ABBV, ABT

ABT, JNJ

12:27 PM New Gold (NGD +1.8%) is initiated with a Buy rating and $9.50 price target at Global Hunter. NGD is a mid-cap gold producer with four operating mines which also gets a significant portion of its revenue and earnings power from copper and silver exposure, which the firm believes gives it an advantage over peers in a declining gold price environment. [Commodities, Quick Ideas, On the Move] Comment!

12:17 PM Cirrus Logic (CRUS -17.2%) plummets after an investment presentation (Barclays Global Tech, Media, and Telecommunications Conference) in which it mentions “increased pricing pressures in the smartphone markets” and says “revenue for the fiscal year [will] likely [be] impacted by an expected decline in average selling prices” (slide 18). [Tech, On the Move] Comment!

DOV, NOK

12:13 PM Dover (DOV +4.8%) is upgraded to Buy from Neutral with a $90 price target at BAML following news it is spinning its Knowles and Sound Solutions businesses into a new public company. The firm had been concerned about DOV’s exposure to Nokia (NOK) and Blackberry (BBRY) platforms as well as the pace of the value ramp up on Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone. [Tech, Quick Ideas, On the Move] Comment!

12:11 PM Shares of small-cap, generic pharmaceutical maker Lannett Company (LCI +5%) get a boost today after being initiated at Needham with a Buy rating and a price target of $15. The firm calls FY13 a transition year for LCI as its operations are positioned for strong future growth, with potentially significant upside coming from additional generic approvals/product launches, and progress around key product filings. Technical note: The stock is currently in the process of breaking out of its 52-week range of $3.72 – $12.57. [Healthcare, Quick Ideas, On the Move] Comment!

DIA, DOG

12:04 PM Stocks have mostly erased big early losses, with the Dow (DIA, DOG) just nosing into the green – its outperformance a result of H-P’s 14% jump. The S&P 500 is off 0.3% and the Nasdaq off 0.1%. Comment!

12:00 PM On the hour: Dow -0.02%. 10-yr +0.01%. Euro +0.61% vs. dollar. Crude -0.73% to $93.59. Gold +1.21% to $1383.95. Comment!

11:59 AM Apache (APA -2.1%) should sell its assets in Egypt, which have dragged the company’s valuation by 20%-30% and is likely to get worse given the country’s “dysfunctional government, deteriorating economy, polarized society and exploding population,” Oppenheimer says, adding APA should use the proceeds to buy back 15% of its shares and reduce debt. [Energy, On the Move] 1 Comment

GLD, IAU

11:55 AM “The Real Bubble is Gold: and It’s Deflating,” writes MKM’s Mike Darda, who says the key turning point was the metal’s (GLD. IAU) failure to rally in wake of last fall’s QE∞ inception. “Investors simply took it at face value that gold was soaring and would continue to rise because of (the Fed).” Inflation picking up will be even worse for gold, he says, as this would make the Fed an aggressive tightener of policy. [Commodities] 8 Comments

11:46 AM HEICO (HEI +10.8%) jumps to new 52-week highs today, after the company reported late Wednesday FQ2 earnings that easily topped Street estimates. Revenue grew by 10% Y/Y, driven by strong organic growth in both its Flight Support and Electronic Technologies segments, as well as better margins. Looking ahead, the company says it sees increases in airline capacity and maintenance spending to yield moderate organic growth, and it raises FY13 growth guidance from around 6% to 8% to between 8% and 10%. [Healthcare, On the Move] Comment!

11:46 AM While controversy continues over the northern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline, construction of the $2.3B southern section connecting the Cushing, Okla., hub with the Texas coast is more than 75% complete and proceeding on schedule, TransCanada (TRP -0.7%) says. The 485-mile southern leg will be able to move 700K bbl/day of oil when completed. [Energy] 1 Comment

11:45 AM Kadant (KAI) declares $0.125/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 1.72%. For shareholders of record July 11. Payable August 8 . Ex-div date July 9. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

GME, NTDOY.PK

11:42 AM More from GameStop’s (GME -1%) earnings call (previous): 1) Mobile is highlighted as a growth area. 2) Execs flex their muscles, noting GameStop has $1B of trade credits a year to give it some leverage. 3) On the Wii U (NTDOY.PK), despite sales trailing off the company is convinced the console system shouldn’t be written off with new innovation coming. 4) Guidance was lowered due to Q1 results and based on new assumptions on the console cycle. (webcast) [Consumer] Comment!

11:38 AM Nordion (NDZ +9%) ramps higher this morning after the company says it will divest its Target Therapies business to BTG for around $200M. That means, after fees, NDZ should rake-in nearly $185M on the closing. The sale its part of the company’s larger strategic reorganization, and it’s hefty price tag for a business whose sole product is its targeted liver cancer therapy, TheraSphere. [Healthcare, Global & FX] Comment!

11:36 AM ChannelAdvisor (ECOM) trades 38% higher than its IPO price of $14 per share on its public debut. The e-commerce software firm plans to use the IPO funds to help it expand international operations and grow its marketing services. [Tech, On the Move] Comment!

11:36 AM ING. U.S. (VOYA +1.3%) is reiterated a Buy with $31 price target at BTIG following earnings. Analyst Mark Palmer holds that retirement services and asset management – not life insurance – are VOYA’s dominant businesses (they command a higher multiple) and he’s impressed 76% (vs. his modeled 70%) of adjusted operating earnings came from those units. ROE was up 120 bps to 9.5%, ahead of a 110 bp management goal. [Earnings, Financials, On the Move] Comment!

11:34 AM Firstbank Corporation (FBMI) declares $0.06/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 1.83%. For shareholders of record June 11. Payable June 27 . Ex-div date June 7. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

FTI, RDS.A

11:33 AM FMC Technologies (FTI -0.6%) receives what is likely to be a lucrative subsea contract from Shell (RDS.A) for work at its Stones field project in the ultra-deepwater Walker Ridge area of the Gulf of Mexico. Shell is targeting peak output of 50K boe/day under the first phase of development at the field, which holds ~2B boe and is believed by tShell to have “significant upside potential.” [Energy] Comment!

11:30 AM Heard during GameStop’s (GME -1.7%) earnings call: 1) The retailer expects the wave of next-gen consoles to have lower opening prices, but doesn’t provide estimates. 2) The game cycle is expected to regain traction in 2014 as adoption rates of new systems hit critical mass. 3) On the outlook for used games, execs think new consoles will kickstart a fresh round of buying/trading – but acknowledge long-term trends will be influenced by digital alternatives. 4) The company says it will maintain its previously announced pace of share buybacks. 5) In an important note, GameStop says it’s partnering closely with Microsoft and Sony to ensure a “seemless transition” to next consoles. But at what cost to profits? (webcast) [Consumer] 1 Comment

KOL, CLD

11:20 AM Coal (KOL) has been gaining on natural gas in U.S. power generation, but coal producers aren’t enjoying the benefits, buffeted by headwinds including increased regulations. Simmons analysts say most coal names do not screen as cheap, and the firm sees near-term volatility as investors trade around macro events; its sector favorites are Cloud Peak Energy (CLD) and Walter Energy (WLT). [Energy, Quick Ideas] 3 Comments

HPQ, DELL

11:11 AM The broad selloff isn’t touching H-P (HPQ +14.2%) following last night’s earnings. Jefferies’ Peter Misek weighs in with an upgrade from Sell to Hold. He praises H-P for having the discipline to sacrifice PC market share to retain profitability (unlike DELL; Whitman (transcript): “Maybe that’s what you do when you’re about to go private.”) Misek also likes the cash flow guidance of $7.5B – “(it) materially changed our view of H-P margin, cash flow, and EPS prospects.” [Tech, On the Move] 1 Comment

DISH, SFTBF.PK

11:02 AM Dish Network (DISH -1.4%) warns the Committee on Foreign Investment review of the proposed SoftBank (SFTBF.PK)-Sprint (S +0.1%) transaction highlights the serious national security risks the deal could pose. In particular, the company points to the potential use of Chinese-manufactured equipment on a foreign-controlled Clearwire network. [Consumer, Tech, Global & FX] 1 Comment

11:01 AM May Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Survey: +2 vs. consensus of -2; -5 in Apr. [U.S. Economy] Comment!

11:00 AM On the hour: Dow -0.48%. 10-yr 0%. Euro +0.33% vs. dollar. Crude -1.65% to $92.72. Gold +1.22% to $1384.15. Comment!

10:59 AM Chembio Diagnostics (CEMI +0.2%) bucks a weak tape after saying it won a $750K cooperative research agreement with a US government agency to develop rapid point-of-carediagnostic tests for five infectious diseases associated with febrile illness and to multiplex them into one assay. The eight-month project also hopes to optimize the test for use with a mobile reader that incorporates cell phone technology to enable the results to be recorded, transmitted and monitored remotely via a cloud system, in real-time. [Healthcare, On the Move] 1 Comment

10:56 AM Color from today’s Starwood Hotels & Resorts (HOT +1.5%) upgrades (I, II): BofA/ Merrill Lynch moves its price target to $84 from $70, noting the company’s “solid fundamental positioning and accelerating capital returns,” while Morgan Stanley sets a price target of $79 and says HOT’s “asset ownership/ property mix position it well given current trends [and] its selling mandate allows it to capitalize on near peak real estate values.” Like BofA, MS also highlights capital returns. Comment!

GM, NSANY.OB

10:52 AM Electric vehicle roundup: 1) The tiny plug-in car market segment will have two entrants with lease options at $199 per month – the Chevrolet Spark (GM -1.3%) and the Nissan Leaf (NSANY.OB) – as the automakers appear willing to take some losses to keep the segment alive and kicking. 2) In China, an EV rental project in Beijing draws solid interest. Electric vehicles in the city are already popular for short commutes with over 2.7K electric taxis slated for service by the end of the year. 3) An Elon Musk interview on Bloomberg TV dissects the Tesal Motors (TSLA +1.8%) DOE loan payoff in great detail. He also says he thinks the automaker has enough capital to avoid future capital raises. (audio) [Consumer] 8 Comments

10:51 AM Mortgage rates rise for the third straight week, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly survey. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.59%, up from last week’s 3.51%, while the 15-year fixed averaged 2.77% vs. 2.69% a week ago. The respective rates were 3.78% and 3.04% a year ago. [U.S. Economy] Comment!

10:49 AM CIT Group (CIT +0.2%) is reiterated a Buy at BTIG, with price target raised to $55 from $45. Mark Palmer sees 3 paths to a higher price: 1) Organic growth should allow the company to reverse a $1.6B allowance against a deferred tax asset that may end up being able to be used. 2) The company transitioning from deep-turnaround story to capital-return story. 3) Its status as an attractive acquisition target. [Financials] Comment!

10:43 AM Gordmans Stores (GMAN): Q1 EPS of $0.17 beats by $0.05. Revenue of $131.4M (-1.9% Y/Y) beats by $2.04M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!

OISHF.PK, XOM

10:43 AM The fastest revenue growth in the oil industry is putting Papua New Guinea’s Oil Search (OISHF.PK) in line for Asia’s largest-ever energy takeover, Bloomberg speculates. Its $19B PNG LNG venture with Exxon, sure to spin off lots of cash, starts shipments to Asia next year, and the 80%-complete project is supported by the government and local communities. XOM, TOT and Australia’s Woodside could be interested. [Energy] Comment!

