Top Stories

• Market Awaiting Fed Guidance
• Bond Bull Market Isn’t Dead Yet: Shilling
• 7 Candidates to Succeed Bernanke at Fed
• Mortgage Rates Rise but Still a Bargain
• Stay Short Gold, Go Long Crude: Krinsky
• Men’s Wearhouse Ousts Founder and Exec. Chairman
• How Metadata on Billions of Calls Predicts Terrorist Attacks
• Chrysler Relents, Agrees to Recall 2.7 million Jeeps Before Deadline
• Britain Says Reckless Bankers Could Face Jail
• Google Glass User: It’s ‘the Lighter Side of Surveillance’

Analysts’ Upgrades

• Adobe Systems (NASDAQ: ADBE) was upgraded by analysts at Credit Suisse from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating.
• Adobe Systems (NASDAQ: ADBE) was upgraded by analysts at Merrill Lynch from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating.
• INTER NATIONAL MARKET INDEX (NYSE: ADR) was upgraded by analysts at Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating.
• Ball Co. (NYSE: BLL) was upgraded by analysts at Robert W. Baird from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating. They now have a $50.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $48.00. 15.8% Upside.
• Cemex SAB de CV (NYSE: CX) was upgraded by analysts at Barclays Capital from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating.
• Coal of Africa Limited (LON: CZA) was upgraded by analysts at Investec from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating. They now have a GBX 20 ($0.31) price target on the stock, up previously from GBX 15 ($0.24).
• Element Financial (TSE: EFN) was upgraded by analysts at Cormark from a “buy” rating to a “top pick” rating.
• Kingfisher (LON: KGF) was upgraded by analysts at Bank of America from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating. They now have a GBX 375 ($5.89) price target on the stock, up previously from GBX 290 ($4.55).
• Kingfisher plc (NASDAQ: KGFHY) was upgraded by analysts at Bank of America from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating.
• Koninklijke KPN (NASDAQ: KKPNY) was upgraded by analysts at Berenberg Bank from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating.
• Lamprell (LON: LAM) was upgraded by analysts at JPMorgan Chase to a “neutral” rating. They now have a GBX 164 ($2.58) price target on the stock.
• Mizuho Financial Gro (NYSE: MFG) was upgraded by analysts at Goldman Sachs from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating.
• National Grid Transc (NYSE: NGG) was upgraded by analysts at Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating.
• Tanger Factory Outlet Centers (NYSE: SKT) was upgraded by analysts at Goldman Sachs from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating. They now have a $39.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $34.50. 13.2% Upside.
• Sonic Co. (NASDAQ: SONC) was upgraded by analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating.
• United Natural Foods (NASDAQ: UNFI) was upgraded by analysts at Piper Jaffray from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating. They now have a $64.00 price target on the stock. 17.7% Upside.

Analysts’ Downgrades

• American Eagle (NYSE: AEO) was downgraded by analysts at Citigroup from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating. They now have a $21.00 price target on the stock. 9.6% Upside.
• Aggreko plc (LON: AGK) was downgraded by analysts at UBS AG to a “neutral” rating. They now have a GBX 1,850 ($29.05) price target on the stock, down previously from GBX 1,975 ($31.01).
• Alliance Pharma Plc (LON: APH) was downgraded by analysts at Investec from an “add” rating to a “hold” rating. They now have a GBX 35.80 ($0.56) price target on the stock, up previously from GBX 35.20 ($0.55).
• AGGREKO PLC (NASDAQ: ARGKF) was downgraded by analysts at UBS AG from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating.
• Brown & Brown (NYSE: BRO) was downgraded by analysts at William Blair from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating.
• Century Aluminum Company (NASDAQ: CENX) was downgraded by analysts at Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating. They now have a $9.00 price target on the stock. 10.5% Downside.
• Daily Mail and General Trust Plc (LON: DMGT) was downgraded by analysts at Deutsche Bank from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating. They now have a GBX 590 ($9.27) price target on the stock, down previously from GBX 660 ($10.36).
• FLIR Systems (NASDAQ: FLIR) was downgraded by analysts at EVA Dimensions to a “hold” rating.
• KLA-Tencor (NASDAQ: KLAC) was downgraded by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating. They noted that the move was a valuation call.
• Lincoln National Co. (NYSE: LNC) was downgraded by analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating.
• Lancashire Holdings Ltd (LON: LRE) was downgraded by analysts at JP Morgan Cazenove from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating. They now have a GBX 800 ($12.56) price target on the stock, down previously from GBX 860 ($13.51).
• Lancashire Holdings Ltd (LON: LRE) was downgraded by analysts at JPMorgan Chase to a “neutral” rating. They now have a GBX 800 ($12.56) price target on the stock.
• Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO) was downgraded by analysts at BNP Paribas from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating.
• Nexstar Broadcasting (NASDAQ: NXST) was downgraded by analysts at Gabelli from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating.
• Pennon Group (LON: PNN) was downgraded by analysts at RBC Capital to a “sector perform” rating. They now have a GBX 650 ($10.21) price target on the stock.
• BlackBerry (TSE: RIM) was downgraded by analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating. They now have a C$9.66 price target on the stock, down previously from C$14.49. 25.7% Downside.
• BlackBerry (NASDAQ: RIMM) was downgraded by analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating.
• Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) was downgraded by analysts at Macquarie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating. They now have a $8.00 price target on the stock. 9.3% Upside.
• Sodastream International (NASDAQ: SODA) was downgraded by analysts at William Blair from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating. They noted that the move was a valuation call.
• Severn Trent (LON: SVT) was downgraded by analysts at RBC Capital to an “underperform” rating. They now have a GBX 1,580 ($24.81) price target on the stock.
• TESARO (NASDAQ: TSRO) was downgraded by analysts at BMO Capital Markets from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating. They now have a $36.00 price target on the stock. 0.0% Upside.
• Tetra Tech (NASDAQ: TTEK) was downgraded by analysts at Brean Murray from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating.

Analysts’ New Coverage

• Adobe Systems (NASDAQ: ADBE) is now covered by analysts at William Blair. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock.
• Aurcana Co. (CVE: AUN) is now covered by analysts at BMO Capital Markets. They set a “market perform” rating and a C$2.50 price target on the stock. 21.4% Upside.
• Ferrexpo (LON: FXPO) is now covered by analysts at Investec. They set a “buy” rating and a GBX 215 ($3.38) price target on the stock.
• Global Payments (NYSE: GPN) is now covered by analysts at Morgan Stanley. They set an “underweight” rating on the stock.
• Heartland Payment Systems (NYSE: HPY) is now covered by analysts at Morgan Stanley. They set an “equal weight” rating on the stock.
• Coca Cola (NYSE: KO) is now covered by analysts at Credit Suisse. They set an “outperform” rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. 17.3% Upside.
• MasterCard (NYSE: MA) is now covered by analysts at Morgan Stanley. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• Spirent Communications (LON: SPT) is now covered by analysts at Bank of America. They set a “buy” rating and a GBX 162 ($2.54) price target on the stock.
• Total System Services (NYSE: TSS) is now covered by analysts at Morgan Stanley. They set an “equal weight” rating on the stock.
• Vantiv (NASDAQ: VNTV) is now covered by analysts at Morgan Stanley. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock.

