July 02, 2009 -- 17:01 ET| Trading Points |
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| 17:01 ET Bank of Florida Provides update for Q2 2009 Co provided an update for the second quarter 2009. As part of an on-going initiative to support capital levels, insiders of Bank of Florida and other accredited investors placed an additional $4.1 mln in the co through the issuance of 165 units of convertible preferred stock and warrants at $25,000 per unit. The preferred stock is perpetual and nonvoting, has a liquidation preference of $25,000, and pays a quarterly dividend of $625. Each warrant permits its holder to purchase 720 shares of BOFL common stock at $3.47 per share at any time during the ten year period commencing on June 29, 2009. The warrants are nontransferable. Additional sales and issuances of Units are expected to occur between July 1, 2009 and July 14, 2009. | | 17:00 ET IDT Energy strikes deal with BP to supply electricity and gas Co said that it has selected BP Energy as its preferred supplier of electricity and natural gas in New York State. Under the terms of the multi-year agreement, BP Energy will be the supplier of choice for IDT Energy. | | 16:43 ET Northgate Minerals: Matachewan first nation signs impact and benefits agreement with Northgate Minerals Corp Co Northgate Minerals Corporation (TSX: NGX, NYSE Amex: NXG) and the Matachewan First Nation are pleased to announce that the parties have signed an Impact and Benefits Agreement ("IBA") for the Young-Davidson project located in Matachewan, Ontario. The IBA establishes a framework for the permitting and development of a mine on the Young-Davidson property and sets out a variety of co-operative initiatives between the Matachewan First Nation and Northgate relating to employment, training and other business opportunities in connection with the project. The IBA follows on the Memorandum of Understanding, which was signed in March 2008. The Young-Davidson property is located in the Abitibi greenstone belt of northern Ontario, 60 kilometres west of Kirkland Lake. The property has hosted two past producing mines, both with track records of successful mining during the mid-20th century. Since its acquisition of the property in late 2005, Northgate has invested $55 million in surface diamond drilling and underground development, which has increased the total measured and indicated gold resources on the property to 3.3 million ounces as at December 31, 2008. Pre-feasibility work, which began earlier this year, is now largely complete and Northgate will announce the results of this work later this month followed by a revised NI 43-101 Technical Report filed on SEDAR in August. | | 16:31 ET Compton Petroleum announces credit facility renewal Co announce the completion of the annual renewal of its reserve-based credit facility (the 'Facility') with a syndicate of four Canadian and international banks (the 'Syndicate'). Under the terms of renewal, the Corporation has available to it a revolving term facility authorized at $353 mln and a revolving working capital facility authorized at $30 mln. The $353 mln term credit facility is provided by the Syndicate, while the $30 mln working capital facility is provided by the lead bank in the Syndicate. | | 16:25 ET Air Tran Holdings reports June traffic Co reports AirTran rev passenger miles fell 6.5% YoY, load factor fell 83.6%, and available seat miles fell 5.3%. | | 16:19 ET LDK Solar guides Q2 revs below consensus; raises solar shipments ests Co guides Q2 revs to $215-225 mln vs $247.19 mln First Call consensus. For the second quarter of 2009, LDK Solar estimates shipments between 220 and 230 megawatts ("MW"). This compares to its previously issued guidance for the second quarter of 2009 of wafer shipments in the range of 200 to 220 MW. The company expects to record between $215 and $225 million in revenues. LDK Solar additionally provided an update on its financing activities. The company secured a loan in the aggregate principal amount of RMB 500 million (equivalent to approximately US$73 million), with a term of one year, from The Export-Import Bank of China. The company also secured a loan in the aggregate principal amount of RMB 500 million (equivalent to approximately US$73 million), with a term of three years, from Huarong International Trust Co., Ltd. to support LDK Solar's polysilicon plant construction. Huarong International Trust Co., Ltd. is a state-controlled company permitted under the relevant PRC laws and regulations to provide enterprises with financing facilities. LDK Solar had a healthy cash position of more than $250 million and pledged bank deposits and time deposits of more than $170 million as of June 30, 2009. | | 16:16 ET Bank of America to pay $713 mln in TARP Preferred Dividends | | 16:06 ET Omega Health announces new $200 mln credit facility Co announces that it has entered into a new $200 mln revolving senior secured credit facility effective June 30, 2009 replacing Omega's previous senior secured credit facility. The New Credit Facility matures in three years, on June 30, 2012, and includes an "accordion feature" that permits Omega to expand its borrowing capacity to $300 mln during its first two years, and is currently priced at LIBOR plus 400 basis points. The New Credit Facility will be used for acquisitions and general corporate purposes. For the three-month period ending June 30, 2009, Omega will record a one-time, non-cash charge of ~$0.5 mln relating to the write-off of deferred financing costs associated with the replacement of the Prior Credit Facility. | | 15:47 ET Earnings Preview for the week of July 6th-10th Companies reporting earnings the week of July 6th-10th include: Monday: VIMC Tuesday: GBX, ISCA, and RT... Wednesday: FDO, PBG, AA, NUHC, and WDFC... Thursday: COMS, CHTT, FCSX, HELE, PKX, INFY, LWSN, and SGR... Friday: CREL and PSMT. | | 15:45 ET Conferences and Shareholder/Analyst Meetings of Interest Events of interest for the week of, July 6 - July 10, include: Monday: President Barack Obama Visits Russia. Tuesday: VIP at Credit Suisse Group EEMEA Best Ideas Conference. Wednesday: FTI, APC at Morgan Stanley Energy Deepwater Conference; G8 Annual Summit. Fed: Fed's Evans. Thursday: CTX Shareholders Meeting; SMSC Analyst Day Meeting; XTNT Shareholders Meeting. Fed: Fed's Duke. Friday: MRVL Shareholders Meeting. | | 15:20 ET Central European Media announces $100 mln investment by Igor Kolomoisky in Ukraine Co announces it has entered into an agreement with Igor Kolomoisky, a Ukrainian businessman and CME shareholder and Director. Following an injection of $100 mln in cash and the contribution of 100% of the TET TV channel into Studio 1+1 Group, Mr. Kolomoisky will become a 49% shareholder in CME's Ukrainian operations. The transaction is expected to close by the end of the third quarter of 2009, subject to receipt of regulatory approvals. | | 14:31 ET Iowa Telecom announces acquisition of New Ulm's minority interests in SHAL and En-Tel Co announces it has reached an agreement to acquire New Ulm Telecom Inc.'s ownership interests in En-Tel Communications, SHAL, and