STML, STEM

10:36 AM Shares of Stemline Therapeutics (STML -2.2%) slip this morning after Jefferies and Aegis Capital announced an exercise of their option to purchase around 620K additional shares in connection with STEM‘s previously announced 4.1M share public offering. The option’s exercise at $14.50 per share will add around $69M in total gross proceeds to STEM‘s coffers before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions. Closing is expected on or about May 28. [Healthcare, On the Move] 1 Comment

10:35 AM Art meets Finance: Lions Gate (LGF +2.4%) trades higher as enthusiasm builds for the company’s prospects after a strong performance at the Cannes Film Festival. The crown jewel for the studio this year will be the release of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire next November and in a nice little twist of cross-selling the movie’s teaser trailer displays the LGF stock symbol at the closing. (trailer) [Consumer, On the Move] Comment!

10:34 AM The sale of the rest of its stake in Industrial Bank doesn’t mean Goldman Sachs (GS) isn’t committed to growing in China, says Lloyd Blankfein, speaking from Salt Lake City – site of Goldman’s annual meeting today. Roll this one around: Goldman reaped about $12B in sales proceeds and dividends from its $2.58B investment made in 2006 just ahead of the IPO. [Financials] 1 Comment

10:30 AM EIA Natural Gas Inventory: +89bcf. Futures -0.08% to 4.18. [Energy] Comment!

YPF, REPYF.PK

10:26 AM A year after Argentina expropriated Repsol’s majority stake in YPF, there’s little prospect of a deal on compensation even though both sides would rather avoid a costly, drawn-out legal battle. Argentina’s lack of funds and its limits on the control private firms have over their investments, which could deter Repsol from accepting assets such as the Vaca Muerta shale field in any settlement, pose major obstacles. [Energy, Global & FX] Comment!

10:25 AM Quality Systems (QSII -6%) slips after its FQ4 missed across the board earlier this morning. Total sales grew by 2% Y/Y, but net earnings took a hit from reorg charges and a goodwill impairment charge for the quarter due to an operational review of its hospital unit. Separately, the company says it’s appointed Michael Aghajanian to its Board of Directors, effective immediately. Aghajanian fills one of the two vacancies on the Board after recent resignations. [Earnings, On the Move] Comment!

10:23 AM Buckle (BKE -5.3%) is having a tough day after reporting earnings and revenue that missed expectations. Sales rose 2.3% Y/Y during the period but SG&A expense jumped 2.8%, more than offsetting the revenue increase. Comps growth was 1.2% and online sales growth came in at 6%. (PR) [Consumer, Earnings, On the Move] Comment!

10:21 AM Hasbro (HAS) declares $0.40/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 3.44%. For shareholders of record August 1. Payable August 15. Ex-div date July 30. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

SPY, QQQ

10:19 AM Off the lows. Forty-five minutes into the session finds stocks posting just moderate losses. S&P 500 (SPY -0.7%), Nasdaq 100 (QQQ -0.4%) – with Apple a notable gainer, +0.7%. George Soros’ reflexitivity: Worry of tapering sends stocks lower, thereby lessening chances of tapering. 2 Comments

HYHG, HYLS

10:12 AM The ProShares High Yield-Interest Rate Hedged ETF (HYHG) starts trading today joining the likes of HYLS and THHY. The fund will short Treasurys to offset its exposure to high-yield corporate debt and comes with an expense ratio of 0.50% – significantly lower than THHY (1.45%) and HYLS (1.19%). Comment!

10:10 AM Target (TGT -0.1%) appears to have a few aces up its sleeve as continues its rollout in Canada. The retailer has been conservative with food offerings, but has tipped off that is likely to change. It is also ahead of its expected pace of REDcard penetration which sets up nicely for repeat shopping trends. Also, execs are quick to note that expenses are heavy on the front side as the company is overly-cautious in order to make sure store openings go smoothly. (CC transcript) [Consumer] Comment!

10:10 AM Perry Ellis (PERY -3.3%) slides after the company misses on the top line in Q1. Management reaffirms its FY14 outlook for revenue growth of 3-5% and for adjusted EPS of $1.50-1.60, but cuts guidance slightly for GAAP earnings to $1.58-1.68 versus a previous range of $1.60-1.70. (PR) [Consumer, Earnings, On the Move] Comment!

XHB, ITB

10:07 AM More on New Home Sales: The March print was revised sharply higher – to 444K from 417K. April sales were 2.3% higher than March and 29% higher than a year ago. The median sales price was $271.6K, the average $330.8K. Inventory stands at 156K, representing a supply of 4.1 months. Homebuilders ETF (XHB -0.4%). (full report) [U.S. Economy] Comment!

10:02 AM Children’s Place (PLCE +6.7%) posts strong gains after beating on both the top and bottom line. From the report: CEO Jane Elfers says — in what is now a familiar refrain from retailers this quarter — that the company “had a difficult start [before] April sales improved significantly.” Comps growth was negative (-5.5%) as was sales growth (-3.5%). $56.2M remains under the company’s share repurchase program. PLCE also raises its EPS guidance for FY13 to $3.05-3.20 against consensus of $3. (PR) [On the Move, Consumer, Earnings] Comment!

10:01 AM Approach Resources (AREX -3.6%) reports a temporary curtailment of production due to a power failure at the Phillips 66 Sweeny refinery; as a result, AREX expects Q2 production of 8.7M-9.1M boe/day vs. prior guidance of 9.3M-9.6M boe/day. Power has been restored to the affected fractionation units at Sweeny, and AREX expects a full return to service by the end of this week. [Energy, On the Move] Comment!

10:00 AM April New Home Sales: 454K vs. 425K expected, 444K prior (revised from 417K). [Breaking News, U.S. Economy, Top Stories] 2 Comments

10:00 AM On the hour: Dow -0.63%. 10-yr +0.09%. Euro +0.31% vs. dollar. Crude -2.03% to $92.37. Gold +1.02% to $1381.35. Comment!

9:59 AM Also hit by something resembling a flash crash is Two Harbors (TWO -2.5%), which printed $10.91 (from last night’s $11.63 close) before quickly bouncing to its current level of $11.33. (previous) [Financials, On the Move] Comment!

FIGY, FEEU

9:54 AM Launching this week is the Barclays ETN + FI Enhanced Global High Yield ETN (FIGY), focused – as its name implies – on high yield stocks around the world. Also coming to market is the Barclays ETN + FI Enhanced Europe 50 ETN (FEEU) – composed of 50 European blue-chippers, making it similar to the Stoxx Europe 50 ETF (FEU). Comment!

NEE, AEP

9:52 AM Trading is temporarily halted in NextEra Energy (NEE) and American Electric Power (AEP) after early trades printed as low as $30.37 and $22.28, respectively. Yesterday’s respective closing prices were $79.16 and $48.59. [Energy] 4 Comments

RUE, ZUMZ

9:52 AM Rue21 (RUE +22.7%) trades just a shade under its buyout offer of $42 as the potential for competing bids keeps interest high. Of its retail peers, Zumiez (ZUMZ +0.7%) seems to be getting the biggest lift from the M&A buzz in the sector. [Consumer, On the Move] Comment!

9:48 AM Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR -7.3%) slumps again in early trading to briefly dip below $70. The report from the options pit is that action has intensified over the stock. Somewhere in the GMCR equation, the forecast for higher coffee commodity prices also needs to be factored in. [Consumer, On the Move] 2 Comments

9:45 AM The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index rises to -29.4 from -30.2 last week. Notably, the index climbed to -20.7 among homeowners, the highest level since January 2008 and 24 points higher than the level among renters. For the first time since November 2007, those earning $75K-$100K have joined those earning more than $100K in reporting a positive index score. [U.S. Economy, Breaking News] Comment!

9:37 AM Shares of Melco Crown (MPEL -4.5%) take a lashing in early trading on concerns growth in China will sputter. Citigroup’s favorite gaming sector name trades at roughly 9X 2014 EBITDA estimates. [Consumer, On the Move] Comment!

FN, SANM

9:35 AM Deutsche’s upbeat outlook for HDD names comes in a note which also contains cautious words from analyst Sherri Scribner on contract manufacturers. Fabrinet (FN -9.6%) may suffer from “continued struggles in the optical market,” she says, and Sanmina’s (SANM -5.9%) “lack of revenue growth” is disconcerting. Both names are downgraded as is Flextronics (FLEX -2.9%), whose price target is maintained at $8, but is cut from Buy to Hold. [Tech] Comment!

9:32 AM Ally Financial takes another step towards an IPO as it agrees to pay $2.1B towards the settlement of the ResCap bankruptcy. The move, says Ally, essentially removes the threat it would have to pay billions more in private claims related to its subprime mortgage arm. It’s also a victory for MBIA (MBI), whose share of the proceeds could be $600M, according to hedge funder Manal Mehta (he’s long). [Financials] 1 Comment

9:31 AM At the open: Dow -0.62% to 15213. S&P -0.84% to 1641. Nasdaq -0.98% to 3429. Treasurys: 30-year +0.6%. 10-yr +0.25%. 5-yr +0.11%. Commodities: Crude -1.6% to $92.77. Gold +1.52% to $1388.25. Currencies: Euro +0.4% vs. dollar. Yen -1.67%. Pound -0.21%. 1 Comment

9:29 AM Sempra Energy (SRE) slightly narrows its FY 2013 EPS guidance to $4.30-$4.60 from $4.30-$4.80 vs. $4.48 analyst consensus. Sets guidance at $4.25-$4.55 for 2014 and $5.10-$5.60 for 2017, and reaffirms its long-term compound annual earnings growth target of 6%-8%. [Energy] Comment!

9:22 AM Shares of Dollar Tree (DLTR) move 2.5% higher premarket as the retailer’s “impressive” Q1 results brings in buyers. Margins improved slightly during the quarter and the company seemed to navigate around some of the tax refund and weather ripples that hit Wal-Mart and Target. [Consumer, On the Move] Comment!

WETF, DXJ

9:21 AM WisdomTree (WETF) tumbles 5.2% premarket following Japan’s overnight crash. The stock’s more than a double this year as money has poured into its Japan Hedged Equity Fund (DXJ), which is off 7.3% premarket. Another yen-hedged Japan fund – Deutsche’s far smaller DBX ETF Trust (DBJP) – is off 8.3%. [Financials, On the Move, Global & FX] Comment!

9:20 AM Market preview: U.S. markets are indicated to open sharply lower, as jitters over when the Fed will begin to taper its bond purchases, an unexpected contraction in China’s manufacturing sector, and the Nikkei’s 7.3% overnight plunge combine to make a toxic brew. S&P -1%, Dow -0.8%. Basic resource stocks in Europe saw a selloff on the news. Still ahead: new home sales, EIA natural gas. Comment!

9:15 AM SABMiller (SBMRY.PK) CEO Alan Clarke says most of the brewer’s markets are growing, although North America remains sluggish. In Q1, revenue for SABMiller grew 10% to $34.5B while profit came in at $3.27B. The company notes MillerCoors sales were weak but higher-margin Tenth & Blake craft beer sold well. Latin America is a concern as growth slowed to 3% from a 9% pace a year ago. [Global & FX, Consumer] Comment!

