Briefing.com: Hourly In Play (R) – 09:00 ET

Feb 17, 2010 (Briefing.com via COMTEX) -- Hourly In Play (R)

Updated: 17-Feb-10 09:00 ET

08:56

GG Goldcorp announces sixth consecutive annual increase in gold reserves (38.33 )

Co announces that as of December 31, 2009 proven and probable gold reserves increased 5.3% to 48.8 million ounces and proven and probable silver reserves increased 4.2% to 1,300.0 million ounces. Measured and indicated gold resources increased 3.2% to 22.7 million ounces in 2009 and measured and indicated silver resources increased 38.3% to 598.1 million ounces.

08:55

JAV Javelin Pharmaceutic receives FDA PDUFA date for Dyloject NDA (1.42 )

Co announces that its NDA submitted on December 2, 2009 to the FDA for its investigational product candidate, Dyloject Injection, has received an FDA PDUFA date of October 3, 2010. This NDA review is in support of US marketing approval and registration of Dyloject for the management of acute moderate-to-severe pain in adults.

08:54

MSO Martha Stewart beats by $0.07, beats on revs (5.32 )

Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.37 per share, $0.07 better than the First Call consensus of $0.30; revenues rose 20.2% year/year to $87.6 mln vs the $84.9 mln consensus. The fourth quarter of 2009 included the expected recognition of $10 million of previously deferred Kmart royalties as non-cash revenue as well as the minimum guarantee true-up and earned royalties from Kmart.

08:41

HEI HEICO acquires substantially all of the assets and certain liabilities of dB Control; expected to be accretive within next 12 months (43.54 )

Co announces that its Electronic Technologies Group acquired substantially all of the assets and certain liabilities of dB Control, a producer of Traveling Wave Tube Amplifiers, Microwave Power Modules and other high-power devices used in both defense and commercial applications. Terms and financial details were not disclosed. HEICO stated that it expects the acquisition to be accretive to its earnings within the next twelve months.

08:38

On The Wires

CSC (CSC) and Avaya announce an agreement to expand CSC's Unified Communications portfolio with new Communications Enabled Applications and Services based on the Avaya Agile Communications Environment... EasyLink Services International Corporation (ESIC) announces that it has expanded its Desktop Messaging service coverage to include local fax numbers in Manila, Philippines... THQ (THQI) and NVIDIA (NVDA) announce that Metro 2033TM, the upcoming first person shooter from 4A Games, will support a number of advanced DX11 features with the latest generation of DX11 graphics cards, as well as NVIDIA 3D Vision support... NaviSite (NAVI) and Data Age Business Systems announce that they have entered into an agreement in which NaviSite will provide its Data Protection and Disaster Recovery hosted service to back up all Data Age customer mission critical data as part of the Data Age Digi-Shield continuous off-site back up service.

08:35

MRO Marathon Oil announces additional 2009 reserve replacement and costs incurred details; in 2009 added net proved liquid hydrocarbon and natural gas reserves of 674 mmboe (29.69 )

Co announces that during 2009, it added net proved liquid hydrocarbon and natural gas reserves of 674 mln barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe), excluding dispositions of 41 mmboe, while producing 149 mmboe, and thereby increasing proved reserves by over 40% from 1,195 mmboe at year end 2008 to 1,679 mmboe at year end 2009. For the three-year period ended Dec. 31, 2009, MRO added net proved liquid hydrocarbon and natural gas reserves of 872 mmboe, excluding dispositions of 44 mmboe, while producing 411 mmboe, resulting in an average reserve replacement in excess of 200%. "With the change in SEC reporting of synthetic crude oil reserves as well as continued investment in the Athabasca Oil Sands Project, Bakken oil play and deep-water developments, we increased our year-end reserves by more than 40 percent," said Clarence Cazalot, Marathon president and CEO. "With total 2009 costs incurred of $3.5 billion, our finding and development costs remain very competitive; and we will continue to focus spending on our potentially significant exploration wells and North America resource plays."

08:34

TCK Teck Resources comments on additional permit appeal at Red Dog (37.39 )

The co and mine owner NANA Regional commented on an appeal that has been filed against the EPA for renewal of the water discharge permit issued to Teck Alaska's Red Dog Mine. In the action filed today, several environmental and tribal groups have appealed EPA's issuance of the mine's renewed National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit which was due to come into effect on March 1st. The latest appeal was filed by the same groups that last month challenged a State of Alaska decision certifying that the same permit complied with the State's water quality standards. Until EPA issues a notice clarifying which provisions of the permit are subject to appeal and consequently stayed, the entire new permit is stayed. The notice is usually issued by EPA within 30 days of the appeal. The unstayed provisions would then come into effect 30 days after the notice. The corresponding provisions of Red Dog's existing permit would remain in effect for any stayed provisions. Until EPA issues the notice, Teck will not know whether and to what extent access to Aqqaluk, the next deposit to be mined at Red Dog, will be affected by the appeal. The current operating plan calls for continuing to mine the Main Deposit under existing permits until mid 2011. However, in order to maintain efficient production rates, Main Deposit ore will eventually need to be supplemented with ore from Aqqaluk. If permit delays extend beyond May 2010, the transition plan will be affected and production at Red Dog would likely be curtailed in October, 2010. Production would not be expected to resume until the appeal is resolved and the mine can be restarted, which could take up 18 months unless the appeal is withdrawn.

08:33

CERS Cerus announces that data presented at int'l Haemovigilance seminar confirm safety of INTERCEPT blood system for platelets and plasma (2.37 )

"Dr. Folke Knutson of the University Hospital in Uppsala, Sweden, will present one year's experience with universal adoption of the INTERCEPT platelet components in which he observed a 66% reduction in adverse transfusion reactions for all patients, and no reported reactions among pediatric patients... Dr. Jean Claude Osselaer of the Mont Godinne Blood Transfusion Center, Yvoir, Belgium will report on the transfusion experience with 18,641 INTERCEPT platelet components transfused in a 21-center European haemovigilance study confirming the safety profile of platelets treated with the INTERCEPT platelet system. The French national transfusion service of Alsace will present on its experience with transfusion of 42,806 INTERCEPT platelet components over a three year period demonstrating significant reduction in acute transfusion reactions compared to conventional platelet components. In addition, EFS Alsace will present data on transfusion of 26,234 INTERCEPT plasma components showing a safety profile comparable to that of conventional plasma."

08:32

RPT Ramco-Gershenson announces appointment of Gregory R. Andrews as new CFO (9.61 )

Co announced the appointment of Gregory R. Andrews as CFO, effective on or before March 31, 2010.

08:32

IMMU Immunomedics awarded patent for antibody therapy (3.05 )

Co announced that U.S. patent 7,662,378 was issued covering the use of humanized, chimeric or human antibodies that bind to the carcinoembryonic antigen in combination with at least one other therapeutic agent, such as another antibody, a chemotherapeutic agent, a radioactive isotope, an antisense oligonucleotide, an immunomodulator, an immunoconjugate or a combination thereof. The allowed claims also cover methods of treating CEA-expressing cancers, particularly medullary thyroid cancer, non-medullary thyroid cancers, colorectal cancers, hepatocellular carcinoma, gastric cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer and other cancers in which CEA is expressed, using the composition.

08:31

IVAN Ivanhoe Energy passes halfway mark in drilling program at Tamarack (3.44 )

The co announces that is has completed over 50% of its 30-well delineation drilling program at the Tamarack project in the Athabasca region of northern Alberta, and expects to complete drilling by mid-March. In addition, engineering tasks related to the Tamarack Heavy-to-Light (HTL) upgrading facility and the upstream facilities are firmly on schedule. Ivanhoe Energy has three drilling rigs on-site, drilling 24 hours per day. Drilling operations are focused on the centre of the Tamarack lease, the area Ivanhoe Energy has targeted for Phase I development. This area contains top quality, thick, clean oil sands with net pay in the 30 to 45 meter range. The well logs that have been obtained are consistent with data from earlier delineation drilling which indicated that the lease contains clean, very thick oil sands with high oil saturation. Delineation drilling consists of drilling core-holes in sufficient density to accurately map the characteristics of the reservoir. This program will complete all drilling requirements for Phase I before steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) well drilling takes place.

08:31

CAKE Cheesecake Factory announced that it has named Michael Jannini as President, effective February 16 (23.81 )

08:31

PRPX Portec Rail Products: L. B. Foster Company to Acquire Portec Rail Products for $11.71 per share (11.23 ) -Update-

L. B. Foster Company (FSTR) and Portec Rail Products (PRPX) jointly announced the signing of an Agreement and Plan of Merger, under which L. B. Foster will make, through its wholly owned acquisition subsidiary, a cash tender offer to acquire all of Portec's outstanding shares of common stock for $11.71 per share. "The addition of Portec will complement our existing array of products and furthers our strategic initiative of becoming a premier provider of products and services below the wheel for Class 1, transit, shortline and regional railroads and contractors in North America, as well as to governmental agencies and rail contractors globally." This transaction is subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions, including Hart-Scott-Rodino antitrust clearance, at least 65% of Portec's outstanding shares being tendered and customary closing conditions, and is expected to close before the end of the second quarter 2010.

08:30

TECHX E~mini index futures hold GLOBEX bid, trade near highs following key Jan. housing data -Technical-

S&P 500 (ES) +5.50

NDX 100 (NQ) +7.25

INDU 30 (YM) +37

08:30

MRK Merck says that in Phase III data GARDASIL was efficacious against anal disease caused by HPV-6,11,16 and 18 (37.66 )

Co announces that in new Phase III data, GARDASIL was 77.5% efficacious against anal intraepithelial neoplasia associated with human papillomavirus types 6, 11, 16 and 18 in 16-to-26 year-old men who have sex with men. The data were presented at the European Research Organization on Genital Infection and Neoplasia conf. The ability of GARDASIL to prevent HPV 6, 11, 16 and 18-AIN and anal cancer in males was evaluated in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. A total of 598 16- to 26- year old men who have sex with men received at least one dose of GARDASIL or placebo at the time of enrollment, and then again at two and six months. This evaluation of efficacy of GARDASIL against HPV-related anal disease was conducted in a population of men having sex with men because of the known high risk of anal infection that occurs in this group. The per-protocol efficacy (PPE) population was the pre-defined primary population for this study. As defined, this group included men who were not infected with the relevant HPV vaccine type at the start of the study, and who did not become infected with that HPV vaccine type during the course of the vaccination series (seronegative and HPV DNA-negative to the relevant HPV vaccine type at day one, and HPV DNA-negative through the vaccination series to month seven). The cases of the primary endpoint of AIN and anal cancer were counted starting after month seven with an average follow up of 2.5 years.

08:29

BW Brush Engineered Materials misses by $0.02, beats on revs; guides Q1 revs above consensus; guides FY10 EPS above consensus, revs above consensus (17.80 )

Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.03 per share, ex-items, $0.02 worse than the First Call consensus of $0.05; revenues rose 9.6% year/year to $215.2 mln vs the $199 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q1, sees Q1 revs of $275-295 mln vs. $175.50 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for FY10, sees EPS of $0.75-$1.00 vs. $0.68 consensus; sees FY10 revs of $1.1-$1.2 bln vs. $813.30 mln consensus. Co states, "BW is seeing strong improvement in its order entry, driven primarily by the consumer electronics and wireless infrastructure oriented markets, and now in its medical, defense and industrial markets. While there is still significant uncertainty in the global economic environment, the company does expect business levels to be stronger in 2010. Demand levels in the early weeks of 2010 are currently well ahead of the fourth quarter levels. The effect of the aforementioned acquisitions will be significant to the company's sales levels in 2010 due to the precious metal content in the sales of Academy Corporation..."

08:27

PRPX Portec Rail Products halted - news pending

08:21

AGT Apollo Gold's Grey Fox Project drill results show 'one of best gold intercepts to date' of 18 meters at 14 gpt (0.41 )

Co announces additional assay results from nine drill holes at its Grey Fox Project, including 'one of the best' drill intersections to date of 17.9 meters at an average gold grade of 14.3 grams per tonne located on the boundary of Grey Fox and the Pike River properties with indication that the mineralization is open towards Pike River to the north. Results are pending from the remaining 14 holes completed as part of a 53-hole, 9,936-meter drilling program in 2009, including the first six holes drilled on Pike River, at the prospective Contact Zone at the Grey Fox and Pike River properties, which are adjacent to Apollo's Black Fox gold mine in the Township of Black River-Matheson, Ontario, Canada.