• MFRI
  12:26 PM MFRI (MFRI +12%) pops as the company announces $55M in new orders, including additions to two landmark projects in Saudi Arabia and piping to support the construction of flow lines in the Gulf of Mexico. The company noted however, that $25M of the orders were already reported in its Q1 backlog. [On the Move] Comment!
• PVA
  12:26 PM Richard Zeits sees a potential double or triple for Penn Virginia (PVA +1.3%) in the next 2-3 years, citing the market’s failure to fully appreciate PVA’s transformational Eagle Ford acquisition. PVA is “akin to an LBO situation,” Zeits writes: quality assets with significant potential upside, a focused business plan, and in-place financing where “disciplined and effective operational execution may lead to substantial rewards.” [Energy, Quick Ideas] Comment!
• GOOG, YELP
  12:24 PM Google (GOOG +0.1%) steps up its challenge to Yelp (YELP +2.3%) by showing an interactive “carousel” of businesses when PC searches are made for local info. The update follows the launch of a carousel for tablet users in December, and the January addition of Zagat listings to the Google Places API. Meanwhile, CLSA has raised its PT for Google to $1,100, even though Q2 data from search marketing firm Performics has been mixed, with Y/Y spending growth falling to 4.5% from 12.4% thanks partly to tough comps. Mobile now makes up 36% of Performics’ tracked U.S. paid clicks, but only 13.5% of ad spend, due to lower prices. CLSA is confident Enhanced Campaigns will help narrow the gap. [Tech] Comment!
• STT
  12:22 PM State Street (STT -0.1%) shakes up its asset management unit – State Street Global Advisors – with global equities chief Alistair Lowe set to leave the company at year’s end. SSgA will combine its cash and fixed-income lines under Steve Meier, the current CIO of cash who will become CIO of fixed-income, currency, and cash. (PR) [Financials] Comment!
• O
  12:20 PM Realty Income (O) declares $0.1815417/share Monthly dividend, 0.17% increase from prior dividend of $0.1812292. Forward yield 4.87%. For shareholders of record July 1.Payable July 15.Ex-div date June 27.(PR) [Dividends] Comment!
• ATU
  12:16 PM Actuant (ATU -0.2%) posts a lackluster performance today, as its FQ3 beat across the board but net profit swung into the red on a $150M write-down tied to its electrical segment. The company recently put the unit up for sale, reclassifying it as a discontinued operation as it looks to focus its growth efforts on the energy, infrastructure, farm productivity, and natural resources and sustainability areas. Sales edged up 0.3% to $344.2M, but gross margin fell to 39.8% from 40.4%. [Earnings] Comment!
• NBL
  12:12 PM Noble Energy (NBL +1%) moves higher as a group of Israeli cabinet members, including the finance and energy ministers, approve the export of 40% of natural gas from the offshore Leviathan field; the decision needs full cabinet approval next week. The ministers estimate the exports will bring $60B to Israel’s economy in the next 20 years. The quota doesn’t apply to the neighboring Tamar field, also operated by NBL. [Energy] Comment!
• TLT, TBT
  12:09 PM Calling long-dated U.S. Treasurys (TLT, TBT) the most hated asset class in the world (ed: They’ve been so for years), Jeff Gundlach – appearing on CNBC – calls them the one place where you can make money over the coming weeks. “There are no signs of inflation anywhere.” [Quick Ideas] 4 Comments
• LLL
  12:09 PM L-3 Communications (LLL) declares $0.55/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 2.55%. For shareholders of record August 19. Payable September 16. Ex-div date August 15. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!
• ERS
  12:05 PM Empire Resources (ERS) declares $0.025/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 1.96%. For shareholders of record July 5. Payable July 17. Ex-div date July 3. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!
• ARCO
  12:02 PM Arcos Dorados (ARCO) declares $0.0596/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 1.85%. For shareholders of record July 2. Payable July5. Ex-div date June 28. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!
• DK, DKDRF.OB
  11:56 AM Cyprus and Israel’s Delek Drilling (DK, DKDRF.OB) are in talks about developing a $10B liquefied natural gas terminal on the island to tap the east Mediterranean’s vast gas discoveries and serve buyers in Europe and Asia. A delegation from Delek, which is developing Israel’s giant Leviathan and Tamar gas fields with Noble Energy (NBL), recently visited Cyprus to discuss the project. [Energy] 1 Comment
• LPL, PANL
  11:55 AM LG Display (LPL -0.9%) expects to mass-produce a flexible OLED panel for major smartphone clients in Q4. 38% shareholder LG Electronics is likely one of those clients – the company has already said to plans to sell a flexible OLED phone by year’s end. Samsung was at one point expected to use a flexible OLED in its upcoming Galaxy Note III, but is believed to have changed its mind due to production issues. Universal Display (PANL -2.1%) is hoping the technology takes off sooner rather than later. (Samsung demo) [Tech] Comment!
• DHR
  11:54 AM Danaher’s (DHR -0.1%) subsidiary Beckman Coulter says the FDA has granted 510(k) clearance to its new Access AccuTnI+3 troponin I assay for use on its Access 2 immunoassay system, designed to assist physicians with the diagnosis of heart attacks. [Healthcare] Comment!
• SCHW, SCHB
  11:51 AM Schwab’s (SCHW) cost-cutting is paying off as its U.S. Broad Market ETF (SCHB) has about doubled to $2B in AUM since cutting its expense ratio 33% to 0.04%. Competitors like Vanguard’s VTI and iShares’ IWV cost 0.05% and 0.20%, respectively. The SCHB – along with the other 14 ETFs Schwab cut fees on – is likely now a loss leader, but the company expects to gain from expanding the “totality of the relationship” with clients. [Financials] Comment!
• HXL
  11:42 AM Paris Air Show: Hexcel (HXL -1%) and Safran have signed a long-term contract for the supply of composite materials for LEAP-1 engine programs. The contract covers HXL‘s HexTow IM7 carbon fiber that will be used to manufacture all LEAP-1 engine fan blades and containment cases, including the LEAP-1A selected for the Airbus A320 NEO; the LEAP-1B selected for the Boeing 737MAX and the LEAP-1C selected for COMAC 919. The company will also supply Safran with HexPly carbon prepreg, for the manufacture of the A320 NEO nacelles. Comment!
• CWCO
  11:39 AM Consolidated Water (CWCO) declares $0.075/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 2.73%. For shareholders of record July 1. Payable July31. Ex-div date June 27. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!
• SFD, HSH
  11:36 AM Smithfield Foods (SFD +0.3%) made an interesting disclosure yesterday in a SEC filing. The company was considering a “potentially significant acquisition” of a large business in the packaged meats sector. The speculation from dealReporter is that it was Hillshire Brands (HSH +1.5%) in the crossfires, an acquisition which makes sense and could be on the table again if regulators stop the Shuanghui International purchase of Smithfield. [Consumer] 1 Comment
• GENE
  11:35 AM Genetic Technologies (GENE -1.1%) says its subsidiary Phenogen Sciences has executed an agreement with FedMed to use its national provider network. FedMed’s network includes more than 550K, 60K ancillary care providers and 4K hospitals nationwide, with more than 40M covered individuals. [Healthcare, On the Move] Comment!
• TI
  11:33 AM Telecom Italia (TI -3.3%) should be able to reach a deal with Italian telecom regulator AGCOM for its planned wireline spinoff by early 2014, says chairman Franco Bernabe. TI is believed to be hatching plans to sell a 30% stake in the unit, which has an estimated value of $17B-$20B, to a state-backed fund. [Tech] Comment!
• SPN
  11:31 AM Superior Energy (SPN +0.8%) is initiated with an Outperform rating and $34 target price at Cowen, which believes SPN stands to benefit from strategic entrances into international markets, growth in North American unconventional drilling activity, and strengthening activity in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. [Energy, Quick Ideas] Comment!
• NWS, NWSA
  11:27 AM BTIG downgrades News Corp. (NWS, NWSA) to Neutral from Buy after doing a fresh sum-of-the-parts analysis on the company. The math on the new News Corp. suggests a when-issued trading price of around $15 per share ($3.72 per current NWS/NWSA share) which could drift to $20 if the newspaper business performs better than expected. (full research report) [Consumer] Comment!
• BLUE
  11:23 AM bluebird bio (BLUE) opens for trade at about $25, nearly 50% higher than the IPO price of $17. The IPO itself priced above the expected $14-$16 range and was upsized from 5M to 5.9M shares. [Healthcare, On the Move] Comment!
• PCXCQ.OB
  11:20 AM Patriot Coal (PCXCQ.OB) says a restructuring plan that would pump hundreds of millions of dollars into the company is in the works, thanks to the help of two key creditors that are discussing backstopping a rights offering of new equity. [Energy] 1 Comment
• NVDA, ARMH
  11:20 AM The Street reacts favorably to Nvidia’s (NVDA +7.3%) decision to license its GPU cores and related IP to other mobile processor developers, rather than simply pin its mobile hopes on Tegra sales. “If there was ever a way for Nvidia to get into Apple, the IP licensing angle is likely it,” says Raymond James, which thinks the move could also limit traction for ARM’s (ARMH -0.8%) Mali GPU cores. Evercore is less optimistic about Apple, stating checks point to “significant internal GPU design efforts” at the company. It views Samsung as a possibility, but adds the Korean electronics giant is “cycling through IP vendors and chip suppliers.” [Tech, On the Move] 3 Comments
• TCAP, MAIN
  11:19 AM Triangle Capital (TCAP -1.1%) updates its investor presentation as its annual analyst and investor meeting gets underway. Why TCAP as opposed to other BDCs? Internally managed BDCs like TCAP, MAIN, and HTGC have lower relative G&A expenses and deliver better returns to owners. Why BDCs (BDCS) over regional banks? Fewer banks with far more conservative capital structures are leaving plenty of market share for BDCs to pick up. [Financials] Comment!
• SOL, LDK
  11:09 AM ReneSola (SOL +4.9%) spikes higher after SA contributor Sneha Shah argues a low cost structure and diminishing competition in the solar wafer and polysilicon markets will allow the company to keep gaining share (it recently passed LDK to be the world’s #2 wafer vendor), and that shares are due to rally after underperforming Chinese peers with stronger Japanese exposure. Shah also sees gross margin bottoming – it’s expected to rise to 3%-5% in Q2 after coming in at -2% in Q1 – and predicts ReneSola will become a top-10 module supplier in 2013, with a 4%-5% share. 12% of the float was shorted as of May 31. [Tech, On the Move, Breaking News, Quick Ideas] Comment!
• TEVA
  10:58 AM Teva Pharmaceutical (TEVA -0.5%) says it’s settled a a class action lawsuit in Israel resulting in the generic drug titan disclosing the compensation of senior executives and directors on an individual basis starting with this year’s annual report. The drugmaker also agreed to reimburse $1.1M for the plaintiffs’ legal fees and other expenses in the case, which aimed to increase transparency at the company. Teva also will pay $200K in compensation to the plaintiffs. [Healthcare, Global & FX] Comment!
• FB, SSNLF.PK
  10:56 AM Mark Zuckerberg (FB) asked Samsung (SSNLF.PK) to build a “Facebook-friendly” phone during his visit, but Samsung is cool to the idea, The Korea Herald reports. “Samsung doesn’t want to help nurture a second Google,” says one source. The fact the HTC First (comes with Facebook Home built-in) hasn’t exactly been a smash hit might also influence Samsung’s thinking. [Tech] Comment!
• DVN
  10:56 AM Heard at Bloomberg’s energy forum: The U.S. shale bonanza is seen as overdone, and the U.S. will continue to need crude from Canada’s oil sands because rising production from U.S. shale formations is too expensive to maintain. The U.S. is “still importing a lot of oil… I don’t see U.S. oil self-sufficiency, perhaps, ever,” says the head of Devon Energy’s (DVN) Canadian division. [Energy] Comment!
• SPY, XLK
  10:53 AM “Sell in May and go into cyclicals,” says Ralph Acampora after the last month. He reminds of an old adage saying sectors going down the least during a selloff become the new market leaders. During SPY‘s 5.2% decline from May 22-June 6, the best performers were Tech (XLK) and Industrials (XLI). The worst were Telecommunications (IYZ) and Utilities (XLU). This “rolling rotation” between sectors is necessary, he says, to give further life to the secular bull market begun in March 2009. 3 Comments
• FIATY.PK, GM
  10:44 AM Winners and losers from Chrysler’s (FIATY.PK) fight with the NTHSA: Though it capitulated and agreed to a recall, Chrysler scored a cheap fix (adding trailer hitches) to what could have been a more expensive issue and protected its brand in front of the planned buyout by Fiat and eventual IPO. The NHTSA saves itself what may have been a painful process of going through discovery – while General Motors (GM) and Ford (F) got a free look at how a battle with the agency goes down. Consumers with 1993-2004 Grand Cherokees and 2002-07 Libertys walk away with a little extra value due to the new trailer hitch, but might still be wondering about those rear-end collisions. [Consumer, Global & FX] 2 Comments
• ONXX
  10:43 AM Kyprolis sales update for Onyx Pharmaceuticals’ (ONXX -3.1%) shareholders courtesy of Jefferies’ Biren Amin: Data shows sales of ~$22M for May meaning the multiple myeloma treatment should meet Q2 estimates of $65-66M assuming sales in June do not surprise to the downside. The shares are reiterated at Buy (PT $104). [Healthcare] Comment!
• GEGYF.PK
  10:36 AM Iraq’s Kurds are set to complete a new oil pipeline to Turkey which could export more than 1M bbl/day by 2015, a move sure to provoke further anger from the Baghdad government as the autonomous region increases control over oil resources in its region. The plan is backed by Turkey, and Genel Energy (GEGYF.PK) is thought to be planning to send its Taq Taq output through the pipeline. [Energy, Global & FX] Comment!
• WSCI
  10:34 AM WSI Industries (WSCI -7%) slides after reporting FQ3 net income of $106K, or $0.04 per diluted share, down from $598K, or $0.21 per diluted share, in the prior year third quarter. Sales were also lower, totaling $9.2M, down 3% from $9.5M Y/Y. The company cites declines in its energy business, and startup costs in new programs in its recreational vehicle market as well its new firearms business for the miss. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $.04 per share. [Earnings, On the Move] Comment!
• 10:33 AM EIA Petroleum Inventories: Crude +0.3M barrels. Gasoline +0.2M barrels. -Distillates -0.25M barrels. Comment!
• SNE
  10:31 AM Sony (SNE -2.9%) will not directly address Third Point’s call for the company to spin off its entertainment business during its annual meeting tomorrow, according to sources. Loeb won’t be in attendance, but the wide-open nature of annual meetings in Japan will give other shareholders plenty of chances to try to force Sony executives to make a statement on the proposal. [Consumer, Global & FX] Comment!
• GPS, URBN
  10:25 AM A read from H&M on its sales in June bodes well for the retail sector in Europe after the early spring period was a disappointment, according to analysts. Fast-fashion brands with an eye on H&M’s numbers include Gap (GPS +0.2%), Urban Outfitters (URBN +0.3%), and Topshop. [Consumer] Comment!
• ADBE, MKTO
  10:23 AM BofA/Merrill upgrades Adobe (ADBE +6.1%) to Buy in the wake of its FQ2 EPS beat and strong Creative Cloud adds: the firm is upbeat about CC into 2015, and sees Adobe converting much of its Creative Suite base. Jefferies notes CC net adds of 221K beat a consensus of ~185K. Mentioned on the earnings call: the majority of paid CC subs are individual members; Adobe is evaluating new options for CC pricing (previous); “targeted promotions” could hurt CC ARPU in the near-term; and Adobe thinks its infrastructure and analytics tools will allow Marketing Cloud to remain differentiated in the face of new competition. Ad software rival Marketo (MKTO +10.1%) is in sympathy. [Tech, Earnings, On the Move] Comment!
• SBNY, WBS
  10:22 AM The positives from a steeper yield curve outweigh the negatives for small and mid-cap banks, says Credit Suisse. Banks with larger reinvestment portfolios like Signature (SBNY) and Webster (WBS) will benefit from higher reinvestment rates. As higher rates come with stronger economic growth, C&I-heavy lenders like Columbia (COLB) and PrivateBancorp (PVTB) should gain. At risk as higher rates lead to a slowdown in mortgage banking are Umpqua (UMPQ), Associated (ASBC), and First Republic (FRC). At risk from core-deposit outflows: Susquehanna (SUSQ), BankUnited (BKU), and East West (EWBC). [Financials] 1 Comment
• GEVO
  10:16 AM Gevo (GEVO +6.2%) continues to rise on momentum from yesterday’s news that it has resumed production of isobutanol at its Minnesota plant. But Raymond James downgrades shares to Market Perform, seeing production challenges ahead and positive margins unlikely to emerge before Q1 2014, with the next plant perhaps not coming online until beyond 2014. [Commodities, Quick Ideas, On the Move] 1 Comment
• VRX
  10:12 AM In addition to the $1.75B public offering of common stock, Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX +0.1%) announces a $3.2B offering of senior unsecured notes by a wholly owned subsidiary. (PR) [Healthcare] Comment!
• CENX
  10:06 AM Century Aluminum (CENX -2.5%) is downgraded to Underperform from Neutral with a $9 price target at BAML, which says its newly lowered estimated 2013 LME price of $0.87/lb. vs. $0.93 offsets an eventual benefit from CENX’s recently negotiated lower power costs. The firm also notes sentiment toward added aluminum capacity globally has soured. [Commodities, Quick Ideas, On the Move] Comment!
• DRI
  10:03 AM “Either management’s initiatives begin to gain traction [or] pressure builds for more significant change,” Deutsche Bank’s Greg Poole says of Darden Restaurants (DRI +0.5%), adding that either way the “risk-reward seems skewed to the upside.” Poole doesn’t necessarily like the valuation though (PT $54) and says it would be preferable to get in at a lower price. Comment!
• GT
  10:03 AM Shares of Goodyear Tire (GT +2.9%) trade higher as industry factors such as the price of rubber and overall automobile demand stay in the company’s favor. Goodyear is also in the midst of some labor negotiations with a steel workers union which could impact future costs. [Consumer, On the Move] Comment!
• FANG
  9:57 AM Diamondback Energy’s (FANG +1%) target is raised to $42 from $35 at Wunderlich, whose increased confidence in the Wolfcamp B formation and FANG’s potential in four other zones for the future cause it to raise its price target multiple to account for the increased value. Also, FANG says its stock offering priced at a 0.7% discount to Tuesday’s close and was boosted to 6M shares. [Energy, Quick Ideas] Comment!
• S
  9:56 AM Macquarie’s Kevin Smithen downgrades Sprint (S -3.5%) to Neutral after Dish decides to pass on making a new bid for the #3 U.S. mobile carrier before a Tuesday deadline. In addition to the lack of a counterbid, Smithen is worried about the unresolved battle over Clearwire, and the fact Sprint is about to enter a period of heavy spending and negative free cash flow. [Tech, On the Move] Comment!
• MW
  9:54 AM Men’s Wearhouse (MW -0.7%) narrows its premarket loss quite a bit as the news of the firing of its founder is digested. Though a termination – instead of a resignation – signals there’s more to the story, some forward-looking investors are jumping in on the prospect that a change of direction will benefit the retailer. [Consumer, On the Move] 1 Comment
• EARN, EFC
  9:49 AM Ellington Residential Mortgage REIT (EARN) declares its first dividend since coming public last month, a payout of $0.14/share. The company estimates book value as of May 31 of $19.36/share vs. the pro-forma post-IPO book value of $19.80 (shares are at $17.89). “Our hedging methodology was successful in largely offsetting the impact of the dramatic interest rate rise that we saw in May … despite the magnitude of the drops in the agency RMBS market, we were able to limit the decline in book value.” EARN is managed by the same team behind Ellington Financial (EFC). [Dividends, Financials] Comment!
• UNXL
  9:46 AM UniPixel (UNXL +5.3%) jumps out of the gate after announcing it has finished building out a 7.5K-square foot Texas office and wet lab facility that will support its UniBoss touch sensor manufacturing ramp. The company adds its employee count is up to 32, and that a motion for summary judgment in its breach of contract dispute with CIT is currently pending. Shares have been mostly treading water in June after crashing in May. [Tech, On the Move] 4 Comments
• 9:44 AM Mexico is on the brink of ending a near 80-year monopoly in its oil and gas industry, as the government proposes opening up to profit-sharing deals and JVs to allow the exploration of increasingly difficult reserves. Pemex is known for inefficiency, corruption and large losses, but as a national symbol for many Mexicans, any moves are likely to involve liberalizing, not privatizing. [Energy, Global & FX] 3 Comments
• UTX
  9:44 AM Paris Air Show: United Tech (UTX) unit Pratt & Whitney wins order for 200 engines from International Lease Finance to power Embraer’s E-Jets E2 planes, for 100 engines from Norwegian Air Shuttle for Airbus A320 aircraft, and for 60 engines from Air Lease Corp for A320/A321 jets. P&W now has over 4,500 orders and commitments. 1 Comment
• RLJE
  9:43 AM RLJ Entertainment (RLJE +0.5%) adopts a 10b5-1 plan which will allow CEO Robert Johnson to purchase up to $2M worth of stock over the next two years. Comment!
• 9:36 AM At the open: Dow -0.02% to 15134. S&P -0.02% to 1651. Nasdaq -0.05% to 3480. Treasurys: 30-year +0.18%. 10-yr +0.05%. 5-yr +0.05%. Commodities: Crude +0.08% to $98.77. Gold +0.31% to $1372.35. Comment!
• AEO
  9:36 AM American Eagle Outfitters (AEO -0.9%) looks out of style to Citigroup which takes the company down to a Neutral rating from its previous perch of Buy. The retailer has trailed peers for the year with its comparable-store sales growth and its share price has trudged along accordingly. [Consumer] Comment!
• CLD
  9:35 AM Jefferies’ Biren Amin hikes the price target on Celldex Therapeutics (CLD +0.7%) to $19 from $15 citing potential royalties from rindopepimut and CDX-011. [Healthcare, On the Move] 1 Comment
• LNKD
  9:32 AM LinkedIn (LNKD) could be the latest social networking platform to receive tight iOS integration: code found in the first iOS 7 beta release suggest Apple is testing a single sign-on system for LinkedIn, similar to what it already provides for Facebook and Twitter. 9to5 Mac points out Apple began testing Facebook integration with versions of iOS 4, but the feature didn’t arrive until iOS 6. [Tech] Comment!
• PSTI
  9:30 AM Pluristem Therapeutics (PSTI +2.15%) suspends trials in Germany for its placenta-based cell treatment for artery disease after the FDA halted Phase II testing in the U.S. earlier this month following “a serious allergic reaction” in one patient. To expedite the FDA’s review, process, Pluristem has sent the agency information that it thinks might be relevant. (PR) [Healthcare] Comment!
• REV
  9:28 AM Revlon (REV) says CFO Steven Barnes has resigned effective today, but stresses the action has nothing to do with any accounting or financial issue. The company’s current Chief Accounting Officer will take over the exec’s duties on an interim basis. (SEC 8-K) [Consumer] Comment!
• UBNT
  9:26 AM Ubiquiti (UBNT) +2.5% after JMP starts coverage with an Outperform and $21 PT. BofA/Merrill started coverage with a Buy two days ago. Though short interest has been gradually declining over the last 10 months, 17% of the float was still shorted as of May 31. [Tech, On the Move] Comment!
• KERX
  9:24 AM More on J.P. Morgan’s Keryx BioPharma (KERX) initiation: Zerenex (I, II) has “pharmacoeconomic advantages [that] could drive rapid uptake in the price sensitive end stage renal disease market,” analyst Cory Kasimov says. Additionally a “deep dive” analysis has JPM “increasingly comfortable” with the issues that have weighed on the shares recently. [Healthcare, On the Move] Comment!
• BRGYY.PK, BRGXF.PK
  9:22 AM The U.K.’s BG Group (BRGYY.PK) reportedly has applied with Canadian authorities for a license to export liquefied natural gas from British Columbia, which could make it the fourth project to be granted export permission from Canada. Known as Prince Rupert LNG, the proposal calls for the first two of three planned liquefaction trains capable of processing 3.3B cu. ft./day to start up by 2021. [Energy] Comment!
• JOSB, MW
  9:19 AM Shares of Jos. A Bank Clothiers (JOSB) could see some action with rival Men’s Wearhouse (MW) taking the dramatic step of firing its founder. SA contributor Money Investor already made the case that Jos. A Bank looks undervalued compared to Men’s Wearhouse and could attract a buyer due to its strong fundamentals. Premarket: MW -7.1% premarket, JOSB inactive. [Consumer, On the Move] Comment!
• GOOG
  9:16 AM Google (GOOG) is open to forging alliances with P-E firms to make acquisitions, says M&A chief Don Harrison, who hints additional major deals are being considered in the wake of Waze. Harrison also expounds on Google’s broader M&A strategy: “We apply something called the toothbrush test … Is this something people use once or twice a day and does it solve a problem?” Meanwhile, law prof. Steven Davidoff reports Google skipped providing an antitrust review filing for Waze to the DOJ and FTC by using an exemption for foreign companies with less than $60.9M in U.S. sales/assets. [Tech, M&A] Comment!
• 9:15 AM Market preview: U.S. stock futures remain flat as investors look to be staying well out of the way until Ben Bernanke has his say later today. For those interested in something other than the “will they or won’t they” tapering saga, Sprint is -3.4% as its acquisition process heads towards a Japanese endgame, while Adobe jumps 7.3% following earnings and Alcatel-Lucent climbs 4.8% on news of its revamp. Ongoing: Paris Air Show [Top Stories, On the Move, U.S. Economy, Global & FX] Comment!
• IMO
  9:12 AM Imperial Oil (IMO) says it will convert its crude oil refinery in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia into a terminal operation after failing to find a buyer willing to operate the refinery. IMO expects to record a Q2 charge of up to ~C$280M related to the conversion. IMO already operates terminal facilities in Dartmouth as well as in four other locations in Atlantic Canada. [Energy] Comment!
• MW
  9:11 AM Men’s Wearhouse (MW) fires George Zimmer from his position as executive chairman and says it will postpone its annual meeting as it seeks new director candidates. For those curious, Zimmer is the guy from the Men’s Wearhouse commercials with the personal guarantee. MW -6.6% premarket. [Consumer, On the Move] 15 Comments
• THD, VNM
  9:09 AM Markets in Southeast Asia coast through a quiet session amid thin trading ahead of the Fed. Thai (THD) and Vietnamese (VNM) shares outperform, rising 0.7% and 0.9% respectively while stocks in Singapore (EWS, EWSS), Malaysia (EWM), and Indonesia (EIDO, IDX) fall 0.5%, 0.07%, and 0.7%. [Global & FX] Comment!
• BLUE
  9:07 AM Gene therapy company bluebird bio (BLUE) has raised $101M in its Nasdaq IPO by selling a greater-than-planned 5.9M shares at $17 each, above the expected range of $14-16. The price values the firm at $389M. What’s unusual about the IPO is that bluebird has no significant, if any, clinical data behind it. (previous) [Healthcare] Comment!
• BAC, JPM
  9:06 AM Bank of America (BAC), JPMorgan (JPM), Citigroup (C), and Wells Fargo (WFC) have failed to comply with parts of the $25B national mortgage settlement, according to Joseph Smith, the independent monitor appointed to oversee the process. “We still have work to do on the loan modification process,” he says. His findings jibe with anecdotal reports and comes as the NY AG has signalled his intention to sue the banks over violations. [Financials, Top Stories] 10 Comments
• ADBE, UNXL
  9:05 AM Premarket gainers: ADBE +7%. UNXL +7%. CYTK +7%. SRPT +7%. Losers: OSH -46%. VNDA -16%. [On the Move] Comment!
• 9:00 AM On the hour: S&P +0.01%. 10-yr +0.12%. Euro +0.03% vs. dollar. Crude +0.02% to $98.69. Gold +0.34% to $1371.55. Comment!
• AHC
  8:59 AM A.H. Belo (AHC) says Robert Decherd will resign as its CEO to be replaced by James Moroney who is currently the publisher and CEO of The Dallas Morning News. Decherd will continue to serve on the board. [Consumer] Comment!
• AGNC
  8:59 AM American Capital Agency (AGNC) declares $1.05/share quarterly dividend. Forward yield 16.57%. For shareholders of record June 28. Payable July 26. Ex-div date June 26. Shares +2.5% premarket. (PR) [Dividends, On the Move] 1 Comment
• MTGE
  8:58 AM American Capital Mortgage Investment (MTGE) declares $0.80/share quarterly dividend, 11% decrease from prior dividend of $0.90. Forward yield 15.7%. For shareholders of record June 28. Payable July 26. Ex-div date June 26. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!
• LINE, LNCO
  8:55 AM Linn Energy (LINE) and LinnCo (LNCO) are upgraded to Outperform at Howard Weil, which believes the Berry Petroleum (BRY) merger could be a great catalyst, providing improved organic targets and an oilier profile. While LINN’s primary focus is closing the BRY deal, H2 could prove exciting with an improved organic growth program and the potential for additional large acquisitions. LINE +1.6% premarket. [Energy, Quick Ideas, On the Move] 7 Comments
• OSH
  8:55 AM Orchard Supply (OSH) tells investors rather bluntly that it expects equity holders will experience a “complete loss” of their investment as a result of the pending bankruptcy. Shares were bid up early this week on speculation that the sale of assets to Lowe’s would leave some value in the company. OSH -51.5% premarket. [Consumer, On the Move] Comment!
• WMT
  8:50 AM More on Wal-Mart (WMT) vs. Amazon (previous): As Wal-Mart pushes harder to compete with Amazon online, a giant albatross hangs around its head with complicated extra layers of distribution adding to its costs. The retailer’s online shipping costs come to around $5 to $7 per parcel compared to the $3 to $4 Amazon sees. [Consumer] 3 Comments
• SRPT
  8:49 AM Sarepta Therapeutics (SRPT) says eteplirsen (I, II) continues to show promise in improving the walking ability of Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients after 84 weeks. Shares +4% premarket. (PR) [Healthcare, On the Move] 1 Comment
• STO
  8:46 AM Statoil (STO) says it is on track to reach its Norway production targets of more than 1.4M bbl/day of oil and 2.5M boe/day in 2020. STO’s production guidance for FY 2013 also stays firm and is expected to be lower than in the previous year. STO produced more than 2T boe in FY 2012. (also) [Energy] Comment!
• BA, RYAAY
  8:46 AM Paris Air Show: Having just concluded a deal for 175 Boeing (BA) 737-800s, Ryanair (RYAAY) is veering towards choosing the 737 MAX over Airbus’ A320neo jet in an order for 200 planes that would be worth $20B at list prices. Boeing has the advantage because of Airbus’ backlog and because the MAX will offer 189 seats, nine more than the A320. What Ryanair CEO Michael O’Reilly would really like, though, is a narrow-body jet with 199 seats. [Top Stories] 1 Comment
• MA, WU
  8:40 AM MasterCard (MA) and Western Union (WU) will partner on a new international payments service geared toward small and medium-sized businesses. The service will feature a dedicated online foreign payments portal to help facilitate cross-border trade. [Consumer] Comment!
• VNDA
  8:38 AM Vanda Pharmaceuticals (VNDA) sinks 14% premarket after Adam Feuerstein raises questions about the design of the company’s Phase 3 trial for Tasimelteon (previous) which he says has “changed numerous times.” Specifically, Feuerstein notes that the company changed the primary endpoint to a measure it created which “has never been used before in sleep-drug clinical trials [and is not ] endorsed by the FDA.” [Healthcare, On the Move] Comment!
• KKR, CG
  8:34 AM KKR is among the bidders for a majority stake in Saudi fast food chain Kudu, reports Reuters. The company operates over 200 restaurants in the kingdom and could be valued in the area of $260M-$390M, according to a source. Carlyle Group (CG) was also reached out to for a bid, but has reportedly declined to participate. [Financials, M&A] 1 Comment
• PBR, SNP
  8:32 AM Petrobras (PBR) says it could team with Sinopec (SNP) to build a refinery in the Brazilian state of Maranhao that would help reduce heavy imports of gasoline and diesel. Brazil desperately needs to increase refining capacity as growing consumption of gasoline and diesel outpaces current processing capacity. PBR earlier announced a similar study to build a refinery in nearby Ceara state with South Korea’s GS Energy. [Energy] Comment!
• VVUS
  8:29 AM Vivus’ (VVUS +4.3%) Stendra drug for erectile dysfunction demonstrated a statistically significant improvement vs a placebo a trial of 440 patients between the ages of 40 and 70, with the aim being for the medication to take effect within 15 minutes of being consumed. A major problem with other treatments is that patients are advised to wait 1-2 hours for the drugs take effect, or they have to be consumed daily. (PR) [Healthcare, On the Move] Comment!
• NFLX
  8:24 AM Netflix (NFLX) says it will expand into the Netherlands later this year as its European footprint gets even wider. Press reports in Europe indicate France and Belgium could be the next frontiers for the company which now has approximately 7.1M international users. [Consumer] Comment!
• PLX
  8:22 AM Protalix BioTherapeutics (PLX) says the Brazilian Ministry of Health commits to purchase ~$40M worth of the Gaucher disease treatment alfataliglicerase per year for two years and at least that much there after as part of a “technology transfer” agreement. PLX +8.3% premarket. (PR) [On the Move, Healthcare] Comment!
• ETFC
  8:20 AM Is it a one-month wonder or is trading activity materially picking up at the retail brokerages? E*TRADE (ETFC) reports a 15% monthly and 11% yearly increase in Daily Average Revenue Trades (DARTs) in May, a big change from recent reports which have seen annual declines. An update on the loan portfolio finds delinquencies off 14% in the two months ending on May 31. (PR) [Financials] Comment!
• SBUX
  8:13 AM Jefferies reiterates its Buy rating and $66 price target on Starbucks (SBUX) after sizing up the company’s presentation at the investment firm’s consumer conference yesterday (recap). Analysts with the firm say Starbucks has the best visibility in the large-cap growth universe. [Consumer] 2 Comments
• CLF
  8:13 AM Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF) -1.8% premarket after shares are downgraded to Underperform from Neutral with a $16 price target (from $24) at BAML, which notes CLF’s high cost of iron ore and met coal production. The firm thinks CLF will struggle to compete with new Australia capacity but sees no reason for a liquidity panic. [Commodities, Quick Ideas, On the Move] 1 Comment
• BBRY
  8:11 AM BlackBerry (BBRY) slips 3% premarket after a downgrade to Sell at Bernstein, which sees earnings peaking in FQ1 and “significant risk” of a miss in H2. OTR Global says U.K. Q10 sales fell off a cliff and have been – “not a typo” – just 30K-50K units since launch, reports Notable Calls. [Tech, On the Move] 72 Comments
• BT
  8:10 AM BT Group (BT -3.1%) CEO Ian Livingston will leave the company in September to become the Minister of State for Trade & Investment in the U.K. government. Livingston will be replaced by Gavin Patterson, who has led BT Retail and served as a BT Board member since 2008. (PR) [Consumer, Tech, On the Move] Comment!
• KERX
  8:07 AM JPMorgan initiates Keryx Biopharmaceuticals (KERX +1.3%) at Overweight with a price target of $13, representing a near 70% upside from Tuesday’s close. Shares +4.3% premarket. [Healthcare, On the Move] Comment!
• ATU
  8:07 AM Actuant (ATU): FQ3 EPS of $0.62 beats by $0.04. Revenue of $344.2M beats by $0.49M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!
• STO
  8:06 AM Statoil (STO) says it made a significant discovery of light, high-quality oil at the Harpoon prospect offshore Newfoundland, the first of a three-well exploration campaign in the area. Harpoon is located ~10 km southeast of STO’s Mizzen discovery, which is believed to hold 100M-200M barrels of oil. [Energy] Comment!
• HMC
  8:05 AM Honda (HMC) agrees to pay $580M to settle a lawsuit filed by the U.S. government over engines which allegedly violated emissions standards. [Consumer, Global & FX] Comment!
• HLUKF.PK, HLUYY.PK
  8:04 AM EU antitrust regulators have fined nine drug makers a combined €146M for blocking the supply of cheaper drugs through “pay-for-delay” deals in which brand name companies pay generic manufacturers not to enter the market with their products. Denmark’s Lundbeck (HLUKF.PK) received the biggest penalty of €94M. The punishment highlights how authorities on both sides of the Atlantic are coming down on “pay for delay,” with the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruling that the FTC can take action against such deals. [Healthcare] Comment!
• TTM
  8:04 AM Tata Motors (TTM) unveils eight upgraded models as it looks to beat back challenges by Suzuki, Renault, and Hyundai on its home turf. The automaker thinks fresh models can help turn around its disappointing sales results in India. [Consumer, Global & FX] Comment!
• 8:00 AM On the hour: S&P +0.04%. 10-yr +0.07%. Euro +0.05% vs. dollar. Crude +0.19% to $98.86. Gold +0.38% to $1372.15. Comment!
• 8:00 AM Three breakfast reads: 1) Out of the furnace Steel reaps benefits of US shale revolution 2) Viacom – Strong Capital Allocation And A Competitive Position 3) Economic Scene: Making the Case for a Rise in Inflation [Commodities, Consumer, U.S. Economy] Comment!
• REM, ANH
  7:59 AM “It was the absolute worst time to raise money,” says a portfolio manager, commenting on mREITs (REM) who “doubled-down” in Q1 rather than turn money away just ahead of their worst quarter since the financial crisis. Most mREIT managers, of course, are paid based on AUM, giving them an incentive to raise capital at pretty much any time. Firms such as Anworth (ANH) and MFA Financial (MFA) have compensation packages more tied to profits and chose not to join the capital-raising party this year. [Financials] Comment!
• TSLA
  7:56 AM In a blog post announcing a partial recall of Model S vehicles, Tesla Motors (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk notes the automaker hasn’t received a single customer complaint on the issue of a potentially-weak mounting bracket. Maintaining its sense of style, the company will arrange to have recalled vehicles picked up from its owners to be fixed. TSLA -2.0% premarket to $101.30. [Consumer, On the Move] 16 Comments
• ICPT
  7:54 AM Intercept Pharmaceuticals (ICPT) rises 1% premarket after pricing its public offering at $33.01/share. (PR) [Healthcare] Comment!
• TTEK
  7:54 AM Tetra Tech (TTEK) -10.2% premarket after saying yesterday it expects to post an FQ3 loss due to higher than expected restructuring costs related to its eastern Canada and mining operations. Brean Capital downgrades TTEK to Hold from Buy, noting the pre-announcement implies that it will be several quarters before the company regains its footing in terms of overall profitability. [Energy, On the Move] Comment!
• 7:48 AM “Why would they rush to taper now,” says UBS’ Drew Matus (also formerly a Fed economist), noting unemployment is nowhere near low enough and inflation is at a half-century low. A Bloomberg survey of economists has the FOMC waiting until its late-October meeting before commencing the taper and slashing purchases to $65B/month from $85B. [U.S. Economy] 5 Comments
• FDX
  7:43 AM More on FedEx’s (FDX) FQ4: The firm says 3,600 employees will be leaving in phases under a voluntary employee separation program. As a result of more international customers selecting lower-rate services. FedEx says it will make capacity cuts for Express Shipping for its business between Asia and the U.S. FDX +0.8% premarket. (PR) [Consumer, Earnings] Comment!
• FDX
  7:37 AM More on FedEx’s (FDX) FQ4: The company improved its operating margin during the quarter by 60 bps to 9.6%. The FedEx Express segment saw revenue increase 3% to $6.98B while sales at the FedEx Ground segment were up 12% to $2.78B. FedEx freight segment sales slipped 1% to $1.39B. For FY14 the company sees EPS growth of 7% to 13%. FDX +0.9% premarket. (PR) [Consumer, Earnings] Comment!
• STWD
  7:37 AM Starwood Property Trust (STWD) announces Archetype Mortgage Capital – a commercial property loan origination platform acquired as part of the LNR purchase – has changed its name to Starwood Mortgage Capital. (PR) [Financials] Comment!
• FDX
  7:31 AM FedEx (FDX): FQ4 EPS of $2.13 beats by $0.18. Revenue of $11.4B in-line. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!
• 7:29 AM Obama “essentially fired Ben Bernanke on the spot,” says ex-Fed Governor Larry Meyer, commenting on the President’s remarks during an interview yesterday (he’s stayed a lot longer than he was supposed to). Meyer also notes the “tepid” testimonial from the President following that line. “It’s time to really now focus on who the next chairman might be.” [U.S. Economy] 33 Comments
• HMRZF.PK
  7:26 AM Hennes & Mauritz (HMRZF.PK) says sales in June are very strong as its new collections hit stores. CEO Karl-Johan Persson notes the strong month isn’t due to promotions with most items selling at or near full-price. [Consumer, Global & FX] Comment!
• FXI, CAF
  7:22 AM China’s GDP growth forecast is cut to 7.4% by HSBC for both 2013 and 2014 from 8.2% and 8.4% previously. HSBC’s view is now south of consensus as chief economist Qu Hongbin says reform measures – positive in the long-term – will actually be harmful to growth in the more immediate future. Shanghai (FXI, CAF) continues to slide, falling another 0.75% overnight. [Global & FX] 1 Comment
• BID
  7:16 AM The next auction at Sotheby’s (BID) strikes rather close to home. The company says it’s exploring options to lease or sell its headquarters in New York City. The prized building was purchased by Sotheby’s in 2009 for $370M. [Consumer] Comment!
• GM, PEUGF.PK
  7:11 AM General Motors (GM) says it has no plans to invest more money in PSA Peugeot Citroen (PEUGF.PK). The two automakers share costs to jointly manufacture cars in Europe under a broad agreement. [Consumer] Comment!
• TRIP
  7:11 AM TripAdvisor (TRIP) buys mobile content provider GateGuru for an undisclosed amount. The deal will add more resources for the company’s suite of flight products. [Tech, M&A] Comment!
• SPY, QQQ
  7:10 AM Stock index futures (SPY, QQQ) are little-changed after a big start to the week for stocks and ahead of the FOMC meeting results and Bernanke press conference this afternoon. Europe is marginally lower and the Nikkei gained 1.8% overnight. The 10-year Treasury yield is flat at 2.18%. Comment!
• AIG
  7:07 AM Buy-rated AIG‘s price target is hiked to $56 from $52 by Deutsche’s Joshua Shanker after meetings with Peter Hancock, the CEO of the insurer’s P&C business. Shanker is confident AIG is on track to achieve a 90-95% combined ratio by 2015. A dividend – “modest,” but more than “nominal” – and continued share repurchases are looking more certain for 2013. Shares +0.5% premarket. [Financials] Comment!
• F, TM
  7:02 AM Smog-infested Shijiazhuangn in China announces a plan to limit automobile sales of new vehicles to 100K this year and only allow households to to own at most two cars in an effort to improve air quality. Automobile analysts think more cities in China could be forced to limit the growth of automobiles due to worsening air pollution. The measures could put the brakes on some of the most ambitious plans of automakers (F, TM, FIATY.PK, HMC, NSANY.OB, VLKAY.PK, DDAIF.PK) for the country. [Consumer, Global & FX] 4 Comments
• 7:01 AM MBA Mortgage Applications: -3.3% vs. +5.0% last week. [U.S. Economy] 1 Comment
• MTGE
  7:01 AM American Capital Mortgage (MTGE) gained 2.4% AH following an 11% cut in its quarterly dividend to $0.80/share, an annualized yield of 15.8% based on yesterday’s close. Previous: SIster company American Capital Agency cuts dividend 16%. (PR) [Financials, On the Move, Dividends] 1 Comment
• KO
  7:00 AM Credit Suisse initiates coverage on Coca-Cola (KO) with an Outperform rating. [Consumer] Comment!
• TSLA
  6:58 AM Tesla Motors (TSLA) announces a partial recall of the Model S to address a potential defect with a mounting bracket in the second row seat. Vehicles manufactured between May 10, 2013 and June 8, 2013 are covered by the recall. [Consumer] 18 Comments
• AGNC
  6:56 AM American Capital Agency (AGNC) gains 2.5% premarket after cutting its quarterly dividend 16% to $1.05/share, a 16.6% annualized yield based on last night’s close, suggesting the cuts aren’t over with. SA Pro’s Dane Bowler a month ago suggested an annual payout of about $3.50 as a “sustainable” level for the dividend. (PR) [Financials, Dividends, On the Move] 9 Comments
• GM
  6:50 AM General Motors (GM) sets a goal of increasing its market share of the luxury automobile market in China to 10% by 2020. In order to achieve the mark, GM will need to increase the number of Cadillacs it sells in the country to close to 250K per year from a current level of around 30K. The automaker has plans to introduce 10 new or upgraded models in China per year through 2016 [Consumer] 1 Comment
• EKDKQ.PK
  6:44 AM Kodak (EKDKQ.PK) seeks a court order to approve a $406M rights offering which the company intends to use to fund distributions. A number of creditors have agreed to backstop the rights offering of 34M shares for $11.94 a share. [Tech] Comment!
• 6:40 AM Live Nation (LVY) acquires a majority stake in BDG Music. The purchase will expand the company’s presence in the Baltic region. [Consumer, M&A] Comment!
• BA, CIT
  6:18 AM Paris Air Show: Boeing (BA) has won an order for 30 of its next-generation 737 MAX aircraft from air-leasing firm CIT Group (CIT) in a deal worth $3B at list prices. The plane maker intends to bring the MAX into service in Q3 2017, a quarter earlier than planned, but still somewhat later than the rival Airbus A320neo. Meanwhile, Ryanair (RYAAY) has finalized an order for 175 Boeing 737-800 aircraft worth $15.6B at list prices. Korean Air has agreed to purchase five 747 aircraft and six 777 jets in an agreement valued at $3.6B at list prices. [Top Stories] Comment!
• LBTYA, KBDHY.OB
  6:03 AM Liberty Global (LBTYA) is reportedly offering assets rather than cash in its €7.5B bid for Kabel Deutschland (KBDHY.OB) and would keep the latter’s stock-market listing. The structure of the proposal is designed to assuage anti-trust concerns, as Liberty already owns Unitymedia, Germany’s second-largest cable operator. Liberty wouldn’t have majority ownership of the combined entity at the holding company level, although it would have much influence. [M&A, Tech, Consumer] Comment!
• 6:00 AM Overseas: Japan +1.83%. Hong Kong -1.13%. China -0.73%. India +0.09%. London +0.04%. Paris +0.05%. Frankfurt +0.51%. Comment!
• ARNA, VVUS
  5:50 AM The American Medical Association has voted to recognize obesity as a disease, a move that could prompt more insurers to pay for it – and define a third of Americans as being ill. SA author Spencer Osborne points out that companies that could benefit include Arena (ARNA), Vivus (VVUS) and Orexigen (OREX), whose prescription drugs are on the market or are in the FDA approval process. However, it’s worth noting that the AMA’s decision has no legal standing. [Healthcare] 2 Comments
• LLY
  5:34 AM The FDA is investigating the injectable form of Eli Lilly’s (LLY) antipsychotic drug Zyprexa – which generated $1.7B in sales last year – after two patients died within four days of receiving the treatment. The patients had very high levels of the drug in their system, which can cause delirium, cardiac arrest and arrhythmias and coma or loss of consciousness. However, the agency isn’t yet saying they received an overdose or an inappropriate amount. [Healthcare] 2 Comments
• NWS
  5:05 AM Shares in new News Corp. (NWS), which will hold the company’s publishing assets when it splits on June 28, fell 3% to $14.55 on their trading debut in Sydney after opening at a lower-than-expected $15. The non-voting stock slumped over 8% to $14.30. Due to the split, shares in 21st Century Fox, the entertainment business that comprises the other half of News Corp and is still trading under the parent company’s name for now, dropped 6.9% to $30.53. [Consumer, On the Move] 1 Comment
• 4:52 AM The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee again voted unanimously to keep interest rates at 0.5% at a meeting earlier this month and 6-3 against more quantitative easing, the minutes show. As in the last few months, outgoing Governor Mervyn King was among those wanting the bank to increase the program by another £25B to £400B. This was King’s last vote before he cedes the reigns to Mark Carney in July. The pound drops against the dollar and is now -0.1% at $1.5624. (PR) [Global & FX, Top Stories] Comment!
• ESB
  4:45 AM The Empire State Building is the subject of a $2B offer from privately held New York company Cammeby’s International Group, which is headed by real-estate mogul Rubin Schron. The bid is below the $2.33B after-debt value that an appraisal last summer placed on the iconic 102-story building. The proposal comes three weeks after the tower’s investors authorized a plan to put it in a REIT called Empire State Realty Trust (ESB) with 17 other properties and take it public. [M&A] Comment!
• VZ, VIP
  4:34 AM Verizon (VZ) is interested in acquiring Canadian peer Wind Mobile, the U.S company has said. Verizon has reportedly held talks for Wind, which is a relatively new entry into the Canadian market and is struggling. VimpelCom (VIP), Wind’s largest owner, wants around $500M, although Verizon may then have to pump in another $1-2B for spectrum purchases, network upgrades and consolidation costs. RBC analyst Drew McReynolds is not sure the deal makes sense. [Tech, Consumer, M&A, Top Stories] 4 Comments
• FEZ
  4:22 AM European shares (FEZ) mostly fall as investors adjust their positions ahead of the Fed, although there does seem to be increasing confidence that the FOMC won’t signal the end of its QE program today. “There is a lot of slack in the economy and there is no inflation pressure,” says Standard Chartered’s Ned Rumpeltin. EU Stoxx 50 -0.1%, London -0.7%, Paris -0.6%, Frankfurt -0.7%, Madrid +0.5%, Milan flat. [Global & FX, Top Stories, On the Move] Comment!
• DXJ, EWJ
  4:11 AM Japanese shares (DXJ) buck the trend in Asia and rise 1.8% after exports jump a better-than-expected 10.1%, with Sony and SoftBank rising on corporate news (I, II). Stocks elsewhere in the region fall as investors stay cautious ahead of the FOMC monetary policy announcement later. Hong Kong -1.1%, China -0.7%, India -0.3%. [Global & FX, Top Stories, On the Move] Comment!
• WMT
  3:55 AM As it seeks to play catch up with Amazon in online sales, Wal-Mart (WMT) has turned to its store employees to pack and mail items to customers, which the retailer reckons should help it save money and time. The method represents a further integration of Wal-Mart’s brick & mortar operations with its Internet business. The latter is run separately and has suffered in the past from not being seen as enough of a priority across the whole company. [Consumer] Comment!
• AZN, BMY
  3:37 AM AstraZeneca’s (AZN) and Bristol-Myers Squibb’s (BMY) diabetes drug Onglyza doesn’t reduce heart risks, a large-scale study shows, with patients who suffer from the Type 2 version of the disease not experiencing fewer strokes, heart attacks and other adverse events than those who took a placebo. Investors had hoped that a demonstrable cardiovascular benefit for Onglyza, which generated sales of $709M in 2012, would give it an edge over rival treatments and revive slowing demand. (PR) [Healthcare] Comment!
• ALU
  3:28 AM As broadly expected, Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) intends to cut costs by €1B and sell another €1B of assets within two years as it looks to become cash-flow positive by 2015, at which point the telecom-equipment company will look to slash its debt by €2B by selling shares or through further asset sales. The changes are part of a recovery program called the “Shift Plan,” which also includes Alcatel-Lucent focusing on IP networking and ultra-broadband access. Alcatel-Lucent is hiring a COO as well, while CFO Paul Tufano will leave. Shares are +6.7% in Paris. (PR) [Tech, Consumer, Top Stories] 9 Comments
• MHFI
  3:12 AM The WSJ carries an expose of how traders manipulate the spot market for oil, with Halis Bektas from Switzerland, for example, admitting that he will sell a small amount of oil at a loss to drive down the benchmark price and then buy shiploads at the lower cost. McGraw Hill Financial (MHFI) unit Platts, which sets the benchmark by relying on information that traders provide about their deals, said that it’s not aware of such manipulation and that its staff are trained to ignore unusual pricing. [Energy, Top Stories] Comment!
• 2:52 AM The SEC plans to alter the somewhat cozy relationship it has with Wall Street and force companies to admit wrongdoing in some settlements or face the risk of going to court instead. That’s not to say that the agency will abandon the “no admit, no deny” approach, new Chairwoman Mary Jo White said yesterday, but it does mark her first big policy change. It comes after the likes of Judge Jed Rakoff rejected the SEC’s $285M deal with Citigroup because of the “no admit, no deny” clause in the deal. [U.S. Economy, Financials] 1 Comment
• FB, SSNLF.PK
  1:55 AM Facebook (FB) CEO Mark Zuckerberg has discussed potential partnerships with Samsung (SSNLF.PK) President Shin Jong Kyun as the U.S. company looks to boost advertising sales on mobile devices. The firms already seem to have a decent relationship, with Samsung being among the first device makers to feature Facebook’s Home software on its handsets. Meanwhile, Facebook intends to invest more in Korea and serve as a platform for startups. [Tech, Consumer] 4 Comments
• BA, UAL
  1:44 AM Boeing’s (BA) 787 has suffered another hiccup after an apparent problem with an oil filter in one of the plane’s engines forced a United Airlines (UAL) Dreamliner flying to Tokyo from Denver to make an unscheduled landing in Seattle. There was no indication that the problem was related to the 787′s revamped battery, but it is the latest of several glitches to plague the jet since commercial flights resumed recently. 1 Comment
• 1:35 AM The weak yen helped Japanese exports grow at the fastest rate since 2010 in May, with sales abroad jumping 10.1% on year vs +3.8% in April and consensus of +6.5%. However, volume dropped 4.8%, hurt by the economic situation in China and the EU. Imports climbed 10% vs +9.5% a month earlier and forecasts of +10.8%. Japan generated a trade deficit for the 11th consecutive month as the figure widened 13% on month to ¥993.9B ($10.4B). (PR) [Global & FX, Top Stories] Comment!
• FNSR, JBL
  12:10 AM Notable earnings after Wednesday’s close: FNSR, JBL, MU, RHT [Earnings] Comment!
• FDX
  12:05 AM Notable earnings before Wednesday’s open: FDX [Earnings] Comment!
• 12:00 AM Wednesday’s economic calendar: 7:00 MBA Mortgage Applications 10:30 EIA Petroleum Inventories 2:00 PM FOMC Announcement 2:00 PM FOMC Forecast 2:30 PM Bernanke Press Conference Comment!