SHAL Networks, for $1.7 million, subject to specified customary adjustments. New Ulm Telecom is based in New Ulm, Minnesota. | | 14:25 ET Smithfield Foods announces it secures new credit line, completes $625 mln senior secured notes offering and replaces term loan | | 14:10 ET Southwest Water provides update on filing of 2008 form 10-K Co says it continues to work to complete its comprehensive financial review of prior periods. Accordingly, the company did not file its 2008 Annual Report on Form 10-K on July 1, 2009, the date set in its recently amended credit facility. The company said that it is in contact with its banking syndicate and working on an amendment to gain the additional time needed to file its 2008 Form 10-K. The company also announced that the Nasdaq Hearings Panel has granted SouthWest Water an extension until August 31, 2009 to file its delinquent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended September 30, 2008 and March 31, 2009, as well as its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008. | | 14:09 ET Alaska Air reports June traffic Co reports Alaska reported an increase in load factor to 80.7% in June 2009, compared to 79.5% in June 2008, on a 4.1% decline in available seat miles compared to the prior-year period. Alaska also reported that 84.5% of its flights arrived on time in June 2009, a 6.7-point increase compared to the 77.8% reported in June 2008. Horizon reported an increase in load factor to 79.4% in June 2009, compared to 78.0% in June 2008, on a 10.8% decline in capacity compared to the prior-year period. Horizon reported that 88.6% of its flights arrived on time in June 2009, a 3.9-point increase compared to the 84.7% reported in June 2008. | | 14:00 ET Overstock.com reinstates its Hawaii-based affiliate advertisers Co reinstates its Hawaii-based affiliate advertisers, following Governor Lingle's laudable decision to veto legislation that would have forced the e-tailer to collect taxes on its Hawaii sales if it maintained ties with Hawaiian Internet ad affiliates. | | 13:20 ET Warwick Valley Telephone announces retirement of Chairman of the Board of Directors effective June 30, 2009 The Governance Committee has appointed Robert J. DeValentino as Interim Chairman of the Board until the next election of officers by the Board in April 2010. At this time, the Board does not intend to fill the committee positions previously held by Buckbee. | | 13:00 ET Enterprise Prdcts Central Treating Facility in Piceance Basin now receiving natural gas Co announces that initial volumes of natural gas have begun flowing into its new Central Treating Facility in Rio Blanco County, Colorado, which was completed in the fourth quarter of 2008. The CTF has a capacity of 200 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) of natural gas and is dedicated to ExxonMobil's (XOM) nearby properties in the Piceance Basin, which are currently producing approximately 100 MMcf/d of natural gas. | | 12:22 ET Paramount Gold and Silver amends Morelos option agreement Co has entered into an amendment of its Property Option Agreement on its Morelos Project. The Morelos Project was recently acquired by Paramount and is currently under option to Garibaldi Resources. The amendment eliminates certain payments by Garibaldi and extends the due date for the $2 mln balloon payment to be made by Garibaldi to Paramount. In consideration of the amendments, Garibaldi has agreed to make a one-time payment to Paramount of 400k common shares of Garibaldi. | | 11:52 ET European Markets Closing Prices: FTSE: 4234.3 -106.4 -2.5%, DAX: 4718.5 -187.0 -3.8%, CAC: 3116.4 -100.6 -3.1% | | 11:35 ET BioCryst Pharm pushes to fresh highs as it begins to catch some buying interest above the 4.00 mark | | 11:31 ET Ballard Power passes product acceptance milestone and confirmed the order of 310 ElectraGen H2 hydrogen-based units Co announces that together with its partner, IdaTech, it has passed a product acceptance milestone and confirmed the order of 310 ElectraGen H2 hydrogen-based units. These units will be used to provide backup power for wireless telecommunications network equipment to ACME Tele Power customers in the Indian market. | | 11:26 ET L.B. Foster Company awarded $6.5 mln Chicago Transit Authority Contract | | 11:01 ET Boeing reports Q2 deliveries with 125 total Commercial Airplanes Programs Co announces deliveries across its commercial and defense operations for the second quarter of 2009. Major program deliveries during the second quarter were as follows: 125 total Commercial Airplanes Programs, 8 Apache (New Builds), 1 Chinook (New Builds), 4 C-17 , 1 Delta IV - Commercial, 2 F-15, 13, F/A-18E/F and EA-18G 2 Satellites (Government & Commercial), and 2 T-45TS. | | 10:50 ET IPC Holdings announces it is carefully reviewing Flagstone's (FSR) offer Co responds to the offer announced by Flagstone Reinsurance Holdings Limited (FSR) to acquire all outstanding shares of IPC for 2.6380 Flagstone shares for each IPC common share plus $5.50 per share in cash. "Together with our financial and legal advisors, IPC's Board has been carefully reviewing Flagstone's offer and will issue a response in due course... We continue to negotiate with other parties, including Flagstone and Validus (VR), to obtain the best outcome for our shareholders." | | 10:38 ET NRG Energy urges stockholders to take no action on revised unsolicited proposal from Exelon Corporation (EXC) | | 10:34 ET Beacon Power announces U.S. Department of Energy offers $43 mln loan guarantee to Beacon Power for Flywheel Energy Storage Project | | 10:30 ET Natural gas spikes initially following inventory data; now off 5.5 cents to $3.74 | | 10:21 ET Carnival subsidiary intends to sell up to 25,000,000 existing Carnival plc ordinary shares Co announces that Carnival Investments Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Carnival Corporation, intends to sell up to 25,000,000 existing Carnival plc ordinary shares that it holds in the UK market. Carnival Corporation & plc intend to use the net proceeds of the Carnival plc Share Sales to repurchase Carnival Corporation common stock on at least an equivalent basis in the U.S. market and to use the remaining net proceeds, if any, for general corporate purposes. | | 10:04 ET UMH Properties renews repurchase program of up to $10 mln in common stock | | 09:46 ET Reminder: Factory Orders data due out in about 14 min at 10:00ET | | 09:26 ET Alcon discontinues development of Anecortave Acetate for intraocular pressure reduction Co announces that it has discontinued development of anecortave acetate for the reduction of intraocular pressure associated with glaucoma. The company recently reviewed interim efficacy and safety data from more than 200 patients in a large, controlled Phase 2 trial. These data confirmed previous pilot clinical results that anecortave acetate applied through a single anterior juxtascleral injection measurably reduced IOP for an extended period of time. However, based on a detailed analysis of the data, and after gaining input from a panel of expert clinical advisers, the company determined