08:17

On The Wires

Agilysys (AGYS) announces a strategic partnership with TimeManagement Corporation to offer the TMx labor management solution to hospitality customers who use the Eatec Solutions inventory and procurement system, the InfoGenesis POS system and the Visual One Property Management System, all by Agilysys... Axcelis Technologies (ACLS) announces that a major foundry has selected the IntegraTM dry strip system for its most advanced production facility... CIRCOR Aerospace Products group (CIR) has entered into an agreement with Seal Dynamics for the global distribution of commercial aircraft spares... Juniper Networks (JNPR) announces that its SRX Series Services Gateway has been selected by Verizon Wireless to provide added network protection for mobile data users on the Verizon Wireless network... Semtech (SMTC) announces the Defense Supply Center Columbus has qualified Semtech's transient voltage suppressor platform as meeting performance specification sheet MIL-PRF- 19500/516, Revision D to JANS level. This qualifies the parts for use in aerospace and satellite applications... Cypress Semiconductor (CY) announces that Fujitsu Limited has selected the TrueTouch solution from Cypress to implement the water-resistant touchscreen in NTT DOCOMO's new handset... Suntech Power Holdings (STP) recently supplied solar panels for 19 remote schools in Lebanon working with local partner and Lebanese integrator Asaco General Trade & Contracting... Allscripts (MDRX) announces that Danbury Office of Physician Services will expand its deployment of the Allscripts Electronic Health Record across its network from its current base of 51 physicians to all of its 238 employed physicians.

08:17

HUM Humana to reduce workforce in the course of 2010; reaffirms FY10 EPS guidance $5.15-$5.35 (vs $5.56 consensus) (46.01 ) -Update-

Co announces that it intends to reduce its workforce on a net basis by approximately 1,400 positions, or five percent, over the course of 2010, balancing 2,500 position reductions with 1,100 additional jobs in areas of growth such as medical-cost containment capabilities, pharmacy management, and specialty products. The reduction will come primarily from attrition, process efficiencies, outsourcing, and position eliminations. The company also reaffirmed its guidance for 2010 diluted earnings per common share of $5.15-$5.35 (consensus is $5.56), noting that the changes described in this news release are not anticipated to result in any adjustments to its prior earnings guidance.

08:15

HUM Humana to reduce workforce in the course of 2010 (45.01 )

08:15

ECONX Reminder: Housing Starts, Building Permits, Export Prices, and Import Prices data due out in about 15 min at 8:30ET

08:14

TAT TransAtlantic Petroleum Provides Operational Update, Announces Conference Call

The Selmo oil field's average daily production was 1,715 barrels of oil per day for the first half of February 2010, compared to an average daily production of 1,534 barrels of oil per day in the fourth quarter of 2009. Over the past ninety days, the Company has successfully re-worked a number of high water cut wells to reduce the overall water cut in the field. In the second quarter of 2010, the Company expects the arrival of its own acid stimulation equipment in Selmo and the addition of a fourth pulling unit. Basin In the Thrace Basin, the Company is very near completion of the gathering system and facilities necessary to begin selling natural gas from its discoveries in the Edirne gas field. Weather has been the principal factor in the delay of project. While the timeline is largely dependent upon the weather, the Company now expects to commence gas sales by early March. In mid-January, the Company resumed drilling at Edirne and recently spud its third well (Yolboyu-1) of the current drilling campaign of five to seven wells. Paleozoic Trend in Southeast Turkey In the Arpatepe area (the Paleozoic Trend) in southeastern Turkey, the Company has interests in three wells being drilled or re-entered to test the Hazro and Bedinan sandstones and the Dadas shale. Turkey Exploration In addition to the activity at Selmo, the Thrace Basin and the Paleozoic Trend, the Company also plans a number of exploratory wells on other licenses. Morocco Exploration On the Ouezzane-Tissa permits, the HKE-1 exploratory well has encountered gas shows and an intermediate casing string has been run prior to the resumption of drilling. Romania The Company has drilled six of its seven planned wells in Romania and commenced drilling the seventh well earlier this year. The Company will host a conference call to discuss this release on Monday, February 22, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern... Briefing Note: T. Boone Pickens accumulated 2 mln shares of TAT according to an SEC filing.

08:10

MTL Mechel Steel announces progress in developing Elga coking coal deposit (24.46 )

Co announces progress in developing the Elga coking coal deposit. At the beginning of February, 2010 two special heavy machinery convoys departed from the Upper Ulak station (Amur Region) where Mechel-owned construction base "4th km of the Ulak-Elga railway spur track" is located. The equipment is intended for development of Elga coking coal deposit. Both machinery convoys have already reached their destination -the place of the new open pit mine construction. There will be five equipment and machinery convoys in total. They are expected to deliver all necessary equipment and materials to start construction of the open pit mine and mining operations before April 2010. Exploration and operational mine site is planned to be commissioned in summer. Construction of the open pit mine would include all necessary stripping works. First coal is expected to be mined already in November 2010.

08:09

EGI Entree Gold Ready to explore Shivee West (2.70 )

Co announces 2010 exploration budgets for initial work programs in Mongolia, the USA and Canada totaling ~$7 million. The Company treasury currently stands at over $38 million. Co has budgeted ~$4.0 million for first phase 2010 exploration on Shivee West. The program includes detailed geophysics and approximately 5,000 metres of drilling to test deep geophysical targets and copper, molybdenum, gold soil geochemical targets within a belt of prospective Devonian rocks identified in earlier programs.

08:08

RNN Rexahn Pharmaceuticals provides key goals for 2010 (1.51 )

Co provided guidance on its key pipeline, scientific and business goals for 2010. Rexahn Goals for 2010: 1) Expand clinical development of Serdaxin to Parkinson's disease. Current clinical studies demonstrate that Serdaxin prevents neuronal death, a disease mechanism implicated in many brain disorders, such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease. 2) Advance Serdaxin in Phase IIb clinical study for depression; 3) Advance clinical development of Zoraxel for sexual dysfunction. 4) Continue clinical development of Archexin for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. 5) Initiate clinical program for RX-3117.Rexahn and partner Teva Pharmaceutical Industries are co-developing novel anti-cancer compound,RX-3117, for the treatment of cancer, in particular, gemcitabine-resistant lung cancer. And 6) form new partnerships.

08:06

DJSP DJSP Enterprises reaffirms guidance ahead of Rogh conference (9.22 )

Co reaffirms its previously announced guidance of approximately $42 million in adjusted net income and $67.8 million in adjusted EBITDA for Calendar 2009. For 2010, the Company expects to report adjusted net income of approximately $49 million and adjusted EBITDA of approximately $80.6 million, excluding any one time transaction expenses associated with the business combination.

08:04

GSX Gasco Energy Announces 2009 Year-End Proved Reserves; total proved reserves were 46.9 bln Bcfe

Co announces 2009 year-end total proved reserves of 46.9 billion cubic feet of natural gas equivalent, comprised of 44.2 Bcf of natural gas and 451,000 barrels of liquids. The Company's reserve mix is 94% natural gas and 6% liquid hydrocarbons, including condensate volumes. At year-end 2009, 100% of the Company's reserves were classified as proved developed. By comparison, Gasco's total proved reserves at year-end 2008 were 53.1 Bcfe, all of which were classified as proved developed.

08:04

CRED Credo Petroleum announces high rate test on its first Bakken well (8.98 )

Co provided an update on its Bakken horizontal drilling project in Dunn County, North Dakota. Credo's first Bakken well has been successfully completed and production tested at high rates. During testing, the Petro-Hunt 148-94-17D-08-1H well flowed 1,267 barrels of oil and 1.24 million cubic feet of gas, or 1,474 barrels of oil equivalent, over a 24-hour period on an 18/64 to 20/64-inch choke. Petro-Hunt LLC is the operator and Credo owns a 10% working interest. The 17-D well was drilled on a 1,280 acre spacing unit to an approximate vertical depth of 11,150 feet, and a 9,200 foot horizontal lateral was drilled in the middle member of the Bakken shale. The well was completed utilizing state of the art multi-stage fracture stimulation technology, and is located on the southwestern portion of the company's acreage on the Fort Berthold Reservation.

08:03

IAG IAMGOLD misses by $0.05, beats on revs (15.27 )

Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.11 per share, $0.05 worse than the First Call consensus of $0.16; revenues rose 26.5% year/year to $265.3 mln vs the $248.5 mln consensus. "IAMGOLD remains committed to its vision of building a premier gold company through disciplined growth by means of exploration and acquisitions. We remain focused on controlling our costs and maintaining a solid balance sheet," continued Peter Jones. "The project development team achieved our construction milestones at Essakane, in Burkina Faso, and Westwood, in Quebec, with both projects on or ahead of schedule. Operations delivered superior results with record gold production at Rosebel, our flagship operation, and an extended mine life at the Doyon division.

08:02

LEE Lee Enterprises CFO says improvement appears to be continuing into February and March; sales declined 9.2% in Jan (3.74 )

Co announces that total revenue declined 9.2% in January compared with a year ago, the first single-digit decline since 2008, as the year-over-year trend in advertising revenue improved for the fifth month in a row. In remarks prepared for Lee's annual meeting of stockholders, Carl Schmidt, vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer, said the improvement appears to be continuing into February and March. He said total advertising revenue in January declined 10.5 percent compared with a year ago. Combined print and online retail advertising decreased 10.5 percent, while classified decreased 12.1 percent, with employment down 25.1 percent, auto down 11.7 percent, real estate down 19.2 percent, and other classified categories up 2.1 percent. Online advertising revenue increased 5.7 percent. For the quarter ended Dec. 27, 2009, advertising revenue declined 16.4 percent and total revenue declined 13.8 percent. Schmidt said cash costs are expected to decrease 9 percent for the March 2010 quarter and 8 percent, or $54 million, for the year. Previous guidance was for a decrease of 7 percent for both periods.

08:02

ROSG Rosetta Genomics says results of a joint study were published online on Feb 16 and are set to be published in the March 1st issue of the American Assoc for Cancer Research's journal (1.67 )

Co announces that the results of a joint study with the NYU Langone Medical Center were published online on Feb. 16th, 2010, and are set to be published in the March 1st issue of the American Association for Cancer Research's journal, Cancer Research. The study, "Hsa-Mir-29c is Linked to the Prognosis of Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma," demonstrates the potential of a single microRNA to act as an independent prognostic factor for time to progression as well as survival after surgery. In the study, 142 MPM tumors were analyzed for microRNA expression levels using ROSGs' proprietary microRNA-based array and qRT-PCR technologies. The results clearly demonstrate that higher levels of miR-29c in MPM predict a more favorable prognosis. Not only was the microRNA able to separate M.P.M. patients by time to progression after surgery, but it also stratified these patients by their survival. When examining Time to Progression of M.P.M., the expression level of miR-29c enabled the identification of two groups with significantly different median T.T.P.: 4 months versus 14 months in the study's training set, and 5.5 months versus 12.8 months in the study's test set. When examining survival rates for MPM, the expression level of miR-29c enabled the identification of two groups as well: median survival of 8 months versus 32 months in the study's training set, and median survival of 9.1 months versus 21.6 months in the study's test set. This new diagnostic capability may help physicians apply more aggressive therapeutic modalities to the poor prognosis group. Furthermore, the study found that over-expression of miR-29c in mesothelioma cell lines resulted in significantly decreased proliferation, migration, invasion and colony formation.

08:01

Reader's Digest Association to emerge from Chapter 11

The Reader's Digest Association announced that the Reader's Digest Association has filed an administration proceeding in the UK. The decision by the RDA UK board to place the UK company into an orderly insolvency process follows the recent decision by the UK Pensions Regulator that it would not support an agreement already reached between RDA UK, the trustees of its pension plan and the UK Pension Protection Fund to settle a longstanding pension plan liability.

08:01

CSC Computer Sciences Renews Business Process Outsourcing Contract with Sunshine State Insurance Company (51.19 )

Co announced a six-year extension to its business process outsourcing (BPO) services agreement with Sunshine State Insurance Company, St. Augustine, Fla. Under the extension, CSC will support Sunshine State's personal and commercial property business through January 2016 from an upgraded technology platform that automates more of the underwriting process, making it easier for agents to conduct business with the company. This contract was awarded to CSC during the company's fiscal 2010 second quarter.

08:00

TLB Talbots and BPW agree to technical amendment to merger agreement to provide greater assurance to BPW shareholders regarding value of merger consideration (11.18 ) -Update-

The co and BPW announce an amendment to the previously announced merger agreement pursuant to which BPW will be acquired by Talbots. The exchange ratio under the original terms of the merger agreement was calculated at the closing of trading on February 16, 2010 to be 0.9757 Talbots shares per BPW common share. In order to address possible fluctuations in the price of Talbots common stock prior to the closing of the transaction, the parties have agreed to amend the merger agreement to provide for the application of an alternative exchange ratio to the merger if it is greater than 0.9757 when calculated. The alternative ratio will be calculated at the close of trading on the date immediately preceding the date of the closing of the transaction and will be based on dividing $11.25 by the average of the daily volume weighted average price per share of Talbots common stock on the NYSE over each of the five consecutive trading days immediately preceding the date of the completion of the merger. The close of the transaction is expected to occur during the first calendar quarter of 2010.

08:00

RZ Raser Technologies receives approval for $32.99 million U.S. Treasury Grant (0.96 )

Co announced that the U.S. Treasury has approved its renewable energy grant application for the co's Thermo No. 1 geothermal power plant. The grant is provided by the U.S. Treasury Department under the Section 1603 renewable energy grant program created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Raser should receive the funds within five business days.