Top Stories

• Stocks Shoot Higher: Wall Street Extends Rally as Fed Meets
• How Ben Bernanke Cost Me $53,000
• Snowden is ‘Heroic,’ Says David Stockman
• The 10 Worst Majors for Finding a Good Job
• The Netflix of Fashion: Rent the Runway
• Here’s What Playing Tennis Looks Like While Wearing Google Glass
• President Hints at Fed Chair’s Future
• G8 Pledges Action on Tax Evasion, Few Concrete Measures
• Time to Take Profits in Banks: Suttmeier
• Why Citi Wants to Rack up U.S. Taxes

Analysts’ Upgrades

• ADECCO SA UNSP (NASDAQ: AHEXY) was upgraded by analysts at Goldman Sachs from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating.
• Alternative Networks Plc (LON: AN) was upgraded by analysts at Westhouse Securities from a “neutral” rating to an “add” rating. They now have a GBX 350 ($5.50) price target on the stock.
• Altisource Portfolio (NASDAQ: ASPS) was upgraded by analysts at Ladenburg Thalmann from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating.
• AVEVA Group plc (LON: AVV) was upgraded by analysts at Citigroup from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating. They now have a GBX 2,450 ($38.47) price target on the stock.
• Compass Group (LON: CPG) was upgraded by analysts at RBC Capital to a “sector perform” rating. They now have a GBX 870 ($13.66) price target on the stock.
• Commvault Systems (NASDAQ: CVLT) was upgraded by analysts at Pacific Crest from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating. They now have a $92.00 price target on the stock. 19.6% Upside.
• Daimler AG (NASDAQ: DDAIF) was upgraded by analysts at Natixis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating.
• FLIR Systems (NASDAQ: FLIR) was upgraded by analysts at Raymond James from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating. They now have a $33.00 price target on the stock. 32.3% Upside.
• FLIR Systems (NASDAQ: FLIR) was upgraded by analysts at Raymond James from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating.
• Genel Energy (LON: GENL) was upgraded by analysts at Citigroup from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating. They now have a GBX 1,150 ($18.06) price target on the stock, up previously from GBX 886 ($13.91).
• HSBC (NYSE: HBC) was upgraded by analysts at Citigroup from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating.
• Home Loan Servicing Solutions Ltd (NASDAQ: HLSS) was upgraded by analysts at Ladenburg Thalmann from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating.
• HSBC Holdings (LON: HSBA) was upgraded by analysts at Citigroup from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating. They now have a GBX 770 ($12.09) price target on the stock.
• Lender Processing Services Incorporated (NYSE: LPS) was upgraded by analysts at Ladenburg Thalmann from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating.
• Lender Processing Services Incorporated (NYSE: LPS) was upgraded by analysts at UBS AG from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating.
• Lagardere SCA (EPA: MMB) was upgraded by analysts at Barclays Capital to an “overweight” rating. They now have a €24.50 ($32.67) price target on the stock.
• Motorcar Parts of America (NASDAQ: MPAA) was upgraded by analysts at B. Riley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating. They now have a $10.25 price target on the stock, up previously from $8.00. 32.3% Upside.
• Nationstar Mortgage Holdings (NYSE: NSM) was upgraded by analysts at Ladenburg Thalmann from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating.
• Ocwen Financial Corp (NYSE: OCN) was upgraded by analysts at Ladenburg Thalmann from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating.
• People’s United Financial (NASDAQ: PBCT) was upgraded by analysts at JPMorgan Chase from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating. They now have a $15.50 price target on the stock. 11.4% Upside.
• People’s United Financial (NASDAQ: PBCT) was upgraded by analysts at JP Morgan Cazenove from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating.
• Royal Dutch Shell (NASDAQ: RDS.A) was upgraded by analysts at Howard Weil from an “outperform” rating to a “focus stock” rating.
• RSA Insurance Group (LON: RSA) was upgraded by analysts at Credit Suisse from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating. They now have a GBX 138 ($2.17) price target on the stock, up previously from GBX 125 ($1.96).
• RSA INS GRP PLC UNSP (NASDAQ: RSANY) was upgraded by analysts at Credit Suisse from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating.
• Statoil (NYSE: STO) was upgraded by analysts at Howard Weil from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating.
• TalkTalk Telecom Group (LON: TALK) was upgraded by analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating. They now have a GBX 280 ($4.40) price target on the stock, up previously from GBX 240 ($3.77).
• Liberty All-Star Equity Fund (NYSE: USA) was upgraded by analysts at Natixis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating.
• Weyerhaeuser (NYSE: WY) was upgraded by analysts at Scotiabank from an “underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating.

