DUK, PM

ABT, ABBV

DUK, SO

ABT, ABBV

12:26 PM WPX Energy (WPX +4.1%) shares post their third straight strong gain, rising 14% so far this week from news that hedge fund Taconic Capital took a position in the company and said it was engaged with management to boost shareholder value. [Energy, On the Move] Comment!

12:18 PM Morgan Stanley (MS) joins a big group raising money to invest in global infrastructure, reports Bloomberg, with plans to soon begin raising $4B for a fund. The new fund from MS Infrastructure Partners would be the same size as a 2008 fund, though the team there doesn’t bear a ton of resemblance to what it looked like back then. [Financials] Comment!

12:15 PM North American Energy (NOA +14.8%) is a turnaround story, Barron’s writes, cutting costs, slashing spending, selling assets and paying down debt since CEO Martin Ferron joined last June. FrontFour Capital predicts shares could rise to $78 based on an enterprise value of 3.5x forecast 2014 EBITDA. Worth noting: Ferron has amassed 775K shares, a sign of his commitment and NOA’s potential. [Energy, On the Move] 1 Comment

12:12 PM Sensata Technologies (ST -3.4%) falls after announcing a public offering of 12.5M shares by its principal shareholder Sensata Investment Company, which held 35.4% of the ordinary shares prior to the sale and 28.4% after. (PR, prospectus) [Tech, On the Move] Comment!

12:00 PM On the hour: Dow +0.7%. 10-yr -0.36%. Euro -0.3% vs. dollar. Crude -1.32% to $94.91. Gold -0.28% to $1373.75. Comment!

NSM, FIG

12:00 PM After more than tripling since its (unloved) IPO 14 months ago, Nationstar Mortgage (NSM) is the subject of a glowing writeup in Forbes – “A jewel in Fortress’ (FIG) portfolio.” Mortgage servicing is recognized as a great business now and Nationstar – along with Fortress-owned Newcastle (NCT, NRZ) – Ocwen (OCN) and Walter (WAC) are currently the favorites of the mortgage gorillas, Fannie and Freddie. [Financials] Comment!

11:59 AM Chinese greenhouse vegetable producer and marketer Le Gaga Holdings (GAGA +10.8%) flowers after receiving a proposal from a consortium of investors (which includes the chairman and CEO) to take the company private for $4.01/share in cash, a 20% premium to Tuesday’s close. (PR) [On the Move] 1 Comment

11:58 AM BP (BP +0.4%) has allocated $2.85B to develop Iraq’s Rumaila oilfield in 2013, up from $2.2B last year, with plans to drill new 300 oil wells over the next five years, according to the head of the joint management committee for the field. Boosting output from Iraq’s most prolific oilfield is vital for the country to realize its ambition of raising oil exports to 6M bbl/day by 2017. [Energy] Comment!

11:49 AM Noble Energy (NBL +0.7%) confirms it made a natural gas discovery at the Karish prospect offshore Israel, as its Karish-1 probe drilled to a total depth of 15,783 ft. had uncovered 184 ft. of net natural gas pay. NBL estimates 1.6T-2T cu. ft. of discovered gross resources. (earlier) [Energy] Comment!

LYG, RBS

11:41 AM Neither Lloyds (LYG +1.9%) not Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS +1.5%) will need to sell shares or accept more government aid as the U.K.’s banking regulator signs off on using future earnings and asset sales to fill capital holes. The banks “have advanced their plans to a position where disclosure is appropriate,” says the Prudential Regulation Authority. [Financials] Comment!

11:38 AM Fusion-io (FIO +0.4%) is the subject of renewed M&A speculation, as Bloomberg points to the record low in FIO’s price-sales ratio while prospects remain intact, with sales projected to more than double through 2015 as more data centers use FIO’s flash-memory technology. “Any large hardware provider who has storage solutions could find value in them,” an analyst says, particularly after the recent break in valuation. [Tech, M&A] Comment!

11:32 AM Archer Daniels Midland (ADM -0.7%) could see a benefit from the big jump in corn planting over the last week. The USDA says producers have been “rapidly advancing” their pace of corn planting after getting off to a slow start this season. [Consumer] Comment!

11:27 AM Emclaire Financial Corp (EMCF) declares $0.20/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 3.20%. For shareholders of record June 3. Payable June 21. Ex-div date May 30. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

UNXL, ATML

11:26 AM Unipixel (UNXL +2.4%) is reiterated a Buy by Cowen & Co.’s Rob Stone who calls Friday’s 26% plunge overdone. “It is logical for the PC OEM partner to delay a new product launch within months of an operating system update,” he writes. Addressing Atmel (ATML -0.1%), Stone says the “competitive landscape appears unchanged.” [Tech] Comment!

11:20 AM GlaxoSmithKline (GSK +1%) says it’s been awarded up to $200M by the U.S. government to develop new antibiotics. Under the terms of the agreement, GSK will collaborate with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to develop several antibiotics to fight antibiotic resistance and bio-terrorism. GSK will receive $40M for the initial 18-month agreement and up to a total of $200M if the agreement is renewed over five years. [Healthcare, On the Move, Global & FX] 1 Comment

NTDOY.PK, OSTK

11:18 AM Nintendo (NTDOY.PK) wins a patent infringement case filed against it by Copper Innovations Group over technology used in its Wii gaming console. The ruling adds to a growing trend of companies winning cases against somewhat broad claims of patent infringement in the tech industry. Overstock.com (OSTK +0.7%) on pesky patent damages pursuers: “Bullies need to have their noses bloodied once in a while.” [Consumer, Tech] Comment!

11:15 AM Rosetta Resources (ROSE -0.3%) is downgraded to Hold from Buy at Cowen, which thinks significant credit is priced in for vertical drilling potential in Permian assets. The firm’s long-term positive view on ROSE is based on focused Eagle Ford development drilling, strong cash flow growth and a conservative balance sheet. [Energy, Quick Ideas] Comment!

11:11 AM Flower Foods (FLO +3.5%) announces a three-for-two stock split to be payable on June 19 to shareholders of record on June 5. [Consumer] Comment!

11:09 AM Syneron Medical (ELOS +2.3%) moves up after reporting a slightly better Q1 on the top line. Total revenue decreased on a Y/Y basis however, largely due to lower PAD segment revenue in EMEA and Japan, which was partially offset by moderate revenue growth in all other geographies and growth in EBU segment revenue. The company also said its board of directors has appointed Amit Meridor as the company’s new president, reporting directly to CEO, Shimon Eckhouse. Existing board member David Schlachet has also been appointed as chairman. [Healthcare, Earnings, On the Move] Comment!

AIG, GOOG

11:07 AM AIG remains at the top Goldman’s list of hedge fund hotels (the 50 stocks appearing most frequently among hedge fund top 10 holdings). Google (GOOG) retains its #2 position. Apple (APPL) – in the top spot for 3 years until February – remains at #3. Goldman notes the basket has outperformed the S&P a bit this year and the top 20 has done better by more than 1000 basis points. We smell an ETF offering. The rest of the top 20: C, GM, PCLN, VMED, NWSA, MSFT, HTZ, JPM, APC, PFE, QCOM, CHTR, HES, CBS, EBAY, DAL, EQIX. 2 Comments

WMT, GPS

11:04 AM Wal-Mart (WMT -0.2%) finds a friend in Gap (GPS -0.3%) CEO Glenn Murphy who sided with the retail giant during a shareholder/analyst call when asked why the company didn’t sign a highly-publicized Bangladesh building safety accord. The exec notes the framework of the agreement is European-based and it needs some U.S. accommodations before Gap and other U.S. retailers can become comfortable with it. (transcript) Comment!

11:00 AM On the hour: Dow +0.38%. 10-yr -0.34%. Euro -0.22% vs. dollar. Crude -1.65% to $94.59. Gold -0.4% to $1372.05. [Dividends] Comment!

10:55 AM Suntech’s (STP -14.8%) local creditors claim the Chinese solar panel maker’s bankrupt Wuxi subsidiary owes them a combined 15.6B yuan ($2.5B), as a debt restructuring process expected to last months begins. The restructuring of STP’s domestic debts is being closely watched by its overseas creditors, whom analysts say are likely to take a haircut. [Energy, Tech, On the Move] Comment!

10:45 AM Oil pipelines are essential to Canada’s economic growth in the same way railroads were in the 1880s, Enbridge’s (ENB) Al Monaco tells Bloomberg’s Canada Economic Summit: “Canada is an export-driven resource economy. This is our foundation.” Pipelines should be “symbols of unity” like the cross-Canada railroad that enabled western grain farmers to get their wheat to market, a TD Bank exec adds. (also) [Energy] Comment!

10:44 AM Shares of Monster Beverage (MNST +3.3%) get a boost of energy from a BMO upgrade to Outperform. The firm doesn’t beat around the bush on Monster, saying “”incessant negative media coverage…has created a compelling entry point.” [Consumer, On the Move] 3 Comments

10:44 AM Monro Muffler (MNRO +2.8%), which is in the midst of an impressive two-day, post-earnings rally (now at ~11%), gets a lift from a price target hike to $63 from $45 at Stifel Nicolaus which came away from a management presentation impressed: “Comp is running +3% quarter-to-date and is expected in the +2.5-4.5% range for the full year (well ahead of our -1% expectations), GM will run flat to slightly negative in the year ahead (a little lower than our model), and SG&A leverage will run in the 100-150 bp Y/Y range (ahead of our model).” Stifel also ups its FY14 and FY15 EPS estimates on expectations of a “leverage pop.” [On the Move] Comment!

TLT, GLD

10:42 AM Bernanke: Stocks continue with solid gains as the chairman suggests the Fed may never sell the massive assets it’s accumulated, instead just letting them roll down. Most interesting are Treasury prices (TLT -1.1%) rolling over – the 10-year yield sunk to 1.89% as Bernanke’s soft comments hit the tape, but has reversed to now threaten 2%. Gold (GLD +0.6%) has given up much of its knee-jerk gains, and the dollar (UUP +0.3%) is having none of it, higher across the board, particularly vs. the aussie (FXA -1.1%), yen (FXY -1%), and loonie (FXC -0.6%). 3 Comments

10:40 AM Brinker International (EAT) will create a Canadian subsidiary as part of its plan to buy back Chili’s restaurants from franchisees. What to watch: With same-restaurant sales stagnant for Chili’s in the U.S. and competitive pressure fierce, the company may look to more select global markets for growth. [Consumer] Comment!

RIGL, DSNKY.PK

10:37 AM Rigel Pharmaceuticals (RIGL +0.4%) says it’s made clinical advancement in three programs currently in development. The first program is R348, a topical ophthalmic formulation of a JAK/SYK inhibitor being developed to treat dry eye disease. The company notes that the drug was well tolerated in Phase 1 trials, and it plans to initiate Phase 2 trials soon. The other two are oncology programs being conducted by corporate partners, including an AXL kinase inhibitor under development by BerGenBio AS and a ligase inhibitor by Daiichi Sankyo (DSNKY.PK). [Healthcare, Global & FX] Comment!

10:30 AM EIA Petroleum Inventories: Crude -0.3M barrels vs. consensus of -0.62M. Gasoline +3.0M barrels vs. consensus of -0.1M. Distillates -1.1M barrels vs. consensus of -0.3M. [Energy] Comment!

10:30 AM Cheviot Financial Corp (CHEV) declares $0.09/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 3.11%. For shareholders of record June 15. Payable June 30. Ex-div date June 12. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

10:28 AM BlackBerry (BBRY -0.4%) is downgraded to Underperform at Exane BNP, which says its profit pools are drying up. While news flow around the BB10 likely will remain the primary driver for the shares in the short-term, the firm says BBRY’s long-term profitability prospects hinge essentially on the longevity of its service revenues, which are “unsustainable.” [Tech, Quick Ideas] 19 Comments

10:26 AM NPS Pharmaceuticals (NPSP +9.1%) ramps higher after pricing its previously announced 6M share public offering at $14.53 per share, bang in-line with yesterday’s close. All of the shares are being sold by NPSP, with the gross proceeds totaling approximately $87.2M. [Healthcare, On the Move] Comment!

10:25 AM More from Bernanke: “Another cost, one that we take very seriously, is the possibility that very low interest rates, if maintained too long, could undermine financial stability … (however) a premature tightening of monetary policy could lead interest rates to rise temporarily but would also carry a substantial risk of slowing or ending the economic recovery.” Questioning is about to begin. S&P 500 +0.9%. [U.S. Economy] 2 Comments

10:22 AM Tesla Motors (TSLA +2.5%) could earn $188M this year by selling zero emission credits this year, according to Morgan Stanley. Though CEO Elon Musk says the company doesn’t rely on the credits when setting profit targets, the stockpiled credits are a nice little insurance policy that can be used in the future if large automakers start to fall short on emission standards in stricter states. [Consumer] 7 Comments

STP, JASO

10:19 AM Talks designed to ease the solar panel trade spat between China and the EU by agreeing on export prices have failed, Xinhua reports. Solar shares are broadly lower: STP -18.7%, JASO -3.4%, TSL -2.3%, YGE -2.5%, SPWR -2.5%, LDK -7.3%, JKS -4.1%, FSLR -2.5%. [Energy, Tech, On the Move] Comment!

10:18 AM Apple’s (AAPL +1.6%) bondholders have lost some $280.6M on paper (somewhat cleverly dubbed an “iLoss” by WSJ) since the debt was issued last month as speculation of QE tapering has sent 10-year Treasury yields climbing. Losses on the 10-year “iBond” sat at ~$137M through Tuesday as prices sunk to 97.377 cents on the dollar. The spread to Treasurys has also widened since issuance, Bloomberg says. [Tech] 9 Comments

NRZ, NCT

10:16 AM New Residential (NRZ) is initiated a Buy with $7.50 price target at Credit Suisse following its spinoff from Newcastle (NCT -1.4%). Earlier, Newcastle was downgraded to Hold at KBW. [Financials] Comment!

10:16 AM First Defiance Financial Corp (FDEF) declares $0.10/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 1.82%. For shareholders of record May 31. Payable June 7. Ex-div date May 29. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

TPX, XHB

10:15 AM Tempur-Pedic (TPX -4.4%) falls sharply on heavy volume without any news out from the company. Shares are at their lowest levels of two weeks with technical traders now sounding warning bells. One interesting note on TPX is that its weighting in the S&P Homebuilders Index (XHB) has been trimmed this year. [Consumer] Comment!

10:03 AM Bernanke Congressional Testimony: Premature tightening risks choking off the economic recovery, says Bernanke in prepared remarks, and the FOMC stands ready to increase or decrease QE as necessary. Watch live here. [Breaking News, Top Stories, U.S. Economy] 11 Comments

10:01 AM Apr. Existing Home Sales: 4.97M vs. consensus 5.00M, 4.94M previous (revised). [U.S. Economy] 1 Comment

10:00 AM On the hour: Dow +0.27%. 10-yr +0.02%. Euro +0.33% vs. dollar. Crude -0.98% to $95.24. Gold +0.61% to $1386.05. Comment!

NCT, NRZ

9:58 AM Newcastle Investment (NCT -2.5%) continues a bit of a post NRZ-spinoff tumble as KBW downgrades from Buy to Hold with price target of $5.50. The combined value of the two now stands at $12.44, roughly the level just ahead of the spinoff. [Financials] 3 Comments

9:56 AM Boeing (BA +0.2%) says it plans to return 80% of its free cash flow to shareholders via dividends and buybacks. Earlier this month both Sterne Agee and Soc Gen cited the company’s cash generation potential as a factor in price target hikes, with Soc Gen’s Zafar Khan noting that share repurchases and dividend increases should be well-supported in the medium term. (See also: NOC to reduce share count) 1 Comment

9:55 AM Shares of Lowe’s (LOW +2.4%) move higher despite a somewhat sluggish Q1 report in light of Home Depot’s stellar quarter. Investors seem to be betting that the late quarter strength and positive May momentum referenced by CEO Robert Niblock during the firm’s earnings call sets up nicely for Q2. (webcast) [Consumer, On the Move] Comment!

APO, FIG

9:51 AM Leon Black’s strategy of “selling everything not nailed down” while at the same time raising new investment funds seems to be working as Apollo Global (APO) is the best-performing (on a Y/Y basis) of the alternative-asset stocks. “Apollo has aggressively entered harvesting mode and you’re seeing shareholders reap the benefits,” says CS’s Howard Chen, who has a Buy rating. Also in the top 5 were FIG, BX, and KKR, while CG and BAM scraped the bottom. In between are relative newcomers OAK and OZM. [Financials] Comment!

