and for patients with FL who have received at least two prior therapies. In addition, duvelisib received orphan drug designation in the United States and the European Union for patients with CLL, SLL and FL. The NDA is supported by clinical data from the randomized Phase 3 DUO study demonstrating significant efficacy, along with a consistent and manageable safety profile, of duvelisib monotherapy in patients with relapsed or refractory CLL/SLL. The DUO study met its primary endpoint with oral duvelisib monotherapy achieving a statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival compared to ofatumumab in patients with relapsed or refractory CLL/ SLL, representing a 48% reduction in the risk of disease progression or death. The NDA is also supported by results from the Phase 2 DYNAMO(TM) study in patients with indolent non-Hodgkin's lymphoma that are double-refractory to both rituximab and chemotherapy or radioimmunotherapy, which also achieved its primary endpoint with an objective response rate of 46%. In the subset of patients enrolled in DYNAMO with double-refractory FL, duvelisib demonstrated an ORR of 41%.

07:06 EDT EnSync enters African microgrid market - EnSync is entering the African microgrid market through the sale of a project that will deliver electricity to an East African village. With no utility or supporting infrastructure in the area, this microgrid will independently provide energy for a community that currently has no electricity. The planned microgrid consists of a 180-kW PV system, a 112-kWh energy storage system, power electronics to integrate and optimize energy sources to meet demand and energy management software. The project was sold to a buyer who will sell electricity to village residents via the microgrid, essentially serving as the area micro-utility.

07:04 EDT NRG Yield announces next set of drop down transactions with NRG Energy - NRG Yield (NYLD) is announcing the next set of drop down transactions with NRG (NRG) through the execution of definitive agreements to acquire both the 154 MW Buckthorn Solar Project and the 527 MW1 Carlsbad Energy Center for a combined $407 million in total consideration with annual expected cash available for distribution of $44 million beginning in 20192. "Under NRG Energy's sponsorship, since its IPO in July 2013, NRG Yield has experienced tremendous success with an increase of 186% in cash available for distribution from $91 million to $260 million and an expansion of NRG Yield's quarterly dividend per share by 150% to $1.15 per share annualized at the end of 2017," said Christopher Sotos, President and Chief Executive Officer of NRG Yield. "With today's announcement, NRG Yield can now look forward to its next phase of growth, including solidifying near-term objectives through the most recent drop down transactions and, most importantly, aligning with GIP, whose strategy and breadth of global investment capabilities are well suited to our business model and long-term objectives." Adebayo Ogunlesi, Chairman and Managing Partner of GIP, said, "We are excited to announce the acquisition of NRG's world-class renewables business. We view each of the three acquired businesses - the NYLD stake, the O&M business, and the development business - as highly complementary and well positioned to capitalize on the increasing market demand for low cost, clean energy. We look forward to working with management to develop new renewable generation assets and to supporting the company with our deep operating and financial expertise in the sector. We are also excited about the opportunity to grow the value of NYLD, which allows public market investors to access attractive investments in renewable energy."

07:03 EDT China Cord Blood changing name to 'Global Cord Blood Corp.' - China Cord Blood's board has approved seeking shareholder approval regarding the change of the company's name from "China Cord Blood Corporation" to "Global Cord Blood Corporation". The company plans to hold an extraordinary general meeting for shareholders to approve the change of name on March 16.

07:01 EDT Brookfield Renewable increases quarterly distribution 5% to 49c per share - Brookfield Renewable declared a 5% increase to the quarterly distribution, bringing the distribution to 49c per LP Unit. The distribution is payable on March 29 to unitholders of record as at the close of business on February 28. Brookfield Renewable targets a sustainable distribution with increases targeted on average at 5% to 9% annually.

06:59 EDT Michael Kors CEO: We are pleased with our third quarter performance - John Idol, the company's Chairman and CEO, said, "We are pleased with our third quarter performance, which delivered better than expected results and saw the successful integration of Jimmy Choo into our luxury group. The Michael Kors brand continued to make progress on Runway 2020 initiatives across product innovation, brand engagement and customer experience. Our innovative fashion luxury product offerings for the holiday season created excitement among consumers. At Jimmy Choo, we continued to deliver glamorous luxury product and engaging brand communications, which helped drive revenue during the quarter."