EWS, THD

9:14 AM An upward revision to Q1 GDP did little for stocks in Singapore (EWS) as the Straits Times tumbles 1.77% to its lowest level in in two weeks amid global selling. Across the region: Thai equities (THD) fall 1.5%, amid “caution” before next week’s central bank meeting (on down days it’s “rate cut caution” on up days its “rate cut speculation“), Malaysian shares (EWM) drop 0.61% in Kuala Lumpur, and Philippine stocks (EPHE) sink 0.96% in Manila, erasing three quarters of a two-day rally. [Global & FX] Comment!

9:13 AM OFG Bancorp (OFG) declares $0.06/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 1.40%. For shareholders of record June 28. Payable July 15. Ex-div date June 26. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

RUE, PSUN

9:12 AM Premarket gainers: RUE +24%. PSUN +11%. HPQ +10%. VVTV +7%. Losers: STP -12%. CLNT -11%. NMR -9%. JRCC -9%. MTU -8%. SAAS -8%. DRYS -8%. SOL -8%. SMFG -7%. NBG -7%. SNE -6%. TSL -6%. RSOL -6%. WETF -5%. [On the Move] Comment!

9:10 AM ING. U.S. (VOYA): Q1 operating EPS of $0.73 vs. $0.68 a year ago and within the range the company announced prior to its IPO earlier this month. (PR) [Earnings, Financials] Comment!

9:05 AM Unum Group (UNM) declares $0.145/share quarterly dividend, 11.5% increase from prior dividend of $0.13. Forward yield 2.10%.The dividend is expected to be paid in 3Q. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

9:03 AM Sanmina (SANM) -3.6% premarket after Deutsche Bank downgrades shares to Sell from Hold after rising 23% YTD “without a change in fundamentals or an improvement in profitability or revenue growth.” The firm also is more conservative on a back-half recovery in the telecom and networking markets, which comprise ~50% of SANM’s sales. [Tech, On the Move] Comment!

9:02 AM US May PMI Manufacturing fell to 51.9 vs consensus of 50.8, 52.0 in Apr. Comment!

9:00 AM Lincoln National Corporation (LNC) declares $0.12/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 1.38%. For shareholders of record July 10. Payable August 1. Ex-div date June 6. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

9:00 AM On the hour: S&P -0.96%. 10-yr +0.13%. Euro +0.32% vs. dollar. Crude -1.53% to $92.84. Gold +1.26% to $1384.65. Comment!

8:57 AM More on GameStop (GME): The retailer says comparable store sales fell 6.7% Y/Y during Q1 with new hardware sales down 30.6% and pre-owned sales slipping 7.5%. Looking for channels for future growth? During Q1, mobile sales grew 290% to $46.8M and digital sales rose 47.3%. FY13 EPS is pegged at $2.90-$3.15 vs. $2.75-$3.15 previous and the company’s outlook for comparable store sales is improved slightly. GME +1.5% premarket. (PR) [Consumer, Earnings, On the Move] 2 Comments

8:54 AM Marathon Oil (MRO) -2.5% premarket after saying it failed to reach a deal with a prospective buyer for a portion of its 20% outside-operated interest in Alberta’s Athabasca Oil Sands Project. MRO says its goal of divesting $1.5B-$3B in assets during 2011-13 remains intact. [Energy, On the Move] Comment!

8:54 AM More on Stein Mart’s (SMRT) Q1: Net income, revenue, and comps post 35.6%, 3.8%, and 1.2% gains respectively. Comps rose 8% in April as the retailer closed out the quarter on a positive note. Lower markdowns contributed to higher gross profit and SG&A as a percentage of sales fell. Inventories were higher by ~$16M Y/Y “to support higher sales.” (PR) [Consumer, Earnings] Comment!

8:49 AM OneBeacon Insurance Group (OB) declares $0.21/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 6.04%. For shareholders of record June 14. Payable June 27. Ex-div date June 12. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

NCT, NRZ

8:49 AM Just spun off from Newcastle Investment (NCT), New Residential (NRZ) gets busy, announcing a co-investment with Nationstar Mortgage (NSM) in a recent acquisition of MSRs with UPB of about $23B. New Residential is investing about $38M in exchange for one-third of the monthly cash flow, net of a fee paid to Nationstar, which will perform all servicing functions. All of the mentioned companies are in the portfolio of Fortress Investment (FIG), which has also acquired one-third of the cash flows. (PR) [Financials] Comment!

ARO, ZUMZ

8:48 AM Though it’s shaping up to be a tough market day, a couple of Rue21 peers could get a lift after the retailer lands a sweet premium in a takeover bid. On watch: ARO, ZUMZ, WTSL, EXPR. [Consumer] Comment!

8:45 AM More on Rue21 (RUE): An initial 40-day “go-shop” period process will start today during which the retailer can try to reel in another bid. A low termination fee of ~$10M makes this a feasible option. If Apax Partners lands Rue21 it will have its work cut out for it after the company reported a tough comparable store sales decline of 4.6% for Q1. (PR) [Consumer, M&A] Comment!

8:44 AM Bel Fuse (BELFA) declares $0.06/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 1.71%. For shareholders of record July 15. Payable August 1. Ex-div date July 11. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

TLT, TBT

8:40 AM More on jobless claims: The big decline nearly erases last week’s large and unexpected jump, and will do nothing to ease concern about “tapering.” The 4-week moving average is little-changed at 339,500. S&P 500 futures remain lower by 0.95%, but bond prices continue to give up some of their big early gains, TLT +0.3%. [U.S. Economy] 3 Comments

PTR, XOM

8:39 AM PetroChina (PTR) says it will seek to increase cooperation with companies including Exxon (XOM), BP, Shell (RDS.A), Chevron (CVX) and Eni (E), potentially teaming up to make acquisitions or joint exploration activities, as it makes expansion abroad a priority. PTR plans to invest ~$60B this decade in global oil and natural gas assets to increase the share of overseas output to half of its total. [Energy] Comment!

8:38 AM Apax Partners acquires Rue21 (RUE) for $42 per share. The deal price is a 23% premium over the retailer’s closing price from yesterday. [M&A, Consumer] Comment!

8:36 AM Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) declares $0.15/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 0.70%. For shareholders of record June 17. Payable July 15. Ex-div date June 13. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

8:35 AM STEALTHGAS (GASS): Q1 EPS of $0.26. Revenue of $29.4M (+1% Y/Y). (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!

8:35 AM Johnson & Johnson’s (JNJ) Pharmaceuticals Business Review is just getting underway (webcast) (agenda) (presentation). The company anticipates more than 10 new product filings and 25 significant brand extensions by 2017. Shares -1.2% premarket. [Healthcare, Breaking News] Comment!

8:34 AM Toro (TTC): FQ2 EPS of $1.32 beats by $0.15. Revenue of $704M beats by $3.65M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!

8:33 AM Advance Auto (AAP): Q1 EPS of $1.65 beats by $0.03. Revenue of $2.01B. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!

8:32 AM Gamestop (GME): Q1 EPS of $0.46 beats by $0.06. Revenue of $1.87B (-6.8% Y/Y) beats by $0.03B. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!

8:30 AM Initial Jobless Claims: -23K to 340K vs. 345K consensus, 363K prior (revised). Continuing claims -112K to 2.91M. [U.S. Economy, Top Stories, Breaking News] 5 Comments

DPZ, PXP

8:23 AM Domino’s Pizza (DPZ) +3.3% premarket on news it will replace Plains Exploration (PXP) in the S&P MidCap 400 after the close on May 30. Cynosure (CYNO), which will replace NCI Building Systems (NCS), +4.3%. NCS -5.5%. [Consumer, Tech, On the Move] Comment!

8:22 AM Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory (RMCF) declares $0.11/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 3.30%. For shareholders of record June 4. Payable June 14. Ex-div date May 31. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

STX, WDC

8:19 AM Deutsche Bank’s Sherri Scribner (who likes the HDD space) upgrades Seagate Technology (STX) to Buy from Hold and raises the price target on it ($46 from $40) and shares of Western Digital (WDC). She says outperformance stemming from “the impact of the Thailand floods, which reset pricing and profitability higher” and industry consolidation will continue to benefit the two companies which Jim Chanos recently called value traps (STX is his favorite short). Meanwhile, SA contributor Sneha Shah also likes the industry consolidation thesis. (See also: Lazard’s PT boost for WDC) STX +.85% premarket. [Tech] 1 Comment

8:19 AM Forest Labs (FRX) expects to name a successor to Howard Solomon by the end of the year as the CEO announces his retirement, effective Dec. 31 (he’ll be 86). Solomon expects to remain Chairman through the 2014 annual meeting, at which a new one will be elected. (PR) [Healthcare] Comment!

8:18 AM Jefferies thinks Limited Brands (LTD) still looks an underperformer after it dissected the retailer’s Q1 results. Analyst Randal Konik calls out the slowing same-store sales growth trends for the company and notes it will run up against some tough margin comparables later in the year. [Consumer] Comment!

8:14 AM More on Ralph Lauren’s (RL) Q1: An efficient quarter from the retailer but a tad light on revenue. The company says strong retail segment growth was offset in part by unfavorable currency swings and a dip in sales for its wholesale segment. Operating expenses as a percentage of sales were flat Y/Y and 50 bps lower M/M. Consolidated comparable store sales rose 3% during the period. The FY14 outlook includes a 4% to 7% forecast for revenue growth and capex spending of $350M-$450M. RL -3.8% premarket. (PR) [Consumer, Earnings, On the Move] Comment!

8:13 AM McDonald’s (MCD) declares $0.77/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 3.03%. For shareholders of record June 3. Payable June 17. Ex-div date May 30. (PR) [Dividends] 2 Comments

BASFY.PK, MON

8:11 AM BASF (BASFY.PK) and Monsanto (MON) plan to commercially launch a drought-tolerant variety of genetically modified corn in the U.S. next year, a senior BASF official says. The two companies have a revenue sharing arrangement, with 60% of revenue going to MON and the rest to BASF. [Commodities, Consumer] Comment!

8:09 AM Trans World Entertainment (TWMC): Q1 EPS of $0.05. Revenue of $93.9M (-16.3% Y/Y). (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!

8:09 AM Apollo Investment Corporation (AINV) declares $0.20/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 9.37%. For shareholders of record June 20. Payable July 5. Ex-div date June 18. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

8:08 AM KeyCorp (KEY) names Donald Kimble CFO, effective June 3. He’s currently the CFO of Huntington Bancshares (CFO) which presumably is now on the hunt for one. (PR) [Financials] Comment!

MGM, MPEL

8:06 AM Macau-sensitive stocks could swing lower as a subpar reading on China PMI casts doubts on the strength of the economy in the nation. Any type of sustained slowdown in China would rattle the sector with double-digit gaming revenue from Macau baked into valuations. On watch: MGM, MPEL, WYNN, LVS. [Consumer] Comment!

8:05 AM Stein Mart (SMRT): Q1 EPS of $0.33 beats by $0.05. Revenue of $321.3M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!

8:04 AM Asia Entertainment (AERL): Q1 EPS of $0.36 misses by $0.04. Revenue of $64.3M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!

8:02 AM Polo Ralph Lauren (RL): FQ4 EPS of $1.37 beats by $0.07. Revenue of $1.6B misses by $0.1B. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News, Consumer] Comment!

