February 10, 2010 -- 01:25 ET| Trading Points |
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| 01:25 ET EOG Resources misses by $0.06, misses on revs; increases annual dividend 7% to $0.62/share Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.92 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.06 worse than the First Call consensus of $0.98; revenues, excluding gains on property dispositions, fell 25.0% year/year to $1.23 bln vs the $1.33 bln consensus. EOG delivered 6.5% total company production growth over 2008. Total liquids production in North America increased 30%, comprised of 23% growth in crude oil and condensate and 48% in natural gas liquids. In the U.S., the increase in total liquids production was primarily driven by ongoing exploration and development drilling in the North Dakota Bakken and Fort Worth Barnett Shale Combo Plays. Carrying the momentum of a strong operational year forward into 2010, EOG continues to target 13% total company full year organic production growth over 2009 with a 47% increase in total liquids production. The liquids growth will be driven by expanded operations in the North Dakota Bakken where EOG plans to execute an active drilling program in the Bakken Core and Lite, as well as the Three Forks Formation. Also fueling the liquids growth will be an increased level of drilling activity in the Fort Worth Barnett Combo and the Waskada Field in Manitoba. EOG's North American natural gas production is expected to increase 2% over 2009. Plans are to ramp up activity levels in the Haynesville, Bossier and Marcellus Shales during the second half of the year. In the Horn River Basin, EOG will operate an active drilling program in the first half of the year, with the goal of completing and turning wells to sales during the second half of 2010. At December 31, 2009, total co proved reserves were approx 10.8 trillion cubic feet equivalent, an increase of 2,087 billion cubic feet equivalent, or 24% higher than YE08. Co increases annual dividend 7% to $0.62/share. | | 01:13 ET On The Wires Volt Information Sciences (VOL) announces that it has entered into agreements with its lenders that extends the time for delivery by the co of its audited financial statements for FY09 to May 10, 2010. | | 01:11 ET Douglas Emmett reports in-line 4Q09 FFO Reports Q4 (Dec) funds from operations of $0.30, in-line with First Call consensus of $0.30; revenues declined 10.4% year/year to $139.42 mln vs $139.61 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for FY10; sees FFO of $1.19-1.25, excluding items, vs $1.22 consensus. | | 01:06 ET Micron announces agreement to acquire Numonyx in all-stock transaction Co and Numonyx Holdings B.V. announce that the companies have signed a definitive agreement under which Micron has agreed to acquire privately held Numonyx in an all-stock transaction valuing Numonyx at approx $1.27 bln. Under the terms of the agreement, Micron will issue 140 mln Micron common shares to Numonyx shareholders, Intel (INTC), STMicroelectronics, N.V. (STM) and Francisco Partners. Up to 10 mln additional Micron common shares will be issued ratably to Numonyx shareholders to the extent the volume weighted average price of Micron shares for the 20 trading days, ending two days prior to the close of the transaction, ranges between $7.00 and $9.00 per share. | | 00:53 ET Piedmont Office Realty Trust prices 12.0 mln common shares at $14.50/share Piedmont's Class A common stock is expected to begin trading on February 10, 2010 on the NYSE under the ticker symbol "PDM." | | 18:01 ET Grupo Aeroportuario reports that terminal passenger traffic at its 13 airports decreased 10.5% in January 2010, as compared to January 2009 Domestic traffic decreased 12.1%, and international traffic decreased 4.2%. Of total traffic, 97.1% was commercial aviation, and 2.9% was general aviation. | | 18:00 ET HNI beats by $0.02, misses on revs Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.26 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.02 better than the First Call consensus of $0.24; revenues fell 35.1% year/year to $413.7 mln vs the $418.5 mln consensus. Co provides outlook: "Our markets continue to be dynamic and volatile and are not yet showing signs of near-term improvement. Our office furniture businesses remain uncertain and difficult with competitive pricing pressure and weakness in day-to-day activity. Hearth demand remains at historically low levels but we are seeing indications of improving market trends. We will continue to reset our cost structure to market conditions while investing for the future. The co remains focused on creating long-term shareholder value by growing its business through investment in building brands, product solutions and selling models, enhancing its strong member-owner culture, and remaining focused on its long-standing rapid continuous improvement programs to build best total cost and a lean enterprise." | | 17:58 ET Infinity Prpty & Casualty increases dividend 16.7% to $0.14 per quarter | | 17:52 ET Ormat Nevada signs purchase agreement for an advanced stage development property Co announce that its wholly owned subsidiary, Ormat Nevada Inc. has signed an agreement to acquire 100% of the membership interests in HSS II, LLC, which includes the Hot Sulphur Springs Geothermal Project in the northern Independence Valley of northeast Nevada. The Project is in an advanced stage of development and has one successful well. The Company plans to construct and operate a geothermal plant on the site which is expected to become operational in 2012. | | 17:46 ET Standard & Poor s Announces Change to U.S. Index Tessera Technologies (TSRA) will replace Financial Federal (FIF) in the S&P SmallCap 600 index after the close of trading on Thursday, February 18. Financial Federal is being acquired by S&P 500 constituent People's United Financial (PBCT) in a deal expected to close on or about that date, pending final approvals. | | 17:45 ET Team Health Holdings reports Q4 pro forma loss of $0.28 vs. $0.11 pro forma loss in the prior year's quarter; net revs less provision for uncollectibles grew 5.2% to $348.8 mln | | 17:42 ET Fitch affirms Vornado Realty Trust's IDR at 'BBB'; outlook stable Fitch Ratings has affirmed the Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) and security level ratings of Vornado Realty Trust (VNO) and its subsidiary Vornado Realty, L.P. (together, Vornado) as follows: Vornado Realty Trust --IDR at 'BBB'; Perpetual preferred stock at 'BB+'. Vornado Realty, L.P. IDR at 'BBB'; Unsecured revolving credit facilities at 'BBB'; --Senior unsecured notes at 'BBB'; Convertible senior unsecured notes at 'BBB'; Exchangeable senior unsecured notes at 'BBB'. The Rating Outlook is Stable. The rating affirmations are supported by a strong management track record, diverse portfolio of high quality assets, large unencumbered asset pool with strong coverage of unsecured debt, strong leasing profile, solid debt service coverage ratios, and manageable leverage. | | 17:29 ET PHH Corp Reschedules Investor Call Due to Winter Storm Warning to Feb 16 at 10am EST, from Feb 10 2:00pm EST | | 17:28 ET Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico reports passenger traffic decrease of 1.7% for January 2010 Co announced preliminary terminal passenger traffic figures for the month of January 2010 compared to traffic figures for January 2009. During January 2010, total terminal passengers decreased 1.7% compared to the previous year; domestic passenger traffic decreased 2.6%, while international passenger traffic decreased 0.3% compared to January 2009. | | 17:26 ET 3M raises Q1 dividend 3% YoY to 52.5 cents | | 17:26 ET Airgas Board of Directors rejects unsolicited proposal from Air Products Co announced that its Board of Directors has unanimously determined that the unsolicited proposal from Air Products & Chemicals (APD) ("Air Products") announced on February 5, 2010, very significantly undervalues Airgas and its future prospects and is not in the best interests of Airgas stockholders. The Board rejected the Air Products' proposal after a thorough review and reached its decision after careful consideration with the assistance of its independent financial and legal advisors. | | 17:24 ET Terreno Realty Corporation (TRNO) Announces Pricing of Initial Public Offering at $20/share Co which intends to acquire, own and operate industrial real estate located in six major coastal U.S. markets, today announced it has priced its initial public offering of 8,750,000 shares of common stock, $0.01 par value per share, at $20 per share. The shares of common stock of the Company are scheduled to begin trading on February 10, 2010 on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "TRNO." | | 17:23 ET RenaissanceRe beats by $0.32, beats on revs Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $2.82 per share, $0.32 better than the First Call consensus of $2.50; revenues rose 164.5% year/year to $396.7 mln vs the $347.9 mln consensus. | | 17:19 ET Aspen Insurance beats by $0.32, reports revs in-line; guides 2010 gross premiums; announces $400 mln shares repurchase program Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $1.44 per share, $0.32 better than the First Call consensus of $1.12; revenues fell 0.5% year/year to $476.2 mln vs the $472.7 mln consensus. At this early stage in the year and given the state of the market, the co anticipates gross written premium for the full year to be $2.2 bln +/- 5%, premium ceded to be between 8% and 12% of gross earned premium and the combined ratio to be in the range of 88%-94% including a cat load of $170 mln assuming normal loss experience in the year. Separately, the Board authorized a new share repurchase program for up to $400 mln over two years. | | 17:15 ET Taubman Centers beats by $0.15, beats on revs; guides FY10 FFO in-line Reports Q4 (Dec) funds from operations of $0.93 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.15 better than the First Call consensus of $0.78; revenues fell 1.9% year/year to $186.3 mln vs the $165.4 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for FY10, sees FFO of $2.55-2.75, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $2.63 consensus. | | 17:13 ET GAMCO Investors beays by $0.13 Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.70 per share, $0.13 better than the First Call consensus of $0.57; revenues rose 55.8% year/year to $78.0 mln vs the $66.7 mln dual-analyst est. Assets Under Management (AUM) were $26.3 billion as of December 31, 2009, 30.4% greater than December 31, 2008 AUM of $20.2 billion and 7.6% higher than September 30, 2009 AUM of $24.5 billion. | | 17:09 ET Derma Sciences (OTC: DSCID) will list its common stock on NASDAQ Capital Market effective February 10 under the ticker symbol "DSCI" | | 17:05 ET Sony acquired iCyt Mission Technology Co announced that it has acquired iCyt Mission Technology, a producer of high-performance cell sorters used for stem cell and disease research, through its U.S. subsidiary, Sony Corporation of America (SCA). Through this acquisition, Sony expects to accelerate its development of next-generation cell analysis systems and deliver innovative products to research and clinical laboratories around the world. | | 17:03 ET Suncor Energy agrees to sell non-core assets in Northeast B.C. to Progress Energy Resources Corp. Co has reached an agreement with Progress Energy Resources Corp. to sell certain natural gas properties for approximately $390 million. Current production on these lands is ~43.8 million cubic feet equivalent per day (mmcfe/d). The sale includes properties known as Jedney, Beg and Blueberry, which are located in British Columbia about 125 kilometres northwest of Fort St. John. The sale is expected to close at the end of the first quarter and is subject to closing conditions and regulatory approvals typical of transactions of this nature. | | 17:00 ET Selectica announces a 1-for-20 reverse stock split | | 16:49 ET Kensey Nash announces $30 mln share buyback KNSY said the new program allows the co to repurchase an additional $30 mln of its issued and outstanding shares of Common Stock, in addition to approximately $3 million currently remaining under the previously announced repurchase program, and has no scheduled expiration. The Company intends to finance the repurchases using its available cash and liquid investments. | | 16:47 ET Corp Exec Bd beats by $0.16, beats on revs; guides FY10 EPS below consensus, revs below consensus Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.40 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.16 better than the First Call consensus of $0.24; revenues fell 21.0% year/year to $108 mln vs the $101.3 mln consensus. Co issues downside guidance for FY10, sees EPS of $0.85-1.10, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $1.29 consensus; sees FY10 revs of $385-405 mln vs. $418.21 mln consensus. | | 16:40 ET W.R. Grace announces Paul J. Norris resigns from Board of Directors | | 16:39 ET Prospect Energy beats by $0.02; guides Q3 EPS below consensus Reports Q2 (Dec) net investment income of $0.29 per share, $0.02 better than the First Call consensus of $0.27. Co issues downside guidance for Q3, sees net investment income of $0.24-0.32 vs. $0.34 consensus. | | 16:36 ET National Financial Partners reports Q4 earnings of $0.61 vs $0.52 First Call consensus; revs declined 7% year/year to $277.2 mln vs $265.25 mln First Call consensus | | 16:35 ET RealNetworks and Viacom to separate Rhapsody into independent company RealNetworks (RNWK) and MTV Networks, a division of Viacom International (VIA.A and VIA.B) announced plans to restructure their digital music service joint venture, Rhapsody America, into a newly formed corporation that will operate independently from its parent companies. RealNetworks, currently the majority owner and operator of Rhapsody, and Viacom will restructure their ownership and rights in the joint venture to provide the necessary intellectual property rights to launch the new company as an independent entity. RealNetworks will also contribute operating capital as part of the transaction. Under the terms of the restructuring, which is expected to close at the end of the first quarter, RealNetworks will no longer have operating control over the venture, and Rhapsody will have no single majority owner. | | 16:35 ET OpenTable beats by $0.07, beats on revs Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.14 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.07 better than the First Call consensus of $0.07; revenues rose 32.4% year/year to $19.2 mln vs the $17.7 mln consensus. Subscription revenues were $9.6 mln in Q4 2009, up 18% over Q4 2008 revenues of $8.1 mln. Subscription revenues increased as a result of the increase in installed restaurants. Reservation revenues were $8.5 mln in Q4 2009, up 47% over Q4 2008 revenues of $5.8 mln. Reservation revenues primarily increased as a result of the increase in seated diners. Installation and other revenues were $1.0 mln in Q4 2009, up 67% over Q4 2008 revenues of $0.6 mln. | | 16:35 ET Baidu.com beats by $0.12, beats on revs; guides Q1 revs above consensus Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $1.80 per share, $0.12 better than the First Call consensus of $1.68; revenues rose 39.8% year/year to $184.7 mln vs the $180 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q1, sees Q1 revs of $176-181 mln vs. $170.23 mln consensus. "The year ended on a positive note as Phoenix Nest's better than anticipated performance helped us to exceed expectations for the fourth quarter..." Online marketing revenues for the fourth quarter of 2009 were RMB1.260 bln ($184.6 mln), representing a 39.8% increase from the corresponding period in 2008. Baidu had about 223,000 active online marketing customers in the fourth quarter of 2009, representing a 13.2% increase from the corresponding period in 2008 and a 3.2% increase from the previous quarter. Revenue per online