that the amount of I.O.P. reduction and the responder rate provided by even the highest dose were not sufficient to support this novel approach as a viable way to address the problem of patient compliance with eye drop therapy. The mean reduction in I.O.P. from baseline for the 60mg dose was 3.8 mmHg, which was statistically significant versus vehicle. The mean reduction in IOP was not statistically significant versus vehicle for the other doses. | | 09:24 ET Yingli Green Energy selected by SDIC Huajing as PV module supplier for its 10 MW on-grid solar plant in Dunhuang | | 09:16 ET CME Group averaged 11.4 mln contracts per day in June 2009, up 6% from May 2009 Co announces that June volume averaged 11.4 mln contracts per day, down 20% from June 2008, but up 6% from May 2009. Total volume was 251 mln contracts for June, of which 79% was traded electronically. Electronic volume averaged 9.0 mln contracts per day, down 21% from the prior June, but up 6% sequentially. "Improvements in credit and lending markets and significantly increased Treasury issuance have positively impacted CME Group's interest rate volumes and open interest in June," said CME Group Chief Executive Officer Craig Donohue. "Reduced volatility and improvements in market depth have resulted in record volume of more than 6 million Eurodollar futures contracts on June 5." | | 09:09 ET Crude drops to fresh lows, following the open of pit trade, at $66.91; now off $2.29 to $67.02 | | 09:06 ET Sanofi-Aventis announces that the FDA approves Multaq for patients with Atrial Fibrillation or Artrial Flutter Co announces that the FDA has approved Multaq (dronedarone) 400 mg Tablets. Multaq is the first drug approved in the United States that has shown a clinical benefit to reduce cardiovascular hospitalization in patients with AF/AFL. "The FDA approval of Multaq is an important milestone in the management of atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter that demonstrates the commitment of sanofi-aventis to provide patients and physicians with important new medicines in therapeutic areas with significant healthcare needs," said Christopher Viehbacher, CEO of sanofi-aventis. " | | 09:05 ET On The Wires Coeur d'Alene Mines (CDE) provided an update today on its debt reduction program. During t1H09, the company reduced its convertible debt by over $150 mln, or approximately 37%... Connecticut Water Service (CTWS) announces that its principal operating subsidiary, The Connecticut Water Company, will be implementing its first Water Infrastructure and Conservation Adjustment surcharge on customer bills effective today. Beginning today, a 0.95% WICA surcharge will be applied to customers' water bills to begin recovery on $4.7mln of eligible infrastructure investments made in 2008, which resulted in the replacement of more than five miles of old, unreliable and inadequate water pipe... Gastar Exploration Ltd. (GST) announced that it has entered into definitive agreements for the sale of all of Gastar's interest in Petroleum Exploration Licenses 238, 433 and 434 in New South Wales, Australia, along with the sale of the shares of Gastar Power Pty Ltd, the entity holding Gastar's 35% interest in the Wilga Park Power Station. Gross pre-tax proceeds from the transaction are expected to be ~$240 million. Upon final closing, Gastar's net proceeds, after payment of Australian income taxes, is expected to be ~$175 million. | | 09:01 ET Lodgian provides update on maturing mortgage debt; obtains extensions until 2010 and 2012 on two mortgage pools Co announces that it has obtained extensions on $71.6 million of its mortgage indebtedness previously scheduled to mature on July 1, 2009, and remains in negotiations on extension of $45.7 million of mortgage debt which matured on July 1, 2009. The mortgage indebtedness, which was originated in June 2004 by Merrill Lynch and securitized in the collateralized mortgage-backed securities market, has been divided into three pools of indebtedness referred to by the company as the Merrill Lynch Fixed Rate Pools #1, #3 and #4. | | 09:01 ET Cliffs Natural Resources provides North American business unit update; has contractual obligations for 17 mln tons of iron ore pellets in 2009 Co provided an update for its North American Business Unit. Co indicated that based on amendments to customer supply agreements it expects to defer ~1 mln tons of purchase obligations for iron ore pellets from customers to Q1 of 2010. Co now has contractual obligations for 17 mln tons of iron ore pellets in 2009 and expects to collect cash from customers for this amount in the current year. The amount of sales volume recognized in 2009 will depend on accounting principles for "bill and hold" sales. The 17 mln tons referenced above excludes revenue recognition of 1.2 mln tons deferred at the end of 2008, which are being recognized as these tons ship in 2009. Recently, Vale (VALE) and a steelmaker in Europe agreed to a price settlement decrease of ~48% for iron ore pellets. Assuming this settlement price is adopted by Eastern Canada and other iron ore pellet producers, and combined with the impact of the amendments referenced above, the Company expects average revenue per ton in the North American Iron Ore business segment to be ~$75 in 2009. Currently, the North American Iron Ore business segment is expected to produce 15 mln tons in 2009 at a cost of $70 to $80 per ton... Co also revised sales volume expectations for its North American Coal business segment to ~1.5 mln short tons of coal at average revenue of ~$100 per ton... Co also indicated that the owners of the Hibbing Taconite Joint Venture--ArcelorMittal (MT) 62.3%, Cliffs Natural Resources - 23%, and U.S. Steel Canada (X) 14.7%--in Minnesota have made the decision to extend the plant's current shutdown status through the first quarter of 2010 as a result of continuing soft demand for iron ore pellets. | | 08:59 ET MeadWestvaco: Steelworkers ratify agreement with MeadWestvaco in Covington The United Steelworkers said that the members of USW Local 8-675 in Covington, Virginia have voted in favor of a proposed new contract with MeadWestvaco. The new agreement includes $2,600 in cash bonuses and over 16% in general wage increases over the course of its six-year term. Improvements to the defined benefit pension plan raise the multiplier to $58 per month for each year of service, meaning that an employee who retires with 30 years of service would receive a monthly benefit of roughly $1,740 per month, a high-water mark in for workers in the paper industry. | | 08:59 ET Acuity Brands misses by $0.03, reports revs in-line Reports Q3 (May) earnings of $0.54 per share, $0.03 worse than the First Call consensus of $0.57; revenues fell 22.6% year/year to $396.6 mln vs the $399.9 mln consensus. Co says, "Looking ahead, we continue to foresee a very difficult economic environment, particularly for non-residential construction activity, a primary market for us. Key indicators continue to signal declines for both residential and non-residential construction activity for the balance of 2009 and into 2010. Our backlog