Briefing.com: Hourly In Play (R) – 08:00 ET

07:06

Louisiana Bancorp (LABC) announces stock repurchase program to acquire up to 5% of shares outstanding (14.95 )

07:05

XJT ExpressJet and SkyWest (SKYW) receive notice of early termination of Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting period for proposed acquisition (6.62 )

07:04

CBRL Cracker Barrel beats by $0.02, reports revs in-line; guides FY11 EPS in-line, revs in-line (48.59 )

Reports Q4 (Jul) earnings of $1.14 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.02 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $1.12; revenues rose 2.8% year/year to $612.5 mln vs the $611.2 mln consensus. Q4 Comparable store restaurant and retail sales increased 2.0% and 2.6%, respectively. Co issues in-line guidance for FY11, sees EPS of $3.95-4.10, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $4.00 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees FY11 revs of +3.0-4.5% to ~$2.477-2.512 bln vs. $2.48 bln Thomson Reuters consensus, with comparable store restaurant sales increasing between 1.5% and 3.0% and comparable store retail sales increasing between 2.0% to 4.0%.

07:03

NGLS Targa Resources to acquire Targa Resources' 76.8% ownership interest in Venice Energy Services Company for total value of approximately $167.5 mln (27.18 )

Co announced that it has agreed to acquire Targa Resources' 76.8% ownership interest in Venice Energy Services, a JV that is operated by Targa. Total value of the transaction is approximately $167.5 million, subject to certain adjustments. "Management's goal is to distribute to unit holders a portion of the cash flow accretion associated with this acquisition. If the closing of this acquisition occurs in the third quarter, we plan to recommend an increase to the Board of Directors in the annualized cash distribution rate of 4 cents to $2.15 per common unit for the third quarter of 2010 distribution, compared to the current rate of $2.11 per common unit."

07:03

AUMN Golden Minerals reports additional high grade intercepts and resource expansion drilling program at El Quevar (8.44 )

Co announces additional high grade intercepts at holes drilled on the El Quevar. The co has determined that additional drilling is warranted to further define the extent of the resource before completing the feasibility report. A larger resource base may support a higher production rate than initially contemplated.

07:02

CUB Cubic unit awarded a Schedule 70 - Information Technology services supply contract by the U.S. General Services Administration (39.46 )

The five-year GSA Schedule 70 contract allows federal agencies to contract more easily with Cubic for IT software and professional services.

07:02

LIWA Lihua International reaffirms FY10 guidance; expects to increase its gross profit by 46-53% over 2009 (10.47 )

Co reaffirms its full year 2010 financial guidance based on its recent capacity expansion and positive market trends in which demand continues to outpace supply and end market uses for Lihua products remains strong. Lihua expects to increase its gross profit by 46-53% over 2009, to $52.9 to $55.7 million, and grow its non-GAAP net income by 48-57% to $38.1 million to $40.3 million. Co also announced that it has 2,000 metric tons of its new copper anode product to its recently anno domestic customer, one of the world's leading copper and metal conglom

06:58

MDAS MedAssets signs definitive agreement to acquire The Broadlane Group; $850 mln transaction expected to be accretive to co's 2011 cash EPS (21.33 )

Co announces that it has entered into a definitive purchase agreement to acquire The Broadlane Group. Together, co and The Broadlane Group would have reported non-GAAP combined net revenue of $508.9 mln and non-GAAP combined adjusted EBITDA of $161.8 mln for the year ended 12/31/2009. The Broadlane Group serves more than 1,100 acute care hospitals and 50,000 non-acute care facilities across the United States, and co serves more than 3,300 hospitals and 40,000 non-acute healthcare providers. Under the terms of the agreement, co will purchase The Broadlane Group for ~$850 mln in cash, with $725 mln to be paid at closing and $125 mln to be paid in January 2012. As part of this transaction, co expects to achieve at least $20 mln of expense-based synergies in 2011. When combined with the growth of both businesses, co expects this transaction to be approximately $0.05 to $0.10 accretive to non-GAAP diluted cash EPS in 2011, excluding acquisition-related amortization, acquisition-related expenses, acquisition-related revenue discounts and share-based compensation.

06:56

S&P futures vs fair value: -2.00. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -5.00.