marketing customer for the fourth quarter was approximately RMB5,700 ($828), a 23.9% increase from the corresponding period in 2008 and a 3.4% decrease from the previous quarter, primarily due to the effects of the transition from Baidu Online Marketing Classic Edition to Phoenix Nest. Traffic acquisition cost (TAC) as a component of cost of revenues was RMB201.9 mln ($29.6 mln), representing 16.0% of total revenues, as compared to 14.6% in the corresponding period in 2008 and 15.3% in the third quarter of 2009. | | 16:35 ET Transcept Pharma granted first U.S. patent covering Intermezzo formulation The co announces that the first patent covering the composition and method of use of Intermezzo (zolpidem tartrate sublingual tablet), the lead Transcept product candidate, has been issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Transcept announced the issuance of a Notice of Allowance for claims under the application for this patent, U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 11/060,641, on December 14, 2009. The newly issued patent, U.S. Patent No. 7,658,945, titled "Compositions for Delivering Hypnotic Agents Across the Oral Mucosa and Methods of Use Thereof," will expire no earlier than February 2025. | | 16:34 ET Arrow Elec unit and Riverbed Technology signed a North American distribution agreement Arrow Enterprise Computing Solutions, a business segment of Arrow Electronics (ARW) and Riverbed Technology (RVBD) have signed a North American distribution agreement. Riverbed wide-area network optimization solutions help to improve remote and mobile employee productivity, enable private clouds, and provide enterprise-wide network and application visibility, while eliminating the need to increase bandwidth, storage or servers. | | 16:32 ET Corrections Corp beats by $0.02, reports revs in-line; guides Q1 EPS below consensus; guides FY10 EPS below consensus Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.36 per share, $0.02 better than the First Call consensus of $0.34; revenues rose 4.0% year/year to $427.1 mln vs the $430.7 mln consensus. Co issues downside guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.28-0.30 vs. $0.33 consensus. Co issues downside guidance for FY10, sees EPS of $1.16-1.26 vs. $1.33 consensus. The Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program of up to $250.0 million of CCA's common stock effective through June 30, 2011. | | 16:32 ET Max Capital Group increases share repurchase plan by $29 mln Co announces that 2010, Max Capital's Board of Directors authorized an increase in the share repurchase plan of $100 million, and, following this authorization, the amount currently available is $129 million. | | 16:31 ET Bronco Drilling announces monthly operating results Co announces operational results for the month ended January 31, 2010. Utilization for the Company's drilling fleet was 33% for the month of January compared to 32% for the previous month and 31% for the fourth quarter of 2009. The Company had an average of 37 marketed drilling rigs in January compared to 37 in the previous month and 37 for the fourth quarter of 2009. The average dayrate on operating drilling rigs as of January 31, 2010, was $15,442 compared to $15,079 as of December 31, 2009, and $15,354 for the fourth quarter of 2009. The Company cautions that several factors other than those discussed above may impact the Company's operating results and that a particular trend regarding the factors above may or may not be indicative of the Company's current or future financial performance. | | 16:31 ET Exide Tech and Truck Pride Partners announce new supply agreement Co announces a new supply agreement with Truck Pride Partners. Under the new agreement, Exide has been designated as the preferred vendor for the Truck Pride Partners battery line. Exide will supply a full aftermarket line, including automotive, heavy duty, marine, golf cart, electric vehicle, lawn and garden and power sport products. The two-year agreement includes Exide branded and Truck Pride private label batteries sold in the U.S. and Canada. | | 16:31 ET Rush Enterprises beats by $0.01, misses on revs; sees 1Q10 sales up QoQ, with a sliggish Q2 and Q3 Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.04 per share, $0.01 better than the First Call consensus of $0.03; revenues fell 22.8% year/year to $295.6 mln vs the $304.5 mln consensus. "We believe 2010 will be a difficult year. Industry experts currently estimate U.S. Class 8 retail sales for 2010 to be 114,000 units, up from 97,000 units in 2009. However, we believe U.S. Class 8 retail sales will only increase slightly over 2009 to about 105,000 units. Current industry projections are for U.S. Class 4-7 retail sales in 2010 to be 123,500 units, up from 111,415 units in 2009. We expect to see a slight increase in sales during 1Q10, as compared to 4Q09 (consensus calls for a 9.1% QoQ icrease in sales), as trucks with engines manufactured before new emissions regulations took effect on January 1, 2010 are delivered from our inventory. However, continued uncertainty about the economy caused us to be more conservative with inventory purchases than we were in the previous emissions-driven cycle in early 2007. We expect truck sales to be extremely sluggish in the second and third quarters as new technology begins to gradually gain acceptance in the marketplace. We do not believe any sustainable increase in retail sales will occur until late in 2010. However, fleet age is the oldest on record and I believe excess freight capacity will continue to dissipate throughout 2010. As a result, I expect a strong recovery in retail sales in 2011 and 2012." | | 16:27 ET Gildan Activewear beats by $0.02, beats on revs; reaffirms FY10 rev and gross margin guidance Reports Q1 (Dec) earnings of $0.24 per share, ex-items, $0.02 better than the First Call consensus of $0.22; revenues rose 19.8% year/year to $220.4 mln vs the $206.7 mln consensus. Co reaffirms guidance for FY10, sees FY10 revs of in excess of $1.2 bln vs. $1.23 bln consensus, with gross margins of ~26% vs the 25.6% consensus. The strong recovery in sales of activewear and underwear compared to fiscal 2009 primarily reflected a 31.5% increase in activewear unit sales volumes, due to higher market share in the U.S. wholesale distributor channel, lower seasonal inventory destocking by distributors than in the first quarter of fiscal 2009, and increased penetration of international and other screenprint markets. These positive factors, together with more favourable activewear product-mix, were partially offset by an 8.9% decline in overall industry unit shipments from U.S. distributors to U.S. screenprinters, and an approximate 3.5% reduction in net selling prices for activewear, compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2009. Consolidated gross margins in the first quarter were 29.8%, compared to 21.1% in the first quarter of fiscal 2009. The increase in gross margins compared to last year was due to significant gains in manufacturing efficiencies, lower cotton and energy costs and more favourable activewear product-mix, partially offset by lower net selling prices for activewear, as well as the impact of additional inventory provisions. The co has increased its capital expenditure forecast for fiscal 2010 to approximately U.S. $145 million, compared to $130 million projected in Dec. The increase in projected capital expenditures is due to the acceleration of planned sewing capacity expansion projects required to support the Company's projected sales growth, further capacity expansion and additional knitting machines at the new Rio Nance IV sock facility, and additional investment in the biomass project in Honduras, which is expected to result in further incremental cost savings. | | 16:20 ET Northeast Utilities will pay a quarterly dividend of $0.25625 per share, up from $0.2375 per share | | 16:20 ET CryoLife sends letter to Medafor shareholders Co announces it has sent the following letter to Medafor shareholders. "As you have read in our press release dated February 2, 2010, CryoLife now owns approximately 11 percent of Medafor ("the Company"). As a result, CryoLife has acquired additional shareholder rights, including the right to call a special meeting of Medafor shareholders. We did receive a letter from Medafor's board on January 22, 2010 indicating that Medafor's board is giving serious consideration to our proposal to acquire the outstanding shares of Medafor for $2.00 per share in cash and stock. We at CryoLife remain committed to engaging with Medafor in good faith negotiations about this proposal in order to help maximize value for all shareholders. However, it has been over two weeks since Medafor's board last communicated with us and almost four weeks since we sent our first letter to the Company.... We believe our initial proposal to Medafor is compelling. We look forward to engaging Medafor's board to fully discuss the complete set of opportunities that exist for both companies as a combined entity..." | | 16:19 ET Web.com beats by $0.01, reports revs in-line Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.16 per share, $0.01 better than the First Call consensus of $0.15; revenues fell 8.4% year/year to $26.3 mln vs the $26.3 mln consensus. Co's total net subscribers were approximately 275,000 at the end of the fourth quarter of 2009, up approximately 2,000 compared to the end of the prior quarter. Customer churn was 3.3% for the fourth quarter of 2009, representing an all-time low and down from 3.4% for the third quarter of 2009. | | 16:18 ET UDR beats by $0.01, beats on revs; guides FY10 FFO below consensus Reports Q4 (Dec) funds from operations of $0.29 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 better than the First Call consensus of $0.28; revenues rose 0.4% year/year to $150.1 mln vs the $148.5 mln consensus. Co issues downside guidance for FY10, sees FFO of $1.00-1.07 vs. $1.08 consensus. | | 16:17 ET Healthcare Services Group misses by $0.05, reports revs in-line Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.15 per share, $0.05 worse than the First Call consensus of $0.20; revenues rose 18.1% year/year to $182.6 mln vs the $181 mln consensus. | | 16:17 ET Aftermarket Tech reports EPS in-line, misses on revs; guides FY10 EPS in-line, revs in-line Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.50 per share, in-line with the First Call consensus of $0.50; revenues fell 0.9% year/year to $125.3 mln vs the $127.9 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for FY10, sees EPS of $2.13-$2.45 vs. $2.30 consensus; sees FY10 revs of $510-$550 mln vs. $507.51 mln consensus. Logistics revs are expected to be $400-$430 mln, with segment profit of $67-$74 mln. In Drivetrain, they expect revs of $115-$120 mln and segment profit of $2-$5 mln. | | 16:17 ET IMS Health beats by $0.13, beats on revs Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.52 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.13 better than the First Call consensus of $0.39; revenues rose 3.2% year/year to $599.2 mln vs the $565.6 mln consensus. | | 16:16 ET Pharmasset reports 1Q10 results Pharmasset reports 1Q10 earnings of ($0.49) vs ($0.43) First Call consensus; revs $0.3 mln vs $1.77 mln First Call consensus. "Pharmasset continues to make solid progress across all of its clinical programs." stated Schaefer Price, President and Chief Executive Officer. "2010 is shaping up to be an important year for the company with phase 2a data from our proprietary PSI-7977 program and phase 1 data with our first purine analog, PSI-938, coming in the third quarter. We believe nucleoside/tide analogs have the potential to become the backbone of treatment regimens, not only for genotype 1, but also across a broad range of HCV genotypes. We look forward to reporting data from all our programs throughout 2010." | | 16:16 ET AAR Corp estimates impact of Mesa's bankruptcy on Q3 results Co commented that results for the third quarter ending February 28, 2010, will be unfavorably impacted by approx $0.10 diluted earnings per share as a result of Mesa Air Group, Inc.'s January 5, 2010 Chapter 11 filing under the United States Bankruptcy Code. The impact mostly reflects the Company's estimated loss on pre-petition trade accounts receivables and the reduction in the carrying value of other contract related assets. Sales to Mesa prior to the reorganization filing approx $70 mln per year. Based upon the Company's current understanding of Mesa's requirements, the Company expects annual sales to Mesa to now approx $45 mln. "We have not yet seen the uptick in sales to commercial customers in January that we had expected. However, our defense business remains strong and after excluding the unfavorable impact of Mesa, we expect to achieve modest sequential earnings per share improvement in our Fiscal 2010 third quarter results. We also expect continued strong cash flow from operations in our third quarter." | | 16:15 ET AspenBio Pharma reports on AppyScore supplemental clinical trial interim analysis and provides guidance on FDA 510(k) Filing The co reports conclusions from its pre-planned, independent, interim analysis of the Company's ongoing supplemental clinical trial of AppyScore , the first blood-based test designed to aid in the evaluation of patients suspected of having acute appendicitis, and outlined next steps for its AppyScore 510(k) filing with the FDA. Based on the interim analysis, the trial, currently with over 600 patients enrolled, will continue enrollment to approximately 800 patients with completion anticipated in March of 2010. Given the time estimate to complete the current trial and related data analysis, the Company has withdrawn its 510(k) on file with the FDA and will submit a new 510(k) with full results from the ongoing clinical trial. This clinical trial is statistically sized to stand alone and thereby becomes the pivotal trial to support the new 510(k) submission... "We believe AppyScore has the potential to help improve physicians' evaluation of appendicitis, eliminating unnecessary CT scans and reducing radiation exposure risk for patients -- while also reducing health care costs," said Daryl J. Faulkner, Chief Executive Officer of AspenBio Pharma. "We continue to actively enroll patients in the ongoing clinical trial and believe that submitting a new 510(k) based on a full analysis of the data from this study will provide the most effective path to 510(k) clearance. Our new timeline includes finalizing the trial results and submitting the new 510(k) in the second quarter of 2010. | | 16:14 ET NETGEAR beats by $0.12, beats on revs; guides Q1 revs above consensus Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.34 per share, $0.12 better than the First Call consensus of $0.22; revenues rose 35.6% year/year to $218.8 mln vs the $178.4 mln consensus. Gross margin on a non-GAAP basis in Q4 were 31.1%, as compared to 31.2% in the year ago comparable qtr. Co issues upside guidance for Q1, sees Q1 revs of $195-$205 mln vs. $175.76 mln consensus. Sees Q1 non-GAAP operating margins in the range of 10%-11%. | | 16:13 ET XenoPort announces extension of the Horizant PDUFA date to February 11, 2010 Co announces the FDA will not be taking an action today on the Horizant (gabapentin enacarbil) new drug application for moderate-to-severe primary Restless Legs Syndrome, due to the fact that the federal government has been closed for the past two days. The FDA has indicated that the new Prescription Drug User Fee Act goal date is Thursday, February 11, 2010, assuming that there are no further federal government closings this week. The FDA indicated that if there are additional federal government closings this week, the goal date for this NDA will likely be extended further. This NDA was filed by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), XenoPort's partner in the United States and several other countries outside of Asia. Horizant is also known as XP13512. | | 