at the end of the third quarter was down 21% on a YoY comparable basis. We expect our profitability in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009 to reflect additional benefits from previously announced streamlining actions and lower material costs as compared to the first nine months of the fiscal year. Also, we expect pricing to continue to become more competitive in certain channels and geographies. We forecast cash flows to remain positive through the remainder of fiscal 2009 due to forecasted earnings and lower operating working capital driven by inventory reductions following the completion of the consolidation of certain manufacturing facilities. While the recent acquisitions of Lighting Control & Design and Sensor Switch are important strategic additions with great longer-term potential, we do not expect them to materially impact our results for the remainder of fiscal 2009." | | 08:57 ET CDC Corp remediates all previously disclosed material weaknesses in internal controls in recent 20-F filing Co announces that it filed its Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2008 with the SEC, on June 30, 2009. The 20-F discloses the remediation of the company's material weaknesses in internal controls over financial reporting that existed at December 31, 2007. Further, there were no new material weaknesses disclosed for the year ended December 31, 2008. | | 08:51 ET EDCI Holdings announces resignation of Robert L. Chapman, Chief Executive Officer | | 08:50 ET NASDAQ announces May 2009 market performance statistics for U.S. exchanges Co announces consolidated market performance statistics for its U.S. exchanges for the month of May 2009. The NASDAQ Stock Market's matched share of U.S. equity volume in May 2009 was 19.8%, more than any other U.S. exchange for the twenty-sixth consecutive month. The average daily matched volume in all U.S. securities last month was 2.2 billion shares, a 13% increase over May 2008. The average daily matched trade count in U.S. equities was 9.5 million, an increase of 6% over May 2008. During May, 16.3% of NASDAQ's matched volume resulted from non-displayed orders, adding 7.2 billion shares of dark liquidity to the NASDAQ book. Matched market share in NYSE-listed securities during May 2009 was 14.8%. | | 08:38 ET Calgon Carbon awarded a $10 mln contract for mercury removal by a "major US power generator" | | 08:32 ET Equity futures sink to fresh lows on bigger than expected decline in nonfarm payrolls... S&P futures now -9, Dow futures -75 | | 08:31 ET IntercontinentalExchange reports "record average daily volume" for June and 2Q09 Co reports June and 2Q09 futures volume and OTC commissions. Across ICE's three futures exchanges, June average daily volume was a record 1,088,525 contracts, an increase of 14% from June 2008. In 2Q09, A.D.V. for ICE futures contracts was a record 1,026,900, 14% higher than the same period in 2008. At ICE Futures Europe, June A.D.V. increased 2% y/y, to 628,829 contracts. For 2Q09, ADV was 606,289 contracts, roughly flat compared to 2Q08. Average daily commissions for ICE's OTC energy business were $1.1 mln in the second quarter of 2009, a decrease of 8% over the same period in 2008. | | 08:12 ET Reminder: Jobs Report and Initial Claims data due out in about 19 min at 8:30ET | | 08:05 ET On The Wires Aehr Test Systems (AEHR) announces it has received an order for its new Advanced Burn-in and Test System from a leading US aerospace company... Allscripts (MDRX) announces that Omega Medical Solutions has selected Allscripts Practice Management and Allscripts Payerpath claims management solution for its physician practice clients across South Carolina and the surrounding states. | | 08:03 ET Tyler Tech announces it has signed contracts for its financial and citizen management solutions with five public sector organizations in California | | 08:01 ET Republic Airways reports preliminary passenger traffic results for June 2009; revenue passenger miles increased 4.5% y/y Co announces preliminary passenger traffic results for June 2009. The company generated 907.4 million revenue passenger miles, a 4.5% increase from the same month last year, while available seat miles increased 3.5% to 1.14 billion. Block hours were 58,757 in June 2009, a 6.8% decline from June 2008. Load factor was 79.3 versus 78.5% in June 2008. Approximately 1.8 million passengers were carried during the month, a 3.2% increase from the same month last year. | | 08:01 ET AerCap announces it has signed a $221 mln funding facility with HSH Nordbank AG covering the pre-delivery payments for ten new Airbus A330 aircraft. | | 08:00 ET Walgreen reports June sales increased 9.0%; sales in comparable stores increased 3.4% | | 08:00 ET S&P futures vs fair value: -4.50. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -8.00. U.S. stock futures are trading lower ahead of the June Nonfarm Payrolls report, which is due at the bottom of the hour. On average, economists predict that 365,000 jobs were lost in June and that the unemployment rate will climb to 9.6% from 9.4%. Weekly jobless claims are also due at 8:30 AM ET, but factory orders for May are due later this morning (10:00 AM ET). European stocks are also showing weakness as France's CAC, Germany's DAX, and Britain's FTSE all trade lower in broad-based fashion. According to the Associated Press, the seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate in the Euro zone during May came in at a 10-year high of 9.5%. The heightened unemployment rate comes amid persistently challenging global economic conditions, which have prompted the European Central Bank to leave its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 1.00%, as expected.
| | 07:59 ET FCStone and IAAC announce merger in which FCSX's stockholders will receive 0.2950 shares of IAAC common stock for each share of FCSX On July 1, 2009, FCStone Group (FCSX) and International Assets Holding (IAAC) entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger, pursuant to which FCS will merge with a wholly-owned subsidiary of IAAC. Under the terms of the merger agreement, FCSX's stockholders will receive 0.2950 shares of IAAC's common stock for each share of FCSX common stock they own. It is anticipated that International Assets' current stockholders will own approximately 52.5% of International Asset following the merger and FCStone's current stockholders will own the remaining approximately 47.5%. The Merger is expected to be tax free to stockholders of both companies...The combined company will continue to list its common stock on the Nasdaq Global Market and trade under the symbol IAAC. The Merger is expected to close in the fourth calendar quarter of 2009. The Merger Agreement contains certain termination rights for both FCStone and International Assets, and further provides that, upon termination of the Merger Agreement under specified circumstances each party may be required to pay the other party a termination fee of $4.9 million and expenses of up to $2 million." (Briefing.com note: The deal tems equates to roughly $4.64 per FCSX share; both stocks remain