07:55

DVN Devon Energy beats by $0.35, beats on revs (69.10 )

Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $1.60 per share, ex-items, $0.35 better than the First Call consensus of $1.25; revenues fell 4.2% year/year to $2.44 bln vs the $2.21 bln consensus. Devon increased North American onshore estimated proved reserves by 20% to a record 2,641 million oil-equivalent barrels at December 31, 2009. The company added 669 million Boe to its North American onshore proved reserves from all sources. Costs incurred applicable to North American onshore properties were $3.3 billion.

07:52

COMDX Gold ticks to its best levels of electronic trade at $1128.70; now higher by $7.50 to $1127.30

07:50TLB Talbots raises Q4 sales guidance (11.18 ) -Update-

Co raises its Q4 sales guidance; co sees Q4 sales down ~4% vs consensus at -5.4%, up from down 6-8% previously, (we calculate this to be Q4 sales of $314.8 mln vs the $310.1 mln consensus), driven by positive full price selling in the quarter. Comparable store sales for the fourth quarter are expected to decline approximately 7%. Talbots direct marketing sales are expected to increase approximately 11% compared to last year's fourth quarter, reflecting strong customer demand, better fulfillment and lower return rates. Fourth quarter cost of sales, buying and occupancy is expected to improve significantly compared to last year and a range in-line with the co's previously announced outlook of an approximate 2,000 basis point improvement, driven by strong merchandise gross margins. Selling, general and administrative expenses in the fourth quarter are expected to be in the range of approximately $101 million to $103 million, compared to last year's $141 million and better than the Company's previous expectation of $105 million to $108 million. Th

07:48

On The Wires

TASER International (TASR) announces that it received an order for 150 TASER X3 Electronic Control Devices and related accessories for the Lakeland Police Department, FL... HSW International (HSWI) announces the effectiveness of a 10-for-1 reverse split of its issued and outstanding common shares. The reverse stock split is intended to enable the company to maintain its qualification for listing on the NASDAQ Stock Market, and will be reflected in the Company's stock quotations as of February 17, 2010... Fortress Investment Group (FIG) announces the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire Logan Circle Partners from Guggenheim Partners. Logan Circle is a fixed income asset manager with ~$12 bln in assets under management... Wizzard Media (WZE), the world's largest podcasting network, has entered into an agreement to launch the Vatican Observatory iPhone App... Beceem Communications and Motorola (MOT) announce that both companies are working together to pair Motorola's advanced 4G WiMAX infrastructure with Beceem's upcoming BCS500 4G chip... Covidien (COV) and the Institute of Atomic Energy in Poland announce an agreement to augment and further diversify Covidien's supply of Molybdenum 99 to produce the medical isotope Technetium 99m... Netlist (NLST) announces that a major OEM has commenced volume consumption of NetVault-NV, a flash memory based non-volatile cache memory subsystem targeting RAID storage applications... Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) announces that MTS-Ukraine, one of the leading mobile operators in Ukraine and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mobile TeleSystems OJSC (MBT), has selected Alcatel-Lucent to conduct a Long Term Evolution trial, which will begin in the second half of 2010.

07:38

WSO Watsco beats by $0.11, beats on revs; co also announced an 8% increase in its dividend 8 minutes ago (53.77 )

Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.25 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.11 better than the First Call consensus of $0.14; revenues rose 68.3% year/year to $563.6 mln vs the $547 mln consensus. Gross profit increased 55% to a record $134 million and gross profit margin was 23.7% versus 25.8%, reflecting the impact of lower selling margins for Carrier Enterprise. Same-store gross profit was $79 million, a decrease of 8%, and gross profit margin was 25.6% versus 25.8% last year, reflecting a shift in sales mix toward HVAC equipment, which traditionally generates lower gross profit margin versus non-equipment products. "An important trend in our business is the movement toward higher-efficiency products and systems, which experienced sales growth of 82% during the period. Legislation enacted in 2009 provides tax credits to homeowners for adding high-efficiency air conditioners or furnaces, covering 30% of the costs up to a total of $1,500. The combination of the tax credits, enhanced utility rebates and heightened consumer awareness toward energy-efficiency provides us additional opportunities to grow sales. We expect this momentum to continue as market conditions for replacement air conditioning normalize to historical levels and pent-up demand begins to unwind."

07:36

FELE Franklin Electric beats by $0.05, misses on revs (27.15 )

Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.34 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.05 better than the First Call consensus of $0.29; revenues fell 4.7% year/year to $144.9 mln vs the $147.9 mln consensus. Co anticipates that Water Systems year/year sales growth rate in the first quarter will be in the mid to high single digit range as distributors stop reducing inventories and start to purchase at their sales rate. Co projects that 1Q10 Water Systems operating margins before restructuring will also be higher than the first quarter of 2009. In Fueling Systems, due to seasonality, co projects 1Q10 sales will be 5-10% lower than the $27.0 mln achieved in 4Q09. As a result of the reduced volume, co estimates that Fueling operating margin before restructuring charges during 1Q10 will be lower than the 18.9% achieved in 4Q09. 1Q10 should be the last quarter where the year over year comparisons are significantly distorted by the vapor control sales surge in California, co says.

07:32

SSYS Stratasys beats by $0.03, reports revs in-line (25.84 )

Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.14 per share, ex-items, $0.03 better than the First Call consensus of $0.11; revenues fell 17.9% year/year to $26.2 mln vs the $26.4 mln consensus. Co states, "Our margins for the fourth quarter improved over the same quarter last year and sequentially, driven by the relatively strong sales of our high-margin consumables. The growth in consumables during the quarter was significant, given that it represents the first positive sales growth for consumables in twelve months. Our margins also benefited from the cost-saving measures we implemented in early 2009, and our successful initiative to lower the manufacturing cost of our uPrint 3D printers..."

07:31

NMTI NMT Medical announces $5.8 Million Financing (2.06 )

Co announces it has completed a private placement of its common stock and warrants to purchase additional shares of common stock to existing and new stockholders for aggregate proceeds of approximately $5.8 ml. The proceeds will be used to fund NMTI's ongoing clinical trials and development programs, primarily its pivotal patent foramen ovale (PFO)/stroke and transient ischemic attack trial in the United States, CLOSURE I. Under the terms of the private placement, NMTI agreed to sell to the group approximately 2.7 mln shares of its common stock at a purchase price of $2.15 per share for total proceeds of $5.8 mln. Included in the financing terms were warrants exercisable for an aggregate of an additional 2.1 mln shares of NMT's common stock with an exercise price of $2.90 per share.

07:31

MRGE Merge Healthcare announces partnership with Orion Health (2.35 )

Co announced today that it has signed a reseller agreement with Orion Health, a leading provider of clinical workflow and integration solutions in healthcare. Orion Health has licensed Merge technology to bring medical images and information into its physician portal solutions.

07:31

CLSN Celsion reports Q4 EPS of ($0.19) vs. ($0.09) a year ago (2.87 )

"We continue to make substantive progress in our Phase III HEAT trial for ThermoDox with over 45% of the 600 patients now enrolled in the study," said Michael Tardugno, President and CEO of Celsion. "With the recent addition of China, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines and additional sites in Korea, Taiwan and Italy, we expect enrollment completion within the next 2 quarters. We have achieved our goal of opening enrollment at 60 clinical trial sites world-wide, and we anticipate initiating the trial at an additional 10 sites by the end of this month. Additionally, our pivotal Phase I/II recurrent chest wall breast cancer trial, the Dignity Study, has enrolled a sufficient number of patients in the Phase I portion to warrant a dose escalation review by the DSMB. Assuming there will be no adverse events suggesting dose limiting toxicity, the Dignity Study may be allowed to increase dosage to the therapeutic dose as early as March of this year."

07:31

EME EMCOR Group acquires Scalise Industries; Terms of the transaction were not disclosed (23.28 )

Co announced that it has acquired Scalise Industries, a privately held company. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Scalise Industries, with 2009 estimated revenues of ~$70 million, is a full service engineering, and facilities maintenance and service company providing expertise in mechanical and electrical services, system commissioning, and fire protection services to a broad range of markets including healthcare, commercial, institutional/universities, transportation, and power.

07:30

ITT ITT Industries agrees to purchase analytical instrumentation co Nova Analytics (49.47 )

The co announces its agreement to purchase Nova Analytics Corporation. Nova Analytics is a privately held, leading manufacturer of premium quality laboratory, field, portable, and on-line analytical instruments used in water and wastewater, environmental, medical, and food and beverage applications. Financial terms of ITT's agreement were not disclosed. Nova generated pro forma full year global revenues of approximately US$135 million in 2009.

07:30

MDTH Medcath enters definitive agreement to sell Heart Hospital of Austin (7.02 )

The co and its physician partners announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement to sell substantially all the assets of Heart Hospital of Austin to St. David's Healthcare Partnership. The transaction is expected to close during MedCath's third fiscal quarter of 2010, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory requirements.

07:27

GGWPQ Gen Growth Properties responds to Simon Property and reaffirms bankruptcy emergence process (12.02 )

Co sends a letter to Simon Property Group (SPG) in response to Simon's unsolicited indication of interest to acquire GGP. In the letter, General Growth Properties reiterates its process for exploring all potential alternatives for emergence from bankruptcy and maximizing value for all of GGP's stakeholders. These alternatives include a stand-alone restructuring funded with institutional equity capital as well as potential business combinations. GGP has invited Simon to participate in the their process, so that GGP may evaluate Simon's indication of interest in the context of other strategic options. GGP intends to complete this process in an efficient and expeditious manner.

07:22

IFF Intl Flavors: Doug Tough to assume role as IFF Chairman & CEO effective March 1, 2010 (42.00 )

The co announces that current Non-Executive Chairman, Douglas Tough, will assume the role of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer effective March 1, 2010. Doug Tough, a proven consumer products executive, joined the Board of IFF in October 2008. He has been CEO of Australia-based Ansell Limited for nearly six years. Prior to Ansell, he had a 17-year career with Cadbury Schweppes Plc where he held a variety of senior positions overseeing consumer products divisions both in the U.S. and abroad.

07:20

WAG Walgreens to acquire New York-based drugstore chain Duane Reade (34.08 )

Co announced a definitive agreement under which Walgreens will acquire Duane Reade from affiliates of Oak Hill Capital Partners in a cash transaction for a total enterprise value of $1.075 bln, which includes the assumption of debt. Duane Reade had unaudited net sales of $1.8 bln for the latest 12-month period ending Dec. 26, 2009, and has the highest sales per square foot in the retail drugstore industry nationwide. The company anticipates the transaction to be dilutive to earnings per share in the first 12 months after closing, and accretive in the next 12 months and beyond. Walgreens expects to achieve synergies between $120-$130 mln in the third year after closing the transaction.

07:17

DSCI Derma Sciences prices a 972K share common stock offering at $5.50/share (5.21 )

07:12

BXC Bluelinx reports EPS in-line, misses on revs (2.75 )

Reports Q4 (Dec) adjusted net loss of $0.26 per share, in-line with the single analyst estimate of ($0.26); revenues fell 36.0% year/year to $320.8 mln vs the $483.5 mln consensus.

07:12

OC Owens Corning misses by $0.23, beats on revs; guides FY10 EPS (26.01 )

Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.01 per share, $0.23 worse than the First Call consensus of $0.24; revenues fell 7.7% year/year to $1.2 bln vs the $1.16 bln consensus. Co sees FY10 EPS up 25% or more, which would equate to $1.42 or more, vs. $1.46 consensus. "Record Roofing performance, significant reductions in working capital, tight control of capital spending, and a favorable tax position drove outstanding cash generation in 2009. The Company generated free cash flow of $335 million in 2009... Owens Corning expects that the Company's 2010 adjusted earnings per share (EPS) will grow by 25% or more. Supported by a strong balance sheet and a favorable tax position, this level of earnings would translate to adjusted EBIT of $350 million or more for 2010.

07:11

FNDT Fundtech beats by $0.01, beats on revs; guides Q1 EPS in-line, revs above consensus; guides FY10 EPS in-line, revs in-line (13.98 )

Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.21 per share, $0.01 better than the First Call consensus of $0.20; revenues rose 10.1% year/year to $32.8 mln vs the $32.2 mln consensus. Co issues guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.10 to $0.14, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.14 consensus; sees Q1 revs of $32.2 mln to $32.9 mln vs. $30.31 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for FY10, sees EPS of $0.63 to $0.73, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.68 consensus; sees FY10 revs of $132 mln to $135 mln vs. $131.60 mln consensus. Fundtech CEO Reuven BenMenachem said: "I believe that we are emerging from the global financial crisis stronger than ever, and that we will resume posting double-digit organic growth in 2010. Our main growth engine continues to be Global PAYplus(R), which is gaining momentum around the world due to the introduction of our SOA (Services Oriented Architecture) technology, and the increased interest by banks to invest in their global payments infrastructure. While we continue to see weakness in the U.S. small-bank market, our product lines across the globe are well poised for a year of solid growth in 2010."

07:11

ROC Rockwood Holdings beats by $0.02, beats on revs (22.73 )

Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.20 per share, excluding special charges, $0.02 better than the First Call consensus of $0.18; revenues rose 7.4% year/year to $786.3 mln vs the $770.1 mln consensus.