Analysts’ Downgrades

• Abertis Infraestructuras SA (MCE: ABE) was downgraded by analysts at JPMorgan Chase to a “neutral” rating. They now have a €14.00 ($18.67) price target on the stock.
• Andor Technology (LON: AND) was downgraded by analysts at Investec from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating. They now have a GBX 360 ($5.65) price target on the stock, down previously from GBX 525 ($8.24).
• Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE: BNS) was downgraded by analysts at Barclays Capital from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating.
• Celestica (NYSE: CLS) was downgraded by analysts at Scotiabank from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating.
• Comerica (NYSE: CMA) was downgraded by analysts at Wells Fargo from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating. They now have a $34.00 price target on the stock, down previously from $37.00. They noted that the move was a valuation call. 9.6% Downside.
• Charles River Laboratories (NYSE: CRL) was downgraded by analysts at Goldman Sachs from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating. They now have a $38.00 price target on the stock, down previously from $44.00. 12.1% Downside.
• Daisy Group PLC (LON: DAY) was downgraded by analysts at FinnCap from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating. They now have a GBX 115 ($1.81) price target on the stock.
• First American Financial Corp (NYSE: FAF) was downgraded by analysts at Ladenburg Thalmann from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating.
• First Horizon National Co. (NYSE: FHN) was downgraded by analysts at Wells Fargo from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating.
• Genomic Health (NASDAQ: GHDX) was downgraded by analysts at Bank of America from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating. They now have a $36.00 price target on the stock, down previously from $43.00. 9.2% Upside.
• GATX Co. (NYSE: GMT) was downgraded by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating. They now have a $55.00 price target on the stock. 13.4% Upside.
• Greene King (LON: GNK) was downgraded by analysts at Numis Securities Ltd to a “hold” rating. They now have a GBX 815 ($12.80) price target on the stock.
• Mar City PLC (LON: MAR) was downgraded by analysts at WH Ireland to a “neutral” rating. They now have a GBX 11 ($0.17) price target on the stock, up previously from GBX 5.50 ($0.09).
• PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust (NYSE: PMT) was downgraded by analysts at Ladenburg Thalmann from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating.
• Sanderson Farms (NASDAQ: SAFM) was downgraded by analysts at KeyBanc from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating. They noted that the move was a valuation call.
• SThree Plc (LON: STHR) was downgraded by analysts at Goldman Sachs from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating. They now have a GBX 383 ($6.01) price target on the stock, down previously from GBX 423 ($6.64).
• Toronto-Dominion Bank (NYSE: TD) was downgraded by analysts at Barclays Capital from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating.
• Travis Perkins (LON: TPK) was downgraded by analysts at Goldman Sachs from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating. They now have a GBX 1,720 ($27.01) price target on the stock, up previously from GBX 1,708 ($26.82).
• Liberty All-Star Equity Fund (NYSE: USA) was downgraded by analysts at Barclays Capital from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating.
• Vesuvius plc (LON: VSVS) was downgraded by analysts at Credit Suisse from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating. They now have a GBX 345 ($5.42) price target on the stock, down previously from GBX 400 ($6.28).
• Williams (NYSE: WMB) was downgraded by analysts at Goldman Sachs from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating. They now have a $40.00 price target on the stock, down previously from $45.00. 18.9% Upside.
• Williams Partners L.P. (NYSE: WPZ) was downgraded by analysts at Goldman Sachs from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating. They now have a $52.00 price target on the stock, down previously from $58.00. 8.1% Upside.

Analysts’ New Coverage

• Andes Energia PLC (LON: AEN) is now covered by analysts at Westhouse Securities. They set a “buy” rating and a GBX 60 ($0.94) price target on the stock.
• Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE: AJG) is now covered by analysts at Compass Point. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. 11.5% Upside.
• Johnson Matthey (LON: JMAT) is now covered by analysts at BNP Paribas. They set an “outperform” rating and a GBX 3,200 ($50.25) price target on the stock.
• Quintiles Transnational Holdings Inc (NYSE: Q) is now covered by analysts at JP Morgan Cazenove. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock.
• Quintiles Transnational Holdings Inc (NYSE: Q) is now covered by analysts at Raymond James. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock.