halted) | | 07:55 ET International Assets Hldg trading halted - news pending | | 07:54 ET FCStone trading halted - news pending | | 07:52 ET On The Wires Oncolytics Biotech (ONCY) announced that patient enrolment has been completed in the Phase II component of a Phase I/II U.K. trial of Reolysin combined with paclitaxel/carboplatin for patients with advanced cancers... Landstar System (LSTR) announces the acquisition of two supply chain transportation integration companies, Premier Logistics and A3 Integration. The company expects that the acquisitions will not have a material effect on its revenue and earnings for the third and fourth qtrs of 2009. | | 07:33 ET MSC Industrial beats by $0.06, beats on revs; guides Q4 EPS in-line, revs in-line Reports Q3 (May) earnings of $0.44 per share, $0.06 better than the First Call consensus of $0.38; revenues fell 23.4% year/year to $350 mln vs the $344.3 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for Q4, sees EPS of $0.33-0.37 vs. $0.36 consensus; sees Q4 revs of $336-348 mln vs. $346.36 mln consensus. Co says, "While our performance in the fiscal third quarter was better than anticipated, visibility remains limited as we continue to operate in one of the most severe economic downturns our industry has ever experienced. Feedback from our customers indicates that market conditions have remained weak without any expected near-term improvement. As a result, we are anticipating summer shutdowns that will be more prevalent and longer in duration than last year. Although these factors will likely impact sales in the coming months, we continue to believe that a larger proportion of customer business is being shifted to MSC, as our unmatched customer service, product offering, and value-added solutions make us a partner our customers can trust to support their supply chain needs. Despite these challenging times, our business continues to perform well and we believe that the steps we are taking will position us for robust growth in revenues and earnings when our markets improve." | | 07:26 ET Melco Crown Entertainment releases initial operating statistics for City of Dreams; for the month of June, it attracted approximately 1.2 mln visitors Co announces initial operating statistics for City of Dreams. Visitation trends continue to provide a solid foundation for City of Dreams. Visitation at City of Dreams has remained consistently strong since opening on June 1, 2009. For the month of June, City of Dreams attracted approximately 1.2 mln visitors or approximately 41,000 visitors per day on average. Rolling chip performance at City of Dreams demonstrated significant week to week sequential improvement during the initial month of operations, in accordance with our plans to scale this segment of business after the first few weeks of operation. Total rolling chip volume in June was approximately US$1.94 bln, with rolling chip volume in the last week of the month totaling approximately US$0.73 bln. The average number of rolling chip gaming tables in operation at City of Dreams in June was approximately 127. City of Dreams generated approximately US$100 mln of mass market table games drop in June. Mass market table games drop in the last week of the month was approximately 12% higher than that generated in the first week of operations. On average, 376 mass market gaming tables were in operation at City of Dreams in June. | | 07:22 ET TiVo announces that U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit granted the request of EchoStar and its related companies to stay the contempt order Co announces that U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit granted the request of EchoStar and its related companies to stay the contempt order imposed by the U.S. District Court pending the outcome of EchoStar's appeal. "We are confident that the District Court judge's thorough and well-reasoned decision finding EchoStar in contempt of court for violating the injunction and awarding further damages will be upheld once the Federal Circuit has the opportunity to review the merits of the case. The Court of Appeals stayed the District Court's order the previous time this case was heard on appeal and ultimately affirmed the judgment against EchoStar. We are pleased that the court recognizes the urgency of ruling on this appeal and has ordered an expedited briefing schedule." | | 07:17 ET On The Wires TEPPCO Partners, L.P. (TPP) announced that it has suspended the opportunity for investors to acquire additional limited partner units under its Reinvestment Plan. The suspension is pursuant to the terms of the definitive merger agreement with Enterprise Products Partners L.P. and is expected to remain in place pursuant to such terms while the transaction is pending... Exterran Holdings (EXH) and Exterran Partners (EXLP) announced changes in their respective management teams. Exterran Holdings announced the retirement of Stephen Snider as Chief Executive Officer and the appointment of Ernie L. Danner as Chief Executive Officer. In addition, Exterran Partners announced that Snider has resigned as Chief Executive Officer of Exterran Partners' general partner and that Danner has been named Chief Executive Officer... Millicom International Cellular S.A. (MICC) announces that the previously announced Strategic Review of its Asian assets is progressing according to plan. Goldman Sachs has been appointed to advise on the process and, to date, expressions of interest have been received from a number of parties. During the three months ended March 31, 2009, Millicom's Asian operations and joint ventures generated revenues of $68 million and a net profit of $4 million for the Group... Overstock.com (OSTK) reversed its decision to drop its California-based affiliate advertisers following an afternoon call from Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's Office, during which the discount e-tailer was assured that the Governor's rejection last night of the affiliate nexus tax bill will stand... Tree.com (TREE) announced the acquisition of certain assets of Done Right!, an online directory service providing trusted lead generation and marketing services for home improvement professionals across the country... Pacific Office Properties Trust (PCE) announced that president and CEO, Dallas E. Lucas will be departing the Company at the end of the term of his current employment agreement, which expires on August 31, 2009... Mesa Air Group (MESA) announced that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit has affirmed the preliminary injunction against Delta Air Lines (DAL) which enjoined Delta from terminating Freedom Airlines' Delta Connection Agreement covering certain ERJ-145 aircraft. | | 07:15 ET IPC Holdings: Flagstone Reinsurance offers to acquire all of IPC's outstanding shares for total consideration of ~$33.62/share Flagstone Reinsurance Holdings Limited (FSR) announced that it has made an offer to the Board of IPC Re to acquire all of IPC's outstanding shares. Flagstone's offer is superior to the pending offer made by Validus (VR) on both a market value and tangible book value