16:12 ET XL Capital misses by $0.01 Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.69 per share, $0.01 worse than the First Call consensus of $0.70. Book value per ordinary share of $24.60 at December 31, 2009, an increase of 3% in the quarter and 59% for the full year. P&C operations combined ratio of 96.4% for the quarter and 93.6% for the year. The loss ratio for the quarter was 62.2% compared to 58.0% for the fourth quarter of 2008, with full year loss ratios of 61.5% and 66.2%, respectively. Net unrealized losses on investments, net of tax, were $1.2 billion at December 31, 2009 compared with net unrealized losses, net of tax, of $1.5 billion at September 30, 2009. The decrease in net unrealized losses for the quarter in the Company's P&C operations was substantially due to realized losses during the quarter, combined with favorable mark-to-market movements arising from tightening spreads, offset by rising interest rates. The decrease in net unrealized losses in the Company's Life operations was a result of realized losses during the quarter, offset by negative mark-to-market as a result of rising U.K. interest rates partially offset by tightening spreads. | | 16:11 ET Diodes reports Q4 (Dec) results, revs in-line; guides Q1 revs above consensus Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.36 per share, which included $2.2 mln or $0.05 per share, net of tax, non-cash compensation expense and may not be comparable to the First Call consensus of $0.29. Excluding the expense EPS would have increased by an additional $0.05 per share; revenues rose 49.6% year/year to $130.3 mln vs the $129 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q1, sees Q1 revs of $131 mln - $137 mln vs. $125.48 mln consensus.Commenting on the results, Dr. Keh-Shew Lu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Diodes Incorporated, stated, "We expect continued growth momentum in the first half of 2010 and remain positive on our outlook due to design win traction and new product introductions. Despite the first quarter being a typically seasonally slower period for our markets, we are seeing strong customer demand in the consumer and communications markets, in particular for our products utilized in panels for LCD and LED televisions as well as smartphones and set-top boxes. Further, we are also beginning to see market stabilization in North America and Europe. | | 16:11 ET USANA beats by $0.07, reports revs in-line; guides FY10 EPS above consensus, revs in-line Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.66 per share, $0.07 better than the First Call consensus of $0.59; revenues rose 5.1% year/year to $116.8 mln vs the $115.7 mln consensus. Co issues mixed guidance for FY10, sees EPS of $2.45-2.55 vs. $2.40 consensus; sees FY10 revs of $465-475 mln vs. $470.35 mln consensus. | | 16:09 ET Insulet beats by $0.05, reports revs in-line; guides Q1 revs in-line; guides FY10 revs in-line Reports Q4 (Dec) loss of $0.42 per share, $0.05 better than the First Call consensus of ($0.47); revenues rose 69.7% year/year to $20.2 mln vs the $20.1 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for Q1, sees Q1 revs of $20-21 mln vs. $20.72 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for FY10, sees FY10 revs of $90-100 mln vs. $95.74 mln consensus, with an operating loss of $30-40 mln, may not compare to the consensus for operating profit of -$38.65 mln. Gross profit for the fourth quarter of 2009 was $7.3 million, representing a 36% gross margin, compared to a gross profit of $1.2 million, or a 10% gross margin, for the fourth quarter of 2008. | | 16:09 ET kforce.com beats by $0.01, beats on revs; guides Q1 EPS in-line, revs above consensus Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.09 per share, $0.01 better than the First Call consensus of $0.08; revenues fell 6.8% year/year to $224.6 mln vs the $219.6 mln consensus. Co issues mixed guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.04-0.07, which includes an impact of ~$0.05 per share of payroll taxes. vs. $0.07 consensus; sees Q1 revs of $224-232 mln vs. $222.21 mln consensus. | | 16:08 ET Globecomm Systems reports EPS in-line, beats on revs; guides FY10 EPS in-line, revs in-line Reports Q2 (Dec) earnings of $0.07 per share, in-line with the First Call consensus of $0.07; revenues rose 42.8% year/year to $57.1 mln vs the $51.6 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for FY10, sees EPS of $0.30-$0.35 vs. $0.33 consensus; sees FY10 revs of $215-$225 mln vs. $215.49 mln consensus. | | 16:08 ET Dionex beats by $0.04, reports revs in-line; guides Q3 EPS above consensus, revs above consensus; guides FY10 EPS in-line, revs in-line Reports Q2 (Dec) earnings of $0.92 per share, $0.04 better than the First Call consensus of $0.88; revenues rose 6.0% year/year to $109.2 mln vs the $108.9 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q3, sees EPS of $0.90-$0.93 vs. $0.86 consensus; sees Q3 revs of $109-$113 mln vs. $105.98 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for FY10, sees EPS of $3.15-$3.25 vs. $3.20 consensus; sees FY10 revs of $413-$420 mln vs. $413.43 mln consensus. Co states, "In the first six months of this fiscal year, we experienced the impact of the global economic weakness on our business. We believe that we will see some improvement as we enter the second half of fiscal 2010 and we anticipate that our organic sales growth rates will increase to the mid-single digits..." | | 16:08 ET Learning Tree beats by $0.05, reports revs in-line Reports Q1 (Dec) earnings of $0.18 per share, $0.05 better than the First Call consensus of $0.13; revenues fell 99.9% year/year to $32.5 mln vs the $32.5 mln consensus. "Our performance in our first quarter reflects significant benefits from profitability improvements and cost savings we have made during these challenging economic times... We are pleased that these changes have resulted in increased profitability compared to a year earlier, and we look forward to being able to build on our strong financial base and market position to capitalize on opportunities as they arise." | | 16:07 ET Cerner beats by $0.03, beats on revs; guides Q1 and FY10 in-line Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.75 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.03 better than the First Call consensus of $0.72; revenues rose 0.1% year/year to $466.3 mln vs the $451.2 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.57-0.62, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.62 consensus; sees Q1 revs of $420-435 mln vs. $431.8 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for FY10, sees EPS of $2.80-2.90, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $2.84 consensus; sees FY10 revs of $1.80-1.875 bln vs. $1.85 bln consensus. | | 16:07 ET Bob Evans misses by $0.02, misses on revs; guides FY10 revs in-line Reports Q3 (Jan) earnings of $0.58 per share, $0.02 worse than the First Call consensus of $0.60; revenues fell 3.1% year/year to $429.8 mln vs the $438.1 mln consensus. Same-store sales at Bob Evans Restaurants were down 4.2 percent in the third quarter of fiscal 2010, with average menu prices up 0.9 percent. At Mimi's Cafe, same-store sales decreased 8.3 percent for the third quarter of fiscal 2010, with average menu prices up 2.2 Co expects sales for Fy10 to be down 0.5-1.0% from FY09 (~$1.74-1.75 bln) vs. $1.74 bln consensus. Company reaffirmed its estimate for reported fiscal 2010 operating income of approximately $110 million to $115 million. The Company continues to expect substantively lower future capital expenditures for restaurant development in fiscal 2010 at both Bob Evans Restaurants and Mimi's Cafe. Specifically, the Company will not build any new Bob Evans Restaurants, but has built two Mimi's Cafes during fiscal 2010. | | 16:06 ET Mercury Computer announced the correction that was discovered in finalizing Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q Co announced the correction of an error that was discovered in the process of finalizing the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the second quarter of fiscal 2010. The correction related to the cost of revenues and inventory balances reported in the press release issued on January 26, 2010, announcing the Company's results for the quarter ended December 31, 2009. Cost of revenues for the three and six months ended December 31, 2009 was $19.3 million and $39.4 million, respectively, rather than $18.8 million and $38.9 million as previously announced. This correction resulted from the incomplete release of inventory into costs of revenue. While it had no impact on revenue, the correction had the net effect of reducing the previously announced gross profit, income from operations, income tax expense, income from continuing operations, net income, basic and diluted earnings per share and adjusted EBITDA for the three and six months ended December 31, 2009. | | 16:06 ET Walt Disney beats by $0.09, reports revs in-line Reports Q1 (Dec) earnings of $0.47 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.09 better than the First Call consensus of $0.38; revenues rose 1.5% year/year to $9.74 bln vs the $9.66 bln consensus. Media Networks revenues for the quarter increased 7% to $4.2 bln and segment operating income increased 11% to $724 mln. Parks and Resorts revenues for the quarter were essentially flat at $2.7 bln and segment operating income decreased 2% to $375 mln. Results for the quarter reflected a decrease at Disneyland Paris, partially offset by an increase at our domestic operations. | | 16:05 ET Finisar sees Q3 revs of $166-167 mln vs $155.59 mln First Call consensus The co announces that, on the basis of preliminary financial results, it expects to report revenues of $166 to $167 million ($155.59 mln First Call consensus) for its fiscal third quarter ended January 31, 2010, compared to revenue guidance of $148 to $158 million provided by the Company early in the quarter. The announced results are preliminary and subject to adjustment; however, in the absence of a material adjustment, third quarter revenues will set a new record for the Company surpassing the previous record of approximately $163 million for Finisar and Optium Corporation on a combined basis for the fiscal quarter ended July 31, 2008, just prior to the merger of the two companies. Based on these higher preliminary revenues, the Company expects to be at the upper end of its original guidance for the quarter on a non-GAAP basis of 30%-32% for gross margin and 6%-8% for operating margin. While a complete assessment of cost of revenues and operating expenses is not yet available, based on past experience, results under GAAP are expected to include approximately $8 to $10 million in additional non-cash and infrequently occurring charges. | 16:05 ET Walt Disney shares move higher in extended hours with the current Feb. high point in play @ 30.87 & the Feb. closing high @ 30.75 Underside of the 50-day SMA is in play @ 31~31.05.
DIS now @ 30.55 | | 16:04 ET Ultimate Software reports EPS in-line, revs in-line; guides Q1 revs in-line; guides FY10 revs in-line Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.10 per share, excluding non-recurring items, in-line with the First Call consensus of $0.10; revenues rose 5.2% year/year to $52.3 mln vs the $52.1 mln consensus, with recurring revs of $35.7 mln. Co issues in-line guidance for Q1, sees Q1 revs of ~$55 mln vs. $54.35 mln consensus, with recurring revs of ~$39 mln and non-GAAP op. margins of ~6%. Co issues in-line guidance for FY10, sees FY10 revs up ~18% YoY which we calculate to be revs of ~$232 mln vs. the $231.91 mln consensus, with recurring revs up 27% YoY and non-GAAP op. margin of ~10%.. | | 16:03 ET American Science & Engineering misses by $0.34, misses on revs Reports Q3 (Dec) earnings of $0.64 per share, $0.34 worse than the First Call consensus of $0.98; revenues fell 15.9% year/year to $54.9 mln vs the $60.1 mln consensus. Bookings in the quarter were $91,332,000 resulting in a backlog of $223,870,000 as of December 31, 2009. Co says "... although revenue in the quarter was impacted by contractual delivery requirements we are well positioned to deliver our historically high backlog on schedule to meet or exceed customer expectations." | | 15:54 ET Late slide to new afternoon lows for stock indices -- Dow +136, S&P +11, Nasdaq +21 | 15:45 ET Late day sector ETF view Actively Traded Leading Sector ETF Plays:
US airlines- FAA +6.5%, Steel- SLX +5%, Gold miners- GDX +4.5%, SPDRS metals & mining- XME +4.5%, iShares Brazil- EWZ +4%, Coal- KOL +3.75%, Base metals- DBB +3.75%, Wind energy- FAN +3.5%, Heating oil- UHN +3.5%, Ag/chem- MOO +3.5%, China 25- FXI +3.5%, Crude/WTI oil- USO +3%, OIL +3.25%, iShares basic materials- IYM +3.25%, Emerging mkts- EEM +3.25%, iShares S Korea- EWY +3%, Solar power- TAN +3%, Oil HLDRS- OIH +3%, Silver- SLV +2.75%, India- INP +2.5%
Actively Traded Leading Sector ETF Plays:
VIX vol. index- VXX -3.5%, Nat gas- UNG -2%, US bonds- TLT -1%, BND -.25%, AGG -.25%, US Dollar index- UUP -.75%, Yen currency shares- FXY -.25%, Livestock commods- COW -.25%, iShares REITS & real estate- ICF -.25%, IYR -.25% | | 15:41 ET Earnings Calendar Today after the close of the many companies scheduled to report, some of the bigger names include: BIDU, CXW, GCOM, LTRE, LGF, NTGR, SF, ULTI, and DIS. Tomorrow before the open, of the many companies scheduled to report some of the bigger names include: CCE, DF, DISCO, ELN, ICE, LVLT, LPX, S, and WYN. | | 15:12 ET Suncor Energy responds to fire at Oil Sands upgrader; currently assessing damage Co responded to a fire today at one of the company's two oil sands upgraders north of Fort McMurray, Alberta. The area was immediately secured and all employees and contractors in the area were safely evacuated. The appropriate authorities and regulators have been informed. Suncor officials are currently assessing damage and will provide an update on scheduling of repairs when the assessment is complete. | | 15:04 ET Baidu.com slips to fresh lows as it dips down to probe its 4-day gap up range low near the 435.00 level Note that co. is out with earnings tonight. | | 15:00 ET NV Energy Signs Power Contract with Pattern Energy for First Utility-Scale Wind Project in Nevada .... | 14:56 ET NASDAQ 100 (NDX) leaders & laggards moving into today's final hour of trading NDX 100 Best % Performers:
CTSH +5%, RYAAY +4.5%, INFY +4%, STLD +3.75%, MICC +3.5%, NIHD +3.25%, URBN +3%, SPLS +3%, JOYG +2.5%, BRCM +2.5%, FAST +2.5%, DTV +2.5%, PCAR +2.5%
NDX 100 Worst % Performers:
ERTS -9.75%, PPDI -4.5%, BIDU -1%, RIMM -.75%, EBAY -.5%, AMGN -.5%, INTU -.25%, ATVI -.5%, GRMN -.25%
NASDAQ TRIN @ +.60
NASDAQ A/D @ +1030 | | 14:54 ET Stock indices vacillating near midday trading range lows -- Dow +151, S&P +12, Nasdaq +22 | 14:53 ET Dow (INDU) leaders & laggards moving into today's final hour of trading INDU Best % Performers:
CAT +5.5%, BA +3.75%, KO +3.25%, INTC +2.25%, AA +2%, KFT +2%, DD +2%
INDU Worst % Performers:
MRK -.5%, BAC -.5%
NYSE TRIN @ +.70
NYSE A/D @ +1585 | | 14:39 ET NYMEX Energy Closing Prices Crude oil finished higher by $1.86 to $73.75, natural gas lost 10.7 cents to end at $5.294, heating oil gained 5.18 cents to $1.9373 and RBOB gasoline closed up 3.72 cents to $1.9312 (all March contracts). | | 13:33 ET COMEX Metals Closing Prices April gold finished higher by $5.80 to $1072.00, March silver rallied for 34.5 cents to close at $15.43 and March copper ended up 7.4 cents to $2.987. | 13:16 ET Exchange trading volume running heavier than yesterday's midday totals as the broad indices hold firm gains- See volume chart Both NYSE & NASDAQ exchanges are posting much stronger trading volume today as the markets remain bid even as European zone news driven events cause intraday volatility. The increased volume could signal a return by mutual funds & institutions to the accumulation side of the market & should be monitored for positive price-to-volume pattern relationships.