• DISH, S
  7:31 PM Dish (DISH) is all but officially abandoning its bid for Sprint (S). In a fresh update, the satellite TV provider says the revised SoftBank (SFTBF.PK) deal makes it “impracticable” for it to submit a new offer by Sprint’s June 18 deadline, and that it will now focus its “efforts and resources” on the Clearwire (CLWR) tender offer. It increasingly looks as if SoftBank will end up with Sprint (vote on June 25), and Dish with a big minority stake in Clearwire that it could use to obtain a 4G network/spectrum deal with the 3 other parties in this saga. S -1.8% AH. CLWR +1.8%. (previous) [Tech, M&A] 7 Comments
• AMGN, CYTK
  7:12 PM Amgen (AMGN) ups its stake in Cytokinetics (CYTK) to 11,909,406 shares from 3,484,806 shares reported on March 21. The increase now puts AMGN‘s holding at 7.58% of CYTK‘s outstanding float. CYTK +7.4% AH. [Healthcare, On the Move] Comment!
• IBM, CRM
  7:09 PM IBM is launching a slew of cloud apps/services it says are aimed at C-Suite execs, but is light on specifics. Big Blue says its SmartCloud Solutions portfolio now offers 100+ business functions for decision-making execs such as CFOs, CMOs, procurement/supply chain officers, and HR chiefs to leverage. A new social media analytics solution for CMOs (will compete against CRM‘s Radian6 and ORCL”s Collective Intellect) is among them. The announcement comes on the heels of IBM’s ~$2B acquisition of cloud infrastructure provider SoftLayer, which the company plans to integrate with its SmartCloud unit. [Tech] Comment!
• PSON.OB
  6:56 PM Money manager and Fox Business contributor Tobin Smith is dumped by the network following a report his firm accepts money from microcap companies to promote their stocks. Smith and friends just pocketed $50K from a stock endorsement for Petrosonic Energy (PSON.OB), a Bulletin Board company that has no revenues – “taking a bag of cash and luring the dumbest, poorest people into losses,” Josh Brown says. 11 Comments
• ALU
  6:50 PM Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) CEO Michel Combes will use tomorrow’s strategy update to unveil plans to cut €1B ($1.34B) worth of costs, and to divest €1B worth of assets over the next 3 years (less than some investors have been hoping), Les Echos reports. Combes will also announce plans to focus on the router and mobile infrastructure markets – the former has been a bright spot for Alcatel thanks to strong edge router sales, and the latter has been faring better lately thanks to growing 4G orders. (earlier) [Tech] 3 Comments
• CO
  6:44 PM More on China Cord Blood (CO): FQ4 easily beats estimates across the board on a 33% jump in total sales. Accumulated subscriber base rose by 30.1% Y/Y. Gross margin also rose to 79.8%, from 76.6%. Shares +3.4% AH. [Healthcare, Global & FX, Earnings, On the Move] Comment!
• TRP
  6:43 PM Even if the U.S. approves the Keystone pipeline (TRP), analysts say it won’t be enough to sop up Canada’s oil glut and would only temporarily alleviate the lack of pipeline infrastructure, meaning Canadian crude oil probably will remain the cheapest in the world. But a decision blocking Keystone would make the problem worse, reducing spending on oil sands projects by ~$9.4B during 2014-17. [Energy] 4 Comments
• MLNX
  6:39 PM Mellanox (MLNX) responds to a shareholder vote forcing CEO Eyal Waldman to give up the role of chairman by naming lead director Irwin Federman its new chairman. Federman is a partner at VC firm U.S. Venture Partners, and also serves on SanDisk and Check Point Software’s boards. Also: Mellanox boasts the number of systems on the TOP500 supercomputer list using its FDR InfiniBand hardware has risen 3.3x over the last year, and that 205 of the systems uses InfiniBand. [Tech] Comment!
• A
  6:19 PM Agilent (A) announces and prices a $600M offering of senior notes due July 2023; they carry a yield of 3.875%, and have been rated BBB+ by Fitch. Agilent says it will use the proceeds to pay down debt due next month, as well as for restructuring expenses and buybacks. The test equipment giant had $2.36B in debt as of April 30, and $2.64B in cash/investments. [Tech] Comment!
• RHT
  6:07 PM Red Hat (RHT +2.1%) rallied ahead of tomorrow’s FQ1 report after SA Pro contributor/former hedge fund analyst Josh Burwick offered a bull case, and Piper made cautiously optimistic remarks. Burwick argues fears about the impact of Amazon Web Services on Red Hat are overblown, that slowing billings growth is offset by major growth in unbilled revenue, and that newly-announced OpenStack cloud infrastructure and app platform offerings should fare well. Piper says checks indicate FQ1 billings could be light, but adds Red Hat will make up for it in FQ2, and sees shares bottoming in the $40s. [Tech, On the Move, Quick Ideas] Comment!
• BIOD
  6:03 PM Biodel (BIOD) is trading lower in the post session after announcing a public offering to sell an undisclosed number of shares with a 30-day option on an additional 15% to cover overallotments, if any. Shares -8.2% AH. [Healthcare, On the Move] Comment!
• 6:00 PM On the hour: S&P +0.05%. 10-yr flat. Euro +0.01% vs. dollar. Crude +0.19% to $98.82. Gold +0.03% to $1367.45. Comment!
• VALE
  5:56 PM Vale (VALE) shares advanced today after Brazil’s government unveiled a long-awaited bill to reform the country’s mining code, proposing new royalties of up to 4%, double the current rate, and a new mine regulatory agency. The new rules were expected, but investors had been holding back on buying shares for fear they might turn out worse. [Commodities] Comment!
• CO, ADBE
  5:48 PM After-hours top gainers, as of 5:15 p.m.: CO +6%. ADBE +4%. OPK +3%. MY +3%. GEVO +2%. After-hours top losers: TTEK -12%. POOL -7%. MGI -5%. AAWW -4%. CROX -3%. [On the Move] 1 Comment
• FB
  5:46 PM Facebook’s (FB) monthly active advertiser base is now above 1M, the social networking giant boasts. Though impressive, that figure still suggests only a small portion of the 16M local businesses that have set up Facebook pages are buying ads. Facebook is hoping to reel in more clients in part by streamlining its ad offerings, creating more mobile-friendly business pages, and giving advertisers more data on its users’ non-Facebook activity. BIA Kelsey estimates over half of U.S. small businesses promote themselves via Facebook, and 16% buy ads. [Tech] 1 Comment
• ENB, BP
  5:41 PM Canada hikes the liability cap for oil spills in Atlantic and Arctic waters to C$1B, up from the respective $30M and $40M limits under existing rules. The changes deal only with offshore activity, which is poised to accelerate as companies begin assessing prospective new fields on the East and Arctic coasts. [Energy] 10 Comments
• FNSR, JBL
  5:35 PM Notable earnings after Wednesday’s close: FNSR, JBL, MU, RHT [Earnings] Comment!
• FDX
  5:30 PM Notable earnings before Wednesday’s open: FDX [Earnings] Comment!
• NVDA, IGNMF.PK
  5:27 PM In a strategy shift, Nvidia (NVDA) is offering to license its Kepler GPU architecture, as well as “visual computing” IP, to other chipmakers looking to power mobile hardware. Kepler serves as the foundation for much of Nvidia’s PC/workstation GPU lineup, as well the GPU within its next-gen Tegra 5 (Logan) processor. Nvidia’s move puts it into competition with GPU core licensing leader Imagination (IGNMF.PK), and also ARM’s (ARMH) fast-growing Mali GPU core business. Potential licensees include Qualcomm (uses home-grown GPUs), Intel (ditto), Apple (Imagination client), and Samsung (Imagination and Mali client). Tough competition for Tegra may have influenced Nvidia’s decision. [Tech] 4 Comments
• ADK
  5:24 PM Long-term care provider AdCare Health Systems (ADK) says the NYSE has approved its plan to regain compliance with the exchange’s continued listing standards was accepted. The NYSE granted until July 16, an extension for the company to regain compliance with respect to the Annual Report, and until August 15 for its 10-Q. Shares +1.7% AH. [Healthcare, On the Move] Comment!
• TRP
  5:20 PM TransCanada (TRP), which says Keystone XL will be the safest pipeline ever built, isn’t planning to use infrared sensors or fiber-optic cables to detect spills along the system’s 2,000-mile path to Texas refineries from fields in Alberta, Bloomberg reports. The pipeline would have to be spilling more than 12K bbl/day before its currently planned internal spill-detection systems would trigger an alarm. [Energy] 5 Comments
• MSFT, QCOM
  5:05 PM The next version of Surface RT (MSFT) will rely on both Qualcomm (QCOM) and Nvidia (NVDA) CPUs, Bloomberg reports. Though details are scant, one likely possibility is that Nvidia (the sole supplier for the first-gen RT) will power Wi-Fi-only models, and Qualcomm will power 3G/4G-capable models. The report comes as all signs indicate Qualcomm is set to displace Nvidia as the Nexus 7′s CPU supplier. Meanwhile, Microsoft is selling the 32GB version of RT for just $199 (a 60% discount) to schools until Aug. 31, the latest in a string of aggressive promotions ahead of a refresh that could be announced at the upcoming BUILD conference. [Tech] 3 Comments
• PDH
  5:00 PM PetroLogistics (PDH) says it’s successfully completed repairs to its propane dehydrogenation facility and the facility has resumed propylene production. The facility was closed earlier this month for repairs on two of the eight reactors at the plant. Total costs for all completed repairs are expected to be less than $2.5M. Shares +0.7% AH. [Commodities, On the Move] Comment!
• 5:00 PM On the hour: S&P +0.03%. 10-yr flat. Euro -0.03% vs. dollar. Crude +0.21% to $98.84. Gold -0.02% to $1366.75. Comment!
• ZN, DK
  4:53 PM Today’s 14% jump caps a five-day 60% advance in Zion Oil & Gas (ZN) on no apparent news, but this isn’t the first time ZN shares have seen such wild swings. Evan Buck urges extreme caution in the company that’s “definitely not a kosher investment,” highlighting Delek US Holdings (DK) and Noble Energy (NBL) as far wiser plays on Israel’s natural gas finds. [Energy, On the Move] 2 Comments
• RIVR
  4:50 PM River Valley Bancorp (RIVR) declares $0.21/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 3.84%. For shareholders of record June 28. Payable July 12. Ex-div date June 26. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!
• FULT
  4:48 PM Fulton Financial (FULT) declares $0.08/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 2.81%. For shareholders of record June 28. Payable July 08. Ex-div date June 26. Shares +1.8% AH. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!
• LZB
  4:46 PM More on La-Z-Boy (LZB): FQ4 beats on all counts. Net earnings fell 6.6% Y/Y however, as year-ago results were bolstered by a large benefit from antidumping income. Margins improved in the latest period to 33.8% from 31.6%. Retail segment sales, which includes La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries stores, swung to an operating profit of $4M from a year-earlier loss of $1.1M. Same-store written sales rose 11.2%, while wholesale upholstery, the main contributor to its top line, saw revenue grow 8.4% to $289.4M. [Earnings, Consumer] Comment!
• NBTF
  4:45 PM NB&T Financial (NBTF) declares $0.30/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 5.91%. For shareholders of record June 28. Payable July 22. Ex-div date June 26. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!
• FBIZ
  4:43 PM First Business Financial Services (FBIZ) declares $0.14/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 1.95%. For shareholders of record July 1. Payable July 15. Ex-div date June 27. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!
• ADBE
  4:43 PM A little more on Adobe: Marketing Cloud bookings +25% Y/Y. 26% of Digital Marketing transactions now mobile (25% in FQ1). 42% of Document Services (Acrobat) revenue subscription-based; 1M+ paid subs. 3.9M shares repurchased. R&D spend +12% Y/Y to $203M, sales/marketing spend +4% to $402M. Company on track to reach goal of 1.25M Creative Cloud subs by end of FY13; 93% of CC subs on annual (rather than monthly) plans. Deferred revenue -1% Q/Q to $691.3M. 35% of company’s revenue recurring at end of FQ2, up from 31% at end of FQ1. (PR) [Tech, Earnings] Comment!
• HTS
  4:41 PM Hatteras Financial (HTS) declares $0.70/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 10.86%. For shareholders of record June 27. Payable July 1. Ex-div date June 25. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!
• NYMT
  4:39 PM New York Mortgage Trust (NYMT) declares $0.27/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 15.32%. For shareholders of record June 28. Payable July 25. Ex-div date June 26. (PR) [Dividends] 1 Comment
• TTEK
  4:39 PM Tetra Tech (TTEK) issues downside guidance after incurring restructuring costs associated with its eastern Canadian and mining operations; it expects to incur up to $45M in charges during FQ3, resulting in EPS losses of $0.30-$0.50 vs. analyst consensus $0.38 gain on revenue of $440M-$490M vs. $551M consensus. Also authorizes the repurchase of up to $100M of its common stock. Trading halted. [Energy] Comment!
• UDR
  4:37 PM UDR (UDR) declares $0.235/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 3.84%. For shareholders of record July 10. Payable July 31. Ex-div date July 8. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!
• BXP
  4:37 PM Boston Properties (BXP) declares $0.65/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 2.34%. For shareholders of record June 28. Payable July 31. Ex-div date June 26. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!
• ADBE
  4:35 PM More on Adobe: FQ3 guidance is for revenue of $975M-$1.025B and EPS of $0.29-$0.35, vs. consensus of $1.01B and $0.35. FY13 guidance is for revenue of $4.1B and EPS of $1.45 vs. consensus of $4.11B and $1.44. Paid Creative Cloud subs +221K Q/Q to 700K in FQ2, better than FQ1′s +153K. CC annual recurring revenue +$123M Q/Q to $356M (rose $80M in FQ1), 81% of subs use full suite. Digital Media revenue -18% Y/Y to $670M (shift to subscriptions), Digital Marketing (Omniture, AdLens) revenue +11% to $285M. ADBE +3.9% AH, CC at 5PM ET (webcast). (slides) (datasheet) (prepared remarks) (PR) [Tech, Earnings, On the Move] Comment!
• HTS
  4:27 PM Hatteras Financial (HTS) receives board authorization for a stock repurchase program of up to 10M shares (about 10% of the float). Shares +0.8% AH. Previous: Hatteras maintains its $0.70 dividend. [Financials, Breaking News] Comment!
• MRC
  4:22 PM MRC Global (MRC) buys the operating assets of Flow Control Products, a leading provider of pneumatic, electric and electro-hydraulic valve automation packages and related field support to the energy industry in the Permian Basin. Flow Control reported revenues of $28M in 2012. Concurrently, MRC is expanding its existing facility in Odessa into a 110K square foot Regional Distribution Center. When completed, the Flow Control business will operate from this newly expanded facility. Shares -0.5% AH. [M&A] Comment!
• GLD, IAU
  4:18 PM If you want a bullish take on gold (GLD), Ron Paul has one for you. Asked why the yellow metal hasn’t performed very well of late, he says “markets do these kind of things … they go up and then they take a rest,” but “if you look at the record since the Fed has been in existence, we have about a two cent dollar” and based on “about six thousand years of history” the prognosis for commodity money is pretty good. “As long as we have excessive computerized money … we’re going to see gold go up.” How far, you ask? “If we’re not careful, to infinity,” Paul warns. [Commodities] 25 Comments
• LZB
  4:17 PM La-Z-Boy (LZB): FQ4 EPS of $0.30 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $359.5M beats by $1.83M. Shares +3.1% AH. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News, Consumer, On the Move] Comment!
• 4:15 PM Market recap: Stocks cap a two-day rally to wipe out last week’s losses, as investors seem confident Bernanke will assure everyone at his press conference tomorrow that the Fed is in no rush to taper its bond-buying program. The Dow’s 138-point gain marked a sixth straight day of triple-digit moves; the small-cap Russell 2000 closed at an all-time high. The dollar rose vs. the yen; Treasury prices inched up. [Top Stories] 6 Comments
• NYMT
  4:14 PM New York Mortgage Trust (NYMT) maintains its payout, declaring a Q2 dividend of $0.27/share for an annualized yield of 15.3% based on today’s close which had the shares trading at a 7.7% premium to March 31 estimated book value. Shares -0.3% AH. (PR) [Financials, Breaking News] 1 Comment
• CO
  4:14 PM China Cord Blood (CO): FQ4 EPS of $0.05 beats by $0.03. Revenue of $21.4M beats by $4.81M. Shares +8.9% AH. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News, Healthcare, On the Move] Comment!
• HTS
  4:10 PM Hatteras Financial (HTS) maintains its payout, declaring a Q2 dividend of $0.70/share for an annualized yield of 10.9% based on today’s close which had the stock trading at a 8.5% discount to March 31 book value. Shares +0.8% AH. (PR) [Financials, Breaking News] 1 Comment
• ADBE
  4:06 PM Adobe Systems (ADBE): FQ2 EPS of $0.36 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $1.011B in-line. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News, Tech] 1 Comment
• NOK
  4:02 PM Huawei says in an e-mailed statement it “has no plans” to acquire Nokia (NOK +4.6%). Shares have given back a big chunk of their earlier gains, but they still closed up sharply. Huawei consumer group chairman Richard Yu qualified his remarks about his company being willing to buy Nokia by suggesting Nokia’s commitment to Windows Phone could be an issue. “Whether Windows Phone will be successful is difficult to say … It has a very small market share.” Huawei launched the W1, a low-end WP8 device, earlier this year. [Tech, M&A] 17 Comments
• 4:00 PM At the close: Dow +0.92% to 15320. S&P +0.78% to 1652. Nasdaq +0.87% to 3482. Treasurys: 30-year +0.09%. 10-yr -0.02%. 5-yr +0.01%. Commodities: Crude +0.66% to $98.68. Gold -1.18% to $1366.75. Currencies: Euro +0.22% vs. dollar. Yen +0.87%. Pound +0.46%. Comment!
• INFI
  3:53 PM Traders place bullish bets in the options market on Infinity Pharmaceuticals (INFI +13.5%). Notably, 2K July $16 strike puts were sold today and volume in the $17.50 strike far exceeds open interest as the stock rallies double-digits. [Healthcare, On the Move] Comment!
• ETP
  3:52 PM Another day, another Gulf state industrial explosion, as a Florida Gas Transmission natural gas line, owned by Energy Transfer Partners (ETP -0.8%), exploded in rural Louisiana this morning. No injuries or significant property damage was reported; a section of the pipeline was shut and natural gas rerouted to customers along other parts of the system. (earlier: I, II) [Energy] 2 Comments
• VOD, LBTYA
  3:50 PM Is a bidding war breaking out for Kabel Deutschland? Bloomberg reports Vodafone (VOD +0.4%) has raised its preliminary bid for the German cable giant to €7.5B ($10B), or €85/share, matching an offer recently made by Liberty Global (LBTYA -0.1%). Vodafone is said to be studying Kabel’s books “before it presents an official offer in the coming weeks.” Kabel closed at €85.51 in Frankfurt, up 3.7%. (previous) [Tech, M&A, On the Move] Comment!
• OSH
  3:50 PM Orchard Supply (OSH -18%) gets a burst of heavy volume late in the day on reports that the company is permitted to seek bids for store closing sales. [On the Move] Comment!
• MBI
  3:47 PM MBIA (MBI +2.6%) management needs to reconsider its aversion to separating its municipal finance business (National) and the securitization business (MBIA Insurance), writes Christian Herzeca. Investors in National have developed a “well-deserved antipathy to securitization guaranty insurance,” he says, and for that have assigned about a $2 discount National which he believes is worth $16 as a separate entity. [Financials] 1 Comment
• JXSB
  3:44 PM Jacksonville Bancorp (JXSB) declares $0.075/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 1.57%. For shareholders of record June 28. Payable June 30. Ex-div date June 26. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!
• MCD
  3:41 PM McDonald’s (MCD +0.9%) will sell premium hamburgers in Japan for a limited time in order to see if the company can improve the sluggish results it has been seeing in the nation. (MCD Japan sales timeline) [Consumer] 1 Comment
• SMRT
  3:38 PM Stein Mart (SMRT) declares its first ever quarterly dividend of $0.05/share. Forward yield 1.48%. For shareholders of record July 05. Payable July 19. Ex-div date June 02. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!
• WRLD
  3:32 PM Shares of World Acceptance (WRLD -1.1%) “stumble” after Herb Greenberg reminds investors via Twitter that the company filed an incomplete 10-K due to “additional review and analysis needed to support the allowance for loan losses.” [On the Move] 1 Comment
• SRLN, ATMP
  3:30 PM “Actively managed” and fixed income are the themes for the top new ETF asset gatherers this year. Leading the way is the SPDR Blackstone/GSO Senior Loan Fund (SRLN) – 2 months old and with $279M AUM. There’s very little duration risk since yields on senior loans rise alongside interest rates. Number two is the Barclays Select MLP ETN (ATMP) with $136.5M AUM. Rounding out the top 7: IBCC, MINC, FPE, SYLD, VWOB. Comment!
• HII
  3:30 PM Huntington Ingalls (HII +1.6%) ticks up today, despite Stifel Nicolaus initiating the shares with a tepid Hold rating. The company says the stock is fairly valued at current levels, but the outlook could become more favorable should progress on achieving 9%-plus margins by 2015 continue and its return of cash to shareholders fall more in line with its defense industry peer group. [On the Move] Comment!
• PGRX
  3:29 PM Prospect Global Resources (PGRX +51.2%) terminates the rights offering which was scheduled to expire yesterday, obtains an extension of its obligation to raise $7M until June 24, and says its ongoing engineering optimization work and analyses will result in release of a pre-feasibility study in July. [Commodities, On the Move] Comment!
• MGI
  3:23 PM Moneygram (MGI +3.1%) pops higher on a Dealreporter story the company is in talks with potential suitors and has hired Bank of American to advise. [Financials, On the Move, M&A] Comment!
• GNMK
  3:21 PM J.P. Morgan isn’t giving up on GenMark Diagnostics (GNMK -12.2%) despite the shares’ ~35% decline since June 10. Analyst Tycho Peterson acknowledges the company’s tepid guidance, but maintains an Overweight rating on the stock. PT lowered to $15 from $17. [Healthcare, On the Move] Comment!
• LINE, LNCO
  3:16 PM Some of today’s bounce in Linn Energy (LINE +3%) is attributed to comments by Leon Cooperman in his letter to shareholders which said his hedge fund remained “comfortable” with the stock. Cooperman argues LINE has capitalized the costs of its energy hedges in accordance with GAAP, and notes Citigroup and Credit Suisse value LinnCo (LNCO -0.8%) at $35.92 and $39.64, above the current share price. (earlier) [Energy, On the Move] 13 Comments
• GY
  3:14 PM Paris Air Show: Gencorp’s (GY +4.5%) Aerojet Rocketdyne unit says it’s expanded an accord with Russian Experimental Design Bureau Fakel, obtaining the right to market and sell the Russian company’s low-power Hall thrusters in the U.S. market. No financial details were given. [On the Move] Comment!
• MO, LO
  3:14 PM Smoking rates in the U.S. dipped even lower than expected, according to data released by the CDC. Last year, only 18% of adults in the U.S. identified themselves as smokers after the rate stalled around the 20% to 21% range for a seven-year period. The news isn’t a shock for Big Tobacco (MO, LO, RAI, BTI) which has been pitching the case that electronic cigarettes will be a billion-dollar business. [Consumer, Global & FX] 5 Comments
• KSS
  3:05 PM Shares of Kohl’s (KSS -0.9%) are a bit skittish after director Peter Sommerhauser unloaded $2M worth of stock. The move follows recent sales by the retailer’s CFO and Chief Administrative Officer. (Form 4) [Consumer, On the Move] Comment!
• XLF, PGF
  3:04 PM Rising interest rates should be good for bank (XLF) income statements, but maybe bad for bank balance sheets, opines Fitch. Higher long rates mean wider margins which is good for earnings, but securities backing bank capital levels have large unrealized gains attached – gains which could disappear and turn into losses as rates rise. Basel III rules, of course, have yet to be finalized so the ultimate impact is not yet clear. [Financials] Comment!
• 3:00 PM On the hour: Dow +1.02%. 10-yr +0.01%. Euro +0.29% vs. dollar. Crude +0.68% to $98.7. Gold -1.23% to $1366.15. Comment!
• MRO
  2:58 PM Marathon Oil’s (MRO +3%) outlook is upgraded to positive from stable by Fitch Ratings, which cites strong growth in its shale liquids plays, particularly at Eagle Ford. MRO also boasts a sizable, multi-year inventory of drilling opportunities in the shale plays that provides good visibility on future production and reserve growth, raising Fitch’s confidence that it should be able to sustain its positive momentum. [Energy, On the Move] 1 Comment
• ZNGA
  2:48 PM U.K.-based Facebook/mobile game developer Midasplayer has hired banks to pursue a U.S. IPO, the WSJ reports. Midasplayer, better known as King, is the developer behind Candy Crush Saga, which has 15.4M daily active Facebook users (per AppData) and has also done quite well on mobile. Midasplayer/King says it had 70M DAUs for all its games last month, which is more than the 52M DAUs Zynga (ZNGA) had in Q1. Not surprisingly, the company is trying to diversify. [Tech] 3 Comments
• SLB
  2:47 PM Schlumberger (SLB +1.9%) acquires Gushor, a Canadian geochemistry company that supports exploration and production companies working with heavy oil and oil sands, for an undisclosed sum. SLB says Gushor will complement its leading fluids and rocks technology portfolio with geochemical and fluid property analysis capabilities. [Energy, On the Move] Comment!
• HLF
  2:45 PM Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square says Herbalife (HLF +1.6%) “refuses” to release actual sales data, which violates a California injunction, and is requesting that regulators “promptly” initiate a probe of the company. Ackman says the release of the actual data collected by its distributors would “put to rest” whether it is or isn’t a pyramid scheme. [Healthcare, On the Move] 35 Comments
• TSLA
  2:44 PM Tesla Motors (TSLA +1.3%) shares are on the move amid some chatter that General Motors is interested in the EV automaker’s technology. Though Tesla supplies Mercedes-Benz with electric drivetrains, there hasn’t been any prior indication that the Big Three automakers have had any serious interest in working a deal with Tesla. [Consumer, On the Move] 12 Comments
• TDG
  2:39 PM TransDigm Group (TDG +2.8%) says it’s requested amendments to its senior secured credit facilities in connection with the possible payment of a special dividend. The amendments seek to increase the company’s existing senior secured term facility by $700M and to change certain ratios. TDG is considering paying a cash dividend of $1B – $1.8B with the proceeds. [On the Move] Comment!
• ADBE
  2:37 PM Ahead of this afternoon’s FQ2 report, Adobe (ADBE +0.3%) has sent out a survey to customers asking whether they’d be interested in paying $30/month for Creative Cloud, or $10/month for the Photoshop app, for 3 years, after which they’d get a permanent copy of Creative Suite 6. Those prices are more aggressive than the $50/month and $20/month Adobe currently charges (some discounts are available), and suggest it’s trying to address a backlash caused by its decision to abandon CS license sales in favor of CC subscriptions. The survey comes as Adobe rolls out a Creative Cloud update; it includes cloud file-syncing, Behance integration, and a blur-removal tool. [Tech] Comment!
• FIATY.PK
  2:37 PM Chrysler (FIATY.PK) has reportedly decided to comply with a government request to recall 2.7M vehicles to end a showdown over the issue which upset the status quo in the industry a bit. [Consumer, Global & FX] Comment!
• CVX
  2:35 PM Chevron (CVX +0.2%) says it plans to sell its 40% stake in five Nigerian shallow-water oil leases to local firms, the latest oil major seeking to dispose of assets in Africa’s biggest producer. Nigeria wants more direct ownership of its oil and gas, either through the state oil company or local firms, raising concerns among foreign firms that they may lose smaller assets for nothing if they don’t sell now. [Energy] Comment!
• ULTA
  2:31 PM “We hosted meetings at [company] HQ with senior management,” Sterne Agee proudly says of talks with Ulta Salon’s (ULTA +0.3%) top brass. Analyst Ike Boruchow ups the price target on the shares to $104 from $100 citing a positive outlook for the “themes of the day”: Margins and inventory. [Consumer] Comment!
• GEVO
  2:19 PM Gevo (GEVO +22.5%) has restarted commercial production of isobutanol at its plant in Luverne, Minn. CEO Patrick Gruber says there was some microbial contamination at the plant that Gevo has since learned how to control and manage by making equipment modifications, changing fermentation conditions and improving operating procedures. [Energy, On the Move] Comment!
• FIATY.PK
  2:13 PM A mini-drama is evolving in the automobile industry with Chrysler (FIATY.PK) expected to formally inform the NHTSA it won’t comply with a request to recall certain older Jeep Grand Cherokee and Jeep Liberty models. If the stalemate continues between the automaker and the agency, the issue could be resolved in hearings or in court. (Chrysler White Paper on recall) [Consumer, Global & FX] Comment!
• CYTK
  2:11 PM Cytokinetics (CYTK +24%) soars today, after its selection for presenting results from a Phase II trial of its of omecamtiv mecarbil at a “Hot Line Late Breaking Trials Session” at the European Society of Cardiology Congress 2013 in late August sent signals that its experimental drug for acute heart failures will have success in a mid-stage trial. [Healthcare, On the Move] Comment!
• PANW
  2:11 PM More on Goldman and Palo Alto Networks (PANW -1.5%): Analyst Greg Dunham notes Palo Alto’s “growth story is taking longer to play out and there are questions over execution” (presumably thanks to recent numbers). He also thinks Juniper’s suit against Palo Alto (filed in 2011) is proving “a bigger investor concern than we had anticipated.” Nonetheless, Dunham reiterates a Buy, believing “investors are underestimating the strength in PANW’s subscription businesses” and its long-term growth potential. [Tech] 1 Comment
• KKD
  2:09 PM Sweet! Longbow raises its price target on shares of Krispy Kreme (KKD +4.2%) to $23 from $20, representing a 35% upside from Monday’s close. Channel checks reportedly suggest franchise comps growth may come in at 8.2% for Q2. Meanwhile, SA contributor Sean Weston says international franchise numbers “are not in the midst of an attractive trend.” [On the Move] Comment!
• UTX
  2:05 PM United Technologies (UTX +1.1%) has been ordered to pay $473M, plus interest, for overcharging the US Air Force for jet engines. The ruling is the result of a lawsuit filed by the DoJ in 1999 seeking reimbursement for inflated costs by UTX unit Pratt & Whitney under the False Claims Act. Since the judgement includes interest charges, hundreds of millions in dollars could be added to the $473M price tag once it’s all tallied, as the overcharges go all the way back to 1986. [Consumer] 1 Comment
• 2:00 PM On the hour: Dow +0.92%. 10-yr +0.04%. Euro +0.32% vs. dollar. Crude +0.54% to $98.56. Gold -1.21% to $1366.35. Comment!
• ALU
  2:00 PM Alcatel-Lucent (ALU -2.1%) slips after the WSJ‘s Renee Schultes writes new CEO Michel Combes is likely to place a greater emphasis on cost-cutting than asset sales when outlining his strategy tomorrow. However, no sources are cited in the column. ALU has already unloaded some major assets, and there have been multiple reports about the company’s submarine optical cable unit being on the block. But some analysts think the debt-laden company needs to do more. JPMorgan Cazenove, for example, raises the idea of ALU also unloading its mobile infrastructure and enterprise units. [Tech] 7 Comments
• XLP, FXG
  1:55 PM Not all consumer staples funds (XLP, FXG, VDC, KXI, PMR) are created equal, according to S&P Capital IQ. Fund managers’ weighting toward certain sub-sectors or their willing to invest globally or lean on fundamentals can create varying rates of return in the staples group. If there is some common ground, it’s with the propensity of staples favorites Procter & Gamble (PG +0.1%), Coca-Cola (KO +0.5%), Philip Morris (PM +0.2%), and Wal-Mart (WMT +1%) to show up as top ten holdings. [Consumer] Comment!
• MDAS, CERN
  1:53 PM MedAssets (MDAS +1.2%) expands its reseller agreement relationship with Cerner (CERN +0.5%) to incorporate the components of the former’s claims management solution within CERN’s patient accounting system. The deal enhances CERN clients’ “capabilities related to complex payor edits [and] improves [thier] operational efficiencies in the processing and status tracking of claims.” (PR) Comment!
• HLX
  1:47 PM Helix Energy Solutions (HLX +4%) gains after saying it’s closed the previously announced sale of its pipelay vessel, the Caesar, to Trevaskis Limited for a total of $138M. [On the Move, M&A] Comment!
• RAX
  1:38 PM Rackspace (RAX +6.4%) is rallying, apparently on rumors it has bagged Fidelity as a customer for its OpenStack cloud infrastructure offerings. Cowen thinks the deal will be announced at the June 19-20 GigaOm Structure conference. Rackspace could definitely use a big OpenStack customer win, given its recent news flow. 11.3% of the float was shorted as of May 31. [Tech, On the Move] Comment!
• MCGC
  1:36 PM MCG Capital (MCGC) keeps the pipeline moving, closing a $12.6M investment – comprised of a senior credit facility, a revolving line, and equity – in Community Investors, a provider of SaaS-based community management software tools. (PR) [Financials] Comment!
• WU
  1:34 PM Western Union (WU +0.4%) expects to see digital revenue grow triple to $500M by 2015, according to CEO Hikmet Ersek. The pace of sales growth in the company’s digital channels is the fastest of its business segments. [Consumer] Comment!
• BNS, TD
  1:32 PM Scotiabank (BNS) and TD Bank are each downgraded to Hold from Buy at Barclays which says earnings growth at the banks will be challenged and instead prefers insurers and asset managers (which ones are as yet unavailable). [Financials] Comment!
• BRCD
  1:30 PM Brocade (BRCD -2.3%) slides on news Americas sales chief Tom Ellery has resigned. The departure comes 4 months after Brocade hired Juniper’s Jeff Lindholm to be its new global sales chief, and a year after Lindholm’s predecessor, Ian Whiting, left to join Riverbed. Wells Fargo views Ellery’s resignation as a negative. “We believe he was well respected in the Ethernet sales organization and his resignation may lead to additional turnover in the business.” The firm also notes Brocade is trying to cut costs and focus its Ethernet efforts on high-margin areas, actions that could lead to near-term disruption. [Tech, On the Move] Comment!
• JW.A
  1:30 PM Shares of John Wiley & Sons (JW.A -6.4%) slide after the company calls FY14 a “transitional year” and projects EPS of $2.85-2.95 (so, flat Y/Y) versus consensus of $3.01. (PR) [Earnings, On the Move] Comment!
• ATRO, COL
  1:28 PM Astronics’ (ATRO +1.8%) says its Canadian subsidiary, Luminescent Systems Canada, has landed an extension of its supply agreement with Rockwell Collins (COL). Under the agreement, Luminescent Systems will supply illuminated cockpit control panels, keyboards, display bezels and related assemblies, which are integral parts of COL‘s advanced avionics product offerings. The company will also supply new products as part of COL‘s next generation of avionics solutions. [On the Move] Comment!
• CRMB
  1:25 PM Crumbs Bake Shop (CRMB -4.7%) files a statement with the SEC to sell 8.44M on the behalf of selling shareholders. (S-3) [Consumer] Comment!
• PGHY, GHYG
  1:22 PM PowerShares’ Global Short Term High Yield Bond Portfolio (PGHY) is set to launch on June 20 with an expense ratio of 0.35%. Like the name says, the fund will keep duration low and invest globally. iShares’ GHYG also invests globally in high yield, but with no mandate to keep holdings short-term. Several high yield funds have built-in hedges against higher rates, including HYHG, THHY, HYLS. [Financials] Comment!
• FDS
  1:20 PM FactSet Research (FDS -2.7%) pares early losses but is still notably lower after saying annual subscription value from U.S. operations came in at $590M for FQ3, a slight decrease from the $592M reported in FQ2. (PR) [On the Move] Comment!
• NDLS
  1:15 PM Noodles (NDLS) will offer 5.4M shares in a price range of $13 to $15 in its IPO. What to watch: The chain boasts some of the highest margins in the fast-casual sector and has seen comparable store sales growth accelerate over the last few years. (S-1) [Consumer] 2 Comments
• NOK
  1:14 PM Nokia (NOK +9.3%) soars after the chairman of Huawei’s consumer business group says his company would be open to buying Nokia in an off-hand remark. Any offer from Huawei would face intense EU scrutiny, given long-standing worries about the company’s Chinese government/military ties. Is this a repeat of BlackBerry/Lenovo? [Tech, On the Move, M&A, Breaking News] 26 Comments
• CLNY, RDN
  1:10 PM Colony American Home pulled its IPO this month because of a collapse in equity REIT prices, says Colony Financial (CLNY) Chairman Tom Barrack, appearing on CNBC. “We don’t need the capital,” he adds. An owner of mortgage insurers Radian (RDN) and MGIC (MTG), and Fannie Mae (FNMA.OB) preferred, Barrack calls them a great a way in H2 to play the housing comeback. Note: FNMA.OB is the symbol for the common. [Financials] Comment!
• STAA
  1:09 PM STAAR Surgical (STAA +11%) soars again today, tacking on big gains to yesterday’s 6% move after it said it had received regulatory approvals to market its Visian Implantable Collamer Lens technology in Korea and the ANMAT in Argentina. STAA‘s Asia Pacific Regional President says the refractive procedure market in Korea is both significant and fast growing, and the approval represents “a very important milestone.” [Healthcare, On the Move] Comment!
• WDFC
  1:08 PM WD-40 Company (WDFC) declares $0.31/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 2.17%. For shareholders of record July 16. Payable July 31. Ex-div date July 12. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!
• DELL
  1:07 PM Carl Icahn has bought 72M Dell (DELL +0.4%) shares from would-be buyout partner Southeastern Asset (half its stake), and is proposing a $14/share tender offer for 62% of Dell’s outstanding shares (1.1B shares). The Southeastern deal makes Icahn Dell’s largest outside shareholder. Dell, whose shareholder vote on Michael Dell/Silver Lake’s LBO offer remains set for July 18, has edged higher to $13.45. (previous) [Tech, M&A] 3 Comments
• AXL
  1:07 PM American Axle (AXL +1%) will literally blow up a manufacturing facility in Detroit in the hopes that it will help the company unload the property it sits on. Talks are ongoing with potential buyers for the giant seven-complex facility. [Consumer] Comment!
• USB
  1:05 PM U.S. Bancorp (USB) declares $0.23/share quarterly dividend, 18% increase from prior dividend of $0.19. Forward yield 2.60 %. For shareholders of record June 28.Payable July 15.Ex-div date June 26. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!
• 1:00 PM On the hour: Dow +0.91%. 10-yr 0%. Euro +0.22% vs. dollar. Crude +0.37% to $98.4. Gold -1.18% to $1366.75. Comment!
• USB
  12:57 PM As expected following the Fed stress test results in March, U.S. Bancorp (USB +0.3%) ups its quarterly dividend 18% to $0.23/share. The annualized yield is 2.6%. (PR) [Financials] Comment!
• ASTI
  12:56 PM Ascent Solar (ASTI +5.2%) rallies to $0.76 after announcing a deal to sell $6M worth of preferred shares at a price of $0.80, and issue 3-year warrants to buy 2.625M shares at an exercise price of $0.90 (potential proceeds of $2.36M), with an unnamed “high net worth private investor in Asia.” Ascent, which has been steadily burning cash, says it will use the proceeds to “fund the continued expansion of its retail channels” of its EnerPlex solar charger/accessory line. (PR) [Tech, On the Move] Comment!
• AU, MUX
  12:52 PM Argentina’s Santa Cruz province slaps a 1% annual tax on mine resources, a move mining companies say they will challenge in court. While the percentage seems small, miners say it will cost them $100M in new taxes next year, as the tax amounts to ~8% of the total resources of a mine with a 15-year life. Among miners with operations in Santa Cruz: AU -3.5%, MUX -2.3%, GG -2.5%, PAAS -1.4%. [Commodities, On the Move] Comment!
• SHLD
  12:50 PM Sears Holdings (SHLD -0.3%) is in a death spiral, according to the former CEO of Sears Canada. The grumpy critic discounts the company’s resilient share price and notes the firesale of assets without a clear strategy will run out of steam. [Consumer] 2 Comments
• USMD, ZN
  12:45 PM Midday top 10 gainers: USMD +31%. ZN +26%. GEVO +23%. CBMX +21%. CYTK +20%. PRXI +18%. HOTR +18%. WLT +15%. BBGI +15%. ATV +14%. Midday top 10 Losers: OSH -14%. MNKD -13%. OPXA -12%. LTON -10%. IESC -10%. KNDI -9%. FRO -8%. GENE -8%. BAA -8%. HAST -8%. [On the Move] Comment!
• MNKD
  12:44 PM MannKind (MNKD -12%) takes a hit today on no specific new-related driver. Speculation is circulating that a number of hedge funds are leaning on the shares to flush out supply from retail investors. [Healthcare, On the Move] 8 Comments
• SBUX, GMCR
  12:44 PM Heard during Starbucks’ (SBUX +1.4%) presentation at the Jefferies 2013 Global Consumer Conference: 1) The company has a long-term revenue growth target of +10% and EPS growth target of 15%-20%. 2) Opportunities for expansion of food sales exist around the world. 19% of total Starbucks sales is food – led by France with a food mix of 28% and trailed by China at 10%. 3) New food products are trending well including new items from recently-acquired La Boluange. 4) The company’s loyalty program accounts for almost 25% of all transactions. 5) Rest easy Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR). CFO Troy Alstead says Starbucks has no plans to turn into a “deep equipment” company.(webcast) [Consumer] 1 Comment
• BBRY
  12:38 PM BlackBerry (BBRY +4.3%) gets a lift from a positive note from RBC’s Mark Sue (Market Perform), who now thinks 3.5M BB10 phones were shipped in the May quarter (up from a prior 2.75M) thanks to new Z10 carrier deals and channel fill. Sue adds “BB10 demand appears to be mixed by region,” with the U.K., Canada, and the Middle East seeing the strongest sales, and U.S. demand weaker. He now expects BlackBerry to report above-consensus FQ1 revenue and EPS on June 28, and thinks heavy short interest (32% of float shorted) could lead to a squeeze. (Deutsche) [Tech, On the Move] 15 Comments
• SRE
  12:38 PM Sempra Energy (SRE) declares $0.63/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 3.08%. For shareholders of record June 28. Payable July 15. Ex-div date June 26. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!
• FCX
  12:35 PM Indonesia likely will allow Freeport McMoran (FCX -0.6%) to resume open-pit mining at the Grasberg mine later this week, the country’s resources minister says, five weeks after a fatal accident nearby shut multiple mining operations and forced FCX to cancel shipments of concentrate. Grasberg accounts for more than half of FCX’s production. [Commodities] 2 Comments
• AMRN
  12:33 PM Amarin (AMRN -0.5%) continues its slide on the back of Friday’s news that NCE status on Vascepa was once again delayed. However, MKM Partners analyst Jon LeCroy thinks the delay may have a silver lining. Lecroy says that while the NCE designation is the preferred outcome here, the delay also prevents the company from being targeted for a takeover. The shares are likely to remain under pressure until an NCE decision is made though, which MKM expects to come around July 12. [Healthcare] 5 Comments
• IMAX
  12:30 PM Summer blockbusters Man of Steel and Iron Man 3 are strong indicators that moviegoers in the U.S are willing to buck up for the higher ticket prices for the IMAX (IMAX -1.6%) format. Last weekend, Man of Steel averaged a rousing $53K per IMAX screen. [Consumer] 1 Comment