per share basis, and offers a superior value proposition for the continuing shareholder. Flagstone will exchange 2.638 of new common shares for each IPC common share plus $5.50 per share in cash for total consideration of $33.62 compared to IPC Re's price of $27.77 based on today's closing common equity prices. | | 07:12 ET Moody's downgrades Ireland to Aa1; outlook negative Moody's Investors Service has today downgraded Ireland's government bond ratings to Aa1 from Aaa. The outlook is negative. The rationale behind the downgrade stems from three key drivers of our credit analysis regarding debt: affordability, financeability and reversibility -- which for Ireland are weakened as compared to Aaa peers. "The review process focused on the nature of the policy response and the extent to which the Irish economic model was durably affected by a sudden and brutal economic and financial adjustment," said Dietmar Hornung, a Vice President - Senior Analyst in Moody's Sovereign Risk Group. "These are the key parameters for our assessment of Ireland's credit standing," he added. Moody's concluded that there was a case for only a moderate rating downgrade at this stage in light of the decisiveness of the policy response as well as the government's strong balance sheet position prior to the crisis. The negative outlook reflects the risk of a further gradual deterioration in terms both of debt affordability -- the share of government revenues used for interest payments -- and financeability -- the cost at which Ireland can raise further debt. Moreover, Ireland's ability to reverse the negative debt dynamics in a non-supportive global environment will be tested. Overall, debt dynamics will remain unfavourable for several years, and, in Moody's opinion, downside risks outweigh upside risks in the near to medium term. | | 07:08 ET On The Wires Constellation Energy (CEG) announced that its subsidiary, Constellation Energy's Projects & Services Group, was selected by the city of Cranston, Rhode Island to develop the city's proposal to the Dept of Energy's municipal energy efficiency and conservation block grant program... Interleukin Genetics (ILI) announced that on June 30, 2009 it executed an agreement to sell the Alan James Group assets of its subsidiary AJG Brands to Pep Products for approximately $4.6 mln in cash. The transaction was completed following the close of business on June 30th... Cubic Applications, a mission support services business of Cubic (CUB), announced that it has received a new contract valued at approximately $30 mln for joint training and exercise support to the United States Africa Command. | | 07:07 ET Crude oil is trading below the $68 level in electronic trading this morning, extending its sell off following yesterday's inventory data; the August contract is currently off $1.50 to $67.81 Electronic lows are at $67.68. | | 07:05 ET Diageo plc issues statement regarding the new Captain Morgan rum facility in the US Virgin Islands Co is setting the record straight in light of a story that erroneously stated that it received funds from the Troubled Assets Recovery Program (TARP). Diageo has never sought, and will not receive TARP funds. The public-private initiative that is bringing Captain Morgan to St. Croix is based on cover over, not TARP. Cover over has been the law of the land for more than a half century and the rum cover over extender (which increases cover over from $10.50/gallon to $13.50/gallon) has been reenacted every year by Congress as part of an independent package of tax extenders. Congress has enacted the cover over extender based upon its finding that the US Virgin Islands (USVI) has a continuing need for cover over revenues to promote its economic stability and fiscal autonomy. | | 07:03 ET Manhattan Associates lowers Q209 EPS guidance Co issues downside guidance for Q2 (Jun), sees EPS of $0.08-0.12, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.22 First Call consensus. "Sales activity in the second quarter was better than in the first quarter. However, customers and prospects continue to be reluctant to commit capital in the current environment. As a result, our license revenue for the quarter will likely be around $4 million, which accounts for the reduction in earnings per share to our original guidance range," said Peter F. Sinisgalli, CEO. | | 07:01 ET IPC Holdings: Validus reaffirms commitment to outstanding IPC offer Validus Holdings (VR) reaffirmed its commitment to its outstanding offer to acquire IPC Holdings (IPCR). In connection with the announcement, Validus issued the following statement: "Validus remains strongly committed to our outstanding offer to acquire IPC, which we firmly believe represents a full and fair value for IPC shares. In addition, we have made a number of changes to be responsive to concerns expressed by the IPC Board. Validus believes that a combination with IPC will create significant long term value for the shareholders of both Validus and IPC by creating a well-diversified, market-leading carrier in Bermuda's short-tail reinsurance and insurance markets." | | 07:01 ET Acura Pharma and King Receive FDA Complete Response Letter Regarding Acurox(R) Acura Pharmaceuticals (ACUR) and King Pharmaceuticals (KG) announces the FDA has issued a Complete Response Letter regarding the New Drug Application for Acurox (oxycodone HC1, USP and niacin, USP) Tablets CII, an immediate release product intended for the relief of moderate-to-severe pain. The Complete Response Letter raises issues regarding the potential abuse deterrent benefits of Acurox). Acura and King are currently evaluating the FDA's Complete Response Letter, and at this stage believe they can respond to the issues raised without conducting any additional studies. The Companies plan to meet with the FDA following submission of their response. | | 06:39 ET European Markets FTSE...4309.01...-31.70...-0.70%. DAX...4827.22...-78.20...-1.60%. | | 06:39 ET S&P futures vs fair value: -7.50. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -11.00. | | 06:36 ET Zep reports Q3 EPS of $0.25 vs $0.01 last yr; revs fell 15% YoY to $123 mln; co expects profitability in all four quarters of their next fiscal year | | 06:31 ET Exelon increases offer to acquire NRG Energy by 12.4% Exelon (EXC 51.56) increases its offer to acquire all of the outstanding NRG common stock in an all-stock transaction with a fixed exchange ratio of 0.545 of a share of Exelon common stock for each NRG share, a 12.4% increase over the initial exchange offer of 0.485. | | 06:05 ET Methode Electronics beats by $0.06, beats on revs Reports Q4 (Apr) loss of $0.10 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.06 better than the First Call consensus of ($0.16); revenues fell 42.3% year/year to $89.1 mln vs the $79.3 mln consensus. Automotive segment net sales were negatively impacted by the continuing softness of the global economic environment, especially the effect on the North American automotive industry, and by negligible Chrysler sales volumes as compared to the prior period due to co's decision to exit the Chrysler business. The