06:56

Asian Markets

Nikkei...9299.31...-22.50...-0.20%. Hang Seng...21696.04...+37.50...+0.20%.

06:56

European Markets

FTSE...5564.01...-2.60...-0.10%. DAX...6258.15...-3.50...-0.10%.

06:56

BP BP restarted relief relief well drilling operations (38.35 )

Co restarted relief well drilling operations from the Development Driller III (DD3) yesterday at 2:40pm ET following the successful installation of a lock down sleeve, a mechanical device that secures the MC252 well's casing hangar. The DD3 is drilling toward the MC252 well intercept point, currently about 50 feet below. Relief well operations will consist of drilling and ranging runs that will guide the rig's drill bit to intercept the well's annulus. Following the intercept, heavy drilling mud and cement will be pumped into the annular space to complete the isolation of the MC252 well.

06:35

GWR Genesee & Wyoming reports traffic for August: 73,711 carloads, an increase of 7,654, or +11.6% compared with Aug 2009 (42.54 )

06:34

GLGL GLG Life Tech announces FDA issuance of Letter of No Objection for Rebpure 97 stevia extract (7.55 )

06:31

LHO LaSalle Hotel increases quarterly dividend to $0.11 per common share of beneficial interest for the quarter ending 9/30/2010 (22.73 )

06:25

IMOS Chipmos Technology reports Aug revs increased 2.0% from June; reduces commodity dram exposure (0.92 )

Co announces revs for the month of August 2010 was NT$1,621.0 mln or $50.6 mln, an increase of 2.0% from the month of July 2010 and an increase of 45.7% from the same period in 2009. Co also announced recent efforts to reduce its commodity DRAM exposure and refinement of its niche/mobile DRAM strategic focus, under which the co reorganized its DRAM final test production line. Co also also plans to return seven high-speed DRAM testers at the end of leases saving ~$550K in monthly leasing fees.

06:23

DGI DigitalGlobe announces secondary offering of ~6 mln common stock; co will not receive proceeds (32.24 )

06:12

DYP Duoyuan Printing announces conference call to discuss recent company developments (2.99 )

Co announces that it will host a conference call to discuss the recent management changes, as well as the dismissal of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu CPA Ltd as the Company's independent registered public accounting firm, at 8.00 am Eastern time on Wednesday, Sept 15th, 2010 (8.00pm Beijing/ Hong Kong time).

06:06

CEG Constellation Energy to add 4.4 MW of solar power at Denver International Airport (31.24 )

Co announces the development of a new 4.4 MW solar installation at Denver International Airport (DIA). Co will finance, own and operate the solar installation and DIA will purchase the electricity produced by the system from co over a 20-year period. YGE will supply the photovoltaic panels for the project.

05:15

EVR Evercore acquires a 50% interest in G5 advisors (29.35 )

Co announces it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire a 50% interest in G5 advisors. Co will pay $20 mln in cash and securities at closing, with the potential for earn out payments based on performance through 2013. The transaction is expected to be moderately accretive to earnings under a range of growth rates for the business and is expected to close in early October 2010.

05:13

FNSR Finisar and Source Photonics settle patent dispute (16.17 )

Co announces it had entered into a Settlement and Cross License Agreement with Source Photonics. Under the terms of the Settlement Agreement, Source Photonics will pay a license fee to co in the amount of $14.5 mln for a fully paid-up license to the Finisar digital diagnostics and transceiver module patents through December 31, 2015. Payment in full is to be made by September 30, 2010.

02:00

CTIC Cell Therapeutics to appeal FDA Decision on NDA for Pixantrone to treat Relapsed/Refractory Aggressive Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (0.39 )

Co announces that it intends to appeal the FDA's previously disclosed decision regarding the pixantrone NDA to treat patients with relapsed/refractory aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Co had requested accelerated approval of its NDA for this patient group for which there are no currently approved drugs. Co expects the FDA decision on the appeal in the 4Q10.

01:55

CME CME Group issues statement regarding errant orders (271.03 )

Co announces that during a 6 minute period beginning at 2:38 pm (CDT) on 9/13/10, test orders that should have been posted into a quality assurance testing environment were inadvertently placed into active energy and metals markets on CME Globex. As soon as it became aware of the issue, it began working with affected customers and implemented other corrective steps. Co will keep CFTC apprised of developments related to this event.