• HON
  Have You Considered Honeywell In Your Portfolio?

  John Mylant • Tue, Jun 18
• ABBV
  Successor To Humira? AbbVie And Galapagos Work On It

  Peter Geschek • Mon, Jun 17 • 1 Comment
• NSC
  Why I Like Norfolk Southern Corporation

  Andrew Brady • Mon, Jun 17 • 3 Comments
• CNI
  Canadian National Railway Is Highly Undervalued

  Ben Kramer-Miller • Sun, Jun 16 • 7 Comments
• WMT
  Wal-Mart: Is Reputation A Leading Indicator?

  Justin Weinstein • Sun, Jun 16 • 19 Comments
• PSX
  Phillips 66 – Disciplined Company, But No Upside Left

  Simon Moore • Sun, Jun 16 • 10 Comments
• SO
  Southern Company: Naysayers Are Wrong On This Core Holding

  Jon Parepoynt • Sun, Jun 16 • 25 Comments
• ELN
  Elan Is In Play

  Robert Wu • Sat, Jun 15 • 9 Comments
• WIN
  Will Windstream Prosper With The Avaya Aura?

  Adetokunbo Abiola • Fri, Jun 14 • 5 Comments
• SO
  This Is Why You Should Consider The Southern Company: A Utility Stalwart

  Horizon Investments • Fri, Jun 14 • 13 Comments
• PM
  Philip Morris Is A Great Dividend Play

  The Outsider • Fri, Jun 14 • 13 Comments
• KRFT
  Kraft: Attractive Dividend Yield With Low Growth Prospects

  investec • Thu, Jun 13 • 16 Comments
• WMT
  Wal-Mart Offers Low Prices Every Day (Does Not Apply To Our Stock)

  Market Exclusive • Thu, Jun 13 • 18 Comments
• WIN
  Windstream – Dividend Cut Inevitable, Probably Priced In

  Madhusudan Rao • Thu, Jun 13 • 37 Comments
• BGS
  B&G Foods’ Push Into Natural Snack Foods Makes Stock A Buy

  Chris Katje • Wed, Jun 12 • 1 Comment
• ABT
  Abbott Labs’ Absorb And The Dissolvable Stent Race

  Peter Geschek • Wed, Jun 12
• PM
  Philip Morris: The Crown Jewel Of The Tobacco Sector

  Stock Gamer • Wed, Jun 12 • 6 Comments
• PM
  How Healthy Is The Balance Sheet Of Philip Morris International?

  David Schauber, Jr. • Wed, Jun 12 • 8 Comments
• WMT
  How Wal-Mart Turbocharges Per-Share Earnings