8:01 AM Limited Brands (LTD) (now going by L Brands) could trade higher when it opens after raising its full-year EPS guidance to $2.95-$3.15 from $2.92-$3.12 on top of a minor EPS beat with its Q1 report. The retailer saw steady sales gains across its brands during the last quarter while expenses and inventory only rose moderately. [Consumer] Comment!

8:01 AM On the hour: S&P -1.02%. 10-yr +0.19%. Euro +0.22% vs. dollar. Crude -1.11% to $93.23. Gold +1.74% to $1391.25. Comment!

8:00 AM More on Apollo Investment (AINV) FQ4 earnings: NAV of $8.27/share vs. $8.14 on Dec. 31 and current price of $8.54. Gross investment activity of $428M, net activity of $199M. Investment portfolio of $2.85B, up from $2.68B a year ago. CC at 10 ET. (PR) [Financials, Earnings] Comment!

7:55 AM The Republican-controlled House last night approved a bill saying a presidential permit was not needed to approve the Canada-to-Nebraska leg of the Keystone XL pipeline (TRP), but the vote may have emboldened opposition, as 50 fewer Democrats backed the bill than a similar one a year ago. The bill’s fate in the Senate is uncertain, and Pres. Obama has promised a veto. [Energy] 5 Comments

7:54 AM The FDA grants priority review to Celgene’s (CELG) NDA for the supplemental use of ABRAXANE alongside gemcitabine for patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. (PR) [Healthcare] 1 Comment

7:51 AM Volvo (VOLVY.PK) may sell its U.S. construction-equipment rental business, according to Bloomberg. P-E firms and several companies are reported to be sniffing around [Consumer, Global & FX] Comment!

7:51 AM Right on cue for the market dip, the AAII Investor Sentiment Survey shows a surge in bulls, their number jumping 10.5 points to 49% – the highest since mid-January, and against the long-term average of 39%. Bears jumped ship, their number dropping 7.8 points to 21.6% vs. the long-term average of 30.5%. 2 Comments

7:47 AM More on Dollar Tree’s (DLTR) Q1: Comparable store sales rose 2.1% during the period and operating margin improved by 70 bps. A net 92 stores were opened during Q1. For Q2, the retailer expects sales of $1.81B to $1.86B and EPS of $0.52-$0.57, higher than prior guidance but a bit short of Street estimates. DLTR +1.3% premarket. (PR) [Consumer, Earnings] Comment!

7:45 AM More on Alkermes’ (ALKS) FQ4 : Revenues from five key commercial products rise +26% Y/Y and free cash flow jumps to $48M from $8.4M. For the full year (the first full year that reflects the Elan Drug merger) revenues and (non-GAAP) net income rise 48% and 285% to $575.5M and $1.31/share respectively. AMPYRA/FAMPYRA revenues were $65M for the full year vs. $24.6M for FY12 and VIVITROL revenues rose 41% Y/Y to $58.1M. Operating expenses ex a one-time restructuring charge were essentially flat. (PR) [Healthcare] 1 Comment

7:44 AM Gap Inc (GPS) declares $0.15/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 1.46%. For shareholders of record July 10. Payable July 31. Ex-div date July 8. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

7:44 AM Dover (DOV) will spin off certain of its communication technologies businesses into a standalone, publicly traded company. The transaction should be completed early next year. Upon completion, Dover’s annual revenue, on a pro-forma basis for 2013, will be $7.4B-$7.6B. [Tech] Comment!

7:35 AM Following Dimon’s big victory, it’s back to business at JPMorgan (JPM) and a subsidiary – JPMorgan International Bank – is today fined £3.1M (not a typo) by U.K. authorities for systems and controls failings related to its provision of retail-investment advice and portfolio-investment services. Shares -1.2% premarket, inline with the broader market swoon. [Financials] Comment!

7:34 AM Perry Ellis (PERY): Q1 EPS of $0.62 beats by $0.03. Revenue of $262.3M misses by $3.52M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News, Consumer] Comment!

7:33 AM Bon-Ton Stores (BONT): Q1 EPS of -$1.41 beats by $0.32. Revenue of $646.9M (+1% Y/Y) misses by $18.33M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!

7:32 AM Apollo Investment (AINV): FQ4 NII of $0.21 in-line. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News, Financials] Comment!

7:31 AM Motorola Solutions (MSI) is maintained a Neutral at MKM Partners despite upbeat management comments at an analyst meeting yesterday. MKM sees the potential for more guidance cuts this year, noting the company maintained H2 forecasts despite missing its Q1 target and cutting its Q2 outlook. MKM notes more significant news from the meeting: The implementation of a holding-company structure for overseas units that should lower the 2013 effective tax rate to 10-15% from 32-33%. [Tech] Comment!

7:30 AM Dollar Tree (DLTR): Q1 EPS of $0.59 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $1.87B (+8.3% Y/Y) in-line. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!

7:28 AM Columbus McKinnon (CMCO): FQ4 EPS of $0.37 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $144.6M misses by $6.6M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!

7:27 AM Children’s Place (PLCE): Q1 EPS of $0.83 beats by $0.22. Revenue of $423.2M (-3.5% Y/Y) beats by $6.62M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!

TSLA, FIATY.PK

7:26 AM Slow down there Tesla Motors (TSLA). A blog post from Chrysler (FIATY.PK) says the EV automaker is “unmistakably incorrect” in its statement on being the only U.S. automaker to have fully repaid its government loans, noting Chrysler paid off U.S. and Canadian government loans ahead of schedule. On Tesla, Chrysler asks if it’s a short memory or a short-circuit that led to the disputed claim? [Consumer] 26 Comments

7:26 AM BofA/ Merrill Lynch upgrades Starwood Hotels & Resorts (HOT) to Buy from Neutral. That’s two upgrades (previous) for the stock this morning. Shares are up slightly premarket. [Consumer] Comment!

7:26 AM Shiloh Industries (SHLO): FQ2 EPS of $0.43 beats by $0.09. Revenue of $182.1M beats by $19.M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!

7:25 AM Kirklands (KIRK): Q1 EPS of $0.10 beats by $0.05. Revenue of $101.2M (+3.5% Y/Y) beats by $0.5M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!

7:24 AM Medtronic (MDT) announces regulatory approval for VIV procedures using CoreValve and CoreValve Evolut TAVI systems in degenerated bioprosthetic surgical aortic valves. It’s the first-ever approval for VIV procedures, a minimally-invasive option for at-risk patients. Shares -1% premarket. [Healthcare] Comment!

7:23 AM Patterson Companies (PDCO): FQ4 EPS of $0.62 in-line. Revenue of $964.9M (+3.1% Y/Y) misses by $4.54M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!

7:23 AM Cato (CATO): Q1 EPS of $1.05 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $269.7M misses by $5.M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!

7:22 AM Alkermes (ALKS): FQ4 EPS of $0.40. Revenue of $163.4M beats by $35.39M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News, Healthcare] Comment!

7:20 AM Buckle (BKE): Q1 EPS of $0.78 misses by $0.04. Revenue of $269.7M (+2.3% Y/Y) misses by $2.78M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!

7:18 AM Morgan Stanley upgrades Starwood Hotels & Resorts (HOT) to an Overweight rating from Equalweight. [Consumer] Comment!

7:18 AM Coinstar (CSTR) CFO Galen Smith says the company will see better results in the second half of the year as it benefits from a strong slate of summer movies. Box office total in the U.S. have slumped so far this year with a relatively weak slate of films partially to blame. Execs with Coinstar presented yesterday at the B. Riley & Co. Investor Conference. (webcast) [Consumer] Comment!

7:14 AM Cisco (CSCO) is reaffirmed a Buy with $26 price target at Citigroup which says the firm’s economic leverage is under-appreciated. More earnings surprises could drive the shares to $30, says the team. Cisco off 1% premarket, inline with the Nasdaq 100. [Tech] Comment!

7:09 AM Nissan (NSANY.OB) says it will recall 841K vehicles due to a glitch with the steering wheel of the automaker’s Micra compact model. The repair job will involve tightening a potentially misbehaving steering wheel bolt. [Consumer, Global & FX] Comment!

7:08 AM The Fed trots out St. Louis’ Jim Bullard who says it’s been awhile since the FOMC discussed an exit from QE, and he doesn’t think the group is about to start talking about it anytime soon. In fact, making Mr. Bullard nervous these days is inflation that is too low. S&P 500 futures are well off the lows, now -0.7%. 9 Comments

7:02 AM “I’ll take ‘Kiss of Death Magazine Covers’ for minus 7%, Alex,” tweets a clever fellow as this week’s The Economist cover shows Japan PE Shinzo Abe flying through the air like Superman. DXJ -6.9% premarket. [Global & FX] 4 Comments

UAL, DLAKY.PK

7:02 AM European regulators accept the concessions made by United Continental (UAL), Lufthansa (DLAKY.PK), and Air Canada (AIDIF.PK) on their existing agreement to share transatlantic routes. The carriers will give up airport slots in Frankfurt and New York City as part of the negotiated arrangement to open up competition. [Consumer] Comment!

7:00 AM On the hour: S&P -0.79%. 10-yr +0.11%. Euro +0.22% vs. dollar. Crude -0.85% to $93.48. Gold +1.56% to $1388.75. Comment!

6:56 AM General Motors (GM) says the Chevrolet Spark EV will have a starting price of $27,495 when it goes on sale in California and Oregon next month which will make it one of the budget leaders in the category. The model’s price falls to $19,995 after factoring in the a $7,500 federal tax credit. [Consumer] Comment!

6:56 AM Prepping for the government possibly classifying it as a “systematically important financial institution,” AIG is on the lookout to hire a director with regulatory experience. On the list are those who have run regulated financials as well as former regulators, according to sources. It’s a new regulatory day, and an insurance company whose board is heavy with insurance people won’t cut it anymore. [Financials] Comment!

6:52 AM More on Signet Jewelers’ (SIG) FQ1: Same-store sales rose 6.4% Y/Y, led by a 10.2% gain by Kay in the U.S. E-commerce sales in the U.S. division increased 48% to $25.6M. Average transaction prices rose during the quarter. The retailer expects to open 70 to 80 new Kay and Jared stores in FY14. (PR) [Earnings, Consumer] Comment!

SPY, QQQ

6:48 AM S&P 500 futures (SPY) -1%, Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) -1% following the Nikkei’s 7.3% crash overnight. In Europe, the Stoxx 50 (FEZ) -2.2%. Shanghai fell 1.2% as its PMI slipped into contraction territory for the first time in 7 months. Treasurys catch a bid, the 10-year yield off 5 bps to 1.99%, TLT +0.8% premarket. 9 Comments

6:47 AM More on Hormel Foods’ (HRL) Q1: Volume was up 4% during the quarter. Revenue gains were led by a 49% Y/Y increase in Grocery Products, while Refrigerated Foods and Jennie-O Turkey Store sales both fell back. Segment operating profit slipped 2%, partially due to higher grain costs and weaker commodity turkey prices. The company backs its full year EPS guidance of $1.93-$2.03. (PR) [Consumer, Earnings] Comment!