01:47

ACE ACE Limited statement on proposed acquisition of Jerneh Insurance Berhad in Malaysia (56.68 )

Co provides statement pursuant to an announcement made by Jerneh Asia Berhad in Malaysia: The ACE Group has received approval from Malaysia's financial regulator to acquire Jerneh Insurance Berhad. The proposed acquisition price is ~$200 mln. "The addition of Jerneh Insurance Berhad will be accretive to ACE's earnings and book value per share and will meet our return-on-capital hurdle rate."

01:41

GRA W.R. Grace acquires Synthetech for $19.2 mln (27.35 )

Co announces merger with Synthetech. The aggregate purchase price for the transaction is ~$19.2 mln, less Synthetech's unpaid debt and transaction costs at closing, and subject to a minimum cash balance of $600K. The acquisition will provide co with capacity for the manufacture of specialty single-site and polypropylene catalysts used to produce plastics.

01:36

DPS Dr Pepper Snapple and RWDSU reach agreement on new labor contract in Williamson; terms were not disclosed (34.86 )

01:34

THS TreeHouse Foods acquires S.T. Specialty Foods for $180 mln (42.61 )

Co announces acquisition of S.T. Specialty Foods. Co has agreed to pay $180 mln in cash for the business plus up to an additional $15 mln in cash if the co achieves certain earnings targets for the 12 month period ending December 31, 2010. The transaction will be neutral to the co's earnings over the balance of 2010, but is expected to add between $0.11-0.13 per share to earnings on an annualized basis. The acquisition is expected to close in October.

01:25

URS URS expands and extends stock repurchase program (5.55 )

Co announces an increase and extension of the co's stock repurchase program. Under the modified program, co is authorized to repurchase, in any fiscal year during the period from January 2, 2010 through January 2, 2015, up to 3 mln shares of stock, plus the number of shares of the co's common stock equal to the excess, if any, of 3 mln shares over the actual number of shares repurchased during the prior fiscal year.

01:14

PNCL Pinnacle Airlines releases Aug Performance data (4.56 )

Co announces total passengers down 5.1%, rev per passenger up 1.4%, and load factor down 5.2 pts. For its Colgan Air subsidiary total passengers down 2.4%, rev per passenger up 6.7%, load factor up 2.8 pts.

18:35

TGA TransGlobe Energy provides mid-quarter update for Q3 2010 (7.91 +0.21)

Co reports that highlights include: Continued success in an expanding Nukhul development at West Gharib; New field discovery at East Arta #4; Record production in August of 10,204 barrels of oil per day; Five rigs currently working on TransGlobe properties in Egypt and Yemen, Rig contracted for drilling on the Nuqra Block in Q4 2010, and TransGlobe added to S&P/TSX Small Cap Index.

18:31

KEG Key Energy Services provides August 2010 activity data; total rig hours during August 2010 were up 5.8% compared to July 2010 (8.86 +0.10)

18:31

GTSI GTSI's Board of Directors rejects unsolicited proposal from Eyak Technology, LLC of $7/share (6.89 +1.71) -Update-

18:30

RURL Rural/Metro awarded 2-year extension of exclusive 911 ambulance contract in Orlando, Florida (8.50 -0.02)

Co awarded a two-year extension of its exclusive 911 ambulance services contract for the City of Orlando, Florida on a unanimous vote of the Orlando City Council.

18:30

GLD December gold is slightly in the red after hours, sitting at $1247.00 per ounce (121.62 -0.11)

18:29

USO October crude oil is just above the unchanged line in after hours trading; currently +0.01 at $77.20 per barrel (34.03 +0.26)

18:09

ThermoGenesis (KOOLD) regains compliance with NASDAQ listing rules (2.07 +0.03)

18:08

CLF Cliffs Natural Resources updates full-year 2010 North American coal outlook (67.55 +2.02)

Co announced that it is updating its full-year 2010 North American Coal outlook to include the Co's recent acquisition of INR Energy's coal operations and to adjust the production outlook for its legacy coal operations in West Virginia and Alabama. CLF indicated it now expects total full-year 2010 North American Coal sales volume of 3.9 mln tons, with an approx. sales mix of 3.4 mln tons metallurgical and 500,000 tons thermal.