  YCharts • Wed, Jun 12 • 1 Comment

• PAY
  12:29 PM VeriFone (PAY +4.1%) pops after director Alex Hart discloses he bought 10K shares on Friday at $15.72. Shares of the payment-processing hardware vendor remain down 45% YTD thanks to a lot of bad earnings news. [Tech, On the Move] Comment!
• SCTY
  12:24 PM More on SolarCity: The company continues its financing binge by announcing a $175M offering for convertible senior notes due 2018. The announcement comes shortly after SolarCity (SCTY +2.9%) obtained a $100M loan to finance new panel installations, and a month after it reached a $500M+ financing deal with Goldman. [Tech] Comment!
• RDHL
  12:21 PM RedHill Biopharma (RDHL +5%) says its New Drug Application for marketing approval in the U.S. of RHB-103 by the company and its co-development partner, IntelGenx (IGXT +5.3%), has been accepted for substantive review by the FDA. RHB-103 is an oral, thin film formulation of rizatriptan, which is used to treat acute migraine. The application is subject to a standard 10-month review period and will have a PDUFA goal date of Feb. 3, 2014. [Healthcare, On the Move] Comment!
• DXJ, EWJ
  12:20 PM The speculative phase of the rally in Japanese stocks is over, says Deutsche, setting up the next leg which will require the participation of domestic investors. Yes, underweight global equity funds may help, but they’ve already boosted stakes and have just $2T in assets compared to $9T of Japanese household cash. DXJ +3.1%, EWJ +2.3%. [Global & FX] Comment!
• PEGA
  12:19 PM Pegasystems (PEGA) declares $0.03/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 0.37%. For shareholders of record July 1. Payable July 15. Ex-div date June 27. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!
• NEM, BVN
  12:17 PM Thousands of opponents of the $5B Minas Conga copper and gold project in Peru march on Lake Perol, vowing to stop Newmont Mining (NEM -3%) from eventually draining it to reservoirs NEM and partner Buenaventura (BVN -2.6%) are building. Protesters, who fear the mine would threaten their water, say they plan to build a permanent camp near the lake to impede work on the site. [Commodities, On the Move] Comment!
• STP
  12:14 PM A Swiss court gives Suntech’s (STP +5%) European unit a 6-month moratorium on creditor claims; the unit had been given a 2-month reprieve on April 9. Suntech’s Chinese subsidiary remains in the midst of bankruptcy proceedings. Shares have more than tripled from a March 21 low of $0.30. [Tech, On the Move] Comment!
• IR
  12:08 PM Ingersoll-Rand (IR +1.9%) completes its $1.55B debt offering consisting of 3 tranches; $350M in aggregate principal amount of 2.875% notes due in 2019, $700M of 4.25% notes due in 2023, and $500M of 5.75% notes due in 2043. The company plans to use the funds to retire existing senior debt and to fund expenses related to its Allegion spinoff. [On the Move] Comment!
• TMUS, SNE
  12:07 PM T-Mobile USA (TMUS) will be the exclusive U.S. seller of Sony’s (SNE +2.8%) Xperia Z Android phone, which has posted strong international sales taken a big chunk of the high-end Japanese smartphone market. Together with a recent exclusive for Nokia’s Lumia 925, the deal suggests T-Mobile is having more luck with smartphone OEMs following the MetroPCS merger. Also: Canaccord has launched coverage on T-Mobile with a Hold and $22 PT. The firm views T-Mobile as an attractive M&A target for the company that fails to acquire Sprint/Clearwire, but considers shares fully valued. [Tech] Comment!
• FITB
  12:00 PM Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) declares $0.12/share quarterly dividend, 9% increase from prior dividend of $0.11. Forward yield 2.62%. For shareholders of record June 28.Payable July 18.Ex-div date June 26. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!
• 12:00 PM On the hour: Dow +0.72%. 10-yr -0.05%. Euro +0.3% vs. dollar. Crude +0.1% to $98.13. Gold -1.29% to $1365.25. Comment!
• AIG, AYR
  11:54 AM AIG slips 0.9% in an up market as Bernstein’s Josh Stirling says investors may want to brace themselves for a headline announcing the termination of the deal to sell an 80% stake in ILFC. Would it be such a bad thing? At least one comparable – Aircastle Limited (AYR) – has rallied 40% since the deal to sell ILFC was inked. Perhaps ILFC would command more than a $5.2B valuation today. [Financials] 2 Comments
• NFX
  11:50 AM Newfield Exploration (NFX +3.6%) is upgraded to Buy from Hold with a $29 price target at Stifel Nicolaus, which cites an upcoming increased proved NAV from expected ~$1.15B in H2 international asset sales, upside to 2013 guidance (possibly with Q2 results), and delivery of growth showing up from its domestic core areas. [Energy, Quick Ideas, On the Move] Comment!
• SCTY
  11:50 AM SolarCity (SCTY +3%) trades higher this morning after the company reported earlier that its 2013 megawatts deployed is now estimated to be around 270MW, up from mid-May guidance of 250MW. [Energy, On the Move] Comment!
• AMD
  11:49 AM More on AMD: Though Seattle is dominating headlines, the company remains committed to the x86 server CPU market. Berlin, an x86 CPU platform due in Q114, will feature 4 cores based on AMD’s next-gen Steamroller architecture, and will be offered as both a CPU and APU (integrated graphics), with the APUs being the first to offer uniform memory access for the chip’s CPU and GPU. AMD promises big improvements in performance/watt. Also due in Q114 is Warsaw, an enterprise-class offering said to be ideal for Facebook’s Open Compute Platform (previous). AMD has been bleeding share to Intel in the x86 server CPU space (PR) [Tech] Comment!
• WTSL
  11:39 AM “A mid-single digit operating margin over the next 2-3 years is reasonable,” says Piper’s Stephanie Wissink of Wet Seal (WTSL +0.7%) in a cautious note. Although “sales stability, merchandise margin improvement, and cost leverage” should drive margin expansion, “the current environment” warrants trepidation regarding store growth expectations, she adds. Meanwhile, SA contributor Unbigoted Research says the stock could be “the turnaround story of 2013″. [Consumer] Comment!
• RTN
  11:37 AM Raytheon (RTN +0.3%) says it’s received a $115.9M contract to provide engineering services for the Patriot Air and Missile Defense System. Under the contract, RTN will provide systems analysis, software development, testing and logistics support, as well as other NATO country-specific system requirements. [Global & FX] Comment!
• KBR
  11:35 AM KBR (KBR +1.6%) shares move higher following positive comments by Deutsche Bank, which notes the energy engineering services company’s “significant advantage” given its ability to compete from a vertically integrated position in liquefied natural gas, and sees upside potential from new wins for its ammonia business. [Energy, Quick Ideas, On the Move] Comment!
• AMD, ARMH
  11:35 AM AMD’s first ARM-based server CPU, codenamed Seattle, will enter production in 2H14, the chipmaker announces. Seattle CPUs will feature 8 or 16 of ARM’s (ARMH) high-end Cortex-A57 cores, with each running at 2GHz. or more. AMD claims the chips will “offer 3-4x the performance” of its new Opteron X-Series parts, and will integrate 10G Ethernet links and SeaMicro’s Freedom Fabric tech. Seattle, aimed at the budding microserver market, will face competition from fellow ARM licensees AppliedMicro (AMCC +6.5% – appears to be rallying on the news), Marvell (MRVL), and startup Calxeda, and also Intel’s Atom CPUs. Look for H-P to consider Seattle for its Moonshot server line. [Tech, On the Move] Comment!
• HCBK, MTB
  11:30 AM Hudson City Bancorp (HCBK +2%) pops as M&T Bank (MTB +0.6%) looks to soon be able to move forward with its purchase after agreeing with regulators to beef up its anti-money laundering policies. [Financials, M&A, On the Move, Breaking News] Comment!
• CMG
  11:30 AM Chipotle (CMG +1%) could see a benefit from the closure of 40 Qdoba restaurants, according to Miller Tabak. The firm has a price target of $400 on the restaurant chain. [Consumer] Comment!
• INSM
  11:27 AM UBS initiates Insmed (INSM +0.7%) at Buy with a $17.50 price target representing a 37% upside. Arikace “has a solid chance of success in its primary indication of cystic fibrosis,” analyst Matthew Harrison says, adding that the “underappreciated” non-tuberculous mycobacteria opportunity could be another growth catalyst going forward. (Previous: Arikace’s NTM indication possibly more compelling than CF opportunity) [Healthcare] Comment!
• DWA
  11:24 AM DreamWorks Animation (DWA +1.9%) signs a multi-year deal with German broadcaster RTL to produce animated TV shows. Under the agreement, the company will supply the leading children’s TV channel in the nation with a steady stream of shows based on characters from its franchises. [Consumer] Comment!
• LLY
  11:23 AM Eli Lilly and Company (LLY) declares $0.49/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 3.78%. For shareholders of record August 15. Payable September 10. Ex-div date August 13. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!
• EWZ, BRF
  11:21 AM Brazil (EWZ, BRF) has to be nearing a bottom. After a couple of years of struggles for both the economy and the Bovespa, the eulogies are beginning to be written for the planet’s next great country, lately been beset by waves of protests and evaporating support for President Rousseff. “The golden days are over, the feel-good factor is lost,” says an economics professor. “It was a short-lived dream,” says a struggling electrician. [Global & FX] 3 Comments
• PVA
  11:17 AM Penn Virginia (PVA +1.1%) says it received $21.4M from the exercises of preferential rights related to the recent $400M Eagle Ford Shale acquisition, resulting in expectations for 2013 cash flows and capex to decrease by 1%-1.5% each while 2013 production is expected to decrease by ~1%. [Energy] Comment!
• WMT, ZZ
  11:16 AM Heard during Wal-Mart’s (WMT +0.4%) presentation at the Jefferies Global Consumer Conference: 1) Sam’s Club CFO Michael Dastugue notes online channels are picking up as the chain dabbles with more social media promotions. 2) On products trending well, Dastugue notes mattress sales are strong. Should Sealy (ZZ) and Tempur-Pedic (TPX) be worried with Serta and Night Therapy leading sellers at Sam’s? 3) The company plans to open 15-20 new and relocated clubs during FY14. 4) New tech initiatives include self checkout kiosks, convertible registers, and scan & go testing. (webcast) [Consumer] Comment!
• STML
  11:09 AM Stemline Therapeutics (STML +10%) moves up again today after being initiated at Ladenburg Thalmann with a Buy rating and a hefty $36 price target. The stock has been moving steadily higher over the past few weeks, after the FDA granted an Orphan Drug Designation to its treatment for blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm, SL-401. [Healthcare, On the Move] Comment!
• PANW
  11:06 AM Goldman yanks Palo Alto Networks (PANW -1.7%) from its Conviction Buy list, leading the next-gen firewall leader to make fresh post-IPO lows. The firm defended Palo Alto late last month, after shares were clocked thanks to an FQ3 revenue miss (blamed on macro) and soft FQ4 guidance. [Tech] 1 Comment
• SLF
  11:01 AM Sun Life Financial (SLF +0.9%) inks a “game-changing” deal with the Canadian Wheat Board, transferring (for a fee) all of the Board’s pension plan risk to the insurer. It’s the first of its kind in Canada, says Sun Life, which has been actively seeking such deals since General Motors and Verizon struck similar agreements with Prudential last year. [Financials] Comment!
• 11:00 AM On the hour: Dow +0.68%. 10-yr -0.12%. Euro +0.2% vs. dollar. Crude +0.2% to $98.23. Gold -1.38% to $1364.05. Comment!
• HNT
  10:59 AM Health Net (HNT +1.1%) reaffirms its FY13 guidance of $2.20 – $2.30 per share on revenues of between $10.7B – $11.2B. Street estimates are for an EPS of $2.23 on revenues of $11.17B. [Healthcare, On the Move, Earnings] Comment!
• SI
  10:55 AM Reuters backs upthe WSJ in reporting Siemens (SI +0.8%) is talking to P-E firms TPG, KKR, and Blackstone about selling its 50% stake in Nokia Siemens; the news service adds past attempts to sell to P-E firms have failed due to price disagreements. Meanwhile, Goldman is assigning NSN a value of €6B, based on a valuation of 6x 2014E EV/EBITDA. [Tech, M&A] Comment!
• ANR
  10:54 AM With liquidity a relevant topic lately among coal companies, Alpha Natural Resources (ANR +2.1%) proactively tells a Brean Capital analyst it is confident in its current liquidity to meet $417M in debt obligations due in 2015 without tapping equity, which ANR sees as a poor option at today’s prices. ANR also says it isn’t inclined to employ its current liquidity toward additional acquisitions. [Energy, On the Move] Comment!
• AMZN, FB
  10:49 AM Amazon (AMZN +1.2%) tries to profit from the growing use of Facebook (FB +2.8%) as a “social gifting” platform by launching Amazon Birthday Gift, a solution that allows Facebook users to send a friend Amazon credit for his/her birthday, and then lets other friends to add to the pot. The product is separate from Facebook’s Gifts platform. Also: 1) Leveraging existing content deals, Amazon is adding videos and games from Disney, Viacom, Warner Bros., and Electronic Arts to its Kindle Freetime kids’ platform. The move comes shortly after a major deal was reached with Viacom for kids’ shows. 2) AdAge reports Facebook’s video ads will be delayed until fall. The magazine reported in April Facebook plans to charge up to $1M per daily ad slot. [Tech, Consumer] Comment!
• ACRX
  10:48 AM Jefferies sees a 33% upside for shares of AcelRx (ACRX -1.1%), raising its price target to $13 from $8. Analyst Corey Davis makes “numerous model adjustments as [the company] moves closer to an NDA filing for ARX-01″ and notes that the “next catalyst” is analyst day on July 27. Mark your calendar. [Healthcare] 1 Comment
• SSH
  10:45 AM Sunshine Heart (SSH +8%) pops after achieving a milestone for its flagship C-Pulse device, which is designed to treat Class III and ambulatory Class IV heart failure. The company said the devices has been implanted in 25 patients in North America and Germany, with the 25th patient implanted on June 14th at the German Heart Institute in Berlin. [Healthcare, On the Move] 1 Comment
• MCD
  10:43 AM Heard during a presentation by McDonald’s (MCD +1.1%) at the Jefferies Global Consumer Conference: 1) The company gives out more details on its After Midnight menu at select locations, noting that the Midnight to 4:00 AM fare will include popular breakfast items. 2) Execs says the 1,500-1,600 planned new restaurants and another 1,600 re-images will help lift sales by 6% to 7% after one year. 3) The dollar menu will continue to be focus and will see new items added later this year. (webcast, slides) [Consumer] Comment!
• HYG, LQD
  10:42 AM Panicky fixed-income investors have sent implied volatility through the roof on normally quiet bond funds like the High Yield Corporate Fund (HYG) and the Investment Grade Corporate Bond Fund (LQD). It could spell opportunity as large price declines in many bond funds have overwhelmed the actual drop in NAV. [Financials] 1 Comment
• WLT, KOL
  10:41 AM Walter Energy (WLT +12%) finally turns around since dropping 12% after delaying plans to refinance existing debt, as Morgan Stanley steps in to say WLT’s potential upside has finally grown too large to ignore. Other coal names (KOL +0.6%) also move higher, perhaps aided by Sterne Agee’s slightly improved view for the sector:ACI +4.2%, CLF +3.2%, ANR +3%, BTU +1.3%. [Energy, On the Move] Comment!
• LEN
  10:31 AM Lennar (LEN -1.7%) expands its homebuilding operations into the Nashville, Tennessee market by acquiring control of approximately 40 homesites in the Tollgate Village community. The company says been evaluating the Nashville market for some time and “believes this is a perfect time to enter.” The expansion into the Tennessee market is similar to LEN‘s other recent strategic moves into the Atlanta, Seattle, Portland and Central Texas regions, and now gives the company operations in 19 states and 46 markets across the nation. [Consumer] Comment!
• KMB
  10:29 AM Kimberly-Clark (KMB -0.4%) plans to invest $234M in Venezuela in order to expand manufacturing capabilities with the nation facing a national shortage of critical bathroom products. The company currently has 15% of the market for toilet paper in the nation, but that mark could be on the rise with capacity slated to be boosted by 30% to 40%. [Consumer] Comment!
• LUK
  10:23 AM Investment bank Jefferies – now fully owned by Leucadia (LUK) – reports FQ2 profit of $42M, off 34% Y/Y. The company saw a “significant slowdown” in fixed-income trading in March and April, says Leucadia CEO Richard Handler, blaming uncertainty over the Fed’s QE program. [Financials] Comment!
• CVLT
  10:20 AM CommVault (CVLT +3.3%) rallies after Pac Crest starts coverage with an Outperform and $92 PT. The firm notes CommVault is gaining share (IDC’s figures back that up), and expects the high-end backup software vendor to benefit from a new product cycle – CommVault announced a new version of its flagship Simpana backup/archiving software platform in February. [Tech, On the Move] 1 Comment
• RL
  10:19 AM Ralph Lauren (RL) declares $0.40/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 0.90%. For shareholders of record June 28. Payable July 12. Ex-div date June 26. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!
• PMT
  10:15 AM PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust (PMT -1.1%) is downgraded to Sell at Ladenburg Thalmann. The move stands in contrast with Compass Point’s Buy recommendation from last week in which Kevin Barker argued the housing recovery should allow continued gains from PMT’s distressed loan portfolio and the stock trades at a meaningful discount to its mREIT peers. [Financials, On the Move] 2 Comments
• MTL
  10:13 AM Mechel (MTL +11.2%) leaps higher on news the company’s board authorized the buyback of up to $100M of ADRs representing Mechel’s common shares. [Commodities, On the Move] Comment!
• STLD
  10:11 AM Steel Dynamics (STLD) declares $0.11/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 2.94%. For shareholders of record June 30. Payable July 12. Ex-div date June 26. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!
• BOOM
  10:11 AM Dynamic Materials (BOOM) declares $0.04/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 0.96%. For shareholders of record June 28. Payable July 15. Ex-div date June 26. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!
• ENSG
  10:11 AM Ensign Group (ENSG) declares $0.065/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 0.72%. For shareholders of record June 30. Payable July 31. Ex-div date June 26. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!
• SIG
  10:11 AM Signet Jewelers (SIG) declares $0.15/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 0.87%. For shareholders of record Aug. 02. Payable Aug. 28. Ex-div date July 31. The board authorized to repurchase $350M of common stock. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!
• WHLR
  10:10 AM Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust (WHLR) declares $0.035/share monthly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 6.97%. For shareholders of record June 30. Payable July 31. Ex-div date June 26. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!
• GHDX
  10:10 AM Leerink Swann (Outperform) is “marginally more encouraged” on Genomic Health (GHDX -0.5%) after conversations with two urologists. As it turns out, both doctors “had already ordered” the company’s prostate cancer test even though they “had mixed views” on its utility. Apparently this is good news as analyst Dan Leonard now sees “upside to prostate test volume expectations.” [Healthcare] Comment!
• PKE
  10:05 AM Park Electrochemical (PKE) declares $0.10/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 1.65%. For shareholders of record July 05. Payable August 02. Ex-div date June 03. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!
• CHK
  10:02 AM Chesapeake Energy (CHK) on Monday named as chief compliance officer a lawyer it had previously hired to respond to an SEC investigation. Patrick Craine was hired to augment CHK’s regulatory and legal compliance efforts after last year handling the SEC’s inquiry into the controversial perk that granted former CEO Aubrey McClendon a share in each of CHK’s wells. [Energy] 1 Comment
• HPQ
  10:01 AM Todd Bradley, the well-respected head of H-P’s (HPQ +1%) PC/printer unit, is leaving that position to head H-P’s Chinese ops and work on expanding its global channel partner deals (his official title will be EVP, Strategic Growth Initiatives). Asia-Pac PC/printer chief and former Lenovo exec Dion Weisler will take over Bradley’s current job. The shakeup follows a quarter in which H-P’s PC sales fell 20% Y/Y, and more share was lost to Lenovo. Printer sales fell 1%, an improvement from recent quarters. Bradley’s name has occasionally come up when high-profile job openings at rivals are discussed. [Tech] 2 Comments
• 10:00 AM On the hour: Dow +0.32%. 10-yr -0.12%. Euro +0.15% vs. dollar. Crude +0.49% to $98.51. Gold -1.06% to $1368.45. 1 Comment
• BA, ERJ
  9:58 AM Boeing (BA) has signed an agreement to lead the sales of Embraer’s (ERJ) KC-390 military transport plane in the U.S., U.K. and in the Middle East. The deal comes a year after the companies signed a technical agreement and as Boeing attempts to win a lucrative contract to sell its F-18 fighter aircraft to Brazil, where Embraer is based. Boeing’s Chris Raymond said one deal had nothing to do with the other. Sure. (PR) 1 Comment
• PRXI
  9:58 AM Premier Exhibitions (PRXI +11.8%) races higher, boosted by the announcement of a buyback authorization and SA Pro’s nonpareil special situations aficionado Whopper Investments arguing the stock is trading well below a very conservative estimate of breakup value (article embargoed until tomorrow morning). [On the Move, Quick Ideas] Comment!
• CRL
  9:54 AM Goldman downgrades Charles River Labs (CRL -1.7%) to Sell from Neutral and lowers its price target to $38 from $44. Analyst Robert Jones cites (among other factors) “recent … channel checks [which] indicate still subdued early-stage spend and excess capacity as pharma prioritizes late-stage pipelines.” [Healthcare, On the Move] Comment!
• EDU
  9:53 AM New Oriental Education & Technology (EDU +0.9%) continues to be the subject of privatization chatter, according to the South China Morning Post. The company has been slowly recovering its footing after closing under-performing schools and riding out an attack from a short seller. [Consumer] 1 Comment
• YHOO
  9:48 AM Yahoo (YHOO +1.1%) is looking to buy address book app developer Xobni for $30M-$40M, and video creation app developer Qwiki for $50M, Kara Swisher reports. Xobni, reported to be on Yahoo’s shopping list earlier in June, is said to consider Yahoo “the most natural home for it, given its strong e-mail offerings.” Qwiki originally built a site and iPad app that automatically created multimedia “stories” for reference topics (a deal was reached with Yahoo partner Bing), but has since shifted its attention to an app for creating movies out of a user’s photos and videos. Regardless, its video automation tech likely intrigues a company that just bought Summly. [Tech, M&A] Comment!
• BHP
  9:48 AM BHP Billiton (BHP -1.2%) is revisiting plans to develop a coking coal deposit in Australia’s Queensland state, seeking environmental approvals to extend production at two mines and retaining the option of another underground mine to develop more of the Red Hill deposit. The move comes even as BHP downplays the strength of extra demand from China amid an expected glut of steel in Asia. [Energy] Comment!
• EFA, CCHBF.PK
  9:45 AM MSCI’s reclassification of Greece to emerging market is a yawner as far as ETFs go, writes Dennis Hudachek, as the country’s presence in the EFA is less than 0.10%. With Coca-Cola Hellenic (CCHBF.PK) no longer part of the MSCI Greek Index, the country’s addition to the EEM will be of minimal effect. [Global & FX] Comment!
• THD, EPHE
  9:44 AM A nasty bout of late-session selling sends Thai shares (THD -3.4%) plunging nearly 3%, bucking a generally positive regional trend. Philippine stocks (EPHE +2.3%) rise 2.83% in Manila while shares in Indonesia (IDX +1%) and Singapore (EWS +0.9%) post solid gains. [Global & FX] Comment!
• GSK, APNHF.PK
  9:43 AM More on GSK (GSK -0.3%) / Aspen (APNHF.PK) deal: Reuters speculates that GSK’s sale of its thrombosis drug brands Arixtra and Fraxiparine to Aspen could be worth £700M, or twice this year’s anticipated sales of around £350M. That would be down from £420M in 2013 and £510M in 2011. Around 1,000 GSK workers, mostly in France, would transfer to Aspen. News of the prospective sale prompted speculation that GSK may look to offload other older drugs. [Healthcare, M&A] Comment!
• SBGI
  9:42 AM Sinclair Broadcast Group (SBGI -0.2%) says it picked up the assets of Dielectric from SPX Corporation in order to help its infrastructure needs. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, although the purchase price was characterized as “immaterial and leverage neutral.” [Consumer] Comment!
• ACAD
  9:31 AM Acadia Pharmaceuticals (ACAD +0.4%) says data from a Phase III trial of pimavanserin suggest the treatment is well-tolerated and effective when administered long-term. (See also: JMP, SA contributor weigh in on ACAD) [Healthcare] 1 Comment
• 9:31 AM At the open: Dow +0.2% to 15211. S&P +0.13% to 1641. Nasdaq +0.21% to 3459. Treasurys: 30-year -0.23%. 10-yr -0.15%. 5-yr -0.1%. Commodities: Crude +0.39% to $98.41. Gold -0.73% to $1372.95. Currencies: Euro -0.06% vs. dollar. Yen +1.13%. Pound +0.91%. Comment!
• CYTK, AMGN
  9:29 AM Cytokinetics’ (CYTK) results from a Phase II trial of its of omecamtiv mecarbil treatment for heart failure have been accepted for presentation at a “Hot Line Late Breaking Trials Session” at the European Society of Cardiology Congress 2013, which is taking place from Aug. 31 until Sep. 4. Cytokinetics’ hasn’t revealed any results but shares are up 14.4%. Those of partner Amgen (AMGN) are a mere +0.7%. In other news, Cytokinetics is set to join the Russell Global Index on June 28. [Healthcare, On the Move] Comment!
• TSO, PARR.OB
  9:29 AM Tesoro (TSO) said late Monday it struck a deal to sell its Kapolei refinery and other assets in Hawaii to Par Petroleum (PARR.OB) for $300M-$350M. Par will pay TSO $75M, plus working capital of $225M-$275M, for the idled 94K bbl/day refinery; the deal includes the purchase of retail stores and associated logistics. [Energy] Comment!
• SFL
  9:27 AM Shares of Ship Finance (SFL) fall 5.9% premarket after the company announces an 8M share public offering of stock to be priced at prevailing market prices. Funds from the offering are slated to be used to invest in new shipping assets. [Consumer, On the Move] Comment!
• FIO
  9:26 AM Fusion-io (FIO) -1.6% as in spite of a bullish coverage launch from Needham, as investors continue mulling negative sell-side commentary and the resignations of founders David Flynn and Rick White from the company’s board (following their May resignations as CEO and CMO). RBC declares Flynn’s departure serves to “validate investor concerns, that the transition wasn’t as amicable as one would expect.” Needham argues investor sentiment is bottoming, says checks indicate FIO “remains in the pole position” in the hyperscale data center realm, and that product launches this year and next “should re-establish FIO as a technology innovator.” [Tech] Comment!
• CEMI
  9:20 AM Chembio Diagnostics (CEMI) jumps 3.4% premarket after saying its FDA-approved Clearview COMPLETE HIV 1/2 assay has received CE Mark approval in Europe. The product will be marketed in the EU under the name SURE CHECK, and CEMI says it expects sales as soon as Q1 2014. (PR) [Healthcare, On the Move] Comment!
• STLD
  9:19 AM Steel Dynamics (STLD) issues downside guidance for Q2, seeing EPS of $0.10-$0.14 vs. $0.24 consensus estimate, citing anticipated slower economic growth in China. Overall steel shipments are expected to rise slightly Q/Q, as decreases in merchant bar volume should be more than offset by increased sheet and other long product shipments. [Commodities] Comment!
• CWH
  9:18 AM In maybe more good news for CommonWealth REIT (CWH) shareholders, proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis – typically a supporter of managements – recommends clients vote to remove the entire board of the company. “(Management’s) interests are significantly misaligned with those of CW’s shareholders … and the external management structure provides for value transfers to the Manager irrespective of the losses realized by investors in the Trust.” [Financials] Comment!
• ADDYY.PK, NKE
  9:16 AM Adidas (ADDYY.PK) thinks sales of soccer-related products will rise to €2B ($2.7B) next year as the World Cup in Brazil drives demand. Nike (NKE) also is betting heavily on the global event – including a sponsorship of the popular national team from the host country. Sales of soccer apparel/gear is expected to be high enough in 2014 to also move the needle for Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS). [Consumer] Comment!