06:51 EDT Tallgrass Energy Partners, Silver Creek Midstream announce joint venture - Tallgrass Energy Partners and Silver Creek Midstream announced that they have signed definitive documents to develop the Iron Horse Pipeline, a joint venture pipeline to transport crude oil from the growing Powder River Basin to Guernsey, Wyo. Iron Horse will connect Silver Creek's developing gathering system to the Tallgrass Guernsey Terminal, which is currently under construction, and then to Tallgrass's Pony Express crude pipeline system, and other pipelines at Guernsey. Iron Horse and Pony Express intend to create a joint tariff to offer producers and marketers a single rate and direct access to the multiple refineries on Pony Express and to the Cushing, Okla. crude oil hub, from the PRB production zone. In addition to forming the joint venture, Tallgrass has agreed and signed definitive documents to sell its 50-mile PRB crude oil gathering system to Silver Creek (formerly owned by Outrigger Energy). Tallgrass and Silver Creek expect to close the formation of the joint venture and the sale of Tallgrass Crude Gathering, LLC later this month.

06:47 EDT Tallgrass Energy Partners announces acquisition of water infrastructure assets - Tallgrass Energy Partners announced the acquisition of water infrastructure assets that establishes Tallgrass's footprint in the Bakken, delivers new business for its subsidiary BNN Water Solutions and provides Tallgrass a platform from which to build additional midstream business in the Bakken. BNN acquired Buckhorn SWD Solutions and Buckhorn Energy Services, which collectively own 10 salt water disposal wells and approximately 39 miles of produced water gathering infrastructure for a cash purchase price of approximately $95M. The system currently services approximately 133,000 dedicated acres for multiple Bakken producers, including XTO Energy, Inc. Tallgrass anticipates that BNN will spend an additional approximately $45M in 2018 to further expand the system to accommodate increased dedicated water volumes resulting from expected new drilling and completions. Once the additional infrastructure is completed, Tallgrass expects the total investment will approximate a five times cash flow multiple.

06:42 EDT AstraZeneca says study shows prolonging Brilinta treatment reduces risk of MACE - AstraZeneca announced results from a new sub-analysis of the Phase III PEGASUS-TIMI 54 trial, demonstrating a risk reduction of 19% in MACE, the composite of CV death, myocardial infarction, or stroke, and of 36% in coronary death from treatment with Brilinta 60mg, in combination with low dose aspirin, in people who had survived a heart attack and had stenosis in two or more coronary blood vessels, a condition known as multi-vessel disease. This pre-specified sub-analysis is published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

06:40 EDT Sanofi sees FY18 business EPS up 2%-5% at CER - Sanofi expects 2018 business EPS to grow between 2% and 5% at CER, including the anticipated contribution from the recently announced acquisitions, barring unforeseen major adverse events. Applying the average December 2017 exchange rates, the currency impact on 2018 business EPS is estimated to be -3% to -4%.

06:36 EDT Blackwells Capital intends to nominate Directors at Supervalu in letter to Board - Blackwells Capital sent a letter to the Board of Directors Supervalu announcing its intention to submit director nominations to the Board in connection with the company's 2018 annual meeting of shareholders. Blackwells also released a presentation detailing its analysis of Supervalu's operations, strategy and finances and a plan to unlock significant value, available at www.savesupervalu.com. With ownership representing approximately 4.35% of Supervalu's common stock and equivalents, Blackwells ranks among the Company's largest shareholders. After meeting multiple times with management, Blackwells met with non-executive Chairman Donald Chappel and President and CEO Mark Gross on January 17, 2017. In that meeting, Jason Aintabi, Managing Partner at Blackwells, communicated shareholders' frustration with Supervalu's performance and the need for real change in the Company's approach to operations, strategy and governance. In addition to proposing concrete steps to unlock value at Supervalu, Blackwells requested representation on the Board of Directors for three Blackwells nominees to help effect this change, as well as the creation of a new Board committee to explore concrete measures of realizing shareholder value. Unfortunately, Supervalu has summarily rejected Blackwells' request. "In the spirit of constructive, open collaboration, Blackwells has made good faith efforts to engage with the Company," said Mr. Aintabi. "The Board's passivity and the Company's persistent underperformance have left us with no alternative but to run an election contest and give shareholders an opportunity to vote for enhanced Board leadership and support a mandate to explore all alternatives to unlock value."

06:32 EDT Hasbro raises quarterly dividend 11% to 63c per share - The dividend will be payable on May 15 to shareholders of record at the close of business on May 1.