As of 1:00ET, 660M shares have changed hands on NYSE vs. 475M yesterday, while over on NASDAQ, 1.3B shares have traded vs. 1.08B yesterday.
NYSE 30min volume chart
NASDAQ 30min volume chart | | 13:01 ET Cummins declared a quarterly common stock cash dividend of 17.5 cents per share, payable March 1, 2010 to shareholders of record on February 19, 2010, unchanged from prior | | 12:59 ET Seacor Hldgs announces fuel operations resume at Haiti's main terminal Co announced that emergency repairs have enabled tanker shipments of fuel to resume to Haiti. Terminal Varreux is located five miles from the epicenter of the earthquake. The first tanker began discharging its initial load of fuel at the restored berth on Friday, February 5. The shipment was completed in the early morning hours on Sunday, February 7 and the vessel has departed from the terminal. | | 12:50 ET Seacor Hldgs and WIN Group announce Fuel Operations Resume at Haiti's Main Terminal Varreux ... | | 12:43 ET PowerShares DB USD Bull ETF extends reversal off equality target but holding above support Last Friday noted the test/pause at an equality objective for the UUP and today the pullback has been appreciably extended which has helped to underpin Energy/Commodity and the stock market in general after a morning pullback. Short term supports for the UUP are at 23.32/23.30 and the 23.20/23.18 area (session low 23.41) -- Click for updated chart. A stabilized above/at these levels would not damage the firmer pattern off the Dec/Jan lows. | | 12:16 ET Crude oil puts in new highs at $74.15; now up $2.15 to $74.04 | | 12:11 ET Nasdaq +33 confirms move to new session highs -- Dow +200, S&P +19.4 | | 12:10 ET Google working back toward early high at 541.25 with Monday's rebound high/last week's high at 542.00/542.10 | | 11:56 ET Crude trades to fresh highs at $73.80; now higher by $1.70 to $73.59 | | 11:55 ET Equity averages extend to highs as dollar index sinks to lows in wake of Greece news... Commodities such as gold, oil are also seeing notable strength on dollar weakness Dow 177, SPX +16, Nasdaq +17... DXY -0.50 at 79.79. | | 11:54 ET Dow +176 and S&P +16 edge above early highs, Nasdaq +28 testing its high | | 11:51 ET Relative Sector Strength in recent trade Gold Miners GDX, Steel SLX, Ag/Chem MOO, REITs IYR, Finance XLF. | | 11:50 ET Solar Capital opens for trading at $18 | | 11:46 ET Nymox Pharma provides update on pivotal phase 3 trials for BPH drug Co provided an update today on the Company's Phase 3 program for NX-1207, Nymox's investigational drug for benign prostatic hyperplasia. The first Safety Monitoring Committee meeting of 2010 for the Phase 3 U.S. pivotal trials of NX-1207 indicated an acceptable ongoing safety evaluation of the trials to date. Patient recruitment and trial activities for pivotal U.S. studies NX02-0017 and NX02-0018 are proceeding at over 60 well-known urology investigative sites throughout the U.S. The participating centers continue to evaluate and enroll patients and accrual is progressing well. The current Phase 3 trials incorporate specific protocol design recommendations made by the FDA at the earlier EOP2 meeting with the Company. . | | 11:41 ET BSD Medical Corporation reports initiation of a Phase III study on pancreatic cancer using the BSD-2000 hyperthermia system in combination with chemotherapy Co reports initiation of a randomized, multicenter Phase III clinical study using the BSD-2000 Hyperthermia System in combination with chemotherapy for the treatment of pancreatic cancer patients after R0/R1 surgical resection of their tumor (complete removal or only microscopic tumor remaining). The Phase III study, which is being sponsored by the European Society for Hyperthermic Oncology (ESHO), will compare hyperthermia with chemotherapy (gemcitabine) to chemotherapy (gemcitabine) alone. The Phase III study was initiated following completion of a Phase II study that utilized chemotherapy and hyperthermia to treat 21 inoperable pancreatic patients who were resistant to or had failed previous chemotherapy gemcitabine treatments, a patient population with a dire prognosis. | | 11:41 ET Gold and silver trade to their best levels of the morning; gold now higher by $14.80 to $1081.10, silver is up 28.5 cents to $15.37 | | 11:39 ET Dow +153 and S&P +13.7 rebound back near morning/session highs at 10072 and 1072 | | 11:35 ET Dollar Index drops sharply intraday, stock indices working off morning pullback lows | | 11:28 ET Financial Select Sector SPDR weakens, back hovering near its 200 sma and session low 13.66/13.63 Last week's six month low is at 13.51. | | 11:09 ET Stock indices extending pullback off morning highs -- Dow +73, S&P +4.8, Nasdaq +8.8 | | 11:00 ET Hartford Financial shares near a key technical retest of the Feb. swing low surrounding the 22.20 mark | | 10:54 ET Dollar Index rebounding off low, hovering near its day session high at 80.07 -- Energy/Commodity pull back | | 10:53 ET Avon declares quarterly dividend of $0.22 per common share up from $0.21 per share | | 10:49 ET S&P 500 set minor new high but no follow through develops The index was able to breach Monday's high but it continues to struggle with the 1071/1073 resistance zone (session high 1072). The intraday support levels noted in the 09:50 update (1066, 1064) will continue to provide a read on the underlying health of today's early push (currently at 1066). | | 10:48 ET Sector Relative Weakness -- iShares DJ Real Estate slips to fresh lows as it comes into its 2-day pullback/2-mth low of 42.27 SPG, PSA, EQR, MAC, CPT, HME, FRT, BXP, VNO | | 10:36 ET Minor new session highs for Energy XLE / OIH in recent trade, USO retested its morning peak | 10:35 ET First-hour sector ETF view Actively Traded Leading Sector ETF Plays:
US airlines- FAA +5.5%, Steel- SLX +4.5%, iShares Brazil- EWZ +4.25%, SPDRS metals & mining- XME +4.25%, Coal- KOL +3.75%, Solar power- TAN +3.5%, Gold miners- GDX +3.75%, Ag/chem- MOO +3.25%, Wind energy- FAN +3%, Oil HLDRS- OIH +3%, China 25- FXI +3%, Emerging mkts- EEM +3%
Actively Traded Lagging Sector ETF Plays:
VIX vol. index- VXX -3.25%, Nat gas- UNG -1.5%, US Dollar index- UUP -.5%, US bonds- TLT -.25% | 10:26 ET NASDAQ 100 (NDX) leaders & laggards moving through today's 1st hour of trading NDX 100 Best % Performers:
STLD +5%, CTSH +4.25%, IACI +4%, JOYG +3.5%, FWLT +3.25%, INFY +3%, PCAR +3%, FSLR +3%, MICC +23%, RYAAY +3%, BRCM +2.25%, NRG +2.25%, NIHD +2.25%
NDX 100 Worst % Performers:
ERTS -8.75%, PPDI -2.75%, BIDU -.5%, INTU -.25%, ATVI -.25%
NASDAQ TRIN @ +.70
NASDAQ A/D +1220 | 10:24 ET Dow (INDU) leaders & laggards moving through today's 1st hour of trading INDU Best % Performers:
CAT +5.25%, KO +3.75%, AA +2.75%, BA +2.25%, AXP +2%, DD +2%, VZ +2%
INDU Worst % Performers:
NONE
NYSE TRIN @ +.60
NASDAQ A/D @ +1900 | | 10:20 ET New session highs for stock indices with Dow +158 leading in recent action -- S&P +15, Nasdaq +27 | | 10:20 ET Crude oil trades to fresh highs at $73.28; now higher by $1.32 to $73.21 | | 10:18 ET Volume Alert -- Par Pharmaceutical breaks to fresh opening lows on a pick up in relative volume, losing over $1.70 during the past 10 mins as it dips down into the 23.00 area | | 10:16 ET U.S. Steel breaks above opening range high Resistance above is at the top of last Thursday bear gap at 46.60. The 200 day ema is at 46.79. | | 10:03 ET Slightly weaker trade develops following inventory data -- Dow +109, S&P +9.8, Nasdaq +18 | | 10:01 ET ICOP Digital and DDIT sign MOU for joint venture in Saudi Arabia Co announced that it has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Developed Dimension Information Technology (DDIT), ICOP's partner in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to establish a joint venture company, to expand the delivery of Homeland Security solutions in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in the Middle East. | | 10:00 ET Rick's Cabaret reports January sales rose 20.75%; same club sales rose 14.65% over previous year Co says sales at its nightclubs in January rose 20.75% over January 2009, while same club sales climbed 14.65% over the previous January. The company said sales at its clubs totaled $6.8 million for the month of January, compared with $5.6 million in the previous January. Sales at clubs operated for more than a year were $6.3 million, compared with $5.5 million in the previous January. | | 10:00 ET ICOP Digital announces it has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Developed Dimension Information Technology Co announces it has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Developed Dimension Information Technology (DDIT), ICOP's partner in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to establish a joint venture company, to expand the delivery of Homeland Security solutions in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in the Middle East. | | 09:58 ET S&P 500 continues to vacillate near resistance Highlighted the resistance level (1071/1073) in The Technical Take and the 09:50 update but wanted to provide a chart (Daily S&P 500). | | 09:50 ET S&P 500 pauses after minor breach of Monday high The index (currently at 1067) was able to slightly penetrate yesterday's peak in opening trade but has thus far again stalled at the 1071/1073 resistance zone highlighted in The Technical Take Monday. For this morning a hold above/near supports at 1066 and 1064 would not inflict any damage, keeping the early firmer pattern intact. There is a minor barrier above at 1078 followed by the 1080/1082 area. | | 09:50 ET Citigroup: S&P revises outlook on Citigroup to negative from stable Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said that it revised its outlook on Citigroup to negative from stable. At the same time, we affirmed our counterparty credit and debt ratings on Citi (A/A-1; holding company). In light of what we view as improved stand-alone characteristics, we raised the ratings on its hybrid capital issues to 'BB-' from 'B+' (excluding its preferred stock, which we affirmed at 'C'). "The outlook revision reflects our increased uncertainty about the U.S. government's willingness to provide additional extraordinary support to highly systemically important financial institutions in a way that will benefit debt holders. We previously stated our belief that the extraordinary support was temporary. We believe markets are beginning to stabilize and the U.S. government is seeking ways to reduce the potential for moral hazard and systemic risk associated with large financial institutions," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Scott Sprinzen. | | 09:47 ET Reminder: Wholesale Inventories data due out in about 13 min at 10:00ET | | 09:45 ET Converted Organics: The Home Depot re-orders Converted Organics' products for 2010 Season Co announced that it shipped a re-order for its organic Lawn & Turf fertilizer to The Home Depot (HD). The Home Depot placed its initial order for Converted Organics' all-natural Lawn & Turf fertilizer in December, 2008 through distributor New England Pottery, an affiliate of Central Garden & Pet. | | 09:41 ET Bank of America: S&P revises outlook to Negative From Stable; Ratings Affirmed | | 09:39 ET Sector Watch Top performing sectors in the early going include: Airline +4.9%, Steel SLX +4.2%, Coal KOL +3.3%, Solar TAN +3.3%, Ag/Chem MOO +3%, Gold Miners GDX +2.9%, Shipping SEA +2.5%, Oil Service OIH +2.4%, Paper +2.3%, Casino +2.1%. | | 09:38 ET UAL Corp. pushes through some Jan. resistance/congestion tops surrounding 14~14.15 into fresh 52 week highs off the open 14.50 HoD marks the best levels traded since late 2008. | | 09:37 ET Allied Capital: Prospect Capital makes best and final offer for allied as a superior proposal compared to "back-room" Ares/Allied Deal Prospect Capital Corporation (PSEC) sent to the Board of Directors of Allied Capital Corporation the letter: " Despite the serious flaws in the process, and your attempt to obfuscate the actual relative merits of the Prospect proposal, we remain convinced that the price offered by Ares falls far below the actual value of Allied and that a Prospect-Allied merger would create synergies and unlock significant value for the mutual benefit of our shareholders. While we continue to believe that Prospect's last proposal which you have rejected was a superior and compelling proposal that would provide Allied shareholders greater value, we are now prepared to make our best and final offer, subject to due diligence. Accordingly, we hereby increase our offer to acquire Allied Capital Corporation to 0.4416 of a share of Prospect common stock for each share of Allied common stock. The implied value of this best and final offer is now 25% greater than the implied value of Ares' offer to Allied shareholders, based upon closing prices of Ares and Prospect common stock on February 8, 2010. This offer expires on Wednesday, February 17, 2010 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time unless you have indicated to us in writing prior to that time that you wish to engage in discussions with us relating to our offer. " | | 09:36 ET Stock indices firmly higher amid broad based strength The Nasdaq +27 is outperforming thus far with it breaking above yesterday's high. The Dow +117 has also edged above Monday's peak while the S&P +13 is hovering just under (at 1071 session high 1070). | | 09:30 ET Penson Worldwide announces TradeKing signs long-term US clearing agreement; terms not disclosed TradeKing plans to announce additional details for its customers closer to the time of conversion, which is expected in approximately the middle of the year. At December 31, 2009, TradeKing had 190,000 accounts, up 51% from year end 2008. | | 09:24 ET Morningstar acquires Footnoted.org; terms not disclosed Co announces it has acquired the Footnoted business of Financial Fineprint Inc., a privately held firm. The acquisition includes the Footnoted.org website and the Footnoted Pro service. Terms were not disclosed. Footnoted.org unearths critical information buried in the fine print, such as evidence of aggressive accounting, excessive compensation, or the type of questionable self-dealing that can indicate more serious problems at a company. | | 09:19 ET PMFG Inc postpones conference call and earnings release while it resolves an accounting issue Co announces that it will postpone the release of its results of operations for Q2 and the related conference call which was previously scheduled for Tuesday, February 9, 2010, at 10:00 a.m. while it resolves an accounting issue related to the calculation of the fair value of the embedded derivative features of our preferred stock issuance dated September 4, 2009. | | 09:16 ET Versar awarded $13 mln subcontract to provide chemical munitions destruction using explosive detonation technology | | 09:06 ET DRI Corp announces order from "major transit operator in Belgium"; valued at ~$1.4 mln | | 09:03 ET Developers Diversified Rlty prices public offering of 37,295,000 shares of common stock at price of $8.16/share | | 09:01 ET ISTA Pharm issues guidance for 2010; sees net revenue of $147-$165 mln vs. $147.9 mln consensus Co issues guidance for 2010, sees net revenue of $147-$165 mln vs. $147.9 mln consensus. In addition, ISTA's management anticipates reporting its first profitable year in 2010, with earnings per share for the full year expected to be at least $0.02 (consensus $0.16), excluding any mark-to-market adjustments relating to warrants. Co expects its operating income for 2010 will be $8 to $10 mln. Co expects its business to generate $6 to $10 mln in cash in 2010. | | 09:00 ET Joes Jeans finalized nine leases for outlet stores Co announced that it has finalized nine leases for outlet stores located at Premium Outlet Centers throughout the country. The addition