• 9:15 AM Market preview: U.S. stock futures and European shares are flat-to-higher after U.S. CPI comes in slightly below expectations and as the FOMC meets on the first day of a two-day policy meeting. The S&P Mini is flat. “Today should be quiet, as people are only asking about tomorrow,” says economic strategist Andrew Wilkinson. Sony is +4.25% after Dan Loeb ups the ante over a spin-off for the company’s entertainment division. Ongoing: Paris Air Show [Top Stories, On the Move, U.S. Economy, Global & FX] Comment!
• CYTK, CBMX
  9:12 AM Premarket gainers: CYTK +12%. CBMX +11%. CAMT +10%. Losers: SFL -6%. [On the Move] Comment!
• XLU, IDU
  9:11 AM BAML private clients bought the dip last week, with the flows going via ETFs into large-cap and dividend plays like Utilities (XLU, IDU) – which saw the greatest buying since November 2011. Another favorite of the dividend crowd, Telecoms (IYZ) saw the biggest inflows since February. After buying through the spring, hedge funds turned sellers last week, and are now net-sellers YTD – just like 2012. Comment!
• LNKD
  9:10 AM LinkedIn (LNKD) +1.4% after Pac Crest starts coverage with an Outperform and $215 PT. ITG Research raised its estimates for the company on Friday. [Tech] 1 Comment
• AMKAF.PK, AMKBY.OB
  9:09 AM Danish shipper A.P. Moller-Maersk (AMKAF.PK) says the world’s three biggest shipping container operators have entered an alliance to reduce fuel consumption and improve service and operations. The P3 alliance, which also includes MSC Mediterranean Shipping and CMA, will operate a capacity of 2.6M containers between Asia and Europe, across the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. [Energy, Global & FX] 2 Comments
• SBUX
  9:07 AM Starbucks (SBUX) will be the latest restaurant chain to post calorie information on menu boards across the country. The company continues to try to position itself as a healthy alternative to fast food fare with its new grab-and-go lunches and line of Evolution Fresh juices, but also has its share of calorie headaches if whips, milks, and sugary options are included in beverage calorie counts. [Consumer] 2 Comments
• XIDE
  9:06 AM Exide Technology (XIDE) jumps 17.65% after a judge ruled that the maker of lead-acid batteries can reopen a plant in California that was closed by the state’s Department of Toxic Substances Control. The permission to reopen is pending a hearing next month. The department had ordered Exide, which recently filed for Chapter 11, to suspend operations at the plant in April, saying the facility’s arsenic emissions posed “an unacceptable risk to public health.” [On the Move] Comment!
• 9:00 AM On the hour: S&P +0.04%. 10-yr -0.15%. Euro -0.10% vs. dollar. Crude +0.23% to $98.26. Gold -0.64% to $1374.25. Comment!
• CPB
  9:00 AM Campbell Soup’s (CPB) acquisition of Danish firm Kelsen Group is a move designed to boost the company’s presence in China and other global markets, according to food industry analysts. With its 20-year history of growing brands in China, Kelsen provides a convenient shortcut to the booming sweet biscuits market in the nation. [Consumer] Comment!
• WMB, WPZ
  8:58 AM Goldman Sachs removes Williams Cos. (WMB) from its Conviction Buy List and lowers its price target to $40 from $45, and cuts Williams Partners (WPZ) to Neutral from Buy with a $52 price target, down from $58. Goldman believes last week’s explosion at the Geismar chemical plant adds material risk to near-term growth of both WMB and WPZ, putting dividend growth targets at risk. WMB -1.9% premarket. [Energy, Quick Ideas, On the Move] Comment!
• EAC
  8:58 AM Erickson Air-Crane (EAC), still stinging from a sell-off last week triggered by SA contributor Richard Pearson’s ZM Funds questions, rises 5.5% premarket after announcing a contract extension worth some $24M. (PR) [On the Move] Comment!
• 8:55 AM Redbook Chain Store Sales: +2.9% Y/Y vs. +2.8% last week. [Consumer] Comment!
• ACG, UTX
  8:55 AM Paris Air Show: Pratt & Whitney is having a good week, with LATAM Airlines choosing the company’s geared turbofan engines to power 42 Airbus A320 aircraft in a deal worth $1.4B (PR). The booking adds to orders for 730 engines that P&W will receive for its geared turbo fan engine after it was picked for Embraer’s next-generation E-Jet. P&W has also received a booking to power 12 A320s from Aviation Capital Group (ACG) (PR). The United Tech (UTX) unit expects revenue to double to over $24B by 2020 from $12.2B in 2010. Comment!
• FXI, CAF
  8:54 AM “The biggest contrarian play in the market today is assets linked to China (FXI, CAF),” says Michael Hartnett, summarizing BAML’s latest Fund Manager Survey, which shows money flowing out of commodities (DBC) and emerging markets (EEM, DEM, VWO). Where’s the money going? The eurozone and the U.S. Where it’s not going is fixed-income (AGG, BND) – 50% of managers say they’re now underweight bonds as opposed to 38% last month. Comment!
• GIL
  8:54 AM Gildan Activewear (GIL) says it picked up all the assets of New Buffalo Shirt Factory for around $7M in a deal which it thinks will boost manufacturing abilities for the company’s brands. [Consumer] Comment!
• MEIP
  8:49 AM MEI Pharma (MEIP) announces the dosing of the first patients in a Phase II trial of the myelodysplastic syndrome treatment Pracinostat, the company’s lead candidate. CMO Robert Mass calls the initiation of Phase II clinicals “an important milestone.” (PR) [Healthcare] Comment!
• BHP, PNW
  8:49 AM BHP Billiton’s (BHP) plans to sell a coal mine in New Mexico to the Navajo Nation for ~$85M have been derailed by proposed reforms of the state’s electricity market. The Navajos had expected to close a deal with BHP by July 1, but it can’t go ahead until a separate deal is completed between two utilities for part of a power station that buys coal from the mine on Navajo land. [Commodities] Comment!
• CAMT
  8:42 AM Camtek (CAMT) lands near the top of the “premarket gainers” list, rising 10.5% before the bell after saying it has entered into a frame engagement for 10 semiconductor inspection systems. The first order is worth “in excess of $2M,” the company says. (PR) [On the Move, Tech] Comment!
• SODA
  8:42 AM Oppenheimer lifts its price target on SodaStream (SODA) to $85 following the company’s intriguing deal with Whirlpool to jointly develop a home carbonation system. SODA +1.5% premarket to $72.05. [Consumer] 1 Comment
• FANG, GPOR
  8:37 AM Diamondback Energy (FANG) launches a secondary offering of 5M common shares, with ~3.4M shares are being sold by Wexford Capital and 1.6M by Gulfport Energy (GPOR). FANG, which had 37.2M shares outstanding as of March 31, won’t get any proceeds from the offering. [Energy] Comment!
• 8:36 AM More on Housing Starts: Total starts were up 6.8% from April, up 28.6% from a year ago. Single family starts in were about flat M/M. Total building permits of 974K fell 3.1% M/M, and gained 20.8% Y/Y. Single family permits rise 1.3% M/M. (full report) [U.S. Economy] 4 Comments
• CBMX
  8:34 AM Two studies demonstrating the clinical utility of microarray testing over karyotyping continue to drive an increase in the volume of prenatal testing, CombiMatrix (CBMX) says. Shares are up 17% premarket. [Healthcare, On the Move] Comment!
• GSK, APNHF.PK
  8:33 AM GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has received an offer from South Africa’s Aspen Pharmacare (APNHF.PK) for its thrombosis drug brands Arixtra and Fraxiparine (excluding China, India and Pakistan), and the related manufacturing site. GSK said any sale would fit in with its strategy of focusing on growth products and the delivery of its pipeline. (PR) [Healthcare, M&A] Comment!
• THI
  8:31 AM Tim Hortons (THI) has attracted the attention of a second hedge fund with Scout Capital Management increasing its stake to 5.5% and tipping off it plans to raise some issues with management. Earlier this year, Highfields Capital pushed the Tim Hortons board to consider U.S. expansion. (13D) [Consumer] Comment!
• 8:30 AM May Housing Starts: 914K vs. 950K forecast, 856K previous (revised from 853K). [U.S. Economy, Breaking News, Top Stories] Comment!
• 8:30 AM May Consumer Price Index: +0.1%;vs. +0.2% expected, -0.4% prior. Core CPI +0.2%; in-line with expectations, +0.1% prior. [U.S. Economy, Top Stories] 4 Comments
• TSN, PPC
  8:24 AM A profit warning from Hormel is enough to scare off some investors across the sector. Premarket: Tyson Foods (TSN) -1.3%, Pilgrim’s Pride (PPC) -2.0%, Seaboard (SEB) inactive. [Consumer, On the Move] Comment!
• RDS.A, CVX
  8:24 AM First production from the Majnoon field being developed by a consortium led by Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) is expected in July with total output reaching 175K bbl/day by year’s end, according to the top energy advisor to Iraq’s Prime Minister. But not likely to please the government is news that Chevron (CVX) and Total (TOT) are expanding exploration rights in Kurdish territory (I, II). [Energy] Comment!
• HRL
  8:19 AM Hormel (HRL) lowers estimates for profitability this year, dropping its EPS outlook to $1.88-$1.96 from prior guidance of $1.93-$2.03. The company cites higher input costs and poor pork sales for the shortfall. HRL -9% premarket, working off much of the gains picked up from enthusiasm in the sector after Smithfields Foods was bought out. [Consumer, On the Move] 1 Comment
• BSX
  8:19 AM Patients with Parkinson’s disease showed a 60% mean improvement in motor function after six months in a trial of Boston Scientific’s (BSX) Vercise DBS (deep brain stimulation) System. The implant is designed to selectively stimulate targeted areas when inserted in the brain. The study involved 40 subjects. (PR) [Healthcare] Comment!
• BBY, CVS
  8:15 AM More on ICSC Retail Sales: The retail sector put in a mixed week with department stores, electronics store chains ([[RSH[[, BBY), and drug stores (CVS, WAG, RAD]]) strong for the period, but sales at dollar stores (DG, DLTR, FIVE, FDO) and wholesale clubs (COST, PSMT) notably weak. After last week’s drop in sales cut into forward progress, the year-over-year gain in retail chain store sales stands 2.5% higher after threatening a 3% pace earlier in the year. [U.S. Economy] Comment!
• DCO
  8:12 AM Ducommun (DCO) gets a multi-year contract from UTX’s Sikorsky for the production of electromechanical assemblies for Black Hawk helicopters which the company has supplied since 2005. The Black Hawk is DCO’s “single biggest defense platform in terms of annual revenue.” (PR) Comment!
• JW.A
  8:11 AM John Wiley & Sons (JW.A): FQ4 EPS of $0.71 misses by $0.09. Adj. Revenue of $446M beats by $5M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!
• DUK
  8:10 AM Duke Energy (DUK) names Lynn Good as its next president and CEO, succeeding Jim Rogers, who will continue to serve as chairman of the board until his Dec. 31 retirement. Good had served as DUK’s executive VP and CFO since 2009, and had held management positions at Cinergy, Deloitte & Touche and Arthur Andersen. [Energy] 2 Comments
• HAS, MAT
  8:06 AM Toys “R” Us reported sales fell 7.8% to $2.4B during its FQ1 as cold weather contributed to slow demand. Comparable store net sales dropped 8.4% in the U.S. and 6% in the international segment. The below-par performance from the toy seller doesn’t bode particularly well for Hasbro (HAS) and Mattel (MAT). [Consumer] 1 Comment
• ARCP, CWH
  8:05 AM Luxor Capital (about $5B in AUM) boosts its stake in American Realty Capital Properties (ARCP) to more than 17M shares (9.2% of the company) from about 4M previously. The stock is now Luxor’s 3rd largest individual holding. Other REITs owned by Luxor include: CommonWealth (CWH), Realty Income (O), Equity Residential (EQR), and AvalonBay (AVB). [Financials] Comment!
• SAFM
  8:03 AM KeyBanc is “incrementally positive on chicken,” but that doesn’t mean any price will do for shares of Sanderson Farms (SAFM) which are downgraded to Hold from Buy. In a valuation call, analyst Akshay Jagdale says protein companies have generally traded at a 12-14 multiple over the past seven years and at 13.8x estimates, SAFM’s valuation is “full.” [Consumer] Comment!
• 8:00 AM On the hour: S&P +0.1%. 10-yr -0.04%. Euro +0.06% vs. dollar. Crude -0.15% to $97.89. Gold -0.62% to $1374.55. Comment!
• 8:00 AM Three breakfast reads 1 How the Revival of Postwar Germany Began 2) Speculators Fight The Fed Once Again In The Bond Market: Can They Finally Win? 3) How Clearwire Became the Darling of Telecom [U.S. Economy, Global & FX, Consumer, Healthcare, Tech] Comment!
• BKI
  7:56 AM Georgia Pacific extends its tender off for share of Buckeye Technologies (BKI) to June 25. So far, 82% of shares have been tendered. [Consumer] Comment!
• ELN
  7:55 AM Royalty Pharma withdraws its request for a judicial review of a decision which required it to lapse its bid for Elan (ELN). Previously, the Irish Takeover Panel said the company could not modify the terms and conditions of its takeover bid after the fact. (previous) [Healthcare, M&A] Comment!
• AAPL
  7:54 AM The rumored iWatch will be more “hobby” than major product line for Apple (AAPL), says Jefferies’ Peter Misek. Likely not having a cellular chip, the iWatch would need to be paired with an iPhone for full functionality. Starting with some pricing assumptions and then slapping a 5% penetration on the installed iPhone base of 250M would move the EPS needle by only about 1%. [Tech] 9 Comments
• MTL
  7:52 AM Mechel (MTL) reports a Q1 net loss of $321M, with adjusted EBITDA of $210M and a 16% Y/Y decline in revenues to $2.48B, as the Russian miner says it was hurt by unfavorable price trends in global markets but expects changes to its asset structure and debt portfolio will enable it to survive an extended slowdown. MTL +1% premarket. [Commodities, Earnings] Comment!
• 7:52 AM Shares of Sony move up 3.6% premarket after Dan Loeb turns up the heat on his proposal to see the company spin off its entertainment business. What to watch: Sony holds its annual meeting on Thursday where execs will have to either publicly back a plan to keep the firm together or leave the door open just a crack that a spinoff is a possibility. [Consumer, Global & FX, On the Move] Comment!
• 7:47 AM ICSC Retail Store Sales: +0.3% W/W, vs. -2.7% last week. +2.5% Y/Y vs. +2.2% last week. [Consumer] Comment!
• 7:46 AM The FOMC will be able to chew on inflation data for May when it meets today, with the reading due out this morning. Economists expect that CPI rose 0.2% on month after sliding 0.4% in April, driven up by slightly higher food and gasoline costs. “Inflation is low in the U.S. at the moment, giving the Fed more room to wait for improvement in employment before it starts tapering,” say analysts at Danske Daily. [U.S. Economy, Top Stories] Comment!
• ARCP
  7:45 AM American Capital Realty Properties (ARCP) will be added to the Nasdaq Financial-100, the Russell Global, and Russell 3000 indexes, effective June 24 for Nasdaq and July 1 for Russell. The company also expects to be added to the Russell 2000 – the small-cap subset of the Russell 3000. (PR) [Financials] Comment!
• ANGO
  7:44 AM The FDA grants Investigational Device Exemption for a clinical study of focal ablation in prostate cancer with AngioDynamics’ (ANGO) NanoKnife. Patient enrollment is set to begin in FQ2 which ends on November 30 of this year. (PR) [Healthcare] Comment!
• SIG
  7:43 AM Signet Jewelers (SIG) approves a new buyback program which will allow the company to repurchase up to $350M worth of common stock on the open market. SIG +0.6% premarket. [Consumer] Comment!
• PTR, TOT
  7:40 AM China National Petroleum (PTR) and France’s Total (TOT) reportedly are set to finalize an agreement with Tethys Petroleum (TETHF.PK) to develop oil and gas assets in Tajikistan. “Based on the audited figure, there is enough gas in Tajikistan in our area to supply China’s natural gas demand in the next 25 years,” Tethys’ executive chairman says. [Energy] Comment!
• PBCT
  7:38 AM People’s United Financial (PBCT) is upgraded to Buy with price target of $15.50 (from $13.50) at JPMorgan, which calls the current price just south of $14 an attractive entry point. [Financials] 1 Comment
• HYGS
  7:35 AM Hydrogenics (HYGS) says it will install three of its HySTAT-60 electrolyzers at a fueling station in Bolzano, Italy as part of a new contract with The Linde Group. (PR) [Energy] Comment!
• UBS, HBC
  7:28 AM Hong Kong extends it Hibor-rigging investigation (previously limited to UBS) to include HSBC (HBC) and a number of other banks, according to the central bank. In other rate-rigging news, it’s bracelets for an ex-UBS trader as the U.K. launches criminal charges against him. [Financials, Global & FX] Comment!
• SKUL
  7:15 AM Skullcandy (SKUL) says it will it has started a search for a new CFO to replace the resigned Kyle Wescoat and shuffled other key execs. As part of its transition, the company will align certain product, marketing and sales functions. [Tech] 1 Comment
• 7:12 AM Putting to rest any doubt about whether Bernanke will seek a third term as FOMC chief, the President tells Charlie Rose the chairman has already stayed “a lot longer than he wanted or he was supposed to.” [U.S. Economy] Comment!
• GLD, IAU
  7:07 AM Gold (GLD, IAU) bulls may take comfort as Dennis Gartman jumps on the bearish bandwagon, calling the metal an “aging athlete” and “a broken commodity.” The man who loved “stuff that hurts when you drop it on your foot” 2 years ago says the price is headed to $1K if $1.2K support is broken. HSBC’s James Steel disagrees, seeing strong physical demand lifting the price to $1.6K in H2 and $2K in the longer term. [Commodities] 9 Comments
• JACK
  7:05 AM Jack In The Box (JACK) plans to close 67 Qdoba restaurants by the end of its current fiscal year after analyzing sales performance metrics. A charge of approximately $40M will be taken to cover costs associated with the closings. Expansion is still on tap for Qdboa, with the company saying 70 to 75 new outlets are scheduled to be opened this year and another 60 to 70 in 2014. [Consumer] Comment!
• FDS
  7:02 AM FactSet (FDS): FQ3 EPS of $1.15 misses by $0.11. Revenue of $214.6M (+6% Y/Y) misses by $0.34M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News, Tech] Comment!
• 7:00 AM On the hour: S&P +0.23%. 10-yr -0.09%. Euro +0.11% vs. dollar. Crude -0.23% to $97.81. Gold -0.51% to $1376.05. Comment!
• F
  6:57 AM Ford (F) plans to add buttons and knobs to its MyFord Touch infotainment system on more models. The automaker is reacting to some criticism over the digital touchscreen which was called too complicated by some drivers. [Consumer] 4 Comments
• CRZBF.PK, CRZBY.PK
  6:53 AM Commerzbank (CRZBF.PK, CRZBY.PK) will slash more than 5K jobs as part of its cost-cutting program, reports Reuters, which adds the bank has reached preliminary agreement with labor unions over the implementation of said cuts. Shares +1.2% in Frankfurt. [Financials] Comment!
• FNP
  6:51 AM Fifth & Pacific (FNP) says a court in New York ruled in its favor in a trademark case involving its Kate Spade brand. The decision will allow the Kate Spade Saturday brand name to survive in the market in its current form. [Consumer] Comment!
• RIO
  6:47 AM Rio Tinto’s (RIO) recently on-the-block 59% stake in Iron Ore Co. of Canada draws the interest of state-owned Chinese giant Minmetals. “We have invested in the neighborhood before,” President Wang Jionghui tells the WSJ. Active pursuit of a deal would depend on various factors such as partners, he adds. The stake likely has a value somewhere in the $4B range. [Commodities] Comment!
• NFLX
  6:46 AM Netflix (NFLX) announces the launch of Netflix Families in the U.K. as it increases its push to land new family-oriented viewers. The online interface will include a curated list of available family programming. [Consumer] 1 Comment
• TSLA
  6:41 AM North Carolina is the latest state to attempt to block Tesla Motors (TSLA) from selling electric vehicles directly to consumers. The state Senate has already approved a measure to ban Tesla from selling online in the state and the House could vote on it within weeks. [Consumer] 34 Comments
• SPY, QQQ
  6:40 AM Futures point to opening gains, the S&P 500 (SPY) and Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) both up 0.25% three hours before the bell. Most of Europe is moderately higher and Japan enjoyed a rare quiet session overnight. Treasury prices are flat ahead of the Fed beginning its 2-day meeting today. Comment!
• CHIX
  6:24 AM China’s determination to reign in the rapid growth of credit is being tested by a short-term credit squeeze at banks, with rates in the interbank funding market soaring and foreign-capital inflows slowing. The banks want the People’s Bank of China to inject liquidity by cutting the reserve-requirement ratio, but so far the PBOC is holding firm and maintaining the tight conditions. [Global & FX] Comment!
• 6:00 AM Overseas: Japan -0.2%. Hong Kong -0.02%. China +0.2%. India -0.5%. London +0.8%. Paris +0.1%. Frankfurt +0.02%. Comment!
• BA, UAL
  5:51 AM Paris Air Show: As widely expected, Boeing (BA) has officially launched the 787-10, a stretched version of the Dreamliner with up to 330 seats, and said it already has orders for 102 jets from five buyers (PR). One of these is United Airlines (UAL), which will be the launch customer in North America with a booking for 20 aircraft, including an upgrade on 10 existing 787 orders. Air Lease Corp. (AL) has booked 30 (PR). Meanwhile, Ryanair’s (RYAAY) shareholders have approved the carrier’s acquisition of 175 Boeing 737 aircraft in a deal worth $15.6B at list prices. [Top Stories] 1 Comment
• 5:29 AM The German ZEW survey of investor confidence rises to 38.5 in June from 36.4 in May and tops consensus of 38.1; however, the current situation print falls to 8.6 from 8.9 and misses forecasts of 9.5. Sentiment for the eurozone climbs to 30.6 from 27.6. “The financial experts stick to their assessment: the German economy is likely to pick up speed in the second half of 2013,” ZEW President Clemens Fuest said. “However, the results of the current survey indicate that the economy will improve rather slowly.” (PR) [Global & FX] Comment!
• 5:06 AM British Prime Minister David Cameron will lead talks on the exceptionally thorny topic of international tax reform at the G8 summit in Northern Ireland today. The discussion will focus on the key areas of transparency, tax havens and multinational tax avoidance. “We have made more progress in the last 24 hours than people have had in the past 24 years,” U.K. Finance Minister George Osborne said. [Global & FX, Top Stories, U.S. Economy] Comment!
• 4:55 AM The European Central Bank has numerous tools, whether they be “standard interest rate policy and non-standard measures,” that it can “deploy if circumstances warrant,” Mario Draghi says in a broad reiteration of commitments the ECB made last month. “We have been able to regain better control of monetary conditions in the euro area economy,” which is important for being able to boost the economy with the “appropriate monetary policy.” [Global & FX] 2 Comments
• SFD
  4:43 AM Smithfield Foods (SFD) intends to review a letter from activist investor Starboard, which reckons that the pork producer could earn more value by splitting up into three and then selling itself rather than going through with its $4.7B acquisition by Shuanghui. However, Smithfield reiterated its recommendation that shareholders vote for the Shuanghui deal, as it provides “significant, immediate and certain” cash value to shareholders. [M&A] Comment!
• 4:37 AM U.K. CPI +2.7% on year in May vs +2.4% in April and consensus of +2.6%. On month, CPI growth unchanged at 0.2% but above forecasts of +0.1%. (PR) PPI +0.8% on year vs +0.7% previously and consensus of +0.9%. On month, PPI -0.3% vs -2.3% and unchanged. (PR) [Global & FX, Top Stories, Breaking News] Comment!
• RTN, BA
  4:23 AM Paris Air Show: While defense companies are being hit by sequestration at home, they are enjoying increasing demand abroad for fighter jets, missile defense systems and other weapons. Air force sales doubled to $22B over the past two years, while the likes of Raytheon (RTN) are overbooked with meetings in Paris this week. Other vendors to benefit include Boeing (BA), United Tech (UTX), Lockheed Martin (LMT) and Textron (TXT). Comment!
• FEZ
  4:13 AM Asian and European (FEZ) shares are mixed as markets await the word from the FOMC, which is due to start a two-day session today. “I think the Fed is secretly sitting with its fingers crossed, hoping that the froth continues to be skimmed off asset markets,” says analyst Nick Beecroft. “I don’t think they will be bothered at all if the S&P 500 or other risk markets fall 5 or 10%, as long as it didn’t happen in a (single) day.” Japan -0.2%, Hong Kong flat, China +0.1%, India -0.2%. EU Stoxx 50 -0.2%, London +0.4%, Paris -0.2%, Frankfurt -0.1%, Madrid +0.4%, Milan +0.4%. [Global & FX, Top Stories, On the Move] 2 Comments
• BA, EJTTF.OB
  3:59 AM Paris Air Show: Boeing (BA) has lost out to Airbus (EADSF.PK) for a major order from easyjet (EJTTF.OB), which has agreed to purchase 135 A320 aircraft in a deal that would be worth $11.5B at list prices but in which the airline received a “very substantial” discount. easyjet has also taken an option for another 100 planes. (PR) [Consumer] Comment!
• MDT
  3:49 AM Medtronic’s (MDT) controversial Infuse bone-growth implant for spine surgery is no better than a traditional operation, two independent analyses have found, with the rates of complication similar regardless of the treatment used. Infuse generated $528M in sales in the last fiscal year. Medtronic, which commissioned the studies, had been hit by accusations that doctors who had originally supported Infuse had financial ties to the company worth millions of dollars. [Healthcare] 1 Comment
• C
  3:31 AM While the likes of Apple and Amazon go all out to keep their taxable income overseas, for the past few years Citigroup (C) has been trying to shift more of this type of profit back home. It’s not because the bank wants to pay more tax, it’s just that it has $55B of tax credits and deductions that it wants to use up. Hence the acquisition of $7B in credit-card loans to Best Buy customers. [Financials] 1 Comment
• FTE
  3:18 AM As expected, France Telecom’s (FTE) board yesterday kept Stephane Richard as CEO despite French authorities placing him under investigation for his role in the suspected misuse of public funds. Richard’s status was pretty much assured after the government said they would back him. The board said it doesn’t believe that Richard’s legal problems “impede his ability to fully and effectively” manage France Teleom. (PR) [Tech, Consumer] Comment!
• GM, FIATY.PK
  3:06 AM The EU new-car market showed no signs of bottoming out in May as registrations dropped 5.9% to 1.04M units, the lowest level for the month since 1993. The fall followed a 1.7% gain in April. In January-May, registrations slid 6.8% to 5.07M vehicles. GM (GM) was among those to suffer the most in May with an 11.3% decline. Toyota registrations dropped 4.9% but those of Ford fell just 0.3%. (PR) [Consumer, Global & FX] 1 Comment
• TLM
  2:55 AM Talisman Energy (TLM) has reportedly approached potential buyers, including private-equity firms, for its shale assets in the Eagle Ford basin in south Texas with a view to raising $2B. The speculation could come as a bit of a surprise, because while Talisman has said it is looking to offload non-core assets, its Eagle Ford interest is seen as core. [Energy, M&A] Comment!
• JCI, DLPH
  2:05 AM Johnson Controls (JCI) is reportedly in talks with P-E firms about selling them its automotive electronics unit, which is valued at $1B, after industry interest weakened due to the unit’s softer-than-expected performance. Delphi Automotive (DLPH) has pulled out the running, although Visteon (VC) and SAIC (SAI) subsidiary Huayu Automotive Systems are still involved. [M&A] Comment!
• SNE
  1:55 AM Sony (SNE) repeats that it will review Daniel Loeb’s proposal that the company float its entertainment business after Loeb’s Third Point hedge fund increased its stake in the electronics firm to 7% from 6.5%. In the past, Sony has said that its film and device units are better together – CEO Kazuo Hirai believes they have valuable synergies – and that it would consider Loeb’s spin-off idea. [Tech, Top Stories, Consumer] Comment!
• 1:45 AM Japanese industrial production grew 0.9% on month in April, as in March, but came in well below preliminary data of +1.7%. On year, output dropped 3.4% vs -6.7% a month earlier. The on-month change in April was due to the government altering the base year to 2010 from 2005, which affected the weightings of items in the index and the method used to account for seasonal factors. [Global & FX] Comment!
• ADBE
  12:10 AM Notable earnings after Tuesday’s close: ADBE [Earnings] Comment!
• FDS
  12:05 AM Notable earnings before Tuesday’s open: FDS [Earnings] Comment!
• 12:00 AM Tuesday’s economic calendar: FOMC meeting begins 7:45 ICSC Retail Store Sales 8:30 Consumer Price Index 8:30 Housing Starts 8:55 Redbook Chain Store Sales Comment!