9:48 AM Credit Suisse cuts Caesars Entertainment (CZR -1.5%) to a Neutral rating from Outperform on its view valuation is too pricey. SA author Eric Rodawig goes even further, thinking the case for going short CZR looks compelling with the company stuck in a no growth, low cash flow loop. Also, speculating on booming online gaming revenue looks a bit like a roulette bet. [Consumer, On the Move] Comment!

9:45 AM IBio (IBIO +23.7%) soars after saying its platform was used in the production of a vaccine candidate for the new avian flu. (PR) [Healthcare, On the Move] Comment!

9:43 AM CVR Partners (UAN -7.4%) prices its 12M-share secondary offering, from which it will receive no proceeds, at $25.15/share. Albert Alfonso thinks the offering may prove a buying opportunity, noting the offering is not dilutive for UAN and common units outstanding will remain unchanged; global demand for urea ammonium nitrate is strong as farmland per capita decreases. [Energy, On the Move] Comment!

9:40 AM A favorite of value investors, Symetra Financial (SYA) just repurchased about 5% of its float – buying 6.1M shares from an affiliate of Vestar Capital Partners (director Sandy Levy) at $13.43 each. The board boosted the 10M share buyback program by 6M to accommodate the purchase. Book value as of March 31 was $18.32/share. [Financials, Quick Ideas] Comment!

9:39 AM Interxion (INXN -3.5%) falls in early trading after getting hit with a downgrade to Neutral from Buy at Goldman (price target reiterated at $31). In a valuation call, analyst S.K. Prasad Borra says he still likes the stock, but notes the shares have run up 14.3% since their addition to the Buy list in late February. [Tech, On the Move] Comment!

9:38 AM Retail sales in Canada were flat in March to just miss analyst estimates calling for a minor gain, according to Statistics Canada. The biggest category bump was clothing and clothing accessories which rose 3.1% and which included some sales rung up by Target (TGT -3.3%). The retailer gave investors their first look at sales in Canada with its Q1 report, showing solid revenue but also high setup costs. [Consumer, On the Move] Comment!

9:33 AM At the open: Dow +0.1% to 15404. S&P +0.09% to 1671. Nasdaq +0.03% to 3504. Treasurys: 30-year +0.19%. 10-yr +0.08%. 5-yr +0.06%. Commodities: Crude -1.25% to $94.98. Gold +0.76% to $1388.05. Currencies: Euro +0.22% vs. dollar. Yen +0.49%. Pound +0.43%. Comment!

P, FB

9:31 AM Pandora (P +1.85%) announces a new Facebook (FB) Timeline app which lets users publish music activity automatically to their FB Timeline. P says listeners will have complete control over what they share with their friends and notes that the new offering “builds upon existing Pandora-based social features available on both mobile and the web.” (PR) [Tech, On the Move] Comment!

CLWR, S

9:28 AM Clearwire (CLWR) says it board of directors recommends shareholders approve the Sprint (S) offer to buy the company for $3.40 per share. A voting date is set for May 31. [Tech, M&A] 4 Comments

9:22 AM Allstate (ALL) makes some balance sheet moves, announcing a plan to retire $3B of outstanding senior and subordinated debt with a combination of preferred stock, subordinated “hybrid” debt, and cash. The repurchase of outstanding debt will be done at a premium, forcing a charge to earnings in Q2. (PR) [Financials] Comment!

9:22 AM Entergy’s (ETR) Palisades nuclear plant in Michigan reportedly is expected to remain offline until at least early summer after being closed following a water leak earlier this month. Palisades says it will replace the bottom of a water tank. [Energy] Comment!

9:22 AM Amazon (AMZN) introduces a new publishing platform that will let writers use characters from existing works of licensed fiction to publish new stories and make them available for purchase in the Kindle store. The author-AMZN split will be 35%-65% for works of 10K words or more. [Consumer] Comment!

9:18 AM All bets may not be off regarding iGate (IGTE) after the company dismissed CEO Phaneesh Murthy this week, but Oppenheimer’s are, at least in terms of predicting a price. Analyst Glenn Greene removes his $22 target and downgrades the shares to Perform from Outperform, saying “Mr. Murthy was instrumental in IGTE’s growth strategy and we suspect key customer relationships. He will not easily be replaced.” [Tech] Comment!

9:17 AM Apache Corporation (APA) declares $0.20/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 0.95%. For shareholders of record July 22. Payable August 22. Ex-div date July 18. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

ZLC, MBND

9:17 AM Premarket gainers: ZLC +30%. MBND +24%. CLNT +23%. SKS +18%. ONCY +10%. BIOF +9%. TOL +6%. NTAP +6%. YGE +5%. GALE +5%. Losers: STP -9%. NBG -7%. BALT -9%. UAN -6%. [On the Move] Comment!

9:16 AM Kohl’s (KSS) names Michelle Gass to the newly created position of chief customer officer to oversee areas including e-commerce and marketing. The exec comes from Starbucks where she was president of Starbucks Europe, Middle East and Africa. [Consumer] Comment!

GLD, IAU

9:16 AM Outflows from gold ETPs of 10.27 metric tons YTD have surpassed the combined inflows of the previous 2 years, according to Bloomberg. One portfolio manager notes the outflows about equal the amount mined, meaning new supply has doubled this year. “The market has a lot of metal to absorb.” GLD +1.3% premarket. [Commodities] 4 Comments

9:15 AM Market preview: Stock futures point to gains at the open, with equities poised for a 19th advance in the past 24 sessions. S&P +0.3%. Attention will be focused on Bernanke’s congressional testimony and Fed meeting minutes; investors will be looking for the sweet spot of continuing but slow economic progress that ensures no quick QE letup. Still ahead: existing home sales, EIA petroleum inventories. 1 Comment

9:12 AM The confusion over the impact of the Xbox One on GameStop (GME) has cleared up quite a bit to help shares reverse much of their post-MSFT announcement dip. In a nutshell, Xbox One owners can lend a game to a friend without them having to pay for it unless they want to install it on their own Xbox One. Though the new system blends online access with physical disc purchases, it’s not the death-to-the-second-hand-game announcement that some forecast. GME +0.2% premarket. [Consumer, Tech] 3 Comments

9:11 AM KMG Chemicals (KMG) declares $0.03/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 0.57%. For shareholders of record June 7. Payable June 21. Ex-div date June 5. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

FCX, JJC

9:06 AM Freeport Indonesia (FCX) remains uncertain when it will restart operations following last week’s mining accident, news that has helped push copper prices up 2% in global markets. FCX says it is losing production of ~220K metric tons/day of concentrated ore since the tunnel collapse that killed 28 people. [Commodities] Comment!

9:02 AM Carlyle Group (CG) takes advantage of the change in sentiment regarding Japan, planning to raise $2B for a Japan fund to succeed its previous fund started 7 years ago. The previous fund initially raised about the same amount, but was reduced due to a lack of deals. One thinks things may turn out differently this time. [Financials] Comment!

9:00 AM On the hour: S&P +0.24%. 10-yr +0.02%. Euro +0.22% vs. dollar. Crude -0.38% to $95.82. Gold +1.11% to $1392.85. Comment!

8:54 AM More on Zale’s (ZLC) FQ3: As in FQ2, the company reiterates its expectation of a profitable full year. Same-store sales rise 2.6% (constant currency basis and adjusting for February 29) while gross margin and operating margin expand 130 and 80 basis points respectively. YTD earnings are essentially double what they were after two quarters in 2012. The company realizes a $4M reduction in interest rate expense thanks to last year’s refinancing. Additionally, ZLC appoints Terry Burman chairman of the board. Shares +26.3% premarket. (PR) [Consumer, Earnings, On the Move] Comment!

8:48 AM Kazakhstan will decide by July whether to exercise its option to buy ConocoPhillips’ (COP) 8.4% stake in the huge Kashagan oil field, which has attracted interest from companies in China and India. The government has a right to buy the stake, which it could sell for ~$5B, as part of an international consortium developing the field, or to decide on a buyer. [Energy] 1 Comment

8:45 AM Center Bancorp (CNBC) declares $0.075/share quarterly dividend, 36.36% increase from prior dividend of $0.055. Forward yield 2.38%. For shareholders of record July 12. Payable August 1. Ex-div date July 10. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

8:44 AM Gap (GPS) CEO Glenn Murphy thinks the retailer can use its digital know-how to increase market share outside of North America without creating a giant retail footprint. With Gap’s share price running up to $41.67 per share to stretch valuation out a bit, more questions on Gap’s ability to grow sales and profits are being raised. Though not quite on the hotseat, Murphy’s international moves will be closely scrutinized. [Consumer] Comment!

THD, SHNZY.PK

8:37 AM Thai shares (THD) fall 0.74%, led lower by a 2.6% drop for Shin Corp. (SHNZY.PK) which, as it turns out, will not be added to the MSCI Thailand index (its free-float adjusted market cap isn’t high enough). Elsewhere, Philippine equities (EPHE) rise 0.78%, bringing their two day gain to 1.5%. [Global & FX] Comment!

8:37 AM IXYS Corporation (IXYS) declares $0.03/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 1.03%. For shareholders of record June 7. Payable June 28. Ex-div date June 5. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

CLNT, SNP

8:36 AM Cleantech Solutions (CLNT) +22.2% premarket on news it has become a certified supplier of components to Sinopec (SNP) and China National Petroleum (PTR). As a certified supplier, CLNT is able to market its components to the subsidiary companies of Sinopec and CNPC throughout China, CEO Jianhua Wu says. [Energy, On the Move] Comment!

8:24 AM Retail legal rumblings: An appeals court in California rules that Kohl’s (KSS) can be sued over what consumers perceive is false advertising. The court said California consumer law will allow lawsuits in cases where a customer would not have made a purchase except for the false bargain. The ruling could set up an avalanche of similar lawsuits in California against retail chains. [Consumer] 4 Comments

8:24 AM Kindred Healthcare (KND) +2.25% premarket after getting an upgrade to Positive from Neutral at Susquehanna. The shares are up ~20% so far this month after the company beat earnings on May 1. [Healthcare, On the Move] Comment!

8:23 AM More on the Multiband (MBND) acquisition at $3.25/share: Congrats to SA Pro’s Inefficient Market who – less than 24 hours ago and at a price of about $2.30 – told readers he was buying the stock “hand over fist.” “In my opinion, Multiband’s MDU unit alone is worth more than the entire company’s current enterprise value of $82M.” [M&A, Quick Ideas] Comment!

8:21 AM Chesapeake Energy (CHK) +1.7% premarket as Susquehanna upgrades the stock to Positive from Neutral, believing CHK should get a boost from both higher oil and gas prices and its new CEO. The firm boosts its valuations for CHK’s oil and gas reserves, saying investors have become more comfortable with higher prices; asset sales so far have been of “mixed quality.” [Energy, Quick Ideas, On the Move] Comment!

8:21 AM Best Buy (BBY) declares $0.17/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 2.65%. For shareholders of record June 11. Payable July 2. Ex-div date June 7. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

PFE, ZTS

8:18 AM Pfizer (PFE) plans to spin off its remaining stake in Zoetis (ZTS) through a tax-free exchange offer in which Pfizer owners can exchange their Pfizer shares for stock in Zoetis owned by Pfizer (got that?). Pfizer has received a waiver of the 180-day lock-up from the book runners of the Zoetis IPO. PFE +2.1%, ZTS -1.2% premarket. (PR) [Healthcare, Breaking News, On the Move] 6 Comments

8:15 AM Goodman Networks plans to acquire Multiband (MBND) for $3.25 per share in a deal valued at $116M. Multiband’s board of directors say they evaluated several options for the company before agreeing to the offer. Under the terms of the arrangement, Multiband can keep soliciting bids from other parties for 45 days. [Tech, M&A] Comment!

8:13 AM Dycom Industries (DY) looks set to be one of today’s big winners after its FQ3 earnings and sales beat expectations Tuesday evening. Contract revenues rose 47.7% Y/Y during the quarter although net income was down from the year ago period. The company guided ahead of the Street’s estimates for FQ4 saying it sees EPS of $0.40-0.47 on revenue of $455-475M against consensus of $0.38/share on sales of $441M. Shares +22.5% premarket. (PR) [On the Move, Tech] Comment!

8:13 AM AAON (AAON) declares semi-annual dividend of $0.10/share, 25% increase from prior dividend of $0.08 (post-split). For shareholders of record June 13. Payable July 02. Ex-div date June 11. The board approved three for two split to shareholders on record of June 13. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

8:10 AM More on American Eagle (AEO): Comparable-store sales fell 5% as they ran up against a tough comparable from last year when warmer weather lines were introduced earlier. Profit was helped by favorable products costs and sourcing efficiencies, but the retailer noted a higher rate of markdowns during the period. For Q2, flat comparable-store sales and EPS of $0.19-$0.21 are forecast. AEO -1.5% premarket. (PR) [Consumer, Earnings] Comment!

RDS.A, RDS.B

8:09 AM Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B) is unlikely to proceed with the planned sale of its holding in Australia’s Woodside Petroleum this year as it refuses to sell too low, CFO Simon Henry says. Shell is Woodside’s largest shareholder, with a 23% stake; it sold a 10% stake in 2010 at A$42.23/share, but Woodside stock closed yesterday at A$37.66. [Energy] Comment!

8:08 AM Apple (AAPL) gains 1.1% premarket as Morgan Stanley’s Katy Huberty says iPhone sales are tracking at about 31M units in the June quarter, well ahead of her team’s expectation of 26M and Street consensus of 27M. [Tech, On the Move] 4 Comments

8:05 AM MakeMyTrip (MMYT): Q1 EPS of -$0.17 misses by $0.11. Revenue of $55.2M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!

8:04 AM JPMorgan downgrades SodaStream (SODA) to Neutral from Overweight due to its stretched valuation. SODA -2.2% premarket. [Consumer] 4 Comments

8:03 AM American Eagle (AEO): Q1 EPS of $0.18 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $679M (-4% Y/Y) beats by $0.59M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!

8:01 AM On the hour: S&P +0.18%. 10-yr +0.02%. Euro +0.2% vs. dollar. Crude -0.11% to $96.08. Gold +1.19% to $1393.95. Comment!

8:00 AM Results from two pivotal Phase 3 trials of Budesonide foam (for the treatment of moderate ulcerative proctitis or ulcerative proctosigmoiditis) show that a statistically significant proportion of those treated achieved clinical remission, Salix Pharmaceuticals (SLXP) says. (PR) [Healthcare] Comment!

7:58 AM Shares of Multiband (MBND) are halted with news pending. [Tech] Comment!

7:57 AM CREE +3.5% premarket after an upgrade to Buy with $72 price target at Sterne Agee, the analysts saying their previous estimate cuts were too aggressive. “We overestimated the potential impact from Phillips flexing its muscles at lighting agents.” Earlier, Digitimes estimated global LED lighting shipments to increase to 220M units in 2013 to account for 5.5% of the entire lighting market. [Tech, On the Move] Comment!

7:55 AM More on Target’s (TGT) Q1: After guiding for flat comparable store sales just a little while ago, the 0.6% dip looks troubling to retail analysts. The number of transactions processed fell 1.9% during Q1, but the average transaction amount rose 1.3%. REDcard penetration rose impressively to 17.1% from 11.6% a year ago. Total store count +6 M/M and +20 Y/Y (not including Canada). TGT -2.0% premarket. (PR) [Consumer, Earnings] Comment!

7:54 AM A Chevron (CVX) executive working in Indonesia is re-arrested as part of a probe into alleged corruption, despite a court order six months ago clearing him of any wrongdoing. The case adds to mounting concern among multinational companies over rising economic nationalism in Indonesia. [Energy] Comment!

7:52 AM Syneron Medical (ELOS): Q1 EPS of $0.02 in-line. Revenue of $61.2M beats by $0.01M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News, Healthcare] Comment!

7:51 AM Diana Shipping (DSX): Q1 EPS of -$0.04 misses by $0.03. Revenue of $43.0M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!

7:49 AM Rediff.com (REDF): FQ4 EPS of -$0.084. Revenue of $4.18M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News, Tech] Comment!