transfer of the Chrysler product was substantially completed during the Q209. Additionally, as a result of agreement with Ford Motor to transfer all production at Methode's Reynosa, Mexico, facility to another supplier, sales to Ford were further reduced in Q409. Methode expects to complete the transfer of this Ford business by August 2009. | | 03:56 ET Philip Morris Int'l announces agreement to acquire Swedish Match South Africa for $222 mln Co announces they have entered into an agreement with Swedish Match AB to purchase its South African affiliate, Swedish Match South Africa Ltd. for approx $222 mln. | | 00:46 ET Continental Airlines reports June 2009 operational performance Co reports a June consolidated (mainline plus regional) load factor of 84.8%, 1.1 points above the June 2008 consolidated load factor, and a mainline load factor of 85.2%, 1.0 point above the June 2008 mainline load factor. The carrier reported a domestic mainline June load factor of 88.1%, 2.2 points above the June 2008 domestic mainline load factor, and an international mainline load factor of 82.5%, 0.1 points above June 2008. In June 2009, Continental flew 8.1 bln consolidated revenue passenger miles and 9.5 bln consolidated available seat miles, resulting in a consolidated traffic decrease of 6.5% and a capacity decrease of 7.8% as compared to June 2008. For June 2009, both consolidated and mainline passenger revenue per available seat mile are estimated to have decreased between 19.5 and 20.5% compared to June 2008. | | 00:43 ET On The Wires Cumulus Media (CMLS) CFO resigns... Temecula Valley Bancorp (TMCV) announces that it has been advised that Bancroft Capital, LLC and certain institutional investors, including Orient Property Group LLC, will not proceed with their proposed equity investment in Temecula Valley Bancorp or Temecula Valley Bank as detailed in the non-binding Letter of Intent the companies entered into and announced on June 1, 2009... Celanese (CE) announces it has completed the sale of its polyvinyl alcohol business to Sekisui Chemical, Ltd. for the purchase price of approx $173 mln, excluding the value of accounts receivable and payable retained by Celanese; co announced its agreement to sell its PVOH business to Sekisui on April 27, 2009. | | 00:41 ET First Financial Bancorp announces two transactions with Irwin Union Bank and Trust Co announces that First Financial Bank, N.A., its wholly owned subsidiary bank, has entered into branch purchase and loan purchase agreements with Irwin Union Bank and Trust, the subsidiary bank of Irwin Financial (IFC), Columbus, Indiana. The separate loan purchase agreement whereby First Financial purchased approx $150 mln of performing commercial business loans closed on June 30, 2009. None of the purchased loans are residential development, land acquisition or development loans and none are 30 days or more delinquent, watch list, substandard, classified, or criticized. With regard to both transactions, the loans and deposits are being purchased and assumed without premium. First Financial anticipates the combined transactions to be accretive to earnings in 2010, the first full year of integration. | | 00:38 ET E*TRADE announces progress of debt exchange offer early tender period and consent solicitation Co announces the progress of its previously announced debt exchange offer to exchange more than $1 bln of newly-issued zero coupon Convertible Debentures due 2019 for all of its 8% Senior Notes due 2011 and a portion of its 12.5% Springing Lien Notes due 2017. Assuming the exchange offer is completed, the debentures issued in exchange for any notes tendered during the period ending at 12:00 AM EST on July 1, 2009, will be Class A Debentures and have a conversion price of $1.0340/share. Co also solicits consents to amendments and waivers of certain provisions of the indentures governing the Notes during the early tender period, unless extended. As of 5:00 PM EST, July 1, 2009, approx $428,206,000 of 2011 Notes and approx $1,102,779,248 of 2017 Notes had been validly tendered, including $230,245,000 of 2011 Notes and $700 mln of 2017 Notes tendered by affiliates of Citadel Investment Group. | | 18:31 ET QuickLogic lowers Q2 revs below consensus During Q2, new product revenue increased nearly 25%. However, due to a sharp decrease in demand for our legacy products sold into U.S. and Western European markets, total Q2 revenue is anticipated to be between $2.8-3.0 mln, which is below the guidance issued on April 28, 2009. Other notable items for the quarter include: The book-to-bill ratio for new products was substantially above one-to-one. Cash used during the quarter was within guidance. Design wins, production and pre-production contracts for new products, as outlined during the April 28, 2009 conference call, are all moving forward within outlined expectations. | | 18:16 ET Companhia de Saneamento has delayed in filing its annual report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2008 Co notifies the Securities and Exchange Commission that it will not be able to timely file its annual report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2008. Since the end of Q1 of 2008, the Registrant and the State of Sao Paulo (the "State"), the major shareholder of the Registrant, have been in discussions to settle the outstanding debt owed by the State to the Registrant in respect of supplemental retirement and pension benefits (the "Benefits") that the Registrant paid from March 1986 up to December 2008 on behalf of the State to the former employees of the State-owned companies which merged to form the Registrant. On November 17, 2008, the Registrant and the State entered into an agreement to settle the outstanding debt relating to the Benefits. Pursuant to the agreement, the State acknowledges a portion of the outstanding debt, in the amount of R$915.3 mln as of December 31, 2008, which the State will pay the Registrant through (i) the transfer of certain reservoirs to the Registrant, with an aggregate value of R$696.3 mln, and (ii) 114 successive monthly installments, in the aggregate amount of R$219.0 mln, as adjusted by inflation, plus annual interest accruing at the rate of 6%, beginning in November 2008. Despite the agreement, a portion of the outstanding debt owed by the State to the Registrant remains unsettled, totaling R$409.1 mln (this amount does not include certain applicable adjustments) as of December 31, 2008 (the "Unsettled Amount"), because of divergent interpretations between the Registrant and the Public Attorney's Office of the State of Sao Paulo (the "Public Attorney's Office") relating to the calculation and eligibility criteria applicable to the Benefits. | | 18:01 ET United Western Bancorp reports sale of mortgaged-backed securities United Western Bancorp (UWBK), a Denver-based holding company whose principal subsidiary, United Western Bank (the "Bank"), is a community bank focused on expansion across Colorado's Front Range market and selected mountain communities, announced that the Bank sold mortgage-backed securities with an unpaid principal balance of $47.3 