07:08

VSI Vitamin Shoppe beats by $0.04, beats on revs (22.00 )

Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.12 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.04 better than the First Call consensus of $0.08; revenues rose 13.5% year/year to $162.4 mln vs the $158 mln consensus. Co says the increase in revs was primarily the result of an increase in comparable store sales, new sales from non-comparable stores and a slight increase in direct sales. The co's outlook for 2010 "continues to be positive". The co expects: 1) to open approximately 42 new stores and spend approximately $22 million in total capital expenditures; 2) to achieve comparable store sales growth in line with continued industry growth in the mid-single digits; 3) to improve its operating margin largely reflecting leverage on selling, general and administrative expenses; 4) an effective tax rate of approximately 40%; 5) diluted weighted average shares outstanding of 27.8 million; 6) inventory growth at a rate less than total sales growth, and 7) to generate excess cash flow which, by the end of the year, would be used to continue to reduce debt and for store growth.

07:08

OMX OfficeMax beats by $0.04, beats on revs (14.73 )

Reports Q4 (Dec) loss of $0.03 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.04 better than the First Call consensus of ($0.07); revenues fell 3.9% year/year to $1.81 bln vs the $1.73 bln consensus. OfficeMax anticipates that for FY10, total sales, including the impact of foreign currency translation, and adjusted operating income margin will be slightly higher than they were in 2009. The January 2010 total sales percentage decrease continued to moderate compared to the year-over-year 4Q09 total sales percentage decrease, and co expects the sales trend for 1Q10, including the impact of foreign currency translation, will be in line with what co saw in January. Co also estimates adjusted operating income margin for 1Q10 will be in line with the prior-year period.

07:08

DE Deere beats by $0.38, beats on revs; guides Q2 revs above consensus; guides FY10 revs above consensus (53.78 )

Reports Q1 (Jan) earnings of $0.57 per share, $0.38 better than the First Call consensus of $0.19; revenues fell 7.1% year/year to $4.24 bln vs the $4.19 bln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q2, sees Q2 revs (up 4-6% YoY) of $6.43-6.56 bln vs. $6.14 bln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for FY10, sees FY10 revs (up 6-8% YoY) of $22.0-22.4 bln vs. $21.12 bln consensus. Co equipment sales are projected to be up 6 to 8% for fiscal 2010 and up 4 to 6% for the second quarter compared with the same periods a year ago. Included is a favorable currency-translation impact of about 3% for the year and about 5% for the quarter. For the full year, net income attributable to Deere & Company is anticipated to be approximately $1.3 billion vs the $1.06 bln consensus. Worldwide sales of the co's agriculture and turf division are forecast to increase by 4 to 6% for full-year 2010, with a favorable currency-translation impact of about 4%. Deere's worldwide sales of construction and forestry equipment are forecast to increase by about 21% for full-year 2010. Sales are expected to benefit from last year's aggressive inventory reductions, positioning the company to align production with retail demand in 2010. U.S. construction-equipment markets are forecast to remain deeply depressed for the year as a result of a decline in non-residential construction and relatively high used-equipment levels. Global forestry markets are expected to be stronger in relation to last year's extremely weak levels, driven by higher worldwide economic output and somewhat-improved U.S. housing starts. Net sales of the worldwide equipment operations decreased 7% for the quarter, including a favorable currency-translation effect of 5% and improved price realization of 2%. Equipment net sales in the United States and Canada declined 8% for the quarter. Net sales outside the United States and Canada were down 6%, with a favorable currency-translation effect of 12%.

07:05

AUXL Auxilium Pharma beats by $0.06, beats on revs (31.70 )

Reports Q4 (Dec) loss of $0.25 per share, $0.06 better than the First Call consensus of ($0.31); revenues rose 37.9% year/year to $48 mln vs the $44.3 mln consensus. Sales of Testim in the U.S. were $42.3 million, a 24.4% increase over the $34.0 million recognized in the fourth quarter of 2008. "We believe 2009 was a great success for Auxilium. We achieved record revenues for Testim in 2009, advanced XIAFLEX through U.S. regulatory review followed by approval in early 2010 for Dupuytren's contracture and released encouraging XIAFLEX Phase IIb clinical data in Peyronie's disease... With the recent approval of XIAFLEX for adult Dupuytren's contracture patients with a palpable cord, we believe that XIAFLEX represents a blockbuster opportunity that can provide sustainable long-term growth for the Company."

07:04

PFCB PF Chang's beats by $0.12, beats on revs; guides FY10 EPS above consensus (41.40 )

Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.52 per share, $0.12 better than the First Call consensus of $0.40; revenues rose 10.8% year/year to $326.7 mln vs the $318 mln consensus. Comparable store sales for the fourth quarter decreased 5.2% at the Bistro due to a reduction in overall guest traffic combined with a slight decline in average check, reflecting the net impact of menu mix changes. Comparable store sales at the Bistro decreased 6.2%, 5.2%, and 4.3% in October, November and December, respectively. Co issues upside guidance for FY10, sees EPS of $2.00 vs. $1.93 consensus.The Company anticipates that fiscal 2010 consolidated revenues will be flat compared to fiscal 2009. This is based on expectations of slightly lower average weekly sales at both concepts during fiscal 2010 and the impact of a 52 week fiscal year in fiscal 2010, offset by the benefit of a full year of revenues for restaurants that opened during fiscal 2009 combined with revenues from six to ten anticipated new restaurant openings during fiscal 2010.

07:03

CYCC Cyclacel Pharma reports new study in clinical cancer research demonstrates potential for Cyclacel's seliciclib in treating breast cancer resistant to hormone therapy (2.40 )

Co announced that a newly published study demonstrates that the company's seliciclib (CYC202 or R-roscovitine), an orally available inhibitor of multiple cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs), reversed resistance to the aromatase inhibitor letrozole (Femara) and killed hormone receptor positive breast cancer cells that had become insensitive to the effects of letrozole. The new study was published in the current edition of Clinical Cancer Research.

07:03

ARM ArvinMeritor will reiterate Q2 guidance and its planning assumptions for FY10 (9.80 )

Co will reiterate guidance for Q2 and its planning assumptions for full fiscal year 2010, during a presentation. For Q2 (compared to the first fiscal quarter of 2010), co anticipates: -- Revenues to be flat (current consensus is for $1.12 bln, a year ago revs were $1.11 bln); EBITDA, before special items, to be flat; Income before taxes, before special items, to be flat; and Free cash flow to be slightly negative primarily due to the company's semi-annual interest payment on its fixed debt securities.... Co will also reiterate that there was no change in its planning assumptions for the full fiscal year which call for capital expenditures in the range of $90-110 mln, interest expense in the range of $95-110 mln, income tax expense before special items in the range of $40-60 mln and cash income taxes in the range of $25-50 mln.

07:02

APC Anadarko Petro names R. A. Walker President and Chief Operating Officer (67.92 )

Co announced that its Board of Directors has promoted Al Walker to President and Chief Operating Officer. Jim Hackett, formerly Chairman, President and CEO, will remain as Chairman and CEO.

07:01

ACHN Achillion Pharma announces "Positive" 96-week data for Elvucitabine at the 17th annual conference on retroviruses and opportunistic infections (2.39 )

Co announced the presentation of additional positive safety and efficacy results from its Phase 2 trial studying elvucitabine in patients infected with HIV. The new data were presented in a poster entitled, "Elvucitabine vs Lamivudine with Tenofovir and Efavirenz in Antiretroviral-Treatment-Naive HIV-1 Infected Patients: 96 Week Final Results," at the 17th Annual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections underway in San Francisco. The study demonstrated a mean change in HIV-RNA from baseline in the elvucitabine treatment group of -3.0 log10 (+0.6) vs. -3.2 log10 (+ 0.7) in the 3TC treatment group in the as-treated patient analysis. Elvucitabine was well-tolerated and demonstrated a safety profile comparable to 3TC for both incidence and severity of adverse events. Further, no resistance to elvucitabine was documented at 96 weeks of therapy.

07:00

XTO XTO Energy increases proved reserves 1 TCFE to a record 14.83 TCFE (46.51 )

Co announced that Miller and Lents, independent petroleum engineers, estimate XTO's proved oil and gas reserves at December 31, 2009 to be a record 14.83 tln cubic feet of gas equivalent (Tcfe), up 7% compared with 13.86 Tcfe at December 31, 2008. Natural gas reserves increased 6% to 12.50 Tcf, and natural gas combined with natural gas liquids of 93 mln barrels equaled 88% of total reserves. Oil reserves increased 10% to 294 mln barrels. Proved developed reserves accounted for 61% of total proved reserves on an equivalent basis.

07:00

PFWD Phase Forward announces $25 mln share repurchase program (11.61 )

06:47

CPB Campbell Soup reiterates fiscal 2010 full-year adjusted net EPS and EBIT guidance, lowers full-year sales guidance (33.59 )

Co announces a comprehensive plan to boost the performance of its condensed soup portfolio in the United States, the co plans to enhance more than 60% of its condensed line with product improvements, further sodium reduction, more contemporary packaging, improved shelving systems and new marketing aimed at the simple meals category. The co also reiterated its full-year guidance for adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) growth of 6 to 7% and adjusted net earnings per share growth of 9 to 11% from the fiscal 2009 adjusted base of $2.21. (This calculates to roughly $2.41-2.45 vs. $2.46 First Call consensus) The company revised its fiscal 2010 guidance for sales growth to 2.5 to 3.5% from the prior range of 4 to 5% (This calculates to roughly $7.77 -7.851 bln vs. $7.87 bln consensus). The new and improved soups will be available at retail in August

2010.

06:29

S&P futures vs fair value: +2.80. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +1.80.

06:28

Asian Markets

Nikkei...10306.83...+272.60...+2.70%. Hang Seng...20534.01...+265.30...+1.30%.

06:28

European Markets

FTSE...5272.51...+28.40...+0.50%. DAX...5639.40...+47.30...+0.90%.

06:26

GBX Greenbrier Comp announces it has begun to provide railcar management services to RailAmerica (RA); services provided by GMS include car hire payable, car hire receivable and car repair payable processing (9.40 )

06:06

GDP Goodrich Petroleum announces a 4.5% increase in year-end reserves to 421 Bcfe (21.52 )

Co announces its proved oil and natural gas reserves as of December 31, 2009 increased by 4.5% to 420.6 bln cubic feet equivalent of natural gas versus the prior year period. Year-end proved reserves were 99% natural gas and 39% developed. The present value, using a 10% discount rate, of the future net cash flows before income taxes of the proved reserves was approxi $148.2 mln, using average first day-of-the-month 2009 prices of $3.87 per MMBtu for natural gas and $61.18 per barrel for oil. Under the previous SEC pricing guidelines, the same year-end proved reserves would have been 460.0 Bcfe, with a PV-10 Value of approximately $550.0 million using year-end prices of $5.79 per MMBtu of gas and $79.39 per barrel of oil. The co had proved reserve additions of 314.3 Bcfe before revisions, based on drilling and completion capital expenditures of $215.0 million, for an organic finding and development cost of $0.68 per Mcfe. When including approximately 259.6 Bcfe of negative revisions due to lower prices used in the year-end 2009 reserve report, organic finding and development cost was $3.93 per Mcfe. Proved developed reserve additions were 67.1 Bcfe before revisions, with a proved developed organic finding and development cost of $3.21 per Mcfe.

06:06

XEC Cimarex beats by $0.24, beats on revs (56.84 )

Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $1.23 per share, $0.24 better than the First Call consensus of $0.99; revenues rose 9.9% year/year to $313.5 mln vs the $287.8 mln consensus. 4Q09 production grew 6% sequentially from the 3Q09 average of 441.5 MMcfe/d but fell 5% as compared to 4Q08 average of 493.7 MMcfe/d. Production rate fluctuations reflect the reduction and then increase in operated drilling rigs and successful Gulf Coast exploration. Due to acceleration of production in southeast Texas and the Cana-Woodford shale play firm revises upward their February 8, 2010 production guidance. Q110 production is now projected to be in the range of 560-575 MMcfe/d. FY10 production is projected to be in the range of 540-570 MMcfe/d, or a 17-23% increase over 2009. FY10 exploration and development (E&D) capital investment is targeted to be generally within cash flow. At the present time, based on current market prices and service costs, firm estimates that 2010 capital expenditures may range from $700-$900 mln.

06:04

ITRN Ituran Location and Control beats by $0.04, reports revs in-line (14.39 )

Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.26 per share, $0.04 better than the First Call consensus of $0.22; revenues rose 14.6% year/year to $33.7 mln vs the $33.4 mln consensus. 77.4% of revenues were from location based service subscription fees and 22.6% from product revenues. Revenues from subscription fees grew by 25% over the same period last year. The increase in subscription fees was mainly due to the increase in the subscriber base, which grew to 562,000 as of the end 2009, compared with 511,000 at the end of 2008, and as a result of the strength of the Brazilian Real versus the US Dollar. Product revenues were $1 million below those of the same period last year, due to lower sales of products in Israel and the full switch to leasing rather selling the equipment in Brazil. Gross profit for the fourth quarter of 2009 was US$ 17.1 million (50.9% of revenues) compared with US$14.1 million (48.1% of revenues) in the fourth quarter of last year. "We start 2010 very well positioned with an ability for achieving continued growth and performance, driven by our momentum in Brazil- a region in which we are a market leader. At the same time, our business in Israel is stable and cash generating. Our results and continually improving margins, demonstrate the inherent operating leverage within our business model whereby we can grow our revenues with a small associated incremental increase in expenses, leading to increased profitability. We look forward to continuing our growth into 2010, a year in which we see a lot of potential for Ituran."