6:42 AM More on TD Bank (TD) FQ2 earnings: Adjusted EPS of $1.90 vs. $1.78 a year ago. Canadian retail banking net income of $877M up 5% Y/Y. U.S. retail banking net income of $392M up 9%. Wholesale banking net income of $220M up 12%. Provision for credit loses of 0.39%, up from 0.35% last quarter, 0.37% a year ago. Tier 1 capital ratio of 10.8%. Book value/share of $50.18 vs. $45.19 a year ago. Bank has applied to repurchase up to 12M shares on TSX, more than 1% of the float. (PR) [Earnings, Financials] 1 Comment

6:40 AM Bloomin’ Brands (BLMN) announces a secondary offering of 19M shares will price at $21.50 per share. [Consumer] Comment!

6:35 AM Signet Jewelers (SIG): Q1 EPS of $1.13 beats by $1.13. Revenue of $993.6M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!

6:33 AM Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD): Q1 EPS of C$1.90 in-line. Revenue of C$6.0B misses by C$0.07B. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News, Financials] Comment!

6:32 AM Hormel Foods (HRL): Q1 EPS of $0.46 misses by $0.03. Revenue of $2.15B (+7% Y/Y) misses by $0.04B. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News, Consumer] Comment!

6:31 AM Goldman drops a Sell rating on Realty Income (O): “We believe upside earnings surprise risk is larger in small-cap healthcare and traditional net lease REITs due to their smaller asset bases. Additionally, O trades at a 38% premium to our net lease and healthcare names on a 2013E AFFO multiple basis. Although we believe O’s record of a sustainable and growing dividend will continue, we also think material dividend increases are more likely across the REIT sector (average AFFO payout of 77%) than for O (92%).” O fell 4.8% yesterday and is off 1.3% premarket. [Quick Ideas, On the Move] 3 Comments

6:13 AM Pactera Technology (PACT): Q1 EPS of $0.12 in-line. Revenue of $152.3M misses by $7.02M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News, Tech] Comment!

6:09 AM Taomee (TAOM): Q1 EPS of $0.04 misses by $0.02. Revenue of $9.6M beats by $1.4M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!

6:06 AM Quality Systems (QSII): FQ4 EPS of $0.21 misses by $0.07. Revenue of $111.3M misses by $6.01M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News, Tech] Comment!

6:00 AM Overseas: Japan -7.3%. Hong Kong -2.5%. China -1.1%. India -1.9%. London -1.9%. Paris -2.4%. Frankfurt -2.7%. 1 Comment

5:41 AM The preliminary Markit composite PMI for the eurozone prints at 47.7 in May which, albeit still squarely in contraction territory, is still a three-month high. Both services and manufacturing “saw an easing in the rate of decline” and employment dropped for the seventeenth straight month. Ultimately, “the eurozone’s second recession in five years looks set to drag into a seventh successive quarter,” Markit’s chief economist Chris Williamson says. [Global & FX] Comment!

5:30 AM Japan’s economy minister isn’t worried about Thursday’s sell-off . “I thought the pace of the Nikkei’s rise recently was faster than expected [and] the weak Chinese data prompted investors to take profits all at the same time,” Akira Amari says. As for the yen: of course it rose, stocks were down, he notes. [Global & FX] 1 Comment

LNVGY.PK, LNVGF.PK

5:18 AM Lenovo (LNVGY.PK): FQ4 net profit of $127M beats by $20M. FQ4 revenue of $7.83B (+4% Y/Y) misses by $140M. Full year net profit of $635.15M beats by $16.91M. Full year Revenue of $33.87B (+15% Y/Y). [Tech, Earnings] Comment!

4:57 AM Monitoring the global sell-off: European markets are down sharply following the Japanese session with the FTSE -1.87%, DAX -2.6%, CAC 40 -2.45%, IBEX 35 -2.17%. [Global & FX] Comment!

EWJ, DXJ

4:42 AM Even Japanese stocks are subject to the law of gravity (who knew?) as a confluence of factors sends the Nikkei (EWJ, DXJ) plunging 7.3% on the session (the swing from intraday high to low was ~9%). Yields on JGB 10s (JGBL) spiked above 1% at one point as an already skittish and volatile market was further rattled by what have generally been perceived as hawkish comments out of Ben Bernanke and other Fed officials on Wednesday. Yields pulled back in late trading. Compounding the problem for Japanese stocks was the yen (FXY), which has strengthened some 2% against the dollar to 101.16 most recently. (See also: China HSBC flash PMI shows contraction) [Global & FX, On the Move] 8 Comments

FXI, GXC

3:17 AM China PMI shrinks for the first time in seven months, dropping to 49.6 from 50.4 in April, missing expectations. HSBC, who collect the data, didn’t mince words in an appeal to Beijing: “The cooling manufacturing activities in May reflected slower domestic demand and ongoing external headwinds. A sequential slowdown is likely in the middle of Q2, casting downside risk to China’s fragile growth recovery. Moreover, the further signs of labor market slackness call for more policy support. Beijing still has fiscal ammunition to do so.” ETFs: FXI, GXC, PGJ, YAO, FCHI, PEK, CAF, YXI, XPP, FXP, MCHI, YINN, YANG, TCHI, CHXF; BONDS: RMB, DSUM, CHLC, CNY, CYB, FXCH [Global & FX] 1 Comment

3:08 AM Equity futures turn sharply lower overnight, possibly in reaction to weak manufacturing data out of China and a mini-crash in Japan that left the Topix -6.9%. Factory activity in China shrunk for the first time in 7 months, reflecting “slower domestic demand and ongoing external headwinds.” S&P futures currently -1.1% to 1637.50 after dropping below 1634 when European markets first opened. [Global & FX, Breaking News, On the Move] 12 Comments

ARO, BLOX

12:10 AM Notable earnings after Thursday ’s close: ARO, BLOX, CRM, GPS, MENT, MRVL, P, ROST, SHLD, SVM, WSM, ZUMZ Comment!

AAP, AINV

12:05 AM Notable earnings before Thursday’s open: AAP, AINV, ALKS, BKE, BONT, DLTR, GME,HRL, QSII, RL, SLF, TD Comment!

12:00 AM Thursday’s economic calendar: 6:05 Fed’s Bullard: U.S. Economic and Monetary Policy 8:30 Initial Jobless Claims 9:00 PMI Manufacturing Index Flash 9:00 FHFA House Price Index 9:45 Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index 10:00 New Home Sales 10:30 EIA Natural Gas Inventory 11:00 Kansas City Fed Mfg Survey 4:30 PM Money Supply 4:30 PM Fed Balance Sheet Comment!

10:17 PM Ford (F) says it will close its plants in Australia in 2016 as a strong aussie and high labor costs weigh heavily on the Australian manufacturing sector’s ability to compete with cheap imports. The closures are expected to result in the loss of some 1,200 jobs. [Consumer] 5 Comments

OAK, APO

10:09 PM More P-E insiders cash in as Oaktree Capital (OAK) prices an upsized secondary (to 7M units from 6M) at $53.50 per share. The greenshoe option is for 15%, 1.05M shares. The company is using the proceeds to take out selling insiders. Two weeks ago, Apollo Global (APO) strategic investors and managing partners offered up 21.1M shares, and its CEO Leon Black has let it be known – now is the time to harvest. OAK -0.3% to $54.25 AH. [Financials] 1 Comment

10:06 PM China HSBC flash PMI prints in contraction territory for the first time in seven months, coming in at 49.6, down from a final reading of 50.4 in April. The new orders sub-index falls to 49.5 (eight month low) while new export orders stabilize a bit from last month. [Global & FX, Breaking News] Comment!

8:41 PM Singapore revises Q1 GDP up to show a 1.8% Q/Q expansion (seasonally adjusted, annualized) versus an advance estimate of a 1.4% decline. On a Y/Y basis the economy expanded 0.2%. The Ministry of Trade and Industry says “economic growth … is expected to improve gradually over the course of the year.” The Singapore ETF (EWS) is up 19.8% Y/Y. [Global & FX] Comment!

CAJ, FRCOY.PK

8:31 PM Japanese stocks move up in early trading, with the Nikkei Average rising 0.7% as a weakened yen gives a boost to exporters and offsets early losses in banks: Canon (CAJ +3.4%), Fast Retailing (FRCOY.PK +2.9%), Fanuc (FANUY.PK +1%), Sumitomo Mitsui Trust (SUTNY.PK -1.9%), Shinsei Bank (SKLKY.PK -2%). [Global & FX] Comment!

8:20 PM Citi’s Willem Buiter throws in the towel on a “Grexit” in 2014, notable not only because Buiter has repeatedly predicted Greece will eventually bid the eurozone adieu (putting the odds at 90% within 12-18 months late last summer) but because he is credited with coining the term “Grexit” in the first place. Bears needn’t despair too much though: Buiter still says “there is a fairly high risk of Grexit at some stage in the coming years.” [Global & FX] 2 Comments

8:07 PM US Airways (LCC) prices $100M in aircraft financing to reimburse the company for the cost of the purchase of two Airbus aircraft currently owned and two aircraft scheduled to be delivered prior to the date of issuance in June. It also plans to use funds to finance its purchase of seven Airbus aircraft scheduled to be delivered from June 2013 to October 2013. [Consumer] Comment!

7:50 PM More on Pacific Sunwear (PSUN): Q1 beat across the board as total sales rose by 4.7% Y/Y. But net losses widened, as the retailer was hit by store-closure costs and losses on derivatives, which led to gross margins narrowing to 25.1% from 38.1%. The company offered a better picture for the current quarter however, now expecting its bottom line EPS to range between a loss of $0.05 and a profit of $0.02. It also projects revenue of $209M to $219M. Analysts were expecting a per-share loss of $0.04 a share on revenue of $198M. Shares +19.5% AH. [Consumer, Earnings, On the Move] Comment!

LPS, FNF

7:13 PM Lender Processing Services (LPS) is the subject of acquisition talks with Fidelity National (FNF) and buyout shop Thomas H. Lee, with a price tag of about $2.9B, the WSJ reports. Fidelity National was LPS’ parent until a 2008 spinoff; a deal would not only bring the service provider back into FNF’s umbrella, but mark the latest of many deals Fidelity’s made with Thomas H. Lee. The deal values LPS at about $33/share; it closed Wednesday at $29.11. [Financials, Breaking News, M&A, Top Stories] 2 Comments

HPQ, GOOG

6:37 PM In its earnings call today, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) CEO Meg Whitman remarked that its position in the PC market has been boosted by recent efforts to sell tablets powered by Google’s (GOOG) Android, thus allowing it to compete in tablets again after discontinuing its Palm/webOS TouchPad in 2011. “If we have the right product and the right price, the channel still loves H-P and they want to sell our products,” Whitman said. “Frankly, having Android products helps a lot.” (Webcast) Shares +13.3% AH. [Tech, Earnings, On the Move] 3 Comments

6:19 PM Apricus Biosciences (APRI) gets slammed in the post session after anouncing a public offering of common stock and warrants, with a 30-day option to purchase additional shares and warrants to cover over-allotments, if any. Lazard Capital Markets is acting as sole book-running manager. Shares -13% AH. [Healthcare, On the Move] Comment!

6:00 PM AvalonBay Communities (AVB) announces a 7.9M share at-the-market secondary public stock offering by Jupiter Enterprise, an indirect subsidiary of Lehman Brothers Holding. 14.9M shares were issued to Jupiter in connection with the company’s acquisition of a portion of the Archstone apartment community portfolio in February 2013. The seller stockholder will receive all of the proceeds. Shares -0.8% AH. [Financials] Comment!