of these stores will bring the Company's existing store portfolio to 15 stores. The Company anticipates opening 5 of the 9 stores by the end of the second quarter with the balance opening in the third quarter. | | 09:00 ET Toreador Royalty prices a 3 mln share common stock offering at $8.50/share | | 08:59 ET Delcath announced the signing of its first agreement in Asia; Minimum value to co expected to be ~$10 mln Co announced the signing of its first research, distribution, sales and marketing agreement for its Percutaneous Hepatic Perfusion (PHP) System (the Delcath PHP System). The agreement grants Chi-Fu Trading the exclusive right to market and sell the Delcath PHP System in Taiwan for hepatic malignancies and infectious disease upon Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) approval, and any other approved use, with a conditional option for Singapore. Under terms of the agreement, Chi-Fu will fund and manage clinical studies at up to four sites to gather data for submission to Taiwan government regulatory agencies for approval. Any regulatory filings will be in the name of Delcath Systems, Inc. For the clinical studies, Chi-Fu will purchase, at a discount, Delcath PHP Systems to treat up to 200 patients with hepatic cancer. Any additional systems required will be sold at a confidential distributor price. It is intended that at least two of the clinical study sites will become reference sites when the studies are completed. | | 08:57 ET EV Energy prices its 3 mln share common units offering at $28.08/share | | 08:44 ET Solar Capital prices 5.0 mln share IPO at $18.50 per share, below the expected $19-21 range | | 08:37 ET On The Wires China Gerui Advanced Materials Group Limited (CHOP) announces that it has launched a new corporate website under the domain name of www.geruigroup.com... Rovi (ROVI) announces that Samsung will use Rovi's media recognition technologies to facilitate finding and purchasing content in its PC Applications worldwide. Samsung has signed an agreement with Rovi for the use of both its music metadata and LASSO media recognition solutions... Cerus Corporation (CERS) announces that it has entered into a collaborative agreement with France's national transfusion service, the Etablissement Francais du Sang for the development of the company's INTERCEPT Blood System for red blood cells. Terms of the agreement call for the EFS to co-invest by contributing its facilities, personnel and resources in support of clinical and commercial product development, validation, and both CE mark and French regulatory approvals. In return, EFS has certain royalty rights on future product revenue. | | 08:35 ET Gaylord Entertain reports loss per share of $0.01, beats on revs Reports Q4 (Dec) loss of $0.01 per share. Loss from continuing operations in 4Q09 included a pre-tax $6.0 mln loss on the purchase and redemption of the $259.8 mln remaining principal amount outstanding of the company's 8% senior notes. May not compare to the First Call consensus of $0.09; revenues fell 0.5% year/year to $249.4 mln vs the $236.1 mln consensus. "For the full year 2010, we are anticipating Gaylord Hotels RevPAR to range from a decline of 2.0 percent to an increase of 1.0 percent compared to full year 2009. We anticipate Gaylord Hotels Total RevPAR to range from a decline of 1.0 percent to an increase of 2.0 percent compared to the full year 2009. We are also providing Gaylord Hotels CCF guidance of $210-$226 mln. For the Opry and Attractions segment, we are placing CCF guidance at $10-$12 mln, and for our Corporate and Other segment we are guiding CCF performance of a loss of $44-$41 mln. As such, we expect our total CCF performance to be in the range of $176-$197 mln." | | 08:34 ET Temple-Inland misses by $0.10, beats on revs Reports Q4 (Dec) loss of $0.07 per share, excluding $0.41 in alternative fuel mix tax credits, $0.10 worse than the First Call consensus of $0.03; revenues fell 13.2% year/year to $845 mln vs the $836.3 mln consensus. "As we enter 2010, we are focused on fully implementing the current box price increase and continuing to structurally lower our costs in Corrugated Packaging. In Building Products, our low-cost assets and favorable product mix position us to fully capitalize on an economic rebound and recovery in housing." | | 08:32 ET Tianyin Pharma expects operational benefits from the recently published Guide to Reform of Pricing Mechanism of Medicine and Medical Services Co announced that it expects operational benefits from the recently published Guide to Reform of Pricing Mechanism of Medicine and Medical Services by the Chinese government. On November 9, 2009, the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Human Resource and Social Security released a comprehensive Guide proposed to protect and foster the development of Chinese Medicine, which is aimed at benefiting the pharmaceutical companies focusing on specialized Chinese medicines like Tianyin Pharmaceuticals. The Guide requires that the pricing of medicine and medical services should reflect the quality differential. As such, the government will support higher sales prices set by the overall market for pharmaceutical companies which develop specialized products with strong efficacy for specific indications. The Guide also defined maximum profit margins for national and local distributors, which will further reduce the overall distribution costs of medicine and improve margins for the producers. | | 08:32 ET Vishay beats by $0.04, beats on revs; guides Q1 revs above consensus Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.16 per share, excluding items, $0.04 better than the First Call consensus of $0.12; revenues rose 5.5% year/year to $607 mln vs the $591.1 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q1, sees Q1 revs of $630-$670 mln vs. $594.57 mln consensus. | | 08:31 ET Sequenom licenses worldwide rights to develop age-related macular degeneration diagnostic test Co announces an exclusive worldwide licensing agreement with Optherion, Inc. Under the agreement, Sequenom's CAP accredited and CLIA-certified laboratory, Sequenom Center for Molecular Medicine, obtained the rights to develop and commercialize diagnostic tests to predict genetic predisposition to late stage age-related macular degeneration. The license agreement covers extensive intellectual property rights for the most significant AMD-related genetic variants that have been confirmed in multiple clinical studies around the world. The portfolio of intellectual property being licensed has been consolidated from major US universities who have spearheaded genetic and clinical AMD research during the last decade. | | 08:31 ET Aastrom Biosciences announces one-for-eight reverse stock split | | 08:27 ET Natural gas drops sharply out of positive territory to its lowest levels of the morning; currently down 0.2 cents to $5.399 | | 08:18 ET Post Properties announces at-the-market offering Co announces that it has filed a prospectus supplement under which it may sell up to 4 million shares of its common stock from time to time. | | 08:13 ET On The Wires Penwest Pharmaceuticals (PPCO) announces that it has initiated a Phase IIa clinical trial for A0001 in patients with the A3243G mitochondrial DNA point mutation and evidence of impaired mitochondrial function. This point mutation is commonly associated with MELAS syndrome... WidePoint Corporation (WYY) announces that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Advanced Response Concepts Corporation, has acquired the assets and relationships of VUANCE Government Solutions Division, which focuses on security solutions for locating, credentialing, and managing essential personnel. Co expects the asset purchase to be accretive to WidePoint during 2010. WidePoint will pay approximately $550,000 for the acquired assets, and the assumed liabilities and related expenses in this transaction... AirTran Airways, a subsidiary of AirTran Holdings (AAI), and the Transportation Workers Union, announce the successful membership ratification by an overwhelming margin of a new 48-month collective bargaining agreement... Palatin Technologies (PTN) announces the completion of first cohort dosing in a placebo-controlled, multiple dose study of bremelanotide, its experimental treatment for sexual dysfunction. The primary endpoint in this double-blind safety study is evaluation of blood pressure effects of subcutaneous bremelanotide in men between 45 and 65 years old. The study will also evaluate consistency of plasma exposure of bremelanotide given as repeated subcutaneous injections... Navistar (NAV) has signed a concept development agreement with Clean Air Power to develop Navistar's MaxxForce 13 big bore engine to run on natural gas and clean diesel fuel for the North American market. | | 08:09 ET Cynosure reports Q4 results Reports Q4 (Dec) loss of $1.14 per share which included the charge for the valuation allowance against deferred tax assets and the inventory write-down and may not be comparable to the First Call consensus of ($0.11); revenues fell 24.3% year/year to $19.3 mln vs the $20.7 mln consensus. Cynosure President and Chief Executive Officer Michael Davin commented that, "The aesthetic industry continued to experience the effects of the economic downturn in the fourth quarter,"..."Lack of available credit remains a major impediment, as the restrictive lending environment has continued to make it difficult for many practitioners to purchase aesthetic capital equipment..."We believe the lending climate will gradually improve in the coming quarters, and we are optimistic that as economic conditions recover the underlying demand among practitioners and consumers will support a return to top-line growth," Davin said. "Our focus for the year ahead will be on returning to growth while continuing to appropriately size the company for the current economic and business climate. In 2010, we are committed to lowering our annual operating expenses by another $5 million to $7 million from 2009, a goal we believe we can attain without losing strength in our core competencies. While we cannot predict the pace of economic recovery, we believe that our market position and strong balance sheet will enable us to gain momentum as the year progresses." | | 08:09 ET AGCO Corp beats by $0.12, beats on revs; guides Q1 EPS below consensus; guides FY10 EPS in-line, revs above consensus Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.42 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.12 better than the First Call consensus of $0.30; revenues fell 14.1% year/year to $1.85 bln vs the $1.69 bln consensus. Excluding favorable currency translation impacts of approximately 10.1%, net sales in the fourth quarter of 2009 decreased approximately 24.2% compared to the same period in 2008. Co issues downside guidance for Q1, sees EPS of ($0.15)-($0.10), excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.00 consensus, with tight dealer inventory management in North America and Europe expected to drive lower production and sales levels (cons: -17.7% YoY). Co issues mixed guidance for FY10, sees EPS of $1.55-1.65, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $1.63 consensus; sees FY10 revs of $6.6-6.8 bln vs. $6.35 bln consensus. Worldwide industry demand is expected to be mixed in the first half of 2010, with stronger market conditions in Brazil expected to offset weaker conditions in North America and Europe. Demand in North America and Western Europe is expected to stabilize during 2010, making comparisons to 2009 more favorable in the second half of the year. Continued economic weakness in the Commonwealth of Independent States and Eastern Europe is expected to keep industry demand at very low levels in those markets throughout 2010. Gross margin improvements are expected to be offset by higher engineering expenses for new product development and Tier 4 emission requirements, as well as higher pension costs. | | 08:05 ET L-1 Identity Solutions awarded a contract by the Commonwealth of Kentucky; total contract value to approximately $33.7 million Co was awarded a contract by the Commonwealth of Kentucky to provide a secure driver's license solution with facial recognition as part of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet's effort to protect the public and prevent fraud. The contract with L-1 includes a base three-year term valued at approximately $11.1 million and three additional two-year extension options that bring the total contract value to approximately $33.7 million. | | 08:05 ET RTI Biologics misses by $0.01, misses on revs; guides FY10 EPS in-line, revs below consensus Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.03 per share, $0.01 worse than the First Call consensus of $0.04; revenues rose 12.3% year/year to $42 mln vs the $43.2 mln consensus. Co issues mixed guidance for FY10, sees EPS of $0.15-$0.17 vs. $0.17 consensus. Assuming foreign currency exchange rates remain near year-end 2009 levels, the company estimates that foreign currency translation adjustments will increase revenues by approximately 1% for FY10, resulting in reported revenue growth between 6%-8%, or $174.5-$177.5 mln (vs. $180.62 mln consensus). On a constant currency basis the co sees FY10 revs increasing between 5%-7% (which calculates to roughly $172-$176 mln). | | 08:05 ET Euro Tech Holdings announces that its subsidiary, Yixing PACT Environmental Technology, has been awarded a contract by a Korean stainless steel company worth about $ 3.8 mln | | 08:03 ET Chattem notice of fundamental change conversion rights to holders of convertible senior notes Co announced that, pursuant to the terms of the indentures governing its 2.00% convertible senior notes due 2013 and 1.625% convertible senior notes due 2014 as a result of the successful completion of the tender offer, commenced by River Acquisition for all outstanding shares of common stock of Chattem for $93.50 per share, net to the seller in cash, without interest and less any required withholding taxes pursuant to the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated December 20, 2009, among Chattem, sanofi-aventis and River Acquisition Corp. Pursuant to the Indentures, the holders of the Notes have the right to convert their Notes according to the terms of the Indentures at any time before the close of business on the business day immediately preceding the 45th day after the Fundamental Change Effective Date. Chattem intends to settle conversion of the Notes, in cash, based on a conversion value determined with a price per share of Chattem common stock of $93.50, as soon as practicable after holders surrender their Notes for conversion. | | 08:02 ET R.G. Barry reports Q2 EPS of $0.74 vs. $0.56 a year ago; sales of $55.6 mln vs. $48.9 mln a year ago "We continue executing at a level that places us among the best in our industry," said Greg Tunney, President and Chief Executive Officer. "Our year-over-year, double-digit net sales increase and higher profitability stem from the strong sell-through we experienced across most retail channels during our first half. We take great pride in the fact that this healthy performance is being measured against our results from the equivalent period last year, which were among the best reported in our sector. We view today's results as a reaffirmation of the ability of our business model to adapt and perform well, even during uncertain economic times." | | 08:02 ET Potlatch beats by $0.03, beats on revs Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.07 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.03 better than the First Call consensus of $0.04; revenues rose 11.2% year/year to $104.1 mln vs the $86.8 mln consensus. "Our outlook for 2010 shows improvement as we