05:53

NICE Nice Systems beats by $0.03, beats on revs; guides Q1 EPS in-line, revs above consensus; guides FY10 EPS in-line, revs above consensus (30.25 )

Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.45 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.03 better than the First Call consensus of $0.42; non-GAAP revenues fell 0.3% year/year to $162.8 mln vs the $156 mln consensus. Co issues guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.35-0.39, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.38 consensus; sees Q1 revs of $153.0-160.0 mln, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $152.04 mln consensus. Co issues guidance for FY10, sees EPS of $1.66-1.74, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $1.72 consensus; sees FY10 revs of $652.0-670.0 mln, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $650.04 mln consensus.

02:19

ING ING Group posts underlying net profit of EUR 748 mln in FY09 (8.96 )

Co reports FY09 underlying net profit of EUR 748 mln vs EUR -304 mln in FY08. The FY09 net result was EUR -935 mln or EUR -0.44 per share including divestments and special items. 4Q09 underlying net profit was EUR 74 mln vs. a loss of EUR 3,093 mln in 4Q08. Negative market impacts decrease to EUR 992 mln vs. peak of EUR 5,045 mln in 4Q08. Co won't pay dividend over 2009.

02:15

On The Wires

Capitol Bancorp (CBC) and Rabobank, N.A. jointly announce the planned sale of Capitol's California-based affiliate, Napa Community Bank, to Rabobank for an initial cash consideration approximating $25 mln and other contingent considerations... Ormat Technologies (ORA) announces that its project subsidiary has signed a letter of intent with the off-taker, Kenya Power & Lighting Co. Ltd, for further expansion of its Olkaria III power plant by up to 52 MW (from 48 MW to up to 100MW) within the framework of the existing power purchase agreement.

02:12

NFX Newfield Exploration FY09 proved reserves increase 23% to 3.6 Tcfe (52.69 )

Co announces that its proved reserves at December 31, 2009 were 3.6 Tcfe, a 23% increase over proved reserves at year-end 2008. Newfield replaced approx 250% of 2009 production with the addition of new proved reserves, excluding the impact of new SEC reserve reporting rules. Substantially all of the reserve additions were from organic drilling programs. At YE09, approx 53% of the proved reserves were proved developed and 72% were natural gas. Proved reserves in Newfield's two largest divisions - the Mid-Continent and Rocky Mountains - increased 34% and now represent more than 80% of the co's total proved reserves. For 2009, Newfield added 1,342 Bcfe of proved reserves, of which approx half were related to recent changes in SEC reserve reporting rules expanding proved undeveloped reserve locations beyond one offset. Negative price and performance related revisions were 259 Bcfe and 125 Bcfe, respectively. Proved developed reserves at YE09 were 4% higher than our proved developed reserves at YE08.

02:09

NFX Newfield Expl beats by $0.05, misses on revs (52.69 )

Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $1.40 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.05 better than the First Call consensus of $1.35; revenues rose 22.5% year/year to $414 mln vs the $564.7 mln consensus. Newfield's production in 4Q09 was 65 Bcfe. Natural gas production in 4Q09 was 46 Bcf, an average of nearly 500 MMcf/d. Newfield's oil liftings in 4Q09 were 3.1 MMBbls, or an average of approx 34,200 BOPD. Capital expenditures in 4Q09 were approximately $478 mln. Production for 2010 is expected to be 278-288 Bcfe, an increase of 8-12% over 2009. In 2010, co will invest approx 70% of budget, or approx $1 bln, in domestic resource plays. More than one-third of the budget will be directed to oil plays.

02:03

AU AngloGold Ashanti reports 4Q09 results (39.22 )

Co says it would increase its final dividend after fourth-quarter adjusted headline earnings rose to $228 mln on a higher gold price and increased production from Continental Africa and South America. The final dividend of 70 South African cents a share is 17% more than the interim dividend of 2009 and the total dividend declaration of 130 South African cents, a 30% improvement on 2008's final declaration. Adjusted headline earnings rose to $228 mln, or $0.62/share for the three months to December 31, compared with $162 mln, or $0.45 in the previous quarter. The figure for the third quarter excludes the cost of buying back hedge contracts. Production in 2010 is anticipated to be between 4.5Moz and 4.7Moz at a total cash cost of $590/oz - $615/oz.

01:59

GTY Getty Realty announces postponement of its 4Q09 earnings release (21.78 )

Co announces that it will postpone the release of its financial results for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2009, and its Fourth Quarter and Year End Earnings Conference Call originally scheduled for February 17, 2010, in order to allow additional time to complete the year-end audit of financial statements.

18:39

EEFT Euronet misses by $0.01, beats on revs; guides Q1 EPS below consensus (19.34 +0.10)

Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.37 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 worse than the First Call consensus of $0.38; revenues rose 11.7% year/year to $285.6 mln vs the $276.6 mln consensus. Co issues downside guidance for Q1, sees EPS of ~$0.32, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.34 consensus. Co said, "Expectations for ~Q1 2010 reflect a seasonal reduction in transactions following the higher transaction levels during Q4 holiday season. Absent unusual circumstances, such as acquisitions, or significant fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, we estimate that each of the Company's three business segments' overall revenue will be ~5-10% lower during Q1 of each year compared to Q4 of the previous year."

18:21

OESX Orion Energy Systems announces future rule 10b5-1 plan (5.36 +0.27)

Co announced that, on Feb. 16, 2010, Neal R. Verfuerth, its chairman and chief executive officer, and his wife, Patricia A. Verfuerth, Orion's vice president of operations, entered into a prearranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan to sell later during OESX's FY10 Q4 80,000 shares of OESX's common stock in order to generate sufficient cash proceeds to assist them in paying personal taxes. As a result of this sale of shares, Mr. and Mrs. Verfuerth's combined direct stock ownership in the co will decrease by only ~2.5% and together they will still beneficially own 3,122,867 shares, or about 14.0% of OESX's outstanding shares. Together, they will remain OESX's largest shareholders.

18:14

Standard & Poorâ??s Announces Change to U.S. Indices

Discovery Communications (DISCA) will replace Pepsi Bottling Group (PBG) in the S&P 500 index. Bally Technologies (BYI) will replace PepsiAmericas (PAS) in the S&P MidCap 400 index.

18:13

GIVN Given Imaging beats by $0.04, beats on revs; guides FY10 EPS in-line, revs in-line (15.88 +0.43)

Reports Q4 (Dec) GAAP earnings of $0.17 per share, $0.04 better than the First Call consensus of $0.13; revenues rose 18.3% year/year to $40 mln vs the $39.1 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for FY10, sees GAAP EPS of $0.50-0.58 vs. $0.50 consensus; sees FY10 revs of $154-160 mln vs. $154.52 mln consensus.

18:08

RZ Raser Technologies aAnnounces extension with Thermo No. 1 financing partners (0.96 +0.03)

Co announced that it has reached an agreement with project financing partners to extend the final performance and completion test of the Thermo No. 1 Project to June 30, 2010.

18:04

PERY Perry Ellis announces it expects to deliver FY10 EPS results at or above the top end of its previously announce EPS of $0.80-0.95 vs. $0.95 consensus; sees FY11 EPS in-line (16.0 +0.52)

Co expects to deliver FY10 EPS results at or above the top end of its previously announced EPS of $0.80-0.95 vs. $0.95 consensus, sees FY11 EPS of $1.25-1.40 vs. $1.25 consensus, sees revs of $770-790 mln vs $788.4 mln consensus. Co said preliminary Q4 results noted a return to revenue growth and strong gross and operating margin increases over prior year. The co ended FY10 in an outstanding financial position. Focused inventory management throughout the year resulted in a reduction of ~19% compared to prior year. Positive operating cash flow provided the co the ability to repurchase $21 mln of its senior notes. As a result of this working capital and cash flow management, Perry Ellis International ended the year with full availability on its revolving credit facility and a total net debt to capitalization ratio of 34% as compared to 47% for the prior year... as the co has exited certain underperforming businesses during fiscal 2010, it is expected that the improvement in gross margins, noted during the third quarter of FY10, will continue throughout FY11, as compared to the same periods in fiscal 2010. Besides these margin improvements, the co also expects to maintain solid operating leverage derived from the cost reduction activities undertaken during FY10."

18:03

SNA Snap-On: Martin Ellen to become CFO of Dr Pepper Snapple Group; Aldo Pagliari Named Successor as Snap-on CFO (42.25 +0.64)

Co announced that Martin M. Ellen, senior vice president - finance and chief financial officer, is resigning from Snap-on to become executive vice president and chief financial officer of Dr Pepper Snapple Group (DPS). To allow for an appropriate transition, Ellen will remain as Snap-on's chief financial officer until March 31, 2010. Effective the same date, Aldo J. Pagliari, currently president - Snap-on Equipment, and formerly group controller/director of finance for the Snap-on Commercial and Industrial Group, will succeed Ellen as Snap-on's senior vice president - finance and chief financial officer.

17:57

Futures are mixed after hours with S&P 500 futures 0.38 points above fair value of 1093.30 and Nasdaq 100 futures 0.94 points below above value of 1800.25

17:36

VMI Valmont beats by $0.04, sees FY10 earnings down 25% (71.00 +0.31)

Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $1.14 per share, $0.04 better than the First Call consensus of $1.10; revenues fell 19.2% year/year to $398.6 mln vs the $431.3 mln consensus. Co said, "We will face some challenges in 2010 and we currently expect earnings to decline around 25% from our record earnings in 2009. The first quarter will be particularly weak, as harsh weather has impaired shipping and outdoor activity in all of our markets, and our utility backlog is one-third of what it was last year. Additionally, this year the Engineered Support Structures Segment faces the lack of a long-term highway bill and continued weakness in North American construction markets. Better activity in international structures markets should offset the North American sales weakness. On balance, we expect earnings for the Engineered Support Structures Segment to improve. We expect Irrigation Segment full year results to be somewhat better. The degree of improvement will depend on farm income, input costs to the farmer and crop prices. It is too early at this time to have a more specific outlook. In the Coatings Segment, we currently expect revenues to be similar to 2009."

17:34

AON Aon reaches amended and restated agreement with three states on compensation business practices (39.90 +0.09)

17:30

BLL Ball announces stock repurchase of $125 mln of its outstanding common stock using cash on hand and available borrowings (52.04 +0.65)

17:27

GD General Dynamics was awarded $227.4 mln contract - DoD (69.85 +1.90)

The DoD reported that GD Land Systems-Canada, London, Ontario, was awarded on Feb. 12, 2010, a $227,380,750 firm-fixed-priced delivery order #0007. The procurement is for 250 MRAP RG-31A2 vehicles and associated engineering change proposal upgrades to include an independent suspension system. The work is expected to be completed no later than Oct. 30, 2010.

17:21

SIRO Sirona Dental Systems announced that it is filing a prospectus supplement to its existing shelf registration relating to an underwritten public offering of 7,000,000 shares of its common stock (37.09 +2.26)

SIRO announced that it is filing a prospectus supplement to its existing shelf registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission relating to an underwritten public offering by Sirona Holdings Luxco S.C.A. of 7,000,000 shares of its common stock and 250,000 shares by Jeffery Slovin. Sirona Dental Systems, Inc. will not receive any proceeds from this sale of its common stock. One of the selling stockholders, Sirona Holdings Luxco S.C.A., has also granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 1,050,000 additional shares of common stock.

17:20

NDAQ NASDAQ OMX Group announces majority ownership in Agora-X (18.55 +0.26)

NDAQ and Agora-X, LLC announced that NASDAQ OMX bought a majority interest in Agora-X, an electronic communications network for institutional trading in over-the-counter commodity contracts. The transaction gives NASDAQ OMX an 85% equity interest in Agora-X, up from its previous 20% ownership, effective immediately. Financial terms were not disclosed.

17:19

THO Thor Industries reports in an 8-K that on February 14, 2010, a fire occurred at the northern production facility on a manufacturing site of THO located near Imlay City, Michigan (33.75 +0.66)

THO said that the Facility is one of the co's principal manufacturing locations for its Champion and General Coach America bus lines. The fire resulted in the destruction of a significant portion of the work in process, raw material and equipment contained in the Facility. There were no reported injuries and the origin of the fire is unknown at this time. The co is currently evaluating the extent of the damage resulting from the fire and the amount of loss is unknown at this time. The southern production plant, paint facility and other buildings at the site were not affected by the fire and remain intact. Within the next two weeks, the co expects to resume limited production activities for its Champion and General Coach America buses in the southern manufacturing facility that is located on the same site. In addition, the co has taken steps to address equipment and staffing reallocation. Many employees will continue to work out of the southern manufacturing facility and an office building on this site on a temporary basis. The co expects that a portion of the loss resulting from the fire will be covered by its property and business interruption insurance. However, up to the first $5 mln of the loss will be borne by the co as a deductible for the policy.