18:06

THM International Tower Hill Mines: Management anticipates continuing to refine and improve project economics reagarding Livengood Gold Project, Alaska (5.94 -0.07)

announce results from the next phase of its Project Enhancement Options within its independently prepared Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for the Livengood Gold Project, Alaska. Management anticipates continuing to refine and improve project economics as additional information becomes available. The results from this phase of the Co's PEA report highlight two important alternatives under consideration for the potential development of the Livengood gold deposit.

18:04

Futures are higher after hours: S&P 500 futures are +2.38 from fair value of 1116.82 and Nasdaq100 futures +0.63 points from fair value of 1919.62

17:50

FUL H.B. Fuller misses by $0.06, misses on revs; guides Q4 revs in-line (21.00 +0.50)

Reports Q3 (Aug) earnings of $0.38 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.06 worse than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.44; revenues rose 7.4% year/year to $338.6 mln vs the $348.5 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for Q4, sees Q4 revs of $360-365 mln vs. $362.04 mln Thomson Reuters consensus.

17:47

IRWD Ironwood Pharma 18.1% higher at $11.50 after hours following positive drug news (See 17:41 comment) (9.74 +0.28) -Update-

17:45

CPTS Conceptus signs exclusivity agreement with VirtaMed AG to supply the EssureSim Hysteroscopic Simulator (14.33 +0.30)

Co has entered into a mutually exclusive agreement with VirtaMed AG as its exclusive supplier for virtual reality training of the hysteroscopic procedure that deploys Essure. The establishment of this strategic partnership will enable Conceptus to be the only company in the field of hysteroscopic permanent birth control with a photorealistic, high fidelity VirtaMed training simulator.

17:41

IRWD Ironwood and Forest announce positive linaclotide results from Phase 3 trial in patients with irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (9.74 +0.28) -Update-

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (IRWD) and Forest Laboratories (FRX) announced positive top-line results from the first of two Phase 3 clinical trials assessing the efficacy and safety of the investigational drug, linaclotide, in patients with irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBS-C).

17:36

XJT ExpressJet reports August 2010 performance (6.62 -0.03)

During the month, ExpressJet revenue passenger miles (RPM) totaled 878 million, and available seat miles (ASM) flown were 1,088 million. ExpressJet's August load factor for Partner Flying was 80.7%. The company flew 68,581 block hours and operated 39,850 departures during the month as Continental Express and United Express. During August 2010, ExpressJet operated 206 aircraft as Continental Express and 32 aircraft as United Express.

17:35

GLG GLG announces tender offer for outstanding warrants (4.48 +0.01)

Co announced that it has commenced a tender offer for any or all of its outstanding warrants, including public warrants (GLGWS), for a purchase price of $0.129 per warrant, in cash, without interest.

17:31

PLOW Douglas Dynamics announces first post-IPO dividend payment of $0.1825 (12.83 +0.49)

PLOW announced that pursuant to the Co's dividend policy its board of directors has declared an initial quarterly cash dividend of $0.1825 per share of the Company's common stock.

17:31

SYMC Symantec prices $1.1 bln senior unsecured note offering (15.01 +0.15) -Update-

Co announced the pricing of two series of its senior unsecured notes in an aggregate principal amount of $1.1 bln, in an underwritten, registered public offering. Of these notes, $350 mln will mature on September 15, 2015, and will bear interest at an annual rate of 2.75%, and $750 mln will mature on September 15, 2020, and will bear interest at an annual rate of 4.2%.

17:25

WRB W. R. Berkley announces pricing of $300 mln of 5.375% senior notes due 2020; net proceeds of the offering will be used for general (26.66 -0.01)

17:23

GGR GeoGlobal provides exploration activities update; offer for KG Onshore Block participating interest increase; second well in Rajasthan commenced drilling (0.65 )

17:22

VOLC Volcano to offer $100 mln convertible senior notes due 2015 (25.65 +1.14) -Update-

17:17

NRGY Inergy, L.P. Prices Private Placement of $600 Million of 7% Senior Notes Due 2018 (38.61 +0.04)

Inergy, L.P. intends to use the net proceeds from this offering to fund part of the consideration for the Tres Palacios acquisition. Pending such use, the net proceeds of the notes will be placed in an escrow account. If the acquisition is not closed by December 31, 2010, the notes will be redeemed at 100% of the principal amount.