move through the year. We expect operations in the first half to remain challenging but expect improved fundamentals as we move into the second half. We do expect an upturn in the housing market, but not until the second half of the year. The recent strengthening in lumber prices will benefit our Wood Products business and this trend, coupled with gradual improvement in housing starts, should lead to stronger demand and pricing for logs. We were encouraged that prices stabilized in our Resource business during the second and third quarters of 2009, and the slight dip in fourth quarter prices appears to have been temporary as prices have shown improvement early in Q1 2010. We anticipate increasing harvest volumes to approximately 4.2 million tons for 2010, but this will be dependent on improved pricing and is weighted to the back half of the year. In our Real Estate segment, we expect the business to perform very similar to the results we experienced in 2009. This outlook is supported by consistent performance throughout 2009, continued interest in our non-strategic timberlands and pricing that has remained stable. We remain optimistic about our long term prospects, as our businesses are positioned well for the housing market recovery." | | 08:02 ET Gartner beats by $0.02, beats on revs; guides FY10 EPS in-line, revs above consensus Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.28 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.02 better than the First Call consensus of $0.26; revenues fell 5.3% year/year to $328.8 mln vs the $317.7 mln consensus. Co issues mixed guidance for FY10, sees EPS of $0.91-1.03, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.94 consensus; sees FY10 revs of $1249-1289 mln vs. $1.23 bln consensus. | | 08:01 ET OSI Systems advanced body scanners to be deployed at Heathrow and Manchester International Airports in the United Kingdom Co announced Rapiscan Systems has deployed its Advanced Imaging Technology Secure 1000 Single Pose body scanners at Heathrow and Manchester International Airports in the United Kingdom. The deployments follow the announcement by the UK Department for Transport that it will use the Advanced Imaging Technology systems in wake of the failed terrorist incident on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on December 25, 2009. The mandate calls for the use of these systems in airports in the United Kingdom for the screening of passengers. | | 08:00 ET Grupo TMM announced that Fernando Sanchez Ugarte resigned his position today Co announced that Fernando Sanchez Ugarte, who has served as president of Grupo TMM for the past two years, resigned his position today. The Company's Executive Committee accepted Mr. Sanchez Ugarte's resignation and agreed that Jose F. Serrano, chairman of the board, will continue to serve as chief executive officer. | | 07:59 ET McDonald's reports global comparable sales increased 2.6% in January Co reports that that global comparable sales increased 2.6% in January. Performance by segment was as follows: U.S. down 0.7%; Europe up 4.3%; Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa up 4.3%. U.S. comparable sales were down slightly in January, still outpacing the overall quick-service restaurant industry. In Europe, comparable sales rose 4.3% for the month fueled by France, the U.K. and many other markets, partly offset by Germany. January comparable sales in Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa (APMEA) were up 4.3% led by performance in Japan and Australia, partly offset by a difficult comparison in China and other markets due to the timing of Chinese New Year. | | 07:55 ET Cynosure announces successful settlement in patent lawsuit against CoolTouch Co announced a settlement of their patent infringement lawsuit against CoolTouch. Under the terms of the settlement, CoolTouch will make payments representing a 9% royalty on sales of CoolLipo made prior to the agreement and a portion of Cynosure's legal expenses. CoolTouch also has agreed to pay a royalty rate of 10% of future net sales for any licensed product sold strictly for lipolysis, and 7.5% of future net sales for any licensed product sold for lipolysis and at least one other aesthetic procedure. As part of its agreement with Cynosure, CoolTouch has agreed to a Consent Judgment that it has infringed on the 873 patent and that the patent is valid and enforceable. CoolTouch also has granted to Cynosure and El.En. a royalty free license to any patents or patent applications owned or controlled by CoolTouch related to the treatment of fat and/or cellulite. | | 07:46 ET Crude oil is also trading at its best levels of the morning on the dollar's weakness; currently higher by $1.11 to $73.00 Session highs are now at $73.04. | | 07:41 ET On The Wires EMCOR Group (EME) announces that its Poole and Kent Company of Florida subsidiary has received a general construction contract from the Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department for the South District Wastewater Treatment Plant in Miami, Florida... PolyOne Corporation (POL) and BASF Engineering Plastics announce that PolyOne Distribution will add to its portfolio BASF's advanced polymers for healthcare... Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (GT) has been selected as the exclusive developer of fuel-efficient military tires for the Fuel Efficient Ground Vehicle Demonstrator program, under a contract awarded to Ricardo, Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of Ricardo plc... MWI Veterinary Supply (MWIV) announces that it has acquired Centaur Services Limited, a supplier of animal health products and services to veterinarians in the United Kingdom. The transaction is valued at ~$47 mln, consisting of $45 mln in cash and $2 mln in a note payable in one year... HSW Int'l (HSWI) announces that its board of directors authorized a 10-for-1 reverse split of its issued and outstanding common shares, effective for shareholders of record on February 10, 2010... Ballard Power Systems (BLDP) announces that it has entered into a sale-and-leaseback agreement with Madison Pacific Properties. Ballard will sell its head office building site in Burnaby, British Columbia in return for gross cash proceeds of approximately $19.5 million. The company will also enter into an initial fifteen-year lease agreement for the same property. The transaction is expected to close on March 9, 2010... Cray Inc. (CRAY) announces that new customers in Japan, Europe and the United States have purchased midrange supercomputing systems from Cray... CNOOC Limited (CEO) announces that its partner, Husky Oil China Limited, has made a new deepwater gas discovery, LiuHua 29-1 on Block 29/26, marking another important step of the deepwater exploration in the South China sea... Targeted Genetics (TGEN) announces that it has completed the technology transfer portion of the September 2009 asset sale transaction executed between the Company and Genzyme Corporation and has received the full $7.0 mln provided for in the asset purchase agreement. | | 07:40 ET Gold and silver surge to their best levels in electronic trade, at $1078.40 and $15.36, as the dollar index trades to its worst levels Gold is now higher by $11.80 to $1078 and silver is up 29 cents to $15.375. | | 07:35 ET Astronics beats by $0.15, misses on revs; guides FY10 revs below consensus Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.25 per share,ex-items, $0.15 better than the First Call consensus of $0.10; revenues rose 2.7% year/year to $45.6 mln vs the $46.8 mln consensus. Co issues downside guidance for FY10, sees FY10 revs of $170-$190 mln vs. $199.09 mln consensus. Astronics anticipates that approximately $145 ml to $155 mln of projected 2010 revenue will be from the Aerospace segment, while approximately $25 mln to $35 mln will be from the Test Systems segment. Co states, "Looking beyond 2010, we are encouraged in our aerospace markets by the next generation of commercial transports, such as the Boeing 787 and Airbus A380, which will have greater Astronics' content than the aircraft they are replacing. We are also expanding Astronics' content value on future platforms in both the business jet and military markets with the Lear 85, Cessna CJ4, the V-22 and the F-35." | | 07:35 ET Cerus reports positive outcome of Phase 1 Clinical Trial of INTERCEPT red blood cells Co announced that its Phase 1 trial of red blood cells treated with the INTERCEPT Blood System met its primary endpoint, with preliminary analysis demonstrating that greater than 75 percent of treated cells continued to circulate 24 hours following transfusion. The INTERCEPT red blood cell system is a pathogen inactivation treatment the company is developing to protect against transmission of infectious diseases through red blood cell transfusions. An estimated 70 million units of red blood cells are transfused worldwide each year. | | 07:33 ET Coca-Cola misses by $0.01, beats on revs Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.66 per share, $0.01 worse than the First Call consensus of $0.67; revenues rose 5.4% year/year to $7.51 bln vs the $7.21 bln consensus. Co says while net revenue was favorably impacted during the quarter by positive concentrate pricing, geographic country mix offset this benefit as economic recovery in emerging markets outpaces the rest of the world. Additionally, fourth quarter net revenues were impacted by six fewer selling days versus the prior year quarter. Excluding the impact of six fewer selling days, they estimate that fourth quarter currency neutral net revenues would have been in line with their long-term target. For the full year, comparable currency neutral net revenues excluding structural changes increased 4%. Cost of goods sold increased 3 percent in the quarter. This increase is primarily driven by the 1 percent increase in concentrate sales and a 6 percent impact from currencies, offset by a favorable impact from lower input costs. | | 07:33 ET Allied Nevada announces preliminary operating results Co announces preliminary operating results for the year ended December 31, 2009 and an outlook for 2010. Cost of sales per ounce of gold sold(1) is expected to be approximately $385 for the fourth quarter of 2009 with full year costs expected to be approximately $392 per ounce, better than the full-year guidance of $460-$480 per ounce previously reported. Costs were well below expectation due to lower than expected commodity prices, the mining of more ounces due to higher than anticipated grades and treatment of silver as a byproduct credit.... With operations at Hycroft at steady-state production rates, we are expecting to mine approximately 19 million tonnes of material including approximately 11 million tonnes of ore at an average grade of 0.56 g/t gold and 9.7 g/t silver. Gold sales are expected to be approximately 100,000 ounces at a cost of sales per ounce of gold sold(1) of between $400-$450 in 2010. Capital expenditures in 2010 are expected to be approximately $20 million. | | 07:33 ET InterActive beats by $0.02, beats on revs Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.20 per share, $0.02 better than the First Call consensus of $0.18; revenues rose 4.6% year/year to $367.2 mln vs the $339.6 mln consensus. Free Cash Flow for the twelve months ended December 31, 2009 was $196.9 million, up 343% over the prior year, while cash flow attributable to continuing operations was $331.5 million, up 208% over the prior year. | | 07:33 ET Chelsea Therapeutics announces several updates related to its Phase III registration program in neurogenic orthostatic hypotension Co announces several updates related to its Phase III registration program in neurogenic orthostatic hypotension, including the selection and preliminary approval by the FDA of Northera as the U.S. brand name for Droxidopa in this indication. As previously announced, Chelsea had a successful meeting with the FDA last quarter during which the company reviewed results from Study 302, its first Phase III trial of Northera in NOH, and requested a change in primary endpoint for its ongoing Phase III trial, Study 301. The FDA granted this request and further supported Chelsea's decision to increase enrollment in Study 301 from 118 patients to 150 patients. The FDA subsequently confirmed that the Special Protocol Assessment originally awarded to Study 301 in 2008 remained in effect following the protocol amendments approved by the FDA in December. An SPA provides a binding agreement that the study design, including trial size, clinical endpoints and/or data analyses is acceptable to support regulatory approval. Chelsea plans to complete the added enrollment in Study 301 during the second quarter and report top-line data from the study in the third quarter 2010. In addition to implementing changes to Study 301, Chelsea finalized its plans for Study 306, a confirmatory study supporting the efficacy of Northera in treating symptomatic NOH. Study 306 will be a multinational, randomized, placebo-controlled, induction-design Phase III trial evaluating up to 84 patients with symptomatic NOH associated with Parkinson's disease. Enrollment, which is scheduled to begin during the second quarter 2010, is expected to be complete by year-end, providing for top-line data in the second quarter of 2011. | | 07:32 ET Novartis gains exclusive rights to Debio 025, an antiviral agent in Phase IIb development as potential first-in-class Hepatitis C Therapy | | 07:31 ET KVH Industries beats by $0.07, beats on revs; guides Q1 EPS in-line, revs in-line Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.13 per share, $0.07 better than the First Call consensus of $0.06; revenues rose 24.1% year/year to $26.3 mln vs the $25.5 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.03-$0.07 vs. $0.04 consensus; sees Q1 revs of roughly $26 mln vs. $26.15 mln consensus. "Given the continuing state of economic uncertainty, we do not think it would be prudent to provide specific full year financial guidance at this time. However, we do believe that we are positioned well to take advantage of any strengthening of the economy. We expect 2010 to be a year of strong top line growth and progressively improving bottom line performance within the context of normal leisure market seasonality. We believe that our fiber optic gyro sales should show solid year-over-year growth but we do not expect a repeat of the more than 200% year-over-year growth experienced in 2009. We expect significant benefit in on-going sales and margin expansion following the anticipated completion of the mini-VSAT Broadband infrastructure in the second quarter. By the second half of the year we expect to be in a position to more fully leverage the mini-VSAT infrastructure on a global scale. One challenge that we will face is an unusual shipment schedule to LiveTV for aeronautical antennas. To support LiveTV's planned realignment of its inventory with its installation schedule, we will ship systems to LiveTV during the first half of 2010, and then resume antenna shipments in the first quarter of 2011." | | 07:30 ET Nu Skin announces 9% increase in quarterly dividend to $0.125 per share | 07:22 ET Biogen Idec beats by $0.15, reports revs in-line; guides FY10 EPS above consensus Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $1.20 per share, $0.15 better than the First Call consensus of $1.05; revenues rose 5.4% year/year to $1.13 bln vs the $1.13 bln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for FY10, sees EPS of above $4.55 vs. $4.37 consensus. Revenue growth in 2010 is expected to be in the mid single digits. Biogen Idec Q4 Drug Sales and First Call Consensus: Avonex $596.5 mln vs. $591 mln consensus; Tysabri $216.2 mln vs. $244 mln; Rituxan $257 mln vs. $268 mln consensus.