06:31 EDT Hasbro raises quarterly dividend 11% to 63c per share

06:20 EDT Amazon's Twitch says now has 27,000 video content Partners - Twitch announced new metrics related to the growth of its game streaming service, including that the number video creator Partners who profit from their Twitch content has climbed to 27,000 over the course of 2017, and the number of Affiliate streamers reached 150,000. Reference Link

06:17 EDT Humana raises dividend 25% to 50c from 40c per share - Payable on April 27 to stockholders of record on March 30.

06:12 EDT Walker & Dunlop announces $50M share repurchase authorization - On February 6, Walker & Dunlop's board authorized the repurchase of up to $50M of the company's outstanding common stock over the coming one-year period.

06:06 EDT TerraForm Power announces offer to acquire 100% of Saeta Yield - TerraForm Power, Inc. (Nasdaq:TERP) ("TerraForm Power"), an owner and operator of 2,600 megawatts of renewable power assets, today announces that it has launched a voluntary tender offer to acquire 100% of the outstanding shares of Saeta Yield, S.A., a leading, publicly-listed European owner and operator of wind and solar assets, located primarily in Spain. TerraForm Power has secured irrevocable commitments from shareholders, who together own more than a 50% interest, to tender their shares in Saeta under the offer. TerraForm Power's offer is EUR12.20 in cash per share of Saeta. The aggregate value of the irrevocable commitments, representing more than a 50% interest in Saeta, is approximately $600M. If TerraForm Power successfully acquires all of the remaining Saeta shares in the tender offer, the total purchase price will be approximately $1.2B. Due to the accretion of the transaction, TerraForm Power has increased its dividend to 76c per share (on an annual basis), a 6% increase over its previous target of 72c per share, and reconfirms its dividend growth target of 5-8% per annum. Prior to funding the transaction, TerraForm Power has over $1 billion of liquidity under committed facilities, including $500 million under its corporate credit facility, which has been upsized to $600 million, and $500 million under the sponsor line with Brookfield. Assuming a $1.2 billion purchase price, TerraForm Power intends to execute a funding plan comprised of the following sources: A $400 million equity offering, which Brookfield has agreed to backstop in order to provide a minimum issuance price equal to TerraForm Power's 5-day VWAP immediately prior to announcement of the transaction; The remaining $800 million will be financed with available liquidity, which TerraForm Power intends to refinance with a combination of project financings of its unencumbered assets and cash to be released from Saeta's assets. The tender offer is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2018, subject to certain closing conditions including obtaining regulatory approvals. TerraForm Power will be able to acquire 100% of the shares of Saeta provided that at least 90% of the shares are tendered in the offer. The transaction has been approved by the Board of Directors of TerraForm Power.

06:06 EDT Baker Hughes reports January international rig count up by 6 to 960 rigs - Baker Hughes reported international rig count for January 2018 was 960, up 6 from the 954 counted in December 2017, and up 27 from the 933 counted in January 2017. The international offshore rig count for January 2018 was 196, up 5 from the 191 counted in December 2017, and down 10 from the 206 counted in January 2017. The average US rig count for January 2018 was 937, up 7 from the 930 counted in December 2017, and up 254 from the 683 counted in January 2017. The average Canadian rig count for January 2018 was 278, up 73 from the 205 counted in December 2017, and down 24 from the 302 counted in January 2017. The worldwide rig count for January 2018 was 2,175, up 86 from the 2,089 counted in December 2017, and up 257 from the 1,918 counted in January 2017.

06:02 EDT STERIS announces $7M one-time special bonus for U.S. employees

05:58 EDT Dixie Group announces estimated impact of Tax Cut and Jobs Act of 2017 - The Dixie Group expects that future U.S. after-tax earnings will be positively impacted by the recently-enacted changes to US corporate taxes, largely due to the reduction of the US federal corporate income tax rate. The lowering of the US corporate income tax rate and changes to the income tax rules, including the revised treatment of net operating losses, requires revaluation of the company's deferred tax assets and liabilities. The ultimate impact of the change in the US corporate income tax rate is subject to a number of complex provisions in the legislation which the Company is reviewing. The current estimated impact of the Tax Cut and Jobs Act of 2017 is a non-cash charge to the income statement of around $8.2 million that will affect the Company's 2017 results. Details of the final actual charge are expected to be disclosed in the Company's 2017 results announcement, due on March 1, 2018.

05:49 EDT Statoil proposes to raise dividend by 4.5% to 23c per share - The board of proposes to the annual general meeting to increase the dividend by 4.5% to 23c per share, for Q4. The two-year scrip program ended as planned in Q3.