7:45 AM More on Target’s (TGT) Q1: The retailer cites soft sales in apparel and other seasonal and weather-sensitive categories as part of the reason for the mild Y/Y gain and slight top-line miss. Comparable-store sales in U.S. stores were off 0.6% during the period. Canada generated sales of $86M with a gross margin rate of 38.4%, though start-up expenses kept the launch of the 24 stores in the nation from adding to profitability. For full-year 2013, EPS of $4.70-$4.90 is forecast – lower than Target’s prior guidance of $4.85-$5.05. (PR) [Consumer, Earnings] Comment!

7:42 AM FRBNY Bill Dudley says it will be 3-4 months before the Fed will have a sense of how the economy is responding to fiscal drag and can decide whether to reduce (or expand?) asset purchases. Speaking to Bloomberg, Dudley says the FOMC has yet to get to a point of agreeing on a strategy for cutting back QE. Three-four months? … Should make Bernanke’s Jackson Hole speech an interesting one. [U.S. Economy] 8 Comments

7:36 AM Retail analysts aren’t gushing over Staples’ (SPLS) Q1 report. Despite selling margin down 60 bps to 26%, store traffic and comparable store sales still fell, notes Rahul Sharma. The lackluster 3% gain in online sales for the retailer during the quarter is what catches the eye of Brian Sozzi. [Consumer] Comment!

7:35 AM The Swiss franc tumbles to its lowest level in 2 years after SNB chief Thomas Jordan says a raising of the 1.20 euro/franc floor and/or negative interset rates are among the steps the bank could take. The swissie (FXF) is off 0.4% vs. the greenback, but more importantly down 0.7% vs. the euro to CHF 1.2606 – the 1.20 floor seemingly miles away. No crisis here. [Global & FX] Comment!

7:32 AM Zale (ZLC): FQ3 EPS of $0.13 beats by $0.14. Revenue of $442.7M misses by $1.13M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!

7:31 AM Target (TGT): Q1 EPS of $1.05 beats by $0.13. Revenue of $16.7B (+1% Y/Y) misses by $0.12B. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] 3 Comments

7:28 AM REX American Resources (REX): Q1 EPS of $0.40 beats by $0.36. Revenue of $178.7M misses by $2.79M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News, Consumer] Comment!

7:28 AM Sony (SNE) could have a well-needed opening in the TV market after rivals Samsung and LGE Electronics spent billions of dollars on OLED display technology which is behind schedule and will come to the market priced extremely high. With the turmoil, Sony could capture more LCD market share and create a sweet niche with its 4K TVs which will be priced between LCDs and OLEDs. [Consumer, Global & FX, Tech] Comment!

7:27 AM BNY Mellon (BK) is on a revenue push, planning to increase its Wealth Management sales force by 50% over the next 3 years. Along with that will be hires in private and mortgage banking, portfolio management, wealth strategists, and additional sales support staff. The moves comes as near-invisible interest rates have squashed growth in BNY’s other businesses (revenue fell 1% in Q1). (PR) [Financials] Comment!

7:24 AM Oncolytics Biotech (ONCY) says a Phase 2 trial testing an intravenous Reolysin/ carboplatin and paclitaxel combo against metastatic malignant melanoma met its primary endpoint of demonstrating a PR or better in three or more patients. Shares +14% premarket. (PR) [Healthcare, On the Move] Comment!

FXB, EWU

7:19 AM The IMF calls for more forceful action on monetary policy in its latest report on the U.K. The agency is likely to get its wish with the only thing seemingly holding back the BOE from easier policy being a wait for a new sheriff to arrive (Mark Carney in July). On fiscal policy, the IMF says take it easy on austerity, suggesting a corporate tax cut paid for by broadening the VAT tax base. Excuse me? Already lower on the session, cable (FXB) snores through the report. The FTSE (EWU) is flat, continuing at a 12-year high. [Global & FX, Breaking News] Comment!

7:17 AM Ford (F) says close to 75% of its plants in North America are operating on more than two shifts a day as the automaker ramps up production. The extra shifts could account for as many as an extra 240K vehicles this year. (Previous: Ford cut backs summer shutdown) [Consumer] Comment!

7:13 AM Saks (SKS) could draw bids from sovereign-wealth funds in the Middle East and Asia along with P-E interest, according to The New York Post. Analysts think a deal price could fall in the $18 to $20 range to give the 41-store chain a valuation of over $2.6B and give 17% stakeholder Carlos Slim a tidy profit on his investment. SKS +17.7% premarket to $16.08. [Consumer, On the Move] Comment!

7:08 AM S.Y. Bancorp (SYBT) declares $0.20/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 3.30%. For shareholders of record June 10. Payable July 1. Ex-div date June 6. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

7:05 AM More on Toll Brothers (TOL) FQ2 earnings: Home deliveries up 33% in units, up 38% in dollars Y/Y. Average price of $577K, up from $557K a year ago. Average price of signed contracts of $678K, up from $585K a year ago. Backlogs up 52% in units (to 3,655) and 69% in dollars. Gross margin of 23.3% vs. 23.2% a year ago. “One year ago we were somewhat reluctant to raise home prices … now we are finding … a sense of urgency takes hold and demand continues to rise.” Shares -0.6% premarket. CC at 2 ET. (PR) [Earnings] Comment!

7:05 AM Lions Gate (LGF) says it set a sales record at the Cannes Film Festival, earning more than $250M from its 9 titles to top last year’s mark by over 50%. The company notes its strong performance was boosted by its increased ability to self-distribute in key regions. [Consumer] Comment!

7:03 AM MBA Mortgage Applications: -9.8% vs. -7.3% last week. [U.S. Economy] 1 Comment

7:02 AM Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH): FQ4 EPS of $0.40 beats by $0.03. Revenue of $1.55B (+0.3% Y/Y) beats by $0.04B. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!

7:00 AM On the hour: S&P +0.13%. 10-yr +0.02%. Euro +0.2% vs. dollar. Crude -0.6% to $95.61. Gold +0.58% to $1385.55. Comment!

6:59 AM More on Staples’ (SPLS) Q1: Sales fell off amid widespread store closings with comparable store sales down 2% Y/Y. The retailer saw more weakness in computer and tech categories which was only partially offset by growth in tablet sales. Staples.com sales were up 3%. The company generated $348M of operating cash flow during the quarter. Full-year EPS forecast to be $1.30-$1.35. (PR) [Consumer, Earnings] Comment!

6:58 AM The U.S. Patent Office publishes a Notice of Allowance for Amarin’s (AMRN) application “intended to protect the [combination of] Vascepa and statin therapy.” (PR) [Healthcare] 1 Comment

6:58 AM LTX-Credence (LTXC): FQ3 EPS of -$0.08 misses by $0.02. Revenue of $36.25M misses by $1.94M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News, Tech] Comment!

SPY, QQQ

6:52 AM Stock index futures (SPY, QQQ, DIA) are slightly in the green ahead of Bernanke’s 10 ET appearance before Congress. Europe is moderately lower and Asia was mostly lower – the exception of course being Japan where the BOJ now promises to stomp down any restiveness in JGBs where yields are doing something they haven’t done in years … rise. 3 Comments

F, GM

6:48 AM The Big Three (F, GM, FIATY.PK) automakers will cut back on summer shutdowns at factories with production goals being setting higher. GM won’t shut down its factories at all while Ford and Chrysler will trim their shutdown schedule. At the moment, Japanese automakers (HMC, TM, NSANY.OB) still have a week scheduled for a summer plant shutdown. [Consumer] 2 Comments

6:41 AM Samsung (SSNLF.PK) says it will take a 10% stake in Pantech to join Qualcomm and Korea Development Bank as part owners of the handset maker. Looking forward, analysts think Samsung will make more acquisitions with it sitting cash heavy and looking for growth outside of organic channels. [Tech, Global & FX] Comment!

6:40 AM The Xcel Energy (XEL) declares $0.28/share quarterly dividend, 3.7% increase from prior dividend of $0.27. Forward yield 3.70%. For shareholders of record June 20. Payable July 20. Ex-div date July 18. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

6:32 AM Citi Trends (CTRN): Q1 EPS of $0.42 misses by $0.15. Revenue of $181.8M (-8% Y/Y) misses by $4.83M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!

6:31 AM Flushing Financial Corporation (FFIC) declares $0.13/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 3.33%. For shareholders of record June 7. Payable June 28. Ex-div date June 5. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

6:26 AM Molson Coors Brewing Company (TAP) declares $0.32/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 2.43%. For shareholders of record May 31. Payable June 17. Ex-div date May 29. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

LOW, HD

6:25 AM More on Lowe’s (LOW): Unlike competitor Home Depot (HD), the company misses on the top and bottom line as sales fall 0.5% Y/Y and comps decrease 0.7%. Exterior categories were impacted by cool temperatures and “greater precipitation” which “delayed [the] spring selling season.” March’s performance was “particularly soft.” FY13 outlook: sales growth of ~4%, comps growth of ~3.5%, EPS of $2.05 against consensus of $2.08. Shares -4% premarket. (PR) [Consumer, Earnings] 3 Comments

6:05 AM Transcat (TRNS): FQ4 EPS of $0.24 beats by $0.10. Revenue of $31.1M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!

6:02 AM Staples (SPLS): Q1 EPS of $0.26 misses by $0.01. Revenue of $5.8B (-3% Y/Y) misses by $0.11B. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!

6:01 AM Lowe’s (LOW): Q1 EPS of $0.49 misses by $0.02. Revenue of $13.1B (-0.5% Y/Y) misses by $0.35B. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] 3 Comments

6:00 AM Overseas: Japan +1.6%. Hong Kong -0.45%. China -0.12%. India -0.19%. London -0.24%. Paris -0.48%. Frankfurt -0.35%. Comment!

5:59 AM Since February, BP has stepped-up challenges to compensation awards stemming from the 2010 Gulf oil spill. The company now objects to 9.3% of awards administered by Patrick Juneau who oversees settlement claims, that’s up from just 4% earlier in the year. The company’s lawyers are challenging the way Juneau calculates losses, although they have so far been unsuccessful. If an appeal of a District Court decision upholding Juneau’s interpretation is denied, BP says it will be “irreparably harmed.” [Energy] 4 Comments

5:55 AM Toll Brothers (TOL): FQ2 EPS of $0.14 beats by $0.06. Revenue of $516M beats by $4.94M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!

5:42 AM CEO Kazuo Hirai says Sony’s (SNE) board is considering a proposal by Third Point’s Dan Loeb to spinoff the company’s entertainment group. Shares of SNE rose sharply in U.S. trading Tuesday after reports surfaced that the company is debating the merits of Loeb’s plan. Hirai didn’t say whether he supported the idea himself, but noted that the company intends to ” build positive relations with its major investors,” FT says. Comment!

5:17 AM Citi upgrades Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) to Buy from Neutral and raises its price target to $55 from $33 saying the company’s “very broad checkpoint agent [is] positioned to capture a very significant share of an emergent $24 billion checkpoint agent market.” Citi also hikes its FY17 EPS forecast by 31%. [Healthcare] 1 Comment

FXB, GBB

5:04 AM Minutes from the Bank of England’s latest policy meeting show the committee’s vote to keep rates unchanged was unanimous while three out of nine members (including Mervyn King) voted to increase the size of the central bank’s asset purchases by £25B. Sterling (FXB) moves 0.44% lower against the greenback to 1.5094. Comment!

JGBL, JGBD

4:55 AM More from the BOJ: Governor Kuroda elected to steer largely clear of what many view as a no-win situation Wednesday when he didn’t use this week’s policy meeting statement to jawbone government bonds (JGBL) higher. Surging yields have underscored concerns that the BOJ’s purchases could suck liquidity from the bond market, stoking volatility, but rising yields can also be interpreted as a sign investors expect the BOJ will be successful at reflating the Japanese economy. However, acknowledging this is somewhat counterintuitive as “the whole aim of QE is to keep bond yields down,” one economist tells CNBC, adding that the BOJ is “damned if they do, damned if they don’t.” Yields on JGB 10s moved higher to 0.89% after the statement. [Global & FX] Comment!

DRYS, EGHT

12:10 AM Notable earnings after Wednesday’s close: DRYS, EGHT, GAME, HPQ , LTD, PETM, PSUN, SNPS, VVTV, WDAY [Earnings] 3 Comments

AEO, BAH

12:05 AM Notable earnings before Wednesday’s open: AEO, BAH, DSX, ELOS, EV, LOW, SPLS, TGT, TOL, ZLC [Earnings] Comment!

12:00 AM Wednesday’s economic calendar: 7:00 MBA Mortgage Applications 10:00 Existing Home Sales 10:00 Bernanke testifies on Economic Outlook 10:30 EIA Petroleum Inventories 2:00 PM FOMC minutes Comment!

10:24 PM Don’t say Goldman didn’t warn you (I, II). Corn (CORN) prices fell Tuesday to multi-week lows after the Department of Agriculture reported a 43 percentage point increase from last week to this week in the amount of the corn crop planted, bringing the total to 71% compared to just 28% a week ago. [Commodities] Comment!

10:09 PM Shares of Sony (SNE) post double-digit gains in Tokyo after putting in a similarly impressive performance in U.S. trading, as rumors abound regarding a potential spinoff of the company’s entertainment business. Broadly, Japanese stocks rally, as the Nikkei jumps 1% to 15,548 ahead of the conclusion of the BOJ’s policy meeting. [Global & FX] 1 Comment

8:28 PM After five days of deliberation, the Senate Judiciary Committee puts its final stamp of approval on the immigration reform bill, setting up a debate on the Senate floor for early June. Three Republicans and ten Democrats voted to support the bill, which would create a pathway to citizenship for nearly 11M undocumented immigrants, invest billions in new border security measures and overhaul the legal immigration system. [U.S. Economy] 12 Comments

7:40 PM Baltic Trading (BALT) announces a public offering of common stock. Size and terms weren’t disclosed. The company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for future vessel acquisitions or, to the extent it does not so use them, for working capital and general corporate purposes. Shares +1.8% AH. [Global & FX, On the Move] 1 Comment

AMZN, GOOG

7:39 PM Amazon’s (AMZN) ad ambitions pose a threat to Google (GOOG), thinks ReadWrite’s Derek Brown. In addition to Amazon’s vision/ambition, obsession with customer satisfaction, and willingness to forgo near-term profits, the e-commerce giant’s mountains of consumer purchase data stand to give it an edge as it pushes ads on its sites, on Kindles, and through a targeted display ad network. Moreover, Amazon could provide customers/partners with “relevant online transaction activity that might follow [its ads], effectively offering a closed loop marketing environment unlike any other.” Of course, Google isn’t standing still either. [Tech, Consumer] Comment!

7:38 PM Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals (CYCC) closes its previously announced underwritten offering totaling 6,833,334 shares at $3 per share for gross proceeds of approximately $20.5M. Shares +1% AH. [Healthcare] Comment!

7:26 PM “We commend the positive steps taken by NetApp (NTAP) today” says Elliott Associates portfolio manager Jesse Cohn in response to news the enterprise storage giant has more than doubled its buyback authorization to $3B (with plans to buy aggressively), initiated a $0.15/share dividend (with plans to increase it), and is planning to cut ~900 jobs. Cohn adds Elliott, an activist investor, owns ~16M NetApp shares (good for a 4.3% stake), and looks forward to “the company’s continued commitment to creating shareholder value.” Shares +2.7% AH. (previous) [Tech] 1 Comment

VMW, EMC

7:07 PM VMware (VMW, EMC) officially launches its vCloud Hybrid Service, which allows clients to pair on-premise workloads with a VMware-run public cloud infrastructure. VMware claims the service supports more than 90 OS’, has high-availability options, and allows public and on-premise workloads to be jointly managed. VMware also says it will offer SAP software, including Hana, “as a subscription service on premise and in the cloud.” vCloud Hybrid competes with Amazon Web Services, Microsoft’s Azure (perhaps the most direct rival), and Rackspace’s OpenStack offerings. ITWorld calls it “ideal for a significant set of enterprise applications,” but adds it’s “no Amazon killer,” given AWS’ focus on low cost and ease-of-use. [Tech] 3 Comments

6:55 PM Why do so many investors believe in a summer rally? On average, in the 116 years since the Dow was created, the Dow gained 5.29% from the end of May through its highest close over the next three months. Before you get too excited, Mark Hulbert calculates that every season of the calendar can boast a rally of similar magnitude – 5.23%. [Quick Ideas] 2 Comments

6:38 PM SolarWinds (SWI) attempts to move downmarket and obtain a stronger cloud presence by striking a deal to acquire private N-able for $120M in cash. Whereas SolarWinds’ IT management offerings are more focused on enterprises (it has been gaining share here against the likes of CA, BMC, H-P, and IBM), N-able sells cloud-based IT management software to service providers, who in turn use them to offer IT management services to SMBs. (PR) [Tech, M&A] Comment!