5:58 PM A theme bubbling up at the start of the annual MLP conference (where attendance is up 38% Y/Y): the largely retail ownership of MLPs is slowly shifting as more institutions get interested in MLPs. Individuals tend to be unwilling to sell MLPs as the deferred tax burden rises, and more institutional ownership could fuel more trading or short-short selling in MLPs. [Energy] 3 Comments

5:52 PM Bristow Group (BRS): FQ4 EPS of $1.01 misses by $0.01. Revenue of $391.6M (+10% Y/Y) beats by $11.04M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!

5:51 PM Financial Institutions (FISI) declares $0.18/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 3.65%. For shareholders of record June 13. Payable July 02. Ex-div date June 11. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

5:51 PM McKesson (MCK) declares $0.20/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 0.68%. For shareholders of record June 07. Payable July 01. Ex-div date June 05. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

5:50 PM Rockwood Holdings (ROC) declares $0.40/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 2.37%. For shareholders of record June 04. Payable June 19. Ex-div date May 31. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

5:50 PM Horace Mann Educators (HMN) declares $0.195/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 3.44%. For shareholders of record June 10. Payable June 28. Ex-div date June 06. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

5:50 PM Donaldson (DCI) declares $0.13/share quarterly dividend, 30% increase from prior dividend of $0.10. Forward yield 1.37%. For shareholders of record June 07. Payable June 21. Ex-div date June 05. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

5:50 PM First Capital (FCAP) declares $0.20/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 4.04%. For shareholders of record June 14. Payable June 28. Ex-div date June 12. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

5:50 PM Communications Systems (JCS) declares $0.16/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 6.52%. For shareholders of record June 14. Payable July 01. Ex-div date June 12. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

5:49 PM Panhandle Oil & Gas (PHX) declares $0.07/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 0.96%. For shareholders of record June 03. Payable June 12. Ex-div date May 30. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

5:49 PM State Bank Financial (STBZ) declares $0.03/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 0.78%. For shareholders of record June 10. Payable June 18. Ex-div date June 06. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

5:49 PM HCC Insurance Holdings (HCC) declares $0.165/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 1.56%. For shareholders of record July 01. Payable July 15. Ex-div date June 27. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

PSUN, HPQ

5:48 PM After-hours top gainers, as of 5:30 p.m.: PSUN +17.8%. HPQ +13.8%. NCS +7.6%. RTIX +5.8%. AMAG +5.6%. After-hours top losers: VICL -3.2%. CST -2.8%. SYPR -2.4%. HUM -1.8%. NG -1.8%. [On the Move] Comment!

5:47 PM While pundits parse Bernanke and the FOMC minutes, Jon Hilsenrath is advising Fed-watchers to expect less “tapering” talk from now on and more standalone steps to test market reactions and enable flexible follow-up measures: “The Fed effectively wants the markets to experience the same uncertainty it experiences… and it wants to condition the market to avoid jumping to conclusions about what it will do next.” [U.S. Economy] Comment!

TSLA, GM

5:46 PM On the repayment of its government loan, Tesla (TSLA) takes the opportunity in its press release to lob a few jibes at its competitors stating: “Following this payment, Tesla will be the only American car company to have fully repaid the government.” Both General Motors (GM) and Chrysler still have outstanding balances remaining with the U.S. Treasury. [Consumer] 20 Comments

5:45 PM Portland General Electric (POR) declares $0.275/share quarterly dividend. Forward yield 3.49%. For shareholders of record June 25. Payable July 15. Ex-div date June 21. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

5:45 PM Ross Stores (ROST) declares $0.17/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 1.04%. For shareholders of record June 11. Payable June 28. Ex-div date June 07. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

ARO, BLOX

5:35 PM Notable earnings after Thursday ’s close: ARO, BLOX, CRM, GPS, MENT, MRVL, P, ROST, SHLD, SVM, WSM, ZUMZ Comment!

AAP, AINV

5:30 PM Notable earnings before Thursday’s open: AAP, AINV, ALKS, BKE, BONT, DLTR, GME,HRL, QSII, RL, SLF, TD Comment!

5:28 PM OCZ Technology (OCZ) says it’s received a letter from Nasdaq indicating that the company’s failure to timely file its 10-K for the fiscal year ended Feb. 28 would be considered in determining OCZ’s continued listing on the exchange. The letter was anticipated by the company, which has presented a plan to regain compliance and requested additional time. Shares +3.8% AH. [Tech, On the Move] Comment!

5:18 PM Barrick Gold (ABX) is considering shrinking in size as it focuses on returns over production volumes, CEO Jamie Sokalsky says. Shrinkage makes sense for ABX, Stifel Nicolaus says, adding selling the company’s Australian assets would be a good place to start: “In order to have better managerial control, you’re better off with fewer but much larger assets, preferably in the same north-south time zones.” [Commodities] 2 Comments

5:17 PM HEICO (HEI): FQ2 EPS of $0.44 beats by $0.04. Revenue of $237.7M (+10% Y/Y) beats by $8.48M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!

5:15 PM Silvercorp Metals (SVM): FQ4 EPS of $0.04 in-line. Revenue of $33.15M misses by $19.06M. Shares -2.6% AH. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News, On the Move] Comment!

5:14 PM Flowers Foods (FLO) declares $0.1125/share quarterly dividend, 5.5% increase from prior dividend of $0.1066 (post-split). For shareholders of record June 05. Payable June 19. Ex-div date June 03. The board declared three-for-two stock split to shareholders on record of June 05. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

5:00 PM On the hour: S&P +0.1%. 10-yr -0.05%. Euro -0.03% vs. dollar. Crude -0.14% to $94.06. Gold +0.25% to $1368.75. Comment!

4:58 PM Tesla (TSLA), as expected, has paid off the entire loan awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy in 2010. The amount left on the loan had been $451.8M. TSLA funded the payment from a $1B stock and convertible senior note offering completed last week. [Consumer] 20 Comments

4:45 PM More on DryShips (DRYS) Q1 earnings: “Even though there has been a recent spike in some drybulk charter rates, we continue to be defensive about the short-term prospects of the shipping markets. Asset prices seem to be holding up but we do not expect any positive sustainable development in charter rates this year.” CC tomorrow at 9 ET. Shares -5.3% AH. (PR) [Earnings, On the Move] Comment!

4:44 PM More on Semtech (SMTC): Q1 comes in line on earnings but beats on revenue. Net sales rose 39% Y/Y on record revenues and higher margins. For Q2, the company expects net sales to be in the range of $164M to $172M, splitting the Street consensus of $167M. Gross profit margin for the quarter is expected to be in the range of 61.0% to 61.5%. [Tech, Earnings] Comment!

4:36 PM More on Synopsys (SNPS): FQ2 beats on all counts as total sales jump 15% Y/Y. Net earnings more than tripled on higher revenue growth and lower expenses. The company also raises its full-year earnings guidance to a range of $2.37 to $2.42 per share, and reaffirms its revenue at between $1.96B and $1.98B. For the current quarter, is sees its EPS at $0.53 and $0.55 on revenue between $475M and $485M. Analysts were looking for $0.57 on revenue of $496M. Shares +1.7% AH. [Tech, Earnings, On the Move] Comment!

4:36 PM Semtech (SMTC): Q1 EPS of $0.46 in-line. Revenue of $162M (+39.2% Y/Y) beats by $3.27M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News, Tech] Comment!

OKE, OKS

4:35 PM ONEOK (OKE) confirms comments from today’s annual meeting, where it said it expects to increase its dividend by 55%-65% between 2012 and 2015, driven primarily by incremental earnings and cash flow to ONEOK from growth at ONEOK Partners (OKS). [Energy] Comment!

4:34 PM More on Workday (WDAY) 2014 FQ1 earnings: Full year revenue guidance of $425M-$440M upped from previous $420M-$435M. Subscription revenue of $68.4M, up 85% from a year ago. Unearned revenue balance of $224M, up 12.5% Q/Q. Operating expenses up 62% Y/Y – Sales and Marketing +54%, R&D +75%. CC at 5 ET. Shares reverse a quick early tumble, now +1.4% AH. (PR) [Tech, Earnings, On the Move] Comment!

4:33 PM Shanda Games (GAME): Q1 EPS of $0.16 in-line. Revenue of $173M misses by $0.72M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News, Tech] Comment!

4:32 PM Limited Brands (LTD): Q1 EPS of $0.48 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $2.26B (+5% Y/Y) in-line. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!

4:26 PM ProAssurance Corporation (PRA) declares $0.25/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 1.99%. For shareholders of record June 27. Payable July 12. Ex-div date June 25. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

4:23 PM AvalonBay Communities (AVB) declares $1.07/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 3.09%. For shareholders of record June 28. Payable July 15. Ex-div date June 26. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

4:22 PM Westell Technologies (WSTL): FQ4 EPS of -$0.02 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $10.7M misses by $0.59M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News, Tech] Comment!

4:21 PM More on 8×8 (EGHT): FQ4 beats slightly on revenue but comes up short on a per share basis. Revenue from business customers increased 23% Y/Y, but business service revenue churn was 1.5%, compared with 1.6% in the same period last year. Business customer churn was 1.7%, compared with 2.0% in the prior year period. Shares -8.4% AH. [Tech, Earnings, On the Move] Comment!

4:21 PM Value Vision Media (VVTV): Q1 EPS of $0.02 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $151.4M (+11% Y/Y) beats by $4.63M. Shares +4.5% AH. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News, On the Move] Comment!

4:20 PM Extra Space Storage (EXR) declares $0.40/share quarterly dividend, 60% increase from prior dividend of $0.25. Forward yield 3.66%. For shareholders of record June 14. Payable June 28. Ex-div date June 12. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

4:20 PM More on Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) FQ2 earnings: FY2013 EPS guidance is upped to $3.50-$3.60 from $3.40-$3.60 previously. Operating margin of 8.6%, up from 7.9% in FQ1, down from 8.9% a year ago. PC sales down 20% Y/Y. Printers -1%. Enterprise hardware -10%. Services -8%. Software -3%. CC at 5 ET. Shares +12% AH. (PR) [Earnings, Tech, On the Move] 11 Comments

4:18 PM Ocean Rig UDW (ORIG): Q1 EPS of $0.05 beats by $0.25. Revenue of $246.44M beats by $23.21M. Shares +2.6% AH. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News, On the Move] Comment!

4:17 PM 8×8 (EGHT): FQ4 EPS of $0.05 misses by $0.01. Revenue of $28.7M beats by $0.42M. Shares -8.2% AH. [Earnings, Breaking News, Tech, On the Move] Comment!

4:16 PM Arbitron (ARB) declares $0.10/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 0.86%. For shareholders of record June 17. Payable July 1. Ex-div date June 13. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

4:15 PM Market recap: It was quite a day for the tea-leaf readers. Stocks spiked early on release of Bernanke’s prepared testimony, then began to fade as he seemed to break with the dovish tone during his Q&A, and then turned red as the Fed meeting minutes indicated a bit of a dilemma over when to taper. Gold futures, up more than 1% early, finished negative. The dollar rallied; Treasurys fell, lifting 10-year yields to 2%. [Top Stories] 24 Comments

4:15 PM Orion Energy (OESX): FQ4 EPS of $0.03 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $22.3M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News, Tech] Comment!