17:11

BEAV B/E Aerospace increases size of senior notes the offering $650 mln from $500 mln; announced the pricing of a public offering (32.10 +1.30) -Update-

Co announced the pricing of a public offering of $650 mln aggregate principal amount of 6.875% senior notes due 2020. The size of the offering was increased from the previously announced $500 mln to $650 mln.

17:00

ICGN Icagen announced that due to the occurrence of a serious adverse event in the photosensitivity study of ICA-105665, co suspended further enrollment in the study (0.23 -0.02)

The serious adverse event occurred in the 600mg patient cohort following completion of the 500mg patient cohort. The co will be discussing the status of the study with its clinical advisors and with the FDA.

17:00

CE Celanese announces global emulsions price increases (30.51 -1.51) -Update-

Co announced that it will increase the price of all emulsions sold globally, effective October 1, 2010, or as contracts allow (Pure 100% acrylic: North, Central and South America +$0.05/lb; Europe Africa and Middle East +EUR100/t. Vinyl acetate ethylene: North, Central and South America +$0.03/lb; Europe Africa and Middle East +EUR50/t; China +RMB400/t and Asia outside +USD $50/t. Vinyl-based (vinyl acrylic, vinyl acetate/versatate, $.03/lb. EUR50/t vinyl acetate homopolymers): North, Central and South America +$0.03/lb; Europe Africa and Middle East +EUR50/t. Styrene acrylic Europe Africa and Middle East +EUR50/t. Styrene.)

16:46

LVLT Level 3 Communications announced that it is offering $175 mln aggregate principal amount of Convertible Senior Notes due 2016 in an underwritten offering (1.16 +0.05)

16:46

ALR Alere announces offering of $350 mln of senior subordinated notes due 2018 (31.29 +1.25)

16:34

UBA Urstadt Biddle Prop announced that it is offering 2.5 mln shares of its Class A common stock in a public offering (19.31 +0.27)

16:32

BRS Bristow Group announces appointment of Jonathan Baliff to Senior Vice President and CFO (36.23 +0.58)

Co announced that Jonathan E. Baliff has been appointed to the position of Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, commencing October 11th, 2010.

16:31

ART Artio Global Investors reported preliminary August month-end assets under management of $49.9 bln, compared to $51.3 bln as of July 31, 2010 (15.15 +0.53)

16:31

IRWD Ironwood Pharma and Almirall announce positive results from a Phase 3 trial with Linaclotide in patients with irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (9.75 +0.29)

Cos announced positive top-line results from a Phase 3 clinical trial assessing the efficacy and safety of a once-daily dosing of linaclotide 266 mcg in patients with irritable bowel syndrome with constipation. The two co-primary endpoints required by the European Medicines Agency were met in this study, showing statistical significance and clinically relevant improvement for linaclotide-treated patients both for abdominal pain/abdominal discomfort responder and IBS degree of relief responder over the three-month period. Significant improvement was also achieved for all pre-specified main secondary endpoints (stool frequency, stool consistency, straining, and bloating). The safety results were consistent with those observed in previous linaclotide clinical trials, with diarrhea being the most common adverse event in linaclotide-treated patients.

16:30

CAMP CalAmp awarded $1.5 mln contract by the City of Plano, Texas (2.49 +0.06)

Co has been selected by the City of Plano, Texas to install a mobile data network for the municipality's police, fire and emergency medical service (EMS) agencies. The contract is for ~$1.5 mln and is scheduled to be completed in nine months.

16:30

IG IGI Laboratories announces first ANDA submission (1.40 -0.04)

Co announced that it has submitted its first abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) to the US FDA. The development of ANDA products has successfully been integrated into the Company's ongoing contract services business.