mln of lower tranche mortgage backed securities secured primarily by "option-adjustable-rate" mortgage loans (the "Option ARM Securities") to an unaffiliated third party. Total consideration received for the Option ARM Securities was $378,000. As a result of the disposition, the co expects to record a pretax loss on sale of $47 mln, or ~$29.8 mln net of tax. The co expects that the Bank will file a Thrift Financial Report with the Office of Thrift Supervision ("OTS") on or before July 30, 2009 which will continue to reflect that the Bank was "well capitalized" as of June 30, 2009 under the regulatory framework for prompt corrective action, based on the Bank's Tier 1, total capital and leverage ratios. The loss on the sale of the mortgage-backed securities will offset a majority of the gain the co realized from the sale of certain assets of Sterling Trust Company, which the co announced June 29, 2009. Approximately $18 mln of this loss net of tax on the sale of the Option ARM Securities had already been reflected in the co's book value through other comprehensive income at March 31, 2009. As a result of the above transactions the co expects to report an increase in its book value at June 30, 2009. Combined with operations in the quarter ended June 30, 2009, the co expects its book value to increase ~$19 mln at June 30, 2009 as compared to March 31, 2009. The co expects to report a profit for the three-month and six-month periods ended June 30, 2009. | | 17:52 ET Standard & Poor s Announces Change to U.S. Index Quest Software (QSFT) will replace Wind River Systems (WIND) in the S&P MidCap 400 after the close of trading on a date to be announced. Wind River is being acquired by S&P 100 & 500 constituent Intel Corp. (INTC) in a tender offer expected to expire soon | | 17:48 ET Pre-Paid Legal Services announces 2009 2nd quarter membership and recruiting results Co reported new memberships produced and new sales associates enrolled for the 2009 second quarter. During the 2nd quarter of 2009, new sales associates enrolled decreased 3.6% compared to Q2 of 2008. Memberships produced decreased by 9.1% while new membership fees written decreased by 9.3% and our active membership base decreased 3.9% compared to the comparable period of the previous year. On a sequential quarterly basis, new associates enrolled increased 5.5%, new memberships produced decreased 0.3%, new membership fees written increased 2.5% and our active membership base decreased by 21,192 memberships. | | 17:33 ET Pacer enters first amendment and waiver to its credit agreement Co announced that it has successfully entered into a First Amendment and Waiver of its 2007 Credit Agreement with its syndicate of financial institutions led by Bank of America, N.A. The amendments to the credit facility include, among other things, a waiver of compliance with the leverage ratio covenant with respect to the quarter ending June 30, 2009 for a period ending August 31, 2009. | | 17:32 ET Koppers files replacement shelf registration of up to $325 mln Co announced that it filed a shelf registration statement on Form S-3 with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which, if and when declared effective, will permit the Company, from time to time, to offer and sell up to $325 mln of debt securities, equity securities and other financial instruments. No securities may be sold nor may offers to buy be accepted prior to the time the registration statement becomes effective. The shelf registration statement will provide the co with greater flexibility to raise capital to take advantage of potential opportunities such as debt refinancing or acquisitions. | | 17:13 ET Visa announces sale of VisaNet do Brasil Shares by Visa International Co announced that Visa International, its wholly-owned subsidiary, sold 136,478,372 shares of Companhia Brasileira de Meios de Pagamento, in connection with VisaNet do Brasil's June IPO. V's proceeds from the sale, net of underwriter discounts and fees, are ~US$1 bln based on current exchange rates. Of the $1 bln in proceeds, the co will retain about half after applicable taxes. V will record a GAAP gain from the sale in the quarter ended June 30, 2009, net of tax, of ~$235 mln. The gain reflects Visa International's recorded book value of $535 mln, which is comprised of a cash investment of $18 mln made in April 2008 and $517 mln recorded through GAAP purchase accounting treatment as part of Visa's reorganization in October 2007. | | 17:09 ET Pfizer: Graceway Pharmaceuticals acquires early-stage dermatological molecules from Pfizer Graceway Pharmaceuticals, LLC, a portfolio company of GTCR Golder Rauner, LLC, and Pfizer (PFE) announced that they have entered into an Acquisition and License Agreement by which Graceway will acquire the worldwide commercial rights for three investigational dermatological molecules from PFE and the related transferred or licensed intellectual properties. | | 17:04 ET Discovery Labs learned that the FDA will now apply a newly-defined standard to determine whether Discovery Labs has adequately demonstrated comparability of Surfaxin clinical to commercial drug produc Co announces, after receipt of written minutes from the United States Food and Drug Administration, the results of its June 2, 2009 meeting with the FDA. This meeting followed the FDA's April 17 Complete Response Letter for Surfaxin (lucinactant) for the prevention of Respiratory Distress Syndrome (RDS) in premature infants and was convened to discuss resolution of the remaining primary issue necessary for marketing approval of Surfaxin. The meeting focused on the Surfaxin fetal rabbit biological activity test (BAT, a quality control stability and release test), specifically whether data that had been previously submitted to the FDA and generated using both the BAT and a well-established preterm lamb model of RDS adequately supports the comparability of Surfaxin clinical drug product to commercial drug product, and whether the BAT can adequately distinguish change in Surfaxin biological activity over time. At the recent June 2 meeting, Discovery Labs learned that the FDA will now apply a newly-defined standard to determine whether Discovery Labs has adequately demonstrated comparability of Surfaxin clinical to commercial drug product. This new standard represents a significant hurdle for approval of Surfaxin. DSCO believes that the information provided to the FDA for the meeting demonstrates comparability and supports Surfaxin approval. However, in light of the FDA's newly-defined standard, DSCO now believes that it is unlikely to satisfy this requirement with existing preclinical comparability data and gain Surfaxin approval in the near term. |
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| Market Internals Data |
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| Issues | NYSE | Nasdaq |
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| Advancing | 512 | 454 | | Declining | 2,440 | 2,246 | | Unchanged | 106 | 97 | | Total | 3,058 | 2,797 | | Ratio | | Adv. / Dec. | 0.21 | 0.20 |
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