AMJ, AMLP

6:32 PM If you harbor doubts about the sharp rise of energy MLPs, you don’t have many short sellers on your side. Fewer than 1% of the shares of MLP constituents of the Alerian index (AMJ) are out on loan. Low short interest may have less to do with a lack of negative opinion than with the nature of who owns MLPs, but it’s a notable feature since it should mean a classic short squeeze isn’t possible. [Energy] 4 Comments

6:27 PM France Telecom (FTE) will invest up to €50M ($64M) in video site Dailymotion and once more begin looking for a partner this fall, says Orange CEO Stephane Richard. With the French government (27% stake) having scuttled the Yahoo deal, FTE has reportedly been fielding Dailymotion bids from local tech/media players. [Tech, M&A] 1 Comment

6:15 PM Telecom Italia (TI) is mulling a 3-way split, multiple sources tell Reuters: one unit would contain the carrier’s Italian mobile ops, another its Italian wireline ops, and another Brazilian carrier TIM. The report come a month after TI’s board signed off on talks with a Hutchison Whampoa about a possible Italian mobile merger (Hutchison’s demands could get in the way), and ordered management to study the feasibility of a wireline spinoff. [Tech] Comment!

IPXL, OXY

6:12 PM Four companies ignoring their shareholders’ votes, according to Theo Francis: Impax Labs (IPXL), where three directors were retained despite failing to reach 50% approval; Occidental Petro (OXY), which counted 55M non-voting shares as voting against a proposal; Hecla Mining (HL), which left open a say-on-pay vote for an extra month; and NYSE Euronext (NXY), which continues to thwart the right to call special shareholder meetings. [Energy, Healthcare, Financials] Comment!

AAPL, YHOO

6:01 PM Apple (AAPL) roundup: 1) iOS 7 will reportedly feature integration with additional online services, including Flickr (YHOO) and video site Vimeo. Yesterday, Yahoo announced a big overhaul for Flickr. 2) Peter Misek remains downbeat, predicting Apple’s gross margin will be pressured by its use of OGS touch sensor tech in the iPhone 6 (differs from the iPhone 5′s in-cell tech), and by app processor price hikes from Samsung (checks indicate 25%-50% hikes). 3) As Senate hearings dominate headlines, EU leaders are looking to end the tax shelters Apple and other tech companies have created. 4) BrandZ again ranks Apple the world’s most valuable brand; it’s followed by Google IBM, McDonald’s, and Coca-Cola. (Apple/Yahoo report) [Tech] 12 Comments

SKS, DY

6:00 PM After-hours top gainers, as of 5:30 p.m.: SKS +18.1%. DY +12.4%. NSPR +3%. NTAP +2.5%. WIT +2.4%. After-hours top losers: YY -6.5%. UAN -5.1%. BZH -2.5%. YGE -1.9%. ADI -1.9%. [On the Move] Comment!

6:00 PM On the hour: S&P +0.02%. 10-yr 0%. Euro +0.01% vs. dollar. Crude -0.05% to $95.95. Gold +0.02% to $1374.05. Comment!

COP, LNG

5:54 PM As a second U.S. liquefied natural gas export project gets the green light, Credit Suisse is the latest to predict how much LNG the U.S. might send overseas: potentially 10B cu. ft./day by the end of the decade. Growing confidence that more export approvals are ahead has lifted U.S. natural gas calendar-strip prices for 2015, ’16 and ’17 by 3%, 4% and 5%, respectively, CS says. (earlier) [Energy] 1 Comment

5:50 PM Merck (MRK) says it’s entered into an accelerated share repurchase agreement with Goldman Sachs to repurchase $5B worth of stock, as the company looks to alternative methods for increasing shareholder value. The company has been dealing with the loss of exclusivity for its blockbuster asthma-and-allergy treatment Singulair, leading to generic competition that wiped out much of the drug’s more than $5B in peak annual sales. Shares +1% AH. [Healthcare] Comment!

5:36 PM Enbridge (ENB) CEO Al Monaco says he’s spending more time seeking public support for projects such as the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline than regulatory approval as opponents try to block new routes to market. New conduits are needed from Canada to correct a “huge disconnect” in North American oil prices as supply exceeds pipeline capacity – a $25B/year “value destruction” gap for Canada’s economy. [Energy] 3 Comments

DRYS, EGHT

5:35 PM Notable earnings after Wednesday ’s close: DRYS, EGHT, GAME, HPQ , LTD, PETM, PSUN, SNPS, VVTV, WDAY [Earnings] Comment!

5:35 PM 3D Systems (DDD) shareholders signed off on increasing the company’s share authorization to 220M from 120M at its annual meeting. The 3D printer maker says the increase restores its flexibility to use stock “for appropriate corporate purposes.” Do those purposes include another split and/or acquisitions? [Tech] 11 Comments

AEO, BAH

5:30 PM Notable earnings before Wednesday’s open: AEO, BAH, DSX, ELOS, EV, LOW, SPLS, TGT, TOL, ZLC [Earnings] Comment!

5:27 PM M&T Bank Corporation (MTB) declares $0.70/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 2.64%. For shareholders of record June 3. Payable June 28. Ex-div date May 30. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

5:24 PM Chesapeake Lodging Trust (CHSP) declares $0.24/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 4.04%. For shareholders of record June 28. Payable July 15. Ex-div date June 26. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

5:23 PM Avid (AVID) -12.7% AH to $6 after announcing it has received a NASDAQ non-compliance warning due to its failure to file its 2012 10-K on time, that it expects to restate its 2009-2012 results due to its (previously-announced) accounting review, and that its review now extends to “accounting for certain restructuring expenses related to lease obligations and other exit activities” for Q2 and Q3 2012 – Avid thinks restructuring expenses may have been overstated by ~$3.5M on a pre-tax basis. Shares are close to a multi-year low of $5.85. [Tech, On the Move] 1 Comment

5:20 PM The Toro Company (TTC) declares $0.14/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 1.21%. For shareholders of record June 26. Payable July 15. Ex-div date June 24. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

5:10 PM MAA (MAA) declares $0.695/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 3.74%. For shareholders of record July 15. Payable July 31. Ex-div date July 11. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

5:09 PM KBR is awarded a contract by Pacific NorthWest LNG, a subsidiary of Malaysia’s state-owned oil company Petronas and Japan Petroleum Exploration, to execute front-end engineering and design and early detailed engineering work for a proposed $11B two-train liquefied natural gas export facility in British Columbia with a yearly capacity of 12M tons. [Energy] Comment!

5:07 PM United Bankshares (UBSI) declares $0.31/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 4.68%. For shareholders of record June 14. Payable July 1. Ex-div date June 12. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

5:07 PM China Distance Education (DL): FQ2 EPS of $0.023. Revenue of $13.0M (+5.4% Y/Y) misses by $0.08M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!

MSFT, GME

5:06 PM “We are designing Xbox One to enable customers to trade in and resell games. We’ll have more details to share later,” says Microsoft (MSFT). GameStop (GME), whose shares were drubbed on concerns the One’s requirement to install games on its 500GB hard drive (and tie them to an Xbox Live account) would eliminate used game sales, must be pleased. Microsoft also refutes rumors its next-gen console will need a Web connection to work, though developers using Azure cloud services can insist on it. Xbox 360 games won’t be supported, and (unlike Sony with the PS4) there are no plans for a streaming service that can offer older titles. (earlier) [Tech, Consumer] 1 Comment

5:06 PM Omnicom Group (OMC) declares $0.40/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 2.54%. For shareholders of record June 14. Payable July 11. Ex-div date June 12. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

5:03 PM Axiall Corporation (AXLL) declares $0.08/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 0.66%. For shareholders of record June 28. Payable July 10. Ex-div date June 26. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

5:01 PM Valley National Bancorp (VLY) declares $0.1625/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 6.96%. For shareholders of record June 14. Payable July 01. Ex-div date June 12. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

5:00 PM On the hour: S&P +0.02%. 10-yr 0%. Euro 0.% vs. dollar. Crude -0.04% to $95.96. Gold +0.05% to $1374.45. Comment!

5:00 PM Gilead Sciences (GILD) says its Marketing Authorization Application for sofosbuvir, for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus, has been fully validated by the European Medicines Agency and is now under assessment. [Healthcare, Global & FX] 3 Comments

4:59 PM The Bon-Ton Stores (BONT) declares $0.05/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 1.04%. For shareholders of record July 19. Payable August 5. Ex-div date July 17. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

4:58 PM Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD) says initial production results for its First Horizontal Wolfcamp Shale well in Texas showed a 24-hour peak natural flow rate of 1,572 boe/day. PXD says the results demonstrate the prospectivity of its 900K-acre Spraberry/Wolfcamp leasehold, which holds an estimated net resource potential of more than 4.6B boe. [Energy] Comment!

4:54 PM CSS Industries (CSS) declares $0.15/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 1.94%. For shareholders of record June 05. Payable June 17. Ex-div date June 03. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

4:54 PM MTS Systems (MTSC) declares $0.30/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 2.03%. For shareholders of record June 10. Payable July 01. Ex-div date June 06. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

4:54 PM Mondelez International (MDLZ) declares $0.13/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 1.68%. For shareholders of record July 01. Payable July 15. Ex-div date June 27. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

4:53 PM W. R. Berkley (WRB) declares $0.10/share quarterly dividend, 11% increase from prior dividend of $0.09. Forward yield 0.96%. For shareholders of record June 11. Payable July 02. Ex-div date June 07. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

4:53 PM Kraft Foods Group (KRFT) declares $0.50/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 3.53%. For shareholders of record June 28. Payable July 12. Ex-div date June 26. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

4:52 PM Astro-Med (ALOT) declares $0.07/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 2.64%. For shareholders of record June 14. Payable July 1. Ex-div date June 12. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

ADI, INTU

4:51 PM Tech guidance roundup: 1) Analog Devices (ADI – earnings) expects FQ3 revenue of $655M-$685M and EPS of $0.51-$0.56, below a consensus of $688.3M and $0.58. 2) Intuit (INTU – earnings) expects FQ4 revenue of $702M-$727M and EPS of $0.03-$0.07, largely below a consensus of $726.7M and $0.11. 3) Compuware (CPWR – earnings) expects FY14 revenue of $1B and GAAP EPS of $0.35-$0.37; consensus is for revenue of $1.01B and non-GAAP EPS of $0.42. ADI -1.3% AH. INTU +0.5%. CPWR +0.9%. (Analog Devices PR) (Intuit PR) (Compuware PR) [Tech, Earnings] Comment!

4:30 PM Lorillard (LO) says its board has authorized and additional $500M to its share repurchase program, bringing the aggregate amount up to $1B of its outstanding stock. The original $500M share repurchase program was announced on March 8. Purchase decisions will be as determined by company management. [Consumer] Comment!

4:30 PM More on NetApp: $1B in buybacks promised over next 4 months, $2B over next 12 months; FQ4 buybacks totaled $180M. Company is cutting 900 jobs (~7% of workforce) in restructuring (Piper predicted 1,300), expects to take $50M-$60M in pretax charges. NetApp claims “double-digit growth in branded bookings,” which suggests OEM sales (to IBM?) are weak. FQ4 product revenue (66% of total) -2% Y/Y, software/maintenance +6%, services +8%. Gross margin was 61.2%, +160 bps Y/Y. FQ1 guidance likely to stoke share loss worries. NTAP +2.1% AH. (PR) [Tech, Earnings] 1 Comment

UAN, CVI

4:28 PM CVR Partners (UAN) -3.3% AH after announcing a secondary offering of 12M common units by CVR Energy (CVI). UAN will receive no proceeds from the offering. [Energy] 10 Comments

4:25 PM Dycom (DY): FQ3 EPS of $0.21 beats by $0.04. Revenue of $437.4M beats by $27.2M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!

4:20 PM Compuware (CPWR): Q1 EPS of $0.26 beats by $0.21. Revenue of $239.9M beats by $0.22M. Shares +3.2% AH. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News, Tech, On the Move] Comment!

4:18 PM Herbalife’s (HLF +2.7%) naming of PricewaterhouseCoopers as its new outside auditor puts an end to a six-week search, which turned out to be an unusually difficult and drawn out process – the company actually had to seek counsel from the SEC to avoid conflict of interest issues – and was intensely scrutinized because of the bitter public battle between Ackman and Icahn over HLF‘s business model. The news is a positive for the shares today, if only because the company has been blocked temporarily from raising money in the markets because of its lack of an auditor. [Healthcare, Consumer, Global & FX, On the Move] 1 Comment

4:13 PM Saks (SKS +11.1%) has hired Goldman to explore strategic alternatives, “including a possible sale of the company,” the NY Post reports. P-E firms, including KKR and Leonard Green, are seen as likely bidders. Shares +15.8% AH, adding to today’s big post-earnings gains. [Consumer, M&A, On the Move, Breaking News] 2 Comments

4:11 PM CSS Industries (CSS): FQ4 EPS of -$0.21. Revenue of $53.6M (+12.3% Y/Y). (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!

4:10 PM Market recap: Stocks pushed higher as regional presidents Dudley and Bullard signaled the Fed remains far from winding down its stimulus, plus a bullish outlook from Goldman Sachs. Bernanke is on deck tomorrow with Senate testimony. Leading the gains were health care, consumer and bank stocks, while telecom and tech weighed on the downside. Treasurys rose; 30-year yields fell to 1.935%. [Top Stories] 2 Comments

4:09 PM Fuwei Films (FFHL): Q1 EPS of -$0.22. Revenue of $12.3M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News, Consumer] Comment!

4:08 PM NetApp (NTAP): FQ4 EPS of $0.69 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $1.72B (+1% Y/Y) misses by $40M. Expects FQ1 revenue of $1.475B-$1.575B and EPS of $0.45-$0.50, below consensus of $1.6B and $0.53. Initiates $0.15/share quarterly dividend (1.6% yield) with intention to increase over time. Increases buyback authorization by $1.6B to $3B. Shares +3.3% AH. CC at 5:30PM ET (webcast). (PR) [Tech, Earnings, On the Move, Breaking News] Comment!

4:07 PM Charm Communications (CHRM): Q1 EPS of -$0.05. Revenue of $38.1M (+13.6% Y/Y). (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!

4:02 PM Analog Devices (ADI): FQ2 EPS of $0.52 in-line. Revenue of $659M misses by $1.84M. Shares -1.2% AH. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News, Tech, On the Move] Comment!

4:01 PM Intuit (INTU): FQ3 EPS of $2.97 beats by $0.04. Revenue of $2.18B (+13% Y/Y) in-line. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News, Tech] Comment!

4:00 PM At the close: Dow +0.35% to 15389. S&P +0.17% to 1669. Nasdaq +0.26% to 3506. Treasurys: 30-year +0.45%. 10-yr +0.18%. 5-yr +0.06%. Commodities: Crude -0.94% to $96.02. Gold -0.78% to $1373.25. Currencies: Euro +0.17% vs. dollar. Yen +0.24%. Pound +0.69%. Comment!

3:57 PM SinoCoking Coal and Coke (SCOK +27.8%) shares skyrocket after Fenwei Energy Consulting says China’s proposed ban on imports of lower-quality coal could boost domestic benchmark prices by as much as 8%. [Energy, On the Move] 2 Comments

WETF, VIG

3:55 PM WisdomTree (WETF) plans a Wednesday launch for its U.S. Dividend Growth Fund (DGRW) – tracking a fundamentally-weighted index of about 300 dividend payers with annual cost of 0.28%. Among the eligibility requirements: Regular dividends for 12 consecutive months and market cap of at least $2B. Individual security weighting is capped at 5%, with sector allocation capped at 20%. Among the large selection of other dividend funds: VIG, PFM, DHS, DTN. More here. [Financials] Comment!

CLWR, S

3:52 PM Clearwire (CLWR +4%) reschedules its special shareholder meeting to May 31, so as to give investors time to weigh Sprint’s (S) new $3.40/share offer. Crest Financial says it still isn’t satisfied, arguing Clearwire’s spectrum deserves a higher price tag. Shares are currently at $3.39, a penny below the offer price. [Tech, M&A] 3 Comments

3:52 PM Accuray (ARAY +4.5%) pops today after presenting study results at UBS’ Global Life Sciences Conference showing that 97% of low risk-prostate cancer patients remained cancer free when treated with its CyberKnife Robotic Radiosurgery System. 90.7% of intermediate-risk patients remained cancer-free after 5+ years. (Presentation Transcript) [Healthcare, On the Move] Comment!