| | 07:22 ET Clinical Data reports 3Q10 loss per share of ($0.63) vs. ($0.65) First Call consensus; revenue increased 12.5% y/y to $3.1 mln vs. $3.6 mln consensus Cash and cash equivalents at December 31, 2009, were $70.2 mln. This included net proceeds of $44.2 mln raised from a public offering of 2,750,000 shares of common stock at a price of $17.25 per share completed in November 2009. | | 07:21 ET Alpha Natural Resources beats by $0.06, beats on revs Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.51 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.06 better than the First Call consensus of $0.45; revenues rose 53.1% year/year to $893.3 mln vs the $824.5 mln consensus. Coal revenues were higher than the year-ago period due to the inclusion of $393.8 mln from the former Foundation operations which more than offset reduced shipment levels and coal revenues from Alpha's stand-alone operations as the co continued to match shipments with current customer demand. During 4Q09, Alpha shipped 12.1 million tons of Powder River Basin coal, 6.6 million tons of Eastern steam coal and 2.6 million tons of metallurgical coal. Average per ton realization for PRB shipments rose sequentially to $10.52 compared with $10.39 in the previous quarter. The average realization per ton for Eastern steam coal shipments was $62.57, down from $64.43 in the third quarter of 2009, and the average per ton realization for metallurgical coal was $97.18 in the fourth quarter compared with $96.94 in the previous quarter. Alpha has increased its 2010 shipment guidance range for metallurgical coal by one million tons to a range of 11-13 million tons, up from the previous range of 10-12 million tons. Likewise, Alpha is adjusting its Eastern steam coal shipment guidance to a range of 23-26 million tons in order to match production with expected demand. In the West, 2010 shipment guidance remains unchanged as Alpha has committed and priced approximately 100% of anticipated shipments. Cost of coal sales per ton in 2010 are currently anticipated to range from $8.30 to $8.90 in the West and from $54.00 to $57.00 in the East. Alpha is also establishing volume guidance for 2011: PRB shipments in 2011 are expected to range from 48 million tons to 52 million tons, with 77% committed and priced at prices $1.00 greater than the average realizations embedded in the 2010 committed and priced volumes. | | 07:19 ET Intl Flavors beats by $0.01, beats on revs Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.63 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 better than the First Call consensus of $0.62; revenues rose 8.7% year/year to $586 mln vs the $574.8 mln consensus. | | 07:19 ET Cameron beats by $0.01, beats on revs; guides Q1 EPS below consensus; guides FY10 EPS in-line Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.54 per share, ex-items, $0.01 better than the First Call consensus of $0.53; revenues fell 3.9% year/year to $1.46 bln vs the $1.29 bln consensus. Co issues downside guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.48-$0.50 vs. $0.51 consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for FY10, sees EPS of $2.10-$2.20 vs. $2.18 consensus. Co said that it expects cash flow in 2010 to comfortably fund the company's needs, with capital expenditures anticipated to total approximately $180 mln. | | 07:16 ET Triple-S Management beats by $0.08, beats on revs; guides FY10 EPS in-line, revs in-line Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.83 per share, excluding $0.13 per share in net realized and unrealized gains on investments and derivatives, $0.08 better than the First Call consensus of $0.75. Co issues in-line guidance for FY10, sees EPS of $2.05-2.15 vs. $2.12 consensus; sees FY10 revs of $2.0-2.1 bln vs. $2.06 bln consensus. | | 07:16 ET On The Wires XOMA (XOMA) announces that enrollment is underway in a 325-patient Phase 2b dose-ranging clinical trial of its antibody candidate, XOMA 052, in Type 2 diabetes patients... WABCO Holdings (WBC) reports that WABCO's subsidiary WABCO-TVS Ltd. and original equipment manufacturer Mahindra Navistar Automotives Ltd. have announced an agreement for development and long term supply of air compressor technology, products for braking systems and clutch servo technology with series production starting in 2010. | | 07:16 ET Church & Dwight beats by $0.03, beats on revs; guides FY10 EPS above consensus Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.83 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.03 better than the First Call consensus of $0.80; revenues rose 4.0% year/year to $670.8 mln vs the $660.6 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for FY10, sees EPS of $3.93-4.00, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $3.88 consensus. Excluding the plant restructuring charge reflected in cost of sales ($10.7 million in 2009 and $4.4 million in 2008), gross margin was 44.1% in the fourth quarter, a 400 basis point improvement over the 40.1% gross margin in the prior year fourth quarter. The increase in gross margin reflects lower commodity costs, price increases and the benefits of cost reduction programs. "In 2010, we expect this winning strategy, and an outstanding new product line-up, to deliver projected organic sales growth of approximately 4-5%. On top of the extraordinary gross margin gains achieved in 2009, we expect continued margin expansion in 2010 which will be driven largely by the efficiencies from our new liquid laundry detergent facility in Pennsylvania. We also will be making a significant investment in 2010 to support a global information systems project that will strengthen our cost management capabilities. Finally, we are in an excellent position to pursue acquisition opportunities due to our strong balance sheet and free cash flow." | | 07:14 ET Pulte Homes misses by $0.12, beats on revs Reports Q4 (Dec) loss of $0.31 per share, which is inclusive of $925 mln in impairment charges and may not be comparable to the First Call consensus of ($0.19); revenues rose 5.3% year/year to $1.73 bln vs the $1.5 bln consensus. Revenue from home sales in the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2009, totaled $1.6 bln, compared with $1.5 bln in last year's fourth quarter. Higher revenue for the quarter reflects a 13% increase in closings to 6,200 homes, partially offset by a 7% decrease in average selling price to $258,000. "We initiated a number of critical actions in 2009, the benefits of which can be seen in both the Company's fourth quarter results and its stronger position heading into 2010," said Richard J. Dugas, Jr., Chairman, President and CEO of Pulte Homes. "Fourth-quarter gains in sign-up pace, adjusted margins, overhead leverage, cash and other critical business metrics are reflective of the Company's improvement in overall business performance. | | 07:13 ET Allied Healthcare misses by $0.01, beats on revs Reports Q1 (Dec) earnings of $0.06 per share, $0.01 worse than the First Call consensus of $0.07; revenues rose 12.8% year/year to $69.4 mln vs the $68.4 mln consensus. | | 07:12 ET Aecom Tech beats by $0.01, misses on revs; reaffirms FY10 EPS guidance Reports Q1 (Dec) earnings of $0.40 per share, $0.01 better than the First Call consensus of $0.39; revenues rose 1.9% year/year to $1.48 bln vs the $1.53 bln consensus. AECOM announced backlog totaling $10.0 bln at Dec. 31, 2009, an 11% increase YoY. Co reaffirms guidance for FY10, sees EPS of $1.90-$2.00 vs. $1.98 consensus. | | 07:11 ET LCA Vision beats by $0.30, beats on revs Reports Q4 (Dec) loss of $0.19 per share, $0.30 better than the First Call consensus of ($0.49); revenues fell 35.3% year/year to $22 mln vs the $21.4 mln consensus. Procedure volume was 11,718 compared with 19,424. Same-store revenues (71 vision centers) decreased 33.3%. The co expects direct costs per center to decline slightly in 2010 from 2009, following an 18% decline in 2009 from 2008. The co expects capital expenditures of $1.2 million in 2010 for vision center renovations and equipment replacement. "Our decision to reduce fourth quarter marketing and advertising spending to less than $6 million in an effort to align marketing expenses with perceived consumer demand resulted in less than desired procedure volume. We are increasing marketing and advertising spending in the first quarter of 2010 to $9 million. Consumer marketing is critical to driving procedure volume and, in the past several months, we have conducted an extensive analytical evaluation of all marketing drivers with the objective of taking a more comprehensive data-driven approach to marketing." | | 07:10 ET American Commercial Lines beats by $1.03, beats on revs Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $1.09 per share, $1.03 better than the First Call consensus of $0.06; revenues fell 16.5% year/year to $226.9 mln vs the $222.5 mln consensus. The decrease in revenue in 2009 was primarily due to changes in the mix of commodities shipped by our transportation customers, decreased towing revenue, lower grain freight rates and lower fuel prices (which are generally passed through to our customers). Total ton-mile volume declined by 1.4% compared to the fourth quarter 2008. | | 07:09 ET Celanese beats by $0.03, beats on revs Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.50 per share, $0.03 better than the First Call consensus of $0.47; revenues rose 7.9% year/year to $1.39 bln vs the $1.25 bln consensus. The company noted that it remains confident, even absent a significant economic catalyst, in its ability to increase operating EBITDA in 2010 by approximately $200 million compared with 2009. The key areas of operating EBITDA growth include: increased volumes across all of its businesses totaling approximately $100 million, based on second half 2009 demand levels continuing into 2010; additional fixed spending reductions of approximately $100 million, driven by structural streamlining of the company's manufacturing and administrative functions. | | 07:08 ET Agrium misses by $0.05, misses on revs Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.19 per share which includes losses on gas and other hedge positions and stock based compensation, which according to First Call have been included in ests in the past, $0.05 worse than the First Call consensus of $0.24; revenues fell 25.7% year/year to $1.44 bln vs the $1.55 bln consensus. Co says grain and oilseed prices increased through the fourth quarter of 2009, driven by the latest U.S. corn harvest on record, positive global economic momentum and weakness in the U.S. dollar. Grain and oilseed futures prices declined somewhat in early January in response to higher than expected U.S. corn yield and production estimates released by the USDA. Despite historically strong production, record global demand for grains and oilseeds and overall improvement in the global economy has maintained grain and oilseed prices above historical averages. Phosphate fundamentals improved significantly in the second half of 2009, but the market was slow to react to a tighter supply and demand balance which contributed to increased volatility in the last month of the year. Phosphate prices increased by over 30% between mid-November and the end of December, as the market was ignited by Chinese import purchases, which was followed by improved demand from many destinations. Going forward, the supply situation appears tight heading into the spring. U.S. December DAP and MAP inventories were reported by TFI to be 38% below five-year average levels and 60 percent below December 2008. Non-integrated producer costs have increased as a result of higher input costs, including higher phosphate rock and phosphoric acid costs. Going forward, analysts expect India and Latin America to import more phosphate in 2010 versus 2009. Demand in the potash market showed significant signs of recovery at the beginning of 2010. Analysts report that there is considerable pent-up demand in the potash market as importers have been waiting for a Chinese potash contract to be agreed upon. North American purchases for spring applications increased in late December, and demand continued early in 2010. In addition, Brazilian potash inventories are reportedly tight and import demand is expected to rebound. India imported large volumes of potash in late 2009 but there is uncertainty on the timing of new 2010 purchases due to changes in global potash prices. In addition, the timing and impact of changes in Indian fertilizer subsidies to a proposed Nutrient Based Subsidy is an uncertainty in the potash and phosphate markets. Currently, Ukrainian nitrogen producers are paying a significantly lower price than the prevailing formula price at the Russia/Ukraine border but this is expected to change after the first quarter of 2010. | | 07:05 ET Nabors Ind 4Q09 results expected to beat estimates Co expects 4Q09 results to modestly exceed mean estimates of $0.16 per diluted share, excluding estimated non-cash, pre-tax charges of approx $274 mln, or $0.65 per diluted share. The oil and gas segment incurred approx $255 mln of these non-cash, pre-tax charges, the majority of which resulted from year-end ceiling-test adjustments in unconsolidated joint venture entities which utilize the full-cost method of accounting. Gene Isenberg, Chairman and CEO, commented, "These sizable non-cash charges obscure what was otherwise a good quarter, with most of our larger units achieving improved results. The writedowns in our oil and gas segment reduce to less than $700 million the carrying value of both our joint venture companies and our wholly owned oil and gas interests. Nearly half