17:17

NAV Navistar Defense awarded $752 mln contract for MaxxPro Dash MRAP vehicles (39.72 +0.61)

Co awarded a contract for $752 mln to provide 1,050 enhanced International MaxxPro Dash Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles. Vehicles under the award from the U.S. Marine Corps Systems Command will include the DXM independent suspension solution.

17:14

PRAA Portfolio Recovery Assoc. announces public offering of 1 mln shares of its common stock (53.25 +0.71)

Co intends to use the net proceeds of the offering primarily to repay a portion of the debt outstanding under its $365 mln revolving credit facility.

17:14

INWK InnerWorkings misses by $0.01, misses on revs (6.07 +0.38)

Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.05 per share, $0.01 worse than the First Call consensus of $0.06; revenues rose 3.3% year/year to $107.9 mln vs the $109.8 mln consensus.

17:06

CCE Coca-Cola Ent increased the regular quarterly to $0.09 per common share, up from $0.08 per share (19.30 +0.02)

17:04

BBI Blockbuster announces Blockbuster On Demand will be available on the upcoming HTC HD2 smartphone (0.37 -0.02)

Blockbuster On Demand will be the exclusive movie download embedded on the upcoming HTC HD2 smartphone in the U.S.... The co and and T-Mobile USA (DT) announced that consumers can download and watch the new releases with this first offering from Blockbuster on the new HTC HD2.

17:04

RPT Ramco-Gershenson misses by $0.01; guides FY10 FFO's in-line (9.61 +0.10)

Reports Q4 (Dec) funds from operations of $0.29 per share, $0.01 worse than the First Call consensus of $0.30; revenues fell 9.3% year/year to $30.3 mln vs the $31.7 mln consensus. Co sees 2010 FFO guidance of $1.12-1.24 vs. $1.24 consensus.

17:02

DHR Danaher sees Q1 EPS of "above the high end" of the range $0.77-0.82 vs $0.83 First Call consensus (73.50 +1.57)

"We've been encouraged by the strong order activity and continuing margin performance through the first part of the quarter. In addition to improving end markets, the closing of the AB SCIEX transaction combined with our growth investments and new product introductions positions us well for the long term." The Company expects that the AB SCIEX transaction will be accretive in 2010 by between $0.05 - $0.07 per share, excluding the impact of fair value adjustments and transaction costs of approximately $0.15 per share.

17:01

GWR Genesee & Wyoming and Consolidated Thompson Iron Mines Limited sign rail services agreement (31.63 +0.59)

The co announces that GWI and a newly formed GWI subsidiary, Western Labrador Rail Services (WLRS), have entered into a long term agreement with Bloom Lake Railway Company (BLRC), a subsidiary of Consolidated Thompson Iron Mines Limited (CLM), for WLRS to provide rail transportation services to BLRC. Operated as part of GWI's Canada Region, WLRS will haul unit trains of iron ore over BLRC's newly constructed 31-kilometer railway from CLM's Bloom Lake mine, located in the province of Quebec on the south end of the Labrador Trough, to Wabush, Labrador. The iron ore will then travel over two privately owned railways to CLM's port facilities in Pointe-Noire on the St. Lawrence River for export primarily to Asian markets. The railway construction is expected to be completed during the first quarter of 2010 with iron ore shipments starting immediately thereafter.

16:57

AFSI Amtrust Financial raises quarterly dividend to $0.07 per share of common stock from $0.06 per share of common stock (11.74 -0.03) -Update-

16:56

BKC Burger King and Starbucks (SBUX) Seattle's Best Coffee confirm plan to offer coffee in Burger King restaurants nationwide (18.29 +0.07) -Update-

See 14:44 comment for details.

16:54

PLAB Photronics beats by $0.05 (4.41 +0.32) -Update-

Reports Q1 (Dec) earnings of $0.01 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.05 better than the First Call consensus of ($0.04); revenues rose 12.0% year/year to $98.2 mln vs the $94.7 mln dual-analyst est.

16:54

STR Questar unit reports 2009 production and year-end reserves; provides update on recent drilling results in key plays; affirms 2010 production guidance (41.51 +0.36)

Co subsidiary Questar Exploration and Production Company (Questar E&P) today reported 2009 production and year-end 2009 proved gas and oil reserves. The company also provided an update on recent well results in its core operating areas. Questar E&P reported production of 189.5 Bcfe in 2009, compared to 171.4 Bcfe in 2008, an 11% increase. Questar E&P reports year-end 2009 proved gas and oil reserves of 2.75 Tcfe, up 24% from year-end 2008

16:52

KOSS Koss Corp reports restatement delays Q2 financial results (4.41 +0.14)

Co announced that its quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the period ended December 31, 2009 filed with the SEC today did not include unaudited consolidated financial statements due to delays relating to the previously disclosed unauthorized transactions by its former Vice President of Finance and Secretary, Sujata Sachdeva. Co anticipates restating its financial statements for at least fiscal years 2008 and 2009, and the quarter ending September 30, 2009. Co expects that these financial statements will be available no later than June 2010.

16:52

AFSI Amtrust Financial reports Q4 EPs of $0.52 vs $0.50 First Call consensus (11.74 -0.03)

"AmTrust once again delivered solid results and generated a return on equity in excess of 20% even in the face of a challenging economic environment and increased market competition," said Barry Zyskind, Chief Executive Officer of AmTrust Financial. "Our balanced portfolio of niche businesses, highly efficient operating platform, commitment to sound underwriting and the continued dedication of our teams continue to deliver for our shareholders. Our highly efficient capital structure coupled with these results and our pending investment in American Capital Acquisition Corporation's acquisition of the GMAC personal lines insurance portfolio should position us well as we look forward into 2010."

16:49

OFLX Omega Flex reports Q4 EPS of $0.17 vs. $0.10 a year ago; revs of $12.6 mln vs. $13.0 mln a year ago (10.55 +0.09)

Further, Net Income for the 4th quarter shows substantial improvement over the Company's first nine months, representing 39% of the year's earnings, while Revenues in each quarter have continued to increase from the prior quarter during 2009.

16:49

NBR Nabors Ind beats by $0.02, beats on revs (23.86 +0.30)

Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.18 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.02 better than the First Call consensus of $0.16; revenues fell 43.4% year/year to $834.5 mln vs the $825 mln consensus. Co said, "In Alaska, our expectation is that the year will likely be ~40% below 2009 and represent the bottom in this market. Over the longer term, there are several strategic projects that could significantly bolster results in subsequent years. Sustained high oil prices and the realization of contemplated tax incentives by the State of Alaska should also improve the outlook... in our US Land Well-servicing business, we expect that oil prices are likely to improve over time and, given the quality and performance of our Millennium rigs, a more robust outlook for the second half of 2010 and especially 2011 is all but certain... in our our US Offshore business, contracted income for 2010 is expected to be 30% greater than our full year results in 2009, up from 20% just last quarter and in our Canadian unit, we expect the first quarter to show a large increase during the peak winter drilling season, approximating last year's first quarter results." Co separately said, "We are quite bullish over the longer term for all of our businesses, but remain uncertain as to the precise timing of a meaningful inflection, although we anticipate it may well be as soon as the second half of this year."

16:46

CCK Crown Hldgs increases production capacity in Vietnam (26.52 +0.37)

Co announced that its subsidiary, CROWN Asia Pacific, intends to install a second beverage can line in its existing facility northeast of Ho Chi Minh City in Dong Nai Province, Vietnam. The new line is expected to be operational in the fourth quarter of 2010 and have an initial annual production capacity of approximately 600 mln two-piece 33cl aluminum beverage cans, which would expand the Dong Nai plant's capacity to more than 1.2 bln cans. As a result of this latest investment, Crown anticipates having 5 beverage can lines in 3 facilities in Vietnam, with total production capacity in excess of 3 billion aluminum two-piece cans.

16:45

ENCO Encorium Group announces one-for-eight reverse stock split (0.26 +0.03)

16:44

ADM Archer-Daniels outlined strategy for growing its business (29.48 -0.14) -Update-

Co outlined strategy for growing its business through a combination of increasing its overall volume, expanding its geographic footprint, diversifying its inputs, and growing its product portfolio. Chairman, CEO and President Patricia Woertz said growth strategies for each of ADM's four business units seek to leverage ADM's current geographic footprint and expand to capitalize on future market opportunities. Woertz noted that ADM has a leadership position in oilseeds processing in North America and Western Europe, and a smaller processing position in South America, where the Company is a leading originator of soybeans. She said, "Our strategy is to grow in South America, Central and Eastern Europe and in India. We will also grow in China with our strategic partner in the region."

16:44

EQS Equus Total Return announces $13.8 million write down (3.50 +0.06)

Co announces announces a decrease in the value of its portfolio securities of approximately $13.8 million. This decrease is related to the Fund's investments in Infinia and Riptide Entertainment. The Fund's Infinia holdings declined from $10.6 million to $1.5 million due to a recapitalization of the Infinia ownership structure related to its most recent fund raising efforts in which the Fund's holdings were diluted. The principal reason for Riptide's decline in value from $7.9 million to $3.2 million is due to Riptide's current financial position and operating performance.

16:40

WTS Watts Ind beats by $0.11, beats on revs (28.87 +0.38)

Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.53 per share, excluding $0.11 in discontinued operations, $0.2 in impairment charges and $0.19 in restructuring and other charges, $0.11 better than the First Call consensus of $0.42; revenues fell 5.4% year/year to $323.2 mln vs the $3000.7 mln consensus. The co's net debt to capitalization ratio decreased to 9.9% for the year ended December 31, 2009 from 22.8% in the prior year. The decrease was primarily due to better operating cash generation through stringent working capital management, increased margins and better cost containment.

16:40

COV Covidien announces that the FDA has set a new action date for the review of the NDA for Exalgo (50.31 +0.73)

Co announced that the FDA has set a new action date of March 1, 2010, under the PDUFA for the review of the NDA for Exalgo (hydromorphone HCl) Extended-Release Tablets, (CII). The latest rescheduling of the action date for Exalgo is the result of the FDA's decision to allow more time for its review of pending NDAs following the agency's recent weather-related closure.

16:39

KAR KAR Auction Services: Insurance Auto Auctions discusses business outlook (13.93 -0.84)

Insurance Auto Auctions (IAAI), a wholly owned subsidiary of KAR Auction Services, today discussed that in the ordinary course of business, Allstate, one of its insurance customers, has chosen to transition the remainder of its business to a competitor who already has the substantial majority of its volume. It is IAAI's understanding that the transition will be completed sometime later in 2010. Commenting on the action, Insurance Auto Auctions' President and Chief Executive Officer, Tom O'Brien stated, "While we are disappointed with Allstate's decision, we will work closely to assist them with the transition and we look forward to doing business with them again in the future." O'Brien went on to state, "While it is not our policy to make announcements on individual customer wins or losses, we have had a number of significant customer wins that should offset the impact of Allstate's decision. On balance, we do not anticipate this having a material impact on KAR's financial performance."

16:36

TCX Tucows announces a $10 million stock buyback program (0.67 unch)

16:35

RICK Rick's Cabaret and VCGH enter into letter of intent to merge; VCGH holders to receive shares of Rick's common stock, valuing each share of VCGH at $2.20-3.80 (12.89 +0.99) -Update-

Rick's Cabaret (RICK), VCG Holding Corp. (VCGH) and Troy Lowrie and his affiliates have signed a letter of intent under which Rick's Cabaret will acquire all of the outstanding shares of VCG Holding to form the largest publicly traded operator of upscale gentlemen's clubs in North America, the two companies announced today. Rick's Cabaret currently operates 18 nightclubs in seven states while VCG Holding operates 20 clubs in ten states. The two companies had combined revenues of $131.3 million for the 12 month period ending September 30, 2009. Eric Langan, President and CEO of Rick's Cabaret International, said: "The combination of these two companies will result in a powerful operator that we believe would have generated earnings before income tax and depreciation (EBITDA) for the 12 months ended September 30, 2009 of approximately $25.3 million without any of the add-backs we anticipate we will achieve through synergistic cost savings. I am confident that the combined entities can achieve meaningful savings through streamlined management and elimination of duplicate costs associated with being two separate public companies, including lower legal and accounting expenses"... Under the non-binding (except as to certain provisions, including exclusivity and confidentiality) letter of intent, the companies anticipate a potential merger (structured to qualify as a tax-free reorganization), in which VCG Holding's shareholders will receive shares of Rick's common stock based on certain exchange ratios valuing each share of VCG Holding's common stock between $2.20 and $3.80 per share, determined based on the weighted average closing price of Rick's common stock as traded on the Nasdaq Global Market for the 20 consecutive trading days ending on the second trading day prior to the closing of the Merger. As of February 16, 2010 (and assuming the potential merger were to close on such date and that the weighted average closing price per share of Rick's common stock for the 20 consecutive trading days ending on February 11, 2010 was equal to the closing price of Rick's common stock on February 11, 2010 of $11.76 per share), the value of each share of VCG Holding's common stock under this formula would be $2.66 per share. In the event the price per share of Rick's common stock as determined by this formula is below $8.00, Rick's may terminate the merger agreement, subject to the payment to VCG Holding of a termination fee to be negotiated by the parties in connection with the preparation of the merger agreement.