3:48 PM Xerox (XRX) declares $0.0575/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 2.54%. For shareholders of record June 28. Payable July 31. Ex-div date June26. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

3:47 PM Freeport McMoRan’s (FCX -2.8%) Indonesian mine could face a prolonged closure and scrutiny over its underground mining plans, as the death toll from the collapsed tunnel at the Grasberg complex reaches 28, analysts and mining sources say. The bigger strategic question concerns whether FCX engineers fully understand ground conditions or rock mechanics of the area. [Commodities, On the Move] Comment!

FXC, ENB

3:40 PM The loonie (FXC -0.3%) is overvalued by 5-10% given current levels of commodity prices, says BMO’s Doug Porter, speaking at a Bloomberg conference on Canada. “We are literally getting hammered by prices in North America,” says Enbridge (ENB) CEO Al Monaco at the same event. [Global & FX] 1 Comment

SPY, VXX

3:34 PM Major hedge funds have suddenly turned bullish, reportedly buying massive amounts of OTC call options on the S&P 500 (SPY). The purchases have been large enough to send the VIX (VXX) higher even as stocks continue to gain. An important milestone – the implied volatility of S&P calls is now greater than that of puts, a true rarity since 2007. 16 Comments

3:30 PM Shares of GameStop (GME -6%) trade lower after the Microsoft Xbox One is unveiled (I, II, III). The new gaming console won’t be friendly to the used game business with the game disc mostly useless after the initial install. The system also appears to be another step toward cloud processing and storage, although not the giant leap some forecast. [Consumer] 1 Comment

PEIX, BIOF

3:28 PM Shares of Pacific Ethanol (PEIX +20.2%) and BioFuel Energy (BIOF +11.5%) surge after the most recent EIA supply report shows ethanol stockpiles at 16.4M barrels in the week ended May 10, the lowest level since Dec. 2010. Production of ethanol also is at below-average levels for this time of year, Bloomberg data shows. [Energy, On the Move] 2 Comments

3:26 PM JPMorgan Chase (JPM) declares $0.38/share quarterly dividend, 26% increase from prior dividend of $0.30. Forward yield 2.85%. For shareholders of record July 5. Payable July 31. Ex-div date July 3. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

3:22 PM Parexel (PRXL -0.4%) slips on a tepid Neutral initiation at ISI today. The firm says that despite the potential tailwinds, current valuation is already reflective of the market’s enthusiasm for the stock, and most of the near term good news has already been baked-in. [Healthcare] Comment!

3:16 PM Viad Corp (VVI) declares $0.10/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 1.56%. For shareholders of record June 7. Payable July 1. Ex-div date June 5. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

3:00 PM On the hour: Dow +0.5%. 10-yr +0.08%. Euro +0.14% vs. dollar. Crude -0.8% to $96.16. Gold -0.76% to $1373.55. Comment!

V, MA

2:59 PM Battle back on: 19 retailers say they will opt out of a $7.25B settlement with Visa (V +0.2%) and MasterCard (MA +0.7%) over interchange fees and will consider additional legal action against the companies. The highly-anticipated move from the heavyweight retailers (WMT, GPS, COST, NKE) comes about a week before a court deadline in the case. [Consumer] 1 Comment

2:56 PM A good deal of MetLife’s (MET -0.9%) investor day presentation (webcast) (slides) focuses on limiting risk in variable annuities. The insurer’s biggest lever to lower cost of equity capital, says CEO Steve Kandarian is addressing VA risk – among the steps is reducing VA sales ($28B in 2011 to $10B-$11B expected in 2013). The company also plans to merge 3 life insurance subsidiaries and one foreign reinsurer into a larger, well-capitalized, more transparent company that also satisfies Dodd-Frank rules. [Financials] 1 Comment

2:54 PM TrustCo Bank Corp NY (TRST) declares $0.065625/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 4.61%. For shareholders of record June 7. Payable July 1. Ex-div date June 5. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

EBAY, GOOG

2:53 PM In what could be a win for PayPal (EBAY), Google (GOOG) is shutting down Checkout in 6 months to focus its online payments efforts on Wallet. Though Google will still handle payment processing for developers selling on Google properties (Play, Chrome Web Store, Offers Marketplace), 3rd-party merchants using Checkout and lacking an internal processing solution will have to find an alternative. The announcement comes a week after Google announced several new Wallet features, including new developer APIs and an option to attach money to Gmail messages. [Tech] 3 Comments

2:49 PM Five cars from a Canadian Pacific (CP -0.2%) train derailed earlier today in Saskatchewan, and one leaked crude oil; there is no estimate of the amount of oil spilled. CP already has suffered two derailments involving crude oil this year, one in Ontario and the other in Minnesota. CP denies any link between the accidents and defends its safety record. [Energy, Consumer] Comment!

2:48 PM Commercial National Financial Corporation (CNAF) declares $0.26/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 4.75%. For shareholders of record May 31. Payable June 7. Ex-div date May 29. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

EBAY, RSH

2:42 PM eBay (EBAY -0.9%) continues to look for more ways to grow the use of PayPal. New initiatives include RadioShack (RSH -2.7%) setting up PayPal as a payment option at its stores beginning this month and working with Jamba Juice (JMBA +0.7%) to find a way for its customers to pre-order drinks and pick them up in a separate line. The big picture: PayPal will be in an estimated 2M merchant locations by the end of the year, but the company still has some major work to do to break the swipe habits of consumers. [Consumer] Comment!

2:40 PM Quest Diagnostics (DGX) declares $0.30/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 1.95%. For shareholders of record July 2. Payable July 17. Ex-div date June 28. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

VOD, VZ

2:31 PM Vodafone (VOD +0.3%) views its Verizon Wireless stake as a more attractive long-term asset than its slumping European ops, and is thus loath to sell it, argues Bernstein’s Robin Bienenstock in the wake of the carrier’s FQ4 report (included major Y/Y drops in Italian/Spanish revenue). Bienenstock, no stranger to throwing cold water on deal expectations, also thinks Vodafone’s remarks about keeping its new $3.15B VZW distribution are a sign Verizon (VZ -1.3%) won’t be issuing fresh distributions in the near-term; recent comments from Verizon’s CFO also back this up. [Tech] 6 Comments

2:31 PM Shares of Rosetta Genomics (ROSG +2.4%) recovered from early losses to trade back near the prior day’s highs after the company announced yesterday that it had signed a credentialing agreement with PPO provider Prime Health Services under which ROSG‘s miRview mets2 test will be included in Prime’s covered products and services. [Healthcare, On the Move] Comment!

2:26 PM Synergy Resources (SYRG -1.2%) increases proved reserves by 40% in its mid-year update. For the period ending Feb. 28, SYRG grew reserves to 13.6M boe vs. 10.6M boe in the previous six-month period. SYRG has not booked any of its 10 non-operated horizontal wells, so it expects another reserves increase for the next six months; also is on track to drill five operated horizontal wells. [Energy] Comment!

2:25 PM Alaska Airlines (ALK -2.9%) says only a few of its flights in and out of Alaska are being affected by the increased volcanic activity in the region. [Consumer] 2 Comments

2:21 PM Shares of Cell Therapeutics (CTIC +6.5%) spike higher ahead of today’s upcoming presentation at the UBS Global Healthcare Conference. The presentation will be held at 2:30 ET and is accessible on webcast here: [[CTIC} Presentation Webcast}. [Healthcare, On the Move] Comment!

SNE, ATVI

2:20 PM A little more on the Xbox One: The console will launch “later this year;” Microsoft won’t get more specific. No price details yet. A deal has been struck with the NFL to provide “exclusive content” via SmartGlass/Kinect, as well as interactive broadcasts. Gameplay recording/sharing are now supported, as are Skype and group video chat . There isn’t any game streaming feature similar to what’s promised for the PS4 (SNE). Activision (ATVI) says Call of Duty: Ghosts will arrive on the One. With the One, Microsoft is trying to both address a secular opportunity – soaring demand for Web-based living room entertainment, and a secular threat – a shift in gaming spend/activity to mobile and social titles. (live blog) [Tech] 2 Comments

2:19 PM J.C. Penney (JCP +2%) is reported to have reduced the rate on its $2.25B term loan to Libor + 500-525 bps from Libor +575 bps. The retailer is using the funds from the loan for working capital. Comment!

AU, GFI

2:17 PM South Africa’s rand falls to its lowest level in four years as clashes between mine owners and workers erupt again today. Government “heavy-handedness” with mining companies has created a “major negative” for investors both inside and outside mining, as it reduces companies’ abilities to set their balance sheets and control their own destinies, Greenbriar Partners says. AU -3.3%, GFI -3%, HMY -2.6%. [Commodities, Global & FX] 3 Comments

2:09 PM Neiman Marcus says it will close a warehouse in China and start fulfilling orders from the U.S. in what the retailer believes will prove to be a better business model. The cautious approach by Neiman Marcus to China comes with the company reported to be exploring strategic alternatives including a possible IPO. [Consumer] Comment!

2:05 PM Given Imaging (GIVN -1.2%) gives back early morning gains after presenting new studies that confirm the value of its PillCam SB in the diagnosis, monitoring and management of Crohn’s Disease and other small bowel conditions in patients at this year’s Digestive Disease Week in Orlando, Florida. Trial data shows heightened sensitivity for detecting adenomas that are at least 6 mm and 10 mm. [Healthcare] Comment!

2:00 PM On the hour: Dow +0.46%. 10-yr +0.17%. Euro +0.14% vs. dollar. Crude -0.65% to $96.3. Gold -0.72% to $1374.15. Comment!

TWC, CVC

1:54 PM Though MSO operators (TWC, CVC, CMCSA, CHTR) all offer subscribers a broadband-only subscription, so far the group seems to be doing an adequate job upselling customers to bigger packages to prevent wide-scale cord cutting on pay TV services. The trend is not without an assist from broadcasters that are only allowing authenticated consumers from pay TV providers to watch their series online and on mobile devices. Still, execs do acknowledge that cities with younger consumers tend to favor broadband-only packages meaning the industry could see a problem sometime in the future keeping its finger in the dike. [Consumer] Comment!

1:54 PM Synergy Pharma (SGYP -3.7%) slips despite presenting positive safety and efficacy results from trials of plecanatide, its drug candidate for patients with chronic idiopathic constipation at an industry conference earlier in Orlando, Florida. The data showed the best improvement in symptoms were observed in patients receiving 3-milligram doses of plecanatide. [Healthcare] 2 Comments

1:53 PM Shares of Sony (SNE +8.5%) move higher amid ongoing chatter that the company is considering peeling off its entertainment arm in a spinoff a la Dan Loeb’s suggestion. What to watch: Most analysts and traders seem to like the idea of a Sony business split, meaning if CEO Kazuo Hirai reiterates next week during a scheduled presentation that he supports the company staying together as one then shares could see a rapid-fire drop. [Consumer, Global & FX] 2 Comments

1:53 PM More on Intel’s reorg: Intel’s PC, mobile, and server chip units, previously reporting to chief product officer Dadi Perlmutter, will now report to Brian Krzanich. Software/services chief Renee James, recently named President, will also now be in charge of manufacturing and parts of Intel’s (INTC +0.2%) security ops. Krzanich in an internal e-mail: “I am committed to being bolder, moving faster … we will listen, learn and then make adjustments in order to keep pace.” Mike Bell, who has spearheaded Atom CPU development, is now head of Intel’s “new devices” unit. Ex-Infineon exec Herman Eul will now fully oversee Intel’s mobile ops. [Tech] Comment!

1:50 PM Biogen (BIIB +3.6%) submits Biologics License Application to the FDA for the approval of its injectable drug candidate Plegridy for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. The company says the application is supported by data from year one of a two year Phase 3 study which “met all primary and secondary endpoints.” In March, BIIB said the drug cut annual relapse rates by 36% and analysts say it could generate revenue of $318M by 2017. (PR) [Healthcare, On the Move] Comment!

1:41 PM Universal Corporation (UVV) declares $0.50/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 3.29%. For shareholders of record July 8. Payable August 12. Ex-div date July 4. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

1:39 PM KB Home (KBH -1%) reaffirmed its FY13 outlook earlier today, saying it continues to see healthy profitability in 2013. Its gross margin is expected to improve sequentially throughout the year. It also plans to invest more than $1B on land acquisition and development over the course of the year. (Webcast). [On the Move] Comment!

JDSU, EA

1:39 PM More on the Xbox One: The device has a Blu-ray player, and is said to be “practically silent” when running. A new Kinect sensor is being bundled with the console (JDSU a likely supplier): its camera, color depth, and motion-sensing abilities are improved, and voice is said to be more “conversational.” Xbox SmartGlass mobile apps are integrated with the One, interactive TV content is paired with shows, and a “snap mode” shows multiple apps a once. Electronic Arts (EA) is promising to launch titles from 4 sports franchises – FIFA, Madden, NBA Live, and UFC – in the next 12 months, aided by a new gaming engine. (live blog) [Tech] Comment!

1:32 PM CME Group plans additional cuts to its giant board, according to Executive Chairman Terry Duffy, speaking ahead of the annual meeting. At 30 members, the board is more than twice as large as those at ICE (11 now, but 15 after NYSE merger), and Nasdaq OMX (11). The large size reflects the CME’s long history as a member-owned operation as opposed to today’s public company. [Financials] Comment!

1:28 PM WellCare Health Plans (WCG -5.1%) falls on a Goldman downgrade to Neutral from Buy (price target $60). Analyst Matthew Borsch cites downside risks to Medicare Advantage earnings in revising down his FY14 EPS estimate to $5.50 from $5.75 (consensus is $5.47) and his FY15 estimate to $6.30 from $6.65. See the CC transcript for Borsch’s back and forth with management regarding Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, and STAR quality scoring. [Healthcare, On the Move] Comment!

1:28 PM WellCare Health Plans (WCG -5.1%) falls on a Goldman downgrade to Neutral from Buy (price target $60). Analyst Matthew Borsch cites downside risks to Medicare Advantage earnings in revising down his FY14 EPS estimate to $5.50 from $5.75 (consensus is $5.47) and his FY15 estimate to $6.30 from $6.65. See the CC transcript for Borsch’s back and forth with management regarding Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, and STAR quality scoring. [Healthcare, On the Move] Comment!

1:17 PM Disney (DIS -0.2%) laid off employees at ESPN as part of a company-wide trimming process, according to Deadspin. The number of fired employees accounted for less than 6% of the sport channel’s total workforce. [Consumer] 6 Comments

MSFT, AMD

1:15 PM Microsoft (MSFT) unveils the Xbox One, a 3rd-gen console it pitches as “the ultimate all-in-one entertainment system. The device has a rectangular, set-top box-like shape, a slightly bigger controller. a revamped Xbox Live UI, improved app/game loading and switching times, and fresh voice/gesture controls. AMD is widely believed to provide an integrated CPU/GPU for the system. (live blog) (previous) [Tech, Breaking News] 50 Comments

1:08 PM That QE taper may end up being a QE expansion as FRBNY President Bill Dudley tells a gathering in Japan the uncertain economic outlook has him unsure if the next move will be up or down. He worries about investor over-reaction to a “normalization” of policy and suggests the FOMC may need to update what it needs to see to move in that direction. Stocks like the “up” talk, the S&P 500 (SPY +0.4%) at a fresh session high. [Breaking News, U.S. Economy] 29 Comments

1:00 PM On the hour: Dow +0.32%. 10-yr +0.13%. Euro +0.24% vs. dollar. Crude -0.37% to $96.57. Gold -0.57% to $1376.25. Comment!

SCTY, HIMX

12:59 PM Five of 2013′s biggest tech high-flyers – SolarCity (SCTY -10.1%), Himax (HIMX -6%), UniPixel (UNXL -9.1%), SunPower (SPWR -5.2%), and Ubiquiti (UBNT -4.4%), are seeing heavy losses today. Netflix (NFLX -0.9%), another big 2013 winner, is down moderately. Is this a sign tech momentum investors are looking to take some cash off the table? YTD gains: SCTY +287%. HIMX +200%. UNXL +72%. SPWR +282%. UBNT +56%. NFLX +156%. [Tech, On the Move] Comment!