of the impairments occurred in our largest joint venture, NFR Energy, roughly 80% of which is comprised of shale gas, bringing the carrying value to $112 million for our nearly 50% share of 1.0 tcfe in gross proved reserves and an equal amount of probable reserves. In contrast to our carrying value, the present value of future earnings from just these gross proved reserves, utilizing the NYMEX forward strip at a 10% discount, is approximately $1 billion. The implied market value of the gross reserves in this one entity approaches $2 billion using a price of $2.00 per mcfe for proved reserves, which is a commonly used valuation methodology for similar properties." | | 07:05 ET NBTY reports prelim Jan sales increased 18% y/y to $228 mln North American Retail same store sales increased 5% for the one month period. In local currency, (British Pound Sterling), European Retail net sales increased 7% and same store sales increased 4%. | | 07:03 ET Adeona appoints James S. Kuo, M.D., M.B.A., as Chairman, CEO and President | | 07:02 ET Conns reports prelim Q4 revs declined 30% y/y to $171.0 mln vs $231.18 mln First Call consensus Co improved its product gross margins to approximately 20% for the quarter ended January 31, 2010, as compared to the 18.5% experienced in the quarter ended October 31, 2009. Total revenues for the quarter, including revenues from finance charges and other, will be reported in the Company's earnings release and conference call scheduled for March 25, 2010. | | 07:02 ET Heckmann and Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. sign agreement to provide turnkey solutions for water flows created by oil and gas drilling Heckmann Corporation (HEK) and Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. (ETP) announced that they have entered into an agreement to develop and implement transportation and treatment solutions for supply, drilling, flow back, produced, and other types of discharged waters generated in the Marcellus and Haynesville Shale natural gas development areas. The venture will be jointly funded and operated by the two companies on a 50/50 basis and is designed to exploit the parties' combined expertise in developing pipeline infrastructure and corresponding treatment facilities. | | 07:00 ET StanCorp Fin authorized an additional 3 million shares of StanCorp common stock to its current share repurchase program | | 06:56 ET AgFeed Industries announces arrangement to sell a portion of its feed business to the public through an IPO Co announces the proposed sale of a maximum of 20% of its animal nutrients feed subsidiary via a listing and initial public offering of the subsidiary's common stock. The IPO is anticipated to raise $20-25 mln and will be effected through the filing of a registration statement with the SEC that the SEC must declare effective before any common stock sales may occur. Dr. Songyan Li, AgFeed's Chairman, stated "the IPO reflects our Board's desire to provide dedicated capital to our animal nutrient business to develop its presence in other segments of the animal nutrition market, specifically the compound feed and concentrated feed markets which together comprise 95% of China's expanding production. For a number of years our focus has been on additive pre-mix that represents 5% of the market. The offering will enhance the ability of our animal nutrition business to pursue strategic initiatives and growth, upgrade personnel, foster innovation and raise capital while relying on the wisdom and practical experience of the parent company. | | 06:35 ET Warner Music Group beats by $0.03, beats on revs Reports Q1 (Dec) loss of $0.11 per share, $0.03 better than the First Call consensus of ($0.14); revenues rose 3.5% year/year to $918 mln vs the $872.3 mln consensus. Edgar Bronfman, Jr., Warner Music Group's Chairman and CEO, commented, "This performance primarily reflected strong international results, while U.S. results were tempered by continued general economic pressures and the transition from physical sales to digital sales in the recorded music industry. International revenue rose 12.1%, or 2.4% on a constant-currency basis, while domestic revenue declined 8.8%. Revenue growth in the U.K., France and Italy was partially offset by weakness in the U.S., Japan and parts of Europe. Digital revenue of $184 million grew 7.6% over the prior-year quarter, or 4.5% on a constant-currency basis. Digital revenue was unchanged sequentially from the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009, but grew 4.0% on a constant-currency basis, and represented 20.0% of total revenue for the quarter. | | 06:33 ET Rubicon Tech beats by $0.01, beats on revs; guides Q1 EPS and revs above consensus Reports Q4 (Dec) loss of $0.04 per share, $0.01 better than the First Call consensus of ($0.05); revenues rose 111.1% year/year to $8.5 mln vs the $7.3 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q1, sees EPS of ~$0.03 vs. $0.01 consensus; sees Q1 revs of $10.5 mln vs. $8.70 mln consensus, driven by strong demand from the LED market. The co cited improved factory utilization, increased pricing and a shift in product mix as contributors to improved gross margin, which reached twelve percent in the quarter. "Demand from the LED market continues to strengthen, particularly the demand for LED backlighting. With LED backlighting becoming more cost competitive and with the enhanced performance, thin profile and energy efficiency they provide, we expect LED backlighting to continue to rapidly gain market share over traditional backlighting solutions. With the increasing demand from the LED market, the pricing environment is rapidly improving. Pricing increased approximately seven percent sequentially in the fourth quarter and we expect an increase of at least fifteen percent sequentially in the first quarter of 2010. While pricing is not yet back to pre-recession levels, we are seeing considerable improvement." | | 06:30 ET InterOil announces purchase of second drilling rig Co announces it has purchased a second drilling rig. The 1,500 horsepower heliportable "triple" rig with top drive was originally built by Parker Drilling. Total cash consideration for the rig and an extensive inventory of drilling and oil field service equipment, currently located in New Zealand, is NZD $6.5 million (approx US$4.5 mln). The new rig is capable of drilling to 16,500 vertical feet and of drilling longer horizontal sections than our current rig. The added depth capacity of this rig, in addition to the top drive system, is expected to add flexibility and efficiency to our drilling operations. | | 06:20 ET European Markets FTSE...5111.96...+19.60...+0.40%. DAX...5489.62...+4.80...+0.10%. | | 06:20 ET S&P futures vs fair value: +7.60. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +10.50. | | 06:10 ET Coventry Health Care beats by $0.18, misses on revs; guides FY10 EPS in-line, revs in-line Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.74 per share, $0.18 better than the First Call consensus of $0.56; revenues rose 15.2% year/year to $3.43 bln vs the $3.49 bln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for FY10, sees EPS of $2.10-2.25 vs. $2.23 consensus; sees FY10 revs of $10.86-11.37 bln vs. $11.21 bln consensus. Co also sees 2010 cost of sales expense of $235 to $245 mln; Selling, general, and administrative expense (SG&A) of $1.92 bln to $1.96 bln; Depreciation and amortization expense of $137 mln to $145 mln; Other income of $78 to $84 mln | | 06:10 ET Centene beats by $0.01, misses on revs; guides FY10 EPS below consensus, revs below consensus Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.53 per share, $0.01 better than the First Call consensus of $0.52; revenues rose 19.6% year/year to $1.05 bln vs the $1.1 bln consensus. Quarter-end managed care at-risk membership was 1,455,600, an increase of 259,600 lives year over year. The increase in premium and service revenues was primarily driven by membership growth in all states, premium rate increases, the consolidation of Access and conversion of members to at-risk plan in Florida. The consolidated HBR, which reflects medical costs as a percent of premium revenues, was 83.9%. Co issues downside guidance for FY10, sees EPS of $1.70-1.80 vs. $1.85 consensus; sees FY10 revs of $4.35-4.45 bln vs. $4.54 bln consensus. | | 06:03 ET Acacia Research enters into settlement agreements regarding credit card fraud protection technology with Diesel USA and Gymboree retail stores | | 04:43 ET Allot Comms reports EPS in-line, beats on revs Reports Q4 (Dec) net of breakeven, excluding non-recurring items, in-line with the First Call consensus of ($0.00); revenues rose 20.6% year/year to $11.5 mln vs the $11.3 mln consensus. | | 03:43 ET Zebra Tech beats by $0.07, beats on revs; guides Q1 revs above consensus Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.33 per share, excludes exit, restructuring and integration costs, $0.07 better than the First Call consensus of $0.26; revenues fell 4.3% year/year to $222.5 mln vs the $206.6 mln consensus. Net sales benefited from stronger customer demand in all geographic regions and an improved product mix including higher sales of high-performance and mid-range tabletop thermal printers. The improved product mix, higher volumes and benefits from outsourcing thermal printer production, offset by higher freight costs incurred to meet increased customer demand, were the major factors affecting gross margins. Co issues guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.25-0.32, includes $0.02/share in exit and restructuring costs which may not be comparable to $0.26 consensus; sees Q1 revs of $217.0-230.0 mln vs. $203.74 mln consensus. | | 02:38 ET NYSE Euronext beats by $0.10, reports revs in-line Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.58 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.10 better than the First Call consensus of $0.48; revenues fell 6.3% year/year to $640 mln vs the $638.3 mln consensus. Gross revenues, excluding activity assessment fees, were $1,014 mln in the fourth quarter of 2009, a 14% decrease compared to the fourth quarter of 2008 and a 3% decrease compared to the third quarter of 2009. For FY09, gross revenues of $4,299 mln decreased 4% compared to FY08. FY09 gross revenues were negatively impacted by a decline in global cash equities volumes and pricing changes across European and U.S. cash businesses. | | 02:32 ET Crucell announces FY09 results Co reports total revenues and other operating income increased 26% to EUR358.0 million. Operating profit increased more than four-fold to EUR39.0 million. Net profit increased 68% to EUR23.9 million. Undiluted EPS increased 55% to EUR0.34. Year-end cash and short-term liquidities EUR428.0 million. 2010 guidance: R&D spending to increase by over one-third, while maintaining a healthy operating profit. | | 02:01 ET UBS reports 4Q09 profit of CHF 1,205 mln Co reports net profit attributable to UBS shareholders was CHF 1,205 mln, with all business divisions reporting a pre-tax profit in 4Q09. Improvement compared with the third quarter was due to lower costs, lower own credit charges and a tax credit. Cost reduction and efficiency programs initiated in early 2009 have led to a reduction in fixed costs to CHF 20.2 bln in 2009, broadly in line with the CHF 20 bln target set for 2010. Headcount was reduced by 16% to 65,233 during the year, broadly in line with the 2010 target of 65,000. Year-end BIS tier 1 capital ratio was 15.4% compared with 11.0% on 31 December 2008; FINMA leverage ratio was 3.9% in fourth quarter 2009 compared with 2.5% in fourth quarter 2008. The Investment Bank recorded a pre-tax profit of CHF 297 million compared with a pre-tax loss of CHF 1,370 million. 4Q09 saw a broader market slowdown, lower volumes and more limited trading opportunities which affected revenues from the equities and fixed income, currencies and commodities areas of the Investment Bank. The investment banking department saw an increase in revenues compared with the prior quarter. An own credit charge of CHF 24 million on financial liabilities designated at fair value was included in the fourth quarter result, compared with a charge of CHF 1,436 million in the third quarter. Credit loss expenses were down to CHF 70 million from CHF 243 million. Operating expenses decreased due to lower accruals for variable compensation. | | 01:46 ET FDA approves new indication for AstraZeneca's CRESTOR Co announces FDA has approved CRESTOR to reduce the risk of stroke, myocardial infarction and arterial revascularization procedures in individuals without clinically evident coronary heart disease but with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease based on age, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein greater than or equal to 2 mg/L, and the presence of at least one additional CVD risk factor, such as hypertension, low HDL-C, smoking, or a family history of premature coronary heart disease. | | 01:31 ET Liberty Property Trust reports in-line EPS, beats on revenue Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.67 per share, excluding non-recurring items, in-line with First Call consensus of $0.67; revenues increased 1.5% year/year to $187.58 mln vs $185.46 mln consensus. |
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| Market Internals Data |
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| Issues | NYSE | Nasdaq |
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| Advancing | | | | Declining | | | | Unchanged | 85 | 117 | | Total | 85 | 117 | | Ratio | | Adv. / Dec. | 0.00 | 0.00 |
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