16:35

HIG Hartford Financial names Christopher J. Swift CFO (23.95 +0.50)

Co announces that Christopher J. Swift, 49, will join the company as executive vice president and chief financial officer, effective March 1. Swift joins The Hartford from American Life Insurance Company, an operating company of American International Group (AIG), where he was Vice Chairman and CFO.

16:33

AGX Argan announced that the co and United American Steel Constructors have mutually terminated the non-binding letter of intent and discontinued merger negotiations announced August 10, 2009 (15.93 -0.02)

16:33

IAAC International Assets Hldg announced that its previously consolidated shareholding in Agora-X, has been restructured (15.34 +0.06)

IAAC notes that its wholly-owned subsidiary, FCStone Group, was instrumental in establishing Agora-X, an electronic communications network for institutional trading in over-the-counter commodities contracts. The change in shareholding is a result of a $6.6 million investment in Agora-X made by the NASDAQ OMX Group to fund its ongoing growth and expansion. FCStone will continue to support Agora-X as its primary OTC platform and will retain a board seat. The NASDAQ OMX's interest in Agora-X will increase from 20% to 85%, and FCStone's interest will decrease from 80% to 15%. FCStone will have an option to acquire an additional 10% at fair market value. Since IAAC will no longer have a controlling financial interest in Agora-X, it will deconsolidate it as a subsidiary and recognize a resulting gain in income during the three months ending March 31, 2010.

16:32

AMTD TD Ameritrade reports monthly metrics; average of 421,000 client trades per day in January 2010, up 38% from January 2009 and up 22% from December 2009 (17.33 +0.31)

Co said ~$314.5 bln in total client assets as of Jan. 31, 2010, up 40% from January 2009 and down 1% from December 2009. Average spread-based balances of $51.2 bln, up 94% from January 2009 and up 3% from December 2009. Average fee-based balances of $58.7 bln, down 3% from January 2009 and up 2% from December 2009.

16:32

RAX Correction: Rackspace

At 16:11 we incorrectly reported the co's 4Q09 EPS of $0.06, whereas $0.06 was what it reported in 4Q08. The correct earnings have been reposted at 16:26. The orginal comment has been removed.

16:27

COO Cooper cos aquires product line from American Medical Systems for ~$20.5 mln (38.14 -0.19)

Co announced that CooperSurgical, its women's healthcare unit, has acquired the Her Option Global Endometrial Ablation product line from American Medical Systems Holdings (AMMD). Cooper paid ~$20.5 mln in cash for the product line which had revenue of ~$10 mln over the last year. Cooper expects the acquisition to be neutral to its fiscal 2010 consolidated earnings excluding transaction costs.

16:26

RAX Rackspace beats by $0.01, reports revs in-line (18.81 +0.57)

Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.07 per share, $0.01 better than the First Call consensus of $0.06; revenues rose 18.4% year/year to $169.5 mln vs the $168.4 mln consensus. For the full year of 2010, the company expects to have total capital expenditures of $185 to $235 million, including $140 to $160 million for customer gear, $10 to $20 million for data centers, $10 to $20 million for office space, and $25 to $35 million for capitalized software and other.

16:25

FTI FMC Tech beats by $0.01, misses on revs; guides FY10 EPS in-line (58.57 +1.14)

Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.75 per share, $0.01 better than the First Call consensus of $0.74. Co issues in-line guidance for FY10, sees EPS of $2.45 to $2.65 vs. $2.51 consensus. Peter D. Kinnear, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer commented: "While we anticipate 2010 revenue to be slightly lower than 2009, we expect a significant rebound in orders and a rebuilding of our backlog."

16:23

RRR RSC Holdings misses by $0.03, beats on revs; guides Q1 revs below consensus (7.13 +0.30)

Reports Q4 (Dec) loss of $0.28 per share, $0.03 worse than the First Call consensus of ($0.25); revenues fell 32.1% year/year to $290.1 mln vs the $275.4 mln consensus. Co issues downside guidance for Q1, sees Q1 revs of $240-255 mln vs. $287.60 mln consensus. With the anticipation of improving demand during the course of 2010, the co plans to increase its capital expenditures for new fleet in order to meet demand in targeted segments. The co will also use capital to replace fleet, which is in the normal course of business and helps to maintain one of the youngest fleets in the industry. The estimated free cash flow range for 2010 is expected to be $70-100 mln and the aforementioned increase in capital expenditures and higher cash interest costs account for most of the difference compared to 2009 free cash flow levels. The co expects to continue to apply available cash to further debt reduction. For 1Q10, business activity in the co's served markets is expected to continue to be down on a YoY basis and demand is expected to continue its seasonal sequential decline in the first quarter. Industry-wide fleet levels should continue to exceed demand and, as a result, rental rates will likely remain under pressure. Margins on the sale of used equipment are expected to remain similar to those realized in the second half of 2009. "We expect 2010 to be a year of transition, with demand bottoming out, followed by a modest recovery in the second half. Given this outlook we expect a challenging year, but with positive year-over-year comparisons starting in the second half. We believe our end market diversification strategy and operational execution have positioned us to emerge stronger."

16:22

XPRT LECG Corp provides update on SMART merger timing (2.89 -0.11) -Update-

Co announced that the parties have agreed to an extension of the termination date provided in the merger agreement with SMART business advisory & consulting. The merger was approved by the LECG stockholders in December, and had been expected to close in February 2010. The parties agreed to extend the termination date from February 15, 2010 to March 31, 2010 to give the co and SMART additional time to negotiate a credit facility for the combined companies in connection with the closing of the merger. The co and SMART are currently negotiating the terms of such a credit facility with their lenders, and expect to conclude those negotiations and to close the merger during March.

16:21

JAH Jarden beats by $0.01, beats on revs (31.55 +1.18)

Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.77 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 better than the First Call consensus of $0.76; revenues rose 3.2% year/year to $1.39 bln vs the $1.35 bln consensus.

16:18

MYRX Myriad Pharma reports Q2 ($0.60) vs. ($0.71) in the prior year's Q4; co reported no revs vs. $0.4 mln in the prior year's quarter (4.97 +0.26) -Update-

Co said, "We expect our research and development expenses will increase over the next several years as we conduct additional advanced clinical trials to support the development of our potential drug candidates currently in clinical development, including MPC-4326, Azixa, and MPC-3100 and the possible advancement of certain pre-clinical drug candidates into clinical development."

16:17

WFMI Whole Foods beats by $0.06, beats on revs; raises FY10 EPS guidance (30.52 +0.77)

Reports Q1 (Dec) earnings of $0.32 per share, $0.06 better than the First Call consensus of $0.26. Co raises guidance for FY10, sees EPS of $1.20-1.25 vs. $1.10 consensus, up from $1.05-1.10 previously. The co is raising its sales outlook as follows: sales growth of 8.5% to 10.5%, comparable store sales growth of 3.5% to 5.5% (or 0.4% to 2.4% on a two-year stacked basis), and identical store sales growth of 2.9% to 4.9% (0 to 3% previously) -- (or -1.4% to 0.6% on a two-year stacked basis). The co points out that the economic outlook remains uncertain, and it faces a significantly higher hurdle starting in the third quarter as identical store sales improved 224 bps from the first half to the second half of fiscal year 2009. The co still expects to open 16 new stores this year, six of which have already opened, translating to a 6% increase in ending square footage. The co now expects operating margin of 4.3% to 4.5% for fiscal year 2010. For the second through fourth quarters, the co does not expect to generate the 57 bps year-over-year improvement in gross margin, excluding LIFO, that it produced on average over the last three quarters. For the twenty weeks ended February 14, 2010, total sales increased 7.8%. Comparable store sales increased 4.2%, and identical store sales increased 3.2%, or 0.1% and -1.8% on a two-year stacked basis, respectively.

16:17

ZIXI Zix Corp reports Q4 EPS of $0.00 vs $0.00 First Call consensus; revs $8.2 mln vs $8.02 mln First Call consensus (2.18 +0.08)

Zix Corp sees Q1 EPS of $0.01-0.02 vs $0.01 First Call consensus; sees revs $8.0-8.2 mln vs $7.91 mln First Call consensus; Zix Corp sees FY10 EPS of $0.05-0.08 vs $0.07 First Call consensus; sees revs of $34-36 mln vs $34.07 mln First Call consensus

16:16

ACGL Arch Capital beats by $2.23 (73.26 +0.72)

Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $4.75 per share, $2.23 better than the First Call consensus of $2.52. The Company's book value per common share was $73.01 at December 31, 2009, a 5.1% increase from $69.48 per share at September 30, 2009 and a 42.2% increase from $51.36 at December 31, 2008.

16:15

DVAX Dynavax Technologies receives Canadian approval to conduct Phase 3 trials (1.50 -0.01)

Co announces that Health Canada (the Canadian equivalent of the FDA) has approved the initiation of the co's next Phase 3 trials in Canada. Initiation of the Canadian studies is expected to facilitate enrollment for the multi-center trials. Immunizations in the US have begun, while the Canadian sites are expected to begin enrollment shortly. One trial is designed to demonstrate the lot-to-lot consistency of commercial vaccine and to complete the safety database for HEPLISAV, the co's investigational adult hepatitis B vaccine. The second trial compares HEPLISAV to Engerix-B in patients with chronic kidney disease.

16:15

RIG Transocean: Fitch- Transocean's Announced Dividend & Buyback Not Expected to Impact Ratings (82.85 -0.53) -Update-

Fitch Ratings does not anticipate that RIG ratings will be impacted by today's announcement that the company plans to implement a share repurchase program and a recurring dividend. Liquidity and free cash flow levels at Transocean remain strong and should allow the company to finance both the repurchases and dividends without requiring additional debt. In addition, Fitch would expect Transocean to be able to continue to fund debt retirements during 2010 including the company's 1.625% series A convertible senior notes which are callable and puttable in December 2010 (approximately $1.4 billion outstanding as of October 2009). At Sept. 30, 2009, Transocean held cash and equivalents and short-term investment balances totaling $1.1 billion. Free cash flow levels remained extremely strong ($2.9 billion for the LTM ending Sept. 30, 2009) and should benefit in 2010 from falling capital expenditure requirements as the company's newbuild activities slow upon completion of rigs. Total capital expenditures resulting from the company's newbuild program were expected to be approximately $3.3 billion in 2009; however, 2010 capital expenditures related to newbuild vessels are expected to fall to approximately $800 million. While 2010 FCF levels related to offshore drilling operations are expected to decline as a result of the weaker market conditions for offshore drilling rigs, this decline should be more than offset by the reduced capital expenditure requirements and enable the company to fund the announced shareholder friendly actions without additional borrowings.

16:15

LZB La-Z-Boy reports Q3 (Jan) results, beats on revs (11.64 +0.73)

Reports Q3 (Jan) earnings of $0.21 per share, may not be comparable to the First Call consensus of $0.09; revenues rose 5.7% year/year to $305.1 mln vs the $275.6 mln consensus. The 2010 third-quarter results include a $0.01 per share restructuring charge, primarily related to costs associated with the consolidation in the company's casegoods facilities as well as the previously announced store closures within the company's retail segment. The quarter's results also include income of $4.4 million, or $0.05 per share, reflecting anti-dumping duties received on imports of Chinese wood bedroom furniture. "Although we are comparing the period to a low-volume quarter last year, we believe the strength of the La-Z-Boy brand, with the inherent quality associated with it, and our mid-price-point focus has served our company well in this environment... While we remain concerned about various economic factors, particularly unemployment and credit availability, we note some positive signs with respect to La-Z-Boy's same-store-sales figures, the strength of our upholstery sales performance this quarter as well as continued progress in our retail segment. As noted earlier, while we will remain mindful of cost containment and controls, our entire organization is focused on driving sales throughout all three segments of our business as we continue to pursue market share gains to ensure La-Z-Boy Incorporated maintains a leadership position in the industry. At the same time, we will continue to ensure that our balance sheet remains strong to allow for the greatest operating flexibility going forward."

16:15

VCLK ValueClick beats by $0.04, misses on revs; guides Q1 EPS below consensus, revs below consensus (9.13 -0.07)

Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.20 per share, including items, $0.04 better than the First Call consensus of $0.16; revenues rose 0.3% year/year to $110.4 mln vs the $132.4 mln consensus. Adjusted-EBITDA of $35.1 mln for 4Q09 increased $8.5 mln from $26.5 mln in 4Q08, resulting in adjusted-EBITDA margin expansion to 31.8% in 4Q09 from 24.1% in the year-ago period. Co issues downside guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.10-$0.11 vs. $0.16 consensus; sees Q1 revs of $93-$97 mln vs. $129.17 mln consensus.