12:58 PM The Fed should continue with QE, says St. Louis Fed chief Bullard, as the reaction in financial markets (stocks higher?) proves the purchases have been effective. He says the program should be adjusted (higher or lower) based on incoming economic data. He tosses out negative interest rates as a possible policy (why not), but suggests the effects of such a move would be minor. [U.S. Economy] 4 Comments

12:51 PM Netflix (NFLX -1.5%) could pass all cable networks and perhaps even a major network this summer in terms of hours watched per month as the streaming service launches Arrested Development just as the traditional network season winds down. The feat is fairly impressive when it’s considered that the service is only 28M homes – compared to the +100M penetration of cable networks. Q1 scorecard of viewer hours/month (via BTIG): CBS 3.3B; ABC 2.6B; NBC 2.3B; Fox 1.9B; Disney Channel 1.3B; Netflix 1.2B. [Consumer] 4 Comments

VLO, PSX

12:47 PM Energy infrastructure largely escapes damage from yesterday’s tornado that ripped through Oklahoma, though a Southern Star natural gas pipeline reports some damage. Valero (VLO) and Phillips 66 (PSX) say their refineries escaped damage, Enterprise Products Partners (EPD) reports no damage to its Seaway pipeline, and operations at the Cushing crude hub are unaffected. [Energy] 2 Comments

SDBT, LEDS

12:47 PM Midday top 10 gainers: SDBT +75%. LEDS +26%. PTIX +25%. FXEN +25%. BDL +23%. YGE +20%. SCOK +18%. PEIX +18%. JRCC +15%. CCIH +14%. Midday top 10 Losers: IEC -21%. BVX -15%. EFUT -15%. HGG -13%. UNXL -11%. SCTY -10%. BORN -10%. RSOL -9%. HNP -9%. IGTE -9%. [On the Move] Comment!

12:46 PM Web.com (WWWW -5.9%) is selling off. A possible culprit: director Anton Levy recently disclosed the sale of 2M shares. Levy is a managing director at P-E firm General Atlantic, which sold Network Solutions to Web.com in 2011. [Tech, On the Move] Comment!

12:45 PM IEC Electronics (IEC -21.7%) plunges after receiving a delisting notice from the NYSE. The company reported “estimated” financial results for Q2 Monday, but said it did not meet the SEC’s extended deadline for filing is 10-Q. Earlier this month, the company said it would restate its FY12 financial statements. Today’s losses bring the two slide to -32%. [Tech, On the Move] Comment!

JASO, CSUN

12:43 PM Another driver for the run in U.S. solar stocks today is a big move in Chinese solar stocks overnight, particularly Hareon Solar Technology, which jumped to its 10% daily limit on speculation that the U.S. and China are seeking to resolve a dispute over trade in solar-energy equipment that could lead to soaring tariffs: JA Solar (JASO +5%), China Sunergy (CSUN +5.2%), Ascent Solar (ASTI +32%), Spire (SPIR +9.6%), Trina Solar (TSL +10.3%), Hanwha Solarone (HSOL +11.5%), Suntech Power (STP +20.5%), ReneSola (SOL +8.1%), LDK Solar (LDK +10.3%). [Global & FX, On the Move, Tech, U.S. Economy] 2 Comments

12:38 PM Oil States (OIS -0.6%) is downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Sterne Agee after shares jump 30% since Jana Partners disclosed its big stake and suggested turning its worker accommodations business into a REIT. Indeed, OIS shares could be worth $130-$145 with such a change, the firm says, but investors buying shares now are betting on exactly that; Sterne says it isn’t yet willing to handicap the potential. [Energy, Quick Ideas] Comment!

12:36 PM LNB Bancorp (LNBB) declares $0.01/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 0.44%. For shareholders of record May 31. Payable July 1. Ex-div date May 29. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

12:32 PM Becton, Dickinson and Company (BDX) declares $0.495/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 1.96%. For shareholders of record June 7. Payable June 28. Ex-div date June 5. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

NWS, NWSA

12:31 PM News Corp (NWS, NWSA) continues to be one of the most popular consumer service stock picks of hedge funds, according to Insider Monkey. The inside take is that despite a decent YTD 26% runup in share price, valuation is still reasonable with a pending split of the company looking promising. The latest hedgie to take a bite is Lone Pine Capital with an increased in its position to 22M shares. (13F) [Consumer] Comment!

ABBV, JNJ

COP, PTR

PM, MDLZ

12:30 PM Herbalife (HLF +4.1%) hires PricewaterhouseCoopers as its new auditor. PwC will begin to immediately re-audit the company’s financial statements for the fiscal years ending in 2010, 2011, and 2012, as well as review 2013 Q1. (PR) [Breaking News, On the Move] 2 Comments

12:28 PM Pandora (P +0.1%) launches Premieres, a station that gives listeners access to album releases a week before they go on sale. Records from John Fogerty and Laura Marling are the first ones supported. The announcement comes shortly after Pandora hired Billboard publisher Tommy Page to expand its branded content/live event offerings. Rocco Pendola argues Pandora’s user base and data give it an opportunity to strike deals with indie artists struggling to get by under the current system. [Tech] Comment!

12:26 PM Deutsche Bank isn’t ready to give up on XenoPort (XNPT -3.1%) just yet. Despite the disappointing arbaclofen placarbil Phase 3 trial results reported Monday and the subsequent ~22% share price decline, analyst Greg Poole reiterates his Buy rating on the shares albeit with a lower price target of $9 ($12 previous). [Healthcare, On the Move] Comment!

C, JPM

12:24 PM Low rates and sluggish loan growth will continue to pressure profits of the big banks in 2013, writes Credit Suisse. At the top of the list of those best-positioned to grow revenue, manage expenses, and deploy capital: Citigroup (C), JPMorgan (JPM), and U.S. Bancorp (USB). JPMorgan has already tipped that trading results are looking good in Q2. Look to upcoming investor conferences for more pre-earnings clues. [Financials] Comment!

12:21 PM Beazer Homes (BZH -2.9%) slips on a downgrade to Neutral at Sterne Agee. The firm cites headline risk, saying its management is pursuing a strategy of reducing underperforming communities, and the culling will likely result in negative Y/Y community count growth. Order comparisons will likely be -5.0% in F3Q13 versus its current estimate of 20.5% growth. If order estimates prove out, the share price could be pressured from below-average operating comp comparisons. [On the Move, Consumer] Comment!

12:17 PM ConocoPhillips (COP +0.7%) is pulling back its plans to sell Canadian oil sands assets in Alberta after it exceeded its target for raising capital by divesting energy properties elsewhere in the world, The Globe and Mail reports. COP is the latest energy company to hold on to assets it planned to divest amid a disappointing environment for selling Canadian oil reserves. [Energy] Comment!

MYL, WCRX

12:11 PM Bernstein analyst Aaron Gal says Mylan (MYL -0.4%) could still bid $22/share for Warner Chilcott (WCRX +2.2%) as the latter’s “willingness” to accept an all-share deal from Actavis (ACT +0.6%) might bring others to the table. [Healthcare, M&A] Comment!

12:09 PM New Intel (INTC +0.6%) CEO Brian Krzanich has already signed off on a major reorg, one that includes the creation of a “new devices” unit, Reuters reports. Krzanich has been promising mobile will become a bigger priority for the chip giant. “We see that we’ve been a bit slow to move in the space … We’re well positioned already and the base of assets we have will allow us to grow much faster.” [Tech, Breaking News] 1 Comment

TSN, SAFM

12:03 PM The bird flu in China has cost the local poultry industry 40B yuan ($6.25B), according to estimates from the China Animal Agriculture Association. What to watch: An increased focus on safety in the region could help life sales for producers Tyson Foods (TSN +1.3%), Sanderson (SAFM +0.6%), and Pilgrim’s Pride (PPC -0.3%) after they have been snubbed in the region in the past partially due to cost. [Consumer] Comment!

12:02 PM The Allstate Corporation (ALL) declares $0.25/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 2.05%. For shareholders of record May 31. Payable July 1. Ex-div date May 29. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

12:00 PM On the hour: Dow +0.27%. 10-yr +0.07%. Euro +0.15% vs. dollar. Crude -0.4% to $96.54. Gold -0.52% to $1376.95. Comment!

NUE, KALU

11:59 AM Risks surrounding the Chinese-fueled commodity supercycle leave higher, fixed-cost specialty metals and miners vulnerable, so in preparing a list of stocks to buy, BAML seeks companies able to control more of their destiny beyond waiting for improving market conditions. BAML says a rebound in global growth over 12-18 months could spark these favorites: NUE, KALU, SXCP, TMS, RS, ATI, RTI, CNX. [Commodities, Quick Ideas] Comment!

AAMRQ.PK, LCC

11:55 AM American Airlines (AAMRQ.PK) continues to shed jobs, according to the latest paperwork the carrier filed. For the 12-month period ending March 31, American cut jobs by close to 10% as it continues to get lean and mean in front of its merger with U.S. Airways (LCC -3.2%). What to watch: Analysts will get their hands on more numbers on the American-U.S. Airways plans shortly which should help generate estimates on synergies the deal will kick up over the next few years. [Consumer] Comment!

11:54 AM Boston Scientific (BSX +0.4%) says five-year data from its Asthma Intervention Research 2 clinical trial presented today demonstrated that the Alair Bronchial Thermoplasty System continues to show benefits in adult patients with severe uncontrolled asthma. The system was shown to provide a sustained reduction in the rate of severe asthma attacks and ER visits over a five year period after treatment. Results were presented at the annual meeting of the American Thoracic Society in Philadelphia [Healthcare] Comment!

11:52 AM Tim Cook (AAPL) testifies at a Senate hearing on corporate offshore taxes. “We don’t depend on tax gimmicks,” Cook asserts, while pushing for a big overhaul of U.S. corporate tax code. “Apple has always believed in the simple, not the complex.” Sen. John McCain isn’t satisfied with Apple’s defenses, claiming the company “has violated the spirit of the law if not the letter of the law.” Sen. Rand Paul has strongly defended Apple. “Congress should be on trial here for creating a byzantine tax code.” (previous) [Tech] 11 Comments

11:49 AM As leaked earlier, Jamie Dimon will keep both jobs at JPMorgan (JPM +2.1%) as the vote to separate the Chairman and CEO roles receives only about 32% support (got 40% last year). Additionally, all board members are re-elected, including risk-committee member Ellen Futter, who got 53.1% of the vote. [Financials, Breaking News, Top Stories] 3 Comments

11:43 AM Halliburton (HAL -1%) says its Q2 operating profit margin will be negatively impacted by a decline in rigs working in Mexico as the country transitions to a new way of awarding service contracts. HAL had earlier seen a margin close to the mid-teens for the quarter. In North America, HAL says the market for pressure pumping equipment remains 20% over-supplied, which should be cut in half by year’s end. [Energy] Comment!

11:39 AM Industrial- components maker Rexnord (RXN +4%) moves up today, despite posting a mixed FQ4 and giving a downbeat 1Q forecast. Longer term, the company guides to the high end, now expecting FY14 EPS of $1.10 – $1.18 on revenue growth of 1% – 3%. The Street view is for an EPS of $1.10. The company also said that a decision on its future should occur this quarter, after saying in February it was beginning a review that would include selling one or both of its major business lines. [Earnings, On the Move] Comment!

11:39 AM Piper raises its PT for Zynga (ZNGA +2.4%) to $3.50 from $2.75: the firm says checks indicate core business stability and mobile game traction. Running with Friends remains #5 on the App Store’s U.S. free app leaderboard; Draw Something 2 has fallen to #64. [Tech] Comment!

FXY, JGBT

11:38 AM In case anyone was curious, Kyle Bass continues to bet on a full-blown Japanese currency (FXY) and government debt (JGBT, JGBL, JGBS, JGBD) crisis. “This gross vs. net argument is just silly,” says Bass alluding to large official and other domestic holdings of JGBs. “If they go to try and sell any of those assets, it will create a panic.” Bass commissioned a poll of Japanese investors asking their reaction if the government asked them to buy JGBs amid a crisis: 8% said they would buy, 83% said they would “run, not walk” from the paper. [Global & FX] 1 Comment

RDS.A, RDS.B

11:31 AM Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A +0.8%) aims to start production from a greenfield project in Iraq’s Majnoon oil field within the next two to three months, with total output expected to reach 175K bbl/day by the end of the year, CEO Simon Henry says. The ramp up in output has been delayed while Shell resolved operational and legislative issues such as cost recovery and importing equipment. [Energy] Comment!

11:28 AM General Motors (GM -1.6%) says it will invest $44.5M in a Michigan factory which builds Cadillac ATS and CTS sedans as well as being slated to produce the 2015 Chevrolet Camaro. As part of its investment, a 400K square foot building will be built next to the plant to build parts in the correct order for assembly. [Consumer] Comment!

YELP, OPEN

11:18 AM Food delivery websites Seamless and Grubhub will merge to create a company that could take the niche industry to the next level. Though online food ordering sites are a hodge-podge of various options, the Seamless-Grubhub combination could lead to an expansive national rollout and a dominant industry position in the space. Should Yelp (YELP +1.4%) or Open Table (OPEN +2.7%) be worried about the threat of expanded services from the new company? [Consumer, M&A, Tech] Comment!

11:09 AM H-P’s (HPQ) Vertica analytics database unit, acquired in 2011 and generally seen as an M&A bright spot for a company that hasn’t had many lately, has been hit with a slew of major defections. Two top engineers and a pre-sales/services VP jumped ship last month, and one ex-employee claims about half of the 127 Vertica employees around at acquisition time have left. Vertica, whose offerings complement Autonomy’s enterprise search/analytics software, faces competition from EMC’s Pivotal spinoff (via Greenplum), IBM’s Netezza unit, Teradata’s Aster unit, and others. [Tech] Comment!

11:08 AM Brinker International (EAT +0.4%) announces the acquisition of 11 Chili’s restaurants in Canada from one its franchise partners. The transaction is expected to close next month. [Consumer] Comment!

11:06 AM Citigroup (C) looks to enhance its Latin American commercial card business, launching its Global Issuing platform for that region. Puerto Rico will be the first to adopt the new technology, making Citi the first local issuer with a chip card solution for that market. Further countries will soon roll it out. (PR) [Financials] Comment!

CCL, CUK

11:06 AM Shares of Carnival (CCL, CUK) fall 6.8% following the company’s guidance cut and a dispiriting wave of analyst downgrades. Though execs with the cruise line operator gave a spirited pitch for a turnaround during the Q1 earnings call (transcript), increased promotional activity continues to take a heavy toll on the company’s sales and profits. [Consumer, On the Move] Comment!

11:04 AM (FRED) declares $0.06/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 1.58%. For shareholders of record June 3. Payable June 17. Ex-div date May 30. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

11:03 AM Chembio Diagnostics (CEMI +4.1%) gains after entering into an international assembly and distribution agreement with Labtest Diagnostica SA, a leading diagnostics manufacturer and marketing organization in Brazil, for products based upon its patented Dual Path Platform in Brazil and potentially other markets in the region as well. Both companies plan to immediately begin product registration for an initial group of infectious disease products with sales expected to commence by early 2014. [Global & FX, On the Move, Healthcare] Comment!

11:00 AM On the hour: Dow +0.03%. 10-yr -0.06%. Euro -0.09% vs. dollar. Crude -0.59% to $96.36. Gold -1.13% to $1368.45. Comment!

11:00 AM I’ve got 25 years in the business and sometimes I can’t figure out what’s going on with a $2T bank balance sheet, says Mike Mayo at the JPMorgan (JPM +1.1%) annual meeting. What about your risk committee gives it the experience to do the proper job, he asks Jamie Dimon. Passing on a chance to respond with a zinger (that’s why you’re an analyst, not banker), Dimon notes it’s the same committee that helped steer the bank before and during the financial crisis. [Financials] 2 Comments

GLCNF.PK, BP

10:57 AM Given their activity in the Platts oil trading window, it’s not surprising that European regulators would send questionnaires to Glencore (GLCNF.PK), Vitol and other trading houses asking for information about how fuel pricing works. But no one knows exactly what is being investigated; a look at the Platts daily European oil markets newsletter shows the EU could be looking at any of dozens of daily price assessments. [Energy, Global & FX, Commodities] Comment!

10:53 AM The former CEO and CFO of Saab Automotive were arrested and questioned as part of a probe into the automaker’s accounting practices. The investigation is focusing on actions by the execs before Saab filed for bankruptcy and when it was under the ownership of Spyker not General Motors. [Consumer, Global & FX] Comment!