16:28

TIK Tel-Instrument concluded a deal to raise $2.5 mln in financing; also received a $1.3 mln contract (6.70 0.00)

Co concluded a deal to raise $2.5 million in financing with BCA Mezzanine Fund in the form of a five year loan with an interest rate of 14%. During the first year payments are interest only. After the first year CO will make monthly payments of ~$69,000 until the note is paid in August 2015. Co also issued a five year Warrant to the Lender exercisable for 136,090 shares of common stock at $6.70 per share... Co also received a $1.3 million contract to supply 75 T-47N ramp test sets to the U.S. Army. This order is part of a five year IDIQ (indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity) contract from the U.S. Army for up to 235 T-47N test sets with a maximum contract value of approximately $4 million which was awarded in February 2010.

16:25

LLY Eli Lilly: Phase II Study Showed Switching ACS-PCI Patients to Effient/aspirin from Plavix/aspirin Regimen Reduced Maximum Platelet Aggregation After One Week (35.53 +0.10) -Update-

LLY reported that a study evaluating the level of platelet aggregation achieved after switching from Plavix (clopidogrel) 75 mg once-daily maintenance dosing plus aspirin to Effient (prasugrel) 10 mg once-daily maintenance dosing (MD) in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) was published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. In this Phase II study, ACS patients who were switched to Effient (either 10 mg maintenance dose [MD] or 60 mg loading dose [LD] followed by 10 mg MD) plus aspirin demonstrated a statistically significant greater reduction in Maximum Platelet Aggregation (MPA) after one week when compared with patients who remained on maintenance therapy with clopidogrel.

16:24

WNC Wabash Natl announces proposed public offering of ~9.35 mln common stock by Trailer Investments (7.39 +0.54)

Co announces that Trailer Investments, LLC as Selling Securityholder, intends to offer 9,348,688 shares of co's common stock in an underwritten public offering. Co will not receive any proceeds from the sale of the warrant by the Selling Securityholder.

16:23

AEIS Advanced Energy wins Stage 3 Solar Energy Grid Integration System contract (14.59 )

Co announced that PV Powered, an Advanced Energy co, has been selected to continue development work funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Program and administered by Sandia National Laboratories. The effort is focused on lowering the barriers to adoption of solar energy on the utility grids of North America. Stage 3 represents the final stage of the competitive portion of the SEGIS program and is focused on commercialization of the technologies developed under previous stages.

16:22

UIL UIL Holdings announced a 17.7 mln share common stock offering; to use proceeds to fund a portion of the cash consideration payable in connection with the pending acquisition of Connecticut Energy (27.12 +0.26)

16:21

THQI THQ Inc announces May 2011 release date for Red Faction Armageddon; lowers FY11 guidance; to grow sales, earnings and cash flow in fiscal 2012 (3.73 +0.25)

Co announced an updated core games release schedule that now includes Red Faction Armageddon in May 2011. Primarily as a result of the updated release schedule for Red Faction Armageddon, co now expects FY11 EPS of ($0.10)-(0.20), prior guidance was $0.00, vs ($0.04) Thomson Reuters consensus; sees revs $800-825 mln, prior guidance of $845-865 mln, vs $847.32 mln Thomson Reuters consensus. Co says its fiscal 2012 core games line-up is positioning it to grow net sales and generate significant earnings and cash flow in fiscal 2012.

16:16

BFIN BankFinancial acquires DG Bancorp for $2 mln; expects the transaction to be accretive to earnings within the first year (9.21 +0.21)

Co announces the signing of an Agreement and Plan of Merger to acquire DG Bancorp and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Downers Grove National Bank. BankFinancial will purchase DG Bancorp, Inc. for approximately $2.0 million in cash. The purchase price is subject to various closing adjustments that could reduce the purchase price to $1.3 million or increase the purchase price to $5.2 million depending on DG Bancorp's expense management and the performance and resolution of certain identified credit exposures. BankFinancial expects the transaction to be accretive to earnings within the first year, excluding the impact of transaction related expenses.

16:16

VZ Verizon CFO John Killian announces plans to retire (30.90 +0.08)

Co announced that John F. Killian, executive vice president and chief financial officer, plans to retire at around the end of the year. A successor will be named shortly, and Killian will work closely with Verizon Chairman and CEO Ivan Seidenberg to ensure a seamless transition.