05:22 EDT Wynn Resorts CEO Steve Wynn steps down, Matt Maddox named CEO - Wynn Resorts released the following statements today regarding Chairman and CEO Steve Wynn: The board of Wynn Resorts reluctantly announced that it accepted the resignation of Steve Wynn as CEO and Chairman of the board. The board has appointed Matt Maddox, currently President of the company, as its CEO, and Boone Wayson as Non-Executive Chairman of the board, effective immediately. "It is with a collective heavy heart, that the board of Wynn Resorts accepted the resignation of our founder, CEO and friend Steve Wynn," said non-executive director of the board Boone Wayson. "Steve Wynn is an industry giant. He is a philanthropist and a beloved leader and visionary. He played the pivotal role in transforming Las Vegas into the entertainment destination it is today. He also assembled a world-class team of executives that will continue to meet the high standards of excellence that Steve Wynn created and the Wynn brand has come to represent." Steve Wynn created modern Las Vegas. He transformed the city into an economic powerhouse by making it a world-wide tourist destination. He designed, built and operated the most iconic resorts on the Las Vegas strip, beginning with the Mirage, then Treasure Island, the Bellagio, Wynn Las Vegas and Encore at Wynn Las Vegas. Wynn Macau, Wynn's first resort in the SAR of Macau in China, was designated by Forbes Travel Guide as the best resort in the world. Along with Wynn Palace in Cotai, the company built by Steve Wynn has been recognized as having more Five Star awards than any independent hotel company in the world. Wynn Resorts remains as committed as ever to upholding the highest standards and being an inclusive and supportive employer. In fact, more than 40% of all Wynn Las Vegas management are women; the highest in the gaming industry. The company will continue to fully focus on its operations at Wynn Macau, Wynn Palace and Wynn Las Vegas; the development and opening of the first phase of Wynn Paradise Park, currently under construction on the former Wynn golf course; as well as the construction of Wynn Boston Harbor, which will open in June 2019. Details of Mr. Wynn's separation agreement will be disclosed when they are finalized. Steve Wynn released the following statement: "In the last couple of weeks, I have found myself the focus of an avalanche of negative publicity. As I have reflected upon the environment this has created - one in which a rush to judgment takes precedence over everything else, including the facts - I have reached the conclusion I cannot continue to be effective in my current roles. Therefore, effective immediately, I have decided to step down as CEO and Chairman of the Board of Wynn Resorts, a company I founded and that I love. The Wynn Resorts team and I have built houses of brick. Which is to say, the institution we created - a collection of the finest designers and architects ever assembled, as well as an operating philosophy now ingrained in the minds and hearts of our entire team - will remain standing for the long term. I am extremely proud of everything we have built at this company. Most of all, I am proud of our employees. The succession plan laid out by the board and which I wholeheartedly endorse now places Matt Maddox in the CEO seat. With Matt, Wynn Resorts is in good hands. He and his team are well positioned to carry on the plans and vision for the company I created. I want to thank all of the employees who have made Wynn Resorts the most admired resort company in the world, and for the support I have received from them in recent weeks. Most importantly, I want everyone to continue to be proud of this company and the many unique ways it will forever continue to delight guests."

05:16 EDT UTC Aerospace announces 15-year contract extension with Singapore Airlines - UTC Aerospace Systems, a unit of United Technologies, announced a 15-year contract extension with Singapore Airlines to provide asset management and repair services for the airline's fleet of 19 Airbus A380 aircraft. The extension is worth nearly $200M over the life of the program. The long-term maintenance agreement is part of UTC Aerospace Systems' Comprehensive Accessory Repair and Exchange, or C.A.R.E., program, which the airline has been part of for the past decade. The announcement builds on a more than 20-year relationship between UTC Aerospace Systems and Singapore Airlines. Singapore Airlines was an early adopter of UTC Aerospace Systems' intelligent aircraft offerings including advanced data analytics and prognostic health management for its aircraft. With this adoption, UTC Aerospace Systems is increasing the number of intelligent fleets while enabling more efficient, predictive, and proactive service for customers' wide-body platforms. As part of the C.A.R.E. program, UTC Aerospace Systems will provide inventory support and maintenance, repair and overhaul services for 19 A380 aircraft. Products supported under the agreement include actuation, and controls, air management system, cabin pressure control systems, emergency power systems, fire protection systems, lighting, evacuation slides, and sensors and integrated systems.