10:52 AM Joy Global (JOY) declares $0.175/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 1.20%. For shareholders of record June 4. Payable June 18. Ex-div date May 31. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

10:46 AM Oppenheimer raises estimates for Yahoo (YHOO +1.5%) and lifts its PT to $30, and BMO raises its PT to $27. Both cite Alibaba IPO expectations – Oppenheimer previously gave Alibaba a $77B valuation. Also, on the Yahoo/Tumblr front: 1) Marissa Mayer says Tumblr could see premium ads and retargeted ads (i.e. ads based on browsing activity on other sites). 2) A source tells Valleywag Tumblr’s 2012 revenue was under $5M, below prior reports of $13M. 3) Instapaper developer/early Tumblr employee Marco Arment provides high praise for Tumblr CEO David Karp. “I’ve only seen one other ‘product person’ as good as David, and that was Steve Jobs.” (previous) [Tech] Comment!

10:46 AM Edap (EDAP -8.3%) plunges after announcing a registered direct placement of $12M in shares at $4 each with attached warrants for up to 1.5M additional shares at an exercise price of $4.25. Today’s losses erase strong gains posted Monday on the back of positive data from a long-term study of HIFU therapy. (PR) [Healthcare, On the Move] Comment!

COP, LNG

10:43 AM Liquefied natural gas exports from the U.S. are looking more likely after the Freeport LNG terminal gained conditional approval, Goldman Sachs says, supporting its view that at least 6.8B cu. ft./day of liquefaction capacity will be built in the U.S. The market needs no more than 7.7B/day for the next decade, and Henry Hub prices need to stay at or below $5.10/MBtu to keep U.S. LNG competitive in Europe, Goldman says. [Energy, Global & FX] 1 Comment

ERJ, SKYW

10:42 AM Shares in Embraer (ERJ +3.3%) move up after it and SkyWest (SKYW -0.4%) earlier announced a firm order for 40 Embraer 175 aircraft. Additionally, another 60 firm orders were reconfirmable aircraft, subject to SkyWest being awarded CPA agreement contracts with United Airlines. If all firm orders are exercised, the order has a current estimated value of $4.1M. [Global & FX, On the Move] 1 Comment

10:39 AM iGate (IGTE -11.1%) tumbles after “terminating the employment” of CEO Phaneesh Murthy. The company says Murthy’s failure to report a relationship with a “subordinate employee” constituted a violation of both company policy and the CEO’s employment contract. (PR) [Tech, On the Move] Comment!

10:37 AM MetLife (MET -0.7%) says (8-K) a continuation of the current low interest rate regime could cost the company’s variable annuity business about $2.5B after 3-5 years. For perspective, the insurer made about $2.3B in the last 12 months. [Financials] 1 Comment

10:30 AM Coppersmith Capital Management (5.8% stake) wants Alere (ALR -0.9%) to consider selling its drug testing business for ~$2.5B in order to pay down debt, according to Reuters, citing people familiar with the matter. This wouldn’t be Coppersmith’s first call for asset sales: the investment firm has said publicly that ALR should either sell or shutter its health management business. [Healthcare] Comment!

10:27 AM Echo Therapeutics (ECTE +2%) settles in following in 12% jump after the opening bell on the company’s announcement that the clinical trial of its Symphony CGM System has received Institutional Review Board approval. The board approval enables the Symphony system, which is a non-invasive, wireless, transdermal continuous glucose monitoring platform, to offically start clinical evaluations for a European CE Mark. [Healthcare] Comment!

10:27 AM Amazon Web Services (AMZN) obtains FedRAMP accreditation, a security certification that should make it easier for state, local, and federal agencies to migrate workloads onto the cloud infrastructure platform. The credential has been granted two months after a report claimed AWS has won a 10-year, $600M deal from the CIA to build a private cloud for it. [Tech, Consumer] Comment!

10:22 AM The JPMorgan (JPM +1.1%) annual meeting is underway (webcast) (blog). Following an introductory movie, Jamie Dimon is speaking about bank performance. A tell? Director Ellen Futter – who’s drawn plenty of scrutiny over her qualifications to sit on the risk committee – is a no-show. [Financials, Breaking News] Comment!

RDS.A, RDS.B

10:21 AM As Shell (RDS.A) focuses on a succession plan at its annual meeting today, a Coast Guard panel in Alaska is hearing how Shell feared disaster before its Kulluk drilling rig ran aground. Environmental groups warn that risks of Arctic drilling are a gamble like “five bullet Russian roulette.” Meanwhile, Alaska is offering $50M to jump-start a study to determine the size of oil resources in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. [Energy] Comment!

10:14 AM Supercomputer maker Cray (CRAY +2.3%) rallies after Sterne Agee starts coverage with a Buy and $25 PT. Shares were drubbed earlier month after Cray provided soft Q2 guidance in tandem with a Q1 beat. [Tech, On the Move] Comment!

10:14 AM Mylan’s (MYL -0.7%) says a Federal Circuit has reversed the District Court’s decision invalidating five of its patents related to Perforomist. reinstating them as valid and enforceable. The company had previously announced a settlement agreement with Sunovion resolving the litigation relating to Sunovion’s Brovana – pending the outcome of the appeal. Perforomist and Brovana are inhalers for treating bronchoconstriction in patients with COPD. [Healthcare] Comment!

10:05 AM LinkedIn (LNKD +2.6%) bounces after BGC starts coverage with a Buy and $225 PT. The business social networking leader is still down 7.5% from where it traded before delivering light Q2 guidance to go with a Q1 beat, but still remains up 62% YTD. [Tech] 1 Comment

10:04 AM SA Pro author Money Investor is even more convinced of his short thesis (see comment thread) on hhgregg (HGG -8.5%) after listening to last night’s earnings call (transcript). A focus on various non-standard promotions is a tell of a company grasping at ways to drum up business, he says, and flat-negative same-store sales guidance shows management doesn’t see things getting better. [Consumer, On the Move, Quick Ideas] Comment!

10:01 AM Jefferies initiates BioScrip (BIOS +3%) at Buy with a $17 price target citing expectations “for sustained, robust top line and EBITDA growth over the next five years” and the likelihood of “incremental market share gains.” On the latest CC, management told analyst Brian Tanquilut that the reduced interest expense from a debt refinancing would more than offset the increase in aggregate principal necessary to pay the associated redemption premium. (transcript) [On the Move, Healthcare] Comment!

10:00 AM On the hour: Dow +0.35%. 10-yr -0.17%. Euro -0.21% vs. dollar. Crude -0.29% to $96.65. Gold -1.74% to $1359.95. Comment!

9:56 AM Stocks post early gains with the Dow +0.4% and outperforming the other major indexes thanks to nice gains in Home Depot (2.7%) post-earnings, and JPMorgan (2%) as Jamie Dimon looks set to keep both of his jobs. 2 Comments

9:52 AM FX Energy (FXEN +9.3%) reports a successful production test at its Tuchola-3K well and says it plans to collect final data from the downhole pressure gauges and finish completing the well for production. The test flowed gas at rates of 3.8M-5.5M cu. ft./day with no water, and “raises the real possibility of opening a significant new exploration play for us in Poland,” CEO David Pierce says. [Energy, On the Move] Comment!

9:50 AM More from the Home Depot (HD +2.9%) earnings call (previous): Contractors get busy – Pro customer business in Q1 was greater than the consumer segment for the first time since 2008. [On the Move] Comment!

9:50 AM American Tower (AMT +0.9%) nears its all-time high of $85.15 after Macquarie upgrades shares to Outperform. AMT now trades at ~23x the company’s 2013 adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) guidance of $1.42B-$1.47B. [Tech] Comment!

SCBFF.PK, CHIX

9:46 AM China’s official non-performing loan data ($86B in bad debt in Q1) “greatly understates” the extent of the problem, says Carson Block, believing the unwind will force Beijing to recapitalize a number of banks. Block’s Muddy Waters recently made headlines with a short of Standard Chartered (SCBFF.PK, SCDRF.PK) – a U.K. bank earning most of its profit in Asia. China Financial ETF (CHIX) +32% Y/Y. [Global & FX, Financials] Comment!

9:46 AM Cantor Fitzgerald’s Irina Rivkind upgrades Cubist Pharmaceuticals (CBST +5%) to hold from sell (price target raised to $49 from $40) saying concerns about generic competition have abated. Rivkind also notes that investors have plenty of time to wait for “a more attractive entry point,” as the next big catalyst for the company is hospital pneumonia data not due until 2015. [Healthcare, On the Move] Comment!

9:42 AM Fauquier Bankshares (FBSS) declares $0.12/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 3.93%. For shareholders of record June 14. Payable July 1. Ex-div date June 12. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

IAG, GDX

9:41 AM IAMGOLD (IAG -4.9%) reports encouraging drill results from its Boto Gold project in West Africa, saying drilling continues to return wide intervals with good grades, confirming previous results and further extending the zones drilled. But gold miners (GDX -2.5%) are broadly lower as futures resume their descent after yesterday’s wild ride: KGC -4.7%, EGO -4.6%, GFI -3.6%, ABX -2.8%, GG -2.2%, NEM -1.8%. [Commodities, On the Move] Comment!

9:39 AM Heard during Home Depot’s (HD +2.2%) earnings call: 1) Comparable-store sales should be higher in Q2 than total sales growth due to seasonal shifts. 2) Pro-level business was a big driver of gains in Q1, boosting sales and average ticket. 3) Appliance business momentum still strong, contributed 70 bps of comp gain in Q1. More product rollouts coming. 4) The late start to the spring garden season could help boost Q2 numbers as the retailer comped negatively in Q1. 5) Looking for some HD momentum? April comparable-store sales came in +10%. (webcast) [Consumer, Earnings] Comment!

9:38 AM UBS doesn’t think Microsoft’s (MSFT +0.4%) rally is over; the firm is raising its PT to $40 from $33 ahead of today’s 1PM ET Xbox event. Analyst Brent Thill, a long-time bull, cites potentially greater earnings visibility, investor appreciation of Microsoft’s cloud momentum, enterprise strength, the return of money flows to tech (ed: it looks like plenty of money has been flowing in), and bottoming PC demand. (past Xbox rumors: I, II, III) (event live blog) [Tech] 2 Comments

9:32 AM At the open: Dow +0.28% to 15379. S&P +0.2% to 1670. Nasdaq +0.10% to 3499. Treasurys: 30-year -0.07%. 10-yr -0.07%. 5-yr -0.05%. Commodities: Crude -0.07% to $96.86. Gold -1.09% to $1368.95. Currencies: Euro -0.13% vs. dollar. Yen +0.46%. Pound +0.77%. Comment!

9:28 AM Philip Morris (PM) says it will buy out the 20% of its Mexican subsidiary it doesn’t own from Carlos Slim’s Grupo Carso for an estimated purchase price of $700M. The deal will close in September subject to Mexican regulatory approval and will be “marginally accretive” to Q4 earnings. (PR) 1 Comment

9:28 AM Advantage Oil & Gas (AAV) +3.6% premarket after saying financial advisers will begin soliciting interest in a sale of the company or other strategic transactions to maximize shareholder value. AAV also announces an increase in reserves and contingent resources at its Glacier property. [Energy, On the Move] Comment!

TSL, JASO

9:21 AM Solar stocks took off in response to JA Solar’s results yesterday, and they’re surging premarket in response to Yingli’s guidance hike today. Chalk it up to both heavy short interests, and growing optimism capacity cuts and rising non-European demand can put the troubled industry on more stable footing. Lux Research predicts solar’s supply glut will evaporate, but not until 2015. TSL +9.1%. JASO +14.6%. LDK +9.8%. FSLR +1.6%. CSIQ +6.2%. JKS +6.5%. SOL +11.3%. [Tech, On the Move] Comment!

9:21 AM Jefferies initiates coverage on Sony (SNE) with a Buy rating. With Loeb making some noise, an exit from the electronics business looks more likely, according to the firm. By Jefferies’ math, Sony’s profits would almost double if that were to happen. SNE +0.9% premarket. [Consumer, On the Move] Comment!

THD, EWM

9:19 AM Thai stocks (THD) cooled off Tuesday even as property shares outperformed on continued speculation about a rate cut to boost economic growth. Regional winners were Malaysian (EWM) and Philippine (EPHE) equities, up 0.58% and 0.72% respectively. [Global & FX] Comment!

9:17 AM Cambridge Bancorp (CATC) declares $0.39/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 4.00%. For shareholders of record June 10. Payable June 28. Ex-div date June 6. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

9:15 AM Heard during Best Buy’s (BBY) earnings call: 1) CEO Hubert Joly indicates the company might do more store-within-a-store deals with vendors. Talks are ongoing. 2) No specific details are given, but the company says it’s already seeing a positive impact on sales in states where online sales taxes are collected. 3) Joly seems to be doing what he does best, negotiating cost reductions at Best Buy and squeezing out more savings. 4) A nice improvement in online sales is a highlight for the company as execs pitch the case the brand is being resurrected. BBY -2.7% premarket. (webcast) [Consumer, On the Move] Comment!

9:15 AM Market preview: Thank God it’s… Tuesday, as the Dow shoots for its 19th consecutive Tuesday gain. But stock futures are wavering near unchanged levels as investors await speeches by the Fed’s Dudley and Bullard, and Bernanke’s congressional testimony tomorrow, for clues regarding the fate of the Fed’s bond-buying program. No further economic data is scheduled for release. Comment!

9:11 AM Bank of America (BAC) looks to save some money, launching a preferred stock offering with proceeds set to redeem outstanding Series J (7.25%), Series 6 (6.7%), and Series 7 (6.25%) preferreds. Shares +0.3% premarket. (PR) [Financials] 2 Comments

SDBT, YGE

9:10 AM Premarket gainers: SDBT +66%. YGE +27%. EMKR +16%. HSOL +15%. JASO +13%. SOL +11%. LEDS +9%. NM +9%. TSL +8%. ACRX +8%. MCP +7%. AVL +7%. JKS +7%. RSOL +7%. LDK +7%. CSIQ +7%. REE +6%. DRYS +6%. SKS +6%. Losers: FSGI -46%. CIMT -10%. CUK -7%. NBG -6%. CCL -6%. [On the Move] Comment!

S, CLWR

9:09 AM Sprint (S) raises its offer for Clearwire (CLWR) to $3.40/share ahead of today’s shareholder vote on a $2.97/share offer, which was widely expected to be shot down. The revised offer, which trumps Dish’s (DISH) $3.30/share bid and has been sent to Clearwire’s board for review, is said to have the support of Comcast, Intel, and Bright House, who collectively own 26% of Clearwire shares not held by Sprint. Nonetheless, Clearwire +6.1% to $3.46, above the offer price. Sprint +1.1%. (previous) [Tech, On the Move, M&A, Breaking News, Top Stories] 5 Comments

9:08 AM Diana Containerships (DCIX) declares $0.30/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 20.87%. For shareholders of record June 4. Payable June 21. Ex-div date May 31. (PR) [Dividends] 1 Comment

9:06 AM More on Tidewater’s (TDW) Q1 results: Vessel revenue in sub-Saharan Africa and Europe rose 19% to $155.1M; revenue in the Americas rose 4.2% to $82.6M. Average day rates increased 16% Y/Y; worldwide fleet utilization rate improved to 69.4%. Operating margin rose to 17.8% from 16%. Total expenses climbed 11% to $269.8M. Shares +4.1% premarket. [Energy, Earnings, On the Move] Comment!

CLWR, S

9:02 AM Shares of Clearwire (CLWR) are halted with news pending. Sources are saying a higher offer from Sprint (S) is in the works. [Tech, M&A] 1 Comment

9:00 AM On the hour: S&P +0.07%. 10-yr -0.05%. Euro -0.12% vs. dollar. Crude -0.37% to $96.58. Gold -0.88% to $1371.95. Comment!

EMKR, ATK

9:00 AM Emcore (EMKR) soars 13% premarket after saying ATK has awarded the company a contract to make solar cells that will power a satellite to carry the payload for NASA’s Green Propellant Infusion Mission. (PR) [On the Move] Comment!

9:00 AM More on TJX Companies’ (TJX) Q1: An unexpectedly soft quarter from the retailer saw comparable store sales up 2% Y/Y, led by strong showings for HomeGoods and TJX Europe. The retailer improved its gross profit margin by 20 bps to 28.4% but spent more on marketing during the period. The company was surprisingly quiet about its e-commerce business (WMT +30% during the period) and its impact on results. FQ2 EPS pegged at $0.61-$0.63 and FY14 EPS narrowed to $2.70-$2.78 vs. $2.82 consensus. TJX -1.4% premarket. (PR) [Consumer, Earnings] Comment!