16:14

CRME Cardiome Pharma announces $25 million advance on line of credit (5.28 -0.07)

Co announced that Merck (MRK), through an affiliate, has advanced to Cardiome $25 million under a secured, interest-bearing credit facility of up to $100 million granted to Cardiome under the agreement with Merck announced in April 2009. Cardiome may, at its option, repay all or a portion of the advance from time to time without premium or penalty. This advance must be repaid in full by December 31, 2016.

16:13

AMMD American Medical beats by $0.01, beats on revs; guides Q1 EPS below consensus, revs in-line; guides FY10 EPS below consensus, revs in-line (18.83 +0.37)

Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.35 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 better than the First Call consensus of $0.34; revenues rose 9.0% year/year to $146 mln vs the $143.8 mln consensus. Co issues downside EPS guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.23-0.26, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.27 consensus; sees Q1 revs of $127-131 mln vs. $130.65 mln consensus. Co issues downside EPS guidance for FY10, sees EPS of $1.16-1.24, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $1.25 consensus; sees FY10 revs of $540-560 mln vs. $545.55 mln consensus.

16:13

TDSC 3D Systems announced that it acquired the assets of Moeller Design (12.69 -0.13)

Co announced that it acquired the assets of Moeller Design, a provider of premium precision investment casting services and prototyping for the most demanding aerospace, medical device and MCAD prototyping applications.

16:11

YHOO Yahoo! announces that Ron Burkle will not stand for re-election to Board (15.41 +0.24)

Co announces that Ron Burkle has decided not to stand for re-election to the company's Board of Directors at its 2010 annual stockholders' meeting in order to devote more time to his other business interests. Mr. Burkle has served on the company's board since November 2001.

16:10

CRAY Cray beats by $0.01, reports revs in-line; guides FY10 revs in-line (5.25 +0.07)

Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.08 per share, $0.01 better than the First Call consensus of $0.07; revenues fell 43.2% year/year to $88.2 mln vs the $88.7 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for FY10, sees FY10 revs of $305-325 mln vs. $310.83 mln consensus. Co said, a wide range of results remains possible for 2010. Many variables may impact our results, but one significant item is the timing of the availability and release of our next generation supercomputer, code-named "Baker," including its new interconnect chipset, known as "Gemini," and associated system software." Separately, the co said, "As a result of the timing of the Baker system release, we expect a significant majority of 2010 revenue to be recognized in Q4. Service revenue is expected to be in the range of $110 mln for 2010, driven by strong growth in our custom engineering initiative. Gross margins for 2010 are expected to be in the mid-30 percent range."

16:08

LIMS Starlims Tech announces shareholder approval of acquisition by Abbott (ABT) (13.95 +0.01)

16:07

DSTI DayStar Technologies appoints Magnus Ryde Chief Executive Officer (0.40 +0.01)

16:07

MIG Meadowbrook Ins beats by $0.04, beats on revs; guides FY10 EPS in-line (6.49 +0.19)

Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.24 per share, $0.04 better than the First Call consensus of $0.20; revenues rose 22.7% year/year to $170.9 mln vs the $163.6 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for FY10, sees EPS of $0.85 to $0.95 vs. $0.93 consensus. The co also expects 2010 net operating income to be in a range of $48.5 mln to $54.5 mln. They also expect gross written premium in a range of $790 mln to $815 mln, and the combined ratio to be in a range of 95.5% to 96.5%. Commenting on the results, Meadowbrook President and Chief Executive Officer Robert S. Cubbin stated: "We are working from a position of strength going into 2010. We expect programs implemented in 2008 to further mature, and we anticipate growth from the regional workers' compensation initiatives we launched in 2009. We anticipate the market will remain competitive in 2010, and could look a lot like the second half of 2009--still competitive, but stabilizing. We have opportunities to grow profitably with adequate pricing, and we continue to work on implementing additional revenue enhancing synergies with Century."

16:07

AAN Aaron's beats by $0.03, beats on revs; guides Q1 EPS in-line, revs below consensus; guides FY10 EPS in-line, revs in-line (30.48 +0.26)

Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.46 per share, $0.03 better than the First Call consensus of $0.43; revenues rose 10.2% year/year to $446.3 mln vs the $432.9 mln consensus. Co issues mixed guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.62-0.67 vs. $0.67 consensus; sees Q1 revs of $485 mln vs. $501.36 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for FY10, sees EPS of $2.15-2.35 vs. $2.25 consensus; sees FY10 revs of $1.85 bln vs. $1.89 bln consensus.

16:06

OKS ONEOK Partners Signs Definitive NGL Fractionation Services Agreement With a Subsidiary of Targa Resources Partners (59.90 +0.69)

ONEOK Partners (OKS) announced that it has signed a definitive 10-year firm space fractionation agreement with Cedar Bayou Fractionators, L.P., a majority-owned subsidiary of Targa Resources Partners LP ( NGLS), for fractionation services at the subsidiary's natural gas liquids fractionation facility at Mont Belvieu, Texas. Under terms of the agreement, ONEOK Partners has contracted for 60,000 barrels per day of fractionation services at the Cedar Bayou Fractionators, L.P. facility, which is currently being expanded to 275,000 barrels per day from 215,000 per day and is expected to be operational during the second quarter of 2011.

16:06

PRE PartnerRe announces repurchase of approximately 1.7% of common shares outstanding (76.87 +0.59)

Co announces the repurchase of 1,438,394 common shares in privately negotiated transactions. The shares, totaling approximately 1.7% percent of total common shares outstanding, were purchased at a price per share of $75.14 from certain former shareholders of PARIS RE, who were issued PartnerRe stock through the Company's acquisition of PARIS RE, and who are parties to investor agreements with PartnerRe. The total value of the shares repurchased was $108.1 mln. All terms of the original investor agreements with such former shareholders of PARIS RE, who were issued PartnerRe stock subject to lock-up provisions, remain in place for any unsold shares still held by those investors.

16:05

RGC Regal Entertainment reports EPS in-line, beats on revs (14.60 +0.28)

Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.23 per share, in-line with the First Call consensus of $0.23; revenues rose 7.6% year/year to $765.6 mln vs the $745.9 mln consensus. "We are pleased to report that 2009 was a record year for both Regal and our industry. Our highest-ever annual Adjusted EBITDA was driven by the industry's first $10 billion box office and by our commitment to providing a quality theater experience to our patrons," stated Amy Miles, CEO of Regal Entertainment Group. "As we look ahead, we are excited about the opportunities created by the upcoming completion of the DCIP financing and by the number of premium format films included in the 2010 film slate," Miles continued.

16:05

HWAY Healthways reports EPS in-line, revs in-line; guides Q1 EPS in-line; guides FY10 EPS in-line, revs below consensus (16.08 )

Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.22 per share, in-line with the First Call consensus of $0.22; revenues fell 5.5% year/year to $175.2 mln vs the $173.6 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.26-$0.29 vs. $0.26 consensus. Co issues mixed guidance for FY10, sees EPS of $1.05-$1.18 vs. $1.11 consensus; sees FY10 revs of $677-$718 mln vs. $735.78 mln consensus. Co states, "Given the uncertain economic environment and consistent with the company's original guidance for 2009, the low end of revenue guidance for 2010 assumes no new unsigned business and no organic growth in billed lives."

16:05

KBR KBR Inc. awarded construction contract for North Carolina's State Laboratory of Public Health and Medical Examiner's Office (19.22 +0.85)

Co announces that its Building Group has been awarded a $52 mln contract by the State of North Carolina Department of Health & Human Services for construction of a new combined facility for the State Public Health Laboratory and Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Raleigh, N.C.

16:04

FLEX Flextronics executes mandatory call option on its 6 1/2 % senior subordinated notes due 2013 (6.91 +0.12)

16:04

VRTX Vertex Pharm announces redemption date for 4.75% convertible senior subordinated notes due 2013 (38.68 +0.30)

16:03

CRXX Combinatorx Announces Extension of Exalgo Extended-Release Tablets PDUFA Date to March 1, 2010 (1.34 +0.05)

Co announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has extended the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) goal date for review of the Exalgo (hydromorphone HCl) extended-release tablets New Drug Application (NDA) from Monday, February 22, 2010 to Monday, March 1, 2010 due to federal government closings. The U.S. rights to Exalgo tablets were acquired from Neuromed by Mallinckrodt Inc., a Covidien company, in June, 2009. Neuromed acquired the U.S. marketing rights to Exalgo tablets from ALZA Corporation in April 2007 and was responsible for clinical development and regulatory filings. Covidien is responsible for all commercialization activities for Exalgo in the U.S., including marketing, sales and all post-approval FDA regulatory filings, and will now own the intellectual property for the product. ALZA is responsible for manufacturing, packaging and supply of the product. CombinatoRx and Neuromed merged on December 21, 2009.

16:03

PANL Universal Display announces The U.S. Department of Energy honors Universal Display Corporation for white OLED lighting advances (10.97 -0.03)

16:02

XPRT LECG Corp beats by $0.08, beats on revs (2.89 -0.11)

Reports Q4 (Dec) loss of $0.01 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.08 better than the First Call consensus of ($0.09); revenues fell 5.3% year/year to $66.3 mln vs the $61.4 mln consensus. "Our fourth quarter performance was highlighted by improved activity across most of LECG's business sectors. However, the uncertainty associated with our industry continues to impact visibility, leaving us cautious in the near-term. Longer-term we remain optimistic about LECG's future, including the pending closure of the SMART merger. We expect 2010 to be a year of important integration as we begin to capitalize on the business synergies, cross-selling potential and cost saving opportunities to position the combined company for a return to revenue growth and profitability."

16:02

MNRK Monarch Finl Repurchases Stock Warrants from the U.S. Treasury (6.65 -0.07)

Co reported it had finalized the repurchase of common stock warrants related to preferred stock issued to the U.S. Treasury. The company purchased the remaining warrants for 132,353 common shares in a negotiated transaction for $260,000, and as a result of the Warrant repurchase, the Company has no securities issued or outstanding to the Treasury and is no longer participating in the Treasury's Capital Purchase Program. The company had previously redeemed the $14.7 million in preferred stock issued on December 23, 2009.

16:02

HTS Hatteras Financial reports Q4 EPS of $1.28 vs $1.29 First Call consensus (25.44 +0.10)

Hatteras declared common dividends of $1.20 per share with respect to the quarter ended December 31, 2009, up from $1.15 per share for the quarter ended September 30, 2009... "2009 was a year emphasized by a steady improvement in the fundamentals of the strategy we employ. The agency mortgage-backed securities portfolio we built in 2008 and 2009 has performed consistently in conjunction with our funding and hedging plan. We are happy to have had timely opportunities to invest and we are now entering 2010 positioned with low leverage and a defensive balance sheet," said Michael Hough, the Company's Chief Executive Officer. "The uncertainties surrounding the recent announcement by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to purchase delinquent loans out of their guaranteed securities should be mitigated by the relatively small exposure we estimate in Hatteras. We have always invested in low premium and recently issued securities as the most effective way to hedge and mitigate the risk of unexpected prepayments. The company is positioned conservatively and we are excited by the prospects for 2010."

16:01

AHT Ashford Hospitality Trust receives payoff on $33.6 mln mezz loan (5.71 +0.21)

Co announced it completed the previously disclosed discounted payoff with the borrower on the co's $33.6 mln mezzanine loan, which was secured by interests in the Ritz-Carlton, Key Biscayne and set to mature in 2017. The Company received $20 mln in cash and a $4 mln note secured by interests in the property and that matures in 2017. The co had previously recorded an impairment of $10.7 mln to account for the discounted payoff in the third quarter of 2009.

16:01

CAB Cabela's announces Closing of $300 Million Securitization (17.18 +0.32)

Co announced today Cabela's Credit Card Master Note Trust successfully completed the sale of $300 million of Asset-Backed Notes, Series 2010-I. The securitization transaction included the issuance of $255 million of Class A Notes, which accrue interest at a floating rate equal to one-month LIBOR plus 1.45% per year. The Class A Notes are eligible collateral under the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF) program established by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The securitization transaction also included the issuance of three subordinated classes of notes in the aggregate principal amount of $45 million. World's Foremost Bank, Cabela's wholly-owned subsidiary, purchased each of the subordinated classes of notes. Each class of notes issued in the securitization transaction has an expected life of approximately five years, with a legal maturity of approximately eight years. The securitization transaction finances the growth of World's Foremost Bank's credit card portfolio and is expected to provide adequate liquidity to World's Foremost Bank well into the fourth quarter of 2010.

16:00

SVLF Silverleaf Resorts Announces Extension of $106 Million Senior Credit Facility (0.75 -0.01)

Co announces the extension of its receivables-based revolving credit facility with UBS Real Estate Securities. The new initial maximum commitment amount of the variable funding note ("VFN") issued under the facility is $106 million, which maximum commitment amount decreases to $100 million on June 30, 2010.

16:00

AMMD American Medical announces sale of Her Option global endometrial ablation product line (18.85 +0.39)

Co announced the divestiture of its Her Option Global Endometrial Ablation product line to Cooper Surgical, a subsidiary of the Cooper Companies (COO) for $20.5 mln. The final sale price is subject to adjustment based on working capital balances at the time of sale.

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