4:13 PM Spartan Stores (SPTN): FQ4 EPS of $0.48 beats by $0.11. Revenue of $592.81M beats by $6.36M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!

4:11 PM Synopsys (SNPS): FQ2 EPS of $0.66 beats by $0.03. Revenue of $499.3M (+15% Y/Y) beats by $3.03M. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News, Tech] Comment!

4:09 PM Workday (WDAY): Q1 EPS of -$0.15 beats by $0.03. Revenue of $91.6M (+61% Y/Y) beats by $4.69M. Shares -2.6% AH. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News, Tech, On the Move] Comment!

4:08 PM Century Link (CTL) declares $0.54/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 5.83%. For shareholders of record June 3. Payable June 14. Ex-div date May 30. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

4:07 PM DryShips (DRYS): Q1 EPS of -$0.10 in-line. Revenue of $319.7M beats by $10.5M. Shares -7.2% AH. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News, On the Move] Comment!

4:07 PM LyondellBasell (LYB) says that shareholders at its annual meeting have approved the repurchase of up to 10% of the company’s outstanding stock over the next 12 months. The repurchases will be executed from time to time through open market or privately negotiated transactions. Shares +1.1% AH. [On the Move] Comment!

4:05 PM Hewlett-Packard (HPQ): Q1 EPS of $0.87 beats by $0.05. Revenue of $27.6B misses by $0.52B. Shares +6.2% AH. [Earnings, Breaking News, Tech, On the Move] Comment!

4:03 PM PetSmart (PETM): Q1 EPS of $0.98 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $1.71B (+5% Y/Y) misses by $0.01B. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News] Comment!

4:02 PM Pacific Sunwear (PSUN): Q1 EPS of -$0.14 beats by $0.05. Revenue of $169.8M beats by $5.58M. Shares +4.8% AH. (PR) [Earnings, Breaking News, On the Move] Comment!

4:00 PM At the close: Dow -0.57% to 15301. S&P -0.89% to 1654. Nasdaq -1.32% to 3456. Treasurys: 30-year -1.05%. 10-yr -0.61%. 5-yr -0.27%. Commodities: Crude -2.07% to $94.19. Gold -0.99% to $1363.95. Currencies: Euro -0.4% vs. dollar. Yen +0.42%. Pound +0.7%. Comment!

GDX, GLDX

3:59 PM Prospects for gold mining stocks (GDX +1.2%) could be turning around at least in the short term, MKM Partners’ Katie Stockton says. She would consider adding some exposure to take advantage of a short-term relief rally within the downtrend, adding “the trade is likely to play out in the near term or not at all, so we expect to know if it is working in the next week or two.” [Commodities] 5 Comments

3:57 PM Telecom Italia (TI -2.3%) is said to value fixed-line assets at about $18B as it prepares to spin them off. The valuation, which doesn’t take into account debt, is based on six times Ebitda. TI‘s board is scheduled to meet tomorrow in Rome to complete a review of the spinoff plan, a move that could generate cash to help the former phone monopoly pare debt and reinvest in expanding coverage. [Tech, On the Move, Global & FX] Comment!

3:49 PM Thermo Fisher (TMO -1.5%) rolls over in a bout of profit taking today after touching a new 52-week high earlier today. The company reaffirmed its FY13 EPS guidance at an analyst meeting today, saying it expects to earn between $5.27 and $5.39 per share, bracketing consensus EPS estimates of $5.34. Revenues are still expected to be $12.84B – $13B, in line with the consensus of $12.94B. [Healthcare, On the Move] Comment!

WMB, QRE

3:46 PM Credit Suisse stresses a more defensive posture in MLPs, focusing attention on large, relatively liquid, investment-grade MLPs or affiliates with exposure to the coming crude oil production boom in North America. Its eight favorite MLPs to buy now: WMB, QRE, LNG, TRGP, CQP, XTEX, ACMP, GEL. [Energy, Quick Ideas] 7 Comments

3:46 PM SEI Investments Company (SEIC) declares $0.20/share semi Annual dividend, 25% increase from prior dividend of $0.16. Forward yield 1.32%. For shareholders of record June 17. Payable June 25. Ex-div date June 13. The board approved an increase in its stock repurchase program by an additional $100M. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

3:38 PM MidSouth Bancorp (MSL) declares $0.08/share quarterly dividend, 14% increase from prior dividend of $0.07. Forward yield 2.11%. For shareholders of record June 15. Payable July 1. Ex-div date June 12. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

3:37 PM Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR -5.5%) pulls back after triggering a number of overbought indicators for technically-oriented traders. SA contributor Markus Aarnio cautiously notes that this year all the insider transactions with GMCR have been on the sell side (913K shares sold vs 0 bought) and that shares are almost sitting on the median analyst price target. [Consumer] 1 Comment

FBC, OCN

3:33 PM Flagstar Bancorp (FBC) becomes the lastest bank to consider selling mortgage servicing rights, reportedly interviewing banks to manage the sale of more than $70B in MSRs. The business is lucrative once a certain scale is reached, but new rules force banks to hold more capital against MSRs, so lenders from BofA on down have been sellers. Specialty servicers like OCN, NSM, WAC, and NRZ aren’t bound by such rules and have been happy buyers. [Financials] Comment!

TOO, STO

3:33 PM Teekay Offshore Partners (TOO +0.7%) secures an agreement with Statoil (STO) to provide a floating storage and offtake unit for work in the North Sea. TOO says it will spend $220M to purchase the one-third of the shuttle tanker Randgrid it doesn’t already own for conversion into the FSO; completion is scheduled for Q1 2017. [Energy] Comment!

3:27 PM Terex (TEX -2.3%) gives back all the love plus more from an earlier Barclays upgrade to Overweight. The bank says that despite the stock recent 20% runup this month, it sees more upside from its consistent execution, leverage to an improving crane cycle and still-positive trends in the aerial-work-platform space. [On the Move, Commodities] Comment!

IEI, TLT

3:23 PM Treasury yields continue to climb following the hawkish interpretation of Bernanke and FOMC minutes, the 10-year up 9 bps to 2.02% and within 6 bps of the YTD high of 2.08%. Yields will fluctuate at the long end, but the middle is moving as well, the 5-year up 7 bps to 0.89% – quite a spike for an instrument yielding so little. The IEI – which owns 3-7 year Treasury paper slides 0.3% to just about a 52-week low. The long-term TLT falls 1.4%. [U.S. Economy] 6 Comments

SU, IMO

3:19 PM The Portland-Montreal Pipeline is the latest battleground in a protracted campaign by anti-oil sands’ groups to choke off Canadian access to U.S. markets. The operator of the little-known pipeline linking Montreal and Maine is studying how to make the line the first route to get Canadian oil sands crude to an Atlantic deepwater port, but the plan relies on supplies that may not be available for years. [Energy] 5 Comments

3:17 PM An FDA panel has voted 12-4 in favor of Merck’s (MRK -1.2%) insomnia drug Suvorexant, saying it helps people stay asleep. [Healthcare] 1 Comment

3:15 PM C&F Financial Corporation (CFFI) declares $0.29/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 2.37%. For shareholders of record June 14. Payable July 1. Ex-div date June 12. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

MPEL, LVS

3:10 PM Growth in Macau isn’t showing any signs of slowing down after shooting to $38B last year (6X more than Las Vegas) as a double-digit growth pace has become the norm in 2013. After a lot of consternation over a drop in VIP revenue, casinos in the region have proven adept at diversifying their customer base. New transportation infrastructure and the growing number of Macau hotel rooms are two more revenue drivers for gaming firms Melco Crown (MPEL -0.9%), Las Vegas Sands (LVS -1.2%), Wynn Resorts (WYNN -0.2%), Galaxy Entertainment (GXYEF.PK), and MGM Resorts (MGM -2.6%). [Consumer] Comment!

3:04 PM Don’t look for immediate changes to JPMorgan’s (JPM +1.6%) board, according to bank sources, following lead director Lee Raymond’s hint to “stay tuned” at yesterday’s annual meeting. Three of the bank’s 4 risk committee members squeaked by with less than 60% of the vote. The stock hits a 52-week high today as investors applaud shareholders backing away from the ledge by not coming anywhere near separating the Chairman and CEO roles. [Financials] Comment!

PGEM, WLH

3:01 PM Window, door and siding maker Ply Gem Holdings (PGEM) is set to price its 15.8M share IPO today for between $18 to $20 each, valuing the deal at around $300M. If history is any guide, the stock could be poised to have a strong debut. Already this year, three homebuilders have floated initial shares, the first in the industry since 2004. The stocks have all traded higher since, with seasoned homebuilder stocks also posting big gains this year as well. [Consumer] Comment!

3:00 PM On the hour: Dow -0.19%. 10-yr -0.59%. Euro -0.48% vs. dollar. Crude -2.05% to $94.21. Gold -1.34% to $1359.15. Comment!

2:58 PM National Bank of Greece (NBG -4.6%) will raise €1.17B of a necessary €9.75B capital hole with a 2.2:1 rights issue at €4.29/share (adjusted for a 1:10 reverse split). The rights will trade in Athens from May 30-June 7 and NBG’s current common shares will be suspended from May 24 to allow the reverse split to clear – trading to resume on May 30. After more than doubling in a month, shares are off 43% over the past few sessions. [Financials] 4 Comments

2:58 PM OGE Energy’s (OGE -1.7%) power systems “suffered a lot of damage” from the Oklahoma tornado, CEO Peter Delaney says, and some of the 500K customers currently without power “won’t have any infrastructure remaining to take any power.” Delaney predicts ~$20M in damage to OGE’s systems. [Energy, On the Move] Comment!

2:50 PM Tredegar Corporation (TG) declares $0.07/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 1.11%. For shareholders of record June 14. Payable July 1. Ex-div date June 12. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

2:48 PM Petrobras (PBR -3.2%) has $20B in cash reserves and isn’t facing cash flow difficulties as suggested by some market rumors, PBR President Maria das Gracas Silva Foster tells a Brazilian lawmakers, adding that a recent $11B bond sale was aimed at more growth and investment, not at meeting pending obligations. [Energy] Comment!

2:46 PM Bancorp of New Jersey (BKJ) declares $0.06/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 1.82%. For shareholders of record June 7. Payable June 28. Ex-div date June 5. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

2:38 PM Varian Medical (VAR -1.5%) says it’s received FDA 501(k) clearance for its Nexus DRF Digital X-Ray Imaging System, a diagnostic X-ray imaging processing workstation that combines radio frequency and digital radiography. [Healthcare] Comment!

2:33 PM Total (TOT -0.7%) approves a €1B project ($1.29B) to modernize its Antwerp refining and petrochemical platform, the company’s largest in Europe. TOT says the project is part of its strategy of focusing investment on its large integrated platforms to position them among the most competitive in the industry. [Energy] Comment!

2:27 PM American National Bankshares (AMNB) declares $0.23/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 4.32%. For shareholders of record June 7. Payable June 21. Ex-div date June 5. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

2:25 PM Highlights from Jamba’s (JMBA +4.8%) presentation at the B. Riley Investor Conference: 1) The company is seeing the highest growth rate in the lunch daypart with same store sales up 6% in 2013. 2) The chain’s growth runway is long with 1,000 international locations in the pipeline. 3) By 2016, consumer products could generate more than $15M in sales. 4) Store-level margins of 20% and comparable store sales growth of 4% to 6% is part of the company’s 2013 guidance. (webcast) [Consumer] Comment!