8:59 AM Redbook Chain Store Sales: +2.4% Y/Y vs. +2.8% last week. [Consumer] Comment!

8:59 AM The effort to split the Chairman and CEO jobs at JPMorgan (JPM) appears to have failed, reports the NYT, citing sources who have seen the early tallies. The 3 members of the board’s risk committee also look to have survived (an earlier leak says the 3 may be going no matter the vote outcome). The annual meeting begins at 10 ET. Shares +0.9% premarket. [Financials, Breaking News, Top Stories, On the Move] 1 Comment

8:56 AM Rexnord (RXN): FQ4 EPS of $0.32 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $540M misses by $2.9M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!

8:55 AM Multi-Color (LABL): FQ4 EPS of $0.56 beats by $0.07. Revenue of $168M misses by $3.8M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!

8:51 AM Yingli Green Energy (YGE) +22.5% premarket after raising guidance for expected Q1 shipments of PV modules to a 6%-7% Q/Q decrease, vs. previous guidance of a low-to-mid-teen percentage decrease. Overall Q1 gross margin is expected at 4.0%-4.2%, in line with previous guidance. [Energy, Tech, On the Move] Comment!

8:50 AM Monro Muffler Brake (MNRO) declares $0.11/share quarterly dividend, 10% increase from prior dividend of $0.10. Forward yield 0.99%. For shareholders of record May 31. Payable June 11. Ex-div date May 29. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

XLI, EXPD

8:49 AM Exponential rapidly rising or falling markets usually go further than you think, but they do not correct by going sideways,” is #4 of Bob Farrell’s “Market Rules to Remember.” Channeling that, BAML’s Steve Suttmeier sees stocks continuing their run with risks of a topping-out not arriving unti late summer. He’s most bullish on industrials (XLI) – particularly “oversold” EXPD, DE, CAT, FDX – and also thinks financials (XLF) will remain market leaders. 4 Comments

8:49 AM American States Water Company (AWR) declares $0.405/share quarterly dividend, 14.1% increase from prior dividend of $0.355. Forward yield 2.97%. For shareholders of record August 15. Payable September 3. Ex-div date August 13. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

8:45 AM Genesis Energy (GEL) plans to expand its existing Gulf coast rail terminal in Natchez, Miss., and construct a new unit train loading facility at the Niobrara shale play in Wyoming. At Natchez, GEL already is finalizing the first phase which includes 40 railcar spots; the expansion will provide an additional 60 railcar spots to be fully operational by late 2013. Total cost of the projects is expected at $75M. [Energy] Comment!

8:44 AM More on Red Robin Gourmet’s (RRGB) Q1: Company-owned comparable restaurant revenues rose 2.2% Y/Y. Operating profit margin up 30 bps to 21.5% on lower food and beverage costs. The outlook for 2013 includes comparable restaurant sales growth of 2.5% to 3.0% and operating profit margin of 20.9%. (PR) [Consumer, Earnings] Comment!

WMT, KR

8:40 AM A trend to watch: The grocery market in the U.K. is becoming increasingly polarized as both high-end specialty grocers and discounters pick up market share while national grocery store chains suffer. Is the same pattern unfolding in the U.S.? The Q1 read is that Wal-Mart (WMT) continues to gobble up grocery market share at the expense of Kroger (KR), Supervalu (SVU) and Safeway (SWY) while natural/organic chains (WFM, TFM, NGVC) remain a growth story. [Consumer] Comment!

8:39 AM More on Medtronic’s (MDT) FQ4: Revenues grow 5% Y/Y on a constant currency basis while non-GAAP EPS growth comes in at 11%. International revenue grows 7% Y/Y and accounts for 47% of total worldwide sales. CEO Omar Ishrak says the results underscore the company’s commitment to “delivering consistent and dependable growth.” By segment, the Cardiac and Vascular group saw revenues grow 5%, while sales rose 4% in the Resorative Therapies unit. MDT says it sees FY14 revenue grow of 3-4% and EPS of $3.80-$3.82 against consensus of 3.84. Shares +4.25% premarket. (PR) [Healthcare, Earnings, On the Move] Comment!

DXJ, DBJP

8:39 AM Following on the success of currency-hedged ETFs like those for Japan – the DXJ and the DBJP – Deutsche Bank plans the May 31 launch of the MSCI Germany Hedged Equity Fund (DBGR). It adds to Deutsche’s suite of currency-hedged funds: DBEF, DBEM, DBBR. WisdomTree – the creator of DXJ – is prepping its own German Hedged Equity Fund. Comment!

8:39 AM Red Robin Gourmet (RRGB): Q1 EPS of $0.66 in-line. Revenue of $306.3M (+2.3% Y/Y) misses by $0.06M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!

8:38 AM TJX (TJX): Q1 EPS of $0.62 in-line. Revenue of $6.19B (+7% Y/Y) beats by $0.03B. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!

LPI, EOSOF.PK

8:37 AM Laredo Petroleum (LPI) says it is selling all its Anadarko basin assets and properties to EnerVest (EOSOF.PK) for $438M. During Q1, LPI’s Anadarko production was ~4.9B cubic feet of liquids-rich natural gas and ~49.6K barrels of crude oil and condensate; estimated proved reserves were 162B cubic feet of natural gas and 1.5M barrels of crude. [Energy] Comment!

8:37 AM Diana Containerships (DCIX): Q1 EPS of $0.03 misses by $0.02. Revenue of $15.1M beats by $0.2M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] 4 Comments

8:36 AM Chemical Financial Corporation (CHFC) declares $0.21/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 3.18%. For shareholders of record June 7. Payable June 21. Ex-div date June 5. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

8:29 AM After accounting for fake transactions used to disguise hot-money inflows, China’s trade surplus is just one-tenth of the $61B reported YTD, according to BAML. This year feels like 2008 (when exports plunged) says a business manager tied to the export industry. “There’s no money to make from normal operations … that’s why grey-area or illegal practices emerge.” [Global & FX] 1 Comment

F, GM

8:27 AM Strengthening rumors of a steep 20% consumption tax on luxury cars in China could create a ripple in the automobile industry with expectations high for the segment and productions plans ramping up. On watch: Lincoln (F), Cadillac (GM), Mercedes-Benz (DDAIF.PK), Audi (VLKAY.PK), Tata Motors (TTM), and Porsche ((POAHY.PK). [Consumer] 3 Comments

8:24 AM AcelRx (ACRX) jumps 11.5% premarket after saying the Sufentanil NanoTab PCA System met its primary endpoint in a Phase 3 study, adding to existing positive results and ensuring that ACRX remains on track to file an NDA in Q3. Jefferies said last month it expects FDA approval next year and claims the treatment may generate $400M while facing few generic threats. (PR) [Healthcare, On the Move] Comment!

8:15 AM Chevron (CVX) reportedly is in advanced talks to sell its downstream assets in Egypt and Pakistan for ~$300M, receiving at least three non-binding bids from interested parties including regional and international energy companies. CVX and other oil majors are shrinking their downstream operations to focus on high-margin E&P activities. [Energy] 1 Comment

8:13 AM More on Saks (SKS): Comparable store sales grew 5.9% during the period while the retailer’s gross margin rate remained flat. The company notes it saw SG&A deleveraging as it invested in its omni-channel initiative. Saks says it will accelerate the launch of Off5th.com to this fall. FY13 same-store sales projected to increase 4% to 6%. SKS +2.2% premarket. (PR) [Consumer, Earnings] Comment!

8:10 AM Kid Brands (KID): Q1 EPS of $0.02 beats by $0.03. Revenue of $51.4M misses by $2.1M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News, Consumer] Comment!

8:09 AM Bristow Group (BRS) declares $0.25/share quarterly dividend, 25% increase from prior dividend of $0.20. Forward yield 1.47%. For shareholders of record May 31. Payable June 14. Ex-div date May 29. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

TRV, ALL

8:07 AM Keep an eye on property casualty insurers (TRV, ALL, CB, AIG) after all posted notable declines amid the Oklahoma City tornado disaster yesterday. The dip following Sandy proved a great buying opportunity (though from much lower levels). [Financials] 2 Comments

MCP, REE

8:05 AM Molycorp (MCP) +5.4% premarket on a report that China exported 2,196 metric tons of rare earth in April, a 28% rise from March, and 6,112 tons in the first four months of this year, double the year-ago volume. The data indicates bargain hunting may be reviving global demand for rare earth metals. [Commodities, On the Move] Comment!

8:03 AM Diageo (DEO) has the firepower to do more deals including taking a stab at buying out LVMH’s majority stake in Moet Hennessy, according to Nomura. An acquisition would help Diageo increase its presence in Asia. [Consumer, Global & FX] 1 Comment

8:01 AM Saks (SKS): Q1 EPS of $0.19 in-line. Revenue of $793.2M beats by $14.67M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!

8:00 AM On the hour: S&P -0.05%. 10-yr +0.02%. Euro -0.17% vs. dollar. Crude -0.31% to $96.63. Gold -0.6% to $1375.75. Comment!

7:59 AM Navios Maritime (NM): Q1 EPS of -$0.10 beats by $0.11. Revenue of $133.8M beats by $7.84M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!

7:58 AM Tidewater (TDW): FQ4 EPS of $0.95 beats by $0.34. Revenue of $328.3M beats by $10.48M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!

RDS.A, RDS.B

7:57 AM The European Union probe into potential energy price manipulation has made no adverse findings against Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B), CEO Peter Voser says at the company’s annual general meeting, a week after antitrust regulators raided its offices. Voser says any allegations of price manipulation would be “against everything we believe in at Shell.” [Energy] Comment!

7:53 AM More on Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS) Q1: Consolidated same store sales decreased 3.8% after adjusted for a calendar shift, a mark which was worse than the company’s own guidance for a 1%-2% dip. Gross profit as a percentage of total sales increased 8 bps to 30.87%. The retailer reiterates prior guidance of FY13 EPS of $2.84-$2.86 and says it expects same-store sales to increase 2%-3% during the period. DKS -0.4% premarket. (PR) [Consumer, Earnings] Comment!

7:51 AM More on Monro Muffler’s (MNRO) FQ4: It looks like Northcoast Research was a bit too optimistic in its EPS call for MNRO, as earnings are in-line with Street expectations (which, at $0.25, were still at the high end of guidance). Nonetheless, revenue beat expectations, rising 14.1% Y/Y and comps growth wasn’t as negative as the company originally forecast, coming in at -5.6% (adjusted) versus estimates of between -9% and -6%. Gross margins shrunk 270bps, and operating income fell 11.4%. Outlook: FY14 sales of $840-865, EPS of $1.65-1.80 versus consensus of $865.39 and EPS of $1.78. (PR) [Consumer] Comment!

7:51 AM ICSC Retail Store Sales: +0.2% W/W, vs. -2.0% last week. +3.1% Y/Y vs. +1.2% last week. [Consumer] Comment!

DIA, DOG

7:48 AM The DJIA (DIA, DOG) is on a DiMaggio-like run, having closed higher on 18 consecutive Tuesdays, the best “Tuesday streak” ever, according to Schaeffer’s (next best was 4 for any day). The only down Tuesday in 2013 was January 8th. 1 Comment

7:43 AM Prospect Capital (PSEC) receives a distribution of $66M after portfolio company Wolf Energy sells some oil and gas assets in Texas. Prospect estimates the cash has boosted NAV by more than $0.06/share. Had the cash flows been received in Q1, it would have cut Prospect’s loan assets on non-accrual to just 0.2% from 1.3% reported. (PR) [Financials] 4 Comments

7:36 AM KeyBanc upgrades Wet Seal (WTSL) to Buy from Hold, price target $6.50. Analyst Edward Yruma says the retailer “presents [a] significant upside opportunity” as a recent meeting with management indicates the company “can return quickly to its fast fashion roots.” Yruma does warn that this trade is more suited for “risk tolerant investors.” [Consumer] Comment!

7:36 AM JPMorgan (JPM) plans a shake-up of its board even if every director wins reelection and Jamie Dimon keeps his dual role, reports the WSJ. If the story is to be believed, it could mean Ellen Futter, David Cote, and Jim Crown – who sit on the bank’s risk policy committee and who barely squeaked by last year – are on their way out. The 3 are notable for either having litte or negative bank risk-management experience on their resumes. Annual meeting begins at 10 ET. [Financials] 2 Comments

7:33 AM Monro Muffler (MNRO): FQ4 EPS of $0.25 in-line. Revenue of $195.9M (+14.1% Y/Y) beats by $5.98M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News, Consumer] Comment!

7:32 AM Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS): Q1 EPS of $0.48 in-line. Revenue of $1.3B (+4.1% Y/Y) misses by $0.06B. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!

7:27 AM KKR sells its entire 12% stake (about $260M) in Australian TV network Seven West Media. Seven West Chairman Kerry Stokes believes funding pressures brought on by the high aussie dollar was a factor behind the sale. Seven West shares fell 3.4% in Sydney. [Financials] Comment!

7:23 AM BlackRock (BLK) fills a void, purchasing P-E property investment advisory firm MGPA ($12B AUM) to boost its Asian real estate business. The transaction – price undisclosed – is expected to close in Q3 and won’t materially affect EPS, says BlackRock. [Financials] Comment!

7:22 AM More on AutoZone’s (AZO) FQ3: Domestic store sales dipped 0.1% but the company says sales trends strengthened during the last four weeks of the period. Inventory was up 6.3% Y/Y, largely due to a higher store count and strategic investments in hard parts assortment. The retailer opened 33 new stores during the quarter to take its store count to 4,767. (PR) [Consumer] Comment!

7:20 AM Medtronic (MDT): Q1 EPS of $1.10 beats by $0.07. Revenue of $4.5B beats by $0.11B. [Earnings, Breaking News, Healthcare] Comment!

ICE, NYX

7:14 AM InterContinentalExchange (ICE) formally applies for EU regulatory approval for its NYSE Euronext (NYX) purchase. It was 15 months ago Deutsche Boerse’s buy of NYX was denied, but ICE feels it won a victory last month when the EU said it would rule on the purchase, as opposed to each of the state regulators having a say. [M&A, Financials] Comment!

7:12 AM More on Best Buy’s (BBY) Q1: Comparable store sales dipped 1.1% during the period, although the retailer did get a strong bounce (+16.3%) from online sales. If the shift of the Super Bowl and the impact from the decision to cut back on certain non-core businesses is backed out, comp sales were flat. Gross profit was down 190 bps to 23.4% due to the retailer’s increased investment in pricing and higher promotional stance. The company notes Samsung Experience shops will be a focus in Q2. (PR) [Consumer, Earnings] Comment!

7:06 AM Deutsche Bank (DB) slides 1% in the premarket after a downgrade to Hold at JPMorgan, the analysts citing concern about regulatory capital. Deutsche’s shares are up about 15% since the announcement and execution of a $2B capital raise late in April. [Financials] Comment!

7:06 AM China TechFaith Wireless Communication Technology (CNTF): Q1 EPS of $0.01. Revenue of $28.2M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News, Tech] Comment!

7:05 AM ChinaNet Online Holdings (CNET): Q1 EPS of $0.00. Revenue of $7M (-53% Y/Y). (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!

7:03 AM AutoZone (AZO): FQ3 EPS of $7.27 beats by $0.06. Revenue of $2.2B (+4.5% Y/Y) misses by $0.02B. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!

7:03 AM BlackRock (BLK) is upgraded to Buy at Macquarie, with price target lifted to $315 from $253. The asset manager is up 40% YTD, up 68% Y/Y. [Financials] Comment!

7:01 AM Best Buy (BBY): Q1 EPS of $0.32 beats by $0.06. Revenue of $9.38B misses by $1.26B. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!

7:00 AM On the hour: S&P -0.17%. 10-yr +0.07%. Euro -0.31% vs. dollar. Crude -0.54% to $96.41. Gold -0.75% to $1373.75. Comment!

UAL, SKYW

6:58 AM United Continental (UAL) says it signed a capacity agreement with Skywest (SKYW) to operate 40 Embraer 175 aircraft under the United Express brand name. The deal is in addition to previous Embraer 175 jets ordered for United Express. [Consumer] Comment!

SPY, QQQ

6:58 AM Stock index futures (SPY, QQQ, DIA) are little-changed following yesterday’s quiet action. Europe is moderately lower at midday and Asia closed down a bit – though Japan squeezed out a small gain. Comment!