16:15

AB AllianceBernstein reports Aug AUM fell to $467 bln from $482 bln at end of July (26.09 +0.88)

The 3.1% decline was due to negative equity investment returns and net asset outflows, mainly from institutional accounts. Half of the institutional outflows were from a non-actively managed account which generates substantially lower fees than other such accounts.

16:13

NWE Northwestern Corp signs two separate Memorandums of Understanding with Western Area Power Administration (28.11 +0.45)

Co announces the signing of two separate Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) with Western Area Power Administration to coordinate planning of regional transmission projects. Under the agreements, NorthWestern Energy and Western will undertake joint planning and study work to determine how the Montana Renewable Collector System and the Mountain States Transmission Intertie projects may enhance Western's Transmission Infrastructure Program's mission of enabling renewable energy development. Should these joint efforts identify value to Western, it could lead to further cooperative agreements between the utilities.

16:12

EVR Evercore commenced a public offering of an aggregate 2.6 mln shares of Evercore's Class A common stock (29.35 +0.96)

16:11

RGNC Regency Energy announces Stephen Arata has resigned as Executive Vice President and CFO (24.03 +0.02)

Mr. Arata has accepted a position as CFO of a private energy company. Co is considering both internal and external candidates for the position and expects to announce a decision in the near future.

16:07

ENCO Encorium Group updated previously announced rights offering; will hold a Conference Call on September 21 (1.77 +0.07)

Co announced that its largest stockholder, Ilari Koskelo, has exercised his basic subscription right to purchase common stock of for an aggregate subscription price of $861,329, pursuant to previously announced rights offering. In addition, in the event other holders do not fully exercise their basic subscription rights, Koskelo has exercised his oversubscription privilege to purchase up to an additional 522,812 shares of common stock for an aggregate subscription price of $914,921, subject to proration with other holders who exercise their oversubscription privilege. Koskelo and the Company have agreed to cancel the promissory notes outstanding in favor of Mr. Koskelo, in lieu of cash consideration.

16:06

CDII China Direct receives contract from Beijing Tianrun Construction Co. valued at over $70 mln (1.03 +0.02)

Co announced that its subsidiary, CDI Beijing International Trading Co., has received a contract from Beijing Tianrun Construction Co. for the delivery of various types of reinforcing steel bars having the potential to generate over $70 mln in revenue over the next 12 months. Delivery dates will be determined by parties over the term of the contract.

16:05

HMN Horace Mann Board of Directors announces situation involving CEO (17.79 +0.39)

The Board of Directors of HMN announced a situation involving President and Chief Executive Officer Louis G. Lower. Co said, "Lower was involved in a traffic accident in Florida over Memorial Day weekend, and was charged with misdemeanor driving under the influence (DUI) with property damage or personal injury. Lower pled guilty to the charge and last Wednesday, September 8th, at the conclusion of due process, was sentenced to serve time in the county jail. Lower began serving his sentence that same day... Nonetheless, the Board continues to have full confidence in the company's direction, its strategic initiatives and the progress being made on those initiatives."

16:04

POWI Power Integrations halted, news pending (28.60 +1.76)

16:02

GTEC Global Defense Technology & Systems announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Zytel Corporation for $26.8 mln in cash (11.96 +0.53)

Co announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Zytel for $26.8 mln in cash. Co stated "Zytel's work is all classified and all of its employees are cleared at the Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information level. The company has strong operating margins and expects to generate ~$20 mln in revenue in 2010 with continued rapid growth in 2011." The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including CFIUS approval. GTEC currently has no debt outstanding and will use cash on hand and borrowings under its senior revolving credit facility to fund the transaction.

16:01

ANGN Angeion increases repurchase program to $2 mln, up from the original $1 mln program (4.15 +0.04)

16:01

TSRX Trius Therapeutics reports new findings on mechanisms of antibiotic resistance in MRSA (4.30 +0.30)

Co reported new findings on torezolid phosphate (TR-701), a second generation oxazolidinone antibiotic now in Phase 3 clinical development. The data elucidate the mechanism by which torezolid retains full activity against clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) carrying the cfr gene which confers resistance to first generation oxazolidinones such as linezolid, marketed by Pfizer as Zyvox. Hospital outbreaks of linezolid resistant cfr strains of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) have been reported worldwide and increasing use of linezolid may promote further dissemination of this plasmid borne resistance gene.

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