2:19 PM SolarWinds’ (SWI -13.9%) is downgraded to Sector Perform at Pacific Crest after yesterday’s $120M purchase of N-able Technologies. “The customer base, integration of the acquisition and deal size is incongruous with prior acquisitions,” the firm writes, adding SWI is spending half of its cash on an “incremental opportunity that pales in comparison to its existing” market. [Tech, M&A, On the Move] Comment!

GLD, IAU

2:17 PM Up as high as $1,413 following Bernanke’s (at the time) perceived dovish testimony this morning, gold (GLD -0.9%) reverses along with stocks. Markets make opinions, and now the focus on Bernanke is he’s prepping the markets for tapering. The just-released FOMC minutes push down gold even further, now at $1,357/oz. [Commodities, On the Move] 9 Comments

2:14 PM Boston Scientific (BSX -1%) slides in spite of reporting positive results earlier today from a pre-specified analysis of the first 60 patients enrolled in its trial evaluating the performance and safety of the Lotus Valve System in symptomatic patients with severe aortic valve disease considered at high risk for surgical valve replacement. The results showed the trials met primary endpoints in both performance and safety. [Healthcare] Comment!

2:10 PM Heard during Target’s (TGT -4.9%) earnings call: 1) The company justifies its stance that weather had a big impact in Q1 by noting sales in weather-neutral areas such as Florida held up better than the Midwest and East Coast. 2) The number of customers taking advantage of the retailer’s price match guarantee hasn’t changed materially either in stores or online. 3) “Sales and traffic in our digital channels continued to grow at a robust pace.” Backing out sensitive categories, the growth rate was 20% in digital channels. (transcript) [Consumer] Comment!

SPY, QQQ

2:10 PM Stocks had already shed their Bernanke-testimony gains from this morning and they head even lower following the release of the FOMC minutes showing a “number” willing to begin tapering QE as soon as the next policy meeting. S&P 500 (SPY -0.4%), Nasdaq 100 (QQQ -0.6%). The dollar (UUP +0.4%) moves to a new session-high, and Treasurys (TLT -1.3%) continue to sell off. 11 Comments

2:07 PM After an early 5% pop to the upside, Amarin (AMRN -0.9%) reverses course to trade lower after the company said the USPTO published a notification tied to its combination product of Vascepa and Statin Therapy. The application is part of AMRN‘s expansive portfolio, which includes 23 patent applications either issued or allowed, and over 30 applications pending in the U.S. [Healthcare, On the Move] 2 Comments

2:04 PM FOMC Minutes: A “number” on the FOMC favored beginning a tapering of QE as early as June, but the committee as a whole decided more progress on the economy is needed first. A few participants expressed concern inflation is under target and say future price developments must be carefully watched. One member wanted to boost asset purchases, while one wanted tapering to begin immediately. [U.S. Economy, Breaking News, Top Stories] 12 Comments

2:00 PM On the hour: Dow +0.17%. 10-yr -0.52%. Euro -0.36% vs. dollar. Crude -1.59% to $94.65. Gold -1.06% to $1362.95. Comment!

2:00 PM OpenTable (OPEN -5.1%) slides as investors seem displeased with its Q1 Restaurant Industry Index which shows a 1.4% decline in the number of guests served in reservation-taking establishments in North America during the quarter. Some markets (notably Atlanta, Chicago, Philadelphia, and to a lesser extent Boston) faced “notable headwinds” as Y/Y growth rates swung squarely into negative territory. (PR) [Tech, On the Move] Comment!

1:51 PM Johnson Controls (JCI) declares $0.19/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 2.01%. For shareholders of record June 7. Payable July 2. Ex-div date June 5. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

1:50 PM Joy Global (JOY -3.3%) slides today, making it one of the worst laggards in the S&P 500 after Barclay’s cut the shares to EqualWeight and lowers its price target from $79 to $66. The bank says it’s grown increasingly concerned about mining, and while JOY remains one of the higher-quality names in the space, mining-related austerity could be a more- prolonged headwind than previously thought. [On the Move] Comment!

AEO, HMRZF.PK

1:43 PM Google just released a new tool under Google Trends to rank the highest search terms per category. Though it’s not quite actionable advice quite yet, a lot of scientific abstracts have been making a solid case that in some industries a correlation between Google searches and stock prices exists. The trick is separating negative searches from positive ones. The most searched fashion brands on Google: 1) Forever 21 2) American Eagle Outfitters (AEO +2.3%) 3) Hennes & Mauritz (HMRZF.PK) 4) Tiffany (TIF +0.2%) 5) Hollister (ANF +1.2%). [Consumer] 1 Comment

1:35 PM Citing an FDA warning letter and the company’s revised FY13 guidance among other factors, Moody’s puts Hospira’s (HSP -0.8%) long-term debt rating on review for downgrade. The ratings agency says “cash payouts associated with [HSP's new medical device] strategy, remediation costs, and the potential for lost sales once its branded injectible sedative, Precedex, loses patent protection” could hurt liquidity and tighten credit metrics. [Healthcare] Comment!

1:34 PM Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (IRWD -5%) slips after pricing its previously announced 10.5M share offering at $13 per share. All shares are being offered by the company, and proceeds are expected to be around $136.5M. The company intends for net proceeds to support the commercial launch of Linzess as well as support general research and development within the Company’s pipeline. [Healthcare, On the Move] Comment!

1:25 PM The list of groups Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF +1.6%) has offended recently just got a little longer after a judge says he will contemplate an injunction against the retailer for discriminating against the handicapped. A lawsuit filed by a group of customers alleges the retail chain limits access to shoppers in wheelchairs as it caters to its targeted younger svelte crowd. (Previous: No plus-sized lines for ANF) [Consumer] 3 Comments

1:23 PM CTS Corporation (CTS) declares $0.035/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 1.18%. For shareholders of record June 28. Payable August 2. Ex-div date June 26. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

JWN, SKS

1:16 PM More on Saks-Neiman Marcus: A combination of the two high-end retailers could help save costs through store closings and would give rival Nordstrom (JWN +0.5%) plenty to think about. Still, striking a deal price could be very tricky with KKR advising Saks (SKS +17%) on one side and Goldman Sachs repping Neiman Marcus on the other. Stay tuned. [Consumer, M&A] Comment!

1:09 PM Sparton (SPA +2.2%) gains today after saying that it and USSI, a subsidiary of Ultra Electronics Holdings, have won $8.8M in joint foreign sales contracts for the manufacture of multiple Passive and Active Sonobuoys to the South Korean Government. Production will be done from their ERAPSCO/SonobuoyTech Systems joint venture, and should be completed by March, 2014. [On the Move, Global & FX] Comment!

1:08 PM Insmed (INSM +16.9%), which is now up a cool 74.5% since April 23, gets its price target hiked to $22 from $13 at Leerink Swann and $17 from $12 at Canaccord. Leerink cites the now all-too-familiar Arikace Phase 3 data catalyst and notes that “…after speaking with multiple MEDACorp KOLs and performing an extensive review of applicable literature, we have developed more conviction that Arikace is poised to be become a first-in-line treatment for non-tuberculous mycobacteria infections, [which may] present an even more compelling market opportunity than cystic fibrosis.” [Healthcare, On the Move] Comment!

1:07 PM Luxury retail shakeup: KKR is reportedly considering taking a stake in Saks (SKS +16.8%) and pushing the retailer to merge with Neiman Marcus. [Consumer] 1 Comment

CVC, CMCSA

1:03 PM The Xbox One is far from the future of television unless cable providers (CVC, CMCSA, CHTR, TWC) can work with Microsoft to create a superior video product that captures market share from satellite players (DISH, DTV), according to BTIG’s Rich Greenfield. Under the status quo, the Xbox One only offers a clunky way to control the TVs and DVRS of consumers without a complex home configuration. Greenfield says an edge exists for the cable industry, as long as it works quick before the Apple Television launch or an improved Google TV product is debuted. [Tech, Consumer] Comment!

1:01 PM Lancaster Colony Corporation (LANC) declares $0.40/share quarterly dividend, 5.26% increase from prior dividend of $0.38. Forward yield 1.91%. For shareholders of record June 10. Payable June 28. Ex-div date June 6. (PR) [Dividends] Comment!

1:00 PM On the hour: Dow +0.64%. 10-yr -0.57%. Euro -0.28% vs. dollar. Crude -1.34% to $94.89. Gold -0.32% to $1373.25. Comment!

12:55 PM Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD +5.4%) surges after at least two firms – UBS and RBC – raise their price targets after encouraging results from PXD’s first horizontal Wolfcamp shale well. The 24-hour initial production rate of 1,572 boe/day is considered very solid and comparable to the Hutt well in its northern acreage, which yielded an initial rate of 1,693 boe/day. [Energy, On the Move] Comment!

CLNT, MBND

12:52 PM Midday top 10 gainers: CLNT +125%. MBND +24%. ZLC +24%. RCON +22%. MNKD +15%. NOA +15%. INSM +15%. SGOC +19%. CETV +14%. SKS +14%. Midday top 10 Losers: STP -17%. LDK -14%. SWI -12%. MLP -11%. FXEN -12%. LAKE -10%. BALT -10%. DQ -10%. CSUN -9%. AMAG -9%. [On the Move] Comment!

12:52 PM Netflix (NFLX -1.2%) CCO Ted Sarandos says “Phase 2″ of the company’s slate of original programming could be double in size and tip toward “wildly” diverse audiences. He thinks Netflix will stay away from the development business, but will continue a hybrid approach to content licensing. He also sees binge viewing changing the way series are written due to the reduced need to rely on recaps and cliff-hangers [Consumer] Comment!

DELL, HPQ

12:51 PM Avoid names with hefty PC, server, or printer exposure, says Goldman, lowering its 2013 PC shipment forecast to -6.8% from -3.8% and – pointing at DELL‘s earnings – warning pockets of price aggression at OEMs could spread. Making the list are sell-rated: HPQ, LXK, and QLGC. H-P reports after the bell. [Tech] 4 Comments

12:47 PM A takeover of MannKind (MNKD +15.9%) is “highly probable” SA contributor George Rho says, in an article published this morning which suggests $27.50/share as a ballpark figure (that’s a 413% upside from Tuesday’s close if you’re inclined to keep score). Rho also notes that his “assumptions and projections would have to be considerably off the mark for the stock not to have substantial upside potential.” Meanwhile, in the options market, an investor rolled a short position in January $5 strike calls up to the January $9 strike — 31K contracts traded at those two strikes this morning. [On the Move, Healthcare] Comment!

12:40 PM LipoScience (LPDX +3.4%) trades up today after announcing the availability of its NMR lipoprotein particle testing using the Vantera Clinical Analyzer through Mayo Medical Laboratories. The analysis provides physicians and patients with a detailed assessment of cardiovascular disease risk from a single blood test that measures the concentration of low-density lipoprotein particles and other lipoprotein information. [Healthcare, On the Move] Comment!

ZAGG, LOGI

12:38 PM ZAGG spikes 6.4% amid reports that Logitech (LOGI) is in acquisition talks, RANsquawk notes. [Breaking News, M&A, On the Move, Consumer, Tech] 4 Comments

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